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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: Palace and Hovel - Phases of London Life - - -Author: Daniel Joseph Kirwan - - - -Release Date: October 12, 2017 [eBook #55732] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PALACE AND HOVEL*** - - -E-text prepared by deaurider, Graeme Mackreth, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 55732-h.htm or 55732-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/55732/55732-h/55732-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/55732/55732-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/palacehovel00kirw - - - - - -[Illustration: ONE MORE UNFORTUNATE. (Page 459.)] - -[Illustration: GRAND STAIRCASE, BUCKINGHAM PALACE.] - - -PALACE AND HOVEL: - -Or, -Phases of London Life. - -Being - -Personal Observations of an American in London, by Day and Night; with -Graphic Descriptions of Royal and Noble Personages, Their Residences -and Relaxations; Together with Vivid Illustrations -of the Manners, Social Customs, and Modes of -Living of the Rich and the Reckless, the -Destitute and the Depraved, in the -Metropolis of Great Britain. - -With - -Valuable Statistical Information, -Collected from the Most Reliable Sources. - -by - -DANIEL JOSEPH KIRWAN. - -Beautifully Illustrated with Two Hundred Engravings, and a finely -executed Map of London. - -Published by Subscription Only. - - - - - - -Hartford, Conn.: -Belknap & Bliss. -W. E. Bliss, Toledo, Ohio.--Nettleton & Co., Cincinnati, -Ohio.--Duffield Ashmead, Philadelphia, Pa. -Union Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill. -A. L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco, Cal. -1870 - -Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by -Belknap & Bliss, -In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. - -William H. Lockwood, -Electrotyper, -Hartford, Conn. - - - - - TO - Samuel L.M. Barlow, Esq., - OF - NEW YORK CITY, - A - True Gentleman in Every Quality and Duty of Life, - THESE PAGES ARE DEDICATED, - AS A - SLIGHT TESTIMONY - TO THE - Unvarying Friendship borne by him for the author - - - - -PREFACE. - - -In offering this volume to the Public, the result of a year's -experience and labor, I must indeed feel gratified, and more than -rewarded, if any of those who may peruse its pages shall find in them -a tithe of the pleasure which I enjoyed in journeying in and about the -nooks, crannies, and curious places, of what may be justly called the -greatest and most populous City of the Modern World. - -Believing that a Metropolis of Three and a Half Millions of people -should be observed and described, if observed and described at all, in -a large and comprehensive sense, in order that a thorough knowledge -of it may be obtained by those who will do me the honor of turning -the leaves of this book, I have not hesitated to take my readers -into places which they might shrink from visiting alone, and which -are rarely or ever seen by the stranger, in London. Therefore have I -sketched its Haunts of Vice, Misery, and Crime, as well as its fairer -and brighter aspects, with no faltering in my purpose, so that the -American people might see London as I saw it, and as it exists To-Day. - -The material employed in making the book was gathered from personal -observation, while acting as a Special Correspondent of the New York -_World_, in London, and I cannot do less than make an acknowledgment of -the kindness of its Editor, Mr. Manton Marble, by whose permission I -have used some portions of the matter embodied in this work. - - DANIEL JOSEPH KIRWAN. - - Hartford, August 1st, 1870. - - - - -[Illustration: - - List of ILLUSTRATIONS - - _BY_ - Fay & Cox - 105 Nassau ST. - N.Y.] - - - 1. One More Unfortunate Frontispiece -- - - 2. Grand Staircase, Buckingham Palace--Illuminated Title-Page. -- - - 3. Bird's-Eye View of London, 17 - - 4. Initial Letter, 17 - - 5. The London Stone, 19 - - 6. "Thank you, Sir," 20 - - 7. The Rock and Chain, Tail Piece, 23 - - 8. Initial Letter, 24 - - 9. Sword, &c., Tail Piece, 27 - - 10. Entrance to Docks, 32 - - 11. "I Don't Think it Will Hurt me," 34 - - 12. Forest, Initial Letter, 42 - - 13. Buckingham Palace (Full Page,) 45 - - 14. Portrait of Queen Victoria, 50 - - 15. John Brown Exercising the Queen, 53 - - 16. Fancy Sketch, Tail Piece, 56 - - 17. Lion on Guard, Initial Letter, 57 - - 18. Purty Bill Showing us in, 61 - - 19. "Wont you Take Something?" 63 - - 20. Snake Swallowing, 67 - - 21. "Bilking Bet takes the Chair," 72 - - 22. "Teddy the Kinchin's Song," 74 - - 23. Explosive Materials, Tail Piece, 75 - - 24. Initial Letter, 76 - - 25. Cogers' Hall, Debating Club, 85 - - 26. Snake in the Grass, Tail Piece, 91 - - 27. Initial Letter, 92 - - 28. Conservative Club House, 99 - - 29. Carlton Club House, 101 - - 30. Oxford and Cambridge Club House, 102 - - 31. United Service Club House, 104 - - 32. Architectural Sketch, Tail Piece, 106 - - 33. Initial Letter, 107 - - 34. Westminster Abbey, 109 - - 35. Shakespeare's Tomb, 115 - - 36. Tomb of Milton, 117 - - 37. Tomb of Mary Queen of Scots, 118 - - 38. Coronation Chair, 121 - - 39. Gauntleted Hand and Sword, Tail Piece, 127 - - 40. Initial Letter, 128 - - 41. Victoria Theatre in the New Cut, (Full Page,) 136 - - 42. Rag Fair, 142 - - 43. A Cell Window, Initial Letter, 145 - - 44. The Last Execution at Newgate, 151 - - 45. Fetters and Chain, Tail Piece, 158 - - 46. Broken Wheel, Initial Letter, 159 - - 47. Doctors' Commons, 162 - - 48. Eagle and Snake, Tail Piece, 166 - - 49. Initial Letter, 167 - - 50. A Bohemian Carouse, 171 - - 51. A Water Scene, Tail Piece, 180 - - 52. Tower of London (Full Page,) 182 - - 53. Initial Letter, 183 - - 54. Traitors' Gate, 189 - - 55. The Crown Jewels, 197 - - 56. Imperial Orb, Ampulla and other Jewels, 199 - - 57. The State Salt-Cellars, 200 - - 58. Cannon, Tail Piece, 206 - - 59. Initial Letter, 207 - - 60. The Cadgers' Meal, 210 - - 61. Raft Timber, Tail Piece, 215 - - 62. The Old Oak, Initial Letter, 216 - - 63. Bathing in Hyde Park, 219 - - 64. The Labyrinth, 221 - - 65. The Crystal Palace, 223 - - 66. The Promenade, Tail Piece, 225 - - 67. Fort and Water Scene, Initial Letter, 226 - - 68. Portrait of the Prince of Wales, 230 - - 69. Prince and Cabman, 234 - - 70. Broken Wagon and Dead Horse, Tail Piece, 239 - - 71. Blood-Hounds in the Leash, Initial Letter, 240 - - 72. Portrait of Lady Mordaunt, 243 - - 73. Portrait of the Duke of Hamilton, 262 - - 74. Portrait of the Marquis of Waterford, 265 - - 75. Portrait of the Marquis of Hastings, 267 - - 76. Mounted Cannon, Initial Letter, 270 - - 77. Houses of Parliament (Full Page,) 272 - - 78. Portrait of William Ewart Gladstone, 274 - - 79. The Legislative Bar-Maid, 279 - - 80. Portrait of John Bright, 281 - - 81. The Student, Tail Piece, 284 - - 82. Initial Letter, 285 - - 83. "Could you Make it a Tanner?" 290 - - 84. The Speaker of the House, 292 - - 85. First Lord of the Admiralty, 298 - - 86. Portrait of Robert E. Lowe, 300 - - 87. Gladstone Speaking in the House of Commons (Full Page,) 307 - - 88. Landscape, Tail Piece, 317 - - 89. Initial Letter, 318 - - 90. The Pocket-Book Game, 324 - - 91. Steam Frigate, Tail Piece, 329 - - 92. A Broadside, Initial Letter, 330 - - 93. The Sewer Hunter, 334 - - 94. Blood-Hound, Tail Piece, 336 - - 95. Island, Initial Letter, 337 - - 96. Cats Receiving Rations, 339 - - 97. The Great Porter Tun, 341 - - 98. Initial Letter, 344 - - 99. The Harvard Crew (Full Page,) 353 - - 100. Bridge, Tail Piece, 361 - - 101. Initial Letter, 362 - - 102. The Oxford Crew, (Full Page,) 369 - - 103. The University Race, (Full Page,) 375 - - 104. Beautiful Craft, Tail Piece, 381 - - 105. Initial Letter, 382 - - 106. Hospital Ship "Dreadnought," 384 - - 107. Jonathan Wild's Skeleton, 389 - - 108. Tail Piece, 390 - - 109. Initial Letter, 391 - - 110. Coke Peddler, 399 - - 111. Bum Boatman, 401 - - 112. "I Gets it for Cigar Stumps," 403 - - 113. Street Acrobats, 405 - - 114. Punch and Judy, 407 - - 115. Initial Letter, 410 - - 116. Nelson's Monument, 416 - - 117. Damaged Tree, Tail Piece, 419 - - 118. Initial Letter, 420 - - 119. Nursery in the Foundling Hospital, 421 - - 120. Washing the Waifs, 427 - - 121. Landscape, Tail Piece, 434 - - 122. Initial Letter, 435 - - 123. Breakfast Stall, Covent Garden Market (Full Page,) 443 - - 124. The Orange Market, 450 - - 125. Going to Market, Tail Piece, 451 - - 126. Fancy Piece, Initial Letter, 452 - - 127. Wild and Desolate, Tail Piece, 460 - - 128. Initial Letter, 461 - - 129. Foreign Cafe in Coventry Street, 462 - - 130. Canteen of the Alhambra, 471 - - 131. The Old Sinner, 473 - - 132. Rough and Ready, Tail Piece, 475 - - 133. In the Haymarket, 482 - - 134. Initial Letter, 486 - - 135. St. Paul's Cathedral, 487 - - 136. Sharp-Shooter, Initial Letter, 493 - - 137. "Beautiful Miss Neilson," 494 - - 138. A Gin Public in the New Cut, 500 - - 139. A Gallery of the "Vic," 502 - - 140. Putting on Airs, Tail Piece, 507 - - 141. Initial Letter, 508 - - 142. An Auction at Billingsgate Fish Market, (Full Page,) 511 - - 143. Initial Letter, 518 - - 144. Lincoln's Inn, 520 - - 145. Fancy Sketch, Tail Piece, 525 - - 146. An English Oak, Initial Letter, 526 - - 147. Bankers' Eating-House, 528 - - 148. The Bank of England, 533 - - 149. "I Began to Perspire," 538 - - 150. Carpet-Bag, Tail Piece, 544 - - 151. London Bridge, (Full Page,) 546 - - 152. Forest Scene, Initial Letter, 547 - - 153. Temple Bar, Fleet Street, 550 - - 154. The New Blackfriars Bridge, 553 - - 155. Bridge and Water Scene, Tail Piece, 555 - - 156. Initial Letter, 556 - - 157. Windsor Castle, 560 - - 158. Tail Piece, 565 - - 159. Initial Letter, 566 - - 160. Loading the Prison Van, 570 - - 161. Detective Irving, 572 - - 162. Before the Lord Mayor, 574 - - 163. Bible and Hand, Initial Letter, 576 - - 164. Portrait of Spurgeon, 577 - - 165. Portrait of Father Ignatius, 578 - - 166. "Lothair" (Marquis of Bute,) 583 - - 167. Ruins, Tail Piece, 586 - - 168. Initial Letter, 587 - - 169. "Scott's" in the Haymarket, 588 - - 170. The Midnight Mission, (Full Page,) 592 - - 171. "Skittles" and the Princess Mary, 595 - - 172. A Row in Cremorne, 596 - - 173. Sword and Purse, Initial Letter, 598 - - 174. Portrait of "Mabel Grey," 602 - - 175. Portrait of "Anonyma," 605 - - 176. Portrait of "Baby Hamilton," 606 - - 177. Mabel Grey at Home, 609 - - 178. Portrait of "Alice Gordon," 613 - - 179. Snake and Dove, Initial Letter, 614 - - 180. A Meal at a Cheap Lodging House, (Full Page,) 617 - - 181. "Damnable Jack," 619 - - 182. Statue of George Peabody, 625 - - 183. Tail Piece, 625 - - 184. Initial Letter, 626 - - 185. Old "Smudge," the Cabby, 627 - - 186. "A Hansom Cab," 628 - - 187. "One Hundred Rats in Nine Minutes," 630 - - 188. The Rat-Catcher, 632 - - 189. "Paddy's Goose," 633 - - 190. Waiting for the Tide, 634 - - 191. Ruins, Tail Piece, 635 - - 192. "The Times" Office, 650 - - 193. The Sub-Editors' Room, "Daily Telegraph" Office, 651 - - 194. Portrait of James Anthony Froude, 639 - - 195. Portrait of Algernon Charles Swinburne, 641 - - 196. Portrait of John Stewart Mill, 643 - - 197. Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli, 644 - - 198. Portrait of John Ruskin, 637 - - 199. Portrait of Charles Kingsley, 645 - - 200. Portrait of Anthony Trollope, 647 - - 201. Tail Piece, 652 - - 202. Initial Letter, 655 - - 203. Half-Penny Soup House, (Full Page,) 653 - - 204. A Pawn-Broker's Shop, 656 - - 205. A Third Class Railway Carriage, 659 - - 206. Tail Piece, 662 - - 207. Map of London, -- - - - - -[Illustration: Contents] - - - CHAPTER I. - - THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD. - - View from the Cupola of St. Paul's Cathedral--Population of London--Its - Wealth and Poverty--Interesting Statistics, 18 - - - CHAPTER II. - - THE SILENT HIGHWAY. - - The Thames Embankment--The Tunnel--The Subway--Tunnel Thieves--Pneumatic - Railway, 24 - - - CHAPTER III. - - THE DOCKS, SHIPPING, AND COMMERCE. - - Custom-House Duties--Immense Wine Vaults under the Docks--Hoisting - and Discharging Cargoes--London and West India Docks--Opposition - to the New Dock System--Dock Laborers, 28 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - PALACES OF LONDON. - - St. James--Whitehall--Buckingham Palace--Magnificence of the Queen's - Residence--The Grand Staircase--Queen's Library--The Famous _John - Brown_, 42 - - - CHAPTER V. - - HIDDEN DEPTHS. - - Underground Life--A Friendly Visit among Thieves and Pick-Pockets--The - Midnight Feast, 58 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - DEBATING CLUBS AND COGERS' HALL. - - Society of Cogers--The Most Worthy Grand--News of the Week--Interesting - Debates--Irish Orator and Scotch Presbyterian--Liberals and - Conservatives--"Where are we now?"--Farce and Tragedy, 76 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES. - - Aristocratic Members--Entrance and Subscription Fees--How Managed - and Supported--Architectural Splendor--Choice Wines and Luxurious - Dinners--Interesting Statistics--A Model Kitchen--Heavy Swell - Club, 92 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - WESTMINSTER ABBEY. - - Its Dimensions and Architectural Construction--Its Wealth and Immense - Revenues--The Burial-Place of the Kings and Queens--Magnificence of - their Tombs--Tomb of Shakespeare--Tomb of Milton--Tomb of Mary - Queen of Scots--Coronation of William the Conqueror--The Massacre, 107 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - THE COSTERMONGERS AND RAG FAIR. - - The New Cut--Heathenism of the Costers--Marriage Relation--Old - Clothes District--Petticoat Lane--Congress of Rags--Modus - Operandi of Selling, 128 - - - CHAPTER X. - - FROM NEWGATE TO TYBURN. - - Dying for an Idea--Execution of Barrett--Man in the Mask--Famous - Criminals--Pestiferous Prison--The Old Bailey Court--Hotel - Regulations--Drinking from St. Giles' Bowl, 145 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - DOCTORS' COMMONS. - - Marriage Licenses--Divorces--Ecclesiastical Court--High Court of - Admiralty--Paying the Piper--Legal Scoundrelism--The Last Will and - Testaments of Shakespeare, Milton, and of Napoleon Bonaparte--The - Forgotten Sailor, 159 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - THE BOHEMIANS OF LONDON. - - Carlisle Arms--A Pint of Cooper--Cockerell's Lodgings--Fitz and Dawson, - or the Radical and Conservative Reporter--The Short Hand - Reporter--Dawson's Story--A Song from the Speaker--Beautiful Potato, 167 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - TOWER, PALACE, AND PRISON. - - Its History and Dimensions--Council Chamber--Jolly Bishops and Royal - Prisoners--The Traitor's Gate--Anne Boleyn--Princess Elizabeth--Heroism - of Lady Jane Grey upon the Scaffold--The Crown Jewels--What - can be seen for a Sixpence, 183 - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - CADGERS OF LONDON BRIDGE. - - Under the Arches--Vagrancy and Pauperism--The Family Gathering--The - Cadger's Meal--A Confirmed Vagrant--The Girl Molly--The -Hopeful Son--The Cadger's Story, 207 - - - CHAPTER XV. - - THE LUNGS OF LONDON. - - Regent's and Hyde Parks--Dimensions of the Public Parks and Gardens--What - they Contain--Bathing in Hyde Park--Richmond Park with its - Forests and Hunting Grounds--Hampton Court Park--Its Labyrinth--The - Crystal Palace--Veteran Musicians--Greenwich Park--Grand Observatory, 216 - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - THE RAKES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. - - Vagabonds in Kingly Robes--Prince of Wales and his Personal - Friends--The Prince and the London Brewer as Firemen--Lord Carington - as a Coachman--His Cowardly Assault upon Greenville Murray--The Prince - and Cabman--Infamy of the Prince--A Mad King, 226 - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - FAST YOUNG ENGLAND. - - Lord Carington--Lady Mordaunt, Divorce Proceedings, and Interesting - Testimony--Love Letters of the Prince--Duke of Hamilton--The Fastest - Young Man in England--The Marquis of Waterford--Marquis of Hastings--Duke - of Newcastle--Earl of Jersey--Lord Clinton and others, 240 - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - LORDS AND COMMONS. - - Westminster Palace and Houses of Parliament--Interior of the House of - Commons--Bobbies and Cabbies--Strangers' Gallery--The Legislative - Bar-Maid--William Ewart Gladstone--England's Greatest Commoner - John Bright, 272 - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - LORDS AND COMMONS CONTINUED. - - Reporters' Gallery--Dr. Johnson taking Notes--The Speaker and his - Wig--Important Personages--First Lord of the Admiralty--Peers in the - Gallery--Gladstone's Early Life--The Eloquence of the Premier--The - Sarcasm of Disraeli--Ducal Houses--Upper House of Parliament--Privileges - of the Peers, 285 - - - CHAPTER XX. - - LONDON POLICE AND DETECTIVES. - - The Old Jewry--Central Detective's Office--Relics of Crimes--Inspector - Bailey--Experience of Mr. Funnell--The Pocket-Book Game--New - York a Precious bad Place--Police Districts--Expenses Attending - them--River Thieves, 318 - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - HUNTING THE SEWERS. - - The City Honey-Combed--2,000 Miles of Sewerage--An Unlawful and - Dangerous Business--Prizes Found--The Hunter's Story--Great Battle - with the Rats--Victory at last, 330 - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - BACCHUS AND BEER. - - The English a Great Beer-Drinking People--Amount of Exports--Barclay and - Perkins--A Princely Firm--Cats on Guard--The House of Hanbury, Buxton - & Co.--Great Porter Tun--Libraries in the Establishments--Quantities - of Beer used in London, 338 - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - - HARVARD AGAINST OXFORD. - - Police Arrangements--Thomas Hughes, M.P.--Dark Blue and Magenta--On - the Tow-Path--A Frightful Jam--Booths and Shows--Badges and - Rosettes--The Dear Old Flag, 344 - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - - STRUGGLE AND VICTORY. - - On Board the Press Boat--The Harvard Crew--Loring's Condition--Simmons - the Pride of the Crew--The Oxford Crew--"Little Corpus," the - Coxswain--The Start--Harvard Leads--Burnham's bad Steering--Oxford's - Vengeance Stroke--The Last Desperate Struggle--Beaten by - Six Seconds--Fair Play and Courtesy, 362 - - - CHAPTER XXV. - - CURIOSITIES OF LONDON. - - "Domesday Book"--Oldest Books in England--Hospital Ship "Dreadnought"--A - Gaudy Show--The Queen's Stage-Coach--Jonathan Wild's - Skeleton--The Lord Mayor's State Coach--Installation of a London - Sheriff, 382 - - - CHAPTER XXVI. - - STREET SIGHTS OF LONDON. - - Street Hawkers--Venders of Old Boots and Shoes--The Dog Fancier--Bird - Sellers--Coke Peddlers--Bum Boatman--Stock in Trade--How Dick - gets his Porridge--"I Gets it for Cigar-Stumps"--Street Acrobats--Punch - and Judy Show, 391 - - - CHAPTER XXVII. - - THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND NATIONAL GALLERY. - - Its Origin--Laying the Foundation--Reading Room--Departments of the - Museum--The Galleries and Saloons--The Three Libraries--What can - be seen--Nelson's Monument--Pictures and Works of Art in the National - Gallery--The Great Masters--Free to the Working People, 410 - - - CHAPTER XXVIII. - - NAKED AND NEEDY. - - Infanticide--The Benevolent Captain--Foundling Hospital--Admission of - Children--Great Numbers Received--How they Dine--How they Sleep--Washing - the Waifs--Charitable Institutions--An Interesting Sight--Innumerable - Bequests, 420 - - - CHAPTER XXIX. - - MARKETS AND FOOD. - - Amount of Food Sold--Inspections--Metropolitan Cattle Market--New - Smithfield Market--Covent Garden Market--Hot Coffee Girl--Vegetable - Market--The Baked Potato Man--The Jews' Orange Market, 435 - - - CHAPTER XXX. - - SECRETS OF A RIVER. - - Waterloo Bridge--The Pale-Faced Girl--Three O'clock in the - Morning--Weary of Life--A Leap from the Parapet--Fruitless - Attempt to Save--A Sad Sight--The Wages of Sin is Death, 452 - - - CHAPTER XXXI. - - INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH. - - Leicester Square--Foreign Cafe in Coventry Street--The Abode of Sir - Joshua Reynolds--The Residence of William Hogarth--Royal Alhambra - Palace--The Great Social Evil--"Wotten Wow"--In the Canteen--The - Old Sinner--The Tulip and the Daisy, 461 - - - CHAPTER XXXII. - - THE "ARGYLE," "BARNES'" AND "CASINO." - - The Haymarket by Night--The Argyle Rooms--Fast Young Men--Paint - and Jewelry--Silks and Satins--Free and Easy--Barnes'--"Holborn - Casino"--A Magnificent Saloon--Good Night, 476 - - - CHAPTER XXXIII. - - ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. - - Its History and Dimensions--Destruction of Old St. Paul's--Annual - Revenues--Prices of Admission--Monuments to Nelson--Burial-Place of - Wellington--Nelson's Funeral--A Grand Sight--"I am the Resurrection - and the Life," 486 - - - CHAPTER XXXIV. - - GOING TO THE PLAY. - - Beautiful Miss Neilson--The Lord Chamberlain a Censor--Royal - Victoria Theatre--Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres--A - "Gin Public" in the New Cut--The Gallery of the "Vic"--The - Chorus of "Immensekoff," 493 - - - CHAPTER XXXV. - - BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET. - - Profit on Fish--Oyster Boats--Number of Fishing Vessels--The Fish - Woman--The Old Style of Dress--Breakfast at Billingsgate--Capital - Invested--Immense Sales, 508 - - - CHAPTER XXXVI. - - THE INNS OF COURT. - - Number of Students--Gray's Inn--The New Hall of Lincoln's - Inn--Parliament Chamber--How to become a Lawyer--Procuring - Admission--"Hall Dinners"--Cup of "Sack"--The Toast--Irish - Students, 518 - - - CHAPTER XXXVII. - - BANK OF ENGLAND AND THE MINT. - - Its History--The Riots--Ledgers and Money-Bags--A Powerful - Corporation--Bankers' Eating-House--Great Panic of 1825--In - the Vaults--Making Sovereigns--Marking Room--How the Coin is - Tested--Celebrated Counterfeiters, 526 - - - CHAPTER XXXVIII. - - BRIDGES OF LONDON. - - History of Old London Bridge--The Fire of 1632--Where Traitors' Heads - were Suspended--Temple Bar--Traffic of London Bridges--Southwark - and Waterloo Bridges--The New Blackfriars Bridge--Suspension - Bridges--Acrobatic Feats--Scott, the American Diver, 547 - - - CHAPTER XXXIX. - - WINDSOR CASTLE. - - Great number of Apartments--The Round Tower--The Audience - Chamber--Throne Room--Visit to the Queen's Bedroom--An - Elegant Apartment, 556 - - - CHAPTER XL. - - BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES. - - The "Old Bailey"--Its Jurisdiction--The Lord Mayor's Court--The - Trial of a Young Forger--The Judges' Dinner--Loading the Prison - Van--The Mansion House--Detective Irving--The Forger Harwood--How - Justice is Administered, 566 - - - CHAPTER XLI. - - CANTERBURY AND ROME. - - Churches and Sects--Bishop of London--Archbishop of - Canterbury--Spurgeon--"Apocalypse Cumming"--Church of - England--Father Ignatius--Roman Catholic Lords--Marquis of Bute, 576 - - - CHAPTER XLII. - - LEGION OF THE LOST. - - The Great Parade Ground--"Scott's" in the Haymarket--Oysters in every - Style--Prostitutes and Abandoned Women--The Midnight Mission--Rev. - Baptist Noel--Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea--A Row at Cremorne--"Skittles" - and the Princess Mary of Cambridge, 587 - - - CHAPTER XLIII. - - SCARLET WOMEN. - - Goodwood Races--Men of the Turf--Swarms of People--The Barouche and - Four--Beauty of its Occupants--"Anonyma" and the Chestnut Mare--"Mabel - Grey" and "Baby Hamilton"--The Race for the Goodwood - Cup--The Itinerant Preacher--Mabel Grey at Home--"The Kitten"--Alice - Gordon, 598 - - - CHAPTER XLIV. - - CHEAP LODGING HOUSES. - - Eve of the Great Derby Race--Visit to Westminster--Lodging House of - Jack Scrag--_Four-Penny_ Beds--Unpleasant Bed-Fellow--Attacking - the Enemy--A Lucky Escape--Crowded Buildings--Eminent - Philanthropists--Model Lodging Houses--Munificent Gifts--George - Peabody's Statue, 615 - - - CHAPTER XLV. - - A TRAMP IN THE BY-WAYS. - - "Old Smudge," the Cabby--A "Hansom" Cab--Rates of Fares--A Convivial - Pup--The Rat Pit--The Terrier "Skid"--The Match for £50--Skid - Slaughters a Hundred Rats in 8:40--Paddy's "Goose," or "The - White Swan"--Please Excuse me--Waiting for the Tide--Cured of the - Blues, 626 - - - CHAPTER XLVI. - - LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM. - - Work and Wages--Influence of London Journals--Management of the - Press--Circulation and Delivery of Papers--Celebrated Writers--James - Anthony Froude--Algernon Charles Swinburne--John Stewart - Mill--Benjamin Disraeli--John Ruskin--Charles Kingsley, Anthony - Trollope, and others, 636 - - - CHAPTER XLVII. - - THE POOR OF LONDON. - - Half-Penny Soup House--The Little Cast-aways and Waifs Provided - for--Visit to the Work-House of St Martin's--The Workers' Uniform--The - Old Pauper--Daily Rations--Schools--Trades--Struggles and Trials of - the London Poor--Pawn-Brokers' Shops--Third Class Railway Carriages, 655 - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD. - - -IN the civilized world perhaps such another sight cannot be witnessed, -as that which greets the eye from the great Cupola of St. Paul's, -when the view is taken on a bright summer morning, after daybreak has -settled on the leads and huge gilded cross of this, the most mighty of -English Cathedrals. - -I saw this vast expanse of brick, stone, and mortar, one delicious, but -hazy September morning, from the outer circle of the dome, and I shall -never forget that peopled metropolis which lay swarming below me like a -vast human hive. - -For a radius of ten miles, the roofs and spires of countless religious -edifices, dwelling-houses, banks, the tall cones of storied monuments, -the delicate tracery of a forest of slender masts, and the smoky -chimneys of innumerable breweries, manufactories, and gas-houses, met -my vision, which had already begun to weary long before any of the -individual characteristics of the British metropolis had segregated -themselves from the aggregate mass. - -Directly before me, and almost at my feet, lay the turbid Thames, -winding in and out sinuously under bridges, and heaving from the labor -which the paddles of numerous steam craft impressed in its dirty yellow -bosom. These small steamers were of a black and red, mixed, color, and -it was only through a glass that I could discern where the two colors -met and divided. Passing under the huge stone bridges, their smoke -stacks seemed to break in two parts for an instant as they shot under -an arch of the huge spans of London or Waterloo Bridges; gracefully -as a gentleman bows to his partner in a quadrille, and then the black -funnels went back to their original erect but raking position with -great deliberation. - -I had secured an eyrie in the top of St. Paul's at an early hour with -the aid of a greasy half crown, which I had slipped to an old toothless -verger with his silver-tipped wand, and he readily gratified my wish -to allow me egress from the Whispering gallery which encircles the -interior dome of the Cathedral, to a point where, giddily, I might lean -out and look all over the great city. - -"It's as good as my place is worth, sir," said he, "to let you look -out here. A man who was a little light headed from drinking tumbled -from this window some years ago, and was broken to pieces on the cobble -stones below." - -The danger did not prevent me from looking long and greedily at the -splendid coup d'oeil. - -[Illustration: THE LONDON STONE.] - -Far up the river to the left the queerly shaped toy turrets and massive -ramparts and quadrangles of the Tower broke through the morning haze -in shapely and artistic masses, and at the back of the green spot of -grass which surmounts Tower Hill, the square, solid, and substantial -looking Mint showed where Her Majesty's sworn servants were already -at work employed in making counterfeit presentments of her features -for circulation in trade and commerce. The Norman tower and flanking -buttresses of St. Saviour's, Southwark, next came in range, followed -by the long oval glass roof of the Eastern Railway Terminus, facing -Cannon street, where is erected London Stone, upon which Jack Cade sat -in triumph before the dirty, noisy, rabble, which had followed his -fortunes; and now I can see Guy's Hospital with its hundred windows, -the Corinthian Royal Exchange in Cornhill, the massive Guildhall where -many a bloated Britisher has fed on the fat of the land; the Mansion -House in which the Lord Mayor occasionally does petty offenders the -honor of sentencing them to the Bridewell; and now the view enlarges -to the southward, and the eye takes in the fine Holborn Viaduct, -lately honored by the Queen's presence; Barclay and Perkin's massive -caravanserai for the brewing of beer, and the gray stones of St. -Sepulchre's where the passing bell is always tolled for the condemned -Newgate prisoner just before execution. The square, gray blocks of -this fortress of crime gloom in an unpitying way below me, and there -now is the court yard of Christ's Hospital with the gowned and bare -headed school lads at their morning game of foot ball, and their -shouts peal upward, even up as high as the dome of St. Paul's, like -the chimes of merry music. The great piles of Somerset house and the -Custom House frown down on the busy river, and the sound of the bell -of St. Clement Dane's in the Strand, striking six o'clock, mingles -with the mighty thunder whirr of the incoming train from Dover, which -dashes like a demon over the Charing Cross bridge and into its station. -Structure after structure rises on the retina, the Treasury Buildings -and Horse Guards in Parliament street, Marlborough House, the British -Museum, Buckingham Palace, the University College, the Nelson and York -Monuments, the splendid club houses in Pall Mall and St. James; Apsley -House and Hyde Park with its lakes of silvery water, Westminster Abbey, -the Clock and Victoria Towers surmounting the Parliament Houses which -overhang the Thames, Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop -of Canterbury, Chief Dignitary of the English State Church and Milbank -Penitentiary down in dusty Westminster, and by the way this prison with -its eight towers looks like a cruet stand and its towers certainly -represent the caster bottles. With its parterre of trees in the central -square, the quadrangles of Chelsea Hospital, and the dome of the Palm -House in Kensington Garden next come under inspection, and finally I -became weary in endeavoring to pierce the haze which the sun had broken -into annoying fragments, and failing to penetrate farther than Vauxhall -bridge, I give up the task and draw in my head after a last look at the -Catherine and West India docks, bewildered and confused by the very -immensity of wealth and population which is centered and aggregated -below, under and in the shadow of St. Paul's, the Mother Church of -Great Britain. - -[Illustration: "THANK YOU, SIR."] - -The verger says with a weak and wheezy voice: - -"This is a werry great city, sir. They do say as how there's more nor -three millions of hooman beings in this 'ere metropolis, and how they -all gets a living is a blessed puzzle to me. I gets an occasional -sixpence, and Americans seem to be more generous than any other -visitors. Thank you, sir." - -London is a wonderful city in many ways. The year 1866 brought the -number of the inhabitants to the total of 3,186,000. This is a -population larger than that of Pekin, and as large and a half as that -of London's great rival, Paris. It has a greater number of edifices -devoted to religious worship than the Eternal City, Rome. Its commerce -exceeds that of New York, Glasgow, Cork, Havre, and Bremen in gross. -It sends abroad missionaries of all known sects, to convert the -heathen and blackamoor, and for them and their wives there is a larger -amount of money collected in London than could by any possibility be -subscribed in all the other great cities of the world combined for a -like purpose. It numbers among its population more prostitutes and -unfortunate females than Paris, there being according to a calculation -made by a former bishop of Oxford, 30,000 of this wretched class, -alone, who are strictly professionals. - -London has work houses to accommodate 150,000 paupers under the -parochial system, for which the residents or freeholders of every -parish in the metropolitan district are taxed at an annual rate of -fourteen pounds ten shillings per pauper, and yet men, women, and -children die of starvation, weekly, in the slums of St. Giles, Saffron -Hill, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch. - -For a penny the young thief or abandoned street girl can listen to -hoarse fiddling, obscene jests, and the lowest of low slang songs at -some penny "gaff" in Whitechapel, and on a benefit night at Covent -Garden, or the Haymarket, the man who is known in society will have to -pay twenty-five or thirty shillings or from six to ten dollars to hear -the musical warblings of a Patti or a Nillson. - -There are one hundred and three hospitals in London in which all the -complaints, frailties, and mishaps of poor human nature are supposed -to be provided for, and yet it will be much easier for a camel to -pass through the eye of a needle, or a rich man to get a free pass -into paradise, than that a poor wretch without friends or influence -should be able to find a bed in an hospital, unless he can succeed by -a miracle in dodging the sentinels which red tape has placed at every -entrance to these vaunted institutions. - -Down in the quiet and aristocratic dwellings of Pimlico, you shall find -such ladies as "Nelly Holmes," or "Skittles," and in St. John's Wood a -"Mabel Gray," and in a delicious villa at Fulham, a "Formosa," spending -in one night's Corinthian revelry the yearly salary of a bank clerk, -or hazarding at a game of cards the life-time pittance of a sewing -woman. And with these painted women shall be found night after night -the curled darlings of the Pall Mall clubs, some of them mere youths -who bear names as old as Magna Charta, and once as spotless perhaps as -those of Sidney or Hampden. - -At Blanchard's, in Regent street, you may dine for a pound upon the -choicest variety of dishes, cooked by a French _Chef_, who would scorn -a gift of the Order of the Garter were it given to him without the -proper culinary brevet to accompany it; and at a ham and beef shop in -Oxford street you may fill yourself to repletion, taking as a basis a -pork saveloy for a penny, a "penn'orth" of bread as a second layer, a -mutton-pie for "tuppence," a tart for a penny, and a pint of porter -for "tuppence," and then as a relish of a literary kind, you can look -at the great evening paper of London, the _Echo_, written in the most -scholarly English, without any fee. Or you can go down Camden Town way, -or up into Tottenham Court Road and get a kidney pie for two pence, or -an eel stew for two-pence half penny, with a dry bun for a penny, and a -good glass of Bass's ale for three half pence. And then you can go to -Morley's or the Langham Hotel and pick your teeth and no one will be -the wiser. - -For other amusements there is the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's -Park, with the amusing elephant, the comic kangaroo, the graceful -hippopotamus, the sleepy alligator, a band of music, lots of very -pretty English girls, a score of impudent waiters in the restaurant to -give you cold dishes when you call for hot ones, and all these delights -may be enjoyed on six-penny days, and when you come out from the wild -beasts, if you be thirsty it will only cost you a half-penny for a -chair in the Regent's Park with its noble avenues of stately trees, and -the little old woman at the little old house which juts off the gate -will hand you a bottle of cooling ginger beer, a popular Cockney drink, -for one penny. - -In the National Gallery, a magnificent structure which faces the -Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, one of the finest collections -of paintings in the world is hung. Here is the noble Turner Gallery, -bought for the nation and free to all for copying or inspection. Here -are Corregio's, Angelos', Titians, the masterpieces of Velasquez, -Murillo, Paul Veronese, the best things done by Etty, Landseer, -Stanfield, Wilkie, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and nearly all of that glorious -galaxy whose names have been painted too deeply in their grand -canvasses ever to efface. All this is free to the public, poor and rich -alike, but on Sunday, British piety bolts the lofty doors in their -hapless faces. - -The Londoners have the finest public parks in the world. The flower -beds in Hyde Park, Battersea Park, Victoria Park, Regent's Park, -Kensington Gardens, and the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, are wonderful -for their beauty and constant freshness, and in the Serpentine, a -clear stream in Hyde Park, there is no hindrance from bathing, though -the stream laves the margin of Piccadilly, one of the principal -thoroughfares of the city, where many of the richest and most powerful -of the nation have their mansions. - -This is London in brief. But a rapid and imperfect glance can be given -of the wonderful city in the opening chapter of this book, but it is -my purpose to give such details as I hope may instruct and amuse my -readers, in the chapters that shall follow. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE SILENT HIGHWAY. - - -THE Thames, the great river of England, which enriches London with the -cargoes of its thousand ships, weekly, rises in the southeastern slopes -of the Cotswold Hills. For about twenty miles it belongs wholly to -Gloucestershire, when for a short distance it divides that county from -Wiltshire. It then separates Berkshire first from Oxfordshire, and then -from Buckinghamshire. It afterward divides the counties of Surrey and -Middlesex, and to its mouth those of Kent and Essex. - -It falls into the sea at the Nore, which is about one hundred and ten -miles nearly due east from the source, and about twice that distance -measured along the windings of the river. - -From having no sandbar at its mouth like the Mersey outside of -Liverpool, it is navigable for sea vessels to London bridge, a distance -of forty-five miles from the Nore, or nearly a fourth of its entire -length. The area of the basin drained by the Thames is estimated at -about six thousand five hundred miles. - -The progress of half a century has made wonderful changes in the river. - -Wharves have taken the place of trim gardens, and the dirty coal scow -is now found where the nobleman's state barge formerly anchored. - -No man, it is said, can count the national debt of England, but who can -give an adequate idea of the number of millions of tons that annually -pass through this highway? - -The flow of land water through Teddington Weir is annually 800,000,000 -gallons. This is the main body of the river within the metropolitan -area, not counting the additions it receives from rain-falls and other -sources. - -Since the removal of the old London Bridge, the tide has been lower -upon an average. Shoals have been brought to light, before unknown, and -the result has been that nothing but a most constant and unremitting -dredging has enabled the Thames Conservancy Board to keep the river -navigable. - -It requires but a glance at Blackfriar's Bridge to determine how much -longer it will take to remove all the gravel from the bed of the river, -and leave the solid London clay as its bed. - -Every old bridge when removed leaves so many tons of gravel which -eventually finds its way to the mouth of the Thames, and there forms -shoals. - -The channel of the river thus deepened, becomes more and more brackish -every year, and it can be but a question of time, as to how and from -what source the inhabitants are to derive their water supply for -drinking purposes. - -At the East India Docks the tide falls fourteen inches lower than -formerly, and it is a fact that the low water at London Docks is lower -than the low water at Sheerness, sixty miles below. - -At present the tide at London Bridge has a rise of 18 feet. This river -at almost any tide can float the largest ships, being 33 feet in depth -at London Bridge. - -The river water when found at low tide near the city is much prized -for its power of self-purification, and is much in requisition for -sea voyages, for the reason that it contains so large a percentage of -organic matter. - -There are few or no fish to be found in the Thames in the neighborhood -of the city or below, owing to the impurities prevailing from drainage -and sewage. This fact is particularly to be noticed in the vicinity of -the town of Barking on the Thames, where is located the outfall for -all the sewage of dirty London. Formerly salmon were very plentiful at -the Nore, and the last one there caught sold at fifteen shillings per -pound. - -The Thames embankment, which was first proposed by Sir Christopher -Wren, the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral, is now almost completed. -This magnificent roadway, one of the finest in Europe, and which gives -the modern observer some conception of what the Appian Way or Via Sacra -were in the palmy day of ancient Rome, is fifty feet broad, and three -and a half feet above the highest high-water mark. The embankment, -which is constructed of Portland stone, and extends on the Surrey side -from Westminster to Vauxhall bridge, a distance of nearly a mile, and -on the Middlesex shore from Westminster to Blackfriar's bridge, a -distance of fully a mile. The embankment is lined on both sides with -trees which throw a pleasant shade under the summer sun, and serve to -protect the thousands of people of both sexes, who seek in the evening -a breath of fresh air always grateful to the tired and sweltering -citizen. - -At different points, on both sides of the river, the embankment has -magnificent stone terraces with stone stairs to enable wayfarers, -who seek transportation up and down the river, to get on and off the -numerous ferry boats that swarm and ply all over the Thames from -Richmond to Rotherhithe. - -A description of the Thames tunnel, now closed to the public, may -appropriately be included in this chapter. It was commenced by a -joint stock company in 1824, after designs by Sir Isambard Brunel. -Early in December, 1825, the first horizontal shaft was sunk. The -difficulties encountered in the construction of the great engineering -work can scarcely be overestimated. For a distance of five hundred and -forty-four feet all went well, but at this point the river burst into -the shaft, while the workmen were at labor, filling the excavation -entirely in fifteen minutes, but fortunately no lives were lost. With -great difficulty the water was pumped out and work resumed. - -After adding fifty-two feet to the original length of the shaft, the -turbid Thames again broke through. - -Six men by this accident were smothered in the rush of angry waters, -the remaining laborers escaping. Thrice again the river broke into the -succeeding excavations, and at length the tunnel was completed to the -Wapping side of the river. - -Here a shaft was sunk from the surface to meet it. In sinking this -shaft, three distinct lines of piles, showing the existence of wharves -below the present level of the Thames, were discovered. - -March 25, 1843, nineteen years after its commencement, this monument -of British stupidity and dogged obstinacy, the Tunnel, was opened to -the London public. As an investment it has never paid a dollar; as a -convenience it was a swindle on the general public, but for the wild -Arabs of London, and the lowest order of shameful women, it rivaled -the infamous Adelphi Arches as a rendezvous; calling into existence a -distinct class known as "Tunnel Thieves," who, conscious of the fact -that strangers would naturally visit this much lauded work, were always -waiting in secret hiding places to plunder the unsuspecting visitor of -his watch or valuables. - -To take the place of this absurd tunnel, a Thames Subway has been -devised, starting at Tower Hill, and continuing under the bed of the -river to a point near Blackfriar's Bridge. The Thames subway is in a -manner similar to the Pneumatic Railway. Shafts are sunk on either side -of the river, and vehicles constructed like a horse railway car, are -used to convey passengers to and fro under the river, for a fare of two -pence per head. These vehicles are lighted by lamps, and a conductor is -attached to each car. Powerful engines at either end furnish the force -which propels these underground vehicles. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE DOCKS, SHIPPING, AND COMMERCE OF THE PORT OF LONDON. - - -IF you leave King William Street just at the foot of London Bridge, and -turn to the left, you will find your way into a grouping of streets, -narrow and steep, a few only of which admit of carriage and horse -traffic. - -This is the region of the world-renowned London Docks, the basins which -hold the greatest commerce known to any city on the globe; a commerce -before which the ancient traffic of Tyre, Sidon, Carthage, and Sicily, -the granary of the ancient world, was as nothing. - -The lower stories of the houses in this district, which smell of tar, -resin, and other merchantable commodities, are let out as offices, and -the upper as warehouse floors; the pavement is narrow and the roads are -as bad as broken staves and long neglect can make them; dirty boys in -sailor's jackets play at leap frog over the street posts; legions of -wheelbarrows encumber the broader part of these thoroughfares; packing -cases stand at the doors of houses, and iron cranes and levers peep out -from the upper stories. - -No man, it has been said, could ever tell how much money lies hidden -away in the vaults of the Bank of England, and it is about as difficult -to count up the tons of produce which London exports and imports -annually. - -[Sidenote: CUSTOM HOUSE DUTIES OF LONDON.] - -For instance, during one year, (1865), the number of cargoes entered -and cleared coastwise, (which besides British ports includes the shores -from the Elbe to Brest,) was 30,820, and their tonnage, 5,263,565. - -As many as fifty thousand ships of all classes enter and leave the -Thames in twelve months, or about seventy vessels per day, exclusive of -all the innumerable kinds of miscellaneous small craft. - -The entire French commercial navy consists of twelve thousand vessels, -an aggregate of perhaps one million seven hundred thousand tons, -a little more than a quarter of the number of ships and the same -percentage of tonnage that enters and leaves this world metropolis of -London. - -If the ships that move to and fro on the bosom of the Thames be -supposed to average one hundred and fifty feet in length one with -another, they would reach, placed stem and stern together, upward of -thirteen hundred miles, or nearly half way across the Atlantic. - -The Custom House duties, with a very low tariff for the port of London, -during one year amounts to sixty-eight millions of dollars in gold, -and the declared real value of exports from London for the same time -amounted to one hundred and seventy millions of dollars in gold. The -declared real value of the imports registered at the huge granite -custom house on the Thames, for the port of London, for 1869, from -foreign and colonial ports, was four hundred millions of dollars in -gold, or as much as the total value of the real estate on New York -island in 1870. - -Englishmen are very fond of coffee it seems, for they imported thirty -million pounds of the fragrant berry in 1869. The choleric temper of -the people may find an explanation in the six million pounds of pepper -received in London. London also imported seven million gallons of rum, -although it is supposed to be the great beer drinking city of the -world. Eighty thousand gallons of gin, sixty million pounds of tea, -thirty-eight million pounds of tobacco, nine million six hundred and -fifty-seven thousand and thirty-four gallons of foreign wines, two -million cwts. of raw sugar, and two million seven hundred sixty-two -thousand two hundred and forty-eight gallons of brandy were imported in -1869. These articles of merchandise were all held in bond at the London -Custom House, and from these figures my readers may form some idea of -the magnitude of the commerce of this great city. - -Russia sent one thousand three hundred vessels and received three -hundred and ninety-one vessels, Sweden one thousand one hundred and -twenty-one vessels and received five hundred and twenty vessels, -France sent one thousand four hundred and sixteen vessels and received -one thousand three hundred and eighty-two vessels, Holland sent nine -hundred and twenty-four vessels and received seven hundred and fourteen -vessels, Cuba sent three hundred and twelve vessels and received -sixty-two vessels, United States sent four hundred and twelve vessels -and received three hundred and seventeen vessels, China sent two -hundred and eight vessels and received one hundred and thirty vessels -in 1869. - -I have not space here to enumerate all the petty nationalities, whose -merchants trade with London, but the above table, obtained from the -custom house authorities and therefore authentic, may serve to indicate -what the trade of London is, and the vast interests which gather there. -The United States does not figure so conspicuously as might be expected -here, the Alabamas and Floridas perhaps have something to do with the -paucity of American commerce with the commercial metropolis of England. - -The most wonderful of all the London sights are the huge artificial -basins, bound in masses of masonry and known as the London Docks. -No other city in the world can boast of such magnificent artificial -basins, where millions of tons of shipping can be accommodated. It is -enough to make an American feel humiliated to pay a visit to these -wonderful docks, and to be forced to compare them with the rotten -wooden wharves which environ the great city of New York, and which are -honored with the title of docks. - -[Sidenote: THE COMMERCIAL AND LONDON DOCKS.] - -The principal docks of London are those which I give below with their -water areas, cost, and the number of vessels which they accommodate: - - NO OF VESSELS - WATER AREA. LAND AREA. ACC. COST. - - Commercial Docks, 75 acres, 150 acres, 200 £610,000 - - London Docks, 40 " 100 " 320 900,000 - - West India Docks, 90 " 295 " 1104 1,600,000 - - East India Docks, 18 " 31 " 112 380,000 - - St. Catharine's Docks, 15 " 24 " 160 2,252,000 - - Surrey Docks and Canal, 71 " 40 " 300 423,000 - - Victoria Docks, 90 " 1/2 mile frontage, 400 1,072,871 - - Brentford Dock and Canal, 90 miles long, 16 acres, 2,000,000 - - Regent's Canal, 8-1/2 miles long, 300 - -The Commercial Dock is chiefly used by vessels in the oil, corn, -timber, and tobacco trade; and there is floating space for fifty -thousand loads of lumber, and the warehouses afford storage for one -hundred and fifty thousand quarters of corn, while the yards of the -company will hold four million pieces of deals, and staves without -number. The lock in the South Commercial Dock is two hundred and -twenty feet long by forty-eight feet wide, with a depth of twenty-two -feet, and will admit vessels of twenty-six feet draught. Five -hundred thousand tons of shipping have been received here in a year, -representing about one thousand five hundred vessels of various tonnage. - -The London Docks extend from East Smithfield to Shadwell and have -twelve thousand four hundred and forty feet of wharf frontage, and are -intended principally for the reception of vessels laden with wines, -brandy, tobacco, and rice. - -There are forty warehouses for the storage of merchandise of every -description, convenient in arrangement, and magnificent in design and -execution. The cubical capacity of the warehouses is two hundred and -forty-nine thousand four hundred and thirty tons; two hundred and -thirty-one thousand one hundred and forty-seven for dry goods, and -eighteen thousand two hundred and eighty-three for wet goods. - -The tobacco house in these docks sends its very strong odor all over -the Thames, and it is as good as the flavor of a Havana cigar almost to -smell this huge warehouse as you pass by on the river in a steamboat. -This warehouse is the largest of its kind in the world, covering five -acres of ground, and is rented by the government at fourteen thousand -pounds a year of the company, for all the London Docks are owned by -stock companies, and this perhaps explains the economy displayed in -their construction, and their useful adaptability to the commerce of -London. - -[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO DOCKS.] - -The tobacco warehouse will contain twenty-four thousand hogsheads -of tobacco, each hogshead holding one thousand two hundred pounds, -the total capacity being equal to thirty thousand tons of general -merchandise. - -[Sidenote: THE WINE VAULTS, AND "TASTING PERMITS."] - -Under the London Docks are the finest vaults in the world, vast -catacombs of the precious vintages garnered from every famous vineyard -in the globe. The vaults in the London docks cover an area of eighteen -acres, and afford accommodation for eighty thousand pipes of wine. One -of the vaults alone is seven acres in extent, and the tea warehouses -will hold one hundred and twenty thousand chests of that fragrant herb. - -To go into these vast wine vaults is indeed a treat. It is like -entering a City of the dead, only that instead of the skeletons of -human beings piled on top of each other, you find an Aceldama of casks, -pipes, barrels, hogsheads, and butts, bonded and stored tier upon tier, -until the eye becomes wearied, and a man wonders how all those costly -vintages can ever be consumed. - -There is no difference between night and day in these dim deep recesses -under the London streets. The vaults are only separated from the bed of -the Thames by a thick wall, and at noonday, gas has to be turned on to -light the way to the enormous storehouses of wine and brandy. Passes -are granted by the companies and the owners of liquors on bond, called -"tasting permits," which gives the privilege to the visitor to ask an -attendant for a sample of any wine, or wines and liquors that he may -choose to taste. - -Armed with one of these permits I visited the London docks one day with -a friend, and we penetrated the gloomy cavern's entrance, and finally -found our way to a part of the vaults where were stored thousands of -pipes of the delicious golden brown vintage of Xeres de la Frontera. - -My friend was one of those wandering Americans you are always sure to -light upon abroad, who makes your acquaintance whether you like it or -not, and who cries out frantically whenever he sees a foreign flag. - -"By Gad--Sir, that flag is all good enough in its way--but I _tell you_ -it does not come up to our flag of beauty and glory--now I'll put it to -you--does it?" - -A grimy looking cellar man who smelled like an old claret bottle that -had long remained uncorked, wearing an apron and carrying a wooden -hammer for tapping, came to us and said, politely, on presentation of -our orders: - -"The horders are werry correct, sir. Would you like to try a little old -Sherry, sir, fine as a sovrin and sparkling as the sun?" - -"Well, I don't care if I do take a little sherry--I don't think it will -hurt me--do you think it will?" said my friend. - -He then took about half a pint of fine golden sherry, and after taking -it he seemed all at once to discover a new beauty in the architecture -of the vaults, although he had condemned the place when he entered it, -as a "chilly, stinking hole, not fit for a dog, by Gad, sir." - -While he was delivering himself most eloquently on the merits of the -sherry, I had an opportunity to look about me and examine the place. - -[Illustration: "I DON'T THINK IT WILL HURT ME."] - -Different parties were going from cask to cask, from hogshead to -hogshead, like my friend, trying each vintage, and tasting brandies, -and gins, and wines to their heart's content. - -[Sidenote: HOISTING AND DISCHARGING CARGOES.] - -I thought to myself, what a splendid boon these vaults would be to a -New York corner loafer, without restriction and with full liberty to -drink till he died like a soldier, contending to the last against the -enemy which deprives a man of his brains. The attendants here never -object to the amount called for, and a tasting permit admits to all the -privileges. - -We were now standing in an arched alcove devoted exclusively to the -wines of Madeira, Teneriffe, and the Canary Islands. Some of these -huge casks held as many as seven hundred gallons, and the rich, old, -musty and fruity odors that came from them were truly revivifying to my -friend, who was loquacious under the influence of the sherry. - -"This ere sexshin is for the Madeery," said the bung starter. "Will you -try a little Madeery, sir?" said he. - -"Well I _don't_ care if I _do_ take a little Madeira--I don't think it -will hurt me. Now I put it to you this way--I don't think it will hurt -me if I am moderate?" - -He seemed to relish this heavy and fruity wine very much, and before he -left the alcove he had "tasted" a good deal of the Canary also smacking -his lips lusciously. - -There is considerable skill displayed in the building of the arches -of the range of vaults, and with the dim lights of the sperm lamps, -burning--as it is not deemed safe to have gas in the vaults where -spirits are stored--the vaults very much resemble the crypts under the -cloisters in Westminster Abbey, or the vaults under St. Paul's. - -The method for hoisting cargoes from the holds of ships to the grading, -which is level with the opening in the vaults is very perfect. The -opening in the wall of the basin or docks is eighteen feet high, and -large hogsheads can be hoisted and lowered at once into the vaults -instead of being temporarily deposited on the quay. - -In the old times before steam had been discovered and these magnificent -docks had been built, an East Indiaman of eight hundred tons took a -month to discharge her cargo, or if of one thousand two hundred tons, -six weeks were required for the labor, and their goods had to be taken -from Blackwall to London Bridge in lighters, when they were placed -on the quay exposed to dock rats and river thieves as goods are in -New York, where the private watchmen on the rotten wooden docks are -generally to be found in league with the thieves. - -At St. Katharine's Docks the time occupied on an average in discharging -a vessel of three hundred tons is eight hours, and for one of six -hundred tons two days and a half. In one instance one thousand one -hundred casks of tallow were discharged in six hours, but of course -this was unusually rapid work. One of the cranes in the St. Katharine's -Docks cost about twenty-five thousand dollars, and will raise from -forty to sixty tons at a time. - -There is a wharf attached to the St. Katharine Docks, which Parliament -compelled the company to construct at a cost of nearly a million -of dollars, and the warehouses will contain one hundred and ten -thousand tons of goods and merchandise. The depth of water in the St. -Katharine's Docks is twenty-eight feet at spring tide, at dead tide -twenty-four feet, and at low water ten feet, so that vessels of eight -hundred tons register are docked and undocked without the slightest -difficulty. There is a water frontage and quays of one thousand five -hundred feet in the St. Katharine Docks. The wharfage of the London -Docks is one thousand two hundred and sixty feet in length and nine -hundred and sixty feet in breadth. The capital of the London Docks -company is about twenty-five million dollars in gold, and as many as -three thousand laborers are employed in the London Docks in a day. - -The walls surrounding the London Docks cost sixty-five thousand pounds -in construction, and all these walls are so high (nearly thirty feet,) -that they present an impregnable barrier to thieves and depredators. - -The receipts for one year in the London Docks were over three million -dollars, currency; the salaries and wages amounted to about one million -dollars, and the revenue customs paid about eleven hundred thousand -dollars. These figures show that the company is in a prosperous state, -and gives the municipal governments of our American Atlantic cities the -best reasons, when others which I have already enumerated are combined, -why New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, Savannah and Charleston, -should have stone docks to equal those of London and Liverpool in -magnitude and solidity. - -[Sidenote: THE WEST INDIA DOCKS.] - -Having made a lengthened inspection of the London Docks I turned to -leave and could not find my friend who had accompanied me. After some -difficulty I discovered him afar off at the other end of the vaults -discussing with the cellarman what liquor he was next to taste. - -"Yer honor might just taste a little of the Hennesey Brandy of 1832--it -is very fine and runs down like hile." - -"By Gad, sir, the very thing--now that you mention it I will try a -little, just a _leetle_ Hennesey brandy. I'll put it to you in this -way--I don't think it can hurt me--and the cellarman says it's just -like oil. Now I recollect that oil never intoxicates. I will take just -the faintest tint." - -He did take the "faintest tint," perhaps a good sized glass-full, and -he became so jolly, and affectionate, and good natured, embracing me -and also the cellarman, that the latter personage had at last to call a -cab into which my friend was carried, and after being propped up he was -driven to his hotel. The cellarman said to me: - -"We've two agents as comes 'ere sober, bless 'em, and goes away drunk; -but they hurts nobody but themselves, bless them." - -I went from the London Docks to the West India Docks, about a mile and -a half distant, at the Isle of Dogs, a small islet in the Thames near -Blackwall. These numerous basins and warehouses occupy three times -the space of the London Docks, or about two hundred and ninety-five -acres, with a canal three quarters of a mile in length as a feeder. The -Import Dock is five hundred and ten feet in length, and about the same -measurement in width. The Export Dock is about the same length and is -about four hundred feet wide. The docks and warehouse are enclosed by -a wall of masonry five feet thick, that seems as if it would endure as -long as the port of London is open to commerce and merchandise, and the -value of twenty millions of pounds is here stored by its owners. - -I gave an employee of the company a shilling to take me through, and he -was not at all backward in showing me the treasures under the care of -the company. - -"These are the biggest docks in Lunnun, sir," said he: "say what they -will on the other docks. We will hold two hundred million tons of -merchandise here, sir, and we will not be crowded at all. Why, sir, -I've seen as much as two hundred thousand casks of sugar, five hundred -thousand bags of coffee, fifty thousand pipes of Jimaky rum, ten -thousand pipes of Madeery, twenty-five thousand tons of logwood, and -lots of other things here and we were not full. - -"I've seen an acre of 'ogsheads of tibaccy, eight feet high, and piles -of cinnamon, spices, pepper, indigo, salt pork, hides and leather, -Hindian corn, mahogany, and sich like, and no one of us, sir, ever -knows the walley of them, and I suppose Mr. Bright hiself would be more -nor puzzled to tell the walley, and I've heard as how he has got a -preshis head for figgers." - -Formerly when steamers employed paddle wheels as a means of locomotion, -the docks were very much crowded, but the use of the universal screw -has given much more space for berthways. There is, however, great risks -in these docks, of fire, from steam vessels, and I believe the rates -are much higher for steam craft than for sailing vessels. Small offices -and compact frame houses for the company's officers, revenue officers, -warehousemen, clerks, engineers, coopers and other petty attachees, -have been provided within the ground area of all these stone basins, -and everything connected with the docks is done in a systematic and -business like way that is truly wonderful. When I recollected that -less than fifty years ago London had no inclosed docks at all, and no -accommodation for shipping but a long and straggling line of private -quays, under the management of firms who had no public interests to -serve, (and in fact when the present system of docks was at first -proposed it met with almost universal opposition, particularly from -the interested parties,) I was amazed at the progress made in a half -century. - -There is not such a city in the world, perhaps, for the number of -corporations, guilds, societies, and titled people, who derive and did -derive emolument and income, of one kind or another, from these private -quay and wharfage receipts. - -[Sidenote: OPPOSITION TO THE NEW DOCK SYSTEM.] - -Therefore when the citizens of London became thoroughly awakened to the -possibility of substituting for these rotten old timber wharves and -tumble down old stone piers, a thorough, efficient, and lasting system -of dockage, the interested people began to clamor most hideously about -their "vested rights." These two words have always stood in England as -a safeguard to protect some oppressive or corporate interest. - -The "Tackle House" and City Porter Companies complained that if the -import and export business were removed beyond the city limits, their -right to the exclusive privilege of unloading and delivering all -merchandise imported into the city would be worthless. The carmen who -enjoyed a similar privilege and monopoly made the same complaint, and -they stated that Christ's Hospital, an institution much revered by all -Londoners, derived an income of four thousand pounds a year from the -licenses under which they held their monopoly; the watermen, who were -then numbered by thousands, foretold that the establishment of docks -would deprive one half of their number of bread; the lightermen stated -that they had a capital of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds -invested in tackle and craft, employed to transport merchandise, which -capital would be annihilated if ships were allowed to discharge their -cargoes on quays within docks; the proprietors of the "legal quays" as -they were called, and the "sufferance wharves," or wharves which held -no legal title, all prophesied that the trade of London would be ruined -at once if the new system of docks was established. - -However these people differed in some details of their grievances, they -all concurred in stating that unloading ships in closed docks would be -more expensive than discharging them into lighters in the river. - -On the other hand the advocates of the new system estimated on paper -that the unloading of five hundred hogsheads of sugar from a vessel -could be done in the new docks for about three hundred and fifty -dollars of American money less than under the old lighterage and open -quay system, to say nothing of the greater safety of the property thus -enclosed in dock walls. - -Finally, Parliament passed an act creating the new docks and granting a -compensation of four hundred and eighty-six thousand and eighty-seven -pounds to the proprietors of the legal quays in addition to the sum -of one hundred and thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-one -pounds which was paid to persons having "vested rights" in the mooring -claims on the river. Altogether the cost of the different London Docks, -including ground purchases, etc., was about thirty millions of dollars. -The West India Docks were the first opened in 1802, and the citizens of -London have, I am sure, no cause to regret the decision which gave them -the finest and safest system of wharfage in the world. - -The passenger traffic, by water, which transpires daily between London -and Continental cities and towns is incalculable. This of course does -not include the traffic almost as great between London and American and -Colonial ports. - -You can go from London to New York in a splendid stateroom with every -comfort and luxury at sea, for about one hundred and thirty dollars, or -you can take passage in a steerage, herding like a beast as best you -may for about forty dollars, by steam. - -I can safely recommend the Inman Line of Steamships which ply between -New York and Liverpool, as the best afloat, the most punctual and the -most comfortable. This line has nineteen fine steamers constantly -plying between Europe and America. - -[Sidenote: RATES OF FARES AND DOCK LABORERS.] - -From London to Cork the fare, first class, is about twenty-three -English shillings, and to Dublin twelve shillings. From London to -Edinburgh, first class, by sea, fifteen shillings. London to Calais, by -rail and sea, twenty-five shillings, to Havre, eleven shillings. London -to Ostend, Belgium, fifteen shillings; to Antwerp, twenty shillings; -to Hamburg, two pounds; to Rotterdam one pound; to Belfast, forty-five -shillings; to Dundee, twenty shillings. London to Malta twelve pounds; -to Maderia sixteen pounds sixteen shillings; to Oporto, eight pounds -eight shillings; to Marseilles, twelve pounds ten shillings; to Rio -Janeiro, thirty pounds; to St. Petersburg, six pounds six shillings; -to Glasgow, twelve shillings; to Liverpool, twenty shillings; to -Stockholm, eighty-four shillings; to Brussels, forty-eight shillings; -to Genoa, twelve pounds; Leghorn, fifteen pounds; Naples, eighteen -pounds; Christiana, Norway, eighty shillings, and Copenhagen, -sixty-three shillings. - -I give these fares as I believe it may be of some use to Americans, who -design to travel, to know the correct rates of Continental travel. It -is much pleasanter to travel to the continent by sea from London than -by rail, the accommodations are better, the views of the best. There -is no hurry, you may get your meals regularly, it is more healthful -and certainly much cheaper, as the above fares are all for first class -passages, and it is easy to obtain second or third class accommodations -for a very great deal less money. - -In concluding this chapter on the Port of London, I may say that it is -almost impossible to name a place for which passage cannot be obtained, -by sea from London, and vessels are leaving daily and hourly for their -various destinations, from the many wharves and docks that line the -Thames between London and Westminster bridges, a distance of two miles, -on the river. - -Thirty thousand men find employment, daily, as laborers, in the -London Docks. Men who have been reduced by want, misfortune, or by -drunkeness, find in these vast commercial reservoirs, a precarious -means of subsistence, earning from eighteen pence to two shillings a -day, half of which generally goes for beer, or potations of a heavier -and more spirituous kind. This kind of labor is unskilled, and has -for its propulsion mere manual strength, so that, when a man fails in -everything else, he may possibly succeed as a dock laborer. The public -houses frequented by the laborers are situated in the dark alleys and -crowded courts near the river, and all of them partake of the brutal, -low appearance which distinguishes the London coal heaver and dock -lifter. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -PALACES OF LONDON. - - -LONDON is studded with palaces some of which were constructed by -Royalty itself--some of which were confiscated by royalty, and others -again were bought by royalty from the nobles of England, or from those -persons who had amassed great wealth. - -The Court of St. James is a household word among diplomats, and is -used as a threat by ambassadors at Vienna, or perhaps as a phrase -of mediation at Washington, St. Petersburg, or Paris, but generally -this name is used by belligerent envoys with threat and menace at -Constantinople, Athens, Honduras, or Lisbon. English statecraft and -diplomacy always tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, and an English -Cabinet never fails to measure the strength of a nation before trying -conclusions with it. - -Even the Sultan himself, and he is by common consent supposed to be a -very sick man, could pass the dirty looking pile of St. James palace at -the lower end of Pall Mall, near St. James street, without a tremor, -and the only signs of royalty or power are the bear skin caps and red -coats of a couple of guardsmen, who walk up and down with their muskets -at a support, in a most melancholy and bored manner before the gates. - -[Sidenote: ST. JAMES AND WHITEHALL.] - -This is one of the chief residences of royalty in the metropolis. In -1532, his majesty by the Grace of God, King Henry the Eighth, cast his -eyes upon St. James Hospital, a place set apart for lepers, fourteen -of whom were residing there at the time, and being convinced of the -healthfulness of the situation, the inmates were driven forth, a small -pension given to each, and on the site of the hospital for physical -lepers, this moral leper erected what is now known as the palace of St. -James, for the reception of the unfortunate but giddy Anne Boleyn. - -During the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth the palace was deserted, but -with the advent of the Stuarts, St. James became a royal nursery. - -The ill-fated Charles the First had a passionate fondness for this -palace, and on the morning of his execution attended divine service in -the chapel which he had fitted up. - -After the restoration, James II furnished St. James at great expense; -and from this period St. James became with hardly an intermission the -abode of royalty. George the Second died here mumbling. George IV was -born, and passed much of his time here. As a royal residence it has -fallen away from its ancient splendor and is now only used on occasions -of state solemnity; yet it is one of the best planned palaces in Europe -for comfort, and possesses a fine gallery of paintings. - -Whitehall, or the palace that is known by that name, was formerly -called York House, and for three centuries before the time of Cardinal -Wolsey, was the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. - -After the death of Wolsey its name was changed to Whitehall, from a -large hall in the building painted entirely white. Wolsey fitted up the -palace in a style of grandeur never equaled, much less excelled by any -other subject of the English crown, and being occupied by the king on -the demise of Wolsey, it was called the King's Palace of Westminster. - -When Queen Elizabeth died it was refitted by King James, and -enlarged--but was destroyed by fire in 1619. Immediately after its -destruction James determined to rebuild it, and a portion of the -palace was completed at a cost of fifteen thousand pounds, but such -extravagance could not be allowed in those days, parliament refusing -to grant money to continue the building, and the fanatical monarch, -whose memory has survived because of his hatred of tobacco, was forced -to suspend operations for want of funds. - -The ceiling of the banqueting-room, a work of Rubens and for which he -was paid three thousand pounds, is said to be one of the finest efforts -of that most gifted artist's pencil. - -In the time of the Protector Cromwell, one of the rarest collections -of paintings ever made in the world, and of immense value--which had -been accumulated here by successive kings, was ordered to be sold -by Cromwell in accordance with the Puritan belief that to possess -paintings or statuary was conducive of image worship in the owner. -Charles the First was really a great admirer of works of art, and had -he lived he would no doubt have made Whitehall the finest palace of -Europe. - -Cromwell occupied Whitehall as a residence for his family after -the execution of King Charles I, for butcher as he was, and strict -republican as he pretended to be, he was not above enjoying the good -things of this life, and despite his cadaverous countenance he could -appreciate a soft bed and a tender piece of roast beef with the -jolliest of cavaliers. - -On the 10th of April, 1691, a fire broke out in the apartments of the -bad Duchess of Portsmouth who occupied a portion of Whitehall, (this -woman was a mistress of Charles II,) and in 1698 the entire structure -was consumed with the exception of the banqueting-hall, and nothing but -the walls were left standing. - -This hall was altered to a chapel by King George II, and since that -time has been used for that purpose, the clergyman always being a royal -chaplain. Over the door is a bust of the founder, and the brilliant -frescos of the ceiling pieces of Rubens are all that is left of the -once magnificent palace of Whitehall. - -[Sidenote: BUCKINGHAM PALACE.] - -The residence of the Queen, when in London, is generally supposed to be -Buckingham Palace, a long gloomy looking building in St. James Park, -not a stones' throw from the Marble Arch in Hyde Park or Westminster -Abbey. The same big flashy looking soldiers in red coats, and hideous -grenadier bearskins are to be seen marching up and down opposite this -palace gate just as they do about St. James Palace, or at the Horse -Guards in Parliament street. - -[Illustration: BUCKINGHAM PALACE.] - -St. James Park is a pretty place with fine shady trees, and here in -the mall or wide walk of the park was played a century ago, and still -farther back in the days of paint, powder, and patches, and garden -masquerades, the game of "pell mell." - -Buckingham Palace, though much frequented by the Queen, and situated -pleasantly as far as appearances go, is not a healthy place of -residence at all. The Queen frequently has complained of its dampness, -she having often contracted bad colds there. This I have on the -authority of her former chaplain. - -George the IV had a Dutch predeliction for low ceilings, and as he -never lived on good terms with his wife, whom he used to call a Fat -Dutch Hog, no accommodations were made for Queen Caroline his spouse, -in Buckingham Palace. - -The palace was occupied by this monarch, for whom it was built, in -1825. This king was one of the most profligate of men and a roue--and -yet had the reputation of being the finest gentleman in Europe, but he -never spared man in his rage nor woman in his lust. - -John, Duke of Buckingham, lived in a house on the site of the palace, -in 1703, from which circumstance it has derived its name. - -I had special permission to visit this palace while the Queen was -absent on her summer tour in Scotland; it being a great favor to be -admitted, and it was only by great perseverance and difficulty that I -obtained entrance to the royal abode. - -One bright morning I called about ten o'clock, and after presenting my -order of admittance was allowed to enter. - -I was bewildered by its sumptuous magnificence. Fancy a noble hall -surrounded with a double row of marble columns, every one composed of a -single piece of veined Carrara marble, with gilded bases and capitals; -the _tout ensemble_ being a splendid perspective of over one hundred -and fifty feet. The steps of the grand staircase are also of the purest -marble. The Library, Council room, and Sculpture gallery are all most -beautifully decorated. - -The Library is used for a waiting room for deputations, which as soon -as the Queen is ready to receive them pass across the Sculpture Gallery -into the hall, and thence ascend by the Grand Stairway, through the -Ante-Room and the Green Drawing-room to the Throne room. The Library -and adjoining rooms are fitted up in a most gaudy fashion, there -being a sad want of taste displayed, either by her Majesty or her -upholsterer, but by which I am not able to say. - -The Sculpture Gallery contains the busts of leading statesmen of all -countries, and chief among them I noticed one of Prince Albert, the -late husband of the Queen, mounted on a fine pedestal. Busts of all the -members of the royal family, male and female, are also here. That of -the Princess Louisa is a charming, innocent looking English face; she -is said to be deeply in love with a rich Catholic nobleman of the Duke -of Norfolk's family. - -The Picture Gallery has fine skylights so as to throw a shaded light -on the works of art below, and here are to be found the master pieces -of the Dutch and Flemish schools, gems of Reynolds, Watteau, Titian, -Albert Durer, Rembrandt, Teniers, Ostade, Cuyps, Wouvermans, and -others, formerly the collection in great part of George IV. - -The Yellow Drawing room, a superb apartment, has a series of paintings -in panels of the royal family, there being full length pictures of -Queen Victoria, looking very fat, with the crown upon her head, and -Prince Albert in his costume of Knight of the Garter, a dress which -is supremely ridiculous in these days when none but priests and -academicians wear such drapery. - -[Sidenote: QUEEN'S LIBRARY.] - -The Throne Room is a gaudy looking apartment, very large and spacious, -and like all the rooms in Buckingham palace having a very low ceiling, -the prevailing decoration being curtains of striped satin, and the -alcoves are hung in rich crimson velvet relieved or rather bedizened -with an nearly obscured gilding. William IV, the sailor king, hated -this palace for its ugliness and discomfort, and this all the more that -he was used to sleeping in a hammock aboard his own frigate. - -The Marble Arch, an immense pile of stone now at the corner of -Piccadilly and Hyde Park, formerly occupied the central position in -this building, and was erected in its present position at a cost of -thirty-one thousand pounds. - -When the present Queen had her first child the palace was found so -uncomfortable that she had to have the nursery removed to the attic, -and there, while the royal child was getting its teeth cut, the Lord -Chamberlain of England, who had charge of the improvements, was boiling -glue and making French polish in the basement, so that altogether the -queen of the greatest nation of the earth, subsequent to her honeymoon, -was no better housed than a poor family in New York, dwelling in a -respectable tenement house. - -Parliament, however, was kind enough to grant the sum of one hundred -and fifty thousand pounds to alter and repair the building, and -accordingly the palace was made habitable for her Majesty. - -The Ball Room is one hundred and thirty-nine feet in length. The -Supper Room is seventy-six by sixty feet--with a promenade gallery -one hundred and nine feet in length, and twenty-one feet wide. There -is a riding school attached, with a mews or stable for horses; here -the state carriages and coaches are kept at an expense, for flunkies, -grooms, masters of the horse, stable boys, feed for horses and labor, -of thirty-six thousand pounds, or over two hundred thousand dollars -annually. - -I was allowed as a great favor to inspect the Queen's library, which -is very handsomely fitted up, and wherever the eye rested for a moment -it was sure to find a picture or bust of Prince Albert. There were a -number of small tables of inlaid ivory, mother of pearl, and gold, -covered with handsomely bound volumes of Shakespeare and other English -poets. I also saw a finely bound copy of the Memoirs of the Queen, -which it is supposed was written by her Majesty. This is a mistake, -however, as the entire book was written by a secretary of hers from -some scanty notes provided by her, and from personal recollections. -The Queen was nine months dictating the work before its publication. -The Queen was in the habit of sitting four hours a day giving these -reminiscences of her husband, and during this time she always had a -glass of sherry and a biscuit by her side. - -Very little is known of her Majesty outside of the British Isles. -Almost every other female sovereign has publicity given to all her -secret actions, and her private life is discussed with great personal -freedom, in the cafes and clubs. A thousand stories have been set -afloat and circulated in regard to Madam Isabella, lately Queen of -Spain, and but a few of them are true. Rochefort in his papers, "The -Lantern" and the "Marsellaise," has not hesitated to pour columns of -abuse upon the head of the Empress Eugenie, a lady whose principal -fault is a fondness for low necked dresses. - -[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN.] - -Two women have hitherto escaped this kind of slander, and these two are -the Empress of Austria and Queen Victoria. The reason is palpable in -the case of the Empress of Austria; she is an imperial lady to discuss -whose private life it would be dangerous if done on Austrian territory. - -In regard to the Queen of England, the reason why silence is kept in -relation to her private life is because of a sneaking regard for the -manners, customs, and good opinions of titled individuals among most -American travelers. - -[Sidenote: QUEEN'S SECLUSION.] - -The Queen has been a good wife and mother, but in these two qualities -she is more than equaled by thousands of American women. She is no -better and no worse than the average married woman; has her faults, her -weaknesses, and her good qualities, and it is among her own people that -her failings find their loudest trumpeters. - -In honestly dealing with these stories I shall not stop to give the -gross yarns which are spun by the Jenkinses of the press, who make what -they call an honest penny by chronicling all the loose street scandal -that is poured into their ears. - -The London Times, the leading paper of England, has on several -occasions soundly berated the Queen for her continued seclusion from -the public, her exalted position being, it is said, her only excuse, -and subsequent to the death of Prince Albert this seclusion was -continued so long that the shopkeepers and tradesmen who profit by the -receptions, festivals, and gaieties of the court, were loud in their -complaints of what they deemed to be an overstrained and extravagant -grief. - -Several leading modistes or dress makers were obliged to give up -business, owing to the Queen having closed her drawing rooms; murmuring -loudly that they had been ruined by her Majesty, as their principal -business was to make dresses for the ladies of rank who have nothing -else to do but go to balls, parties, and drawing-room receptions when -invited. Indeed for the past three years there has been a growing -dissatisfaction with her Majesty, and sad stories are told of that -royal lady in the English capital--chiefly the shopkeepers were -enraged--although this class of people are usually the most loyal--then -the Fenian affair came and was added as fuel to the general discontent. - -But the worst remains to be told, and it is with no feeling of pleasure -that I am compelled to lift the veil. - -The story is everywhere prevalent that the seclusion of the Queen is -owing to her fondness for liquor; this statement has never been openly -promulgated in the papers, but is continually hinted at obscurely in -the more liberal organs. It is boldly spoken of by private individuals -that the temper of her Majesty has of late years become very irascible -and is sometimes ungovernable, and the cause is attributed to drink and -its consequent delirium which has seized upon this unfortunate lady. - -I was told by a clergyman who had it direct from the wife of a -former chaplain of her Majesty, that the Queen was in the habit of -drinking half a pint of raw liquor per day. The effects of these -liberal potations are making visible havoc in her once comely face. I -saw her thrice, and her inflamed face and swollen eyes gave her all -the appearance of an inebriate. Perhaps the trouble caused by her -scapegrace of a son, the Prince of Wales, who, without doubt, is as -reckless a scamp as ever existed, has had much to do with his mother's -present condition, and has driven her to drinking. - -It is also notorious that the Queen has chosen for her body servant one -John Brown, a raw boned, robust, and coarse Highlander, and clings to -him with more warmth and tenacity than becomes a lady who carried her -sorrow for a deceased husband previously to such an extravagant pitch. - -This John Brown whom I saw is over six feet in height, a powerful -looking fellow; but he has a face that would find favor in the eyes of -very few women. He was formerly a body servant of Prince Albert, and -was always an attendant on him in his hunting and fishing excursions. -The Queen took notice of him at Balmoral, her summer residence in -Scotland, and here she made a great pet of him. - -After the death of Prince Albert the Queen attached Brown to her -person, and ever since he has constantly attended her. - -It is the custom of the Queen to have herself pushed around the grounds -of her lodge at Balmoral in a perambulator or hand carriage when she -visits that charming spot. - -The person selected for this duty was the lucky John Brown. Day after -day he might be seen pushing around the spacious lawn, the Majesty of -England. - -[Sidenote: LUCKY JOHN BROWN.] - -During her hours of idleness Brown is always allowed to converse -with the Queen in a familiar manner, and it is said presumes on her -gracious condescension more than her noblest subject would dare to do. - -[Illustration: JOHN BROWN EXERCISING THE QUEEN.] - -When the Queen takes her seat in her perambulator it might often occur -that a servant would spring forward with a lowly reverence to assist -the royal lady, but in every instance the unfortunate flunkey would -receive a rebuking frown, and in a moment after might have to undergo -the mortification of a sneering laugh from Brown, who at this crisis -would make his appearance--strolling in a leisurely fashion toward the -perambulator, and stretching his long Celtic legs, his arms full of -warm wraps in which he proceeds to enfold the person of the Queen, with -as much seeming fondness as if he were the husband instead of the low -lackey of royalty, without polish and breeding; then in addition to the -silent rebuke of the Queen the offending servant would hear from Brown -some such remark as "I say my douce laddie, dinna ya offer yer sarvices -till her Majesty asks ya fur them. Dinna ye be sticking yer finger in -till anoother mun's haggis or ye moon be scalded." - -"That will do Brown," the Queen would say to prevent a scene which -would be sure to take place were Brown's violent temper not curbed -in time to prevent an explosion, for the tall Highland gillie is no -respecter of persons, and cares very little for royalty except in the -person of its chief representative. - -It is a current anecdote in the Pall Mall clubs, that the Queen's -cousin, the Duke of Cambridge, who is also the commander-in-chief of -the British Army, having one day desired an audience with the Queen of -a private nature, waited upon her at Buckingham Palace and presented -his card like any other private citizen. He was desired to wait, and -did so until he became tired, and finally he was admitted to the -presence, and was somewhat astonished to find the servant, John Brown, -in the room. - -The Duke being a member of the royal family did not hesitate to say to -her majesty in a respectful way: - -"Will your Majesty be so kind as to ask your footman to leave the -saloon, I desire to speak to you on a matter of importance, privately." - -"Very well, you may speak without intrusion," said the Queen, turning -her head slightly to the window where her servant stood with his back -turned coolly upon the Queen's cousin, "there is no one here but Brown, -he is very discreet." - -[Sidenote: A GOOD STORY.] - -Finding that the Highlander could not be prevailed upon to leave the -room, the Duke made a virtue of necessity and proceeded to state the -purport of his visit. The Queen engaged in conversation with her -cousin, and some minutes having elapsed the conversation turned upon -different subjects. The Duke was relating a joke about the Clubs for -the edification of the Queen, in which a noble person was made to -assume a ridiculous position, when all at once he was interrupted -with a peal of coarse and irreverent laughter, which rang through the -apartments, and the Duke turning around with a thrill of horror and -astonishment, heard Brown scream out while he held his sides to contain -his mad mirth: - -"Oh! oh! What a d----d fule that fellow must have been." - -The Duke for a moment stood petrified with horror, an unpleasant tremor -ran down the small of his back, and then being seized with a sudden -idea, he took his hat and making a low reverence left the apartment as -the Queen said in an irritable tone: - -"Oh! never mind, it's only Brown." - -The story was too good to keep, and in a few days it was known all over -London. - -On the day that the Queen opened Blackfriars bridge she rode in a state -carriage with Brown behind her, and the act was so flagrant that when -the procession passed through the Strand, the Queen was openly hissed -by the people who stood on the sidewalks and saw the burly form of the -Scotsman in the carriage, so close to her Majesty. - -I leave facts to speak for themselves, there is no need of comment. The -great rival of Punch is a paper called the Tomahawk, published in Fleet -street, and which is edited with fearless ability. The chief artist is -a Matthew Morgan who excels all others of his craft in London for the -beauty and spirit of his cartoons. Well, one day the Tomahawk appeared -with a large two paged cartoon, in which the queen was pictured in her -perambulator, and the tall form of Brown behind pushing the vehicle, -while he leaned over the back and looked with an affectionate leer into -the face of the sovereign of England. There was no inscription at the -bottom of the picture, but it was so truthful and telling, that every -person who looked, saw the whole scandalous story at a glance. Three -editions of this number of the Tomahawk were sold in a few days, and in -the corner of the picture the daring artist did not hesitate to sign -his initials, "M.M." It is sufficient to state that no proceedings were -taken, nor was a suit of libel brought against the editors who publish -the paper. - -I have here only recounted facts well known in England, and I set them -down without malice or extenuation. - -The salary or income of Queen Victoria is, I believe, about five -thousand two hundred dollars a day, including Sundays, for which she -also receives her regular stipend. Like other sovereigns, she does not -toil or spin, yet the people must pay the bills all the same. Being -of a very economical and thrifty disposition, it is supposed that -her Majesty will leave a fortune of many millions of pounds to her -scapegrace son when she dies, that is to say, if he has common decency -enough too wait for her decease, and ceases to outrage her feelings to -much. - -Queen Victoria was born May 24th, 1819, and is consequently in her -fifty-second year. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -HIDDEN DEPTHS. - - -FINDING it necessary to have a companion with me who had a perfect -knowledge of the English Metropolis, I paid a visit to the headquarters -of the police in the Old Jewry, and procured from Inspector Bailey, the -Chief of Police, the aid of a detective to accompany me in my nightly -adventures. Shortly after midnight Sergeant Moss and myself passed -through Gracechurch into Fenchurch street, by towering warehouses, and -along Aldgate into High street, Whitechapel. Until we got well up into -Whitechapel we had not met more than three or four persons, and they -were principally individuals who had taken more ale or strong liquor -than was good for their equilibrium. One person, who was evidently -out of his latitude, accosted the detective and demanded of him, in a -menacing but rather ludicrous way: - -"I s'ay ole fel', whish ish Goodman's Feelsh? I wansh to go to -Somshseet sthreeths. Goodman's Feelsh, ole boy. Show we waysh and give -shixpensh, ole fel?" - -"Go along and turn off to your left, and when you get home eat an -onion, and it will do you good p'raps," said he, as he tried to dodge -the drunken fellow, who seemed well dressed, and had some jewelry on -his person. - -"Eesh an onionsh. Sir, yer a gentlesmansh--ole boy. Blesh you. Blesh -you," and he staggered away into the darkness, rolling like a yawl-boat -in the breakers. - -We turned off the Whitechapel road into Baker street, up Charles into -Wellington street. The neighborhood was a poor desolate one, and every -building, and every stone in the street, with the offal in the gutters, -spoke of poverty and wretchedness. - -Now and then a policeman spoke to us and looked sharply at me, but -always they seemed civil and obliging. - -The district we were now traversing was a kind of debatable land -between Whitechapel and Bethnal Green. The streets, or rather lanes, -ran across and along at angles and in circles of a perfect maze tending -to confound ways that were well calculated to puzzle a stranger. - -The lanes were, with few exceptions, not more than two or three hundred -feet long, and the odor from the cellars and lodging houses was -miasmatic. Shouts and yells and curses came from drunken male brutes -who passed us, and now and then a wretched looking outcast of a woman, -hideous with filth and bloated with gin, stole like a shadow from some -of the low public houses that were, in accordance with the beer-house -act, putting up their shutters. - -A woman passed us with a stone bottle in one hand and a herring in the -other, while we stood looking up and down the narrow street. Her eyes -were bloodshot and her face seamed with dissipation and wretchedness, -while she grasped the stone bottle hard, and seemed ready to defend her -precious property with her life. - -"Wot have you got there," said my companion seizing the stone jug and -holding it to his nose. The woman was almost frenzied at this attempt, -as she believed it was, to deprive her of what was far dearer to her -than her life. "Give me back my gin!" she screamed, and dashed forward -like a tigress to claw his eyes out. The sergeant seemed satisfied, and -handed her back the stone vessel with a motion of disgust. - -"That'll do, ole lady," said he, "I'd rather you'd drink that White -Satan nor me. I pitys yer precious witles, that's hall, when you drinks -it. Where do you live?" - -[Sidenote: AN EXPLORATION.] - -"I live's in 'Purty Bill's lodgin.' I'll show it to you for a brown. -Come along." We followed her for a short distance, and now and then, -as we passed the doorways and courts, some low blackguard would vent -a little of his vile or rough humor upon our devoted heads, merely to -keep his intellect in play. - -"I say, ye pair of duffers, give us tuppence to get a pot o' beer, wont -ye; come here, and I'll cash yer check hif you 'ave no small change," -said a cut-throat looking rascal of large build who was lying across a -door that seemed to open into the earth somewhere. He half rose; fell -back on the broken cavern door stupefied with liquor, and began to -snore like a wild beast gorged with blood. - -"This is an awful district, sir," said the detective. "They doesn't -stand on ceremony with you here." - -We passed further down the dark street, and a very dark street it was. -The atmosphere was very different from that which hung over London -Bridge. The air was noisome, and the collected offal in the gutters -sent up a frightful stench to the heavens. At the end of the street -was a cul de sac, and before we came to it my conductor stopped at a -passage, dim under the midnight sky, which ran back for some distance; -I could not tell how far, owing to the darkness. - -We passed into the court, which seemed to yawn wider as one progressed, -between three-storied, tumble-down, dirty brick buildings, and finally -we found ourselves in a yard about a hundred feet square, from the -opposite side of whose buildings clothes lines depended covered with -canvass jackets, ragged highlows, aprons, and two or three sou'westers, -beside a lot of female articles of under-linen. There were barrows, -hand carts, small jackass carts and baskets, with a few empty barrels -piled up in a confused mass in the corner of the yard. Cabbage leaves, -bones of fish and animals, potato skins--the remains of carniverous -appetites--were strewed all round. - -The detective had by this time lit a lantern which he had concealed -in his breast, and thus I was enabled to look around me. He said, -"This is a rum spot; but never mind, it's safe enough. Now dy'e see -that cellar--that's where we are a goin' to spend an hour or two. Come -along." - -He pointed in the direction of the cellar, or rather an opening in the -ground, at the further corner of the yard, from whose bowels issued -slanting streaks of light, shouts of laughter, and yells indicative of -mad revelry. Groping our way carefully over the heaps of rubbish, and -around the vehicles and barrels, we arrived at the cellar, which had -for an opening an aperture about six feet wide by five feet in length. -The broken wooden stairs leading to the bottom had some fifteen steps. - -We descended and found the door at the lowest step barring the -entrance. It was fastened, and had a dirty, impenetrable pane of glass -as a watchhole for the use of those inside, so that nothing could be -seen from the outside of the door. We gave the door a kick, and then -the shouting and laughing seemed to stop very suddenly, and there was a -hustling and running about inside which betokened preparation. - -A face appeared at the pane of glass, and, after a scrutiny of a minute -or two, the door went back on its hinges with a grating sound. A big -bullet-head protruded itself, and a voice said: - -"Who is that ere? Wot does you want, and who the d----l send you at this -time o' night a disturbin' of honest people in their comfortable beds?" - -"Bill, it's 'Faking Johnny' as wants to hold a few moments conversation -with you. The queen has just sent me with a patent of nobility for -you, from Buckingham Palace. You are to be made a barronnight right -hoff when you reforms," said the detective, in a jocular way, as he -descended into the cellar and faced the proprietor of the den, who held -a half-penny candle above his head to get a look at us both. - -The master of the mansion finally recognized my companion, but did not -seem at all well pleased with his visit. - -"Well," he said, in a very gruff voice, "is hit bizness or pleasure? -Vich? Kase, hif hits bizness you must 'elp yourself." - -[Sidenote: "PURTY BILL."] - -"Oh, pleasure by all means, Purty Bill," said the sergeant, "myself -and friend here, who is a son of Henry Clay, as was President of the -United States of America, just wants to see how the fun is goin' on -to-night, and as I knew you kept a fust-class place, Bill, I thought -I would bring him around to see you. He has called on the Queen, Mr. -Bright, Mr. Gladstone, the Hemperor of the French, and he expressed a -great desire to see 'Purty Bill;' so here we are." - -[Illustration: PURTY BILL SHOWING US IN.] - -The hideous vagabond seemed touched by this piece of insidious -flattery, and said in a modified tone: - -"Oh, well, that's fair enough. I don't hask hanything better. But ye -see I thought you might ha' wanted some of my lodgers, and so many of -them have been done for lately that they are getting suspicious of my -honesty, and I have to be careful. Come this way," and he held the -half-penny candle over his head, which gave me a chance to observe him. -The man was about six feet two inches in height, and much in form of -shoulders like an ox, with loins like a prize-fighter. The face was -pitted terribly with small-pox, his entire face was seared, and even -the corners of his eyebrows seemed eaten away by the awful disease. -Hence his name of "Purty Bill." His eyes were of a greenish blue, and -his attire was that of a costermonger; a smock of canvass, and knee -breeches and huge shoes, whose heavy nails made rapid incisions in the -clay floor of the long, dark passage through which we had to pass until -we came to still another door. This door was not a door; in fact it was -only a few planks strongly nailed together, and was not more than four -feet high, so that we were all compelled, as "Purty Bill" lifted the -latch, to put our feet in first, and making half circles of our bodies, -we entered, and after descending three or four flagged steps we were -at last in the cellar and establishment proper over which "Purty Bill" -claimed a proprietary interest. - -It was one of the strangest sights I ever saw--the interior of this -Wild Beast's Den. It was a huge cellar formerly used as a brewery, of -perhaps a hundred by seventy-five feet in dimension. - -The ceiling, or, rather, the rough, unplaned beams which supported -the roof above us, gave an appearance of great strength to the place. -There was a large fireplace in the center of the cellar, around which -fifty or sixty persons sat, of all ages and of both sexes. The floor -was of damp clay, smooth and trodden by the feet of countless thieves, -vagabonds, and prostitutes. The corners of the cellar were buried in -darkness, while the center of the cavern, near the fireplace, was -bright with the flames of a fire of logs, which threw a flickering -light on the wooden beams, the broken chairs and stools, the pewter -pots in the hands of the lodgers, and on many faces stained with dirt -and ploughed up with crime and misery. There were thirty or forty -berths roughly constructed as they are in the emigrant steerage of a -Liverpool packet, and a heap of dirty straw in each indicated that -they were used as beds by the occupants of the apartments. There was -a large black pot hanging from a big hook, which depended from the -brick chimney, and from this pot came a steaming odor of soup, or stew -of some kind. The majority of the lodgers were sitting on the bare -ground, which was dry and hardened near the fire, while at a distance -from its flame the ground was rather damp and the lodgers sat on broken -stools or on ragged pieces of matting, broken pieces of willow ware, -logs of wood, bundles of rags, or any other article, or articles, that -were convertible into seats for the time being. - -[Sidenote: "WONT YOU TAKE SOMETHING?"] - -The room was lighted by four or five candles, which were stuck in glass -bottles, the bottles being fastened to the joists which supported the -berths in which the lodgers slept. The people nearest the fire had -fragments of food in their hands and were evidently preparing for a -grand midnight feast. Some of them were peeling potatoes, and one old -fellow with rheumy eyes had a piece of bacon of five or six pounds -weight between his crossed knees on a board, which he was cutting -into small square lumps, and as he hacked a piece off he threw it at -random into the large pot. A young girl was engaged in carving a huge -cabbage-head, and her assistant was scraping carrots and parsnips. -Every one seemed interested about the pot, and every one seemed to have -some contribution for the feast, which I found was a co-operative one. - -[Illustration: "WONT YOU TAKE SOMETHING?"] - -"Purty Bill" bustled about and found two broken stools for myself and -conductor, and placed them near the fire, saying in a hospitable way: - -"Gent's, this ere night is werry wet, and you might as well dry -yourselves. Sit up nearer the fire. Won't ye take somethink?" and he -put his huge paws on the detectives knee in a friendly way. "This is -agoin to be a topper of a meal to-night, and all of us will welcome ye -gents to our 'umble board. So make yerselves at 'ome, and peck a bit -when it's biled." - -"Wot's the idea of getting up this cram at this time of the morning, -Bill? It's near two o'clock. Won't it interfere with yer lodgers' -precious digestion?" - -"Hinterfere with it? Wot, vith one of my lodgers? Rayther! No. Vy -there's Kicking Billy as heats six blessed meals a day, and then he's -all the time a lookin' for sangwiches and pigs trotters a-tween meals. -Urt their digestion hindeed? Vy they 'av got stomax like them ere -hanimals wot performs at Hastleys. You knows Slap-Up Peter. You used -to be a stone swallower in the purfession," and the proprietor touched -a man who was squatted on his haunches, smoking a dirty stump of clay -pipe, with his foot. Slap-Up Peter drew the pipe out of his mouth, -shook the ashes from it, dusted the venerable relic with a greasy red -handkerchief, carefully placed it in his breeches pocket, and said: - -"Vy don't ye keep yer big feet to yerself? Wot hanimals do you mean? Do -you mean cammomiles?" - -"Yes, them hanimals vith the 'umps on their hugly backs. You see, sir, -Slap-Up Peter has had a good eddycation in his time, and he knows the -names of the hanimals, 'cos he used to travel with the circus afore he -went on the tramp to swallow stones and snakes." - -"Peter," said the detective, "you must 'ave quite an 'istry. Could you -tell us somethink about your past life, my boy?" - -Slap-Up Peter had a melancholy face. The skin was tanned, the eyes -large, black, and bulging, and the nose like a hawk's. His clothes were -worn and greasy; his face was gaunt, and when he moved his body the -bones seemed to creak and grate as if they had been joined together by -metallic hinges. There was something mournful about the man--some queer -story attached to him, I felt. - -[Sidenote: PETER AND JUDY.] - -"Tell ye me 'istry, is it? Vell, I don't mind if I do; but them as -hears my story mout give me somethink to drink first, for I ham werry -dry. I lost my woice speaking on the Histablished Church bill tother -night in Parlymint, and I've been 'oarse hever since." - -"Well, take a drop, Peter," said Kicking Billy, a one-eyed and -one-legged, and rascally looking fellow, who sat with his crutches -between his knees, toasting his shin at the fire, and he handed a -bottle to Slap-Up Peter, who took it without saying a word, and lifting -it to his mouth, took a deep, deep draught without winking. - -"Look at that fellow that they call Kicking Billy--the one-legged -fellow, I mean," said the detective to me. "He's a returned burglar, -that fellow, and has served fourteen years. This place is full of -thieves. They are nearly all thieves, and this is a thieves feast," he -whispered in my ear. - -"My name is Peter Wilson, and I've been in the show business for -sixteen years, come Christmas, man and boy. I'm thirty-eight years of -age now, and they called me Slap-Up Peter when I fust began jumpin', as -a hacrobat in the penny gaffs. Cos wy, I had a way of turnin' myself -over a chair and coming back-handed on a somerset that used to take -well, but now so many does it that the haudience don't mind it a bit. I -jumped for four years, and wos counted pretty good in my line until I -dislocated my wrist a doin' of the Pyramids of Hegypt, and then I vos -laid hup and couldn't jump for six months and hover; so I thought I'd -leave the bus'ness and happear in another character. I got married to--" - -"More fool you," said Kicking Billy, sententiously, taking a drink. - -"Well, hit didn't cost you nothing, no more than it did for the -government to support you in Botany Bay for fourteen years. So you -needn't hinterrupt me again." - -"Go hon, Peter, and never mind him, its only 'is chaff." - -"Well, as I wos saying," continued Slap-Up Peter, "I got married, and -maybe it was rayther foolish, for when we were spliced, Judy and I--she -wos an Irish gal and a good worker--we went into our cash account and -found that we had only one pun six shillings and height pence, not a -blessed brown more. I said to Judy--she wor a good gal-- - -"Judy, we can't keep 'ause on twenty-six shillings capital, that's -shure. That's all our fortune in silver and gold, and it won't last -long. So wot will we do?" - -"'Well, Peter,' said she, 'I didn't marry you for the dirty money; I -married you cos' you were sich a good jumper and hacrobat, and I'll -stick to you now when you can't jump any more;' for you see, Billy, my -wrist was two years afore it got well." - -"'Let us pad the hoof together,' said Judy, 'and we'll do the best we -can. Let us two work the southern counties and we'll get long French -or Hitalyan names, and we'll pick up a shillin here and there.' Cos -you see," said Peter, "Judy had been born and bred in Shoreditch, -and she knew all the wandering play-actors and showmen, and she wor -hup to all their affs. So I next came out as 'Signor Hokenfokos, the -fiery salamander of Naples, and my wife, the Baroness Padila, who had -to leave her country on account of the wiolent love vich the king's -son would persist in making hup to her, and she had to leave all her -property, to the amount of six millions, behind her.' This was a good -lay and we made from three to eight shillings a day down in Devonshire -and Cornwall, wherever we could get a crowd together. I used to swaller -hot iron bars, pokers, and red hot coals, and my wife used to play the -hurdy-gurdy while I was swallerin' the hot coals. I improved at this -werry much in two years, and then, after I had vorked the hot coals -out, Judy said to me one day: - -"'Peter, why don't you try and swaller snakes and swords? They are -better than coals, and not so dangerous.'" - -[Sidenote: SNAKE SWALLOWING.] - -"'Yes, but I don't know how,' I said, 'and I don't like snakes at all, -they are so precious slimy.' You see sir, even then I didn' know what -it was to get used to a thing. Well, I commenced to swallow knives at -first, and I had to oil them--that's the trick you see--with sweet oil -as good as I could find at eighteen pence a pint, and I had to rub -this on with a piece of shammy cloth. This oil lets the knife down -easily, and when I wos well drilled there wos no danger at all--only -I had to be sober. My swallow was hawful bad with the hirritation for -two months, but I got over that; for when I felt my throat sore I took -sugar and lemon juice, and gorgled my throat and that took the soreness -away." - -"Tell us about the snakes, Peter," said Purty Bill. "That's a good -story, sir," to the author. - -[Illustration: SNAKE SWALLOWING STORY.] - -"Ah! that was the most unlikely thing I hever took to. It went aginst -my stomach hawful to swaller the snakes at first, and I don't believe -I'd ever have done it if it hadn't been for Judy, who said to me, when -I kicked agin it,-- - -"'Wot difference does it make, Peter, whether you swallow red hot coals -or snakes? The snakes has their stings all taken out, and its nothing -more than swallowin' a sausage or pork saveloy.'" - -"Well, I went at it with a very bad 'art, and my old woman used to play -'Boney's March Across the Halps,' and the 'Death of Nelson,' whenever I -swallowed a snake. You see I generally took a snake about fourteen or -fifteen inches, or maybe a foot and a half long. The sting is out, you -know, and I takes the head and puts the snake in, and if he doesn't go -down why I pinches his tail, and then he rolls down the throat. It made -me sea-sick at first, and the people in Sussex thought I was the devil -out and out, and a good many hexamined my feet, which were in tights, -to see if I had cloven feet. A goodish lot of people thinks that the -snake goes entirely down the throat, but it stands to reason that the -snake is more frightened than the man, and he does not go down, and hif -he did he would be glad to come up, I can tell you." - -"Don't you put somethink in your throat," said a boy of fourteen, who -was known among the confraternity as 'Teddy the Kinchin;' "I mean, to -make the snake sick if he'd go too far." - -[Sidenote: SLAP-UP-PETER'S SONG.] - -"No, that's no use at all; you see he doesn't go hall the way down. -He is afraid, is the snake, and if you cough he'll come up and draw -himself up and coil in a bunch in your mouth. But the duffers who pay -their money think that the snake is in your stomach. It stands to -reason that he'd get sick. It makes a man retch, and the first snake I -swallowed I threw up and had awful vomits, but the next one I rather -relished it, and it did me a sight o' good, like an oyster does after -ye 'ave been drinkin at night and take's tuppence worth of natives in -the morning. Well, when I began snake-swallowing it was rather new, and -I had it all my own way for a long time, but finally, lots of men began -to swallow snakes, and coal swallowing was not as good as it used to -be; so I took to ballad singing, Judy and I. By this time we had sixty -pounds saved, and we were doing well, but I made the acquaintance of a -lot of Doncaster men, who knew I had the money, and before I could say -'Jack Robinson,' the money was all gone. Judy was in her confinement -then, and she took on so bad about it that she died in child-bed, and -the kid as well, and I've been on the tramp ever since, and now I do -an odd turn at anything that turns up, but mostly I sing ballads, and -make sometimes a shilling a day, and sometimes eightpence and ninepence -a day. Times have changed for me. Worse luck." - -Here the snake-swallower's story ended. - -"Slap-Up Peter, will you give us a song? and I'll give you a drink, me -oul wiper," said the crippled Kicking Billy to the snake-swallower. - -"Well, Billy, I don't mind if I do," said Slap-Up Peter, draining the -tin skillet to the last greasy drop. - -The thieves, loafers, and women gathered around the fire in a half -circle, and Purty Bill heaped logs very liberally, while Slap-Up Peter -chanted in a hoarse voice the song, an extract of which I give below, -as near as I remember it with my recollections of the scene, the -choking smoke, the blazing fire, and the band of outcasts and outlaws -in the den in Whitechapel: - - 'Twas down in Whitechapel that once I used to dwell, - And of all the coves that knocked about, I was the greatest swell, - My highlows were the cheese, with breeches to the knees, - Oh, my toggery was quite correct--my coat was Irish frieze, - My togs from Bond street came, it's a nobby slap-up street, - In a fashionable locality--the swells the girls there meet; - Nicol's my man for shirts, with his I cut a shine, - His shop's in far famed Regent street, he's a pal-o'-mine. - Rum too-rul-um, Happy-go-Bill, - Inyuns and greens who'll buy, - Rum too-rul-um, Happy-go-Bill, - Inyuns and greens who'll buy. - -"That's a fine melojous voice of yours," said Purty Bill to the singer. - -"He's used to it," said one of the women. - - Here's Spuds at Thrums a pound, they're prime 'uns as I've found, - Oh, I've Reds and Dukes and Flukes and Blues, I sells in going my round. - My greens are superfine, full blown and hearty are mine, - Oh, come make a deal with me, my dear; don't wait, you'll find 'em prime. - My inyuns now are new, you'll find what I says is true, - In fact, the Queen, since these she's seen has cartloads just a few; - My carrots are long and red, you'll find they're well bred, - My vegetables are the cheese, bunch for you--penny-a-head. - Rum too-rul-um, &c. - -"Now give us the last werse with all the 'armony," said Teddy the -Kinchin, in a piping voice. - -"I vill, vith moosh plesh-yar, as the Frenchman said," returned Slap-Up -Peter. - - Jerry, my moke's a bird, of him perhaps you've heard, - He knows his way about, he does, to match him's quite absurd; - Just see him cock his eye when grub time's getting nigh, - He likes his feed, he does indeed, he lives on cabbage-pie. - Now any girl that's kind, and a husband wants to find, - I'm ready made and so's my trade, that's if I'm to her mind; - So down to Whitechapel we'll trudge again to dwell, - And of all the coves that knock about I'll be the greatest swell. - Rum too-rul-um, &c. - -"That's wot I call a topper of a song. It's so werry sentimental that -it makes a gal peep. The lines are werry touchin'," said a young gal -of sixteen or seventeen years of age, who was not badly dressed nor -bad-looking, and who went by the name of "Bilking Bet." She was a -favorite, and several of them called upon her to sing. She had just the -same mock modesty, this young woman with the brassy face, as if she had -been a fashionable lady at the West End, with a jointure and a coach -and six. - -"Wot's that young gal's name, Bill," said the detective to the boss of -the thieves. - -He did not seem inclined to tell at first, but said sullenly, "you -don't want her do you? No? Well then that's 'Bilking Bet,' she used to -be a 'coster gal but now she's on the cross." - -"Oho!" said Serjeant Moss, "that's the gal as was hup before Mr. Knox -at Marlboro street the other morning for snatching a lady's purse in a -push." - -"Yes," said Purty Bill, "but there was no proof aginst the gal. She was -brought out has hinnocent as the new-born baby. She wor." - -[Sidenote: THE COSTER GAL.] - -"Of course, Bill, you had that done and cooked. One of those nice -little halybi's as you halways 'ave ready just to suit your customers. -'Bilking Bet' was down in Wales a waitin upon her poor sick mother, who -was down with the scarlet fever, and not expected to live. My Heye? Eh, -Bill, one of your old tricks? But, I say, Bill, don't you get ketched, -cos its over the water to Charly with ye hif I ketch ye." - -This conversation was carried on in the corner of the room, from which -we could see that the group around the fire were preparing to hear a -song from "Bilking Bet," who cleared her throat twice with a pull at a -gin bottle--no glasses here to annoy a person--and began, in a mellow -and not unpleasing voice, the following slang song which is common -among the London costermongers, but is seldom heard among the thieves. -The song, no doubt, she owed to her early costermonger associations, -before she became a pickpocket. She was now one of the most expert in -London, and was the kept mistress of a well known burglar, who had, two -days before I saw her, broken open a tea shop in the Old Bailey, near -Ludgate Hill. - -The song was as follows: - -"THE COSTER' GAL." - - Some chaps they talk of damsels fine, - Being angels bright and fair, - But they should only see my girl, - She is beyond compare, - She is the finest girl that's out, - Her name is Dinah Denny, - When you are out you'll hear her shout - "New Walnuts, twelve a penny!" - - Chorus.--S'help me never none so clever, - As my Dinah Denny, - Can shout about, all round about - "New Walnuts, twelve a penny." - - Her voice is like a dove, - And bright is her black eye, - I think she does me truly love, - She looks at me so sly. - She sports the smartest side spring boots, - Eclipse her cannot many, - And shows feet small, while she does call - "New Walnuts, twelve a penny." - - Chorus, &c. - - Rich noblemen may dress their wives - In silk or satin dress, - But Dinah I like quite as well - In her Manchester print, "Express," - We're going to be wed, and then - If offspring we have many, - We'll be nuts on, and christen them - "New Walnuts, twelve a penny." - - Chorus, &c. - -[Illustration: "BILKING BET TAKES THE CHAIR."] - -"Now I think that's werry neat and happropriate to the hoccasion," -said a cockney lodger who had successfully begged two-pence from the -detective to pay for his lodging, which he handed over to "Purty Bill" -as soon as he got the pennies. - -"I moves we put Bilking Bet in the cheer? Wot dye say, gentlemen and -ladies hall, to the proposition?" - -"Hall right. Bet take the cheer and give us some of yer 'Ouse of -Commons." - -"Bilking Bet" was escorted to the middle of the group, placed standing -on a three-legged stool without any visible back, and assuming as -stately an air as she was capable of, the young girl, with the most -perfect sang froid, began: - -[Sidenote: "TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG."] - -"Me lords and gentlemen, and likewise the ladies. Me noble pickpockets, -gonoffs, blokes, and pinchers. I am with you this hevening, for what -purpose, I hask? FOR WOT PURPOSE I HASK? Why, to be present at the -feast which takes place hannerally among the members of our noble -purfession--shall I say dignified purfession? No; I won't." - -"But ye have said it, Bet," said Kicking Billy. - -"Hear! hear! Shut up, will ye, and let the gal tork," said Slap-Up -Peter. - -"Well," said Bet, broken down in her attempt at a speech, "I move that -we have a song from 'Teddy the Kinchin.' Will he hoblige?" - -"He will! he will!" said a dozen voices. - -"I am sorry, me blokes, that my woice is so werry much out of tune in -singing at Her Majesty's Hopera in the Haymarket, but howsumbever, as -I have given hup my hengagement at that 'ouse, I'll fake you a few -werses to show wot I wonce wos when I wos in woice," said this cheerful -young blackguard and thief, who had a pair of eyes like a ferret, and -could not have been more than seventeen years of age, as he stood there -dressed in the height of his idea of the fashion, with a flashy velvet -coat and satin scarf, showing a huge pin. He sang, after clearing his -throat with a long drink of gin, as follows: - -"TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG." - - I am a curious comical cove - Everybody does own O, - Hey ricketty Barlow, Cock-a-doodle-do! - I was born one day when father was out, - And mother she wasn't at home O, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - I went to school and played the fool, - At learning was a shy man. - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - The boys they used to hollo out, - "There goes a Simple Simon!" - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - Oh lor! oh my! I'm a Simple Simon, - Oh lor! oh my! cock-a-doodle-do! - Where ere I go the folks they know, - And call me "Simple Simon;" - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - -"Haltogether, please," said the Kinchin. - -[Illustration: "TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG."] - - I used to "kick" the cobbler out, - And rip up people's pockets, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - And I was very fond of throwing stones - And lumps of mud at coppers, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - But now I'm going to settle down, - Won't I cut a shine O, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - I'll marry a gal with lots of Tin, - And won't I spend her rhino, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - Oh lor! oh my! &c. - -"Now, once more, and a good haltogether please," and the young -pickpocket sat down amid thunders of applause from every one in the -cellar belonging to the band of thieves. - -[Sidenote: TEDDY THE KINCHIN.] - -The thieves stew was now declared ready for consumption by the _chef de -cuisine_, and as I at least felt no appetite for such a rich dish, we -left this underground den of infamy just as a few faint streaks of the -coming dawn began to gild the spire of St. Boldolph's ancient church. - -"That Purty Bill is one of the greatest scoundrels in London. He is a -fence, and we've got him once or twice, but he minds himself now, and -we are after his tricks every day. His cellar used to be a brewery, -that's why he's got so much room underground, and his game is to let -out lodgings, at two pence a night, for a blind, and then they can stay -all day at this place until twelve o'clock at night, and if they cannot -pay sure for the next night's lodging in advance, unless they are in -very good circumstances, he clubs them out, and they have got to pad -the hoof until daybreak, and sleep where they can. Good night." And we -parted for that twenty-four hours. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -DEBATING CLUBS AND COGERS'S HALL. - - -SHOE lane hath a very unromantic sound for a locality. It does not -smell of the aristocracy. It hath not even a slight favor of the Landed -Gentry, and no one could possibly take the trouble to find armorial -bearings or hatchments for Shoe lane. Yet is Shoe lane a most eloquent -place, and there is a little old public house there deemed second only -in point of fame by the admirers of forensic eloquence who frequent it, -to the House of Commons. - -The way was long and dreary that Saturday night that I strolled from -Long Acre, whose carriage-shops and leather manufacturers' stalls were -all closed for the day; and the sultry London fog came down, blinding -the pedestrians, as I turned from Lincoln's-Inn-fields into the -better-lighted High Holborn, with the glare from its brassy gin-shops -and dirty-looking old houses, that seemed all of them as if a good -scouring would have done them an incalculable service in the way of a -fresher appearance. I thought that Shoe lane was in a very suspicious -neighborhood. - -Turning to the left through Farringdon Market, a huge square seemingly -devoted to the worship of highly odorous vegetables, I came into the -narrow Shoe lane, which runs down at its bottom to Fleet street, just -below where the gray stone arch of Temple bar bisects the Strand and -Fleet street. There is nothing particularly noticeable about this part -of Shoe lane. - -[Sidenote: SHOE LANE.] - -There is a ham and beef shop, with its layers of cold meat-pies piled -on top of each other in the windows; and across the way there is the -inevitable gin-shop, with its polished brass fender outside to keep off -the boys who have no money to spend in gin, and there are the enticing -signs all over the gin-shop telling of the merits of the brown-stout -there vended, and the Burton ale and somebody's "entire" malt liquors -which the proprietor assures the public are only genuine at his shop. - -The lane is narrow here and not more than three or four men could pass -abreast, although there are sidewalks to the lane, or rather apologies -for sidewalks. This narrow lane is one of the few remaining relics of -old London. Below, at the foot of Shoe lane, runs Fleet street--one of -the busiest marts in the world, which is ever jammed and blocked with -drays, cabs, and vehicles of all descriptions crowding to and fro, in -sight of the mighty dome of St. Paul's; and under the pavement of that -street, so famous for its publications and shops, the old River Fleet -once ran in a dirty, hideous current, until it emptied its garnered -filth into the Thames. - -Here, opposite Shoe lane, one of the curious old conduits that formerly -supplied old London with water might have been seen about the time -of the wars of the Roses, when the English nobles were hard at work -cutting each other's throats and making and unmaking kings for the want -of something better to do. The cistern erected at the point where Shoe -lane intersects Fleet street, was counted one of the handsomest in -London. Stow--that quaint, old, musty chronicler--says: - -"Upon it was a fair tower of stone, garnished with the image of St. -Christopher on the top, and angels lower down, round about, with -sweetly sounding bells before them, whereupon, by an engine placed in -the tower, they, divers hours of the day and night, with hammers chimed -such a hymn as was appointed." Frolicsome Anne Boleyn, the first day -that she was queened, rode through Shoe lane on her way to the sacred -Abbey of Westminster to receive the gilded toy upon her fair forehead, -and pageantry and pomp met her at every step of her palfrey, in -Cornhill, Cheapside, Fleet street, and Shoe lane. - -In those days the streets and lanes of London were narrow and -difficult, and the unfortunate queen that was to be might have touched -the over-hanging eaves and gables of the houses in her progress through -the city without leaving her saddle. The conduit in Shoe lane was -grandly gilded over to do her honor, and ran wine for the whole day. -At the base of the conduit a starvling poet sat reciting verses in her -honor as she and her newly made ruffian of a husband passed, and no -doubt this mediæval Mormon was highly pleased with the conceit. There -were towers and turrets erected to do her honor in Shoe lane, and in -one of these towers, according to the chronicler, "was such several -solemn instruments that seemed to be an heavenly noise, and was much -regarded and praised; and, besides this, the conduit ran wine, claret -and white, all the afternoon; so she, with all her company, rode forth -to Temple Bar, which was newly painted and repaired, where stood also -divers singing men and children, till she came to Westminster Hall, -which was richly hanged with cloths of Arras." - -While Prince Hal was splitting the skulls of fractious Frenchmen at -Agincourt and fording the passage of the Somme, Sir Robert Ferras de -Chastley held eight cottages in Shoe lane from his king. Here and there -was a garden peeping forth in its floral verdure; and here was also the -town residence of the Bishops of Bangor, powerful and pious prelates in -their day, God wot and odds bodkins; and as early as 1378 they held the -tenure by virtue of the patent of the forty-eighth of Edward the Third, -which says in most barbarous Latin: "_Unum messuag; unam placeam terræ, -unam gardinum cum aliis ædificis in Shoe Lane, London_." - -Times have changed since then in Shoe lane. A bishop of Bangor now, -with his train of lances, his men-at-arms, mitre, cross-bearer, and -torches, would be a sight indeed in Shoe lane. How that bright-eyed -bar-maid at the door of the Blue Pig would stare at his lordship! How -the greasy boy in the ham and beef shop would shout at the cope and -silks and velvet housings--taking them, perhaps, in an innocent way, -for a part of the Lord Mayor's show! And as for the conduit running -Claret and Malmsley, the beer-swilling cockneys would not thank -headless Anne Boleyn for such washy foreign stuff. Their fancy could -only be fed by gin. A man-at-arms would be compelled now-a-days to wash -his throat with Bass's bitter beer or brown stout, instead of sack, -hippocras, or mead. - -[Sidenote: SOCIETY OF COGERS.] - -At last we are in the neighborhood of "Cogers Hall"--the hall of the -Ancient and Honorable Society of Cogers. There is a gin-shop at the -front, with its low doorway and flaring signs. The windows are well -lit, and by the side of the bar is a long, narrow passage conducting -the visitor for twenty or thirty feet to a back room, about forty feet -long and twenty-five feet wide. - -Off the passage are a number of small waiting-rooms, noisy and smoky, -with the voices and vile pipes of the occupants. Four rows of tables -run along the room, in which are present fifty or sixty persons all -of the male sex. They are all decently dressed, for, although the -admission is free, yet is the visitor to the Cogers Hall expected to -drink or eat something, and the place, with its tariff of prices, -though moderate enough to an American, would not suit a costermonger or -laborer. - -The roof is arched and paneled, done in a feeble imitation of the -style of Sir Christopher Wren, who is popularly supposed to have -built everything in London after the great fire of 1666. A handsome -chandelier depends from an opening in the roof, and is ornamented -with a number of glass globes, which serve to light the apartment and -dissipate the thick clouds of smoke that constantly arise in the room. - -There is a large, gaudy sign in the hall, on which are printed these -cabalistic words: "Hot joints are served in this room from one until -five." At the farther end of the room, opposite the entrance, is a -paneling hollowed back in the wall, the entire room being paneled; and -this paneling is shaped like a door, and is gilded. A step from the -floor, in the paneling, is placed a chair of honor, which is occupied -by the Most Worthy Grand, as he is styled; or, in fact, the chairman -of the meeting. Those who are familiar with him go so far in their -irreverence as to call this awful personage "Me Grand," and whispers -have been heard that his name in reality is Tompkins or Noakes. - -Directly opposite this dignitary, at the other end of the room, is a -place in the paneling and a chair like to that which I have already -described, and this is occupied by a tall, lean man, with side whiskers -of a grayish pattern, who has the title of Vice Grand. - -But the Vice, or Worthy Wice, is of greatly inferior dignity to the -Most Worthy Grand. He is, so to speak, an empty ornament of the feast, -and his duties are simple, and confined to calling out in unison with -the assemblage, "Hear, hear," or "Good." "You are Right," when the -Worthy Grand, in his oracular sentences, is most happy. At other times, -in a loud voice he will call the attention of the waiters, who heartily -detest him for his interference, to the fact that some customer has -drained his beer, or gin and hot water, and needs, therefore, to be -served afresh. - -Still this man is human, and will listen, when off his seat of duty, -to any scandal against the Most Worthy Grand with secret pleasure. -In fact, the Worthy Wice, inspired by a generous four-pence worth of -gin and hot water, told me aside, in conversation, that the Worthy -Grand was unfit for his high position. "He his han hass, sir. He -his too Hold. And he 'as no woice watsomever, sir. Bah! that, sir, -for Tompkins"--and the Worthy Wice snapped his fingers in an insane -manner at the air in which his potent imagination had conjured up the -semblance of the Worthy Grand. Sitting down at a table I followed the -custom of the place and called for something. On each table were placed -a couple of long-shanked clay pipes, and a thin-necked, big-paunched, -red-clay jar, which a man sitting near explained to my satisfaction. - -"You see," said he in a rather mysterious voice, "we 'aven't much ice -to speak of in England; leastways, it is too dear, and this 'ere red -clay 'as a peculiar wirtue--it keeps the water as cold as if it was in -the waults of Bow Church." - -[Sidenote: AT THE TABLES.] - -This man was decently dressed, and was, I believe, a drover by -profession. He was very fleshy and very red in the face. - -Tissues of fat lay around his eyebrows in layers, and his double chin -was dewlapped like one of his own beeves. He had a heavy red hand, and -was, as I found out, a true Briton in every sense. I asked him why the -place was called Cogers Hall. To this conundrum he confessed himself -unable to answer, but after scratching his head the "Beefy One," as -I shall call him, made a sign for a waiter to come to the table. "I -say," said the Beefy One, "why do you call this place Cogers 'All?" The -waiter could not satisfy him, but said that he would call the Master. -Well, the Master came, a thin-faced, side-whiskered Englishman, with -watery blue eyes and trembling lip. The counterfeit presentment of -the Master hung over the Worthy Grand's chair of state, done in oil, -and it seemed as if the artist had endeavored, in accordance with the -spirit of the Cogers Hall, to give the face an oratorical, Gladstonian -expression, and the cloak was folded around the shoulders of the -Master as the toga is folded around the shoulders of Tully, in classic -pictures. Besides the picture of the Master, several other pictures -of Past Worthy Grands were hung as tokens of their former forensic -abilities. The Master, in answer to the question why the place was -called Cogers Hall, said: - -"Well, you see, we calls it Cogers Hall from the Latin _ko-gee_-TO--to -cogitate, to think. Oh, yes, sir, we have been a long time established, -sir; since 1756, sir; a matter of a hundred years or so, sir. You are -han Hamerican, sir. Oh, yes, sir, we've 'ad George Francis Train 'ere, -sir, for many a night, sir; and 'e spoke in that chair, sir; and when -he was arrested, sir, in Ireland, the Home Secretary as wos, sir, wrote -to me to question me if he had spoken treason, sir, or spoke agin the -Queen, sir. Cos ye see, sir, the principle of an Englishman, sir, is to -allow every man liberty to say wot he likes, sir, so long as he does -not speak agin the Queen or speaks treason. That's an Englishman's -principle, sir." - -And George Francis Train had spoken in this very room! I could fancy -the feelings of poor Artemus Ward when he stood at the tomb of -Shakespeare at Stratford. These wooden chairs and benches were hallowed -in my eyes henceforward. Men had sat upon those chairs who had -listened to the fervid eloquence of a Train, and perhaps some of these -very men had survived. _Civis Americanus sum._ - -As the night came on apace, the smoky, old-fashioned, paneled room -began to fill up, and before long nothing could be seen but rows of -men lining the small tables, puffing vigorously from the long clay -pipes, and at intervals taking deep draughts from the large, brightly -burnished metal pots, holding a pint each, or perhaps sipping fourpenny -glasses of hot gin and water. Along with the little jar of hot water -which the waiter brought on demand, were little saucers of sugar--these -little saucers never containing, by any chance, more than three lumps -of sugar, and each of these lumps being equalized in size with a -mathematical nicety. Some of the visitors, more hungry than others, -satisfied their longings with "Welsh Rabbits," at sixpence apiece; or, -when the rabbits had, in addition, two eggs cooked with them, the Welsh -rabbit was called a "Golden Buck," and the waiter, in his greasy tail -coat, raised his demand to eightpence. - -In a few minutes the Worthy Vice, a gray-bearded man with a meek face -and in shabby-genteel clothes, took his seat, and all the chairs in -the apartment were turned around by those who occupied them in order -that they might hear and see better. The Worthy Vice, who is sometimes -entered on the bills of the performance as a "Patriot" when he has to -take part in a discussion, read the minutes of the last meeting of -the Ancient and Honorable Society of Cogers, which were listened to -quietly, and then the attention of the audience was turned to the Most -Worthy Grand, who occupied the chair at the other end of the apartment. -This most noble Briton, in a quavering voice, having adjusted his -vest--which had a tendency to leave exposed the lower part of the -shirt-bosom at his stomach where his trousers bisected--opened the -proceedings with much solemnity, imitating by hems and haws, as well -as he could, the manners of the dullest and most common-place orators -of the House of Commons. His business as a specialty was to review the -events of the week. - -[Sidenote: NEWS OF THE WEEK.] - -"I don't think, gentlemen," said he, "that my task will be a very long -one this hevening in reviewing the hevents of the week. There, aw, -'asn't been much a-doing in furrin parts, ah, this week. There 'as been -'a row in Turkee again, and in, ah, fact we might say there is halways -a row in Turkee, more or less. There's a man in Hegipt whom we call the -Viceroy of that, ah, country, and when he, ah, wos here we gave 'im -fireworks and sich, and made a blessed time about him, as we might say -vulgarly, so to speak. Now, he has been a invitin' of all the sovrins -of Europe on his own hook to see him and his ryal family open the Sooz -Canal. Well, he has been, ah, spendin' sich a lot of money that the -Sultan comes out in a long letter and calls him a Cadivar, which is a -word that I can't understand, being neither Latin nor yet Greek. - -"Blessed hif I knowed that ye iver understood Greek or Lating, ither, -Jimmy," said an old man who sat observant of the reviewer in a corner, -drinking beer from a pewter pot. - -"I thank ye all the same, Mr. Wilkins, but I don't _like_ to be -interrupted when I'm speaking," answered the Most Worthy Grand. - -"You're right, Me Grand. Horder! horder!" shouted several indignant -voices. - -"I wos goin' to say," continued the Grand, after taking a deep draught -of the porter which foamed in the pewter pot on the table before -him--"I wos goin' to say that the state of our neighbor, Fronse, just -hover the water, is now a spektikle for mankind. There's a great hadoo -about the Hemperor's 'elth; and I must say as how he is in a bad way -by all accounts. Nobody knows wot his disease is. It may be liver; it -may be kidneys. I might take the liberty of sayin', as a rule, kidneys -is bad. No one knows wot would be the consequences if the Hemperor was -to step out, wulgularly speakin'. It would p'r'aps be the cause of a -general war in Europe. Hengland doesn't want any more wars. We 'ave -'ad enough of them. They does no good for the workin' man. ('Hear! -hear!') We pays the piper when the dancin' is done; but we never dances -ourselves." - -"True as the gospel, Jimmy," from a beer drinker. - -"Now, there's another question which we all 'ave heard of a good deal, -and that's the Halabama claims. They are in a precious muddle, to be -sure. They may be right and they may be wrong. But I must say that I -don't see where the money is to come from to pay them." - -"We'll never pay them. We aint got the "dibs;" leastways, I won't pay -any of it," says an irreverent young man whose face was quite flushed -with strong drink. - -"Well, as far as that goes, if they are to be paid, we know it will -come from the pockets of just such people as ourselves in the way of -taxes. Its taxes halways." - -"I differ from the gentleman who preceded me altogether. Prussia must -'ave the left bank of the Rhine, and I'll put sixteen bullets in the -Pope's heart. I tell ye, gentlemen, the Ekumenikal Council will be -the downfall of the Romish religion. I'll put sixteen bullets in the -Pope's heart," cried out a tall, thin-faced man in a half-clerical suit -of black, who got on his feet, and while in the act of energetically -expressing his feeling, by a wave of his right hand carried away a -glass globe shading the gaslight above his head. The man was very drunk -apparently, but by his language seemed to be a person of education. The -"Beefy One," who sat by my side, and who had reached his third bottle -of beer, whispered to me: - -"I say, yon is a fine fellow when he's sober, and can talk poetry by -the yard, but he is very drunk, and when he's fuddled he will talk a -man blind about the Pope. Will you have some beer? Do take a pot." - -It was with some trouble that the fiery Scotch orator was induced to -sit down and defer his assault upon the Pope until a more fitting -occasion. - -At this moment the Beefy One pointed out to me a tall, martial-looking -person in black clothes, who seemed to be very restive and looked as -if he wanted to speak. He was of large frame, about sixty years of -age, and was apparently a man of considerable stamina and backbone. -His white whiskers and neat dress gave him the look of a justice of -the peace who had dropped in to take a look at the assemblage from -curiosity, and to see that the public morals and the constitution were -properly taken care of. - -[Illustration: COGERS HALL.] - -While the Worthy Grand was making a series of remarks on the health -of the Emperor Napoleon and the menacing attitude of Prussia towards -France in a gentle, slipshod way, the stranger looked up at times from -the four-penn'orth of gin which he ordered when he came in to give an -incredulous, doubting smile to a few of the coterie who sat around him -and were evident admirers of his. The Beefy One whispered to me-- - -"That ole gentlemun is the finest orator as ever was. I tell ye, -sir, he _can_ talk when he's agoing. There's no end to his beautiful -sentiments, I do say it, although he's a Hirishman. Oh, 'e is a great -horator is the Ole One." - -[Sidenote: LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES.] - -After the review of the week's public events by the Worthy Grand, -debate was in order on the topics reviewed by him. I found that the -debaters who jumped to their feet one after the other in a manner -worthy of the most dignified legislative assemblage, were divided -into two parties, liberals and conservatives. The Liberals were the -most logical, strange to say; the Tories were most dogmatic and -violent. The Liberals--one of them at least--wished to do away with -all monarchies and established churches; while the Conservatives, -principally belonging to the shopkeeping element, in the audience, were -strenuously opposed to the eight-hour law and to the trades-unions. One -liberal orator would liked to have seen, as he expressed it, all the -kings, barons, prime ministers, and other like despots, placed in one -old rotten hulk of a vessel, and then the vessel was to be scuttled -on the Goodwin Sands. "And who," said the eloquent orator, "would not -say that it would not be a benefit to the human race? Who would not -exclaim with me," and here he looked around on his eager audience in a -threatening manner, "the more of sich cattle in the rotten old hulk the -better?" There was a general grunt of acquiescence from the advanced -Liberals at this possibility and a deprecatory shake of the head from -one Conservative with a great clay pipe. - -Finally, the Irish orator got a chance, and then it was wonderful -to see how, in a sarcastic tone, he humbugged his hearers for half -an hour by allusions to the good time coming, when every man should -have a vote, and every Irish tenant should give up the graceful and -sportsmanlike habit of potting from behind the Tipperary hedges all -landlords who were in the way of a freehold system. The orator waxed -wroth and became pathetic at times as he reviewed the past glories of -the Isle of Saints and her present degraded position among nations. Yet -in that he was skilful enough, in speaking of the Fenians, to deprecate -their acts mildly, but, at the same time, he told his English audience, -in the most forcible tones, of the abuses and tyranny that had led to -the organization of Fenianism. - -"Oh, I say, O'Brien, you are a humbugging of hus with that here gammon -habout '98, ye know." - -"I give yes me word, me Worthy Grand and gentlemen, that I do not -advocate Fenianism at all, at all; but when yes dhrive min to madness -by oppression, by acts of oppression such as the world has never seen, -can yes blame the wu-r-rum if it turns on yes and bites." - -[Sidenote: THE SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN.] - -No one could reply to this with the exception of the Scotch -Presbyterian, who, again rising from his seat, denounced the Pope and -Dr. Cumming as accomplices, and declared that at the first opportunity -he would cheerfully encounter martyrdom to be able to "put sixteen -bullets into the Pope's carcass," as he politely and charitably -expressed himself. "I didn't care about your Ekumenikul Council," said -he; "it will be the downfall of popishness and prelacy, and those who -may go there are welcome; but as for me I would be burned to have him -under my pistol." - -"Oh, Mac, yer not so bad as yer purtend in yer talk. I'll engage, if -his Holiness would give ye the chance, ye'd only be too glad to kiss -his toe." - -This raised a laugh at the Scotchman's expense, but he violently -disclaimed for himself, as a true disciple of John Knox, any intention -of submitting to such a degrading act of spiritual submission. The -debate continued as the night waned, and at eleven o'clock, when I left -the hall of discussion in Shoe lane, the subjects of vaccination, land -laws, and coinage were yet to be touched upon by the speakers. - -I have given but a glance at this place, which is the oldest -established of its kind among a number of discussion halls and forums, -whose sign-boards meet the stranger's eye in different parts of the -city where most thickly populated. There is invariably a pot-house -attached to these debating places, or rather the debating halls are -attached to the pot-houses. - -The better class of artisans and shopkeepers in a small way are -principally the frequenters of the discussion halls. Mechanics with a -gift of the gab, and who have five or six shillings a week to spend out -of twenty-five or thirty, are to be found here in large numbers. The -Most Worthy Grand and the Vice Grand are paid a fixed salary for their -stated eloquence, and it is principally their duty to read all the -cheap weeklies and dailies, not forgetting the _Times_, which is very -often quoted by them as a sort of a clincher in the argument brought -up. A place like this will take in five pounds of a night, and the -wages paid to the bar-maids is about sixteen shillings a week. There -were two here, and four waiters, who receive sixteen pounds a year and -their "grub," as they call it. A small paper of rough-cut tobacco is -furnished to each customer for a penny, and the consumption of this -narcotic and Welsh Rabbits is encouraged, as they are quite certain to -make the customers dry, and this dryness, as a matter of course, leads -to the imbibition of plenteous beer and gin and water. These shops are -licensed to sell spirits under the new Beer act, and they are compelled -to shut off the debate at midnight. As a general thing the most -advanced liberalism prevails in these places, and religious sentiments -are below par with the audience. Very often it is possible to hear a -well educated or scientific man debating in these halls, but, on closer -survey, his accent will betray him to be some impoverished French or -German physician, or reduced savan, who has no occupation in the hours -of the evening, and can, therefore, afford to dispense wisdom to the -thick-headed audience, gratis. - -About a week after my visit to Cogers Hall I went, accompanied by Mr. -Marsh, a member of the Daily Morning Telegraph's staff, and another -gentleman connected with the editorial management of the Pall Mall -Gazette, to take a look at another debating hall which is situated -at No. 16 Fleet street. This place is quite famous in London for the -virulence of its debates and the high flavor of its gin. Its Brown -Stout is also above reproach. - -As usual in all such places there is a public bar here, and this is -located at the entrance, and is attended by the inevitable bar-maid, -smiling and bedizined in all the glory of a two guinea silk dress, -bought perhaps in Regent street or the Oxford Circus. - -[Sidenote: "WHERE ARE WE NOW."] - -The room here was not so large a one as that at Cogers Hall in which -the orators were in the habit of haranguing their auditors. There -were a dozen small tables, around which chairs were placed in a most -picturesque confusion. Small white placards printed in blue ink were -posted on the walls with the following announcement: - - TEMPLE - - DISCUSSION FORUM. - - ADMISSION FREE. - - STRANGERS ARE PARTICULARLY INVITED TO TAKE PART - IN THE DISCUSSION AND TO INTRODUCE SUBJECTS - FOR DEBATE. - - THE QUESTION THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING WILL BE - - "THE POPE'S MODEL LETTER," - - WHERE ARE WE NOW? - - TO BE OPENED BY "A PROTESTANT." - - CHAIR TO BE TAKEN AT NINE O'CLOCK. - - SUPPER FROM EIGHT TILL TWELVE. - - BEDS. PRIVATE SITTING-ROOMS. - -There was a venerable looking old fellow in the chair when we entered -the Discussion Forum, who lifted a pair of gold rimmed spectacles from -his nose to take a look at us. This was the chairman of the meeting, -and shortly after we sat down he cried out to a tall person with a -short grey raglan coat who was speaking and perspiring at the same time. - -"Mister Chowley I will and cannot allow you, sir, to trample on the -religious feelings of any man present in this harmonious meeting. We -are all brothers here, sir, and the individual who disturbs our peace -and quietness, should be to us all as the 'Eathen and the publican, -sir." (Hear, hear.) - -The tall man with the raglan, who did not like to be suppressed so -easily, had taken his seat for a moment much against his will, but now -he arose slowly and scornfully looking around him, spoke, with one -hand leaning on a chair behind him, and another hand in his breast, as -follows: - -"Gentlemen, this his an age of science if it is an age of hanythink. -Wot does my honorable and noble Roman Catholic friend wish to advance -has an argument. Does he mean to tell ME, with my heyes hopen in -this here blessed Nineteenth Century, which we are all so proud -of, and whose blessed light is the moving cause of so much mental -brilliancy--does he mean to tell me for a moment that the miracle of -the transposition of water into wine at the wedding of Cana wos han -hactual fact. Why gents it his altogether impossible--and no reasonable -man in this Nineteenth century can for a moment believe it possible. -Wot would Galileo, Kepler, Faraday or sich bright lights of the -Nineteenth century say to sich stories? Why gents, there is a chemical -change which would have to take place before such a translation, -and this chemical transformation could not take place without the -assistance of other substances. (Hear, hear.) And gents, as far as the -infallibility of the Pope is concerned, why I have only to say in the -words of the poet, hand I mention no names, that a piece of fat pork -might stick in his gullet as soon as it would stick in mine, and that's -all I think of infallibility and fat pork, with the blessed light of -the nineteenth century before me." (Hear, hear.) - -Mr. Chowley here sat down, thoroughly satisfied with himself and -auditory, who applauded him to the echo. Then a member of the Roman -Catholic persuasion answered him in a long and splendid oration, which -seemed to thoroughly convince every one present that the Catholic side -was right, and the Protestant one a most diabolical doctrine. After -each man had done his little speech, it was curious, nay amusing, to -hear the adherents of either party comment upon the previous argument. - -"Oh! I say," said a Presbyterian, "didn't he smash the old Pope -neither." - -"And wot a blessing he gave His Grace, Archbishop Manning, though?" - -"Well," said an ardent Irishman, "I niver heard such a lambeastin as -the heretics got to night." - -"You might well say that, Pether, and didn't he scald Martin Luther -with the holy wather, though," said an honest looking, hard working -fellow who sat smoking a pipe. - -[Sidenote: FARCE AND TRAGEDY.] - -One thing struck me in all this wilderness of argument and polemic -discussion. While the two principals nearly argued their jaws off -in the heat of discussion, they failed miserably to convert any of -the opposite party, who sat the debate out with a heroic stupidity, -understanding with much difficulty about one-third of what was said, -and perhaps caring very little for the matter in hand, but sticking -to their prejudices to the last, with a partisan fidelity not to be -convinced by all the harangues that will take place from that night -until the Day of Judgment. - -And yet I could not enter a place of this kind in all London, from -Temple Bar to Hammersmith, without hearing this same everlasting -religious warfare of controversy. - -And to add to the joke, hardly one of five of these persons who attend -such discussions, were ever in a church of either the Catholic or -Protestant persuasion. - -Such is life--part farce, part tragedy. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES OF LONDON. - - -WE cannot conceive of any greater contrast than that which exists -between the wretchedness and squalor of the lodging houses, and the -splendor and refined elegance, combined with comfort of the Club houses -of London, which are chiefly situated in Pall Mall, St. James street, -and the neighborhood of lower Regent street. - -Club life has attained its greatest perfection in London. No city upon -the Continent can compare with it for the number of its club houses, -the splendor of their architecture, their luxurious furniture, and the -standing in society of their members. - -[Sidenote: INTERESTING STATISTICS.] - -There are, I believe, upward of fifty clubs in London, in which all the -professions, and all the stations of life find representation, with a -roll of perhaps 45,000 members. The following are the principal clubs -with the cost of ground and construction: Army and Navy Club, George's -street, St. James' square, 1,450 members, £100,000; the Conservative -Club, St. James' street, 1,500 members, £81,000; Garrick Club, King -street, Convent Garden, 500 members, £25,000; Junior United Service -Club, corner of Charles and Regent streets, 1,500 members, £75,000; -Oxford and Cambridge Club, Pall Mall, 1,200 members, £100,000; Reform -Club, 1,400 members, £120,000; University Club, Pall Mall East, 500 -members, £20,000; Wyndham Club, St. James' square, 600 members, -£30,000; Westminster Club, Albemarle street, 560 members, £15,000; -Athenæum, Pall Mall, 1,200 members, £60,000; Carlton, Pall Mall, -800 members, £100,000; Guards Club, Pall Mall, 500 members, £40,000; -Oriental, Hanover square, 800 members, £30,000; Traveler's, Pall Mall, -700 members, £30,000; Union, Cockspur street, 1,000 members, £25,000; -United Service Club, Pall Mall, 1,500 members, £70,000; White's Club, -St. James' street, 550 members, £20,000; Boodles, St. James' street, -500 members, £15,000; Cavendish Club, 307 Regent street, 500 members, -£15,000; and Civil Service Club, 86 St. James' street, 1,000 members, -£45,000. - -Besides the before-mentioned clubs there are the following, which rank -nearly but not quite as high among Club men: - - MEMBERS. COST. - - Albert Club, 15 George street, Hanover square, 500 £10,000 - Alpine Club, Trafalgar square, 600 18,000 - Arlington Club, 4 Arlington street, 400 16,000 - Arts Club, 17 Hanover square, 500 16,000 - Arundel Club, 12 Salisbury street, Strand, 600 52,000 - City of London Club, 19 old Broad street, (merchants,) 1,000 50,000 - Gresham Club, City, (bankers, &c.,) 1,000 60,000 - Junior Athenæum Club, 29 King street, St. James, 800 30,000 - Junior Carlton Club, 14 Regent street, 800 40,000 - New Carlton Club, Albemarle street, 800 25,000 - New University Club, 57 St. James' street, 600 29,000 - Portland Club, Stratford Place, Oxford street, 400 18,000 - Smithfield Club, Half-Moon street, Piccadilly 300 12,000 - St. James' Club, 54 St. James' street, 500 23,000 - Whitehall Club, Parliament street, 500 9,000 - Whittington Club, 37 Arundel street, 1,600 40,000 - Clarendon Club, 86 St. James' street, 900 36,000 - Junior Reform Club, Albemarle street, 800 40,000 - Brooks' Club, 60 St. James' street, 575 20,000 - Arthur's Club, 69 St. James' street, 600 18,000 - Law Society, Chancery Lane, 1,000 68,000 - National, Whitehall-Gardens, 400 17,000 - Prince's Racket and Tennis Club, Hans Place, Chelsea, 300 11,000 - United University, corner Suffolk street and Pall Mall, 500 33,000 - Beefsteak Society, Lyceum Theatre, 250 5,000 - Club Chambers, Regent street, 400 31,000 - " " St. James' square, 300 17,000 - Ambassador's, 106 Piccadilly, 200 16,000 - Erectheum, St. James's square, 300 20,000 - -In these several clubs each member is elected by ballot, and pays an -entrance on admission, and afterward an annual subscription, which -varies like entrance fees in different clubs. - -Thus, in the Athenæum, the entrance fee is £26.5s., annual -subscription, £6.6s. Arthur's, entrance £21, subscription, £10 10s. -Brooks, entrance, £9 9s., subscription, £11 11s. Carlton, entrance, -£15 15s., annual subscription, £10 10s. Conservative Club, £28 7s., -subscription, £8 8s. Garrick Club, entrance, £21, subscription, £6 -6s. Junior United Service, entrance, £30, subscription £6. Oxford and -Cambridge Club, entrance, £21 5s., subscription, £6 6s. Reform Club, -entrance, £21 5s., subscription, £10 10s. Travelers' Club, entrance, -£31 10s. Union, entrance, £38 10s., subscription, £6 6s. United Service -Club, entrance, £36, subscription, £6. Whittington, entrance, £10 10s., -subscription, ladies £1, gentlemen, £2 2s. Wyndham, entrance, £27 6s., -subscription, £8. - -When clubs were first started they were regarded with much hostility -as being most antagonistic to domestic life, and the ladies displayed -an intense spirit against them. The clubs, however, survived and -flourished under their enmity, and it was found that they discouraged -coarse drunkenness, the prevalent vice of Englishmen; encouraged social -intercourse--of which ladies partook of elsewhere; refined the manners -of the members, constituted courts of honor, and tended most materially -to the manufacture of gentlemen. - -The London clubs are private hotels on a vast and magnificent scale. -They have billiard rooms, coffee rooms, nine-pin rooms, splendid -libraries, saloons, and furniture, and plate of the costliest and -rarest description. - -[Sidenote: LUXURIOUS DINNER--LADIES EXCLUDED.] - -All the refreshment which a member has, whether breakfast, dinner, -supper, or wine, are furnished to him at the _market cost_ price, -all other expenses being defrayed from the annual subscriptions. For -a few pounds a year, advantages are to be had, which no incomes but -the most ample could procure. The Athenæum, which consists of twelve -hundred members, can be taken as a good example of the rest. Among -the members can be reckoned a large proportion of the most eminent -persons in England--civil, military, and ecclesiastical, peers, -spiritual and temporal, commoners, men of the learned professions, -those connected with the sciences and arts, and commerce, as well as -the distinguished who do not belong to any particular class, and who -have nothing to do but live on their means, bore their tailors, and -admire their family genealogy, and their own figures. These men are -to be met with day after day at the clubs, living with more freedom -and nonchalance than they could at their own houses. For six or eight -guineas a year every member has the command of an excellent library, -with maps, the daily London papers, English and foreign periodicals, -and every material for writing, with a flock of gorgeous flunkies, in -powder and epaulettes, to attend at the nod of a member, and a host -of youthful pages in buttons and broadcloths. The club is a sort of a -palace with the comfort of a private dwelling, and every member is a -master without having the trouble of a master. He can have whatever -meat or refreshment he desires served up at all hours, with luxury -and dispatch. There is a fixed place for everything, and it is not -customary to remain long at table. You can dine alone, or you can -invite a dozen persons to dine with you, females being excluded. From -an account kept at the Athenæum for one year, it appears that 17,323 -dinners cost on an average 2s. 9-3/4d. each, and the average quantity -of wine drank by each person at these dinners was a small fraction more -than a pint for each. The bath accommodations are the finest that can -be imagined. - -The kitchen of the London clubs cannot be equaled in the world, and -the chief cooks who have charge of the kitchens, have each an European -fame. Alexis Soyer, the greatest cook since Ude or Vatel, had, for -a long time, the charge of the kitchen of the Reform Club, and the -kitchen of this club, of which John Bright, and all the leaders of the -English liberals are members, is the finest in London. - -A description of this kitchen will in a measure answer for that of any -other London club, and I will give it here for the information of those -who are curious in such matters. - -The kitchen, properly so called, is an apartment of moderate size, -surrounded on all four sides by smaller rooms, which form the pastry, -the poultry, the butchery, the scullery, and other subordinate offices. -There are doorways but no doors, between the different rooms, all -of which are formed in such a manner that the chief cook, from one -particular spot, can command a view of the whole. In the centre of -the kitchen is a table and a hot closet, where various knicknacks are -prepared and kept to a desired heat, the closet being brought to any -required temperature by admitting steam beneath it. Around the hot -closet is a bench or table, fitted with drawers and other conveniences -for culinary operations. A passage going around the four sides of this -table separates it from the various cooking apparatus, which involve -all that modern ingenuity has brought to bear on the cuisine. - -In the first place there are two enormous fireplaces for roasting, each -of which would, in sober truth, roast a whole sheep. The screens placed -before these fires are so arranged as to reflect back almost the entire -heat which falls upon them, and effectually shields the kitchen from -the intense heat which would be otherwise thrown out. Then again, these -screens are so provided with shelves and recesses as to bring into -profitable use the radiant heat which would be otherwise wasted. - -[Sidenote: MODEL KITCHEN.] - -Along two sides of the room are ranges of charcoal fires for broiling -and stewing, and other apparatus for other varieties of cooking. These -are at a height of about three feet from the ground. The broiling fires -are a kind of open pot or pan, throwing upward a fierce but blazeless -heat; behind them is a framework by which gridirons may be fixed at any -height above the fire, according to the intensity of the heat. Other -fires open only at the top, are adapted for various kinds of pans and -vessels; and in some cases a polished tin-reflector is so placed as -to reflect back to the viands the heat. Under and behind and over and -around, are pipes, tanks, and cisterns, in abundance, containing water -to be heated, or to be used more directly in the processes of cooking. - -A boiler adjacent to the kitchen is expressly appropriated to the -supply of steam for "steaming," for heating the hot closets, the hot -iron plates and other apparatus. In another small room the meat is -kept, chopped, cut, and otherwise prepared for the kitchen. There are -also in the pastry room all the necessary appliances for preparing the -lightest and most luscious triumphs of the art. In another room there -are drawers in the bottoms of which blocks of ice are laid, and above -these are placed articles of undressed food, which must necessarily be -kept cool. - -There is a cheerful air, an air of magnificence about these superb -kitchens, which would charm a good housewife. Here all the genius that -can be brought to bear upon cookery is concentrated, and the head cook -would not deign to notice any person of less rank than a baronet, while -in superintendence. Although there are twelve hundred members or over, -yet he is not responsible to any individual one, and the only authority -in the club to which he has to bow is the eight or ten members of the -House Committee, whose decrees even to this great being are arbitrary. - -The pots and pans are of an exceeding brightness, and the entire -system is perfect. In one corner of the kitchen is a little stall or -counting-house, at a desk in which sits the "Clerk of the Kitchen." -Every day the chief cook provides, besides ordinary provisions which -are certain to be required, a selected list which he inserts in his -bill of fare--a list which is left to his judgment and skill. - -Say three or four gentlemen, members of the club, determine to dine -there at a given hour, they select from the bill of fare, or make a -separate "order" if preferred, or leave the dinner altogether to the -intellect of the _chef_, who is sure to be flattered by this dependence -on his judgment. A little slip of paper on which is written the -names of the dishes and the hour of dining, is hung on a hook in the -kitchen on a black board, where there are a number of hooks devoted to -different hours of the day or evening. The cooks proceed with their -avocations, and by the time the dinner is ready the clerk of the -kitchen has calculated and entered the exact value of every article -composing it, which entry is made out in the form of a bill--the cost -price being that by which the charge is regulated--nothing is ever -charged for the cooking. Immediately at the elbow of the clerk are -bells and speaking tubes, by which he can communicate with the servants -in the other parts of the building. - -Meanwhile a steam engine is "serving up" the dinner. In one corner -of the kitchen is a recess, on opening a door in which we see a -small platform, square-shaped, calculated to hold an ordinary sized -tray. This platform is connected with the shaft of a steam engine by -bands and wheels, so as to be elevated through a kind of vertical -trunk leading to the upper part of the building; and here are the -white-aproned servants or waiters ready to take out the hot and -luscious smelling viands from the platform, to the member or members of -the club who are anxiously awaiting dinner. - -Architecturally speaking the club houses are the finest buildings -in London, and in the west end of the town, and in the vicinity of -the parks they do much to beautify the city; these massive, richly -decorated, and pillared palaces of exclusiveness. - -The "Heavy Swell" Club of all London is the "Guards" in Pall Mall. -There are three or four regiments of the Queen's Household Brigade -stationed always in London to guard the sacred person of the Queen, -and it is from the officers of these crack regiments that the members -of the club are balloted for. These fellows are supposed to bathe -in champagne, and dine off rose water; they are afraid to carry an -umbrella thicker than a walking stick, they hate "low people," and -devote their existence to killing time, yet are withal sensitive, -honorable in many things, (except paying their grocers, wine and -haberdashing bills,) and will fight as becomes the descendants of the -men who dyed the sands at Hastings with their blood, to bequeath a rich -and fruitful kingdom to those who now inherit it. - -[Sidenote: THE CONSERVATIVE AND GARRICK CLUBS.] - -The Conservative Club is frequented by those athletic and slow going -squires and gentlemen who are always ready to applaud Mr. Disraeli in -the House of Commons, and are willing to serve as special constables -on days when the English democracy become restive and open their eyes -to the fact of their being plundered and robbed every day of their -lives. It was from the Conservative Club that Mr. Granville Murray was -expelled by the secret influence of the moral Prince of Wales, simply -because following his duty as a journalist he had told the hereditary -regulators of England that they were out of place in the nineteenth -century. - -[Illustration: CONSERVATIVE CLUB HOUSE.] - -The Garrick Club is, as its name indicates, made up of artists, -dramatists, actors, newspaper writers, and authors. It numbers among -its members Charles Reade, Tom Taylor, Charles Dickens, Bulwer, Wilkie -Collins, Anthony Trollope, Andrew Halliday, George Augustus Sala, Mr. -Delane of the Times, H. Sutherland Edwards, William Howard Russell, -Edward Dicey, Thornton Hunt, Editor of the _Telegraph_, John Ruskin, -and I believe Thomas Carlyle's name was proposed as an honorary member; -Charles Kean, Thackeray, Charles Matthews, Sr., who founded the club, -W.H. Ainsworth, the novelist, the Blanchards, the Mayhews, Samuel -Lover, Charles Lever, John Oxenford, Louis Blanc, Walter Thornbury, -Lascelles Wraxall, Edmund Yates, John Hollingshead, formerly critic of -the _Daily News_, James Greenwood, Frederick Greenwood, Brough, Dudley -Costello, Lord William Lennox, Thomas Miller, Cyrus Redding, and other -well known literary men belong to or have at some period or another -been members of this club. American authors, artists, and actors, are -always welcomed here, and among the habitues of the Garrick may be -found Lester Wallack, H.E. Bateman, and others. The Garrick is noted -for its famous gin punch which is a specialty here, and for which the -following ingredients are necessary to composition; pour half a pint of -gin on the outer peel of a lemon, then a little lemon juice, a glass of -maraschino, a pint and a quarter of water, and two bottles of iced soda -water. This is a most fragrant punch and not very intoxicating. The -collection of pictures at the Garrick is very fine, and embraces nearly -all the people, both male and female, who have made themselves famous -in English histrionic art, among whom may be noticed Elliston, Macklin, -Peg Woffington, Nell Gwynne, Colley Cibber, Mrs. Bracegirdle, Garrick -as Richard III, John Phillip and Charles Kemble, Charles Mathews, -Mrs. Siddons, Macready, Miss Inchbald, Edmund Kean, Kitty Clive, Mrs. -Billington, and various others. Some of these portraits have been -painted by the first of English artists. This gallery is only rivalled -by that in Evan's Supper House in Convent Garden, where there is a fine -and similar collection. - -The Reform Club has among its members John Bright, W. E. Gladstone, -Lord Hatherley, the present Lord Chancellor of England, the Duke of -Argyll, W.E. Forster, Lord Dufferin, and other well known liberal -nobles. About a year ago John Bright and W.E. Forster, his able -aide-camp, resigned from the membership of the Reform Club, owing to -the fact that a correspondent of an American journal, proposed by them, -had had been black-balled in the Reform Club. This correspondent was -Geo. W. Smalley of the _New York Tribune_. I believe that the club -reconsidered their decision and admitted Mr. Smalley, and Mr. Bright -and Mr. Forster are now members of the club. Sir Charles Wentworth -Dilke, editor of the _Athenæum_, is a member of the Reform Club. - -[Sidenote: CARLTON CLUB.] - -The Carlton Club ranks high among the Tory or anti-liberal clubs of -London, has a very rich proprietary and a magnificent edifice in Pall -Mall. The Right Hon. Spencer Horatio Walpole, one of the members -for Cambridge University, and Alexander Beresford Hope, one of the -proprietors of the _Saturday Review_, who was a member of Parliament -during the American Civil War, and a bitter foe of the North, are both -members of the Carlton Club, as is also Lord John Manners, a prominent -Conservative noble, and fifth son of the Duke of Rutland. John Laird, -M.P. for Liverpool, the builder of the _Alabama_, is also a member of -the Carlton Club. - -Lord Cole, a son of the Earl of Enskillen, and a chief accomplice with -the Prince of Wales in the Lady Mordaunt scandal, is a member of the -Carlton. - -[Illustration: CARLTON CLUB HOUSE.] - -Gregory, the member for Galway, also a sympathizer with the -Slaveholder's Rebellion, belongs to the Carlton. To be brief, this -Carlton Club, essentially aristocratic and inimical to democracy -all over the world, contributed more individual moneyed and social -influence and support to Jeff. Davis than all the London Clubs put -together. - -I might state here that Bass, the great East India Pale Ale man, is a -member of the Reform Club, while Sir Arthur Guiness, the Dublin Brown -Stout man, Bass's great rival, is a member of the National Club, which -is pseudo liberal. Jonathan Pim, the rich Irish Quaker, a member for -Dublin City like Guiness, does not belong to any London club and keeps -away from the flesh pots of Egypt. John Francis Maguire, M.P. for Cork, -is a member of the Stafford Club, which numbers some of the Catholic -families in its roll of membership. Sir Patrick O'Brien, an amusing -Irishman who frequents the Cremorne a good deal, belongs to the Reform -Club. The present Earl of Derby, late Lord Stanley, who was expected to -lead the liberals in the House of Lords, but does not give much promise -of doing so while he is an active member of the Carlton Club. - -The Right Hon. George Goschen, a Jewish merchant, who is President -of the Poor Law Board, yet quite a young man and promising, has his -name inscribed on the lists of the Reform and Athenæum Clubs, and -Robert Lowe, the witty, sarcastic, and clear-headed Chancellor of -Exchequer, are lights in the Reform Club. Edward Sullivan, the Irish -Attorney General, may be seen at the Reform, and George Henry Moore, -a countryman of his, and an apologist for the Fenians, is a habitue -of Brook's Club in St. James street. Sir John Evelyn Dennison, the -Speaker of the House of Commons, while in town during the session, when -dinner time comes, always doffs his gown and wig and toddles around -to the Reform Club for a chop or steak, and a glass of wine. Vernon -Harcourt, who signs himself in the _Times_ "Historicus," represents -Oxford Borough in the House of Commons, and is a member of the Oxford -and Cambridge University Club. A good story is told of "Historicus." -Three heavy swells of the Guards were dining at the Star and Garter at -Richmond, and all three made a wager that they each could boast of the -biggest bore in London as an acquaintance. The discussion wore high, -and they agreed to test it by bringing each his bore to dine on a set -day, and at a set hour, at the "Star and Garter." When the day came -two close carriages were drawn up to the "Star and Garter," and out of -each leaped one of the gentlemen who had made the wager. They were both -disappointed in their bores, and came without them as they had previous -engagements. A third carriage drove up, and out of it leaped the third -Swell who had made the wager, with a tall gentleman in a cloak. As soon -as the stranger uncovered and presented the smiling countenance of -"Historicus," the two swells cried out in astonishment, - -"By J-a-a-v ye knaw, that's not f-eh-ah--_he's got our bo-a-h_!" - -[Illustration: OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE CLUB HOUSE.] - -[Sidenote: BEEFSTEAK CLUB.] - -Whalley, the religious madman, belongs to the Reform Club, and so does -the Right Hon. Hugh Childers, First Lord of the Admiralty. - -Kinglake, the historian, who bribed his way into the House of Commons, -and afterwards testified to it without shame, is a member of Brooks, -the Travelers, the Athenæum, and the Oxford and Cambridge Clubs. - -Sir Robert Peel, the member for Farnsworth, is to be found at -Brook's and Boodle's. Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, formerly ambassador -at Washington, at the Reform Club. Layard, the Nineveh discoverer -and now English ambassador at Madrid, belongs to the Athenæum Club. -The O'Donoughue at the Stafford and Reform Clubs, while young Mr. -Gladstone, son to the Premier, modestly drinks his wine at the New -University Club. Lord Carrington, a boon companion of the Prince of -Wales, is a member of the Guards Club, and Sir Francis Crossley, the -great Yorkshire manufacturer, may be seen nightly during the session -passing his hours in the Reform and Brook's Clubs. - -Queer and strange reminiscences cling to the London Clubs like -barnacles to a packet ship. At the Alfred Club, George Canning, one of -the greatest men ever known in England, used to take a steak and onions -alongside of Lord Byron, who was always partial to Madeira negus. - -Louis Napoleon, in his cheerless and hard up days, ate his -eighteenpenny dinner at the Army and Navy Club in silence, while -aristocratic Englishmen sat around chaffing and joking and taking no -part in the sorrows of the exiled nephew of his Uncle. Since then -dynasties have changed, and now a magnificent piece of Gobelin tapestry -work, the "Sacrifice of Diana," worthy to be the gift of a sovereign, -hangs in the club house of which he was once a member. The Emperor -presented it to the Club. - -The stock of wine in the cellars of the Athenæum is worth about -$30,000, and is never allowed to run down or deteriorate, and its -yearly revenue amounts to about $50,000. - -The Beefsteak Club is a coterie of choice spirits who meet over the -Lyceum Theatre to eat beefsteaks and drink tobys of ale, each member -bringing his own beefsteak and furnishing his own jokes. Several -noblemen belong to it, and the President wears as his emblem of office, -a golden gridiron. Peg Woffington was at one time a member of this club. - -[Illustration: UNITED SERVICE CLUB.] - -The Duke of Wellington was in the habit of dining at the United Service -Club, in Pall Mall, off the roast joint of beef or mutton, and one -day he was charged 1s. 3d. for his plate of meat instead of 1s., the -proper charge. He declared he would not pay the extra three-pence, and -denounced the swindle until the three-pence was deducted, when the old -soldier became satisfied and said that he would have paid the extra -charge, but that he did not wish to establish an unjust precedent -whereby others might suffer. - -Just one hundred years ago a man dropped down at the door of White's -Club, which is still flourishing in St. James' St., and the crowd of -loungers in the bow windows immediately began to lay wagers whether the -man was dead or not. A charitable person suggested that he be bled, but -those who had wagered refused to allow it, saying that it would affect -the fairness of the bet. In 1814, a banquet was given to the allied -sovereigns at White's, which cost over $50,000 of American money, and -the next year after a banquet was given to the Duke of Wellington -which cost £2,480 10s. 9d. George IV, and Chesterfield, the master of -politeness, were members of White's Club. - -During the hard winter of 1844, the aristocratic clubs of London -contributed to the starving poor of the metropolis, 3,104 pounds of -broken bread, 4,556 pounds of broken meat, 1,147 pints of tea-leaves, -and 1,158 pints of coffee-grounds. Otherwise these leavings might have -been given to swine to fatten them. - -[Sidenote: DEMOCRATIC CLUB.--LADIES ADMITTED.] - -Gambling was carried on to a very high pitch at one time in the London -clubs, but many have mended within twenty years. Crockford's Club -House, No. 50 St. James' street, was known all over the world, and -kings, princes, ambassadors, and statesmen, were inscribed upon its -rolls as members. It no longer exists, however. - -Crockford started in life as a fishmonger, in the old bulk-shop -next door to Temple Bar Without, which he quitted for "play" in St. -James'. He began by taking Watier's old club-house, where he set up a -hazard-bank, and won a great deal of money; he then separated from his -partner, who had a bad year, and failed. Crockford now removed to St. -James' street, had a good year, and built the magnificent club house -which bore his name; the decorations alone are said to have cost him -£94,000. The election of the club members was vested in a committee; -the house appointments were superb, and Ude was engaged as _maître -d'hôtel_. "Crockford's" now became the high fashion. Card-tables -were regularly placed, and whist was played occasionally; but the -aim, end, and final cause of the whole was the hazard-bank, at which -the proprietor took his nightly stand, prepared for all comers. His -speculation was eminently successful. During several years, everything -that anybody had to lose and cared to risk was swallowed up; and -Crockford became a _millionaire_. He retired in 1840, "much as an -Indian chief retires from a hunting-country when there is not game -enough left for his tribe;" and the Club then tottered to its fall. -After Crockford's death, the lease of the club-house (thirty-two years, -rent £1,400) was sold for £2,900. - -The Whittington Club is the only democratic club in London. It was -started twenty-four years ago by Douglas Jerrold, who became its first -president. It combines a literary society, with a club house, upon an -economical scale, and contains dining and coffee rooms, library and -reading rooms, smoking and chess rooms, and a large hall for balls, -concerts, and soirees. Lectures are given here, and classes are held -for the higher branches of education, fencing, dancing, etc. Ladies -have all the privileges of gentlemen or members in the restaurant, -and in balloting, while their dues and subscriptions is half that of -the male members. This is the largest club in London, and combines -all classes, having a roll of 1,700 members, all of whom are to be -considered active. The Whittington Club is the only one in London where -a person may be proposed without having a crest, or without belonging -to a "good family," which means to loaf or idle a life away, and live -upon the bread which is furnished by the blood and sweat of what these -dandy Club men call the "lowah closses." - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE ABBEY-CHURCH OF WESTMINSTER. - - -THIS is the Pantheon of England's Greatest Dead. As I stand here under -the groined roof of this vast and glorious Nave, with the sunbeams -streaming in through rose windows, and falling softly on sculptured -figures and tombs of Kings and Queens long mouldering in the dust, -their bodies recumbent in monumental brass, their hands clasped as in -prayer, with heroes, and poets, and statesmen, law-givers, and royal -murderers, lying silently around me on either hand, and under my feet -beneath the worn and antique stones which form the pavement, I realize -that I am in the Valhalla of the Anglo-Norman Race, a race that has -been prolific of strong wills, great minds, and heroic deeds. - -This is the most sacred spot in all Great Britain, this spot enclosed -by the four walls of Westminster Abbey. It does not seem an edifice -raised by human hands, rather would it appear, as I look to the roof, -supported by most marvelous pillars, resembling an interlaced avenue of -royal forest trees, that it had been constructed by beings of another -world. - -It was a grand faith that inspired Westminster Abbey, a faith that -believed in sacrificing all earthly aspirations for the honor and glory -of God. - -Thus musing I am interrupted by a tap on the shoulder, as I stand -leaning against a pillar in the gloom of the vast pile. - -"Would you like to see the Habbey, sir?--its sixpence to see the -Chapels--there's nine on 'em: the Hambulatory, the Nave, Transept, -Choir, Chapels, and Cloisters, are free--beautiful sights--only -sixpence, sir." - -I turned, and saw a man in a black fustian gown, bareheaded, with a -tall thin stick in his right hand; he was old, and seemed to need its -frail support. This was a prebendary's "Verger," a sort of a porter -or Abbey guide, whose main object was to collect as many sixpences -as possible, but ostensibly he was a cicerone of the monuments and -architectural beauties of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter's, -Westminster. - -Numbers of visitors were straying in and out of the Abbey, looking at -the monuments, criticising the works of art, the mural tablets, or -gossiping over the ashes of dead Kings, as if they were in a concert -room, while here and there might be seen some scholar or learned man -delving for facts, and poring over the musty Latin of the crumbling -tombs. - -In Westminster Abbey rival statesmen rest in peace, the tongue of -the orator is mute, side by side rest the Crowned head and the -Chancellor with his great seal, the Archbishop and the Play-actor, the -philanthropist and the seaman, who died by his guns on the deck of -the vessel of war, the divine and the physician, the Princess and the -Soubrette, all mingle common dust together. - -In Westminster Abbey, the powerful, spiritual, Roman Catholic prelate -has celebrated High Mass with more than Eastern magnificence, the -Introit has issued forth from his lips, and the acolytes have answered -his "Dominus Vobiscum" with their "Amen;" and here the stern Puritan -has knelt in his less formal prayer. - -Here the dread sentence of excommunication has been launched forth in -all its terrors from the lips of Papal legates, enthroned, and in Abbot -John Estney's room Caxton printed the first English Bible. - -Here the magnificence and pomps of the coronation of a King have been -followed by the solemn and beautiful burial service for the dead, and -the pealing organ, and the swelling choir, reverberating through the -lofty grey-grown aisles, have chained men's minds to the power of -Almighty God. - -[Sidenote: DIMENSIONS OF THE ABBEY.] - -Westminster Abbey is the finest and noblest specimen of Gothic -architecture in all England. - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY.] - -Its dimensions are: - - FEET. - - Exterior.--Length from east to west, including walls, but exclusive of - Henry VII's Chapel, 416 - Height of the West Tower to top of pinnacles, 225 - - Interior.--Length within the walls to the piers of Henry VII's Chapel, 383 - Breadth at the Transept, 203 - - Nave.--Length, 166 - Breadth, 38 - Height, 102 - Breadth of each Aisle, 17 - Extreme breadth of nave and its aisles, 72 - - Choir.--Length, 156 - Breadth, 31 - Height, 102 - -THE DIMENSIONS OF HENRY VII'S CHAPEL ARE-- - - Exterior.--Length from east to west, including the walls, 115 - Breadth, including the walls, 80 - Height of the Octagonal Towers, 71 - Height to the apex of the roof, 86 - Height to the top of Western Turrets, 102 - - Nave.--Length, 104 - Breadth, 36 - Height, 61 - Breadth of each Aisle, 17 - -In a fine vault, under Henry VII's Chapel, is the burying-place of the -Royal family, erected by George II, but not now used. - -The cost of Henry VII's Chapel was originally about £200,000 of the -present money, but since then £50,000 in addition have been expended -in repairs. The roof is the most beautiful piece of work of its -kind in the world, and is not excelled by any Saracenic or Moorish -ornamentation known. - -No living being has ever computed the cost of the Abbey itself, but the -sum, altogether, since the foundations were built, must be very great. - -The "Lord Abbot of Westminster" was one of the most powerful barons in -England, and sat in Parliament as a great spiritual peer. - -The Abbey Church, formerly arose a magnificent apex to a Royal palace, -surrounded on all sides by its greater and lesser sanctuaries, (where -no criminal could be arrested,) and its almonries, where a profusion of -food was daily delivered to the poor, and raiment to the naked. It had -its bell-towers, the principal one being 72 feet 6 inches square, with -walls 20 feet thick; chapel, gate towers, boundary walls, and a train -of other buildings, of which we can at the present day scarcely form an -idea. - -[Sidenote: A WEALTHY SOCIETY.] - -In addition to all the land around it, extending from the Thames -to Oxford Street, and from Vauxhall bridge to the Church of St. -Mary-le-Strand, in a demesne of three square miles, on what is now the -most valuable part of London, the Abbey of St. Peter's, Westminster, -possessed besides, _ninety-seven towns and villages, seventeen hamlets, -and two hundred and sixteen manors_. Its officers fed hundreds -of persons daily, and one of its priests, who was not an Abbot, -entertained at his Pavillion at Tothill, a King and Queen of England, -with so large a retinue that seven hundred dishes did not suffice for -the first table, and the Abbey butler, in the reign of Edward III, -rebuilt, at his own expense, the stately gate-house which gave entrance -to Tothill Street, and a portion of the wall remains to this day. - -During the long ages, while men of noble Norman birth monopolized -nearly every office of emolument and trust in the kingdom, nearly all -the Lord Abbots of Westminster were of Norman birth or extraction. To -be chosen Lord Abbot of Westminster, it was necessary for the Monks, -headed by the prior, to select the Abbot "per Viam Compromissi," -that is, the Monks met in a body and selected a chosen few, who, in -their turn, selected the Lord Abbot. Then there was the method "per -Viam Spiritus Sancti," which means by the special influence of the -Holy Ghost, or all the Monks of the Abbey concurring unanimously in -the election. After that the assent of the King had to be got, and -the assent of the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, and even then all was -not secure, for the newly elected Abbot was often forced to make -the long and tedious journey to Rome and get the investiture of the -Abbey from the Pontiff, in person, and sometimes this cost money, -and trouble, that a person would hardly credit in these days. Abbot -Richard de Kedyington, who had been prior of Sudbury, a cell subject to -Westminster Abbey, on his election made the journey to Avignon, where -the Pope was, for confirmation, and was three years there before he -obtained investiture, and then it cost him eight thousand florins,--a -large sum of money in those days--to obtain it. In 1321, when 5,500 -florins had been paid, Pope John XXII remitted the remaining 2,500 -florins of the debt. - -Abbot Richard de Crokesley, together with a number of other nobles, and -Poitevins, who had incurred the enmity of a powerful party who were -opposed to court favoritism, were poisoned by the steward of William, -Earl of Clare, and Crokesley died July 1258, of the effects of the -poison. - -Phillip de Lewisham, who was elected to succeed Crokesley, was so gross -and fat that he procured a dispensation, so that he would not have -to go to Rome to be confirmed. An able deputation of monks went in -his place, and when they returned with the Pope's confirmation, after -having to pay 800 marks to certain Cardinals, who opposed it, they -found that Abbot de Lewisham had died during their absence. - -Gislebertus Crispinus, a monk, of the abbey of Bec, in Normandy, and -belonging to one of the noblest families in that duchy, was chosen -abbot in 1082. He was a very learned man, and held a great disputation -at Mentz, in Germany, with a deeply versed Jew, on the "Faith of the -Church against the Jews." - -Gervase de Blois, an illegitimate son of King Stephen, was made -abbot in 1141. This man was not fit to be a priest, being insolent, -arbitrary, and unjust, and, instead of attending to his duties as -head of the abbey, he was often in armor, depredating, or hunting, or -hawking. He dissipated the manors, livings, tithes, vestments, and -ornaments of the abbey, and was finally admonished to behave himself by -Pope Innocent, but the abbot disregarded the admonition of the Pope and -was then deposed by King Henry II, in 1159. He died in a year after. - -The Lord Abbot Laurentius, his successor, was a wise, just, and prudent -man, much trusted by King Henry II, and the Empress Maud. It was Abbot -Laurentius who first obtained for himself and successors the privilege -of wearing the mitre, ring, and gloves, until then the symbols of -Episcopacy, and only allowed to the Bishops by the Pope. The wearing of -these symbols gave the mitred abbots of Westminster, and other abbeys, -the right to sit as peers in parliament, the same as bishops to whom -the right belonged exclusively, before Abbot Laurentius obtained the -grant. - -[Sidenote: REVENUES OF ABBEY IN 1540.] - -Simon Langham was one of the greatest abbots that ever wore the mitre -in the abbey. He was made Lord Chancellor of England, and Archbishop of -Canterbury, Bishop of Ely, and Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom by Edward -III. It was this prelate who deprived John Wickliffe of the mastership -of Canterbury Hall, Oxford, which was the first cause of Wickliffe's -investigating the scriptures. - -On the 16th of January, 1540, the Abbey of Westminster, which had been -established for more than nine hundred years, having been founded by -King Sebert, a Saxon monarch, and his wife Ethelgoda, in honor of -St. Peter who was said to have appeared to the King in a dream, was -dissolved by order of Henry VIII, and the abbey was surrendered to the -King by Abbot Benson and twenty-four monks. The annual revenue, which -included the gross receipts, amounted to £3,977, equal to twenty times -the same amount of English money of to-day. - -Westminster was made a bishopric, the abbey was advanced to the dignity -of a Cathedral, with an establishment of a bishop, (Thomas Thirleby, -dean of the King's Chapel,) a dean, twelve prebendaries, and inferior -officers. Abbot Benson, who was always on the winning side, was made -dean of the Abbey, five of the monks were chosen prebendaries, four -other monks were made minor canons, and four more were elected to be -King's students in the University. The other twelve monks who did not -approve of the change were dismissed, with pensions of from ten pounds -a year to five marks. A revenue of £586 a year, and the Abbot's house -was allotted to the Bishop. Dean Benson died in an unhappy state from -the repeated attempts made by the rapacious nobles and courtiers to -deprive him of the lands of his deanery. He was buried in the abbey, -but the inscription on his tomb was obliterated. The bishopric of -Westminster lasted only ten years, and was then suppressed and reunited -to that of London, to which it has since belonged. Numerous attempts -were made by the partisans of the See of London to rob and deprive -the abbey of its lands and revenues, and hence arose the saying of -"robbing Peter to pay Paul," which is explained by the fact that the -patron saint of the See of London was St. Paul, while St. Peter was the -guardian of the Abbey of Westminster. - -In 1556, Queen Mary being on the throne, the Church of Westminster -again became an abbey by order of the Queen, and John Feckenham was -made abbot of Westminster. He was held in general esteem for his -learning, charity, and piety, and he was continually engaged in doing -good offices for the Protestants who suffered by the laws of the realm -for their faith. Three years after, Mary having died, the monastery was -again suppressed by order of Queen Elizabeth, and the abbot and monks -were again turned out of the abbey. In 1560 the abbey, by enactment, -was made a collegiate church, which it remains to this day, and was -endowed with the lands which had belonged to the abbot and monastery. -Since that time Westminster Abbey has been governed by a dean and -chapter, and has had thirty-three deans in regular succession of the -Protestant faith. - -The Abbey has the following large clerical staff for its government: - -One Dean, eight Prebendaries, one of whom is a Lord, and another a -Bishop; a sub-Dean, an Archdeacon, a Precentor, five minor Canons, -eleven Lay Clerks, two Sacrists, a Dean's Verger, a Prebendary's -Verger, a High Steward, who is a Duke, a Deputy High Steward, a -Coroner, a High Bailiff, Searcher and Bailiff of the Sanctuary, a -High Constable, a Head Master of Westminster School, Second Master, -forty Queen's Scholars on the Foundation, a Steward of the Manorial -Court, two Joint Receiver's General, a Chapter Clerk and Registrar, -an Auditor, a Commissory and Official Principal, a Registrar of the -Consistory Court, and a Deputy Registrar, an Organist and Master of -the Choristers, twelve Almsmen, four Bell-ringers, two Organ-blowers, -an Abbey Surveyor, a Clerk of the Works, a Beadle of the Sanctuary, -and last of all a College Porter and four Probationary Choristers, in -all a staff of eighty persons, a very slight reduction upon the old -administration of the Abbots of Westminster. These different office -holders, in all, receive salaries of about one hundred thousand pounds -a year, and the cost of the school, and the repairs of the abbey, make -the sundries amount to about twenty thousand pounds a year additional. - -[Sidenote: TOMB OF SHAKESPEARE.] - -In the general plunder of monasteries and church property, which -distinguished the reign of Henry VIII, Westminster Abbey suffered -severely, but it was still worse treated by the Puritans in the great -civil war, the abbey being used as a barrack for the soldiers, by the -Parliament, who wantonly destroyed many of the tombs and monuments -that adorned the various chapels, the altars in the chapels dedicated -to the different saints being thrown down, the images broken, and the -richly stained windows shattered into fragments. The restoration of the -edifice was intrusted to Sir Christopher Wren, who built St. Paul's, -but he made a very botching piece of work in the additions which he -gave to the towers at the west end. - -The imitation of the Gothic style in Wren's additions are wretched and -out of place in such an edifice as the Abbey. The front of the Abbey -has no columns or pierced works of carving, to which the Gothic style -owes so much of its lightness and elegance, and there is a mixture of -ornamentation such as the broken scrolls, masques, and festoons over -the grand entrance, which gives it a very heavy, flat appearance. - -[Illustration: SHAKESPEARE'S TOMB.] - -The Abbey is very rich in monuments of all kinds, some of which are -very fine works of art. All along the walls, in the transepts and -aisles, in the Nave, in the chapels, in the flooring of the Abbey, and -everywhere around me I saw tablets, tombs, inscriptions, and medallions. - -Among the most noticeable are those of Ben Johnson, John Milton, -Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry and first poet buried -in the Abbey, A.D. 1400, Dryden, Thomas Campbell, William Shakespeare, -Oliver Goldsmith, Joseph Addison, Handel the musician, Richard Brinsley -Sheridan, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Sir William Davenant, and Robert Southey, -in the "Poet's Corner," which is situated in the south transept. They -are all richly ornamented with busts, effigies of the deceased, or -allegorical designs in marble, or brass, or bronze. - -The tomb of Shakespeare is of marble, with a full length figure of the -great poet leaning on his left elbow, and has the following epitaph -written by John Milton, who was best fitted to write it: - - What needs my Shakespeare for his honored bones, - The labor of an age in piled stones, - Or that his hallow'd relics should be hid - Under a star-y pointing pyramid! - Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame, - What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name, - Thou in our wonder and astonishment - Hast built thyself a live-long monument, - For whilst to the shame of slow-endeavoring art - Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart - Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book - Those Delphic lines with deep impression took; - Then thou our fancy of itself bereaving - Dost make us marble with too much conceiving; - And so sepulchred, in such pomp dost lie, - That kings for such a tomb would wish to die. - -Milton's epitaph is as follows: - - "Three great poets, in three distant ages born, - Greece, Italy and England did adorn; - The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd. - The next in majesty--in both the last. - The force of Nature could no farther go, - To make the third, she joined the former two."-- - -John Gay, the author of the "Beggar's Opera," wrote his own epitaph, -which is on his tomb; - - "Life is a jest, and all things show it; - I thought so once; but now I know it." - -[Sidenote: THE LAST CATHOLIC FUNERAL.] - -There is a sarcophagus to Major John Andre who was executed as a spy by -order of George Washington. It has a representation of a flag of truce, -and Britannia in tears. - -[Illustration: TOMB OF MILTON.] - -Mrs. Oldfield, the actress who coquetishly ordered that she should -be buried in a fine Holland chemise, with a tucker, and a double -ruffle of lace, and a pair of white kid gloves, has a monument with -an inscription by Pope. Isaac Newton has also a very fine monument, -and William Pitt's monument cost £6,000. Henry Grattan, Robert Peel, -Charles James Fox, William Wilberforce, George Canning, and Lord -Palmerston also have monuments. - -Mary Queen of Scots, and the Queen who slew her, have magnificent -monuments near each other, and similar in style. The funeral of Queen -Mary, sister of Queen Elizabeth, was the last one which was celebrated -in the Abbey with the ceremonial of the Roman Catholic Church. She died -in 1558, and her body was brought from St. James Palace with great pomp -to the Abbey, on a splendid chariot. It was met at the great entrance -of the abbey by four bishops and Lord Abbott Feckenham in mitre, robes, -and with crozier. The body lay all night under the hearse, with a guard -of nobles and pages to watch it. On the fourteenth day of December it -was interred in the vault, and a plain black tablet was erected to be -placed over it by King James I, with the inscription: - - ET MARIA SORORES - IN SPES RESVRRECTIONIS. - -James II, who sought to re-establish the Roman Catholic Faith in -England, (like Queen Mary,) died at St. Germain En-Laye, in France, -and has no tomb in the Abbey. His intestines were given to the Irish -College, in Paris, the brains to the Scotch College, and the heart to -the Convent of Chaillot. - -Admiral Kempenfeldt, who was drowned on the man-of-war Royal George, -which sunk with eight hundred men, all of whom were lost, off Spithead, -in 1782, is also buried here, with the epitaph on his tomb, written by -Cowper the poet: - - "Toll, toll, for the brave-- - Brave Kempenfeldt is gone; - His last sea-fight is fought; - His work of glory done. - His sword was in its sheath, - His fingers held the pen, - When Kempenfeldt went down, - With twice four hundred men."-- - -[Illustration: TOMB OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.] - -The Chapel of Edward the Confessor, who founded the Abbey, is full -of dead Kings and Queens, so full that a poet has written of the -commingled Royal dust that is here reposing: - - "Think how many royal bones, - Sleep within these heaps of stones. - Here they lie, had realms and lands, - Who now want strength to lift their hands. - Where, from their pulpit sealed with dust, - They preach, 'In greatness is no trust!' - Here's an acre, sown indeed, - With the richest, royalest seed, - That the earth did e'er suck in, - Since the first man died for sin." - -[Sidenote: INTERMENTS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES.] - -Here lies buried Edward the Confessor, before whose tomb was kept -continually burning a silver lamp. On one side stood an image of the -Virgin, in silver, adorned with two jewels of immense value, presented -by Eleanor, Queen to Henry III; on the other side stood an image of -the Virgin, carved in ivory, presented by Thomas a-Becket. Edward I -offered the Scotch regalia and the antique stone on which the Kings of -Scotland were crowned at Scone; this latter relic is still preserved. -This shrine was composed of various colored stones, in Mosaic work; -but it is so dilapidated that very little idea can be formed of its -original beauty and grandeur. - -Queen Editha, Queen Maud, Edward I, Henry III, Elizabeth Tudor, -daughter of Henry VII, Queen Eleanor, Henry V, the victor of Agincourt, -Queen Phillippa, Edward III--with his sword, seven feet long and -weighing eighteen pounds, together with his enormous shield, hanging to -his tomb,--Margaret of York, Richard II, and a host of others, are here -buried. Their tombs are of magnificent workmanship, with full length -figures lying recumbent and their hands clasped in prayer. - -The Abbots and Priors of the abbey are buried in the walks of the -Cloisters, and I stood on three of these mural slabs, and looked at the -worn, full length effigies of the dead abbots, in full abbatical robes, -ring on finger, mitre on head, and crozier in hand, their Latinized -names almost worn away by the footsteps of the hundreds of thousands -of men and women who had paced the Cloisters since they were interred, -seven hundred years ago. And yet these tombs in Westminster Cloisters -are but as yesterday, when compared with the Pyramids of Egypt, or a -geological formation. - -It was in Westminster Abbey that all the Kings and Queens of England -have been crowned, and when a monarch had been crowned previously, as -in the case of Henry III, whose coronation took place at Gloucester, it -was thought proper to have the ceremony again performed at Westminster, -in the presence of the nobles and the chief ecclesiastical dignitaries -of the land; the Archbishop of Canterbury always officiating in the -august ceremonial. - -What wondrous scenes this proud old Abbey has witnessed! I can but -enumerate a few of these however. One day in the middle of Lent, 1176, -the King and his son came to London, while a Convocation of the Clergy -was being held in Westminster Abbey. The Papal Legate was present, -and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York were also present. Thomas -a-Becket had been murdered by order of the reigning King Henry II. -Becket had been Archbishop of Canterbury. In the Convocation the then -Archbishop of Canterbury, as Primate of the Kingdom, sat on the right -hand of the Papal Legate. The Archbishop of York seeing this, when -he entered the Abbey, came in a rude manner and pushing between the -Primate and the Legate, as if disdaining to sit on the left hand of -anybody, thrust himself into the lap of the Primate in a swash-buckling -manner. The Primate would not move, and no sooner had the insult been -offered than the Bishops and Chaplains in the Abbey ran to the dais -and pulled my Lord of York down and threw him to the ground, and -began to beat him severely. The Archbishop of Canterbury then sought -to save him, and when he, the Archbishop of York, got on his feet, -he straightway went to the King whom he had advised to murder Thomas -a-Becket, and made complaint of the outrage which had been offered him. -The King laughed at him for his pains. As he left the Abbey the monks, -and priests, and bishops, with a loud shout cried out at him, "Go, -traitor, thou didst betray the holy man Thomas a-Becket; go get thee -hence, thy hands yet stink of blood." - -When the news reached the Archbishop of York (previously) that the -Archbishop of Canterbury (Becket) had been assassinated on the steps -of the Altar, he ascended his pulpit and announced the fact to his -congregation as an act of Divine vengeance, saying that Becket had -perished in his pride and guilt like Pharaoh. - -In 1297, Edward I offered at the shrine of Edward the Confessor, the -famous stone, crown, and sceptre of the Scottish Sovereigns, together -with the Coronation Chair, now in the Abbey, on which all English -monarchs have to sit to be crowned. This chair was taken from the Abbey -of Scone, in Scotland, by Edward, having been brought to Scotland by -King Fergus from Ireland, three centuries before the Christian Era. -Before that period, it is said to have been used for many hundred years -by the Irish Kings for a like purpose. - -[Sidenote: CORONATION OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.] - -The Scots were very eager to get the stone back for the reason that -a legend existed that whoever possessed the stone should rule -Scotland. This old stone chair, or rather oaken chair with a stone -seat,--twenty-six inches in length, sixteen inches and three quarters -in breadth, and ten and a half inches in thickness--has seen many -strange changes in dynasties, for every king since Edward I, has sat in -it on his coronation day. - -The ceremonies of coronation were very grand in the olden time and much -of their splendor has passed away or has become obsolete. - -[Illustration: CORONATION CHAIR.] - -One of the grandest sights ever witnessed in the Abbey was when Aldred, -Archbishop of York, crowned William the Conqueror, King of England. -The mail clad bodies of Norman soldiery lined every part of old London -to keep down the Saxons, while William, superbly mounted, and followed -by a train of two hundred and sixty barons, lords and knights, entered -the Abbey. When the multitude reached the high altar, Geoffrey, Bishop -of Coutances, asked the Normans if they were willing to have the Duke -crowned King of England, and the nobles, knights, and priests, among -whom the English lordships and abbeys were already parceled out, cried -aloud with one voice that they were. The Norman horsemen without the -walls of the abbey hearing the shout, fancied that the Saxons within -had attacked their countrymen, and immediately they set fire to the -houses around the abbey, and in a few minutes the abbey was deserted of -friend and foe alike with the exception of William and a few priests -who stood firm, although the Duke trembled violently as the crown was -placed upon his head. He declared that he would treat the English -people as well as the best of their kings had done, vowing by the -Splendor of God, his usual oath. - -The coronation of Richard I, the Lion Heart as he was called, was -attended with great pomp. - -On the third of September, 1189, the Archbishops of Canterbury, Rouen, -Treves in Germany, and Dublin, arrayed in silken copes, and preceded -by a body of clergy bearing the cross, holy water, censers and tapers, -met Richard at the door of his privy chamber in Westminster Palace, -and proceeded with him to the Abbey. In the midst of a numerous body -of bishops and ecclesiastics, marched four barons, each with a golden -candlestick and taper, then in succession--Geoffrey de Lacey with the -royal cap, John the Marshal with the royal spurs of gold, and William, -Earl of Striguil and Pembroke, with the golden Rod and Dove. Then -came David, brother to the King of Scotland, and present as Earl of -Huntington, and Robert, Earl of Leicester, supporting John the King's -brother, the three bearing upright swords in richly gilded scabbards. - -Following them came six barons bearing a chequered table, upon which -were the King's robes and regalia, and now was seen approaching the -central object of this gorgeous picture--Richard himself, under a -gorgeous canopy stretched by six lances, borne by as many nobles, -having immediately before him the Earl of Albemarle with the crown, and -a bishop on each side. The ground on which he walked was spread with -rich cloths of Tyrian dye. - -[Sidenote: THE MASSACRE.] - -At the foot of the altar, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, -administered the oath, by which Richard undertook to bear peace, honor, -and reverence to God and Holy Church, to exercise right, justice, and -law, and to abrogate all wicked laws and customs. He then put off all -his garments from the middle upwards, like a modern prize fighter, -except his shirt, which was open at the shoulders, and he was annointed -on the head, breast, and arms, with oil, signifying glory, fortitude, -and wisdom. He then covered his head with a fine linen cloth and set -the cap thereon, placed the surcoat of velvet and dalmatica over his -shoulders, and took the sword of the Kingdom from the Archbishop to -subdue the enemies of the Catholic Church, and then put on the golden -sandals and the royal mantle, which last was splendidly embroidered, -and was led to the altar, where the Archbishop charged him on God's -behalf, not to presume to take this dignity upon him unless he were -resolved to keep inviolably the vows he had made; to which the king -replied: - -"By God, His grace, I will faithfully keep them all: Amen." The crown -was then handed to the Archbishop, by Richard himself, in token that -he held it only from God, when the Archbishop placed it on the King's -head; he also gave the sceptre into his right hand, and the royal rod -into his left. - -At the close of this part of the ceremony Richard was led back to the -throne, and High Mass being performed with grand pomp, Richard offered -as was usual, a mark of pure gold to the altar. - -While the coronation was going on inside massacre and arson reigned -outside of the Abbey. Before the ceremony, Richard, by proclamation -had forbidden all Jews to be present at Westminster, either within or -without the Abbey, but some members of that persecuted race had rashly -ventured within the walls, and a hue and cry being set up at what was -deemed a sacrilege, the populace ejected a prominent Israelite and -beat him with sticks and stones. In a few minutes a report spread that -the King had ordered the destruction of the Jews, and the furious mob -spread all over the city, burning the houses and destroying the lives -of the miserable Jews. Men, women, and children of tender age were -burned alive in their domiciles, where resistance was made to the mob, -and the cries of the murdered children blended discordantly with the -sounds of the shaums, and jongleurs, and the shouts of the rabble, who -were celebrating the coronation. The riot became so formidable that at -last Richard, who was at dinner in Westminster Hall, ordered the Chief -Justiciary of the Kingdom, Ranulf de Glanville, to go and quell it, but -this was more easy to order than to perform, and the King's officers -were driven back to the Hall. - -Through all that night and day the pillage, arson, and massacre -continued, and the next day the King hanged three of the rabble as an -atonement. - -At the coronation of Henry IV, Sir John Dymoke, the Champion of -England, rode into the Hall of Westminster Palace, where dinner was -being served to the King, on horseback in complete armor, with a knight -before him bearing his spear, and his sword and dagger by his side, and -presented a label to the king on which had been written a challenge to -any knight, squire, or gentleman, who dared declare that Henry was not -rightful King of England. He then had a trumpet blown, and cried out -that he was ready to fight in the quarrel. The label was then taken and -cried by the heralds in six places in the town of Westminster, but no -person seemed ready to fight although Richard II had been deposed by -Henry IV and was then in a neighboring dungeon. - -That most atrocious medieval fraud, Richard III, when about to be -crowned King, walked barefoot from Westminster Hall to the Abbey, a -distance of about six hundred feet, to let the crowds witness his -resignation and humility. - -When Edward VI, a boy of sixteen, was about to be crowned, he laid -himself down upon the steps of the altar on his stomach while Cranmer, -Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, opened his shirt and rubbing the oil -between his shoulder blades, anointed him. - -James I, who hated tobacco and witches, forbade the people to come to -Westminster to witness his Coronation, as the plague was then raging, -and James did not wish to catch the distemper. - -[Sidenote: OMEN OF ILL LUCK.] - -Charles I was crowned February 2, 1626, and his Queen, Henrietta, -being a Catholic, was not a sharer in the Coronation, nor was she a -spectator, and she would not accept the place fitted up for her in -the Abbey, but stood at the window of the Palace gates to look at the -crowd and procession, while her retinue of French ladies, nobles and -servants, were dancing within. When Charles walked up to the altar to -ascend the throne, Laud, who was Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Duke -of Buckingham, Lord High Constable of England, offered him their hands -on either side to ascend the throne, but the King smilingly refused -their hands and said: - -"I have as much need to help you, as you have to assist me." - -Then Laud presented the King to the great crowd of Nobles and people, -and said, in an audible voice, "My masters and friends, I am here come -to present unto you your King: King Charles, to whom the crown of -his ancestors and predecessors is now devolved by lineal right; and -therefore I desire you by your general acclamation, to testify your -consent and willingness thereunto." - -Not a voice answered, and there was a stillness as of the grave through -the vast spaces of the Abbey. It was a bad omen of a reign, which ended -so disastrously, for the listening monarch. - -At last the Earl-Marshal, Lord Arundel and Howard, said to the -spectators present: "Good people, I pray thee, why call ye not right -lustily, 'God save King Charles?'" - -Thus admonished, they with one voice exclaimed, "God save Charles, our -King." In the adjoining hall, Oliver Cromwell was inaugurated Lord -Protector of England, with a quiet ceremonial, attended by ushers, life -guards, State coaches, the Long Parliament, and several troops of horse. - -When James II was crowned, the Royal bauble tottered on his head, and -this was supposed to be a prophetic omen of ill luck. - -When George III was made King, with great pomp and circumstance, there -was present, unknown to the crowd, a young man who must have witnessed -the placing of the Golden Circlet on the brow of this fat, Hanoverian -Prince, with strange emotions. He could have said with truth, "My place -should have been by that chair; my father should have been sitting in -it," for it was the young Pretender, Charles Stuart; the last of his -royal and unfortunate race. - -At all the late Coronations, the magnificent pomp and ceremonial -of the Middle Ages have been omitted, and the last time that these -Ceremonies were carried out was at the Coronation of George IV, when -the Celebration was a very fine one. - -The wood-work of the Choir was removed and boxes erected, affording -an uninterrupted view of the Nave and Chancel, showing the Peers and -Peeresses in all their magnificence of robes, of satins and silks, -and head-dresses of feathers and diamonds. To these were added the -brilliantly illuminated surcoats of the Heralds and Kings-at-arms, -while the King himself sat in the royal Chair of State, which is over -two thousand years old, and there received homage from the great -officers of State, and Peers of the Realm, the Crown on his head and -Sceptre in his hand, the Garter and George around his neck, and the -velvet robes enfolding his body, which was then scorbutic from disease -and dissipation. - -The challenge of the Champion of England was at this ceremony delivered -for the last time. After the banquet was over, at which seventeen -thousand pounds of meat, three thousand fowls, one thousand dozen of -wine, ten thousand plates, and seventeen thousand knives and forks, -were among the items, came the challenge to all who dared to dispute -the right of George to the throne of England. - -It was an imposing sight, as the Duke of Wellington, with his Ducal -Coronet ornamented with strawberry leaves, on his head, and in his -flowing Peer's robes walked down the hall, cheered by the officers of -the Life Guards, who were present. He shortly afterwards returned, -mounted, and accompanied by the Marquis of Anglesey, the one-legged -cavalry officer of Waterloo, and Howard, Duke of Norfolk, the -Hereditary Earl Marshal of England. - -[Sidenote: THE BANQUET AND CHALLENGE.] - -The three Nobles rode gracefully to the foot of the throne, paid their -homage, and then backed their horses down the lofty hall. The hall -doors of the Palace opened again, and outside, in the twilight, a man -in complete armor of Milan proof, appeared on horseback, outlined -against the shining sky. He then moved, passed into darkness, and under -the massive arch, and suddenly Howard, Wellington, and Anglesey, stood -in full view of the vast assemblage, with the palace doors closed -behind them. This was the finest sight of the day, as the Herald read -the challenge, a glove was thrown down by a gauntleted hand as a token -of defiance, which was taken up instantly by Wellington, and then they -all proceeded to the throne, trumpets blowing, people shouting, and -flower-girls strewing the way with baskets of flowers. - -The funerals of Lady Palmerston and George Peabody were the last that -have taken place in Westminster Abbey, and at the funeral of the former -a London reporter, in his eagerness to get an item, fell into the grave -of Lady Palmerston and nearly frightened a young lady mourner out of -her senses. Such is the story of this Mausoleum of Royalty and Heroism. -Westminster Abbey is only equaled for the antiquity and grandeur of -its mortal remains by the Abbey of St. Denis, in France, and those -world-old cemeteries, the Pyramids of Egypt. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE COSTERMONGERS AND RAG FAIR. - - -THERE is a wide, short street, or rather road, in the heart of London. -The buildings are mean, the people who cluster against their doorways -and in the alleys and courts that branch from this short, wide -street, are wretched in appearance; their garments are patched and in -piecemeal, and when untorn they are greasy and besmeared with filth. - -In this street, crowded at night--on Saturday night it is almost -impassable--children of a tender age may be seen begging for coppers -and soliciting assistance from those of more mature years, but to the -full as wretched as themselves. Vice is in every glance of their eyes. -Crime has already made its graven lines in their young faces, and their -language or dialect, (for it is not a language), is a combination of -uncouth sounds, obscene imagery, and slang corruptions of the English -tongue. - -[Sidenote: ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S GARDENS.] - -This street, or road, is called the "New Cut," and is situated in -Lambeth on the Surrey side of the Thames. It is reached from the City -by Waterloo Bridge and the Waterloo road, and from the West End by -Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges. Thousands are born, baptized, many beget -children and die within the municipality of the Great Metropolis, and -yet have never seen the New Cut--nay, have never even heard of it, or -if they did, the word would have as much meaning to them as the plains -of El Ghizeh, or the source of the Nile to a Bow Cockney. Yet there are -thousands who are born here in this New Cut who live and die in it -and make a living for themselves, after a fashion, who, if not content -with, are certainly unaware of any method of changing or bettering -their lot in this life. - -Narrow, dark, and mean streets run contiguous to the New Cut, and -branch from it in a winding, snaky way. A decently-dressed man is not -safe in this street, and the only sound of civilization to cheer him, -once lost in the mazes of these festering lanes and alleys, teeming -with low pot-houses, tap-rooms, and wild-looking children, bold, -bad-looking desperadoes of men, and reckless, obscene women, is the -low, rumbling sound coming like the approaching thunder to his ears -every few minutes as the loaded passenger trains dash to and fro on the -Northwestern and Southeastern Railways. - -The New Cut runs into the Lower Marsh and is flanked by Wootton, White -Horse, Collingwood, Eaton, Marlboro streets, and the Broad Wall. To -the west are Thomas, Isabella, and Granby streets, and from all this -misery and destitution of a quarter where the inhabitants are packed -like rabbits in a well-stocked warren, the road leads through the -Upper Marsh down to the rare pleasaunce or garden of the palace of -the Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the most sumptous ecclesiastical -retreats in England. The Archbishop's gardens, although located in the -heart of a populous city, cover as much ground, it is calculated, as -gives sleeping and eating room to 11,000 human beings in the New Cut -district. - -It is true that the river rolls sluggishly five or six hundred yards -below the New Cut, and those who are tired of dog's meat, rotten -vegetables, and the offal of the street markets for their common food, -and of sleeping eight in a room on straw which is not even clean, can -at any time deliver their bodies from further pain and starvation, and -their minds from a daily never-ending struggle as to how the dog's meat -and decayed offal may be procured, by a quick plunge in the river, near -by. - -This quarter is the principal resort of the "costermongers" of -London. The word "costermonger" has an equivalent which is better -known as "peddler." All those who vend or hawk vegetables, fruit, -carrion meat, game, fowl, ginger beer, nuts, or, in fact, any of the -numerous articles or commodities of refuse merchandise found on the -barrows and wagons of the London peddlers, are called by the London -term "costermongers." The word is an old one used by Shakespeare, -and therefore has, if none other, the merit of antiquity of the most -genuine kind. - -There are in London proper, embracing its suburbs, of both -sexes--including men, women, and children--according to information -which I had procured from the police and physicians, who have means of -knowing, about 23,000 costermongers. These people are from daybreak -until midnight in the open air, I might say, for their marketing is -done as early as four or five o'clock in the morning; and then, after -an hour or so spent in marketing, comes the cheap, scanty breakfast, -consisting of a pound of bread, a "saveloy," which is a sort of a -sausage, at a penny a piece, about four inches long and two inches in -circumference, quite succulent to the costermonger's palate, or perhaps -a piece of beef or bacon of the kind that is vended from barrows in the -London streets at two pence a pound, the refuse of the butchers' shops -and pieces unfit for a ready sale. - -Among these refuse pieces are small portions of ham, shoulders, and -pork, fragments of bacon, "snag" pieces, and mutton, and a very -suspicious veal, which is often sold by these same hawkers in the -suburbs to old maids for cats' meat. Sometimes the "coster" will take -a pint of sloppy coffee, which he gets for three half-pence, with his -brief breakfast; at other times he prefers a quartern of gin "neat," -at two-pence; and again he will be satisfied with a mug of beer at -two-pence. As early as 7 o'clock in the morning the hideous noises, -which can only come from the throat of a costermonger, are heard in the -London streets, awakening those who wish to sleep late, and, to make -matters worse, no person, unless the costermonger himself, can by any -application ever understand the exact words of their cries. They are -only to be recognized by sound, and, therefore, it is always necessary -to appear at a window or doorway in order to discover the precise -article which the coster wishes you to buy. - -[Sidenote: SALE OF WATER CRESSES.] - -I visited the New Cut on a Saturday night, which is the great market -night, when traffic is at its height in the neighborhood. The wide, -short street, which runs into a half circle at its end, was filled -with people. The noise was of that indefinite kind which is hardly to -be described. Stands, barrows, and wagons, having ponies and asses -attached, were placed along the gutters, with smoky lamps fed with a -disagreeable smelling oil, from which a dusky flame was shed over the -street, showing the faces of the venders as they gave tongue to many -different cries. - -"Whelks," a small shell-fish, like the American mussel, were heaped in -thousands on the heads of barrels and tables, and ham sandwiches, at -a penny apiece, and boiled potatoes, with sheeps' trotters, oysters, -fried fish, oranges, apples, plums, and, in fact, every kind of fruit -and vegetable were for sale. Little ragged boys and girls, their feet -bare and dirty, ran hither and thither, importuning the passers-by -to purchase their matches and water-cresses. Here water-cresses and -radishes are sold together in bunches at a penny a handful. Some of -these small children are up as early as five o'clock in the morning, -to purchase the water-cresses at Farringdon market, and from that time -until midnight, or until the theatres close, they are crying their -water-cresses, which they carry with them through the London streets in -a basket. - -The whelks are sold at two a penny, and are accounted a delicacy by the -poor of London, when properly seasoned with pepper, salt, and vinegar. -They are very much relished in the pot-houses of the metropolis by -hard drinkers when pickled in this fashion, and in any tap-room of a -Saturday night it is not uncommon to find men or women peddling these -shell-fish to those who have been drinking freely. The costermongers -are universally great gamblers, and earning during the week from -twelve to thirty shillings, as their luck may run with the purchasing -community, yet it is not an uncommon occurrence for them to gamble away -as much as fifty per cent. of their week's earnings in various games of -chance. - -These people have no religious belief whatever, and do not know -anything even of the rudiments of religious instruction. To them God is -some indefinite being whose attributes are unknown, and whose immutable -laws are disregarded simply from utter ignorance. They never darken -a church door, and tracts are received by them with the most supreme -disgust. - -A number of missionaries have labored among them in vain for any great -result, chiefly dissenting clergymen, and, although they will listen to -them patiently enough, yet they look upon them as the representatives -of wealth and intelligence, and they cannot tell the difference between -a Wesleyan minister who holds forth on a Sunday morning, with a big -banner, calling upon them to repent, in the dark alleys of Bethnal -Green and Whitechapel, and the richly beneficed divine of the Church -of England who rolls by in a carriage, totally heedless of their -condition, bodily or spiritual. All men who wear white neck-cloths are -called parsons, and are disliked by the "costers." Besides, they have -not learned to read, and tracts are useless to them, were they willing -to study their contents. - -The marriage relation is utterly ignored among them, and, if what -the police told me be true, not ten per cent. of the costermongers -who live with women and vend their goods in common are married. At -fifteen years of age the young costermonger leaves father and mother -to cleave to a girl of his own age, also the child of a costermonger, -bred in the gutters of the metropolis, and, having purchased a barrow -for ten shillings, and an ass for perhaps £2, the pair begin the world -practically man and wife, but without ever dreaming of calling in the -assistance of the minister to bind them together in the bonds of lawful -wedlock. - -[Sidenote: HEATHENISM OF THE COSTERS.] - -A marriage certificate in a costermonger's den would, indeed, be a -curious and unusual relic, as would also the marriage ring, which is -looked upon in civilized society as the seal and confirmation of the -wedding ceremony. They say that they cannot afford to pay a minister's -fee, and as their code of morals is beneath mention they do not see -the necessity of the expenditure. Their children grow up in the same -way, bred, as their parents have been, to hawk and cry from dawn until -darkness, and thus the costermongers increase, more savage in their -usages than the American aborigines. - -Mind, I am now speaking of the English costermongers, for, with the -Irish costermongers, both male and female, who are still lower in the -social scale as far as the goods of this world go, it is different. -While the English coster cares not for the visits of the minister -of the Protestant faith, the Catholic priest is ever welcome among -his wretched and degraded flock in Whitechapel, in the New Cut, in -St. Giles, or Lambeth, and he is beloved by them in their own rude, -reckless way. The Irish costermonger believes most firmly in the -sanctity of the marriage ceremony. With a few exceptions, their -children, however wretched and miserable their lot may be in the future -life, are born in wedlock, and the slur of illegitimacy cannot be -thrown up at them. They will always have a few coppers to give their -priests to help those more miserable than themselves, and, though these -children but rarely receive the benefits of a common English schooling, -they are more eager to learn and more ready to seek instruction than -the children of their English neighbors. - -I inquired of one of these costermongers, who had a fried-fish stand -in the New Cut, and sold sprats all cooked and ready for eating, if he -could read. He seemed rather an intelligent fellow, in his way, and had -by no means the uncouth, ruffianly look that I noticed in many of the -men's faces who were engaged in selling vegetables, fish, whelks, and -periwinkles in the street. He had a little smoky lamp depending from a -sort of gallows over his cart, and he spoke cheerfully: - -"Well, I'm not much of a reader, like you gentlefolks be; but I picked -up a little book schoolin' at the Ragged schools by night, when I had -four puns saved, last winter. The letters wor a cruel bother to me at -first, and I most guv it hup at the beginning, sort o' faint-hearted; -but the teacher, as wos a Miss Spencer, she wos a good gal, and she -says to me (about Christmas it wor), 'Jimmy, you'll never learn to read -hif you don't persewere, and I know, Jimmy, you _can_ persewere hif -you want to.' Ye see, sir, I had just gived the blessed book a kick -into a corner of the room, like mad; cos vy, the blessed letters wor so -cranky and they wor all so mixed hup together that I lost my 'ead as it -wor, and I couldn't make nothink hout of their shapes. But that gal, -Miss Spencer, she wor a topper and no mistake. She guv me a kind of a -smile, and bless me hif she didn't go to the corner of the room and she -takes hup the book as I had flung down, with 'er pretty little fingers, -and vith that she puts hit into my 'and, hand then I 'adn't the 'art -to refuse the gal; and that wos the way as I larned to read; and now I -reads _Reynold's Weekly_ hevery Sunday mornin' to my maty, the boiled -potato man, which is 'ere to speak for 'isself, sir." - -The boiled potato man was advanced in years--a hardy, rugged-looking -fellow, who seemed as if he would like to read like his "maty," but -could not muster up courage to begin so late in life. I mentioned -casually to him that a great Latin grammarian had, at an early stage -of the world's history, made the attempt to learn Greek, being then -seventy years of age. His characteristic reply made me see that my -remark had struck him in the wrong place. - -"Well," said he, "hif that blessed hold Latting, as ye calls 'im, had -to 'awk biled pertaters from mornin' till night in the New Cut, and go -'ome to three kids vith, maybe, honly sevenpence for 'is day's vork, -I'm blessed hif 'ee'd a-bother'd 'is precious hold soul a-learnin' -Greek, or hany other lingo. I finds henuff to do vith the mealys, -vithout a-troublin' myself habout the books as I see heverywhere I -goes. N-i-c-e 'ot pertaties--hall smokin' 'ot--a-penny apiece!" - -[Illustration: VICTORIA THEATRE--NEW CUT.] - -I bought a hot potato and a sprat, and left the two wondering if -I had been "gaffing" or "larkin'" on 'em; and passing through the -crowded street, past butchers standing at their doors in dirty aprons, -sharpening their knives in a business like manner; past water-cress -and match girls, who seemed to spring out of the gutters, so thick -were they; past drunken, noisy women, staggering home to their -miasmatic dens, with bunches of vegetables or chunks of meat in -their arms, wrapped in coarse brown papers, dirty children following -their footsteps, gaunt and shadowy-like; past reeking, greasy -coffee-shops, the very sign-boards of which were redolent of eel pies, -kidney stews, and all the abominations which are devoured in this -neighborhood daily and nightly, by the poor people who are forced to -eat this food, the refuse of the slaughter-houses of mighty, populous -London, from that stern, blind necessity which knows no law, and I -came upon a crowd of the working people--costermongers, peddlers, -match-women, and young lads and girls--who find habitations in the -dusky lanes and frightful courts of the neighborhood. I stood before a -large, dark-looking building, which seemed like a prison, its frowning, -dirty facade being no evidence that it was a place of amusement. But it -was a place of amusement, or, rather, a place of torture. This was the -"Royal Victoria Theatre," New Cut, Lambeth. - -[Sidenote: THE NEW CUT.] - -The Victoria Theatre, or the "Vick," as it is called by its patrons, -is one of the most democratic places of amusement, if not the most -democratic in London. In another place I will attempt to describe -the strange sights which I saw inside of its walls, but at present I -shall confine myself to giving my readers a view of the "Old Clothes" -district, which is chiefly inhabited by the lower class of the London -Jew peddlers or hawkers. - -Dick Ralph was a patrolman bold, who did duty in the "H," or Smithfield -Division of the City of London police, and was rewarded for his -vigilance and attention to duty by being promoted to the office of -"special," under probation, in the old Jewry squad of detectives. - -Dick had lately married and was the proprietor of a fine chubby boy of -fifteen months old, who resembled his father in every respect, having -the same red flush in the cheeks, the same black eyes, which sparkled -like diamonds, and the same little chubby nose. The family lived back -of St. Paul's towering pile, in a little lane or court which ran around -the old sheds that formed a part of the Old Market or Newgate shambles, -and was the principal fresh meat mart before the New Smithfield Market -had been built. - -Ralph had been detailed by Inspector Bailey to visit Petticoat lane, -Houndsditch, Bevis Marks, and the Minories with me, and we were to -go together to the Sunday market in this district, which is almost -entirely inhabited by Jews, although a greater part of the out-door -trade and costermongering is done by Christian Cockneys. - -I found Ralph living up a two-pair back, in one of the queerest, -old-fashioned wooden houses in the Newgate shambles. Directly over my -head was the dome of St. Paul's, with the morning fog clearing away -from its peak, and the sun was gradually appearing to gild the tall -cross on the apex, and the tower of St. Faith's, under St. Paul's. The -stairs were ricketty and dark, and the wainscotting quite fanciful. A -woman of twenty-five or six years of age, rather tidy in appearance, -I saw holding the big chubby baby, the pride of the Ralph family. The -family were at breakfast, and had been busy discussing fresh plaice and -soles from Billingsgate. The baby was allowed to tumble all over the -floor and bite its fingers. - -"How are you this morning, sir," said patrolman Ralph; "it promises to -be a pertickelerly fine Sunday does this, and a nice one for stroll to -see the sights." - -Ralph took down his hat and overcoat from a nail, and bidding his wife -good-bye affectionately, we strolled out into the streets. - -We took a walk up Newgate street to Cheapside, through the Poultry, -through Cornhill, passing the Bank and Mansion House on our way, -and finally opposite the Aldgate Church, with its curious old Sir -Christopher Wren spire, we found ourselves standing against the railing -which encloses a little green square of grass belting the church. - -"Now, sir," said Dick Ralph, "we are just going into one of the worst -places in London. There's a regular mob here all the time, and hits -just as much as a man can do to pass the peddlers without having his -'at and coat taken hoff him by the Sheenies who are selling of hall -sorts of things on the Sunday market. You can buy hanything from a -gimlet here in Petticoat lane to a suit of clothes in Rag Fair." - -[Sidenote: PETTICOAT LANE.] - -Houndsditch is a wide street which runs down from the Aldgate High -street to Bishopsgate street. At the other end is the street called -the Minories, going in the direction of the Tower, which frowns upon -the river. Here, also, is the district called "Petticoat lane," which -embraces a number of short streets, courts, lanes, and filthy alleys, -with such characteristic names as "Sandy's Row," "Frying Pan alley," -"Little Love court," "Catharine Wheel alley," "Hebrew Place," "Fisher's -alley," "Tripe yard," "Gravel lane," "Harper's alley," "Boar's Head -yard," "Stoney lane," "Swan court," and "Borer's lane." - -These are only a few of the choice thoroughfares in this locality, -and all of them are dirty and swarming with a class who obtain their -living in the streets. There are, it is calculated, living and doing -business in Petticoat lane and its lesser tributaries of streets and -alleys, about six thousand men, women, and children who profess the -Jewish faith, and are in humble circumstances, who have to struggle and -compete with the Irish of the poorer class in the street trades, though -the Jews have a monopoly of the old clothes' trade. - -Houndsditch is in every way superior to the other streets which -surround it. It is wider, the shops are of a better order, and it is -noticeable that very few of their doors are open on a Sunday morning. -As the detective and I passed through the street I noticed such names -as "Abrams & Son," "L. Benjamin," "Isaacs & Co.," "Moses & Son," "Hyams -& Co.," and other like names over the doors of fruit shops, jeweller -shops, mercer shops, clothiers, and in one or two instances, over the -doors of small publics. It is, however, not a common thing to find a -Jewish name over a liquor shop door in London. - -"We are in the very nick of time to see the show," said Ralph to me--it -was nearly nine o'clock of the Sunday morning, and we had gone down -Houndsditch about three of our New York blocks. - -"The market is from eight o'clock Sunday morning until about two in the -hafternoon, and the business is as brisk as can be all that time," said -Ralph. - -The houses were all old, and all of them had a slouching, mean look, -with funny gables, grimy windows in the upper stories, and queerly -peaked and stunted roofs, overhung by tubular red chimneys, which -stood up like rows of corn in a field when seen from a distance. - -The people whom we met in the streets had an Eastern look, with -peculiarly brilliant, almond-shaped eyes, and prominent noses. Some -others had the Celtic features and spoke to each other with the -unmistakable brogue. The policemen that we met, too, seemed to partake -of the characteristics of the place, and I fancied that I could trace a -resemblance in their faces to those by whom they were surrounded. - -Crossing the street, we went through a court about a hundred feet wide, -that seemed to lead into a covered shed, from which came a din and -clamor of voices that was almost deafening. - -There was a wooden building like a market covered over, to to which we -ascended by a flight of three steps. - -"This is the Rag Fair, sir; I suppose you heard on't before. It's a -werry strange place, Rag Fair. But don't stop to look at anythink, or -them as keeps the stands will tear you to pieces to make you buy." - -[Sidenote: A CONGRESS OF RAGS.] - -Although I took as much heed as possible of the injunction, it was -impossible not to look. It was a very queer place in more senses than -one. To get an idea of it take a section of Washington Market, New -York, with its stalls and blocks, and buyers and sellers; and on the -walls where the pork, mutton, and beef are hung to be inspected and -sold, and, instead of the flesh of the cow, pig, and peaceful sheep, -hang hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of trousers--trousers that have -been worn by young men of fashion, trousers without a wrinkle or just -newly scoured, trousers taken from the reeking hot limbs of navies -and pot boys, trousers from lumbering men-of-war's men, from spruce -young shop boys, trousers that have been worn by criminals executed -at Newgate, by patients in fever hospitals; waistcoats that were the -pride of fast young brokers in the city, waistcoats flashy enough to -have been worn by the Marquis of Hastings at a race-course, or the -Count D'Orsay at a literary assemblage; take thousands of spencers, -highlows, fustian jackets, some greasy, some unsoiled, shooting-coats, -short-coats, and cutaways; coats for the jockey and the dog-fighter, -for the peer and the pugilist, pilot-jackets and sou-westers, drawers -and stockings, the latter washed and hung up in all their appealing -innocence, there being thousands of these garments that I have -enumerated, and thousands of others that none but a master cutter could -think of without a softening of the brain, take two hundred men, women, -and children, mostly of the Jewish race, with here and there a burly -Irishman sitting placidly smoking a pipe amid the infernal din; and -shake all these ingredients up well, and you have a faint idea of what -I saw in Rag Fair. - -Take five thousand pair of shoes, boots, gaiters, bootees, brogans, -watermen's boots, shoes of criminals, and suspicious-looking boots, -taken from the feet of thieves, flashy-looking women's gaiters and -cordovans purchased from prostitutes and wretched women in garrets, who -had sold them to buy food or a drink of gin. - -Take all these articles, scatter them around, hang them on nails and -hooks depending from greasy stalls ascending to the old tumble down -roof, and then the reader will have a dose offered to him such as I got -when I fell on Rag Fair, Petticoat lane. - -It was by far the strangest scene I had ever looked upon. London has -nothing like it elsewhere, and New York, which is really destitute -of any specially salient characteristic, could not in fifty years' -time organize and bring together such a mass of old clothes, grease, -patches, tatters, and remnants of decayed prosperity and splendor. -In every old tattered trousers there was an unwritten epic; in every -gaudily fashioned waistcoat there was a tale perhaps of sorrow and -sadness and want, if any one could but point it out. - -The patches and rents that were botched up and mended, showed the -hasty repairs in the old coats that hung in platoons and files from -the niches; the jagged sewing and frayed edges in each of these old -garments, could they speak, would tell an astonishing tale, or furnish -the groundwork of a plot for a popular drama. - -The stalls were in rows, and the men and women and boys who did -business there kept running about all the time I remained in the fair, -shouting and screaming like possessed beings. Their great aim and -object was to catch some unfortunate visitor by the lappel of his coat -or snatch his elbow, his coat-tail, or any other available part of his -clothing, hold on to him, shake an old waistcoat in his face, and if -he didn't want a waistcoat, shake a dirty old pair of trousers in his -face, talking all the time in an imploring, or may be a trembling tone, -until the man would be compelled to break away by sheer force or call -the police, who seemed to have enough to do in this place. - -[Illustration: RAG FAIR.] - -I stopped for a moment to look at a stall where about a hundred -pairs of boots and shoes were displayed in rows, the thick-soled -heavy-looking brogans of the laborer ranged next to the -nicely-fashioned gaiter of the elegant, with their well-turned toes -and arching insteps, and the man, a sharp-featured Hebrew, who was -proprietor, seized me and thrust a second-hand pair of boots in my -face, saying at the same time: - -[Sidenote: MODUS OPERANDI OF SELLING.] - -"You wan'sh a nish pair o' bootsh? S'help, I shells you thish pair for -two shillings, and they wash never made lesh than a guinea and a half! -Don't you want to buy these sphlendid bootsh; s'help me, I only makes'h -two pensh?" - -I tried to get away, but he held to my arm and kept shaking the boots, -while his sharp, black eyes glittered like sword points at the prospect -of losing a sale. At last the detective, losing patience, jerked him -away, and we passed on to the next slop stand. - -This was kept by an old Irish woman. The Jew was all mercantile -acerbity and sharpness. This old humbug of a female Celt was all -treacle and honey. - -"Ah, then, it's the foine gentleman that ye are. It's easy to see -the good dhrop is in ye. May be it's a likin' ye'd be taking to this -sphlindid waistcoat; that's all the fashion now, and it's well it 'id -look on yer fine figger. And don't ye want nothing at all to wear? -And shure ye wouldn't be afther goin' naked like an omaudhaun in the -streets and havin' the people shoutin' after ye?" - -"How much rent d'ye pay for this stall," said I to her, to get her off -a topic by which she made her living. - -"Is't the durty rint ye mane? Well, it's enouff for the ould hole. I -pay sixpence a day in advance, and the devil resave the penny I've -turned yet, this blessed mornin." - -"Have you any one to support beside yourself?" - -"Well, indade, I have two childher, and its small comfort they are to -me. One of thim, the eldest, is down wud scarlet favir, and the docthor -says it tin to one if she'll ever recover." - -"You see sir," said the detective, "the people who rent stands from -the men as own this place, they have to pay sixpence a day to 'old the -stand. But those fellows as you see running around like lunatics, and a -borin of every one, they pays two pence a day rents--cos why they 'ave -no stands and honly walk habout with the clothes hon their harms." - -"Yis, and I wish you'd sind them to the divil, the haythens--they niver -give an honest woman a chance to make a penny be hook or be crook, wud -thim runnin all over the fair." - -"Halso, we never allows the 'awker as has no stands to stay in one -place," said Dick Ralph, "cos hif we did, that would ruin the business -of the people as pays rent for the stands. So we keeps them a movin' -hon, and they doesn't like it, but we have got to do it, or else they -would have rows hall the Sunday through with the nobs as keeps the -stands. You see, the wery minute one of the 'awkers gets hopposite -a stand, he collects a crowd and--now, there goes one now;" and he -pointed to a fellow with a pair of trousers, who was bawling his goods -out while a policeman had him by the neck shoving him along by main -force. - -"Oh, some of these lads are precious 'ard coves, I tell you, to manage. -Some of them will fight and curse at you like as hif they wor made of -brass. But we never talks long to them, 'cos hif we did Rag Fair would -be too much for the force." - -"How much a day do the hawkers make on an average?" I asked Ralph. - -"Well, I can't tell, because they are sich werry 'ardened liars. I axed -one the werry last Sunday as I wos 'ere. Says I, 'old Benjamin, how -much do you take in on a day's work on a haverage?'" - -"Oh! blesh your 'art," sez he, "some days I hash two pounds profit, and -some days I makes a shillin' by 'ard vork." - -"Now ye see," said Ralph, "I knew he was of gaffin me, for he was not -worth two pounds, body and soul, and I don't suppose he never made more -than half a crown in a day and do his best. Then Old Benjamin spends it -hall in fish. The Jew peddlers here are wery fond of fish on Saturdays. -They would go without a meal in three days to have a fresh mackerel on -Sunday. And they are werry pertikler as to who kills the meat before -they buys it." - -Determining to make another attempt to see Petticoat Lane on a week -day, I bade the polite policeman and the highly odorous quarter of the -Old Clothes sellers, a very good day. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -FROM NEWGATE TO TYBURN. - - -LET us look at Newgate. This stern old pile of stones heaped upon -stones, grey and grim, the burden of whose sighs afflict the weary -skies above. - -The strangest kind of a fascination hung over me as I looked at its -Gate, cut in the deep wall like the entrance to a rocky cave. The -spiked sill spoke of gibbets, the bars and locks and bolts of a felon -gang, who dragged their blind life away, day following day, for them -without hope, the outside world vacant, dumb and blank as the Ages, to -their crime begotten souls, whose only music was the clank of fetters -and the hoarse grating of iron hinges. - -The building itself, covering half an acre, seemed sealed like a -sepulchre. There was nothing to be gotten out of it, one way or the -other. No one can have even looked at this terrible prison of Newgate -without a shudder of despair for his kind. - -Only on certain recurring Black Mondays did it yawn like a grave in -the face of a great swearing mob, to put forth something into the -open in the shadow of St. Sepulchre's, that was half dead; to take -it back after an hour quite dead; and then it relapsed into its old, -inscrutable dumbness. - -Now Gate of Ivory, now Gate of Horn--now a porch above which might be -inscribed the despairing legend of the Inferno, now a wicket at which -the charitable might tap gently, fraught with messages of mercy to the -fallen creatures within--the portal of Newgate could assume chameleon -hues, not always hopeless. - -Next to the spikes of Newgate, the visitor must always mark for lasting -remembrance, the stones of Newgate doorsteps. They are not perhaps -more than eighty years old, but they look more worn than the jambs of -Temple bar--more decayed than the wheel windows of the Cloisters of -Westminster Abbey. They are ancient through use, and not through time. - -The Hall of the Lost Footsteps at Versailles is but an empty name, but -the millions of footsteps that have worn Newgate stones, must make it -an abiding reality. Here have united all the crooked roads. Here have -fallen the last steps on the stones of the ford of the Black River. -Beyond the steps has loomed the City of Dis. - - How many footsteps! how many! - -Lord George Gordon, after the riots and burnings of 1780, wrecked and -crazy, totters feebly up Newgate steps to die in the prison which his -murderous associates had attempted to burn. Desperate Thistlewood, -fresh from the loft in Cato street, where his fellow conspirators were -dragged--reeking from the murder of Smithers, whose ghost followed him -to the gallows, is brought here heavily chained from the Tower Dungeon, -in which the ministry with frantic fear had at first immured him. - -He and his gang will leave Newgate no more save by the Debtor's Door, -where the Man in the Mask--one of the few unsolved mysteries of the -Nineteenth century--will do his horrible office upon them and hold up -to the populace five severed heads, who at first shudder, but growing -hardened by the dripping sight of blood, will cry as the clumsy butcher -lets the last head fall-- - -"Hallo, butter-fingers!" - -Down Newgate steps at dead of night, how many corpses of uncoffined -wretches have been borne in sacks, to be dissected at Old Surgeon's -Hall, over the narrow causeway which skirts the prison. - -[Sidenote: EXECUTION OF BARRETT.] - -The dread gaol keeps its secret better now. No grapnel hauls forth the -dishonored carcass of the dead criminal for exposition at the Gemonian -steps. - -The place is doubly a Golgotha, and murder is buried on the spot where -it has been slain. - -Here died brave hearted Michael Barrett, the victim of the last public -execution which will ever take place in Newgate, just three short years -ago. How the huge metropolis seethed and boiled like a world-cauldron -that day of days! - -Condemned to die as a Fenian conspirator, he gave his life gallantly -for his native land, and in his last hour frightened England more than -a hundred living Barretts could have done. - -I stood before Newgate with a member of the Old Jewry force who had -seen the execution of Barrett. From the fact that the government, after -that day, has prohibited any more public executions, his description of -the scene will be worthy of recounting to my readers. The detective was -a young man, and intelligent beyond his class. We were standing outside -of the prison gate. - -The lane or street of the Old Bailey, which begins at Ludgate Hill, -one block below St. Paul's Cathedral, runs toward Newgate street, -parallel with Giltspur street which it enters, and forms before ending -a triangular space of about two acres square measurement. At the angle, -formed by the Holborn Viaduct, which ends here, (Giltspur street and -Newgate street,) is the old Church of St. Sepulchre. To the right and -behind us, we could just trace the ornamented and beautiful facade -of Christ Church Hospital. To our left and below us was the Sessions -Court in the Old Bailey, a place in some respects like the Tombs Court -and the Court of General Sessions in New York, were both courts to be -combined. I am thus particular in order to show my readers where and -how Michael Barrett, the last Newgate victim, died. - -"Well, you see, Sir," said my Old Jewry friend to me, "the week as -Barrett wos hung wos a busy week with us. Up all night sometimes and -all day, searching the holes and corners and dark places of the city -for Fenians. We got information that they wos going to blow up St. -Pauls, one day--another day we hears that they had a plot to bust -hup the Bank of Hingland--then they were to burn down the Tower and -the 'Oss Guards, and then somebody told us that they meant to send -Westminster Habbey and Buckingham Palace sky high--and this way and -that way we wos worrited to death with hinformation. One night I -was detailed to St. Paul's to watch the crypts or vaults under the -Cathedral, where the Fenians intended to put a lot of gunpowder to blow -it hup. I staid there all night with some more of the men detailed, -and a precious cold job it wos, we hiding among the vaults snapping -our fingers and shivering like geese in a pond, and not a Fenian -within three miles of us. That wos a lark, and the newspapers laughed -at us, and had comic picters of us standing in the cold, for their -hedification." - -"Another night we hexpected them to set fire to the 'Ouses of -Parlyment, and a blessed shame it would have been to have destroyed -sich a fine hedifice, and there I wos night after night, a-playing hide -and seek among the galleries and Towers of the 'Ouse, watching for -Fenians and hexpecting to get a stab in the back, and all the time I -wos wishing as how I could get relief, so as to get a pot o' beer in -the King's Arms in Parlyment street." - -[Sidenote: DYING FOR AN IDEA.] - -"Well, Sir, at last came the busting and blowing up of Clerkenwell -Prison, and a nice row that made all through England--and while the -fellows as did it walked off quite cooly--Barrett and a few more who -wos suspected, and who wos as I believe really hinnocent--of the -Clerkenwell affair--wos taken and tried right over here in the Sessions -Court (pointing with his hand over the wall of the Old Bailey Court), -and he stood up in the dock that day as he wos found guilty, and I must -say he was as brave a man as I ever saw--and defied the big wigs and -all on them, and said he was not afraid to die, and then he told them -that if it was twenty lives he would give it for "dear Ireland,"--thems -just the words he said, and although I don't like Fenians or Fenianism, -I must say for him that he was no more afraid than I was, that is if -you can judge from a man's face at such a hawful minute. - -"The night afore his execution I was in his cell; I was let in by a -friend of mine the turnkey, and I spoke to him kindly, cos you see I -didn't feel exactly like as if he wos a man who had committed a common -murder or robbed for a living, cos why, you see, a lawyer told me as -how he was dying for an idea, like Russell or Hampden or some others of -them Big Guns. - -"I sez to him: - -"How do you feel Mr. Barrett?" - -"I feel well, thank you said he;" one of the turnkeys wos watching him, -sitting up with him, and he had a light in his cell--he was ironed. - -"They are putting up the scaffold," said he to me without a bit of fear. - -"Yes, and I'm sorry for it," said I, "Mr. Barrett--is there anything I -can do for you." - -"Nothing," says he, standing up and turning down the book which he was -reading, his chains clanking around his legs--"Nothing--but you see -me the night before I die--tell those who employed you that Michael -Barrett has made his peace with God--and is not afraid to die. Tell -them," and he commenced reciting poetry like, with his eyes on the -ceiling of his cell: - - "Whither on the scaffold high - Or in the battle's van; - The fittest place for man to die - Is where he dies for man." - -"Them's the lines as near as I can remember, for I saw them in a book -after, and that made me recollect them. - -"During the night they were busy in putting up the scaffold, and three -or four thousand special constables were sworn in by the magistrates, -cos why, they were afraid that the Fenians would rescue Barrett, and I, -as well as every other man, wos armed with a six-barrelled revolver. -When the morning came there must have been a hundred thousand people -in the streets and all around here. Hundreds staid up all night to -get a chance for a good place to look at him, and there was more than -three thousand women, and as many children in the crowd around the -scaffold. The top of the scaffold, I mean the frame, was about twelve -feet above the street, and the platform was about six feet high, so -that hevery one was able to see him. Fifteen hundred police in uniform -were drawn hup around Newgate, and to prevent the crowds from pushing -or rescuing the prisoner, a barricade of trees was built at a distance -of two hundred feet from the scaffold hevery way. Five hundred police -in plain clothes were among the crowds armed with revolvers, and troops -were stationed at all the barracks in the city so as to be ready for -any attempt to save his life. The crowd Sir, was for all the world -like a surging sea, and people were buying and selling of histers, and -liquors, ginger beer, whelks, fruit and cigars, just the same as if -they were at a fair, and men and boys were crying ballads and singing, -and some of them were peddling Barrett's printed confession. Now you -see, Sir, that was a humbug, becos Barrett never made no confession, -but they sold just as well as if he had made one, at a penny a piece. - -"Well, when St. Sepulchre's bell struck eight, which is always the -signal, they brought him ought, and although the air was cold and some -of us were shivering from standing up so long without anything to eat -or drink, he never trembled at all, but looked at every man and woman -of all that wos there with a smile, and a steady look. - -"'He's a game un,' I heard many a man say, and our fellows who had -such hard work watching the Fenians by night and by day, had no hard -feelings agin the brave fellow then. The women around the scaffold -waved their handkerchiefs to him, you see, Sir, the women, bless them, -are always up to such blessed games, and there was some man in the -crowd when the rope was put around his neck, who wore a fur coat, and -seemed like an American, who cried out as loud as he could-- - -"Good heart--Michael Barrett--this day. All is not lost while one drop -of Irish blood remains." - -[Sidenote: THE PESTIFEROUS PRISON.] - -"I saw the man, and I made a jump for him with two of my pals, but the -crowd opened and let him pass through,--it seemed a purpose like, and -just then I heard a roar and a great convulsive sob, and the crowd -pushed this way and crushed that way, almost smothering me, and I -nearly fainted from the awful squeezing I got, and I picked up a little -girl from atween my feet, and when I looked up Barrett's body was a -swinging to and fro from a rope, and all was over, and believe me, Sir, -I was glad of it when it was over." - -[Illustration: THE LAST EXECUTION AT NEWGATE.] - -It was high noon when I arrived at Newgate, and my visit was paid -chiefly to that part of the prison devoted to the subsistence of the -prisoners. I passed through the corridors and passages, and door after -door, and hinge after hinge grated as I advanced with a companion. All -around the prison are the high walls of the neighboring buildings, -and attached to them are precipitous sheds with spikes to prevent the -escape of prisoners who may succeed in getting as far as the yard. -On top of the prison is a huge circular fan which revolves and gives -ventilation to the interior of the jail. This improvement was the -result of the labors of the great philanthropist John Howard. - -In the old days Newgate was a hell upon earth. During the Eighteenth -century prisoners endured the tortures of the damned here. Jail birds -were shackled to the floor to prevent their escape, and mouldy bread -and stinking water was given them to drink until their stomachs loathed -the appearance of food. Their beds were of stinking straw, the rain -from the heavens dripped through the roof upon them, the frost and cold -eat into their bones; they festered in dirt, disease, and destitution, -till their limbs broke out in horrible blains, and ulcers and all kinds -of agues and dysenteries swept down upon them. Then in this terrible -state, after rotting for months awaiting a trial, they came into the -dock at the Old Bailey with the jail fevers upon them to slay with the -pestiferous miasma which exhaled from their bodies, judge, jury, and -pettifogging attorneys. - -The prisoners were so crowded together in dark dungeons, that the air -becoming corrupted by the stench, occasioned a disease called the -"goal distemper," of which they died by dozens every day. Cartloads -of dead bodies were carried out of the prison and thrown in a pit in -the burying-ground of Christ's Church without ceremony. The effluvia -in the year 1750 was so horrible that it made a pestilence in the -whole district. Four judges who sat in the Session, a Lord Mayor, -several aldermen, and other civic dignitaries were carried off by the -distemper, together with a number of lawyers and jurors present at the -trials of Newgate criminals. - -[Sidenote: GETTING WEAK IN THE BACK.] - -Then at last the prison was cleansed, and a system of ventilation -introduced, which made some improvement in the condition of the -prisoners. Still, Newgate was a disgrace to Christendom, and -just one hundred years ago Parliament made a grant of £50,000 to -construct a prison. Beckford, author of Vathek, and then Lord Mayor -of London, laid the first stone. In 1780, Lord George Gordon, with -his No-Popery rioters, burned down that part of the prison which had -been constructed, and set at liberty three hundred of the prisoners -confined there. £40,000 in addition had to be granted before the -building was completed. - -On an average there are between two and three hundred prisoners held in -durance in Newgate, and twelve sessions are held during the year at the -adjoining Old Bailey Court for their trial. This is called the Central -Criminal Court, and it is here, in this very court, that Jack Sheppard, -Dick Turpin, Claude Duval, Sixteen String Jack, Tom King, and all the -other heroes of the yellow covered literature, were tried, condemned, -taken in fetters to Newgate, and from thence to Tyburn Tree to hang by -the neck until they were dead. - -The Judges of the Old Bailey Court are the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, -Recorder, and Common Sergeant of London, and the Judges of the Courts -at Westminster Hall, who sit here by rotation to assist, by their -superior legal knowledge, the inferior local magistrates. - -The prison is divided into a male and female side, but beyond this -there is little classification; the pickpocket, the swindler, the -embezzler, the murderer, are all associated together; while the -hardened offender and the one who is merely suspected of crime, but too -often share the same cell, and feed at the same board. - -There are separate cells, so that every one averse to society may dwell -alone if he or she chooses, but in conversation with the turnkeys, I -learned that the privilege was rarely claimed. - -"Why, Lord bless your heart, Sir," said a turnkey to me, "there isn't -one of the birds in this ere cage that wouldn't go down on his blessed -knees and beg hoff if he was to be locked up alone for forty-eight -hours. Ye see, sir, it sickens them, it does, to be alone and hear -no one's voice but their own. There's a few of the high 'uns at -first, when they come here, are werry hoffish and have a sort of a -"how-dare-you-look-or-speak-to-me-air," but before three days they gets -weak in the back and then they'll give a guinea a minute to look at a -face if it only wor a monkey's dirty mug." - -When prisoners become refractory, solitary confinement, for a -few days, is the punishment, and it never fails to tame the most -intractable. The beds of the prisoners are in tiers one above the -other, like the berths on an emigrant ship, only that they are clean -almost to painfulness. The beds consist of a hard mattress and coarse -coverings, sufficient in all seasons to keep them comfortably warm. -A plain deal table and bench constitute the only furniture of the -place, and these, with the floor, are daily scrubbed into a state of -scrupulous cleanliness by the inmates of the cells. There are paved -court yards in which the prisoners may walk and breathe the small -quantity of pure air that can circulate between those high and gloomy -walls, surmounted by formidable spikes to impede the climber. - -I went into the kitchen of Newgate and found it to be a commodious and -well-fitted apartment, very like the kitchen of the Reform Club, only -not so luxurious, from its want of French dishes, and I found here -boilers, stoves, ranges, saucepans, kettles, and all that a chef could -need for his cuisine. This was not the kitchen of the Old Newgate of -which Ainsworth delights to tell, where the hangman used to seethe in a -cauldron of molten pitch the heads and quarters of victims executed for -treason, whose several members were afterwards affixed to the spikes of -Temple Bar or London Bridge. - -I saw the rations of each prisoner served out in tin panikins and -platters, and the bread served was as white as any I ever ate. There -were three large and beautiful potatoes allotted to each one, and three -ounces of boiled beef, good and tender and free from bone, just of the -same quality which I had seen served a few days before in the barracks -of the Grenadier Guards down in Westminster. The meat might not have -all the accessories and sauces which a Delmonico or a Blanchard could -provide, but it was palatable and tender to the taste. - -On "off" days they have soup and thick gruel for breakfast, and sixteen -ounces of bread per day. They never get beer, butter, milk, cheese, -cabbage, tea, coffee, or eggs. - -[Sidenote: HOTEL REGULATIONS.] - -So, after I had seen all this "bee bread," the hunks of meat duly -weighed out, the potatoes and lumps of bread packed in their panniers -and delivered out from door to door--the chief warder and I began to -ascend a very Mont Blanc of iron staircases, and visited, one after the -other, the cells of the wicked hive; in which, God knows, there was -no honey making, but only wax, bitter as the book which the Apostle -swallowed. - -The original "comb," many stories high, had been built in one of the -former yards of the gaol. The space between the different tiers of -cells was quite sufficient for ventilation; but the architects had of -necessity trusted more to height than to breadth, and this increased -the hive-like appearance of the place. But when I came down again, the -remembrance of what I had seen fresh upon me, all these iron staircases -and galleries, all these shining locks, bars, numbers, plates, and -"inspection holes," all these recrossing and crossing pillars, trusses, -and girders, made me think that I had just left some great, bad -exhibition of products of the devil's industry. One cell was, in all -save its occupant, twin brother to its neighbor on either side; and so -on, tier above tier, until the whole nest had been explored. I forgot -to ask how many feet broad, by how many feet long, was each dungeon. - -But here is one--the type of all the rest. It is as large say, as a -_cabinet particulier_, to hold four, at Vachett's or the Moulin Rouge; -but it is given up to the occupancy of one man. It is a hundred times -cleaner than ever was _cabinet_ in Paris restaurant; and here the -lodger eats, reads, and sleeps. His bedding lies on a shelf on the -right corner as you enter the cell. It is a pile of rugs, matting, -mattress, or some other kind of bedding, packed and folded up with -mathematical accuracy, with an assortment of straps and hooks disposed -in corresponding order. These hooks will, by and bye, at eight o'clock, -be inserted in rings in the whitewashed cell, when the prisoner will -make his bed and sleep athwart his cell. - -There are his gas-pipe, his basin, and mug; there is a little -desk-formed table, which he can prop up with a wooden support, to eat -his meals upon; there are his tin panikin and wooden spoon, his Bible, -prayer-book, and hymn-book, his comb, his salt-cellar, with a neat -cover of blue paper. Everything shines, glistens, sparkles, almost -as bravely as the gew-gaws in Mr. Benson's shop outside. The floor -is of shining asphalte. The covered ceiling is without a flaw. The -walls are unsmirched. A neat copy of the regulations enforced in this -"hotel"--the code of discipline framed by the Sheriffs--are hung up -for the prisoner's guidance. He has a ventilator, by means of which he -can regulate the temperature of his cell; and I noticed that the chief -warder had to tell almost every prisoner that he was keeping his cell -too warm. - -Among the many afflicting scenes that have taken place in the vicinity -of Newgate, was that of February 23, 1807, when two men, named Haggerty -and Holloway, were hanged for the murder of Mr. Steele, on Hounslow -Heath. The greatest interest had been excited by the trial of these two -men, and an immense crowd assembled to witness their execution. - -By five o'clock in the morning every avenue was blocked up; every -window that communicated a view of the place was crammed, and wagons, -arranged in rows, groaned under the weight of the eager multitude. The -pressure of the assemblage was tremendous; and when the criminals had -been turned off--when they had given their last death struggle--the -mass of the people began to move. But there was no room for them to -move in. - -Immediately rose the shrieks of affrighted women in the crowd, which -but increased the alarm, and made each individual struggle to get out -of the multitude. Hundreds were trodden under foot, and the furious and -frightened crowd passed over them. - -At last the confusion ceased a little, and the ground became -comparatively clear. - -[Sidenote: DRINKING FROM ST. GILES' BOWL.] - -Some who had been thrown down arose but with little damage, and went -home, but forty-two were found insensible, of this number twenty-seven -were quite dead, of whom three were women. Of the other fifteen many -had their legs or arms broken, and some of them afterward died. Since -that occurrence barriers have been erected and executions have taken -place without loss of life. The system of hanging in chains has also -been abolished, and Newgate may one day hope, like its brother of the -Bastille, for the light of freedom to break in upon its hell-holes, -and show to humanity how like devils are men clad with a little brief -authority. - -Eighty-three years ago, the last victim, taken from Newgate to Tyburn -Tree, was hung there upon the gallows in chains. The name of the -criminal was John Austin. Tyburn was anciently a manor and village -some miles west of London, and on this fated spot, in 1330, Roger de -Mortimer was hanged, drawn, disemboweled, and quartered, for high -treason. The gallows was a triangle upon three legs. Long years ago, -when Dan Chaucer wrote his lays, criminals were taken to Tyburn, and -hung from a lofty elm tree, which overshadowed a brook or "burn," hence -the term of "Tyburn Tree." The gallows, in after years, stood on a -small eminence at the corner of the Edgeware Road, where a tool-house -was subsequently erected. - -Beneath this spot, where the gallows formerly stood, the bones of -Bradshaw, Ireton, and others, who had voted for the death of Charles -I, repose, their remains, having been taken from their graves, after -the Restoration, and thrown here. Around the gibbet were erected -open galleries, like those at a modern race-course, from whence many -thousand people, of both sexes, were wont to feast their eyes on the -dying struggles of the condemned. "Mamma Douglas," an old toothless -woman, held the keys of these seats, and she was, facetiously, called -the Tyburn "pew opener." Prices of seats to witness the sport, varied -from one and sixpence to three shillings, and in one instance, a -reprieve having arrived for the prisoner in time to save his life, the -mob became enraged at their disappointment, and tore up the benches. -The criminal was conveyed in a cart to Tyburn, the parson chanting -prayer and hymn on the route, and in passing through the quarter of St. -Giles, a bowl of ale was always offered to the condemned to drink, the -procession of Sheriffs, Stavesmen, and Constables, halting on the way -for the purpose. Among the famous criminals executed here were Perkin -Warbeck, for plotting his escape from the Tower, 1534; the Holy Maid of -Kent, and her associates, 1535; the last Prior of the Charter House, -same year; Southwell, the poet, 1615; Mrs. Turner, hanged in a yellow -starched ruff, for the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, 1628; John -Felton, assassin of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, 1600; and in 1662 -five persons who had signed the death warrant of Charles I; 1684, Sir -Thomas Armstrong (Rye House Plot); 1705, John Smith, a burglar, having -been hung for fifteen minutes, a reprieve arrived, and he was cut and -bled, which saved his life. Jack Sheppard was hung in 1724; Jonathan -Wild, the thief taker, in 1725, and Catharine Hayes was burnt alive -here in 1726, for the murder of her husband, as the indignant mob would -not suffer the hangman to strangle her, as was usual, before the fire -was kindled. In 1760, Earl Ferrars, who had murdered his steward, rode -from the Tower to Tyburn, in his open landau, drawn by six horses, and -was hanged with a silken rope, the hangman and the mob fighting for -the rope, while the latter tore the black cloth on the scaffold to -pieces. Oliver Cromwell's body was taken up and here, long years after -he had died, hung from the tree, while his head was set on a spike of -Westminster Hall. The other famous hangings were as follows: 1767, -Mrs. Browning, for murder; 1774, John Rann (Sixteen-Stringed Jack), -highwayman; 1775, the two Perraus, for forgery; 1777, Rev. Dr. Dodd, -forgery; 1779, Rev. James Hackman, assassination of Miss Reay: he was -taken from Newgate in a mourning coach. 1783, Ryland, the engraver, for -forgery. 1783, John Austin, the last person executed at Tyburn. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -DOCTOR'S COMMONS. - - -ONE of the queerest old rookeries in London is the little old edifice -in Great Knight-Rider street, just back of St. Paul's Churchyard, with -its nest of courts and its ancient quadrangle, where people go to get -licenses to marry--or to have divorces granted them, or to examine -or prove wills--or perhaps to have a suite entered for salvage or -flotsam, or jetsam,--where David Copperfield paid a thousand pounds to -receive his matriculation as a proctor. This curious old relic of Roman -Catholic England, where the wills of the British nation are preserved, -is known as Doctors' Commons. - -It is a college of civil, canon, and maritime law, and here all cases -that belong to these three divisions of English law, as also divorce -suits, are entered, argued, and decided. - -The lawyers who practice here are all well to do, snug, aristocratic -old fellows, and enjoy good living and nothing to do as no other -disciples of the legal profession can. - -It is called Doctor's Commons because the doctors or students at law -used to eat in common, or dine together in a hall in the old days when -the Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledged the supremacy of the See of -St. Peter. - -In the Doctors' Commons are--the Court of Arches, named from having -been formerly kept in Bow Church, Cheapside, originally built upon -arches, and the Supreme Ecclesiastical Court of the Province of -Canterbury--the other English Ecclesiastical Province being that of -York; the Prerogative Court, where all contentions arising out of -testamentary causes, are tried; the Consistory Court of the Bishop of -London; and the High Court of Admiralty; all these courts hold their -sittings in the college hall, the walls of which are covered with the -richly-emblazoned coats of arms of all the doctors who have practiced -here for two hundred years past. - -The Court of Arches has a jurisdiction over thirteen parishes, or -"peculiars," which form a "Deanery," exempt from the authority of the -Bishop of London, and attached to the Province of the Archbishop of -Canterbury, who is Primate of England. This court decides, as in the -days of Wolsey, in all cases of usury, simony, heresy, sacrilege, -blasphemy, apostacy from Christianity, adultery, fornication, bastardy, -partial and entire divorce, and many exploded offenses, which in the -Nineteenth century become farcical when tried in an ecclesiastical -court. Fighting or brawling in church or vestry are also offenses under -the jurisdiction of this absurd old court, but they are seldom or ever -brought up in these days, as the newspapers are sure to seize upon such -trials as subjects for derision and satire. Still the statutes are in -existence and will probably never be repealed until the Established -Church of England is abolished. - -There are several Registries in Doctors' Commons, under the -jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops. Some of -the very old documents connected with them are deposited for security -in St. Paul's Cathedral and Lambeth Palace. At the Bishop of London's -Registry, and the Registry for the Commission of Surrey, wills are -proved for the respective dioceses, and marriage licences are granted. -At the Vicar-General's Office and the Faculty Office, marriage licences -are granted for any part of England. The Faculty Office also grants -Faculties to notaries public, and dispensations to the clergy; and -formerly granted privilege to eat flesh on prohibited days. At the -Vicar-General's Office, records are kept of the confirmation and -consecration of bishops. - -[Sidenote: MARRIAGE LICENSES.] - -Marriage licences, when required by persons who profess the faith of -the Established Church of England, are always procured in Doctors' -Commons upon personal application to one of these old fogy Proctors, -whom I saw running around the quaint quadrangle, like a hen on a hot -griddle, with a roll of papers in his fleshy, fat hands. A residence of -fifteen days is necessary to either bride or bridegroom, in the parish -in which the marriage is to be solemnized, or not much longer than it -takes a repeater to become a useful if not a legal voter in New York -City. This little antique court of Doctors' Commons is in fine one of -the pious swindles that the English people delight in perpetuating and -groaning under, while the sinecurists make pots of money, and laugh and -grow fat on the pious plunder. There are all kinds of little dodges in -Doctors Commons, so that when a suitor enters here it is like a dip -into chancery litigation; the victim being plucked before he leaves. -Even to get married is very expensive in Doctors' Commons. The expense -of an ordinary license is £2 12s. 6d.; but if either party is a minor, -there is 10s. 6d. further charge; and if the party appearing swears -that he has obtained the consent of the proper person having authority -in law to give it, there is no necessity for either parents or minor -to attend. A special license for marriage is issued after a fiat or -consent has been obtained from the Archbishop, and is granted only to -persons of rank, judges, and members of parliament, the Archbishop -having a right to exercise his own discretion. - -The expense of a Special License is usually twenty-eight guineas. This -gives privilege to marry at any time or place, in private residence, or -at any church or chapel situate in England; but the ceremony must be -performed by a priest in holy orders, and of the Established Church. -With the marriages of Dissenters, including Roman Catholics, Jews, -and Quakers, the Commons has nothing to do, their licenses being -obtainable of the Superintendent-Registrar. A Divorce when sought is -carried through one of the courts in this profession (according to the -diocese), and is conducted by a proctor; the evidence of witnesses -is taken privately before an examiner of the court, and neither the -husband, wife, nor any of the witnesses, need appear personally in -court. A suit is seldom conducted at an expense less than £200. - -Then there is the High Court of Admiralty, a "precious old swindle," as -a seafaring man told me it had proved to him. He was a seaman before -the mast, and to get a sum of eight pounds six and four-pence, he was -compelled to pay eleven pounds of costs and fees. It comprises the -"Instance Court," and the "Prize Court," where the famous Lord Stowell, -in one year, adjudicated upon 2,206 cases connected with the high seas. - -[Illustration: DOCTOR'S COMMONS.] - -The Instance Court has a criminal and civil jurisdiction; to the former -belong piracy and other indictable offences on the high seas, which are -now tried at the Old Bailey; to the latter, suits arising from ships -running foul of each other, disputes about seamen's wages, bottomry, -and salvage. The Prize Court applies to naval captures in war, proceeds -of captured slave-vessels, &c. A silver oar is carried before the -Judge as an emblem of his office. The business is very onerous, as in -embargoes and the provisional detention of vessels, when incautious -decision might involve the country in war; the right of search is -another weighty question. - -[Sidenote: PAYING THE PIPER.] - -The practitioners in this court are advocates (D.D.C.L.) or counsel, -and proctors or solicitors. The judge and advocates wear in court, -if of Oxford, scarlet robes and hoods lined with taffety; and if of -Cambridge, white minever and round black velvet caps. The proctors wear -black robes and hoods lined with fur. - -The College has a good library in civil law and history, bequeathed by -an ancestor of Sir John Gibson, judge of the Prerogative Court; and -every bishop at his consecration makes a present of books. - -After a case has been worked slowly through one of these ecclesiastical -courts, it is then transferred to another, and after bowling the cause -about for years it is just possible that it will be lost for the -suitor. Suits are brought in Doctors' Commons for the most ridiculous -and trivial causes, and once a man gets into the Commons, he is made -to pay the piper while the sleek, fat proctors, dance right merrily to -the music paid for by their unhappy victims. A case in point I will -mention. The cause had just been tried in the Archdeacon's Court, at -Totness, and from thence an appeal had been sought in the Court at -Exeter, thence it went to the Court of Arches, and from there to the -Court of Delegates, and after all this fuss and expense, the question -in discussion was to know which of two persons had the legal right to -hang a hat on a certain peg! This is sober truth, and no exaggeration. - -But the great perfection of legal scoundrelism was, in a case where -a man, named Russell, whose wife's character had been impugned by a -person named Bentham, at Yarmouth, was tried. This gentleman could -find no remedy in Common Law for the defamation, so he must needs go -to Doctors' Commons and the Ecclesiastical Courts. The Proctor's bill -amounted to £700 after the case had gone through several courts, and -finally each party had to pay his own costs after the case had been -continued six or seven years; the special beauty of Ecclesiastical -Courts being, that once a victim brings a suit, he is never allowed to -withdraw it until it has gone the rounds of every court, thus giving -fees to a score of persons, one-half of whom never hear of the case -until they make up their minds to send in a bill for money. Finally, -after seven years of this pious warfare, Mr. Russell, being a poor man, -was ruined, and his wife's character was not half as good as when he -began the suit. - -The Prerogative Will Office is, however, the busiest and most -interesting place in Doctor's Commons. Wills are always to be found -here at half an hour's notice, and generally in a few minutes. They are -kept in a fire-proof, strong room. The original wills begin with the -year 1483, and the copies date from 1383. The latter are on parchment, -strongly bound, with brass clasps. Here I saw the will of Shakespeare, -on three folios of paper, each with his signature, and with the -inter-lineation in his own handwriting: "I give unto my wife my brown, -best bed, with the furniture." There is kept, also, the will of Milton, -which was written when the poet was blind, and set aside by a decree -of Sir Leoline Jenkins. And I saw alongside of Milton's will, the last -testament of the soldier of democracy, Napoleon Bonaparte, made at St. -Helena, April, 1821. - -In one year 40,000 searches were made here for wills, and 7,000 -extracts were made from testaments. There were, also, 5,000 commissions -issued for the country. Some of the entries of wills made by the early -Monks are beautiful specimens of illumination, the colors remaining -fresh to this day. - -Let us take a look into the Will Office, and give a glance to one of -the most interesting phases of the drama of human life. - -[Sidenote: THE FORGOTTEN SAILOR.] - -People are passing rapidly in and out of the narrow court, their bustle -alone disturbing the marked quiet of the neighborhood. At the end -of the court, we ascend a few steps and open a door, when the scene -exhibited in the sketch is before us. All seems hurry and confusion, -the solicitors turning over the leaves of bulky volumes and folios at -the desks, long practice having taught them to discover at a glance the -object of their search; rapidly to and fro move those who are bringing -the tomes and taking them back to the shelves where they belong, and as -rapidly glide the pens of the numerous copyists who are transcribing or -making extracts from wills, in all their little boxes, along both sides -of the room. - -But as we begin to look a little more closely into the densely packed -occupants' faces, we see persons who are certainly not solicitors' -clerks, nor officials of Doctor's Commons, but parties whose interests -in a worldly point of view may be materially benefited or damaged by -the investigations they are ordering to be made. - -Even the weather-beaten sailor, whose rugged face one would take to be -proof against any fortune, betrays a good deal of sensibility. He has -just returned probably from some long voyage, and one can fancy him to -have come to Doctor's Commons to see whether the relative, whom the -newspapers have informed him is dead, has left him, as he expected, the -means to settle down quietly in a little box at Deptford, Greenwich, or -Camberwell, or some other sailor's paradise. - -He steps up to the box on the right hand as directed, pays his -shilling, and gets a ticket, with a direction to the calendar, in -which he is to search for the name of his deceased relative. He must -surely be spelling every name in that page he has turned over--ah, -there it is at last; and now he hurries off, as directed to, with the -calendar, to the person pointed out to him as the Clerk of Searches. A -volume from one of the shelves is laid before him, the place is found, -and there lies the object of his hopes and fears--the great hopeful -or threatening will. Line by line his face begins to grow darker--a -ghastly grin at last appears--he has not been forgotten--there is -a ring perhaps, or five pounds to buy one, or some such trifle; he -closes the book with a bang and a curse, and the sailor hurries back -to his ship and to storm and danger on the deep, deprived of all the -contentment that had so long made him satisfied with his hard lot. - -But here is another picture. A lady dressed in a style of the most -gorgeous splendor, whose business is of a more important kind than -a mere search--she is probably an executrix of a will--and is just -leaving the office, when she meets at the door another lady, to whom -she makes a low courtesy, with an expression of decided malice on her -showy countenance. The successful legatee can be seen in her face, -while blank and startled disappointment appears in the other woman's -features. - -Such is Doctors' Commons--and Such is Life. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE BOHEMIANS OF LONDON. - - -GOING east through Oxford street, when you get near High Holborn, there -is a narrow thoroughfare called Dean street. Turn down this and it will -bring you to Carlisle street, a short and dark lane, a street only -in name. This short street brings you to Soho Square, famous for its -sauces and pickles all over the world from Calcutta to New York. - -The neighborhood is a very quiet one, as by its peculiar exits and -passages it is cut off from the busiest part of London on either side -of it, and leaving the Holborn or Oxford street, with their crowded -traffic, shops, busses, and cabs, in a moment you are in this quiet -square, with its little dot of green, fresh grass; that seems a relief -after the arid business waste which you have just left. Just opposite -is Greek street, which leads to St. Martin's lane, where a nest of -small dealers in milk, butter, eggs, and groceries herd together, and -where the poor, mean chop-houses form a perfect rookery, from which -comes the fumes of hot coffee, muffins, mutton chops, and kidneys -all the long day. Little dirty, rosy-cheeked children play here in -the gutters right merrily all the day through, and the noises of the -peddlers' cries, and the joyous mirth of the children "glorious at -their games," are the only sounds that break the remarkable stillness -of the noonday hour. - -When the gray in the sky begins to deepen, and the shades of night fall -over and around this quiet square, then the scene changes, and life -and bustle and noisy interchange of voices fill the solitary place, -which the shabby gentility of the neighborhood cannot repress or keep -down. Then the coffee-shops become vocal, the pot-houses are once -more vivacious, and streams of thirsty and hungry men and women pour -into these places, and come out refreshed with beer and replete with -cheap but plenteous food. This neighborhood is savory with macaroni -and oils, betokening the presence of the Italian element, who flock -to Soho Square in great numbers when they arrive in London. There are -"albergos" and wine-shops where you may obtain a quarter of a fowl -for ninepence, and a bottle of Marsala, which is only a darker and -stronger sherry under another name, and you can get olives and brandied -cherries, at dessert, for a few pence. The women who attend in these -places are fat, jolly-looking persons, with rounded forms, finely -shaped faces, and magnificent black hair, done up in massive bands, -and they sit many hours of the day knitting on low stools at the doors -of these foreign-looking inns. The customers who frequent these places -are wealthy organ-grinders, men who cast figures from potters' clay and -plaster of Paris, musicians and porters in the Italian warehouses along -the docks, medical students, Bohemians, and the riff raff in general. -One of the clay figure men wanted to sell me a well executed full -length figure of Thackeray, with his spectacled, kindly face, at 7s. -6d., for which I was asked a guinea in Drury Lane, the workmanship and -material being fully as good in every essential. - -In the heart of Soho Square is this little dark Carlisle street, and in -the centre of Carlisle street is a small, dingy public-house, called -the "Carlisle Arms," which is one of the resorts of the Bohemians of -London. - -[Sidenote: COCKERELL'S LODGINGS.] - -This old place has been from time immemorial frequented by them, -and here I was brought one cool September evening by the head clerk -of one of the leading publishing houses of London. This clerk was -still a young man, but he had the best knowledge of books and general -literature that I have ever found in a man of his position. He knew -at a glance how much a book would bring, who wrote it, when it was -published, and how many copies were to be got, were they to be dug out -of the mustiest book-stall in London. He had a familiar acquaintance -with all the members of that strange tribe of litterateurs who -contribute to the magazines and weekly and daily press of this the -greatest newspaper city in the world. He knew who it was who wrote the -last flash novel, how much he got for it, and whether he had drunk the -proceeds or not. Every first and fourth class reporter in London, all -the dramatic witlings and punsters, the great short-hand guns of the -House of Commons, the book reviewers, and the dramatic and musical -critics, were to him everyday acquaintances, and they all in turn paid -him a cordial respect for his universal knowledge. I shall call him -Cockerell, this marvel of booksellers' clerks. - -At 8 o'clock I called at Cockerell's lodgings, which were in Rupert -street, near Holborn. He lived quietly in a nice, cosy room, filled -with rare and curious editions of the works of which he was most fond, -and everything around the place, from the brass andirons to the quaint -clock in the chimney place, betokened a steady-going, well-informed -man. The "Newgate Calendar," "Cruikshank's Almanacs," for twenty -years, finely illustrated, "The Slang Dictionary," "The Streets and -Antiquities of London," "A History of Signboards," "Hansard's Debates," -a folio "Shakespeare," "The Heads of the People," illustrated by Kenny -Meadows, "Debrett's Peerage," "The Lords and Commons," several volumes -of Balzac, a volume with the wills and autographs of the Doges of -Venice, "Macaulay's Lays," some of "Sala's Sketches," a bound series -of the _Saturday Review_, and some volumes of "Punch," were among his -collection, besides a complete collection of the British plays, and -a number of Gilray's sketches, framed, hung from the walls. "Show me -a man's library, and I will tell you what he is," somebody has said, -and I believe the above works, picked out of a large library, best -explain the character of the head clerk who was to be my companion -for the night's adventure. Putting on his collar, gloves, and an old -slouch-hat, Cockerell and I reached the hall, where the maid-servant, -looking suspiciously at the writer, inquired from her master what time -he would be home. - -"I don't know, Jenny, exactly," said he, "but it will be some time -before the cocks crow." - -Having arrived at the "Carlisle Arms," we walked in, passing the bar, -and found our way through a low passage into a back room about twelve -feet wide by fifteen in length. The ceiling was low, and there was -no ornament to be seen with the exception of a steel engraving of -the Duke of Wellington on horseback, surrounded by a mounted staff, -and surveying through a field-glass the broken columns of the first -Bonaparte from an elevation on the plain of Waterloo. There were but -three persons in the room, which had a round oaken table in the centre, -and a quadrangle of wooden benches,--when I entered. My well-informed -friend was saluted with hearty greetings by all present, and was asked -what he would have to drink. This is an anachronism in English customs, -for the people of this tight little island generally allow a friend to -pay for his own drink, as a custom which has long ago been endorsed by -the best authorities. There is no such folly known here as may be seen -in every American public house, where the free and independent electors -stand at a bar each hour in every day, treating one and the other with -a promiscuous and reckless generosity. But among Bohemians all over -the world it is different. If they cannot pay for a drink, they will -call for it and treat each other with a liberality which is, to say the -least, a most praiseworthy trait. - -[Sidenote: A PINT OF COOPER.] - -I forgot to mention that there were two vases, with faded artificial -flowers, on the rusty old chimney-piece, and these flowers seemed to -the Bohemians like the waters of an oasis in the desert to a party of -Bedouins. All else was a blighted, sandy waste of small talk, tobacco -smoke, and weak gin and water. The principal spokesman of the party, -who was quite bald-headed and had but two or three teeth, rang the bell -behind the door, and presently the pot-boy appeared. In the lowest of -London publics the pot-boy waits upon the customers, washes the pewter -pots, and cleans the tables with a dish-cloth, for a stipend of ten -shillings a week in British coin. The pot-boy had not more than made -his appearance when in came the bar-maid, with natural light hair, one -of the first bar-maids I had seen in London whose hair was not dyed. - -[Illustration: A BOHEMIAN CAROUSE.] - -The bar-maid surveyed the room and its occupants calmly, then asked -for the orders. The pot-boy, feeling that he was only a subordinate, -retired in disgust, with his dish-cloth on his left arm. One man called -for "sherry weak," another for "gin and water," and a third for a "pint -of cooper." The cooper was brought in a metal mug, with hoops girding -it, and for this reason, I believe, the mug is called a "cooper." -Pretty soon the room began to fill with stray Bohemians, who dropped in -one by one and took their seats as if they feared no eviction. - -In half an hour there were a dozen present, and the room was so -crowded that two of them had to stand up. One or two were dandies, -and wore heavy scarfs and pins, and talked French because, forsooth, -they had been on the Continent. Some of them were artists on the half -score of comic weeklies which are to be seen in the windows of every -news-shop in London. Some were wood-engravers, some were painters -in a small way, and there were correspondents of the Birmingham, -Manchester, and Liverpool papers also present. All were in the literary -or artistic line, and a few had been in the gallery of the House of -Commons as reporters, doing short-hand work, and there was one really -clever artist, who had illustrated books by some of the best authors -in England. This man was a little scant of hair on the top of the -forehead, and had a light moustache. He had been to many prize-fights, -and had gloated over many a frightful murder, through his sketches in -the weekly illustrated newspapers. He was a merry, good-natured fellow, -with a genuine fund of pleasant anecdote and a liking for Burton ale. - -There was another man very quiet in appearance, and wearing a gray -mixed sack coat, with his bosom open in the style of Walt Whitman. -He puzzled me when I first looked at him, but after a while I found -that he was a German by birth, very recondite,--from Lower Prussia, -domiciled in London for many years, who had written a work with the -mystical title of "Entities of God." None of his intimates had ever -even read this book; with the exception of one man, (a dear friend,) -who was in his debt, and had honored his friendship so far as to read -the preface, but could not get any farther for a different reason from -that assigned by the Heidelberg student, who, after reading a work of -John Stuart Mill, threw down the book in disgust, saying that "it was -too clear;" yet he was respected in this mixed assemblage of topers -and clever fellows, because he had written a book that no one could -understand. Such is the force of intellect. - -There were two Irishmen present who sat in a corner together, drank -together, gave each other a light for the pipes which they smoked, and -quarreled with a fraternal regard. - -[Sidenote: THE RADICAL AND CONSERVATIVE.] - -One was an old man with a grey moustache, an Orangeman, who had been -in America in the old days when Virginia and South Carolina ruled the -Senate of the republic, and since then he had been a correspondent by -turns for some of the London newspapers abroad, and again a literary -hack for the shabby sheets that are read in the obscure holes of the -city. His friend was a much younger man, full blooded, and a thorough -Irish Nationalist, although he disclaimed Fenianism. He was a reporter, -and had an extensive knowledge of his professional associates on the -London press. His name was Fitzgerald, and his venerable friend was -known as Dawson. The German of the profound intellect was called Meyer, -or Herr Meyer. The names of the French dandies I have forgotten; they -were but poor specimens, and did not furnish any entertainment during -the evening. - -There were two reporters of the morning press at this feast of reason -and flow of beer, but they did not contribute much amusement to the -party, as they were discussing the respective rates of salaries on the -_Daily Bludgeon_ and the _Morning Budget_ during the entire evening's -conversation. The two Irishmen were perpetually at loggerheads about -politics, "Fitz" being a Radical, Dawson a Conservative Churchman of -the old school. Occasionally they gave each other the lie, and then I -expected to see them striking out at each other; but in three minutes -after they would vow eternal friendship, and shake each other's hand -with great warmth. The name of the artist was Sullivan. Sullivan hailed -the head clerk with great feeling, and as he sat down there was a drink -all around. - -"Well, old Cockerell," said the vivacious Fitz, "how is Slogger's book -getting on with yeer people?" - -"It 'ill soon be published. We have it on hand now, and expect to sell -twenty thousand copies. The pictures will sell it alone, although, I -must say, Slogger's text is very good for his subject. We are getting -all the trade now. Every fellow that thinks he can scribble comes to -us, and the big fish are also in our net. Murray must have been cut -up pretty bad to find Gladstone leaving him and going to McMillan. It -all comes of having a magazine. A publishing house that can command -the columns of a well circulated magazine can print as many books as -they like, and, what is better, they can sell them. Our house does the -heavy flash business, and it pays well. Old 'Swoslam' is a keen blade, -and is always on the lookout for a novelty. McMillan has sold, I'm -told, four editions of their magazines having the Byron article. Well, -old fellow, how are you (to Sullivan), and what are you doing?" - -"I'm fhoine, me dharling, and me appetite is just as good as ever, but -me powers of dhrinking are failing fast. As for what I'm doing, Miss -Sthabber has got me to make pictures for her new novel, which she got a -hundred and fifty pounds for in the 'Thames Mag.,' and now she is going -to publish it in book form. It's a nice title she has for it, 'The Red -Divil of the Yallow Mountin; or, the Ghost of the Place de Greve.' I -sometimes think the woman is going crazy whin she sinds for me in the -mornin' to talk to her about her new books down Brompton way, where -she lives. I generally find her in bed with a decanther of brandy, -a pot of coffee, and a square box of cigarettes by her bedside on a -table. 'Soolivan,' said she, 'I want two Convent scenes in the sixth -chapter; a rocky pass, with a skeleton standing in the middle of the -gap, his grisly arms outstretched, for the ninth chapter; and in the -fifteenth chapter you must give me a powerful tableoo where the chief -butler is discovered in the room off the banquetting hall poisoning his -misthresses's wine. - -"'For the details I'll trust to your powerful Irish imagination; and -now, Soolivan, you low blackguard, turn your back and help yourself to -the brandy while I'm putting on me wrapper, as I don't wan't you to be -making fancy pictures of 'Vanus going to the Bath,' or any such gammon -as that, for pot-houses, with the great female London novelist--I -believe that's what they call me, isn't it, Soolivan?--as an original.' -Indade, I think that Miss Sthabber is more nor half mad, but I must say -that she is the divil at plots and incidents, and she drinks excellent -brandy." - -[Sidenote: THE SHORT-HAND REPORTER.] - -"Stabber is a clever woman," said Cockerell, the head clerk. "Whackem & -Co., Paternoster Row, sold thirty-two thousand copies of her 'Blue-Eyed -Demon' in three months, and she refused £950 for it from an Edinburgh -house, so Whackem must have given her more. By the way, do any of -your fellows know the name of this man who has written the last new -novel 'Girded with Steel?' I fancy he must be one of your newspaper -fellows, because he has a lot of stuff in it about 'leader writing,' -'my note-book,' 'two columns is more than earthquake should be allowed -in a newspaper,' and there are, besides, the details of editorial life -which an outsider could not know. Who is he?" - -"Oh, he's a young reporter on the _Omniverous Clam_, but I could -not give his name on a pint of honor," said Fitz. "He's a clever -chap, though, and will make his way. He's only been two years in the -professhion, and he's the best short-hand man on the _Clam_ now, so -maybe you know who I mean now." - -"It's Billingsgate," said one. - -"No, it's Gravelly," said another. - -"Boys, ye are not right; it's Goby, and he's five hundred and fifty -pounds the betther of it, which is a nice little lump for a reporther -who gets five guineas a week, and has to work like a horse for that in -the session," said Fitzgerald. - -"Reporthers have harder work now then they had whin I first went in -the Gallery," said old Dawson. "Me father, as yez know, boys, was a -reporther before me; and I might say it runs in the family. Ah! thim -were good times, boys, when the ould man did his short-hand wurruk. He -knew all the great reporthers of the day; and fine fellows they were, -too. There was William Radcliffe, the husband of the woman who wrote -all the bloodthirsty novels. Radcliffe was a mimry reporther, and he'd -go to the House and sit the debates out, and nivir take a note at all, -at all. Then he'd go to the office and dictate two different articles -at a time to the juniors who took it all down, and out it came, -sphick-and-sphan, in the morning, without a flaw. - -"Then there was another grate fellow, ould Billy Woodfall, who had a -paper of his own called the _Diary_; and that was before the House -allowed the reporthers to take notes during the debates. They used -to call him "Mimory Woodfall," because he'd never forget anything -that he had heard; and when strangers would come from the country to -visit the House the first questions they would ask would be, 'Which -is Woodfall?' 'Which is the Sphaker?' Me fawther told me many a story -about him. He had a fashion of bringing hard-boiled eggs with him, -which he carried in his hat, and whin he came to the House he'd take -off his hat carefully, put it between his knees, take the eggs out, -keeping his head well down for fear the Sargint-at-Arrums would see him -eating, and then he'd brake the shells and eat the eggs with as great -relish as if they were game pies. A reporther on an opposition paper -wanted to play a joke on Billy one night, and when he laid his hat down -he took the two hard-boiled eggs out and put two in the hat that had -nivir been boiled at all, and when Billy wint to crack the shells the -yoke sphattered all over his breeches, bedad, so it did. Billy nivir -forgave the joke until the day of his death. Woodfall did all his own -reporthin', and the _Diary_ did well for a time, until the _Morning -Chronicle_ started in opposition, with Perry at the head of it. Perry -hired a lot of reporthers to take notes of the debates and write them -out, and by the time that Woodfall had his notes written out, the -_Chronicle_ was selling in every sthreet in London; and that was what -took all the wind out of poor Billy's sails." - -"Perry was a foine reporther himself, and when the House was thrying -Admiral Palliser and Admiral Keppel for their loives, Perry'd send in -eight or ten colyums every week of the debates, without any assistance; -but, bedad, we wouldn't think much of that now. Woodfall used to say, -in a joking way, that 'he had been fined by the House of Commons, -confined by the House of Lords, fined and confined by the Coort of -King's Binch, and indicted in the Ould Bailey,' for his offinces. Oh, -them were foine times, bedad, whin you could go in and get yer nice -chop and yer glass of sherry, or a sweet little sthake fresh from the -rump, and maybe have the Juke of Wellington and George Canning sitting -at the same table wid ye; and they'd be at the chops and sthakes too." - -[Sidenote: A SONG FROM THE SPEAKER.] - -"Dawson, me boy, tell us about Mark Supple and the Quaker, and take -another jugfull of beer to wet yer whistle," said the artist, who had -just withdrawn his nose from the pewter pot which he was now sadly -contemplating in its mournful emptiness. - -"Oh! is it Supple ye mane, Jimmy. I'll tell ye all about him, yer -riverence, and I'll take a pint of sthout to strinthin' me nerves afore -I begin. Ye see," said Dawson, after he had taken a long pull at the -mug, "Mark was fondher of a joke than he was of his breakfast. He was a -good reporther, too, and liked a little dhrop now and thin, like more -of his counthrymin, God forgive thim. One night Mark was in the gallery -reporthing for the _Morning Chronicle_, when Mr. Addington was the -Sphaker. Mark was a big, raw-boned native of sweet Tipperary, and was -fond of hearing a song at all times. He used to take a glass of wine -or two in Bellamy's, and thin go up in the gallery and take out his -note-book and whack away with the pot-hooks and colophons. Mark was a -foine scholar and a janius. They say he'd dhress up a mimbir's speech, -and put retterick and flowers and poethry into a dull six-mile oration, -and it used to puzzle the mimbirs so that they would hardly know their -own words again. Of course, they all liked Mark, and he sometimes took -a good dale of freedom with thim. - -"He had a mighthy quare style intirely with him, and an English mimbir -who was fond of a joke, like Mark's self, said that Mark's style -of reporthin' was 'a mixture of the hyperbolical, with a vane of -Orientalism and a dash of the bog-throtter.' They are quick enough, God -knows, to sneer about the poor bog-throtters. Well, this night was a -quiet one in the House. A number of the mimbirs were asleep, some were -nodding, some were at their dinners; and when Mark looked down from the -gallery the Sphaker, Mr. Addington, had nothing to do, and there was a -silence in the House so that you might have heard a pin dhrop. All at -once Mark called out in a reckless loud voice: - -"'A song from Mr. Sphaker.' - -"You can imagine the horror of Mr. Addington as he stood up, his tall, -thin figure stretched to its full linth, and his peevish eyes scanning -the House from top to bottom. Every one roared out laughing, and -William Pitt had the tears sthraming down his ould, withered cheeks. -After a while the House recovered its gravity, or rather its stupidity, -and the Sarjint-at-Arrums began his search for the man who had hallooed -in the sacred place. He went up among the reporthers, who all knew the -offindhir; but none of the boys would tell on Mark, who was well liked; -and, bedad, the Sarjint-at-Arrums was bursting his skin with rage. -Seeing that he could not get any information, he turned to Mark, who -was looking as solemn as a toomstone, and asked him if he knew who had -called for a song. - -"Mark purtended that he was very busy with his pencils, and, nivir -sayin' a wurd, pointed his finger to a fat Quaker who sat asleep, two -or three seats off, with his hands clasped quietly over the pit of -his stomach. The Quaker was seized in a minute, and given into the -custody of the House, vainly declaring his innocence, and was kept -in confinement two hours, until Mark, in a manly way, acknowledged -his crime, and was put in the Quaker's place, to meditate on his -foolishness. He was brought to the Bar of the House thin, and let off, -whin he promised to do betther in the future, and nivir call upon the -Sphaker for another song." - -"Tell us about Supple and Wilberforce, Dawson," said Fitzgerald to the -veteran. - -"Oh, that wasn't Supple that played the thrick on Wilberforce: that was -Pether Finnerty," said Dawson. "Pether was on the _Chronicle_; and one -night, when the House was full of business, Pether sat drinking too -long in Bellamy's and lost his turn. When he got into the House, he -asked some of the boys, who had been sphakin'? One of them who had been -present told Pether that Wilberforce had been sphakin' for an hour. - -"'What did he say?' says Pether. - -"'Take out yer book, and I'll give it to ye, me boy, in a jiffy,' says -the other. Pether was so far gone that he would have made Wilberforce -say anything, however ridiculous, and when the other reporther began as -follows, he did not see the joke: - -[Sidenote: THE BEAUTIFUL POTATO.] - -"'Potatoes make men healthy, vigorous, and active; but, what is still -more in their favor, they make men tall'-- - -"Did he say that, the jewel?" said Pether, who was touched with this -tribute to the esculent of his native isle. - -"I'll give you my word, he said it,--'and when I look around this -house, and see before me such fine, vigorous specimens of Irish -manhood, all reared on the potato, and think of my own stunted, weak -figure and attenuated frame, I must always regret and lament that my -parents did not foster me on that fragrant and genial vegetable, the -beautiful potato.'" - -"'Oh! murther!' said Pether; 'but Wilberforce is the fine fellow to use -such poetical language;' and off he wint to the _Chronicle_ office to -write out his notes. And the next morning there it was--the thribute -to the potato and all the rest of it--and all London was laughing at -Wilberforce, and every one believed that he was drunk when he spoke the -words. The next day Pether was brought before the bar of the House to -stand his trial, and Wilberforce rose and said: - -"'Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen: Were I capable of using such language -as was attributed to me in a morning journal, in its reports of -yesterday's debates, I would be unworthy of the attention which I now -claim from this House and unfit to occupy a seat in this honorable -body. Rather would I be worthy of a straight-jacket in a lunatic -asylum, where I might learn better sense of the dignity of this House.' -Pether was let off, like Mark Supple, and he was ever afterwards very -careful in his reports. But the joke stuck to Wilberforce's coat for -many a long day afther." - -By this time the greater part of the Bohemians had left for their -homes, and after a song and a few more stories from Fitz and Sullivan, -the erratic band broke up, and the tap-room was deserted. Such was -the scene--a singular one--which occurs in the old dingy Public House -night after night among the wandering journalists and penny-a-liners -of the London press and their associates of kindred professions. The -old, haunted Public could tell many a ludicrous story of a like kind -had it a tongue to speak--of the amusing, wandering, never-do-well Free -Lances, of the Press, who find food and clothing, and a good deal to -drink, by their ephemeral contributions to the journalistic and light -literature of England's metropolis. - -In addition to the "Carlisle Arms" there is another resort of the -higher class of writers, authors, and artists, in the neighborhood -of the theatres, and this place is known to those who frequent it as -the "Albion." At the Albion, there is an excellent restaurant, and -well-cooked viands, and wines of the best quality, may be obtained -there at reasonable prices. Choice little dinners, illuminated by wit -and humor, are given here by journalists to each other. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -TOWER, PALACE, AND PRISON. - - -THE sun has risen and set for a thousand years on its gray walls; the -grime and verdure of a thousand years have cemented its hoary stones; -nations have grown and decayed; dynasties have been founded and wrecked -irretrievably; a New World has been discovered, and inventive genius -has almost changed the face of the earth and yet the Tower of London, -(cemented by the blood of beasts, as the fable has it,) which saw the -beginning and progress of these changes, still endures, and will no -doubt endure to the end of time. - -[Illustration: TOWER OF LONDON.] - -It seems a long, long time ago, that bleak Christmas day of the year -800, when the Pope of Rome placed the Iron Crown of Lombardy upon the -annointed head of Charlemagne under the dome of St. Peter's, amid the -huzzas of the multitude of Frankish warriors and barons who witnessed -the sacred ceremony, and yet far back in that nearly barbarous age, the -chroniclers tell us in their scholastic volumes of the monasteries, -that a Tower existed in London and on the same spot where now the -wardens patrol in their red tunics and explain historical conundrums to -dull Cockneys. - -And some of the chroniclers go farther back and profess to believe that -the Tower is as old as the Roman occupation of Britain, and do not -hesitate to say that Julius Cæsar, who has been accused of so many good -and bad deeds, was the founder of the old forbidding pile of masonry. - -Be that as it may, it is old enough to have earned a lasting infamy, -only once deserved in history by another grim fortress,--its twin -brother and accomplice in blood and oppression, the Bastile Of Paris. -That foul excresence on the fair face of the Earth has been swept away -by the stormy sea of a people's vengeance, while the Tower of London -still remains as a lesson of tradition, to tell of the crimes that God -has permitted kings and dwellers in high places to perpetrate against -the people, who have suffered and died and made no sign. - -The charge to see the Tower of London is only sixpence in these days, -and for a sixpence a visitor may see everything; dungeon and trap door, -axe and scaffold, crown jewels and prison bars, the cages and the -dungeons and graves of those who suffered and died here during the long -night of centuries,--and all this for a paltry sixpence. - -Amid the tramp and thunder of a hundred battles it has stood unshaken; -it is too strong for the destroying hand of man; and time, as if in -reverence, has trod lightly as he has stepped over its massive walls. - -I saw its towers; four of them, standing up against the sky, bellshaped -and surmounted by weather vanes, one day from London Bridge, and having -a curiosity to see a structure, which even more than Westminster Abbey -is coeval with authentic history, I walked slowly to Tower Hill, passed -along the firm drawbridge, paid a sixpence and entering under the -spiked portcullis, I found myself in the Lion Tower which stands at the -corner of the moat or Tower ditch facing the Thames. - -[Sidenote: DELIVERING THE KEYS.] - -The extent of the Tower within the walls is twelve acres and five -roods. The exterior circuit of the ditch--now a garden, or rather an -apology for a garden--surrounding it, is three thousand one hundred -and fifty-six feet. On the river side is a broad and handsome wharf or -graveled terrace, separated by the ditch from the fortress and mounted -with sixty pieces of ordnance, which are fired on the royal birthdays, -or in celebration of any remarkable event. From the wharf into the -Tower is an entrance by a drawbridge. Near it is a cut or short canal -connecting the river with the ditch, having a water entrance called -the "Traitor's Gate,"--State Prisoners having been formerly conveyed -by this passage to Westminster, where the two Houses of Parliament now -sit, for trial. Over the Traitor's Gate is a building containing the -waterworks which supply the interior with water. - -Within the walls of the fortress are several streets. The principal -buildings which it contains are the White or principal Tower, the -ancient Chapel of St. Peter-ad-Vincula, the Ordnance-Office, the Record -Office, the Jewel's House, the Stone Armory, the Grand Storehouse, -and the Small Armory, besides the house belonging to the Constable -of the Tower and other officers, the barracks of the garrison, and -the sutler's shops, commonly used by the soldiers. It is generally a -regiment of the line which serves as a garrison for the tower. - -The principal entrance to the Tower is to the west. It consists of two -gates on the outside of the ditch, a stone bridge built over the ditch, -and a gate at the end of the bridge. - -These gates are opened every morning with a strange, and for the -Nineteenth century, a very fantastical ceremony. - -The Yeoman-Porter with a sergeant and six men march to the Governor's -house for the keys. - -Having received them, he proceeds to the innermost gate, and passing -that, it is again shut. He then opens the three outermost gates at -each of which the guards rest their firelocks while the keys pass and -repass. The gravity with which the guards perform this ceremony, and -the nice precision with which they manoeuvre, is calculated to make -everybody but an Englishman laugh. - -On the return of the Yeoman-Porter to the innermost gate, he calls to -the warden on duty to take the Queen's keys, when they open the gates, -and the keys are placed in the warden's hall. - -At night the same formality is used in shutting the gates; and as the -Yeoman-Porter and the guard, return with the keys to the Governor's -house the main guard which, with its officers, is under arms, -challenges him saying: - -"Who comes there?" - -He answers: - -"The Keys." - -The challenger replies: - -"Pass Keys." - -The guards by order rest their firelocks and the Yeoman-Porter says: - -"God save the Queen." - -The soldiers then answer back: - -"Amen." - -The bearer of the keys then proceeds to the Governor's house and there -leaves them. - -After they are deposited with the Governor no person can enter or leave -the Tower without the watchword for the night. If any person obtains -permission to pass, the Yeoman-Porter attends him and the same ceremony -is repeated. - -The Tower is governed by its constable, called the Constable of the -Tower, and the Chief Nobleman or principal person next to the blood -royal, not including the Archbishop of Canterbury, is chosen to hold -this office by the Queen. At coronations and other state ceremonies -this officer has the custody of and is responsible for the regalia. -Under him is a lieutenant, deputy-lieutenant, commonly called governor, -a fort-major, gentleman porter, yeoman porter, gentleman gaoler, four -quarter-gunners, and forty warders. The warder's uniform is the same as -that of the Queen's Guards, or Beef Eaters. - -It is rarely that the Tower is used as a State Prison, in these days. -When prisoners are detained here, by application to the Privy Council -they are usually permitted to walk on the inner platform during part of -the day, accompanied by a warder. - -[Sidenote: IN THE LION'S MOUTH.] - -The fire which took place toward the winter of 1841 destroyed a great -portion of the grand armory, and materially altered the features of -the Tower. The armory, said to have been the largest in Europe, was -three hundred and forty-five feet in length, and was formerly used as -a storehouse for the artillery train, until the stores were removed -to Woolwich. A very large number of chests with arms ready for any -emergency were in a part of the room which had been partitioned off; -and in the other part a variety of arms were arranged in elegant and -fanciful devices. - -A fearful destruction of property, at once curious and valuable, took -place in this department; but one beautiful piece of workmanship being -preserved. - -This was the famous brass gun taken from Malta by the French in 1798, -and sent with eight banners which hung over the gun, to the French -Directory by General Bonaparte, in _La Sensible_, from which vessel it -was captured by the English man-of-war, _Seahorse_. - -In the Lion Tower, at the entrance, were kept the wild beasts in the -olden times, for the amusement of such monarchs as James I, who was too -cowardly to look upon any strife but that of chained or caged animals. -Here were kept lions, tigers, bears and bulls, wild boars, dogs and -fighting cocks. About one hundred and fifty years ago a young girl who -was employed as servant by one of the keepers, being of a rather bold -and courageous temper, she took pleasure now and then in feeding the -lions, and with great imprudence one day ventured to be a little more -familiar than usual with the king of beasts, relying upon his gratitude -because she was in the habit of feeding the animals. This time she went -too close to the cage of the lion, who caught hold of her arm and tore -it from the shoulder like a shred of rotten cloth, and before any one -could come to her assistance, he gave her a terrible gripe and killed -her instantly. - -Another individual who had charge of the lions and fed them had a very -narrow escape from their claws, and he has related his story as follows: - -"'Twas our custom," he says, "when we cleansed the lion's den to drive -them down over night into a lower place in order to rise early in the -morning and refresh their day apartments by cleaning them out; and -having through a mistake, and not forgetfulness, left one of the trap -doors unbolted which I thought I had carefully secured, I came down -in the morning before daylight, with my candle and lantern fastened -before me to my button, with my implements in my hands to despatch -my business, as was usual, and going carelessly into one of the dens, -a lion had returned through the trap door, and lay couchant in the -corner of the den, with his head toward me. The sudden surprise of -this terrible sight brought me under such dreadful apprehension of the -danger I was in, that I stood fixed like a statue, without the power -of motion, with my eyes steadfast upon the lion and his likewise fixed -upon mine. - -"I expected nothing but to be torn to pieces every moment, and was -fearful to attempt one step back, lest my endeavor to shun him might -have made him the more eager to hasten my destruction. At last he -roused himself, as though to have a breakfast off me; yet, by the -assistance of Providence, I had the presence of mind to keep steady in -my posture, for the reasons before mentioned. - -"He moved toward me, but without expressing in his countenance either -greediness or anger; but, on the contrary, wagged his tail, signifying -nothing but friendship in his fawning behavior; and after he had stared -me a little in the face, he raises himself up on his two hindmost feet, -and laying his two fore paws upon my shoulders, without hurting me, -fell to licking my face, as a further instance of his gratitude for -my feeding him, as I afterwards conjectured; though then I expected -every moment that he would have stripped my skin, as a poulterer does a -rabbit, and have cracked my head between his teeth, as a monkey does a -walnut. - -"His tongue was so very rough, that with the few favorite kisses he -gave me, it made my cheeks almost as rough as a pork griskin, which -I was very glad to take in good part without a bit of grumbling, and -when he had thus saluted me and given me his sort of welcome to his -den, he returned to his place and laid him down, doing me no further -damage; which unexpected deliverance occasioned me to take courage, -that I shrunk back by degrees till I recovered the trap door, through -which I jumped and pulled it after me, thus happily through an especial -Providence, I escaped the fury of so dangerous a creature." - -[Sidenote: THE BISHOP OF DURHAM A PRISONER.] - -The Tower was for many hundreds of years an object of suspicion to the -good citizens of London, who deemed the massive fortress a standing -threat against their rights and privileges. Whenever a monarch wished -to wrest concessions from the Londoners, to wring a large sum of -money from their fears, or commit some other act of despotism, it -was customary, just previous to the attempt against the people, to -strengthen the Tower in its weakest part, and a ditch, or a wall, or -a bastion was constructed, to enable the Governor or Constable of the -Tower to hold the fortress for his Lord the King, in case the citizens -should resist the attempt on their purses or their liberties. - -How little the gaping Cockneys and bulbous-eyed rustics, who stroll -around through the different apartments of this mighty castle, know or -even dream of the great deeds, terrible crimes, and high resolves of -those who have inhabited this Tower of London during a thousand years -of its most eventful and troubled history. - -[Illustration: TRAITOR'S GATE.] - -One dark night during the first years of the reign of Henry I, before -the Traitor's Gate had attained such a terrible fame as it afterward -obtained from the number of the victims who have passed under its grimy -arch, never to pass out except to the block on Tower Hill, a shallop -with two men whose arms lie between their feet at the bottom of the -boat, and a third whose arms are bound, stops at the wall where the -Water Gate is now shown, and in reply to the summons of one of the -armed men, the portcullis is hoisted, and Ralph Flambard, the fighting, -choleric, and rebellious Bishop of Durham, passes under the arch a -prisoner to the King, and the massive iron gates, rusty even then, are -shut firmly ere the sound of the boat's oars have been heard by the -wardens in the Inner Tower. - -In a few days he makes a number of friends among the officials of the -Tower by his merry temperament, and as state prisoners were always -allowed to furnish their own tables in the fortress, the jolly bishop -has many a heavy carouse. Tun after tun of hippocras, canary, and sack -is conveyed to him, and he dispenses those medieval beverages to the -knights and men-at-arms--pages and guards, with no stinted measure. -One evening the Bishop receives a long and strong coil of rope in a -puncheon of Malmsley, and that very night, after he had drank all the -knights, men-at-arms and wardens under the oaken tables, the jolly -bishop flies to the ramparts, lowers himself down into the ditch, and -like the plucky prelate that he was, escapes from Henry's wrath. - -One fine summer day when Henry III is King of England, Cardinal -Pandulph, the Legate of the Pope, presents himself and a long train of -attendants, with sumpter and service mules, at the land postern of the -Tower, and after a loud flourish of trumpets to announce his arrival, -the Cardinal is admitted to the presence of the King; and throws a bag -of Rose nobles on the table before the young monarch, for in those -days the Majesty of Britain did not scorn to borrow 200 marks of -Cardinal Pandulph, and one hundred marks of Henry, Abbot of St. Albans. -The money market was very tight in those days, and Kings often held -dealings with pawn-brokers, for we find Henry VIII pledging or melting -down nearly all the crown regalia to satisfy his creditors. - -[Sidenote: COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE TOWER.] - -There is an apartment of very large and fine proportions in the third -story of the White or Main Tower, supported by two rows of beams. The -timber ceiling is flat, and the walls are pierced with windows on one -side and heavy arches appear on the other side; the whole structure -being of the rudest construction, yet grand looking withal; and this -is the great Council Chamber of the Tower, in which some of the most -startling and memorable scenes in English history have occurred. - -It is Monday, September 29, 1399. The day, which was overcast in the -early morning, has turned out fair and bright, and the Council Chamber -and all the approaches to it are crowded with the highest nobles, -temporal and spiritual, in the land; steel clad knights, mitred abbots, -proud bishops, grave judges in cap and ermine, peers and lackeys, stand -on the stairs and in the ante-rooms, to catch a word or get a look at -the coming grand historical farce which is to end at last in a terrible -tragedy. - -It is the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, and as the sun streams -through the stained glass of the oriel windows, and the shouts of the -London prentices at their games of ball, are wafted to the warder on -the battlements, who carries his partisan to and fro; a deputation -from each house of Parliament, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, -Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and other great Nobles, enters the -Council Chamber to hold a conference with the reigning Monarch Richard -II, now about to resign his Crown to the Protector Bolingbroke, who -afterward as Henry IV, will encounter more vicissitudes and suffering -than the monarch he is about so cruelly to depose. - -The nobles seat themselves, the Protector enthrones himself, and a -ghastly figure, that of Richard II, stalks moodily into the Chamber, -clad in kingly robes, his sceptre in his hand, the Crown upon his head, -and there is silence for a moment among all present. Then Richard -says in a broken voice, but distinctly, "I have been King of England, -Duke of Aquitaine, and Lord of Ireland about twenty-one years, which -Seigneury, Royalty, Sceptre, Crown and Heritage, I now clearly resign -here to my cousin, Henry of Lancaster, and I desire him here, in -this open presence, in entering of the same possession, to take the -sceptre;" "and so," says Froissart, "he delivered it to the Duke, who -took it," and kept it, also, he might have added. - -Before a year had elapsed the unfortunate monarch was put to death in -Pontefract Castle by order of his successor, Henry IV. - -On a May day, in 1471, the streets of London resound with music, and -the populace are all in holiday attire to welcome Edward IV, who -returns victorious from the battle of Barnet, where he has slain, in -cold blood, Prince Edward, son to Henry VI, who is a prisoner in the -Tower. Next day Henry dies in a suspicious manner, and Edward has -leisure for a little while to found the Order of the Garter. - -Edward dies, and he is not cold in his tomb before Richard III ascends, -or rather usurps the throne. - -Edward has left two boys, the eldest of whom is lawful heir to the -Crown, by Elizabeth Wydville, his wife. - -One dark night, the wind soughs in the trees and moans around the -battlements of the fortress, as two men, Miles Forest and John Dighton, -hired assassins, enter the sleeping chamber of the two young princes. -They steal to the bed, and having covered the mouths of the lads with -the bed-clothes and pillows, they throw their heavy bodies across the -couch. There are some faint, stifled moans, for a few minutes, and -then all is still but the mournful music of the storm without, for the -murderers have done their work but too well. - -Sir James Tyrrell, who has been in waiting outside to see that the -bloody deed is accomplished, walks in, looks at the distorted features -of the children, gives an order in a whisper, and the still warm bodies -are carried out, and down a dark stone staircase, and are buried there -beneath a heap of stones to moulder till the Resurrection. - -Here comes William Wallace, patriot and hero, to the Traitor's Gate, in -the year 1305, and after languishing in prison for months he is tied -to horses' tails and dragged forth, through Cheapside, and thence to -Smithfield, to die the death of a dog, his mutilated body being torn to -pieces in the presence of a noisy and hostile rabble. - -[Sidenote: IMPRISONMENT OF ANNE BOLEYN.] - -From this place, Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, is also dragged forth -to St. Giles, in the Fields, and having been hung up over a slow fire -by a chain from the middle of his body for two hours he is slowly -roasted to death. He was a follower of Wickliffe. - -The Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV, is hurried to his death -in the Tower by Richard III, who orders him to be drowned in a huge -hogshead of sweet wine! A mode of death chosen, it is said, by the -victim himself in preference to any other. - -The good and pious Sir Thomas Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, eighty years -of age, is imprisoned here, and is left to starve and rot in a dungeon -of this place of infamy. His misery is such that the man of God has -to write Secretary Cromwell, minister of Henry VIII: "Furthermore I -beseech you to be good, Master, in my necessity, for I have neither -shirt, nor yet other clothes, that are necessary for me to wear, but -that be ragged and rent too shamefully. Notwithstanding, I might easily -suffer that if they would keep my body warm. But God knoweth, also, how -slender my diet is at many times. And now, in mine old age, my stomach -may rot away but with a few kinds of meat, which if I want, I decay -forthwith." - -When this God-fearing man was taken out to be beheaded, his bones -showed through his skin, and women wept and fell fainting at the cruel -sight. - -In the Beauchamp Tower, at the very bottom or foundation, is a -subterraneous cell known as the "Rats' Dungeon," a hideous hell-hole, -below low-water mark, and dark as the despair of the human souls who -were confined there in the days when men were fond of cutting each -others' throats for conscience sake. At high water, thousands of rats -sought shelter in this dungeon until the floods subsided. Woe be to the -poor wretches there confined when the rats swarmed in, screaming like -human beings in agony. - -In this den, prisoners were starved when the rack had failed to wring a -confession from them. Here all their shrieks and struggles were drowned -deep in this infernal hole with only the eye of the Almighty to look -upon the maddening horrors which the wretched prisoners had to endure -before Death came to relieve them. - -One night with the rats was enough,--at break of day only a heap of -gnawed bones remained to tell the tale. - -In one of the upper stories of the Tower there is an apartment with one -grated window and a rough oaken planked floor, where Anne Boleyn was -confined when her royal paramour had determined to send her neck to the -axe. The unhappy woman, as she passed through the Traitor's Gate, read -her fate in its dread aspect, and as she passed beneath its arch she -rose in the barge, fell on her knees and prayed God to have mercy on -her, and defend her from her Royal lover's rage. When she was shown her -apartment, its naked and forbidding aspect terrified her sore, and she -cried out in a maniacal frenzy, "It's too good for me, Jesu have mercy -upon me." Then she knelt down weeping and laughing like a mad woman. -When her head lay on the block the executioner was afraid to strike off -her head, as she refused to have her eyes bandaged, and at last he had -to take off his shoes, and cause another person to approach her while -he came from behind and clumsily hacked off her head. - -When the Marchioness of Salisbury, an aged and venerable lady, was led -to execution, she stoutly declared she was not a traitor, and refused -to lay her head on the block, and the headsman was compelled to follow -her all around the scaffold, striking at her as if she was a bullock, -until finally her gray head was hacked off. - -The Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen of that name, having been -suspected of complicity in the hasty insurrection of Sir Thomas Wyatt, -she was committed to the Tower by order of her sister, Queen Mary. - -As she passed under the Traitor's Gate, through which her mother, Anne -Boleyn, and Wyatt (who had fought for her) had preceded her, the proud -heart of Elizabeth failed her and she burst into tears. At first she -refused to get out of the boat, but seeing that force would be used, -she cried out to the rowers-- - -"Here landeth as true a subject, being a prisoner, as ever landed at -these stairs; and before Thee, oh God, I speak it, having no other -friend than Thee." - -Proceeding up the stairs she seated herself, and being pressed by the -Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir Thomas Brydges, to rise, she answered: - -"Better sit here than on a worse place: for God knoweth and not I, -whither you will bring me." - -She lived to be Queen of England, and the mercy which was shown to her -she refused to many a poor wretch, whose bones Elizabeth allowed to be -gnawed clean and bare in the "Rat's Dungeon." - -One more scene of horror. - -[Sidenote: LADY JANE GREY ON THE SCAFFOLD.] - -As Lady Jane Gray passed out of the Tower by the postern gate to Tower -Hill, she beheld the headless corpse of her husband (who had just been -decapitated) carried out on a cart to be buried in the Tower chapel of -St. Peter-ad-Vincula. - -"All, Guilford, Guilford," said she, "the ante-past is not so bitter -that thou hast tasted, and which I soon shall taste, as to make my -flesh tremble; it is nothing compared to the feast of which we shall -this day partake in Heaven." - -Then she passed on to the scaffold. - -When on the scaffold she turned to the crowd and said: - -"And now good people all, while I am yet alive, I pray of you to assist -me with your prayers." - -Then she knelt, and turning to Father Feckenham, the Queen's chaplain, -asked him: - -"Shall I say this psalm?" - -And Father Feckenham, who was afterwards Lord Abbot of Westminster, -answered: - -"Yea." - -Then she said the psalm _Miserere Mei Deus_ and stood up and gave her -book, gloves, and handkerchief to her two attendant ladies; and she -commenced to untie her gown. - -The executioner said: - -"Shall I assist you to disrobe, Lady Jane?" - -She answered him quickly: - -"Nay, leave me in peace," and her two ladies advanced and disrobed her. - -The headsman then desired her to stand on the straw, after her ladies -had tied a kerchief about her eyes, and as she complied with his -request, she asked him: - -"Will you dispatch me quickly? Will you take it off before I lay me -down?" - -"No, Madam," said he to the last question. - -Then Lady Jane felt for the block, her eyes being bandaged, and -groping, she said: - -"Where is it? Where is it?" - -Laying her head on the block, she said slowly: - -"Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit," and at that instant, her -neck being bared, there was a glitter of steel, a dull thud, and her -head rolled in the sawdust. - -The Jewels and Royal Regalia are kept in a glass case, well guarded by -a warden, who is never allowed to leave the apartment for an instant, -unless when relieved. There is a charge of sixpence extra to see the -Jewel House, and a constant stream of visitors may be found in this -part of the Tower, the ladies particularly taking a great interest in -the splendor of the royal treasures. - -St. Edward's Crown, first worn by Charles II, has since his time been -worn by all the monarchs who have ascended the throne of Great Britain. -This is the identical crown stolen by the daring Col. Blood, and the -one which was placed on the head of Queen Victoria when she was crowned -in Westminster Abbey, nearly two hundred years after it was stolen. It -is a very magnificent one, surmounted with a cross of diamonds. The new -crown, made purposely for her Majesty, is also here, and is made of -purple velvet, hooped with silver, and richly adorned with diamonds. -The ruby in it is said to have been worn by Edward, the Black Prince, -five hundred years ago, and the sapphire in it is considered to be of -great value; the crown altogether is estimated to be worth £100,000. -King Edward's Crown is supposed to be worth at least £200,000. - -[Sidenote: THE CROWN JEWELS.] - -The Prince of Wales' Crown is formed of pure gold, without many -jewels, while that of the Queen's Consort, formerly worn by Prince -Albert, is enriched with pearls, diamonds and other precious stones, -and is worth about £80,000. - -[Illustration: 1. Queen's Diadem. 2. Prince of Wales' Crown. 3. Old -Imperial Crown. 4. Queen's Crown. 5. Queen's Coronation Bracelets. 6. -Temporal Sceptre. 7. Spiritual Sceptre.] - -The Queen's Diadem, valued at £75,000, was made for Maria d'Este, the -unfortunate Queen of James II, who stood cowering in the rain and -sleet, under the walls of Lambeth Church, that awful night when her -husband abdicated, and William, Prince of Orange, landed at Torbay. -Before James crossed the river at Westminster, to join his wife in -their flight from England, he threw the Great Seal of Britain into the -Thames. - -St. Edward's Staff, a part of the regalia, is four feet seven inches -long, bearing at the top an Orb and Cross, the orb containing, it is -said, a portion of the Cross on which our Saviour died. - -The Staff is made of beaten gold, to the bottom of which is fixed a -steel spike, no doubt intended for defence, as a strong arm would be -able to drive it through any assailant. Nothing is known authentically -of the history of this Staff, but it is supposed to date back as far as -the time of the Crusades, on account of the portion of the cross which -it is said to contain. - -The Royal Sceptre is of gold, ornamented with precious stones; also -with the rose, shamrock, and thistle, emblematical of England, -Scotland, and Ireland, all in gold; the cross is richly jewelled, and -contains a large diamond in the centre; the length of the Sceptre is -two feet nine inches, and it is valued at £40,000. - -The other jewelled articles of the regalia are valued at £300,000, and -are as follows: - -The Rod of Equity is three feet seven inches in length, and is made -of gold set with diamonds. The Orb at the top is encircled with rose -diamonds, and in the cross, which surmounts it, stands the figure of -a dove with wings expanded. This is sometimes called the Sceptre with -the Dove. Another sceptre called the Queen's Sceptre with the Cross, -though much smaller, is very beautiful in design, and thickly set with -precious stones. - -[Sidenote: IVORY SCEPTRE AND SWORDS OF JUSTICE.] - -The Ivory Sceptre was made for Maria d' Este, and another sceptre, -found behind the wainscotting in the apartment in which the regalia was -kept, is said to have been made for the Queen of William III. - -[Illustration: 1. Imperial Orb. 2. Golden Salt Cellar of State. 3. -Anointing Spoon. 4. Ampulla.] - -There are also two other Orbs, well worthy of observation, as are also -the Swords of Justice, the Ecclesiastical and Temporal; and the Sword -of Mercy or the Curtana, as it is called. This is pointless, as so is -its title, which could have no point when the sword was wielded by an -English monarch. - -Then there is the Ampulla, to hold the Holy Oil for anointing the -foreheads and palms of the hands and necks of sovereigns. It is said -that Queen Victoria dispensed with the anointing of her royal neck, -fearing that it might soil a very costly lace chemisette which she -wore at her coronation. The Ampulla is made in the shape of an eagle, -and the base holds the oil. Besides the jewels already mentioned, -there are several others, among which are the Armillae, or Coronation -Bracelets, made of gold and rimmed with pearls; the Coronation Spoon, -for pouring out the oil, which is very ancient; and the Golden Salt -Cellar, shaped like a castle, with Norman turrets, windows and doors. -Then there are other salt cellars, a baptismal font, where the royal -children are baptised, a silver wine fountain, and many other valuables -which I have not room or desire to enumerate. Altogether, the crowns, -diadems, sceptres and other articles of the regalia, are worth about -seven millions of dollars, and they are of no use whatever, excepting -for show. - -[Illustration: STATE SALT CELLARS.] - -It must be remembered that hundreds of people die annually of -starvation in London, while these jewels, valued at seven millions of -dollars, are growing rusty, and every shilling which bought these -jewels was wrung from the blood, labor, and misery of the ancestors of -the radical voters who compose the English Trade Unions, and follow the -standard of John Bright. A just and honest Parliament would order the -sale of these Crown jewels, and the sum realized might find many happy -homes in the New World for those who now starve in the rookeries and -lanes of London. - -[Sidenote: A DESPERATE ADVENTURE.] - -There is only one attempt to steal the English Crown Jewels, mentioned -in history, and that was a most audacious one, and planned with a skill -worthy of the man who made the attempt. - -The robbery was committed by Col. Thomas Blood, in 1673. - -He was a native of Ireland, born in 1628. - -In his twentieth year he married the daughter of a gentleman of -Lancashire; then returned to his native country, and having served -there as a Lieutenant in the Parliamentary forces, received a grant of -land instead of pay, and was, by Henry Cromwell, son to Oliver, made -a Justice of the Peace. On the Restoration of Charles II, the Act of -Settlement, which deprived Blood of his possessions, made him at once -discontented and desperate. He first signalized himself by his conduct -during an insurrection set on foot to surprise Dublin Castle and seize -the Duke of Ormond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This insurrection he -joined and became its leader; but it was discovered on the very eve of -execution, and was rendered futile. - -Blood, who was neither afraid of man or devil, escaped the gallows, the -fate of some of his associates, and concealing himself among the native -Irish patriots in the mountains, and ultimately he escaped to Holland, -where he was favorably received by Admiral de Ruyter, the Dutch Nelson. - -Always ready for battle and spoil, we next find him engaged with -the Covenanters in their rebellion in Scotland in 1666, when being -once more on the side of the losing party, he saved his life only by -stratagem. - -Thenceforward Col. Blood appears only in the light of a mere -adventurer, bold and capable enough to do anything his passions might -instigate, and prepared to seize fortune where-ever he might find her, -without the slightest scruple as to the means employed. The death of -his friends in the Irish insurrection, seems to have left in Blood's -mind a great thirst for personal vengeance on the Duke of Ormond, whom -accordingly he seized on the night of December 6th, 1676, tied him on -horseback to one of his associates, and but for the timely aid of the -Duke's servant, would have hanged the astonished and paralyzed noble on -Tyburn Tree, where he attempted to convey him. The plan failed, but so -admirably had it been contrived that Blood remained totally unsuspected -as its author, although a reward of one thousand pounds was offered by -King Charles for the discovery of the attempted assassins. - -He now opened to the same associates an equally daring but much more -profitable scheme, had it been successful: to carry off the Crown -Jewels. It was thus carried out--Blood one day came to see the Regalia, -dressed as a parson, and accompanied by a woman whom he called his -wife; the latter professing to be suddenly taken ill, was invited by -the keeper's wife into the adjoining apartment. Thus an intimacy was -formed which was so well improved by Blood, that he arranged a match -between a nephew of his and the keeper's daughter, and a day was -appointed for the young people to meet. At the appointed hour came -the pretended parson, the pretended nephew, and two others, armed -with rapier blades in their canes, daggers and pocket pistols--a nice -wedding party indeed. - -[Sidenote: FAILURE TO GET A CROWN.] - -One of the number made some pretence for staying at the door as a -watch, while the others passed into the Jewel house, the parson having -expressed a desire that the Regalia should be shown to his friends, -while they were waiting for the approach of Mrs. Edwards, the keeper's -wife, and her daughter. No sooner was the door closed than a cloak was -thrown over the old man and a gag was forced into his mouth; and thus -secured they told him their object, telling him at the same time that -he was safe if he kept quiet. The poor old man, however, faithful to -the trust imposed in him, exerted himself to the utmost in spite of the -blows they dealt him, till he was stabbed and became senseless. Blood -now slipped the Crown under his cloak, another secreted the Orb, and a -third, with great industry, was engaged in filing the Sceptre into two -parts, when one of those coincidences, which a novelist would hardly -dare to use, much less to invent, gave a new turn to the proceedings. - -The keeper's son, who had been in Flanders, returned at this critical -moment. At the door he was met by an accomplice, stationed there as -a sentinel, who asked him with whom he would speak. Young Edwards -replied, "I belong to the house," and hurried upstairs; and the -sentinel, I suppose, not knowing how to prevent the catastrophe he must -have feared otherwise than by a warning to his friends, gave the alarm. - -A general flight ensued, amidst which the robbers heard the voice of -the old keeper once more loudly shouting, "Treason! murder," which, -being heard by the young lady, who was waiting anxiously to see her -lover, she ran out into the open air, reiterating the same cry. The -alarm became general and outstripped the conspirators. - -A warder first attempted to stop them, but being very fat, at the -charge of a pistol which was fired, he fell down without waiting to -know if he was hurt, and so they passed his post. At the next door, -Sill, a sentinel, not to be outdone in prudence, offered no opposition, -and they passed the drawbridge. - -At St. Katharine's Gate their horses were waiting for them; and as they -ran along the Tower wharf they joined in the cry of "Stop the rogues," -and so passed on unsuspected till Captain Beckman, a brother-in-law of -young Edwards, overtook the party. - -Blood fired a pistol but missed the Captain, and was immediately made -prisoner. - -The Crown was found under his cloak, which, prisoner as he was, he -would not yield without a struggle. - -"It was a gallant attempt, however unsuccessful," were the witty and -ambitious fellow's first words; "it was for a Crown!" - -Not the least extraordinary part of this affair was the subsequent -treatment of Col. Blood. Whether it was that Blood had frightened -Charles II, by his audacious threats of being revenged by his numerous -associates, in case of his death on the scaffold, or else captivated -him by his brilliant audacity and flattery combined, it is certain that -Blood, instead of being punished as he should have been, was rewarded -with place, power, and influence, at court. Instead of being sent to -the gallows, he was taken into especial favor, and all applications -through him to the King, for favors, were successful. - -It is said that Blood had told the King that he had been engaged to -kill his Majesty, from among the reeds by the Thames' side, above where -Battersea Bridge now spans the river, but was deterred from the crime -by the air of Majesty which shone in the King's countenance. - -What more delicate flattery could be administered to a King than this? - -Blood died peaceably in his bed in the year 1680. - -It was not to be expected that the notorious favoritism of the -King toward Blood should escape satirical comment, and the Earl of -Rochester, a shameless scoundrel himself, wrote, on the attempt to -steal the Crown: - - "Blood, that wears treason in his face, - Villian complete in parson's gown, - How much he is at Court in grace - For stealing Ormond and the Crown! - Since loyalty does no man good - Let's steal the King, and outdo Blood." - -Edwards and his son were awarded £300 by a not over generous -Parliament, but the delay in payment of the sum was such that Mr. -Edwards was compelled to sell his claim for £120 to a Jew. In this case -virtue had its own reward, but no other. - -[Sidenote: BIRTH-PLACE OF WILLIAM PENN.] - -On the neighboring Tower Hill, which is now covered by fine mansions, -and where the shaft has just been sunk, giving admission to the -Thames Subway under the River, in the old days of violence and blood, -many a noble head was brought to be hewed off by the executioner's -shining axe. Lady Raleigh lived here on Tower Hill after she had been -forbidden to visit her husband in the Tower. William Penn was born in -a little old house in a little old dusty court on Tower Hill, and it -was here that he first imbibed his horror of bloodshed and capital -punishment. At the "Bull," a public house on Tower Hill, on April 14, -1685, died Otway the poet, of starvation, and around the corner in a -cutler's shop, which is numbered with the things that were, Felton -bought a large jack-knife for ten-pence, with which he assassinated -the magnificent Duke of Buckingham. At No. 48 Great Tower street, is -situated the Tavern called the "Czar's Head," built on the site of -an old pot-house, in which the Emperor Peter the Great, and some low -companions, used to meet to drink fiery potations of brandy and smoke -clay pipes. - -In the very same spot, where the scaffold was formerly erected, and -where the gouts of blood fell dripping from the severed necks of -victims of the axe, marine stores are now sold, and sea-biscuits, -pea-jackets, hour-glasses, and quadrants are offered for sale. - -The scaffold was generally built on four strong posts with a platform, -five feet high, and in the centre of the platform was placed the block. -The victim was generally bound, unless by desire the binding was -omitted. - -For the gratification of those curious in such matters, it may be -as well to give the bloody head roll of the most illustrious of the -victims executed on Tower Hill, and the date of their decapitation. - -June 22, 1535, Bishop Fisher; July 6, 1535, Sir Thomas Moore; July 28, -1540, Cromwell, Earl of Essex; May 27, 1541, Margaret Pole, Countess of -Shrewsbury; Jan. 20, 1547, Earl of Surrey, the poet; March 20, 1549, -Thomas Lord Seymour, of Sudeley, by order of his brother, the Protector -Somerset, who was beheaded Jan. 22, 1552; Feb. 12, 1553-4, Lord -Guildford Dudley; April 11, 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt; May 12, 1641, Earl -of Strafford; Jan. 10, 1644-5, Archbishop Laud; Dec. 29, 1680, William -Viscount Stafford, "insisting on his innocence to the very last;" -Dec. 7, 1683, Algernon Sydney; July 15, 1685, the Duke of Monmouth; -Feb. 24, 1716, Earl of Derwentwater and Lord Kenmuir; Aug. 18, 1746, -Lords Kilmarnock and Balmerino; Dec. 8, 1746, Mr. Radcliffe, who had -been, with his brother, Lord Derwentwater, convicted of treason in -the Rebellion of 1715, when Derwentwater was executed; but Radcliffe -escaped, and was identified by the barber who, thirty-one years before, -had shaved him in the Tower. Mr. Chamberlain Clark, who died in 1831, -aged 92, well remembered (his father then residing in the Minories) -seeing the glittering of the executioner's axe in the sun as it fell -upon Mr. Radcliffe's neck. April 9, 1747, Simon Lord Lovat, the last -beheading in England, and the last execution upon Tower Hill, when a -scaffolding, built near Barking-alley, fell with nearly 1,000 persons -on it, and twelve were killed. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE CADGERS OF LONDON BRIDGE. - - -AFTER leaving the Old Jewry Lane and passing up Cheapside, we came into -the Poultry just as the rain had ceased, and as great rifts in the -masses of fog were breaking through the opaque atmosphere. The Poultry -is a short street which runs up to the Mansion House, and during the -noon of the day is nearly impassable from the amount of traffic done -there. Now the shops were all closed, and the bell of St. Paul's rang -out for midnight, the echoes stealing over the city and the river in -a ghostly way that thrilled through the hearts of the pedestrians who -were darkness-bound in the streets. We passed through the Poultry into -King William street, and on past Cannon street, with its warehouses and -retail stores, by East Cheap, until we could see London Bridge, in all -its vastness, looming up like a sleeping giant, the dark arches girding -the river in seemingly everlasting bands. - -The detective said: "Let's go down the stairs of the bridge and see -some of the characters that find board and lodging down the steps. -They're a hawful set, some on 'em." - -The Thames lay at our feet, spread out like a map. The sky was -clearing, and the river was very quiet. Now and then the sullen waters, -driven in an eddy against the huge piers, could be heard plashing in -a secret, stealthy manner, and anon they would recede and come back -again, plash! plash! plash! All about us was so still; not a sound to -be heard as we leaned over one of the alcoves in the bridge. Below us, -to the left, the Catharine Docks, full of shipping; the London Docks, -full of shipping; Shadwell lined with lighter craft--all so still, and -the million of masts looking ghostly in the holy light of the midnight. -Over on the right, Bermondsey-way, more shipping--countless spars -pointing up to the midnight skies; the Pool choked with shipping--coal -barges, eel-boats, East India vessels, brigs and schooners, barks and -black-hulled packets, lying high in the water; flat-bottomed barges -for carrying sand and for dredging; the gray coping stones of the -Tower hanging over the water, and the stillness of death on noisy -Rotherhithe, and a pall over the immense West India docks. - -This great river, this river of all the nations of the world, with -their tributes laid at her docks and their gifts on her broad -bosom--how quiet it is just now. A matchless stream for its congregated -wealth. Miles of warehouses, miles of stone docks, miles of shipping, -and thousands of seamen. And yet a dirty and turbid and ungrateful -river at times, when it overflows the fish-stalls, when it overflows -the high street in Wapping and drowns myriads of rats in Upper and -Lower Thames street. - -[Sidenote: VAGRANCY AND PAUPERISM.] - -We went down the "London Stairs." Every bridge that spans the Thames -has four stairs or flights of stone-steps running down to the water's -edge. These stone stairs are generally twenty or twenty-five feet -wide, and they run down, for a hundred broad, massive and capacious -steps, to where the tide comes in. There are turns in the stairs, and -stone platforms--where the magnificent stone embankment has not been -completed, as it is at Westminster Bridge down the river--under whose -vast arches hundreds of human beings find shelter from the inclemency -of the weather. I may say here that there is not such a city in the -world as London for vagrancy and vagabondism of the worst kind despite -the fact that there are 7,000 police in the metropolitan district; -and besides this force for prevention, the work-houses in the West -District, composing Kensington, Fulham, Paddington, Chelsea, St. -George's, Hanover Square, St. Margaret, and St. John, and Westminster, -furnish in and out door relief to 18,000 persons. Marylebone, -Hampstead, St. Pancras, Islington, and Hackney, in the North District, -provide for 24,820 persons. St. Giles, St. George, Bloomsbury, the -Strand, Holborn, and City of London, in the Central District, provide -for 19,127 persons. Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, St. George -in the East, Stepney, Mile End Town, and Poplar, provide for 28,713 -persons, in the East District. In the Southern District, St. Saviour, -Southwark, Rotherhithe, and Bermondsey; in St. Olave's, Lambeth, -Wandsworth, and Clapham, Camberwell, Greenwich, Woolwich, and Lewisham, -there is provision for 38,487 persons. Here we have a total of 128,880 -men, women, and children, occupants of the union work-houses of the -metropolis of London, with a population of less than three and a half -millions. Besides this number, there are thousands of casuals who -receive lodgings in the work-houses; and outside this fearful aggregate -there are roaming in and about London at least 15,000 vagrants--or, as -they would be called in America, "bummers"--who do not frequent the -work-houses from various reasons, and consequently have to "bunk out," -as we would call it in New York. - -At the bottom of some of the bridges there are heaps of rubbish and old -rotting planking, some of which rubbish is carried off when the tide -leaves the stones of the bridges. Then there are old boat-houses, and -rows of long, stout-built boats for hire; but at night there are no -persons to watch these boats, and they are used as berths to sleep in -by the vagrant vagabonds who haunt the recesses of the bridges. When -the tide recedes in the Thames, it generally leaves a space of twenty -to two hundred feet of the inshore bottom of the river bare on the -Surrey side, and this is generally a soft, drab-looking mud, with a -treacherous look, where man or beast might be swallowed up without any -warning. When the detective and I went down into the dark recesses of -London Bridge, that night, the river was at the flood, and the rubbish -was being carried away by the incoming tide. This was on the Surrey -side of the river. There were about a dozen persons beneath the first -archway, making, in fact, a perfect gypsy encampment. Eight of these -persons were of the male sex, and beside these there were two old -haggard-looking women and a grown girl of twenty years or thereabouts, -and a child of ten years, in all the glory of rags and destitution. -The oldest man in the party might have been fifty years of age, and -the others were younger, one of them being a stout, able-bodied young -fellow of eighteen or nineteen. Some of the party were asleep, and were -snoring most comfortably, as the rain did not penetrate to their place -of sleeping; but every few minutes a gust of wind came howling down the -river and burst through the arches with a mad fury, making the sleepers -turn uneasily on the stone steps. - -[Illustration: THE CADGER'S MEAL.] - -The old fellow, who seemed to be a confirmed vagrant, from his slouchy -look and greasy, unpatched clothes, had built a small fire of the -refuse which abounded in the arches, and he was drying pieces of -driftwood that had floated from the scaffolding on the new Blackfriar's -Bridge down the river. He was warming his hands and slapping them, and -the little girl of ten years was stooped over the fire, toasting an -enormous potato on the end of a splinter of wood. - -[Sidenote: THE LOST GIRL.] - -"What are you herding here for, Prindle," said the detective to the old -fellow, who looked up in a morose way and muttered something under his -teeth which sounded like "D----n the bobbies." - -"I'm a trying to get somethink to heat. Vy vill yer foller a cove -everywheres as wants to get a mouthful to heat. I haint done nothink as -should bring you here arter me. I'm not hon the pad now hany more." - -"I don't want yer pertikler, I don't; but stop yer jaw and keep a civil -tongue in yer head, will ye," said the sergeant. "Whose gal is that ere -a toasting the taty with the skiver?" - -"I'm blessed hif I knows whose gal it his. Ye don't suppose that I'm -the man as makes the Post-hoffice Di-rek-te-ree. She haint mine, I -know, cos I'm not a fool, nor never vos, to have any children. I must -say she is werry 'andy at the taties when a feller wants to get some -winks. But, I say, you got nothink aginst me from the Beak, 'ave you?" - -"No, I have nothing against you just at this partickler moment, but -I dunno how soon I'll have," said the sergeant. "But I have brought -a gentleman here who wants to get some information about this 'ere -precious family of yours, and how you contrive to live, and I want you -to answer him civilly, or I may find something against you that would -hurt your tender feelings, you know." - -"He wants some hinformation habout me and my family, does he? That's -a precious lark, that is. Why doesn't he stay in his bleeding bed and -cover his nose hup in the sheets. I never asked 'im about his familee, -as I knows on. Wot a werry pecoolier taste he has, to be sure. Maybe -he's one of them rummaging Paper chaps as is halways a torkin about -the rights and dooties of the vorkin' classes, and is a-ruinin' of the -country's blessed prosperity?" - -"Father, answer the man civilly, will ye. Yer halways a-making trouble -for yourself by yer bad tongue, and it does other people harm as well -as yourself. Tell him wot you have got to tell, and he'll go away." - -This was said by the young girl, who now came forward and stood looking -at the old man eagerly. She was robed in an old calico gown, rather -tattered at the bottom, and quite besmirched with the washings of the -Thames mud which had clung to the stone stairs of the bridge. The girl -was well formed and tall, and her dress hung from a good figure. Her -eyes were black and glittering, and her bold, coarse, handsome face -was seared with the traces of evil passions, hardship, and reckless -despair. The girl's face told her story before she had spoken. -Childhood and girlhood reeking with the foulness of the gutters, and -then the matured woman a castaway in the deadly miasma of the London -slums. - -"There, aint that a precious daughter for a loving father like me. Oh, -she's a comfort to me in me hold hage, so she is. And she talks of -wirtue and gets on the 'igh 'orse with her poor old father sometimes, -and makes him veep. Oh, vot an ungrateful family I've got, to be sure. -She's no better than she ought to be, anyhow." - -"Oh, stop that bloody talk, old man," said the stout, able-bodied -young fellow, who seemed to be a person of influence in the out-door -establishment. "W'ats the use of throwin' sich things in the gal's -face. Molly's a gal jest like any one else's gal when she can't get -anything to eat. I don't blame her a bit." - -[Sidenote: THE YOUNG CADGER'S STORY.] - -"If I am bad, Jem," burst out the girl, raging with passion, and her -eyes filled with tears, "who made me so? Who kept chiming into my ears -that I had a pretty face and that I ought to sell it? Who, I say? Who -was it," continued the girl, clenching her hands, and her face blazing -with excitement, "that struck me last Christmas night, come two years, -and pitched me out of the hole that we lived in on Saffron Hill? And -then I had to seek a livin' in the streets, and when I was hungry I -took money and sold myself to perdition; and then I had a father who -used to steal it from me when I'd come home to sleep, and he'd take the -few shillings that I earned by my shame, to go and drink it, and none -of ye were ashamed to live on the money that lost my poor soul. Not one -of ye." Here the girl, utterly exhausted, sat down on the stones and -wept as if her heart was going to break, while the ragged child, who -had by this time succeeded in burning her fingers a number of times, -looked on in wonder at the sudden turmoil of vagabondism. The son, a -powerfully built fellow, looked up and said: - -"Molly, I wish your devilish trap ud shut. Wot good does this do any -of ye, I'd like to know. Here I've been hon the aggrawatin' tramp for -two weeks, and I hexpected to see yes all comfortable like, when I kum -home, in Saffron Hill, down St. Giles way, and here I finds yes hall -a-living hunder London Bridge by night, and a-beggin, or doin' wuss, in -the day time. Hits enuff to make a saint swear at his blessed liver." - -"Wuss luck, Jem; wuss luck, Jem; I halways knew as how it would come -to this, a-sooner or a-later," said an old crone in the corner of the -archway, who was smoking a pipe and whom I believed to be fast asleep. - -"Well, sir, if ye'v got no hobjection," said the stout young man, "I'll -tell you our story. It isn't much of a story to tell, after all. The -old man there went to be a navvy and got two shillings a day until he -took to drink; when he had work on the Great Western. They used to -swindle him in the Tommy shops. Them's the shops, you see, where a -contractor who 'as the job to bulk it, keeps the groceries and grub for -the navvies. They skin the navvies so terribly, do these Tommy shops, -and when his week is up, a man has nothing left out of his vages, cos', -you see, they halways manages to run up the bill as high as the week's -vages. Oh! they are precious scoundrels!" - -"Don't call them scoundrels, Jem. Hit's too good a name for them -haltogether," said the old man, who was beginning to doze. - -"Will you shut up?" savagely said the hopeful son; and then he -continued, when he had taken a whiff at the pipe: "Well, by and by the -old man got to drinking so much beer that the whole of the wages was -drawn for lush, and he had nothing to eat during the week excepting -what the other men gave him for charity." - -"Hevery word of that's a lie, Jem. Wot a precious talent you have, to -be sure, for habusin of your poor old fayther." - -"Will you shut up, d----n you?" said the dutiful son, who was fast losing -his temper at being interrupted so often by his fond parent. "I wos -away at sea down on a Cardiff coaster, when the old man came home, and -the gal, there, Molly, was a lace-maker, and wos making eight shillings -a week, and the old woman used to make penny baskets to carry fish home -from the markets, and she got, I suppose, as much as--how much did you -make on them ere baskets, mother?" - -"Two and sevenpence ha'penny a week, Jem, and some of the stuff wos -rotten has an egg, Jem, and I halways had bad hies, Jem--you know I -had--a-crying for you when you wos a blessed baby." - -"There, stop that bell-clapper of yours, will ye? Yez are all crazy, I -think. Well, the short and the long of it wos, that the old man came -home and began to drink everything that he could put his hands on, and -Molly lost her place because the old un _would_ come haround her place -of business, in Tottenham Court road, and her hemployer as was said as -'ow he's blessed if he'd stand hit hany longer, 'aving such a drunken -old bloke a-comin around his shop; and then the gal took to the street, -and she got two months in the Bridewell for wagrancy, and when she came -hout she was wuss nor ever, and then the family got put hout cos' they -could not pay the rent in Saffron Hill, four bob and a tanner a week; -and it all comes of that hold man a-drinking like a swine that we are -here to-night hunder London Bridge." - -"How _can_ you tell sich voppers, Jem, about yer poor old fayther? Ven -you was about two hinches 'igh I used to dandle ye hon me knee, and now -look at yer hingratitude to the hauthor of your beink." - -[Sidenote: TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED CADGERS.] - -"Guv us a taty, Jenny," said the son to the little girl, who was now -engaged in pulling three or four from the dying embers of the fire; -and he snatched one and tore a piece out of it eagerly, hot ashes -and all. Just then a low steamer went past, with her red signal light -shining like a huge glow-worm out upon the surface of the dark river, -and as she went under the bridge her whistle shrieked out on the night -air like a demon, and at the same moment the bell of St. Saviour's in -Southwark, on the Surrey side of the river, tolled in a brazen tone the -hour of one o'clock, and Sergeant Scott suggested to me that we might -as well go about our business and leave the Cadgers to themselves. -"Cadger" is a Cockney term for people who will not work and have no -habitation, but go from one place to another, roaming loosely, picking -up anything they can get, honestly if they can get it that way, and -if not they will not hesitate to steal for a living, or beg when they -find people charitable enough and willing to commiserate their supposed -sufferings. - -There are about 2,500 of this class in and around London, continually -changing their places of residence, and to this class the hopeful -family under London Bridge belonged. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE LUNGS OF LONDON. - - -THE Lungs of London, through which her large masses of population find -respiration and ventilation, are her parks, gardens, and pleasure -grounds. - -The city is admirably provided with these oases, which occur frequently -in the great desert of brick and mortar. - -Nothing can be more grateful to the eye of the stranger sojourning in -the English metropolis, than the frequent views which he encounters -of smooth bits of lawn, upon which large numbers of sheep browse -peacefully; acres of flower beds, in the care of the most celebrated -florists; sheets of water in which nude bathers are disporting -with perfect freedom; or long and wide expanses of green trees and -shrubbery, enclosed by high iron railings, but free to all the citizens -to enjoy and to hold forever. - -[Sidenote: REGENT'S AND HYDE PARKS.] - -Beside the parks and gardens, London has an infinity of squares, -commons, and crescents, which are surrounded by private residences and -inclosed by railings and walls--such as Trafalgar Square (public), -Bedford, Cavendish, St. George's, Grosvenor, Leicester, Soho, Belgrave, -Euston, Finsbury, Fitzroy, Portman, Russell, Wellclose, Hanover, -Brunswick, Eaton, Berkeley, Golden, Mecklenburg, Red Lion, Tavistock, -and a great number of other squares which I do not now call to mind. -The majority of these places have plots of grass and trees, with -fountains and flower-beds, varying in size from a quarter of an acre -to three acres in extent. Then again others have not a blade of grass -or a single shrub to dignify their lonely aridness, and the hum of -cartwheels and the noise of brawling men and women, are heard all day -and into the night ascending from them. Half a dozen of them, like -Belgrave, Grosvenor, and Berkeley Squares, are hemmed in on all sides -by the gloomy and palatial dwellings of the governing class of England, -who seek to absorb even a stray blade of grass, or the leaves of a -scantily clothed tree, sooner than allow the poor and degraded to enjoy -them. - -And so we have green spots, like Golden and Soho, and Wellclose -Squares, exhibiting the various gradations from squalid poverty to -shabby gentility; and in Belgrave and Grosvenor Squares we have all -the indications of refinement, wealth, perfumery, silks, and satins, -combined with a resolve which says to Golden and Wellclose Squares, - -"You are of a different nature from us. We belong to a class which -knows you not, and with whom you can never mingle--never. You are -polluted and degraded. We are the salt of the earth. We lock the iron -gates of our private squares, and you must not enter them; and yet we -have parks and preserves, and Swiss Chalets, and villas at Mentone and -Rome, and spas at Hombourg and Baden." - -And accordingly and most dutifully misery shrinks by high iron walls in -the heart of London, or at most will only peer furtively through the -iron grating of Grosvenor and Belgrave Squares. - -But the public parks belong to the people, and by the people they -are enjoyed most thoroughly. Children, old and young, gray-beard and -adolescent, all flock to these parks; and Regent's Park or Hyde Park, -on a summer Sunday afternoon is a splendid sight, and a similar one -cannot be obtained anywhere else but in Paris pleasure grounds, on a -Sunday, and it was Paris that first taught London to respire through -these public lungs of hers. - -The dimensions of the public parks and gardens of London are as follows: - - Battersea Park, 200 acres. - Kensington Gardens, 380 " - Finsbury Park (in progress), 300 " - Green Park, 71 " - Regent's Park, 450 " - Victoria Park, 290 " - Primrose Hill Park (Cricket Grounds), 50 " - St. James Park, 83 " - Hyde Park, 395 " - Southwark Park (not completed), 120 " - Kensington Oval, (for Cricket Ground), 12 " - Cremorne Garden, 10 " - Botanic Garden, Chelsea, 12 " - Royal Botanic Garden (Regent's Park), 20 " - Horticultural Gardens (Cheswick), 35 " - Kew Gardens, 60 " - Buckingham Palace Gardens, 40 " - Temple Gardens, 7 " - Zoological Gardens, 18 " - Greenwich Park, 200 " - Richmond Park, 2,253 " - ----- - 5,006 " - -Here are five thousand acres of parks, pleasure grounds, gardens, and -cricket fields, all in fine order, and under careful and economical -supervision. Surely London is well provided for in the way of open -air amusement. Besides, bands play in the different parks and squares -almost daily. In St. James Park, Regent's Park, and Hyde Park, bands -play every afternoon in inclosures set apart for that purpose. Some of -these bands are formed of old musicians and veterans who have served in -the Crimean and Indian wars. There is a body of men distributed over -London, who wear a uniform of semi-military fashion, and are called -the "Corps of Commissionaires," who can be sent on errands, with or -for packages or letters, and from this body two full bands have been -formed, who earn a decent subsistence by playing in St. James Park and -Regent's Park, every pleasant afternoon during summer. - -[Sidenote: WHAT THE PARKS CONTAIN.] - -In the inclosures, where these bands furnish music, chairs are -arranged, and all persons who enter and take seats are expected to -contribute two-pence toward the musicians for the pleasure of hearing -the music. - -[Illustration: BATHING IN HYDE PARK.] - -There are also sheets of water in Regent's Park, Victoria Park, -Battersea Park, St. James' Park, and Kensington Gardens. The sheet of -water, or stream, in Hyde Park, is known as the "Serpentine River," -from its sinuous course. This is quite a large sheet of water, and is -much frequented for free bathing, on warm days in the heated term. -Here, thousands of people may be seen on a sultry afternoon, plunging -to and fro in the cool waters, and in case of any accident--for the -water is deep--the boats, ropes and drags of the Royal Humane Society's -Life Saving Apparatus, are always ready for immediate use, and numbers -of people are rescued and taken from the Serpentine, and resuscitated. - -When the winter months come, and the Serpentine becomes frozen over, -the Londoners congregate there in great numbers to skate, or play at -golf or curling. - -There is a large lake in the Regent's Park ornamented with small, -well-wooded islands, and in Kensington Gardens there is one of the -finest museums of art, science, and curiosities, in the world. There -are rocky dells, and grounds for sham fights, in Hyde Park, there are -the rarest exotics in the Palm House at Kew, and every known species of -bird, beast, reptile, and fowl, may be found in the Zoological Gardens, -which comprises eighteen acres of space in the Regent's Park. - -In Richmond Park, which is ten miles distant from the London Post -Office Centre, there are two thousand three hundred acres of hill, -dale, plain, and forest, and here are to be found deer-parks, rabbit -warrens, romantic foot-paths, ancient oaks, horse-chestnuts, and thorny -ridges, with a variety of sequestered spots for pic-nics and pleasure -parties. This noble park can be reached by a sail of fifteen miles on -the River Thames, which is skirted by Richmond Park for some distance. - -There is a grand Observatory for scientific purposes in Greenwich Park, -which is noted all the world over for its correct calculations, and all -the watches and clocks in Great Britain are set by Greenwich time. - -[Sidenote: THE WORLD'S FAIR.] - -Bushy Park, at Hampton Court, where there is a splendid gallery -of ancient and foreign paintings and sculpture, the property of -the nation, and free to the people, was formerly the residence of -Cardinal Wolsey. This royal palace and park is to London what St. -Cloud is to Paris. The palace stands on the banks of the Thames, and -when completed, in 1526, for the great Cardinal, it contained 282 -apartments, and as many beds. The Great Hall is inferior to none in -England, and is ornamented with stained-glass windows, stags' heads, -spears, flags, trophies, figures of men-at-arms, and other medieval -ornaments, and the walls are hung with tapestry, depicting the story of -the Patriarch Abraham's life. The largest grape-vine in the world grows -in the park, and extends over a space of 3,000 feet. This vine was -planted one hundred years ago, and produces, every year, about 2,000 -bunches of black, sweet grapes, which are reserved for the Queen's -private table. An attendent, showing the royal vine to me, informed -the writer that it was high treason to steal the grapes, and I have no -doubt that he believed what he said. The Queen has, also, a bed-room -here, which she wisely refrains from sleeping in, as, I have no doubt, -she would catch influenza from the draughts. - -But the great curiosity of Hampton Court Park, is the "Maze," an -intricate complication of pathways, that wind in and out, and which -have served as a standing conundrum and riddle from time immemorial, -for the amusement of the Cockneys. Any one who enters this maze without -a guide cannot leave it again, so intricate and puzzling are the -foot-paths, which are overshadowed, embowered, and interlaced with -young trees and umbrageous shrubbery. By fastidious Londoners this maze -is called the "Labyrinth." - -[Illustration: THE LABYRINTH.] - -One of the most popular places of rural resort in the vicinity of -London, is the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, a suburb of the metropolis, -and about ten miles from the city. - -It is no exaggeration to say, that next to St. Peter's, at Rome, this -is the most wonderful structure in the world, and equals in point of -magnificence, some of the creations of the Arabian Nights. - -When the great World's Fair of 1851 ended, there was a general desire -among all Englishmen, that this magnificent structure, which had held -the great cosmopolitan show, should not be destroyed. A committee of -some nine gentlemen was formed, by whose direction it was taken to -pieces for the purpose of reconstruction. This committee had purchased -the building, and a company was chartered with a capital of £500,000, -in shares of £5, and so confident were the Londoners of the success of -the new scheme, that the shares were quickly taken up and the operation -of removing the vast building to Sydenham, its present site, was -commenced. - -[Sidenote: THE CRYSTAL PALACE.] - -The new structure was begun, and the first column raised, on the 5th of -August, 1852; and, immediately after, several gentlemen were despatched -to the principal cities on the Continent for the purpose of bringing -to England casts of the finest pieces of sculpture in existence, and -other specimens of the fine arts. The splendid Park, Winter Garden, -and Conservatories were committed to the management of the late Sir -Joseph Paxton, who invented the architectural part of the Palace of -1851. The arrangements of the various other departments were assigned -to men of eminence and skill, in whose hands the structure grew, until -it quickly attained its present splendor, and the New Crystal Palace -was at length opened to the public on the 10th of June, 1854. Some -idea of the magnitude and extent of the operations carried on in the -fitting up of this enormous house of glass may be gathered from the -fact, that at one time there were no fewer than 6,400 men employed in -carrying out the designs of the directors. The edifice is completely -transparent, being composed entirely, roof and walls, of clear glass, -supported by an iron framework; and it is said that these materials -are more durable than either marble or granite, and, if properly cared -for, will utterly defy the ravages of time. The extreme length of the -Palace, including the wings, is 2,756 feet; which, with the colonnade -leading from the railway-station to the wings, gives a total length -of 3,476 feet, or nearly three-quarters of a mile. The width of the -great central transept is 120 feet; and its height, from the garden -front to the top of the louvre, is 208 feet, or six feet higher than -the Monument on Fish Hill. It consists of a basement floor, above which -rise a magnificent central nave, two side-aisles, two main galleries, -three transepts, and two wings. In order to avoid sameness and monotony -in such an immense surface of glass, pairs of columns and girders -are advanced eight feet into the nave at every seventy-two feet. An -arched roof covers the nave, and the centre transept towers into the -air in fairy-like lightness and brilliancy. There are also recesses -twenty-four feet deep in the garden fronts of all the transepts, which -throw fine shadows, and relieve the continuous surface of the plain -glass walls; and the whole building is otherwise agreeably broken -into parts by the low square towers at the junction of the nave and -transepts, the open galleries toward the garden front, and the long -wings on either side. The building is heated to the genial temperature -of Madeira, by an elaborate system of hot-water pipes, and the supply -of water is drawn from an Artesian well. The Tropical Department, -once a great feature of the Palace, has ceased to exist; having been -destroyed by fire about three years ago. - -[Illustration: THE CRYSTAL PALACE.] - -There are large and beautiful pleasure grounds all around the Crystal -Palace, and all the great national fetes, concerts, and open air -demonstrations, take place here. Patti, Nillson, and Sims Reeves, sing -here in benefits for charitable associations, and for a shilling, a -person may listen to ballads on Saturday afternoons, at these concerts, -sung by the greatest living English tenor. Then there are acres of -restaurants and dining saloons inside and outside of the Crystal -Palace, and apparatus and cooking utensils are on the premises, whereby -ten thousand people may find dinner, all at one time, and sit down to -tables in five minutes after dinner has been ordered. During the long -summer evenings, promenade concerts are held at the Crystal Palace, and -fireworks are let off in the presence of great crowds, who enjoy the -sports and junketings much as a New York crowd may do on a Fourth of -July night, in the City Hall, or Madison Park. - -The contents of the Palace itself are calculated to puzzle the brains -of a philosopher. Everything wonderful, curious, precious, or difficult -to find at any other place, may be found at the Crystal Palace. - -Specimens of architecture, sculpture of all ages, tombs, temples, -busts, statues, capitals, hieroglyphs, from Greece, Rome, Egypt, and -Italy, portions and entire courts from the glorious Alhambra, gigantic -relics and ruins from the Palaces of Babylon, Susa, and Nineveh; -fragments of the Christian temples of Italy, the castles and churches -of Germany, the Chateaux of Belgium and France, and the Cathedrals and -Mansions of England, from the earliest ages to the present time, all of -which are arranged in "courts" in the most systematic order. - -Beside these there are many Industrial "Courts" containing the most -wonderful and useful inventions of the genius and scholar. Then there -are gigantic models of the tremendous animals who existed before the -flood, with models of huge and hideous reptiles, and saurians, who did -their level best in the same period. - -[Sidenote: COST OF GROUNDS AND BUILDING.] - -Some sunny Saturdays as many as fifty thousand people pay visits to -the Crystal Palace, and to see and enjoy all these wonders, the -charge is only one shilling, including concerts, music, fireworks, and -flirtations. - -The last time I was there it was on the occasion of the Royal Dramatic -Fete, for the benefit of the profession, and fully a hundred thousand -persons were present, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, and -many of the nobility. - -The entire cost of grounds and building, with works of art and -curiosities, was seven million dollars. There were 15,000,000 of -bricks, 6,000 tons of iron, 20,000 loads of timber, 300,000 superficial -feet of glass, 1,200 iron columns, one mile and a half of clerstory -windows, and other materials in proportion, used in the construction -of the edifice, and the space of ground enclosed under the transparent -roof is twenty-five acres, being one-fifth greater than the area of the -base of the Great Pyramid. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE RAKES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. - - -ENGLAND has been singularly unfortunate in her Royal Families. - -York and Lancaster, Plantagenet and Tudor, Stuarts or Hanoverians, -they have been, with here and there an odd exception, a very bad lot, -morally speaking. - -It is a curious history of crime and bloodshed, of dishonor, perjury, -and harlotry, this history of the Monarchs of England, since the -days of William the Norman, who had three illegitimate children, and -massacred thousands of his Saxon subjects every year, down to the days -of George IV, the most gentlemanly blackguard of his time and of Europe. - -[Sidenote: VAGABONDS IN KINGLY ROBES.] - -Roll back the hoary gates of the past, and look at Richard Crookback, -who reveled in blood, and died in Bosworth Ditch, a death only a little -better than that of Edward IV, whose children Richard basely murdered, -and we find succeeding him a scoundrel like the Eighth Henry, a brutal -fiend, with his six successive wives, all of whom perished miserably, -but the first and last wives, Catharine of Arragon and Catharine Parr; -and then we find his two children--Mary, an honest fanatic, burning -human beings for the honor of God; and next comes Elizabeth, who has -been facetiously styled the Virgin Queen--with her paramours and -favorites. Follow this hideous old spinster to the yawning verge of -the tomb, and she is still to be seen with her parchment visage and -grey hairs, seeking new lovers, or butchering the unfortunate Queen -of Scots, until at last the dread moment of all approaches, when she -tells her horrified chaplain that she will give millions of money for -a moment of time. Then we have a pusillanimous monarch, James I, who -spends his best years discovering witches and writing fantastical -and forgotten treatises against tobacco, or permitting a man like -Bacon--whose life was worth that of a thousand Kings, to be degraded -and made miserable, till at last his great, far seeing eyes are closed -in a final sleep--his heart having broken to pieces in the meridian of -his genius. - -Then comes Charles I, a good man in his mild way, a patron of the arts, -a good husband and father, but withal he is doomed to the block. - -Vainly he endeavors, in battle and statecraft, to stem the onward march -of the people who are determined to hurl all obstacles from their path -which stand in the way of their new ideas. - -And now comes up the Brewer, Oliver Cromwell, one of Carlyle's heroes, -(and by the way, all of Carlyle's heroes are dripping with blood,) a -most accomplished and unrelenting butcher, one who thanks God for his -"precious mercies" when a thousand men, women, and children are driven -over a bridge into a deep river beneath, impelled by the pikes of his -ruffianly soldiery. Then he dies, and Charles II, a dissolute royal -scamp succeeds, and he of course has to dig up the crumbling skeleton -of Cromwell to hang it on Tyburn tree, that all men may see what manner -of divinity it is that should hedge around a King. - -Think of this royal vagabond, who has for his mistress a Stewart, -a Duchess of Cleveland, a Louise de Queroailles, who also becomes -a Duchess of Portsmouth, and last but not least, poor simple, soft -hearted Mistress Nelly Gwynne, who left to the nation Greenwich -Hospital to atone for her lost soul. - -It might be expected that in these days of the daily newspapers and -telegraph wires, of railroads, female suffrage and personal journalism, -that royalty, and notably, English royalty, would improve, from a -slight sense of decency and a proper regard for public opinion, if for -no other cause. Let us see. - -Ten years ago I vainly endeavored to penetrate the dense masses who -lined Broadway, New York, and filled the air with their shouts, as an -open barouche, containing the then Mayor of the chief city of America, -sitting on the back seat, and a fair faced youth with flabby skin and -retreating chin, clad in a scarlet uniform and having an Order of the -Garter pendant from his breast, passed up the thronged thoroughfare -between two lines of citizen soldiery, whose bayonets, bright as -silver, reflected back the many hues of the excited and surging masses. - -Five hundred thousand people of both sexes had turned out in holiday -attire, that ever memorable day, to do honor to a foreign prince, -whose government, since that thoughtless hour, sought during the -terrible confusion of a civil war, by every means in its power, by -money, influence, by Alabama pirates, by unceasing and bitterly hostile -journalistic attacks, by speeches in and out of Parliament--through the -pulpit and the rostrum, to destroy the Republic of the West. In fact -that government moved Heaven and Earth to annihilate and obliterate the -liberty, union, and might of the American people. - -Such a reception had not been given, twenty-five years before, to -the gallant, noble-minded, and chivalric Lafayette, the companion of -George Washington, one of the finest characters in all history, or the -unwritten records of mankind. - -This fair-faced, flabby-skinned youth, in the lobster colored and laced -coat, who stood up in the open carriage, (hired from the New York -Corporation hack-driver-in-chief, and charged for in the bill afterward -rendered, at five times the real price,) was no less a personage than -Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Fellow of Trinity -House, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, a General in the British Army, -(like Captain Jinks,) Baron Renfrew, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Dublin, -and eldest son of Queen Victoria that is, and in the future to be King -of England and Defender of the Faith, by the Grace of God and the -permission of the Radical English Trades Unions. - -[Sidenote: A CHANGE FOR THE WORSE.] - -He was not a very bad looking lad of nineteen or twenty, that -sunny afternoon, as he bowed repeatedly and raised his Generals' -chapeau, with its plume of feathers, and doffed it to the radiant -republican female faces, and curtesied like a backward school boy, -in acknowledgement of the wild shouts which pealed upward in the -clear atmosphere, although no spectator there could have accused -him of having an intellectual or cultured face. How well we can all -now remember, to our shame, the manner in which he was petted, and -caressed, and toadied, and dined, and wined, until in the estimation -of his toadies he had almost attained the stature of a God, this boy -with the retreating chin and imbecile face--this hope and pride of the -Guelph family. - -Still with all the marked and inherent imbecility of a descendant of -George III in his features, the young scion of royalty had not, at that -time when I first saw him, developed the seeds of immorality, want of -honor, meanness, and utter sottishness which have since made his name -infamous among his subjects, and despised by the princes of Europe. - -The young lad for whom America could not do too much honor in feteing -and feasting, has since surrounded himself with pimps, panders, -parasites, and blackguards, of the lowest kind. - -His name is a bye word of scorn in the British metropolis, and for a -lady of rank or position to be seen three times in his neighborhood, is -certain dishonor to her and her relatives. - -It was nearly ten years after that bright sunny day, in Broadway, with -its shouting multitudes and noisy cheers, before I again saw His Royal -Highness Albert-Edward Prince of Wales. - -One night, in going through High Holborn, and being without any settled -purpose as to where and how I should spend the evening, I accidentally -noticed the blazing gas lamps of the "Casino," a well-known dancing -hall, frequented by the loose livers and aristocratic idlers of the -English Capital. - -After a moment's hesitation I entered and found the place--as is -usual on summer evenings at all the London dancing halls--pretty well -crowded. - -Scores of couples, of both sexes, were whirling frantically in the -Old-World Teutonic waltz, and in the flushed faces and excited gestures -of the gyrating dancers I could notice a total forgetfulness of modesty -and decorum. - -From the alcoves came the sounds of the clinking of wine-glasses, the -rattle of Moselle bottles, the pop, pop, of champagne corks, and songs, -choruses, and loud shouts of laughter, together with a Babel-jabber of -many confused tongues. - -My attention was attracted while listening to the music from the fine -band, to a group that occupied a position which partially screened them -from the glances of the larger portion of the audience and dancers, -sitting and standing back as they did in an alcove. - -[Illustration: PRINCE OF WALES.] - -There were a dozen persons, perhaps, in the party, of both sexes, five -or six men fashionably attired, and as many women, in all the grandeur -and magnificence of harlotry--open and defiant--but well-bred harlotry. - -There were two central figures conversing in this group, and I could -see that they were listened to with attention while speaking, one of -them, particularly, a slightly bald-headed man, having secured the ears -of his audience. - -The other central figure was a woman, beautiful, but of that beauty -which is leprous to the sight, and fatal to those who encounter it as -the shade of the Upas Tree. - -"Who is that man?" said I to an usher, nodding in the direction of the -bald-headed person. - -[Sidenote: THE PRINCE AND HIS FRIENDS.] - -"That _man_" said the flunkey, "why, that's not a _man_, that's His -Royal 'Ighness the Prince of Wales,--and long may he reign over us." - -And this worn, blase, sottish and almost brutally stupid-looking person -in the Scotch tweed suit, with drooping eye-lids and sore eyes,--as if -he seldom went to bed, and then did not stay long in it, looking to be -forty-five years of age; prematurely bald, and without a particle of -that apparent divinity which, it is said, doth hedge a monarch, was the -self-same young lad of twenty, whom I had seen environed by bayonets in -Broadway, ten years before. - -But how changed he was! Long nights of dissipation and debauchery -had seamed the once youthful and unwrinkled features, and the under -part of the face hung in heavy, adipose folds, like the dewlaps of a -bullock. His figure was stout and without grace, and to me he seemed -like a beer-drinking bagman or commercial peddler, half John Bull, half -Hanoverian. The tweed suit, a material which he affects very much, was -not at all calculated to set off or adorn his figure, and the great -grandson of George III looked very undignified indeed as he leaned over -the painted harlot resplendent in silks, and glistening with jewels, -who is known to all wild London scapegraces, and young men about town, -by the name of Mabel Gray, a name assumed for a purpose--to hide her -identity with the gutters from which she has sprung. - -The Prince of Wales, despite all the counsels and admonitions of the -Queen (of whom whatever may be said, the merit cannot be denied her of -being a good mother), has, I regret to say, the reputation of being a -very sorry scamp. - -His intimates are, generally, the worst and most abandoned roues of the -Clubs, the lowest turf blackguards and swindlers, and when he chooses -a companion who is not a swindler or a blackguard, a debauchee, or a -decoy, he is sure to be a fool. - -The young man standing by the side of the Prince of Wales when I -entered the dancing hall, was Charles, Lord Carington, whose mother was -of the great family of d'Eresby, the head of which is Lord Willoughby -d'Eresby, Lord High Chamberlain of England, to whom is entrusted the -duty of looking after the morals of the English people and the sanctity -of the British drama. It is he who gives passes to the House of Lords -on Saturdays, on slips of blue paper which the unwashed are very eager -to obtain; and it is also the duty of the Lord High Chamberlain to -watch every new burlesque when produced, in order that the skirts of -the ballet girls and blondes may be of the proper length, and not too -short for the proprieties. - -Lord Carington's grandfather was a rich man named Smith, who was -ennobled for some reason or another, and his large fortune and title -has descended to the present possessor, who is known to be one of the -wildest and most rakehelly young noblemen in London. He is a lieutenant -in the Guards of the Queen's Household Brigade, and one of the boon -companions of the Prince of Wales. The latter is constantly to be found -in company with this "Charley Carington," as he is called, who was the -perpetrator of a most cowardly outrage upon the person of Mr. Grenville -Murray, an aged gentleman who was supposed to be proprietor and editor -of the "Queen's Messenger," a satirical weekly journal, in which Mr. -Murray was said to have written several scathing articles upon the -"Hereditary Legislators" of England. In one of these articles a sketch -was given of Lord Carington, under the title of "Bob Coachington, Lord -Jarvey," in which the practice of driving a mail coach and four horses -to and fro between London and its environs and taking up passengers for -money, a favorite pastime of Lord Carington, was referred to in no very -flattering terms. For this supposed affront, without any positive proof -to warrant the outrage, the gallant Lord Carington, aged 25 years, -set upon Mr. Murray, as he was coming out of the Conservative Club, -of which he was a member, and beat him badly. Mr. Murray is about 60 -years of age, and was of course not able to defend himself, and when -he sought justice in the usual way at the Marlborough Street Police -Station, of the magistrate, Mr. Knox, he found the Prince of Wales and -a number of titled ruffians sitting on the bench along side of the -dispenser of justice! - -[Sidenote: TWO IMBECILES.] - -Of course Mr. Murray received no justice in that Court, and not only -was he refused satisfaction, but in addition an attack was made upon -the person of his counsel, when a libel suit had been preferred against -the "Queen's Messenger," by the aristocratic friends of Lord Carington -and the Prince of Wales, who did this to intimidate him from writing -farther in his journal of the scandalous conduct of the Queen's -relations and the rottenness of the higher nobility. - -In addition to this Mr. Murray was expelled from the Conservative Club -by a ballot of one hundred and ninety votes, only ten members of the -Club having the personal courage to withstand the influence and threats -brought to bear against them by the Prince of Wales, Lord Carington, -and their minor satellites. - -Lord Carington is fond of driving his coach and four and taking up -passengers in the outskirts of London, charging them a nominal fare. -While sitting on the box or seat of the coach he usually holds to his -lips a huge horn, which he toots like a raving maniac, much to his own -satisfaction and the edification of the floating community, who with -the fondness of all Englishmen for a live Lord, smile benignantly if -not affectionately upon this imbecile young nobleman. - -In the words of the song, the "Prince of Wales goes everywhere to see -the sights of town" with Carington, and at the Dramatic fete at the -Crystal Palace in 1869, while his beautiful, good, and neglected wife -sat on a dais and received the donations for the Dramatic College, the -Prince manifested in public his intimacy with Carington by laughing -and conversing with him, arm-in-arm, much to the horror of all the -pious old dowagers who were present and had heard wild stories of Lord -Carington. - -Mabel Grey, who has ruined scores of young aristocrats and brought -them to beggary, is the reputed mistress of Lord Carington, and has -made several visits with him to Paris, Baden, and other places on the -Continent. It is said that he has already squandered twenty thousand -pounds upon this well-bred harlot, and it is the current talk in London -that the Prince of Wales has also been on terms of an improper intimacy -with Mabel Grey. At all events he is not ashamed to be seen speaking -to her in Casinos or addressing her in public places, and the dear -Prince has on several occasions been seen drinking champagne with her -in the music halls and dancing rooms of the English capital. This is a -very bad business for a bald-headed father of five children. - -[Illustration: PRINCE AND CABMAN.] - -The Prince of Wales, with all his immense riches, is mean and very -penurious in money matters. He will argue for fifteen minutes with a -cabman in the street about an over-charge of a sixpence, and has been -known to get into an altercation with ticket sellers in the box offices -of places of amusement for the sake of a shilling or half a crown, in a -most undignified way. One night when getting out of a cab at Cremorne -the driver attempted to charge the Prince four shillings for a ride -when he should have charged him but two-and-sixpence. The Prince, who -was a little intoxicated, refused to pay the over-charge. The London -cabbies are the most impudent, brassy set of fellows I ever saw, and -this cabman was more than usually pugnacious. The Prince attempted to -go into the Garden, and had presented his ticket, when the cabman with -a yell clutched his coat, and tore away the skirt in the struggle to -get more fare. The Prince was recognized by some of the attendants of -the place, and the horrified cabman was handed over to the police for -assault on the blood royal. Fearing the ridicule of the London press, -the Prince told the policeman to release poor Cabby, who was only too -happy to escape transportation for life. - -[Sidenote: INFAMY OF THE PRINCE.] - -For the past seven years the Prince of Wales has been a prominent -actor in almost every scene of aristocratic dissipation and debauchery -which has been enacted in the English metropolis. He is well known -in the coulisses of the Opera, and has openly maintained scandalous -relations with ballet dancers and chorus singers. Even the shame of -the thing would not restrain him from loudly and familiarly applauding -and clapping his hands, whenever any of these female favorites of his -came on the stage, while the strains of Beethoven or Rossini could not -elicit from him as much as a smile of gratified approbation. The taste -of the Prince for music may be imagined from the fact that "Champagne -Charley," and "Not for Joseph," are his two most cherished melodies. - -His relations with Mademoiselle Helena Schneider, the opera bouffe -singer, were most notorious, and he has been known to leave the bed -side of his wife in her illness to hasten to Paris at the summons of -this notorious woman of Darkness, and Sin, and Shame. - -Among his special female favorites, are many of the better known -soubrettes of the London and Parisian theatres, and notably he was an -admirer of Finette, the famous Can-can danseuse of the Alhambra. - -He is flippant, shallow, and heartless, and the record of his life thus -far has caused many a scalding tear to fall from the eyes of his royal -mother. - -The London _Lancet_, the highest medical authority in England, found -it necessary, some eighteen months ago, to deny the charge that was -made openly against the Prince, which if true, would stamp him with -infamy. The Princess of Wales, who is a good and noble lady in every -sense--and a long suffering one in some respects--during the summer of -1869, visited the baths of Wildbad, in Germany, for the benefit of her -health, which had been sadly impaired. I dare not in these pages insult -my readers by giving the cause of her ill-health, which is more than -whispered about in English society. - -The Prince has, I believe, five handsome children--their good looks -coming to them from their vigorous Norse mother, but it will not be -from any precaution taken by their father, if they do not hereafter -suffer from the results of his early indiscretions and follies, in the -Haymarket and the purlieus of Paris. - -In a good many respects the Prince of Wales resembles another Prince -of Wales--one who succeeded his father as King. I mean George IV. Like -him, Albert Edward is already a broken debauchee, and like George IV -Albert Edward has a vicious way of making his wife suffer through his -follies and disgraceful behaviour. Unless the Prince is predestined to -experience a sudden and speedy conversion, it is more than probable -that the next King of England will excel and put to shame the open acts -of profligacy which made George IV so notorious. - -One thing could be said for George IV which cannot be said for the -Prince of Wales. The former was a gentleman in manner if not one at -heart--but this Prince, while being thoroughly heartless and "stingy," -has the breeding of a waiter in a lager beer saloon. He is heavy, slow, -unready, hesitating, and flabby, without a spark of culture or a trace -of the refinement which belongs to his station. - -[Sidenote: PRINCE AND BREWER AS FIREMEN.] - -His Royal Highness has a great passion for running with the "masheen," -as a New York rowdy would term it, and Captain Shaw, of the London Fire -Brigade, is greatly admired by the Prince for his gallant management -of that very efficient Corps. The latter has often taken a ride on a -fire engine through the London streets. The Prince, while on a visit -to Brighton some years ago, made the acquaintance of a rich young -London brewer, who had more money than brains. This was just the sort -of a man to suit the Prince, being very fond of rich young men, who in -many cases are only too happy to have the honor of paying the bills -contracted by his Royal Highness. This eminent young brewer had, with -the Prince, a similar taste for fire engines, and it was suggested by -the future King of England that the brewer, who had a fund of good -nature, should send to London for a fire engine, at his own expense, -and have it transported to Brighton, where in course of time the -Prince hoped it might afford them much amusement. The brewer of course -complied with the Prince's request, and before long one of those -grotesque looking fire machines, that are every now and then to be seen -darting through the London streets, made its appearance at Brighton. -Night after night the Prince and the brewer made the quiet villas and -the Parade of Brighton resound with their shrieks and howls, as they -drove at headlong speed through the watering place, the two maniacs -sitting astride of the apparatus which was drawn by two horses; and -finally the thing became such a nuisance to the residents of Brighton, -and so many complaints reached the Queen's ears of the Prince's riotous -conduct, that at last he was sent for and severely reprimanded by her -Majesty, and for a few days he kept on his good behavior, to relapse -again like a fever patient. - -It is useless to conjecture as to the probability of the Prince -succeeding to the throne, but if ever he does, he will no doubt revive -the days of Charles II and his dissolute court. His beautiful and -virtuous wife will perhaps fall into the place which Catharine, of -Braganza, was compelled to accept as the consort of that rakehelly -monarch, and Albert Edward will, no doubt, find in Lord Carington -material for a successor to Sir Charles Sedley, and in the Duke of -Hamilton a scamp, worthy of the reputation borne by the Earl of -Rochester. - -It is a mistake to think, moreover, that the Prince of Wales is alone -among his family, in his vicious course, or that he has not numerous -imitators among the nobles bearing some of the proudest names in -England. Although he is yet but a young man of thirty years of age, he -has those around him who ape his immorality and copy his disregard for -the usages of society. - -Still, the Prince cannot be blamed for the follies of his relations. -The Duke of Cambridge, cousin to the Queen, and old enough to be the -father of the Prince, has as bad if not a worse reputation, than the -Prince of Wales. - -George Frederick William Charles, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary, -and Baron of Culloden, is a first cousin of Queen Victoria, a Field -Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the English Army. - -This Prince is about fifty years of age, and lives in an unlawful -way with a Miss Fairbrother, by whom he has had several children, I -believe. It might be expected, of a prince so closely related to the -Queen, and occupying such a high position as chief of the British Army, -that he would set a good example to the younger branches of the royal -family. On the contrary, the Duke is well known, everywhere, as a royal -rake, and his shameless amours are beyond number. The old prince is -slightly bald from his course of early piety, and suffers so dreadfully -from the gout, the result of early dissipation, that he is nothing but -a wreck, being compelled annually to pay a visit to the mineral baths -of Germany, and American travelers upon the continent at Baden, Ems, -and Hombourg, will occasionally encounter an old, broken, and bloated -personage, limping on a stick, who will quarrel with a waiter, in -Hanoverian Deutsch, for the sake of a kreutzer, and when once excited -it is very difficult to calm his rage, which, sometimes, degenerates -into a helpless imbecility. This is the Duke of Cambridge. - -[Sidenote: A MAD KING.] - -From his illicit connection with the lady to whom I have referred, the -mock-title of "Duke of Fairbrother," has been given to this illustrious -Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Fancy such a Duke of Cambridge holding -the baton of Wellington, and leading such soldiers as Havelock, Outram, -Colin Campbell, and Napier of Magdala. And this very same imbecile Duke -has had command of the English Army, and notably at the Alma, in the -Crimean campaign, his conduct was such as to make the spectators doubt -whether he was a madman or a coward. In the heat of the fight, the Duke -lost all management of him self, and began to make strange noises, -and to act in a strange manner, until he was carried from the field, -kicking and biting in a maniacal fashion. - -For the taint is in the blood of the English Royal Family, and may -never be eradicated. The Duke of Cambridge is a lineal descendant of -George III, who, by his inherent madness, lost half of the British -Empire, and who was in the habit of answering reasonable questions, -with such replies as,-- - -"What, what, who, who, where, where, why, why--BLIM!" Should the Prince -of Wales hereafter behave himself in an unseemly fashion, his tainted -blood may, to a certain extent, be blamed for the outbreak. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -FAST YOUNG ENGLAND. - - -WHY Londoners should presume to sneer at the morality of the volatile -Parisians, has always been a sore puzzle to me. During the past -fifteen years, sharp observers of society in the English Capital have -been appalled by the visible and marked progress of moral and social -deterioration among the people who affect to give tone, and breeding, -and refinement, to all that they do or say, as leaders of society. - -Polite London Society has always plumed itself upon being superior, in -a moral sense, to the corresponding class in the French Capital, but -it must strike those who have held such views, that there is no basis -for the belief any longer, when the notorious fact is offered to them, -that two of the highest personages in England are men who lead lives of -immorality--I refer to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge. -I have however said enough of those two loose gentlemen, and I shall -proceed to consider the subject in its larger bearings. - -I boldly assert, that English Society, of the highest class, is to-day -as rotten in every sense, as were the French nobility, with their -mistresses and their "little establishments," before the whirlwind of -the Revolution of 1793 swept away all that was of hideous corruption -and infamy, never to rise again. - -The proudest names among the English nobility are those which have some -moral or dishonorable taint affixed to their titles, by their conduct -in life. [Sidenote: MISS HARRIET MONCRIEFFE.] - -Many of my readers must recollect the termination of the famous -Mordaunt case, in which the Prince of Wales was implicated, and it -will also be remembered that the few facts which were developed on the -trial, despite the attempt of Lord Penzance, (acting under pressure of -the Throne,) to hush them up, had the effect of shaking England to the -centre, socially speaking. - -Miss Harriet Sarah Moncrieffe, now Lady Mordaunt, is a daughter of Sir -Thomas Moncrieffe, a baronet of one of the oldest families in Scotland. -The family seat is at Earn, in Perthshire, and the mansion and grounds -are among the finest in North Britain. The family was a large one, -four sons and six daughters being born to Sir Thomas and his wife, who -was a daughter of the Earl of Kinnoul. Lady Harriet's eldest sister is -married to the Duke of Athole, one of the richest and most powerful -of the Scotch nobles. Then she has a sister married to the Earl of -Dudley, and another to a Mr. Forbes, of a wealthy Scotch family, -into which, if I be not mistaken, Lady Douglas-Hamilton, a sister of -the Duke of Hamilton, is married. One of the sisters--the Duchess of -Athole, has for her mother-in-law the Dowager-Duchess of Athole--who -is a tried and trusted friend of Queen Victoria, being, as I believe, -a Lady-in-waiting, or a Lady-of-the-bed-chamber to the Queen, or -something of that sort. Altogether the family and its connections are -among the very thickest cream of English aristocratic society. - -In December, 1866, Lady Harriet Sarah Moncrieffe, then eighteen years -of age, and surpassingly beautiful in person, and most graceful -in manner, was married to Sir Charles Mordaunt, of Walton Hall, -Warwickshire, who was then twenty-nine years of age, and a very wealthy -bachelor, possessing one of the finest country seats, with mansion and -grounds, in all England. The main buildings alone were erected at an -expense of over $350,000 of American money, and to this most delightful -and picturesque spot the young bride was taken to spend the honeymoon. -Everything that the heart of a fashionably bred woman could desire was -hers, she had troops of servants, a fine old baronial mansion, a large -stable full of horses, a yacht, a gallery of paintings, a villa on the -Continent, equippages, diamonds, ladies'-maids, and a town house in -London. And beside her lightest word was law to her loving husband. -She had been presented to the Queen, and in her life-pathway sunshine -fell and gladdened her young spirit. But there was a canker in the -bud--a skeleton in the closet--as there always is. Lady Mordaunt had -loved below her station before she married Sir Charles, and had sought -to marry the object of her affection, but her mother, who was a very -worldly minded woman, was determined that she should marry the rich Sir -Charles Mordaunt, who had houses and lands, while "poor Robin Adair" -had to go about his business. - -Of course the natural consequences had to come. Sir Charles had a -yacht, and now and then went on cruises to Norway and up the Baltic, -and ran his craft from Erith to the Nore, and on many a sunny day the -snowy jib-sail of his boat was seen from afar by those nautical minded -people who frequent the breakwater at Cherbourg. When he was at home he -was either hunting with the Warwickshire hounds, or looking for plover -and grouse on Scotch moors. Any other spare time he had was taken up -in his parliamentary duties, for he had the ineffable honor of signing -"M.P." after his name. - -And the young, gay, beautiful, and high spirited Lady Mordaunt--how -was it with her? Being left very much alone, she developed herself. -She delighted in balls, the Italian--yes, and the Bouffe Opera, she -liked Croquet parties, garden parties, Crystal Palace concerts, and -flirtations, and one evening, in company with Captain Farquhar, an -officer of the Guards, she visited the "Alhambra," a celebrated dancing -hall, which is supported by the London demi-monde. - -[Sidenote: IN BAD COMPANY.] - -She was young, thoughtless, and very beautiful, and to be brief, she -fell among wolves, as many a woman has before. She had for escort -to different places, the Prince of Wales, Sir Frederick Johnstone, -Viscount Cole (eldest son of the Earl of Enniskillen), Lord Newport, -Captain Farquhar, the Marquis of Blandford, and among her acquaintances -were the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Jersey, the Marquis of -Waterford, and other young gentlemen, whose company or friendship alone -would be enough to destroy the character of the most spotless married -woman. And by the by, all these fast young noblemen are friends and -boon companions of the Prince of Wales. Lady Mordaunt also knew Lord -Carington, although his name did not appear in the trial for divorce. - -All of these titled gentlemen whom I have mentioned, are of that class -which is denominated "fast young men"--in England. They are all of -good families, and are of the salt of the earth, being hereditary -legislators for the English people. They gamble, own fast horses, -make tremendous bets, keep mistresses, and yachts, and among this -set to dishonor a young and unsuspecting married woman, and cover -with disgrace an old family name, is indeed an achievement of which -they feel very proud, a woman's weakness and folly being a subject -for joking in their clubs, and affording much amusement to the -young blackguards at covert side and in many a yacht cruise in the -Mediteranean and the Baltic Seas. - -[Illustration: LADY MORDAUNT.] - -Lady Mordaunt had fallen among a pack of masculine wolves. Her two -sisters, the Duchess of Athole and the Countess of Dudley, vainly -endeavored to save their foolish sister, and her mother, Lady Louisa -Moncrieffe, and her young sister, who was engaged privately to -Viscount Cole--(Miss Frances Moncrieffe), and Miss Blanche Moncrieffe, -used all their powers of persuasion, but Lady Mordaunt had met already -with the fate of all those who frequent bad company. She was corrupted, -and her only desire was now to become deserving of the title of "fast." -Lady Mordaunt soon became the leader of the "fast" feminine set in -London. No lady could drive such "fast" ponies as she. None could equal -her for "fast" or "slangy" talk. Her highly colored attire was voted -the "fastest" in London. Her male companions who were in her company -and who escorted her, were all "fast," particularly the Prince of -Wales, who enjoys the proud distinction of being "fast." Lady Mordaunt -never accompanied her husband anywhere--he being very often absent, and -besides, he was not "fast." - -And Lady Mordaunt is not alone among her aristocratic sisters of -London. She has a number of imitators, who talk "fast," ride "fast" -horses, frequent the company of "fast" men, and visit with these last, -"fast" places of amusement. This "fast" woman has now become typical in -England. She dyes her hair, she paints her face, she wears flaunting -and unbecoming costumes after the style of the loose living blondes -who appear in burlesque; in short, she apes the manners and the attire -of that hapless class of women of whom she once spoke, when she spoke -of them at all--with a shuddering thrill of mingled horror and pity. -A famous female English novelist--whose heroines, by the way, are -all of the light-hair-dye and "fast" type--speaking of these "fast" -society-women, pertinently asks:-- - -[Sidenote: SLANG WOMEN AND "MRS. JOHNSON."] - - "Who taught the girls of England this hateful slang? who showed - them--nay, obtruded upon and paraded before them these odious women? - who, indeed, but the men, who recoil from their own work of their - own hands, and cry out upon the consequences of their own conduct? - It was not till the young Englishman learned to ridicule everything - virtuous as "spoony," and everything domestic as "slow," that the - women took pains to master the slang of the race-course, and to - model their dress upon the costumes of the women whom they saw from - their carriage windows dimly athwart the mists of midnight flitting - across the Haymarket, as they were driven away from the Opera-house. - Be sure society decayed, like the tree to which poor Swift pointed - with sad prophetic certainty, "_first at top_." It was not till the - moral deterioration of the modern young man had become a fact but - too obvious, that any fatal change was perceived in the modern young - woman; it was not until a contemptuous and disrespectful demeanor to - parents, newly denominated governors, relieving-officers, paters, - maters, maternals; a scornful avoidance of sisters as muffs and - dowdies; an utter irreverence for age, and a disdainful treatment of - all woman kind,--had become distinguishing characteristics of young - Mr. Bull, that poor, giddy, mistaken Miss Bull, too anxious to please - the young cub, whose moral being and real interests had best been - served by a judicious course of cat-o'-nine-tails, began to dye her - pretty hair and paint her fresh young cheeks; it was not till the - British lords flocked to the sale of a bankrupt courtesan's effects, - and gave unheard-of sums for the tawdry crockery-ware of a courtesan's - bedchamber, that British ladies began to slide downwards upon that - fatal incline which their masters had smoothed for them." - - "In the early days of the music-halls, before the nameless Captain - had begun to cultivate his too famous whiskers, or the insatiable - thirst of the convivial Charley had become a fact so painfully - notorious,--when the prudent Joseph was yet unknown, and the Strand - not yet renowned as the dweling-place of Nancy,--there was sung a song - called "Mrs. Johnson," in which the singer, in a tipsy solemnity, - bewailed the fact that the tastes and manners of his amiable wife were - but too identical with his own. "And so does Mrs. Johnson,"--that - was the ever recurring refrain. "I drink, I smoke, I swear, I stop - out to unholy hours of the night," sings this Mr. Johnson of the - music-halls, "and so, unhappily, does Mrs. Johnson. I am altogether a - fast and disreputable individual, and I consider it very delightful - to be fast and disreputable; but--and here, I confess, the shoe - pinches--so does Mrs. Johnson. This midnight rioting, this hunting up - of dancing-gardens and quaffing of perennial champagne, is my very - ideal of man's existence; but I recoil aghast with horror before the - idea of the same predilections in Mrs. Johnson." It is only a vulgar - music-hall ditty; but I think there is a moral hanging to it, which - our modern Juvenals would do well to consider." - - "It is the story of Adam and Eve over again--"the woman tempted me, - and I did eat." The historian of the future, studying the social - aspects of this century from a file of _Saturday Reviews_, would - have fair ground for believing it was because of modest women that - outraged Englishmen fled to the denizens of St. John's-wood; that it - was the slang and fastness of our girls that drove our men to the - race-course and the betting-ring; the women tempted them. What cowards - and hypocrites men must be, when they can turn upon and assail the - helpless woman who has meekly and dutifully copied the model they - have set up before her eyes, and at whose shrine she has seen them - prostrate and worshipping!" - - "The modern young man, with a selfishness as short-sighted - as--selfishness, which is always short-sighted, has desired _all_ the - delights of life. He likes the society of the venal Cynthia of the - minute, as his forefathers have done before him, but it has seemed - too him too much trouble to disguise that liking, in deference to the - feelings of purer Cynthias, as his forefathers did before him. When - Junius wished to brand the Duke of Grafton with ineffable shame, he - charged him with having flaunted Miss Parsons before the offended - eyes of royalty; now-a-days such a reproach would seem the emptiest - oratorical truism. The royalty of virtuous womanhood is offended every - day by a procession of Miss Parsonses. Everywhere Miss Parsons is - followed and worshipped. At covert-side, on parade of Brighton, or in - lamplit gardens of Scarborough, in opera-house and on race-course, - abroad or at home--the Parsonian worship is still going on. Miss - Parsons has her matins and her vespers, her choral services at five - o'clock, her gatherings at all hours and all places. The bells are - always pealing that call the faithful of the Parsonian creed. And - woman's poor little stock of logic only enables her to frame one fatal - syllogism: - - Miss Parsons is admired; - - Miss Parsons is beloved; - - Therefore to be like Miss Parsons is to be admirable and loveable." - -When the season ended it was customary for Sir Charles Mordaunt to -rejoin his wife at Walton Hall, and it might have been believed that -after the gaieties of the winter revels, the mistress of the mansion -would seek a little rest and the quiet of the country. But no. The -country seat was always full of "fast" ladies and "fast" gentlemen. -Sporting men and people of loose characters, whom no sensible man -would admit to the presence of his wife, became the intimates of Lady -Mordaunt. In fine, the Coles, Farquhars, Johnstones, Waterfords, -Hamiltons, and the like, were "doing Lady Mordaunt's business for her," -as I heard a London barrister express it. People began to talk about -her, and she lost the respect of her friends, who dropped off one by -one. Her poor old father, Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, while sitting in -White's Club (the only club of which the Prince of Wales is an active -member), hears his daughter's name mentioned in a very odious manner, -and that of the Prince of Wales occurs in the connection. The "Pwince," -says one of these small wits, "is very devoted--ah--Lady Mowdaant--I -heah," and so the scandal flies. Sir Thomas is enraged, threatens the -puppy, and tells Sir Charles of the thunder in the air. Poor old man! -It is openly stated in the club that Viscount Cole and Sir Frederick -Johnstone,--the former twenty-two, and the latter thirty-two years of -age, are constant visitors to her boudoir,--as often as three times -in a day--so says Madame Scandal. Sir Frederick Johnstone is known to -be the greatest libertine in England. He is rich, of a good family, -and yet no woman will marry him, for it is whispered in society,--even -among ladies--that he has become so enervated and palsied from his long -course of debauchery, as to be unfit for the marriage bed--and Lord -Cole is a fit rival to Lord Carington for wildness and blackguardism. I -saw this same Sir Frederick Johnstone slapped in the face a dozen times -at the Cremorne Gardens one night, by a fashionably attired Cyprian -who had been his mistress, and who had been deserted by him, but not a -blush warmed his cheek under the stinging slaps of her hand. Luxury and -debauchery had emasculated him. He was no longer a man--he was a frame -covered over by a handsome evening dress. - -[Sidenote: A GIDDY WOMAN.] - -During all this time, while Lady Mordaunt was sowing the wind to -eventually reap the whirlwind, her husband was ignorant of these -most damnatory facts against her reputation,--which afterward became -known to him. At last the scandal was bruited about so much that -Sir Charles Mordaunt found it necessary to enter proceedings in the -Divorce Court, at Westminster, for a separation from his wife. All -England was, socially, turned upside down with amazement, when it was -ascertained that the Prince of Wales was implicated. The Queen sent for -Sir Charles, and begged of him to withdraw from the case, in order to -secure her son's reputation from the contempt which was sure to fall -upon his Royal Highness when the developments were made public. The -entreaties of the Queen did not avail, however, with Sir Charles, who, -with a dogged English pluck, was resolved to have justice. Then an -attempt was made to bribe him, and a peerage was offered him to keep -him quiet, but this did not serve, as Sir Charles refused to compromise -with dishonor and shame. - -Lady Mordaunt's husband had ordered her not to receive the Prince of -Wales at his house while he was absent, or at any other time, but the -unfortunate woman had disobeyed him. She also refused to accompany Sir -Charles on a fishing excursion to Norway, as she preferred to stay at -home and associate with disreputable characters. He also ordered her -not to receive Viscount Cole, or Sir Frederick Johnstone, but, as in -the other case, the husband was disobeyed, and his house was used by -them against his will during his absence. On the 27th of February, -1868, Lady Mordaunt was prematurely confined of a child which was -afflicted in the eyes with a hideous disease. The first question asked -by Lady Mordaunt immediately after her confinement, was of the nurse. -She asked, "Is the child diseased?" The nurse answered, "My Lady, you -mean deformed;" and Lady Mordaunt answered, "No, you know what I mean." -This question was repeated five or six times, and, during the night, -she said to her sister, Mrs. Forbes, "If you do not let me talk I will -go mad," meaning thereby that she desired to make a confession. The -nurse asked if she should fetch Sir Charles to her, and she said "no," -but added, "This child is not Sir Charles's at all--but Lord Cole's." -She then stated that she had behaved improperly with Lord Cole in June, -1867, at her husband's house. This was testified to by the nurse, and -the occurrence took place at Walton Hall. She was afraid that the baby -would be blind--the disease being an incurable one. - -The suit for divorce was opened in the Westminster Divorce Court -February 16th, 1869, and some of the most eminent and aristocratic -personages in England attended. The Prince of Wales was ashamed to be -present until sent for, but as he was very anxious about the result -he sent his private Secretary, Sir W. Knollys, to watch the case. -That gentleman was present every day, and manifested great interest -in the testimony, which was very filthy, but not so filthy but that -the Pall Mall Gazette and London Times, with other leading journals, -should print every line of it, day by day, as it transpired in the -Court. The trial continued seven days, Lord Penzance presiding, and it -created as great an interest in London as the McFarland and Richardson -case did in New York. No ladies were admitted to the Court, but two -thousand, the majority of whom were of the cultivated and respectable -class, sought admission during the first three days of the trial. -All the relatives, of both parties, who could attend were present. -The Dowager-Lady Mordaunt, mother of Sir Charles, testified strongly -against her daughter-in-law, whom she accused of shamming insanity to -hide her crime and dishonor. The plea of insanity was the defence set -up by Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, father of Lady Mordaunt. The testimony was -very contradictory. Some of the physicians swore that Lady Mordaunt was -perfectly sane, but that she feigned insanity to screen herself, while -others testified that she was not in a sound condition of mind. - -[Sidenote: A TREACHEROUS WIFE.] - -But the evidence was very clear against Lady Mordaunt despite of all -endeavors to save her, or rather to save the Prince of Wales, through -the unfortunate lady. Testimony was adduced, that, one evening in -November, 1868, Lady Mordaunt absented herself from Walton Hall and -went to London in company with Captain Farquhar, one of her "fast" -young male friends, and that while there she stopped a whole night with -him at the Palace Hotel. To blind her husband she wrote the following -note to him: - - Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate, Nov. 8. - - My Darling Charlie--One line to say I shall not be able to reach home - by twelve o'clock train, but will come by the one which reaches at - 3.50. Send carriage to meet me. I felt horribly dull by myself all - yesterday evening. I have not had much time as yet to-day. I have seen - Priestly and will tell you all about it when I come home. - - Your affectionate wife, - HARRIET MORDAUNT. - -Frederick Johnson, a footman of Lady Mordaunt, testified as follows: - - Frederick Johnson testified:--I was formerly footman to Sir C. - Mordaunt. While Captain Farquhar was staying at Walton, in the autumn - of 1867, I took a note, I believe, from Mrs. Cadogan, into Lady - Mordaunt's sitting-room. The captain was there. They had carving tools - before them. The rest of the party were out shooting. I did not knock - before entering. Lady Mordaunt told me I ought not to come in without - knocking. She had not told me so before. I went with Lady Mordaunt, - in the spring of 1868, to the Alhambra. Captain Farquhar was there. - Lady Kinnoul (with whom Lady Mordaunt was staying) went, too, in her - own carriage, and Lady Mordaunt in a hired one. Lady Mordaunt left - about twelve. The Captain rode part of the way home with her. I have - posted three or four letters from Lady Mordaunt to him, and have also - delivered a letter to him. The Prince of Wales called once in 1867; I - did not see him at the house again. He also called on Lady Mordaunt - while she was staying with Lady Kinnoul. I have taken letters from her - Ladyship addressed to the Prince; some I took to Marlborough House, - and others I posted. - - Cross-examined.--Letters were given me by her Ladyship, her maid, and - the butler. I posted a great many. The Prince called at Lady Kinnoul's - to see Lady Mordaunt just after she had got better. She had been - confined to her room. - - Re-examined.--I took two or three letters to Marlborough House; two I - am positive, and I think I posted three to the Prince of Wales within - three days. - -The strongest testimony against Lady Mordaunt was given by Miss -Jessie Clark, lady's maid to the wretched woman. It was full and -comprehensive, and I give it here from the official report, cooked up -by the Prince of Wales' friends, with extenuating notes, which I omit. - -[Sidenote: THE PRINCE OF WALES CALLS OFTEN.] - - Jessie Clarke was then called, and deposed,--I was lady's-maid to Lady - Mordaunt from her marriage till she left Walton. In the autumn of 1867 - Captain Farquhar came on a visit, and stayed about a week. He and Lady - Mordaunt were very much together. - - In November, 1867, Lady Mordaunt went up to London, and I accompanied - her. We stayed at the Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate, and remained two - nights. We arrived at the hotel about 5 p.m., and about half-past ten - I saw Captain Farquhar on the landing outside the sitting-room with - Lady Mordaunt. The bed-room was a short distance off. I did not see - him come or leave. Her ladyship went to bed about a quarter to eleven, - and I called her the next morning at half-past eight. I had arranged - the bed-room for her. In the morning I noticed that the books had - been moved, though her ladyship never used to move anything that I - arranged. The next day she was out the greater part of the day, and - went out again about six. She had not returned about ten, when I went - to bed, and she told me not to sit up, as she would not want me. - - After returning to Walton she was taken suddenly ill in the night, - and was confined to her room for a week. She then got into her - sitting-room. In arranging her toilet-table I found a letter, not in - an envelope, under a pincushion. I read it. [Notice to produce the - letter was here proved, Dr. Deane stating that he knew nothing of - it.] I replaced it, and a few days afterwards showed it to the butler, - then putting it back again. I afterwards saw her ladyship take it and - put it into the fire. It was dated from "The Tower, Saturday," and - said, "Darling, I arrived here this morning about a quarter to nine, - very tired and sleepy, as you may suppose." It added that he had seen - his name inserted in the _Post_ as Farmer instead of Farquhar, and - said, "So it's all right, darling, as I was afraid Charles would be - suspicious if he saw my name in the arrivals at the hotel with yours." - The letter was signed "Yours, Arthur." I found it the day after she - left the bed-room. She seemed surprised when she found it, and said - she did not think there were any letters about, and then burnt it. - - In September, 1868, I had occasion one evening to go into her - ladyship's bed-room, and Captain Farquhar came in. Her ladyship was - not there, and the Captain did not know I was there. He walked to - the table, took some flowers up, and left. During the season in 1867 - and 1868, Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt were in town. Sir Charles - usually went out in the afternoon to his Parliamentary duties. The - Prince of Wales called two or three times in 1867 at that time of - the day, and in 1868 more frequently. In 1868 he usually came about - four in the afternoon, and stayed from one to one and a half or two - hours. Her ladyship was always at home and saw him. No one was in - the drawing-room at the time. The Prince did not come in his private - carriage. I do not remember that Sir Charles was ever at home when the - Prince called in 1868. - - Lord _Penzance_.--Sir Charles himself has told us that he was at home - on one occasion, three weeks before he left for Norway. - - Examination continued.--The Prince came about once a week. In March, - 1868, I attended Lady Mordaunt while on a visit to Lady Kinnoul, in - Belgrave-square, Sir Charles being then at Walton. The Prince came - there one Sunday, for I met him leaving as I was coming in. Lady - Mordaunt showed me a letter from the Prince before she was married, - and I have delivered letters to her in the same hand writing; six or - seven times, perhaps, in 1868. I also received two or three letters - from her addressed to the Prince, which I gave the footman (Johnson) - to post. During the summer of 1868, Lord Cole used to call twice or - thrice a week in the afternoon, more frequently when Sir Charles was - out. Lady Mordaunt was then at home. She told me we were to go home - in a week after Sir Charles went to Norway [15th of June], but we did - not go till the 7th of July. During that interval Lord Cole used to - call, and on the 27th of June he dined there with another gentleman - and lady, whom I do not know. They had not left at half-past twelve, - when I went to bed. Her ladyship invariably told me not to sit up for - her after twelve. We went to Paddington to take the train, Lord Cole - met her there, and took the tickets, giving me mine, and handing Lady - Mordaunt into a first-class empty compartment. He stood by the door - till the train was starting, and then got in. He left at Reading, the - first stopping station. The other servants came down on the 10th, - and Lord Cole also; he remained till the 14th, and the next day Sir - Charles returned. - - In December, 1868, I was staying with Lady Mordaunt at the Alexandra - Hotel, Knightsbridge. The Duke and Duchess of Athole stayed there - with her. The day after they left Sir F. Johnstone came, and left her - ladyship's sitting-room about midnight. I was at Walton during her - confinement, and until she left. After the nurse left, on the 27th of - March, I attended on her. The note produced I found soon after the - 10th of April in one of her ladyship's pockets in a dress which she - had recently worn. [This was the letter read yesterday addressed to - the nurse, and bidding her say nothing more about the nonsense the - writer had uttered.] About the 25th of April I noticed in the paper - the death of the Countess of Bradford. I showed it to Lady Mordaunt, - who said, "Poor thing, I'm so sorry," and said she would have to - go into mourning. I provided temporary mourning, and her ladyship - directed me to get two mourning dresses, as she would not be going - about much. She also selected mourning jewelry. On the 6th of May - I saw her before the physicians came. She was conversing with Mrs. - Forbes, who asked for some brandy and soda water, and while she was - drinking it Lady Mordaunt laughed, and said, "Helen, if you drink all - that I'm sure you'll be tipsy." The same evening Mrs. Cadogan called, - and I took a photograph in. They were talking very comfortably. On - the 12th of May, while dressing her ladyship, she remarked on the - dress Lady Kinnoul wore, and said, "What a larky old thing she is." I - told her Mrs. Forbes admired a certain dress of hers, and she replied - that she wore it a long time at Yowle [Mrs. Forbes' residence]. Her - ladyship looked at the newspapers until the time of her leaving, the - 15th of May. Down to that day I constantly attended on her. I have - never seen her since. I never saw anything indicative of unsound mind. - She was perfectly rational and sensible, and appeared to understand - everything. - -Henry Bird, an old servant of the family, and butler, testified in a -candid, frank way, to what he knew, as follows: - -[Sidenote: FARQUHAR AND JOHNSTONE.] - - Henry Bird.--I am butler to Sir C. Mordaunt, and have been in the - service of the family thirty years. Lord Cole, Captain Farquhar, - and Sir F. Johnstone visited Walton Hall. In the autumn of 1867 - I accompanied Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt to Scotland. Captain - Farquhar was staying at the same place, and I noticed that he and her - ladyship were often together. Lady Mordaunt was more frequently with - him than with other people. A few days after we returned to Walton - he came to visit. He was often in her sitting room, generally alone - with her. Sir Charles was frequently out shooting at the time. Jessie - Clarke made a communication to me, and showed me a letter. That was - about ten days after Lady Mordaunt's return to London. It was in - Captain Farquhar's writing. I read it and returned it to Clarke. It - was dated at the Tower, and said, "Darling, I got home here, tired - and weary, as you may suppose. I have read the _Morning Post_, and - have seen that they have inserted my name as Farmer. If they had - inserted it Farquhar, Sir Charles would have been suspicious." There - was also an allusion to having attended a play, and the persons they - had seen there. Clarke did not tell me where she had found it. I - referred to the _Post_ of November 7 and 9, 1867; Sir Charles took - it in. I referred to it before I saw the letter, on account of what - Clarke told me, and I put aside the two papers in my cupboard. On the - 7th, among the arrivals at the Palace Hotel, Buckingham-gate, Lady - Mordaunt's name is given, and on the 9th Captain Farmer's. In January, - 1868, Captain Farquhar visited Walton, and staid about a week. There - were other visitors, and there was not so much opportunity for him - and Lady Mordaunt to be together. I once found them together in the - billiard-room, standing close together near the billiard-table; they - seemed startled, and I apologised and left. In 1867 and 1868 the - Prince of Wales called at Sir Charles's London house--in 1868 about - once a week; but one week twice. He came about four p.m., and stayed - from one to two hours. I received him. Sir Charles was then at the - House of Commons, or out pigeon-shooting. Lady Mordaunt gave me - directions that when the Prince called no one else was to be admitted. - After Sir Charles left for Norway the Prince took luncheon there once, - with a sister of Lady Mordaunt and a gentleman. The last two went away - together, but the Prince remained about twenty minutes alone with Lady - Mordaunt. Lord Cole visited the house two or three times a week--more - frequently when Sir Charles was out and after he had left for Norway. - Sir Charles was seldom at home in the afternoon. Lord Cole and two - others dined with Lady Mordaunt after Sir Charles's departure. The two - others left about eleven, but Lord Cole stayed in the drawing-room - till about a quarter to one. I knew this by hearing the front door - bang, and by observing that his hat and coat were gone. I went down to - Walton on the 10th of July; Lord Cole arrived the same day, and left - the day before Sir Charles's return. Sir F. Johnstone, when he stayed - at Walton, was often in her ladyship's sitting-room while the rest of - the party were shooting or hunting. I left Walton with Sir Charles on - the 5th of April, 1869. After her confinement Lady Mordaunt used to - take the papers from me, and once proposed to go fishing, as she had - done before; but I said it was too cold. She seemed quite rational. I - went on the 20th of August to Worthington in order to accompany her - to Bickley. She shook hands with me. I told her Sir Charles had gone - to Scotland, and that Taylor, the gamekeeper, had gone with him. She - laughed and said, "Only think of Taylor's going." She referred to the - death of the Dowager-Lady Mordaunt's son, Mr. Arthur Smith, and said - how sorry his father must be to lose his only son. I remained five or - seven minutes. - -A package of letters, a love valentine, and some flowers, which the -Prince of Wales had sent Lady Mordaunt, were found by Miss Jessie -Clarke, and were given to Sir Charles Mordaunt by her. It has been -stated there were other letters from the Prince of Wales to Lady -Mordaunt, which were destroyed in time to save the Prince from the -reputation of a dastard. The letters which were found were produced in -court, but were not read in the early stage of the proceedings, until -the leading newspapers had by some stratagem succeeded in getting -copies, which they published, to the great indignation of Lord Penzance -and other toadies of the Prince. These letters I give as specimens of -the style of writing, amusement, and companions, which the dear Prince -affects. They are ungrammatical, silly, and slangy, and show a vivid -dearth of ideas in the heir to a great kingdom. - - I.--She Sends Him Muffetees. - - "Sandringham, King's Lynn, January 13, 1867. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I am quite shocked never to have answered - your kind letter, written some time ago, and for the very pretty - muffetees, which are very useful this cold weather. I had no idea - where you had been staying since your marriage, but Francis Knollys - told me that you are in Warwickshire. I suppose you will be up in - London for the opening of Parliament, when I hope I may perhaps have - the pleasure of seeing you and making the acquaintance of Sir Charles. - I was in London for only two nights, and returned here Saturday. The - rails were so slippery that we thought we should never arrive here. - There has been a heavy fall of snow here, and we are able to use our - sledges, which is capital fun. - - "Believe me, yours ever sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - II.--Would Like to See Her Again. - - "Monday. - - "My Dear Lady Mordaunt,--I am sure you will be glad to hear that the - Princess was safely delivered of a little girl this morning and that - both are doing very well. I hope you will come to the Oswald and - St. James's Hall this week. There would, I am sure, be no harm your - remaining till Saturday in town. I shall like to see you again. - - "Ever yours most sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - III.--She Brings Him an Umbrella. - - "Marlborough House, May 7, 1867. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your letter, and I am very - sorry that I should have given you so much trouble looking for the - ladies' _umbrella_ for me at Paris. I am very glad to hear that you - enjoyed your stay there. I shall be going there on Friday next, and - as the Princess is so much better, shall hope to remain a week there. - If there is any commission I can do for you there it will give me the - greatest pleasure to carry it out. I regret very much not to have been - able to call upon you since your return, but hope to do so when I come - back from Paris, and have an opportunity of making the acquaintance of - your husband. - - "Believe me yours very sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - IV.--Hamilton's Wife is Good Looking. - - "Marlborough House, Oct. 13. - - [Sidenote: SAM BUCKLEY IN HIS KILT.] - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your kind letter, which I - received just before we left Dunrobin, and I have been so busy here - that I have been unable to answer it before. I am glad to hear that - you are flourishing at Walton, and hope your husband has had good - sport with the partridges. We had a charming stay at Dunrobin--from - the 19th of September to the 7th of this month. Our party consisted - of the Sandwiches, Grosvenors (only for a few days), Sumners, Bakers, - F. Marshall, Albert, Ronald Gower, Sir H. Pelly, Oliver, who did - not look so bad in a kilt as you heard; Lacelles, Falkner, and Sam - Buckley, who looked first-rate in his kilt. I was also three or four - days in the Reay Forest with the Grosvenors. I shot four stags. My - total was twenty-one. P. John thanks you very much for your photo; - and I received two very good ones, accompanied by a charming epistle, - from your sister. We are all delighted with Hamilton's marriage, - and I think you are rather hard on the young lady, as, although not - exactly pretty, she is very nice looking, has charming manners, and - is very popular with every one. From his letter he seems to be very - much in love--a rare occurrence now-a-days. I will see what I can do - in getting a presentation for the son of Mrs. Bradshaw for the Royal - Asylum of London, St. Ann's Society. Francis will tell you result. - London is very empty, but I have plenty to do, so time does not go - slowly, and I go down shooting to Windsor and Richmond occasionally. - On the 26th I shall shoot with General Hall at Newmarket, the - following week at Knowlsley, and then at Windsor and Sandringham - before we go abroad. This will be probably on the 18th or 19th of next - month. You told me when I last saw you that you were probably going - to Paris in November, but I suppose you have given it up. I saw in - the papers that you were in London on Saturday. I wish you had let me - know, as I would have made a point of calling. There are some good - plays going on, and we are going the rounds of them. My brother is - here, but at the end of the month he starts for Plymouth on his long - cruise of nearly two years. Now I shall say good-by, and hoping that - probably we may have a chance of seeing you before we leave, - - "I remain, yours most sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - V.--Don't Know the Height of the Ponies. - - "White's, Nov. 1. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your letter, which I received - this morning. I cannot tell you at this moment the exact height of the - ponies in question, but I think they are just under fourteen hands, - but as soon as I know for certain I shall not fail to let you know. I - would be only too happy if they would suit you, and have the pleasure - of seeing them in your hands. It is quite an age since I have seen or - heard anything of you, but I trust you had a pleasant trip abroad, - and I suppose you have been in Scotland since. Lord Dudley has kindly - asked me to shoot with him at Buckenham on the 9th of next mouth, and - I hope I may, perhaps, have the pleasure of seeing you there. - - "Believe me, yours ever sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - VI.--The "Great" Oliver is Coming. - - "Sandringham, King's Lynn, Nov. 30. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I was very glad to hear from Colonel - Kingscote the other day that you had bought my two ponies. I also - trust that they will suit you, and that you will drive them for many - a year. I have never driven them myself, so I don't know whether they - are easy to drive or not. I hope you have had some hunting, although - the ground is so hard that in some parts of the country it is quite - stopped. We had our first shooting party this week, and got 809 head - one day, and twenty-nine woodcocks. Next week the great Oliver is - coming. He and Blandford had thought of going to Algiers; but they - have now given it up, and I don't know to what foreign clime they - are going to betake themselves. I saw Lady Dudley at Onwallis, and I - thought her looking very well. I am sorry to hear that you won't be - at Buckenham when I go there, as it is such an age since I have seen - you. If there is anything else (besides horses) that I can do for you, - please let me know, and - - "I remain, yours ever sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - VII.--Sorry to Hear That She Has Been Seedy. - - "Sandringham, King's Lynn, Dec. 5. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your letter, which I received - this evening, and am very glad to hear that you like the ponies, but - I hope they will be well driven before you attempt to drive them, as - I know they are fresh. They belonged originally to the Princess Mary, - who drove them for some years, and when she married, not wanting them - just then, I bought them from her. I am not surprised that you have - had no hunting lately, as the frost has made the ground as hard as - iron. We hope, however, to be able to hunt to-morrow, as a thaw has - set in. We killed over a thousand head on Tuesday, and killed forty - woodcocks to-day. Oliver has been in great force, and as bumptious - as ever. Blandford is also here, so you can imagine what a row goes - on. On Monday next I go to Buckenham, and I am indeed very sorry that - we shall not meet there. I am very sorry to hear that you have been - seedy, but hope that you are now all right again. - - "Ever yours very sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - VIII.--He is Anxious. - - "Thursday. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I am sorry to find by the letter that I - received from you this morning that you are unwell, and that I shall - not be able to pay you a visit to-day, to which I had been looking - forward with so much pleasure. To-morrow and Saturday I shall be - hunting in Nottinghamshire, but if you are still in town, may I come - to see you about five on Sunday afternoon? And hoping you will soon be - yourself again, - - "Believe me, yours ever sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - IX.--He Had the Measles. - - "Sunday. - - [Sidenote: THE PRINCE HAS THE MEASLES.] - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I cannot tell you how distressed I am to - hear from your letter that you have got the measles, and that I shall - in consequence not have the pleasure of seeing you. I have had the - measles myself a long time ago, and I know what a tiresome complaint - it is. I trust you will take great care of yourself, and have a good - doctor with you. Above all, I should not read at all, as it is very - bad for the eyes, and I suppose you will be forced to lay up for a - time. The weather is very favorable for your illness, and wishing you - a very speedy recovery, - - "Believe me, yours most sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - X.--Anxious Again. - - "Sunday. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your kind letter. I am so - glad to hear that you have made so good a recovery, and to be able - soon to go to Hastings, which is sure to do you a great deal of good. - I hope that perhaps on your return to London I may have the pleasure - of seeing you. - - "Believe me, yours very sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - XI.--The "Great" Francis is to Arrive. - - Sandringham, King's Lynn, Nov. 16. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I must apologise for not having answered - your last kind letter, but accept my best thanks for it now. Since - the 10th I have been here at Sir William Knollys' house, as I am - building a totally new one. I am here _en garcon_, and we have had - very good shooting. The Duke of Cambridge, Lord Suffield, Lord Alfred - Paget, Lord de Grey, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Chaplin, General Hall, - Captain (Sam) Buckley, Major Grey, and myself, composed the party; - and the great Francis arrived on Saturday, but he is by no means a - distinguished shot. Sir Frederick Johnstone tells me he is going to - stay with you to-morrow for the Warwick races, so he can give you - the best account of us. This afternoon, after shooting, I return to - London, and to-morrow night the Princess, our three eldest children, - and myself, start for Paris, where we shall remain a week, and then go - straight to Copenhagen, where we spend Christmas, and the beginning of - January we start on a longer trip. We shall go to Venice, and then by - sea to Alexandria, and up the Nile as far as we can get; and later to - Constantinople, Athens, and home by Italy, and I don't expect we shall - be back again before April. I fear, therefore, I shall not see you for - a long time, but trust to find you, perhaps, in London on our return. - If you should have time, it will be very kind to write me sometimes. - Letters to Marlborough House, to be forwarded, will always reach me. I - hope you will remain strong and well, and wishing you a very pleasant - winter, - - "I remain, yours most sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - -On the afternoon of the fifth day of the trial, the Prince of Wales, -who had been driven by his royal mother to take the step, much against -his will, appeared in court to testify, nominally at his own request, -but really from a fear of public opinion. The presiding judge of the -Divorce Court, Lord Penzance, when he heard that the Prince desired -to testify in his own behalf, exerted himself in such an extreme -fashion, as to call down the ridicule and scorn of the London press -for his servile proceedings. Having been informed that the Prince was -about to appear in court, this flunkey judge, who had been created -a peer for something that he had done as a lawyer, was most eager, -painfully eager, in fact, to accommodate his Royal Highness. The latter -was treated by the judge with a respect which was a combination of -profundity, enthusiasm, and excitement. One journal suggested to the -learned judge, that while the Prince was in attendance on the trial, -it was the duty of the magistrate to have a smoking room fitted up for -the special use of the Prince, while another claimed that a billiard -table should be provided for the amusement of the Prince between the -intervals of the evidence, and asked Lord Penzance to be careful -and open court daily at an hour to suit the convenience of the Heir -Apparent, who is I believe, a late riser. It is a rule of British law, -that the members of the Royal family cannot be called upon to testify -in any case, unless of their own free will, and then they are not -asked to swear to the evidence which they may give, as their simple -affirmation is deemed to be sufficient. The Prince of Wales on this -occasion, however, thought it necessary to be sworn, and he testified -that he knew Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt, and that Lady Mordaunt had -been an acquaintance of his before his marriage to the Princess of -Wales. He also testified that he was fond of riding in hansom cabs, and -lastly, he swore that there never had been any improper familiarity or -criminal act between himself and Lady Mordaunt. This statement, in open -court, was a great relief to the Queen, who it is said, at once upon -hearing of it sent for the Prince to come to Buckingham Palace, and on -his arrival he was welcomed warmly by his mother. - -[Sidenote: SIR FREDERICK JOHNSTONE TESTIFIES.] - -The next witness examined was Sir Frederick Johnstone, who testified -that he had gone to dine with Lady Mordaunt at the Alexandra Hotel, -in obedience to a request which she made by letter, to that effect. -The dinner was a tete-a-tete one, (no one being present but Sir -Frederick and Lady Mordaunt) in a private room, and it lasted from four -o'clock in the afternoon until twelve o'clock at night. Sir Frederick -acknowledged that the dinner took place without the knowledge of Sir -Charles Mordaunt, and that he never told the latter of the circumstance -afterward, although a visitor at Walton Hall. This closed the case -on evidence. A paper had been found in Lady Mordaunt's handwriting, -with the memoranda "280 days from June 29--April 3d," referring, -as it was supposed, to her first meeting with Viscount Cole. Sir -Charles Mordaunt, in his affidavit, alleged the marriage on the 6th of -December, 1866, at St. John's Episcopal Church, Perth; cohabitation -at Walton Hall, and at 6 Belgrave-square; and adultery with Viscount -Cole in May, June, and July, 1868, at Chesham-place, and in July, 1868, -and January, 1869, at Walton Hall; and adultery with Sir Frederick -Johnstone, in November and December, 1868, at Walton Hall, and in -December, 1868, at the Alexandra Hotel, Knightsbridge; and adultery -also with some person between the 15th of June, 1868, and the 28th of -February, 1869. - -The English aristocracy never have had such a blow dealt at their -corrupt social system, as the developments of this suit impelled -against them. "Reynolds' Newspaper," a London journal with a -circulation of 280,000 copies weekly, spoke in thunder tones as -follows, to its readers, the workingmen of London: - - "THE PRINCE OF WALES IN THE DIVORCE COURT. - - The great social scandal to which we have frequently alluded, has - now become blazoned to the world through the instrumentality of the - Divorce Court. Nothing was left undone that might hush it up, so - that the Prince of Wales' name should not figure in so discreditable - a business. Every effort was made to silence Sir Charles Mordaunt. - A peerage was, we believe, offered him. Any place of emolument he - asked for would willingly have been given him. All the honors and - dignities the crown and government have it in their power to bestow - would readily have been prostituted to insure his silence. Lord - Penzance, at the last moment, earnestly strove to keep the name of - the Prince from coming before the public. Sir Charles Mordaunt, - however, was deaf to every persuasion, and, like a noble minded - man and high spirited gentleman, scouted all attempts to shut his - mouth; and, with contemptuous indifference to the entreaties of the - judge, and disregarding the course adopted by his own counsel, at - once told the whole story of his supposed dishonor, without blinking - facts or concealing names. He told the court that he forbade his - wife continuing her acquaintance with the Prince of Wales on account - of his character. He intimated to the Prince that his visits should - cease. He, however, alleges that, despite this intimation, they were - surreptitiously continued; that letters of a compromising character - were found; and that other circumstances occurred leading him to - suppose that an improper intimacy existed between, the Prince and his - wife. It should be borne in mind that when all this is said to have - occurred the Prince of Wales was a married man himself, and the father - of a family. The question, therefore, remains to be solved, is he an - adulterer or not? Can he disprove the apparently damnatory allegations - of Sir C. Mordaunt? Of course we do not wish to prejudge the case. We - hope, for his own and for his wife's sake, that he can completely - refute the heavy accusation laid to his charge, and that he will do so - at the earliest opportunity. But we have no hesitation in declaring - that if the Prince of Wales is an accomplice in bringing dishonor - to the homestead of an English gentleman; if he has deliberately - debauched the wife of an Englishman; if he has assisted in rendering - an honorable man miserable for life; if unbridled sensuality and lust - have led him to violate the laws of honor and of hospitality--then - such a man, placed in the position he is, should not only be expelled - from decent society, but is utterly unfit and unworthy to rule over - this country or even sit in its legislature." - -[Sidenote: THE FASTEST MAN IN ENGLAND.] - -I don't see how any writer could make a stronger case against Royalty, -(however hostile his spirit,) than this fearless exposition by the -English journal of wide circulation, to which I have referred. The -evidence of Sir Frederick Johnstone, which I have omitted, was too -disgraceful to appear in this work, although the English papers printed -every line of it. Well, the case went to the jury at last, after Lord -Penzance had properly and carefully manipulated them, and a verdict was -brought by them "that Lady Mordaunt being of unsound mind, was totally -unfit to instruct her attorneys," and thus Sir Charles Mordaunt, having -been dishonored and his domestic happiness destroyed by a conspiracy -of titled persons, had to be satisfied with the verdict. In these days -the plea of insanity is always a convenient one, and is very useful in -a desperate case. Sir Charles was not daunted, however, and appealed -his case, but met with defeat again, and thus the matter rests, and -will rest. It is the intention of the injured husband to visit America, -as he is an admirer of our institutions. I do not wish to offer any -comment whatever on the state of society in which such corruption -exists. The facts must speak for themselves. - -The "fastest" young man in England is undoubtedly, William Alexander, -Louis, Stephen, Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, Marquis of -Hamilton, Marquis of Douglas, Earl of Angus, Earl of Arran, Earl -of Lanark, Baron Hamilton, Aven, Polmont, Macanshire, Innerdale, -Abernethey and Jedburgh Forest, and premier Duke and Peer in the -Peerage of Scotland, Duke of Brandon (Suffolk), and Baron Dutton in the -Peerage of Great Britain, Duke of Chatherault in France, Hereditary, -Keeper of the Holyrood House, and Deputy Lieutenant of some county with -an unpronounceable name in Scotland. - -Possibly some of my readers, in going over this long line of titles, -will recall the days of Bruce and Douglas, of "proud Angus," whom -Marmion bearded in his hall, and of that Douglas who carried the heart -of Bruce, like a Paladin, amid the lances of Spain; or perhaps the -picture of Chevy Chase, and Douglas, and Percy, in armed fight, will -be evoked with thoughts of the greatest historical House in Europe. -Nobler descent, or more genuine historical honor, cannot be claimed by -the holder of any lordly or royal title, than that which belongs to the -present Duke of Hamilton, who is as yet only twenty-seven years of age. -He is a first cousin of the Emperor of France by his mother, Stephanie, -Duchess of Baden, a noble, beautiful, and good woman,--who married the -old Duke of Hamilton; and one of his sisters is married to the Prince -of Monaco, a sovereign in his own right. Two other sisters of the -present Duke are nuns, having been educated in the Roman Catholic faith -by their mother. The fourth sister is married to a private gentleman of -large fortune. - -[Illustration: THE DUKE OF HAMILTON.] - -[Sidenote: INSULTS THE EMPEROR.] - -The old Duke was in every sense a gentleman and a man of honor, but his -two male descendants, the present Duke of Hamilton, and his brother, -Lord Churchill Hamilton, are sad scapegraces--indeed I doubt if a -rougher name would not be more appropriate. The young Duke, as soon as -he came of age, fell heir to an income of £300,000 a year, and eight -or nine country seats and residences. He had no sooner entered into -possession of his estate, than he was surrounded by betting men, turf -blackguards, spendthrifts, abandoned women, and dissolute noblemen of -his own age. Every shilling of his gigantic fortune was squandered in -three or four years, and his proud old name became a by-word of scorn -and reproach when it was found that his debts amounted to £130,000. He -had for his associates the Earl of Jersey, the Marquis of Waterford, -the Prince of Wales, Lord Carington, the Duke of Newcastle, the Earl of -Winchelsea, the Earl of Westmoreland, and other bankrupt and dissolute -nobles. For a long time polite society tolerated the Duke of Hamilton, -because of his family, birth, and fortune, but when he lost the latter, -those who formerly laughed at his wild actions and peccadilloes, now -began to frown upon him as an _enfant perdu_. He was sowing too much -wild oats, and his friends began to desert him in disgust. A bad set -of men who had control of the Duke, did not hesitate to drag his proud -name and title through the gutters. At last his fellow noblemen, -thoroughly ashamed of him, determined to give him a lesson. His name -was put up for membership in the Jockey Club, and he was black-balled -with great unanimity. The Duke of an almost royal family was treated -in this ignominious way by the fathers of families, and brothers of -girls of stainless birth, as a caution to him. The Duke being both -bankrupt and disgraced, left England for the Continent, to avoid his -thousand and one creditors, who cursed him bitterly when he departed. -Passing through Paris, his cousin, the Emperor, invited him to dine at -the Tuilleries. The Duke returned a curt verbal answer to his imperial -relative, that he could not accept the invitation, "for he had neither -clothes nor manners in which to appear at the Emperor's table." That -same evening he appeared in a private box at the opera, dressed in a -short double-breasted shooting jacket, in company with two or three of -the turfites (broken down betting men, who hung on to him for what they -could get), and afterwards presided at a supper of which the less that -is said the better, concerning the "ladies," who composed one-half of -the twenty-four persons who sat down to table. - -After the Duke left England for the Continent, a sale of his effects -was had. Hundreds of purchasers attended the sale out of curiosity, -as they had attended the sale of "Skittle's" furniture, or as the -Parisian dandies and lorettes attended the sale of the household gods -of Marguerite Gautier, afterwards known as the "Dame aux Camelias." -Every article belonging to the Duke realized a value of more than two -or three hundred per cent. over its original value. Crowds of "snobs" -and "cads" bought whips and pipes, riding jackets, cigar cases, canes, -gloves, and boots, pictures of French dancers and German soubrettes, -as well as articles of crockery, at the most extravagant prices, -simply because they had once been in the possession of a real live -Duke, although he was a scamp. One miserable little tea-broker gave -twenty-five pounds for a worn, poorly bound copy of the "Kisses of -Johannes Secundus," with the idea that he was getting something very -immoral--but he was disappointed of course. - -I saw him twice, this Duke of Hamilton, once in a low cabaret in Paris, -which had for a name the strange and I thought very inappropriate title -of the "Groves of the Evangelists." - -It was in a little street, or rather lane, called the Rue Belle-Cuisse, -which is in the Quartier Breda. - -It was a low dingy little hole, this "Groves of the Evangelist," and -the people present were chiefly infantry privates of some of the line -regiments, who serve as a part of the garrison of Paris. They were a -hard-drinking, ruffianly lot, and the women who sat on their laps were -of all the obscene birds of night that I encountered in Paris, the very -worst and most abandoned. - -A little girl, with a bold face and wearing a slatternly, torn dress, -with a brazen pair of steely blue eyes, acted as bar-girl in this -place, and measured out to the customers, petit verres of fiery Nantes -brandy. - -Two men, young, and fashionably dressed, sat at a table, who appeared -to be strangers in Paris, although they conversed fluently enough, in -French, with each other. - -One of these was a fair, girlish-faced, young gentleman, with hair -which is always termed auburn by the poets, while, as a contradiction -it is generally denominated, in police returns--"red hair." This was -the Duke of Hamilton. - -[Sidenote: VILLAINY OF THE MARQUIS OF WATERFORD.] - -The second person at the table was a tall, athletic, and -handsome-looking fellow, of twenty-four or five years of age, with a -smooth face, daring, black eyes, and a massive head well set upon a -pair of broad shoulders. - -This individual was John De La Poer Beresford, Marquis of Waterford, -Earl of Tyrone, Viscount Tyrone, and a Baron five times over in England -and Ireland, a relation of the Archbishop of Armagh, Protestant Primate -of Ireland, and having an income of about half a million dollars, -annually, in his own right. - -[Illustration: MARQUIS OF WATERFORD.] - -This young Marquis of Waterford, did a most dastardly thing when he -seduced the wife of his bosom friend, the Hon. J.C.P. Vivian, M.P., a -Junior Lord of the Treasury, who had placed the utmost confidence in -the Marquis. He took Mrs. Vivian with him to Paris, and there lived -with her in open adultery for some time until he became tired of his -victim and then he ordered her with great coolness to return to her -dishonored husband. To make the matter worse she was the mother of two -lovely children. Her married sister, the Honorable Mrs. Somebody, went -to Paris to attempt to reclaim her, held an interview with her, and -begged of her to return to her husband. She blankly refused to do so, -giving as her reason that she loved "John" too much,--"John," I need -not say, being the Marquis of Waterford. - -Mr. Vivian having commenced a suit for divorce, the utter villainy of -the Marquis appeared when the letters of that nobleman to his quondam -friend Vivian were read, in which the great trust reposed by Mr. Vivian -in Waterford was most publicly made manifest. - -This young nobleman is a grandson of the second Marquis of Waterford, -who was distinguished as a companion to the Prince Regent, and as well -for breaking off door-knockers and bell-handles--a complaint that was -chronic with him, and that seems to run in the family. - -The Marquis of Waterford is not quite so impoverished through his -excesses as some of his friends, but I understand that his debts at one -time amounted to £60,000. - -My readers may recollect that, during the visit of the Prince of Wales -to America, he had in the suite which accompanied him, a certain Duke -of Newcastle, a young nobleman, who married, some years ago, a daughter -of the great banker, Hope, who brought her husband an immense fortune. -Beside these advantages there were few noblemen in England as highly -connected, or as wealthy, as the Duke of Newcastle. Well, Miss Hope -only served to stay the waning fortunes of this spendthrift for a short -time, as he is now a bankrupt, and has to reside out of England to -avoid the Sheriff's officers. While the execution was being levied in -the magnificent mansion of the Duke, and before his wife could leave -the premises, the Duke had gambled away thirteen thousand pounds, the -last remnant of his once princely fortune. This hopeful Duke has always -been very intimate with the Prince of Wales. - -Another of the same reckless unprincipled set is the young Earl of -Jersey, who was left an income of £50,000 a year, every shilling of -which is gone. This young fool, who is endowed with the manners of a -cabman, and who has a pot-house air in everything that he says or does, -was deeply in debt at sixteen years of age, and before he left school -he had borrowed £25,000 from the Jews, who now own him body and soul. -His grand-mother, the Countess of Jersey, was, I believe, a mistress of -George IV. - -[Sidenote: THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.] - -The Marquis of Hastings, who died about two years ago, was also one of -this same set of spendthrift, young harum-scarum, unprincipled scions -of the Bluest Blood of which England can boast. All his magnificent -fortune went in horses, and women, and yachts, and at last, when -he died, at the age of 26, he had squandered some three or four -millions of dollars, and, I believe, the title created as far back as -1389, became in the direct line, extinct. The Marquis lost one day -at the Derby race on Lady Elizabeth, a favorite horse of his, the -enormous sum of $150,000 in gold. He married a beautiful and wealthy -girl, and her fortune went in the general crash after his death. He -owned a magnificent yacht, and was in the habit of cruising in the -Mediterranean with a coterie of dissolute young aristocrats like -himself, and on board of this yacht scenes took place that might have -made the cheek of Sardanapalus to blush--that is, provided that that -bloated Assyrian ever blushed. - -[Illustration: THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.] - -Prince Christian of Schleswig, a beggarly little German kinglet, who -was allowed to marry the Princess Helena, a daughter of Queen Victoria, -and a very good girl, is said to be rather wild in his ways, but his -allowance, £10,000 a year from Parliament, has to satisfy him whether -he likes it or not. But in 1869 Prince Christian and the Duchess of -Mecklenburg-Strelitz had occasion to journey from Dover to Calais, and -the little German had the impudence to send a bill of sixty eight -pounds expenses to Parliament, despite the fact that he received his -allowance regularly. Professor Fawcett, a liberal member of Parliament, -who brought in bills to abolish religious distinctions in Dublin -University, and in favor of woman suffrage, demanded the items of -the bill, and failing to get them, moved that the Prince Christian's -bill be struck out of the estimates. To show what is thought of such -unbridled extravagance--the fare being only about two pounds from Dover -to Calais--I give the satire and comments of the _Queen's Messenger_ -of August 5, 1869, upon the matter. This paper is a weekly organ, -published in London. - - "Happily there are always two ways of looking at a question, else the - following bill, which was presented last week to Parliament, might - have suggested puzzling reflections: - - DUE FROM BRITISH TAXPAYER TO BRITISH GOVERNMENT: - - For cost of presents made by Duke of Edinburgh during voyage - to Cape and Australia, £3,374 14 0 - - For conveyance of Prince Christian and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - from Dover to Calais, 68 0 0 - - For royal present to Peter, king of Congo, as reward for act - of Christian charity, 0 12 6 - - For luncheon to Prince William of Hesse, 13 0 0 - - For providing food for inhabitants of Cephalonia after the - island had been injured by earthquake, 10 9 6 - - For rigging-out a pier at Antwerp for reception of Prince of - Wales, 2 1 0 - - For robes, collars, and badges for certain persons who had received - honor of knighthood, 1,000 0 0 - - For maintenance of Congo, pirate chief, at Ascension, 38 3 0 - - Cost of presents to King of Masaba, by Captain of H.M. ship - Investigator, 2 0 4 - ======== - £4,509 0 4 - - Thus it costs 13l. to give a luncheon to Prince William of Hesse, - and only 10l. to relieve an island full of people who are dying of - famine. It requires 2l. to lay down red cloth for the Prince of Wales - to walk on, and only 12s. 6d. to reward King Peter for an act of - Christian charity. These are facts worth knowing. The only thing we - regret is that Government should have withheld information as to the - precise nature of the gift with which King Peter was gratified. Did - this mighty Empire present him with six pairs of cotton socks, or - request him to accept a gingham umbrella second-hand? And the King of - Masaba, who figures anonymously, what did he get for 2l. 0s. 4d.? Was - it a pair of boots and some pocket-handkerchiefs, or a few pots of - Scotch marmalade and a dozen pints of Bass? As to the other items of - the bill, it is so obviously right that the country should be made to - pay 68l. every time Prince Christian crosses the Channel, that we can - only wonder anybody should ever have thought otherwise, and moved, as - Mr. Fawcett did, that the sum be struck out of the estimates. We live - in strange times, forsooth, when a prince cannot charge the cost of - his railway-tickets on to the national purse without being made the - subject of unmannered comments!" - -[Sidenote: LORD ARTHUR CLINTON.] - -And now having given as brief a resume as I possibly could of the -salient characteristics of the "fast" young English aristocracy--having -shown how extravagant, useless, dishonorable and unprincipled many -of them are, I will close by mentioning that it is not long since -the English journals were filled with the evidence on the trial of -two young men who were arrested in London for dressing and appearing -in public as females. They were frequently seen at the Opera, the -race course, and in other public places, in company with Lord -Arthur Clinton, a well-known young nobleman. Their apartments were -searched, and waterfalls, chignons, puffs, and all the articles of -the female toilet and female wearing apparel, were found in their -possession. Brought before a magistrate, they manifested a strange and -unmanly behavior, and bore without shame the details of the medical -examination. Lord Clinton, in company with some other friends, had been -paying their addresses to these hybrid creatures, and following in the -footsteps of some of the disgusting court favorites, of which Juvenal -and the Satirists of the Lower Empire speak, he was jealous of another -young Lord, the cause being a rivalry for the affections of one of -these hybrid things in a woman's clothes! - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -LORDS AND COMMONS. - - -"WHY, Sir, I do think the times 'ave changed a great deal, but I -am afeered they will change wuss nor ever agin. They do say as how -Gladstone has, wen he likes, a will of his own to overturn the Crown -itself. And I know 'is son--'a past eight-and-twenty years the young -one is. He is just a bit of a curate in yon church of St. Mary's, -Lambith; and I can say for 'im as he is a hard-working man--it's no -bed of ease, the parish--and 'is father, who is now more than the -Queen herself, might have given young Gladstone the richest living in -Ingland, and nobody to say boo to him for the favor. Yisar, I'm sixty -past, last Miklemas, and man and boy I've lived in Lambeth; and now I'm -broke down with the parlyatics--but I once was a good man on the river, -and could pull a wherry or waterman's tub with the best on 'em." - -The murky beams of an August sun were falling slantingly on the muddy -waters beneath my feet as I leaned over the stone balustrades of -Westminster Bridge, which connects the ancient borough of Westminster -with the Surrey side of the River Thames. Far down the river, I could -see craft of every description lying in the stone docks, the pride and -boast of all Englishmen. Bridge after bridge loomed up in the sun's -hazy beams. Waterloo, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Vauxhall, and Lambeth -Bridges, crowded with traffic and swarming with the wild, heedless, -ever-bustling life of the greatest city of the modern world. Under -the piers of this grand bridge, nearly a thousand feet long, swept coal -barges, wherries bearing noisy cockney watermen, who halloed to each -other from roast-beef stomachs and brown-stout lungs, and every minute -the paddling, roaring steamboats, peculiar to the Thames,--each boat -about sixty feet long, their clean black hulls set off to advantage by -the narrow streaks of red paint that served as an ornament to their -keels, dashed to and fro, in and out of the bridge, conveying homeward -clerks, shop boys, barristers, solicitors, M. P.'s, business men from -the city, physicians, and here and there a stray white neck-clothed -curate of the Established Church, disgusted with the latest work -of Parliament, while, within a few feet of him, scarcely conscious -of the visible triumph that shone over his face, sat a Dissenting -preacher reading Bright's last effort in the Commons on behalf of -Disestablishment. - -[Illustration: HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.] - -On either side of the Thames, beginning at one end and ceasing at the -other end of the Houses of Parliament, the magnificent embankment of -hewn granite stone stretches, thirty or forty feet in width, for a mile -each way, thousands of foot passengers traversing its massive blocks, -each man and woman busy with his or her thoughts, or preoccupied with -the passing vagaries of the hour. - -[Sidenote: VIEW FROM WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.] - -On my right is Westminster Palace and the Houses of Parliament, the -finest modern gothic buildings in the world. The dozen towers and -belfries of this truly glorious edifice, gilded over with brass, -glisten with the refulgent hues of the dying sunset,--for nine hundred -and forty feet on the river, these massive, brown buildings, (that, on -the first view, bring up memories of some grand, old Gothic Cathedral,) -stretch away with tower, buttress, and pinnacle, presenting a river -facade which cannot be equaled by any other edifice for legislative -purposes in the world. - -Beyond, to the left, on the Surrey side, I can see Lambeth Palace, with -its faded reddish-brown brick piled up to the clouds, where resides -his Grace, the high and puissant spiritual prince, the Archbishop of -Canterbury and Primate of England. The feverish broil and confusion -of the great city are all round me, and are present in, and to an -extent pervade, the air above me. The whistling and puffing of the -locomotives may be heard night and day as they sweep to and fro, -conveying passengers and freight to and from all parts of England and -the Continent, over Charing Cross Bridge. The old man by my side on -the bridge, with whom I have been conversing for half an hour, is an -intelligent artisan of the conservative class, benumbed and enfeebled -by illness, and his poor old watery, dazed utterances confess to his -astonishment at the marvelous rapidity with which one of the great -strongholds of every Englishman's belief,--the Established Church, has -been over-turned by the now foremost man in Britain--William Ewart -Gladstone. The old man has relations in America, somewhere,--he thinks, -near Cincinnati, and he asks after their health and well-being with the -most implicit trust that I should know all about them, believing that -the Queen City is only a few miles distant by rail from New York. Yet -the relatives of his youth and manhood have been absent over twenty -years, and are possibly all dead and dust by this time. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.] - -As I have a desire to pay a visit to the House of Commons, and be a -witness of the proceedings of that dignified body of legislators, I bid -the Old Man of Lambeth a very good day, which he acknowledges in his -own fashion, and I stroll across the Bridge and down Bridges street -toward the Commons. As I pass the huge and massive Clock Tower, said -to be four hundred feet in height, and of most beautiful design, I am -warned by what I see all around me, that I am in the close vicinity -of that edifice which contains within its walls annually the chosen -wisdom and supposed best talent of England. Directly before me is the -magnificent fane of Westminster Abbey, holding within its thousand -storied urns, the ashes of the bravest, most intellectual, and most -renowned, as well as the most wretched and unfortunate of Britain's -dead. I can see, as I cross the bridge, the back portion of the -Chapel of Henry the Seventh, with its superb and intricate net-work -of tower, cornice, buttress, groined and fillagree stone-work. Cabs, -four-wheelers, and open carriages, with coachmen and footmen attired in -gorgeous liveries, their wigs powdered and frizzed, are driving hither -and thither, the occupants of some in full dress going to dinner, or to -listen to the debates which are to take place to-night in the Lords or -Commons. - -[Sidenote: "BOBBIES" AND "CABBIES."] - -These magnificent flunkies wear a contemptuous look of ennui -on their faces, and they survey all foot-passengers with blase -glances of indifferent serenity, which I find almost impossible to -describe justly. The court-yard directly opposite St. Margaret's, of -Westminster, is in a hollow below the grading of the approach to the -bridge, and is surrounded by a very handsome gilded iron railing, -which is in turn surmounted by a row of lamps which encircle the House -of Commons at night like a belt of fire. Within this enclosure are -continually stationed fifty or sixty hansom cabs for the convenience of -the members who may need them in the intervals of debate, and on top of -these cabs are to be found the cabbies who delight to bark and bite at -the unsophisticated and verdant stranger. - -There are half a dozen of policemen, or "bobbies," as the cockney, in -his refined slang, chooses to term them, wearing dark blue uniforms -with silver gilt buttons, and the letter and number of their division -on their close coat collars. The thick cloth-board hats, of a helmeted -shape, that these poor fellows are compelled to wear, even in hot -weather, are heavy enough to excite the compassion of the most -hard-hearted person, An inspector of hacks, always on duty in the -Palace Yard, may be seen moving to and fro, giving instructions to the -malicious cabbies, who are listening to his scoldings with the most -provoking indifference, real or assumed, as the case may be. - -Not being aware of the regulations, which do not permit a stranger or -visitor to enter the House of Commons without being possessed of the -written order of a member, I find myself notified at the splendidly -arched gothic doorway that I cannot pass. Here is a difficulty I had -not counted on. A friend from America, however, shows an order, which -I afterwards discover only admitted one person. We pass in under the -groined roof of one of the finest halls, architecturally considered, in -Europe. In this hall, over six hundred years ago on a New Year's day, a -monarch of the Plantagenet line fed six thousand poor people, and one -may well believe the legend of old prosy Abbot Ingulph, of Croyland, as -he looks around and above him at the grand dimensions of the stately -hall. On either side as one enters are marble statues, life-size, of -Hampden, Falkland, Walpole, Fox, Pitt, Burke, Grattan, and others,--the -work of England's greatest sculptors, placed on pedestals of stone. - -We are told by the policeman who attends at one of the inner doorways -to seat ourselves on a stone bench in an alcove, and wait our turn as -is the custom here. The Stranger's Gallery will not hold more than a -hundred persons when crowded; and when a heavy debate is in progress, -on a great public measure, the gallery is sure to be full. Five persons -are admitted to the gallery at a time as soon as a gap is made in the -benches by the departure of an equal number of spectators. Should a man -leave his seat in the alcove for an instant he is certain to lose his -turn, and he will be compelled to go to the bottom place and begin over -again. As soon as there is room, the policeman makes a sign to those -in waiting, and he marshals the five persons who have tickets, and -they follow him through several passages and halls to the Lobby of the -Commons--a large, square hall, beautifully decorated, and, turning to -the left, they all ascend a winding stair to the ante-room, where the -tickets are examined by an old, white-haired gentleman who sits in a -chair in evening dress, and, if correct, the batch are admitted to the -Stranger's Gallery, which is on the same floor, at the end of another -dark passage. - -[Sidenote: BILL OF FARE.] - -Before I leave the Lobby of the Commons, let me describe it briefly -together with the Lunch Counter of the house, which even the greatest -public men find it necessary to visit occasionally. It is a large -square hall of lofty proportions, almost every inch of the walls and -ceiling being ornamented in relief with the insignia of the Kingdom of -Great Britain and Ireland. - -A score of the members are in the Lobby talking with one another, in -an animated but not loud tone, or mayhap to some of their favored -constituents who have admission. To the right is a counter running -across an angle of the Lobby, at which ices, sandwiches, a glass of -sherry, a glass of port, or a glass of brandy--all of a good quality, -can be obtained by those of the members who do not wish to spoil a -dinner by a hearty luncheon, or who do not wish to spend the time in -going down stairs into a cosy suite of rooms, which I almost fancied -were carved out of the beautiful oak paneling, and where a dinner -nearly as good as may be found in England can be obtained at the prices -and at the hours which I give in the Bill of Fare: One o'clock--Soups: -Jardiniere, 1s.; Calf's Tail, 1s. Joints: Shoulder of Mutton, 2s.; -Steak, stewed, 2s. Entrees: Hashed Venison, 3s.; Filet Boeuf au Vin, -2s.; Mutton Cutlets piquante, 2s.; Lamb Chop, 1s. 3d. Five o'clock to -6.30--Salmon, 1s. 6d.; Sole, 1s.; White Bait, 1s.; Saddle of Mutton, -2s.; Cold Roast Beef, 1s. 3d.; Cold Boiled Beef, 1s. 3d.; Cold Lamb, -2s.; Cold Ham, 1s. 3d.; Lobster, 1s. 3d.; Ribs of Beef, 2s. At 7 -o'clock, same prices. Puddings, 6d.; Tarts, 6d.; Wine Jelly, 6d.; -French Beans, 6d.; Green Peas, 6d.; Salad, 6d.; Cheese, 4d. This is the -bill of fare, for one day only, of the steward, Mr. Nicoll, who purveys -for the Lords and Commons of England in both Houses. - -I give the prices as a curiosity, showing on what nutriment heroes, -statesmen, and orators are fed while attending St. Stephens, and -how much they are taxed for their food. This may be trivial to some -persons, but I contend the sum of human existence is made up of -trifles, and in England, particularly, of such substantial trifles as I -have given above. Wellington gained the battle of Waterloo because his -troops were well fed, while the raw levies, and even the Old Guard of -Napoleon, had been fighting for three days at Ligny and Quatre Bras, -and had to lie the night before Waterloo in a wet morass, hungry and -exhausted. The articles of food that I have named are to be procured -here at a cheaper rate and of better quality than anywhere else in -London, only that to enjoy the luxuries which I have enumerated at -moderate prices, it is first necessary to gain admittance to the Houses -of Parliament, which can only be done through a member's order. The -chops and steaks here are truly magnificent, and on a scale of grandeur -commensurate with the architectural pretensions of Westminster Palace. - -Besides all this, away down below the bustle and eloquence of the -Commons, in those dark, quaint oak passages enclosed by marvelous -paneling, the visitor is certain to find one of the most beautiful -bar-maids in London to wait upon him--and hand him cold sherry at -sixpence a glass. - -This comely damsel had some tickets to sell. Her uncle--I think it was -her uncle--it was who had broken his leg. He belonged to the Noble -Order of Foresters, and it was necessary that the public should be -called upon to make up a purse to have the uncle's leg set. I had a -benevolent American along with me who knew not what to do with his -newly cashed sovereigns, and he listened with a compassionate ear to -the tale of distress. The result was a small contribution of a half -sovereign to the uncle. - -[Sidenote: MR. BRUCE AND HIS STEAKS.] - -The bar-maid said, in presence of two of her country friends--they came -from Ilfracombe, down in the country: "I am so much obliged to you, -sir. My uncle is very bad. Will you have soda and brandy, sir, or will -you have a little bitter beer? The bitter beer is very good after a -mutton-chop and potatoes. Mr. Bright always prefers a glass of sherry -when he comes down here, but Mr. Disraeli takes brandy and soda. The -Hirish members, they are so jolly, and they do carry on so, and they -make such jokes with us girls. I likes Lord Stanley, the member for -Lynn, least of them all. Somehow, you can't joke with him. He looks -awfully sewere, and whenever he speaks it's just like a father for all -the world. You know, sir, he's got the hold Darby blood hintoo 'im, and -he is a great man." - -"Who do you like best in the House of Commons, sissy?" said my -frolicsome American friend to the joyous bar-maid. - -[Illustration: THE LEGISLATIVE BAR-MAID.] - -"Well, sir, I likes Mr. Bruce, the 'Ome Sekretary, the best of hall -of them. He has sich a hinfluence. When he comes down here he always -takes a steak, and he is hawful pertikler habout it as how it is to be -cooked. He halways likes to have one side raw and the other side burnt. -Oh, I have been so worrited about Mr. Bruce and 'is steaks--the waiters -always comes to me and says, 'I say, wot kind of a man is this 'ere -'Ome Sekretary, he ought to get some silk binding on to his steaks, he -is so werry pertikler.' But he always drops 'em a sixpence and that -makes it hup." - -The door of the members' entrance to the Commons is guarded by two -persons in evening dress, who are dignified enough in presence and -feature to sit in the Senate of the United States. At each side is -a handsomely carved, oaken box, shaped like a sentry's hut in camp, -and in the sides of these boxes are placed notches or racks where all -messages and letters for the members are left in the charge of the -doorkeepers, as no outsiders whatever are permitted to penetrate this -entrance excepting the Lords or distinguished foreigners, and the -latter only by invitation of the House itself. - -There are also telegraph offices in the corners of the lobby, with -stained glass windows, from whence telegrams can be sent without -delay to the Mediterranean, to Paris, St. Petersburg, New York, -Washington, San Francisco, Madrid, Pekin, or any place in the bounds of -civilization. As I turn from the contemplation of these offices, and -from the benches where a number of messengers and smart-looking and -handsomely-uniformed pages are in readiness to rush to the clubs in -Pall Mall, to the Opera, or to the private residences of the members -of the House, in obedience to the beck or nod of the "whip" of the -government, (Sir Henry Brand,) in case of a division, I see before -me in the doorway a magnificently attired gentleman, in black silk -stockings, buckled shoes, and powdered hair and ruffles, wearing a -bright sword at his hip. He looks like a picture stepped out of a frame -of the period which Thackeray loved to dwell upon--when George the -Third was king. - -This gentleman is none other than the Sergeant-At-Arms of the House of -Commons, Lord Charles James Fox Russell, a scion of the great house of -Bedford, of which Earl Russell is a member. How different he looks from -the sergeant-at-arms of some of our State Legislatures, or even of the -National Houses of Congress. Here is no promoted bar-keeper or reformed -rowdy, but a gentleman bearing one of the proudest names in England, -and befitting by position and character the elevated office which he -holds. It is more than easy to believe that a slung-shot or revolver -could not be pulled upon this gorgeous and venerated being while in the -performance of his august duties. The most malicious derringer would be -silent in his awful presence, and no slung-shot, however moulded, could -ever impinge that hereditary forehead. - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT COMMONER.] - -A story is told of a man who once penetrated even to the floor of -the House itself, and sat there on the benches, being taken for some -new member by his colleagues who was yet to be sworn in. But before -the morning broke, the House having sat all night, the horror of his -position had so paralyzed him that his jetty hair had turned white. -Stay, as I have no ticket I will throw myself upon the country and -abide the issue. I sent in to the Hon. John Francis Maguire, M.P., my -card, with the written desire that I should be admitted to the gallery, -and then I awaited the issue, whether for the Tower or the House. - -While I waited, strolling about the gallery, a gentleman came out of -the door of the Commons, upon whom every eye was turned, and walked -in an upright, John Bull fashion towards the refreshment counter. A -whisper went round the lobby, "That is John Bright," and then I knew -that for the first time I stood in the presence of England's greatest -Commoner, the apostle of the Manchester school and Tribune of the -people. I who had seen so many caricatures of the great orator in -Punch, which has always depicted him as a fat, pursy, vulgar-looking -person, sans breeding, sans ceremonie, failed at the first glance -to identify the noble-looking old man in evening dress, with an -irreproachable white neck-tie, and a decidedly polished exterior, who -halted at the refreshment bar to slowly sip a strawberry ice after the -heat of the debate. - -[Illustration: JOHN BRIGHT.] - -Every inch this was a man, as I looked at him, and a king among men, -if the outward shell can serve at all to indicate what is concealed -within. And he has a princely following too. For around him I can see -a number of men whose names are known wherever the English language is -spoken, and wherever English newspapers are printed and read,--eager -to get a word or a look from him, plain John Bright, once the best -hated man in England, and now, by sheer force of will and dogged -pluck, enshrined forever in the admiration, if not the love, of his -countrymen. I have as yet only been waiting a few minutes when I see -approaching me a messenger of the House, who points the writer out to -a stout, compact-looking man in evening dress, of advanced years, fair -complexion, and with a keen look in his face which serves as a front -to a large, solid head, well set on strong shoulders. This is the Hon. -John Francis Maguire, M.P. for Cork, author of "Rome and its Rulers," -"The Life of Father Matthew," "The Irish in America," and editor of the -Cork _Examiner_, a man well known in Ireland and America, and one of -the Irish leaders of the Liberal side in the House. - -Mr. Maguire has taken the trouble to leave his seat in the House -during debate to oblige the writer of this book, and I must here make -my acknowledgment for the courtesy done. Mr. Maguire hands me a slip -of paper which he has procured for me from the Right Honorable John -Evelyn Denison, Bart., Speaker of the House, and this order entitles -me to a reserved seat on the front bench of the Gallery. I now pass -the dignitary in the black stockings and buckles, who smiles most -graciously at me out of the respect to the Speaker's order, and, after -traversing a narrow stair, emerge into the Speaker's Gallery, and find -myself at last inside the English House of Commons, of which I have -heard so much and so often. - -It is now after dusk, and I can hear the silvery chime of "Big Ben" in -the huge clock tower of St. Stephen's, as it peals the hour of eight -through the corridors and galleries. There is just now a recess among -the members for consultation, and but few are on the floor of the -House, the majority being in the lobby button-holing each other, and -the rest, with the exception of fifteen or twenty on the seats behind -the Treasury Bench, are at dinner. - -[Sidenote: HALL OF THE COMMONS.] - -There are fifty or sixty persons in the Gallery, behind and above -me, the place where I sit being reserved for those whose names have -been inscribed on the list of the Speaker. The Commons' Galleries run -lengthwise on either side of the House, for nearly a hundred feet, -having an upper and lower bench, covered with green leather. The House -is about forty-five feet wide, and one hundred feet long, and the -ceiling is over forty feet from the ground floor, where the debates -are held. It is impossible for me to convey an idea of the richness -and splendor of this Hall of the Commons. Suffice to say that there -is nothing to compare with it in America for architectural effect and -compactness. - -From above in the ceiling a flood of mellow light pours through -sixty-four stained glass windows, and on either side of the House the -windows are gorgeous in their designs of shields and coats of arms, -indicating the living presence of the monarchy of Great Britain and -Ireland. The numerous gas jets are concealed at the top of the glass -panelling of the ceiling, throwing a brilliant but subdued light -upon the Speaker as he sits in his high, over-hanging oak chair; on -the members; on the spectators, and on the ladies who are assembled -behind the glass screen at the back of and above the Speaker's chair. -Beneath the Ladies' Gallery, and also behind the Speaker's chair, is -the Reporters' Gallery, so arranged that each member, as he faces -the Speaker, shall also face the numerous corps of reporters who are -in attendance to note down whatever wheat may develop itself in the -wilderness of chaff spoken in this House. - -The lowest bench on the right hand of the Speaker is devoted to the -Ministry, and on this side, immediately above, the supporters of the -government congregate within hearing distance of the Premier, night -after night, during the sessions. Whenever the Ministerial side is -thin of speakers, Mr. Gladstone simply turns around, and a nod or look -will bring upon his feet whatever member he thinks will best fill the -gap. Underneath the Strangers' gallery is placed a special seat for -the august Sergeant-at-Arms or his deputy, who is, if I mistake not, -a baronet. The walls and ceiling all round are of stone of a peculiar -color, which is neither brown, white, grey, nor yellow, but is a -combination of all four; and I can best describe the tone of color by -likening it to the hue of the bronchial troches or lozenges that are -sold in the druggists' shops in America. Otherwise I might call it a -brownish-grey, of which John Ruskin has examples enough and to spare in -his "Stones of Venice." - -It is certainly a very rich color, and admirably adapted to the damp -and foggy atmosphere of London. Wherever the eye may choose to rest -in the Houses of Parliament, it is sure to be confronted with the -emblazoning of royal and princely cognizances. On both sides of the -House are the Division lobbies, where the members go to be counted by -the tellers, when a division is called for. That on the west side is -for the "ayes," and on the opposite side is the lobby for the "noes." -There are also libraries, residences for all the officers of the House, -on a scale of the most princely magnificence, and more than a score -of committee-rooms abutting off the longest corridors of any public -building in the world, not excepting the Escurial in Spain. Everywhere -you may see acres of polished oak above and around you. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -LORDS AND COMMONS.--CONTINUED. - - -DIRECTLY in front of the gallery where I am sitting, is the Reporter's -Gallery. There are fifteen boxes for their use to take notes in, each -reporter sitting separately from his comrade, and writing characters -for dear life. These boxes resemble private boxes in our New York Opera -House, with the difference that they have no roofs above them, and -are open to the public gaze. Behind these fifteen boxes are seats for -twenty more reporters, to take the place of those in the boxes in turn. -Each reporter takes short-hand notes for a space of ten to fifteen -minutes time, and is then relieved by his colleague, waiting above him, -who steps into his place as the other retires to the Reporter's Room, -in the corridor, to write out his notes, and thence to take them to -the newspaper office, or else, if he chooses, he may send them by the -small boys waiting in the gallery, who are employed by the newspapers -at a salary of from eight to twelve British shillings a week to act -as messengers. Late at night, it is customary for the reporter who -has notes of a very important speech--which he desires to get to the -composing-rooms of his journal, to take a cab from the Palace Yard, -where there are dozens of them always waiting, and thus dash off to be -in time for the press. The _Times_ keeps thirteen reporters constantly -in the gallery during the session, and the _Standard_ as many more, -if I am not mistaken. These men are all expert short-hand reporters, -and receive from five to eight guineas per week, according to their -capability. There is also a man who remains late to get the gist of -what is said and done in debate, and from his notes he makes up a -clear and comprehensive summary for the morning edition. Then there is -the "leader-writer," "the editor" proper, and a "special reporter," -who receive cards of admission to that part of the house under the -Reporter's Gallery, and consequently on the floor of the House behind -the Speaker's chair. This is a high favor, and only granted most -sparingly, and with discretion. - -There are generally to be found about twenty reporters in the gallery, -but this number is greatly increased on a "field night," when it is -usual to find as many as thirty-five or forty journalists in the -gallery. From what I have seen of these parliamentary reporters they -seem to be very deliberate in their movements, and they do not allow -anything to hurry them. They are nearly all, however, very pleasant -gentlemen, and with few exceptions, men of experience and scholarly -attainments, two-thirds of them being men who have taken honors at -the universities, or at Harrow, Eton, or Rugby, and in not a few -instances they have begun life by taking minor orders in the church, -and having toyed with journalism for some time they were unable at -last to resist its feverish fascination. Some few of them are in the -Inns of Court--embryo barristers during the day, and at night they -practise short-hand, earn a respectable living, and gain experience -from England's chosen representatives up in their secluded nooks in -the gallery of the House. It was not always that the press and its -reporters had such privileges as they now possess in the House of -Commons. - -[Sidenote: DR. JOHNSON TAKING NOTES.] - -Before the administration of Sir Robert Walpole, there were no -satisfactory records of the debates in the House. The fierce contests -between Walpole, Windham, Pulteney, and others had, indeed, for some -time before 1740, attracted attention to the proceedings of the House, -and they had been regularly reported in a confused long-hand sort of -fashion every month in the _Gentleman's_ and _London Magazine_, the -former publication commencing the debates in January, 1731, the latter -in April, 1732, but no attempt can be said to have been made to convey -more than the substance of the speeches until that department of the -_Gentleman's Magazine_ was intrusted to gruff old Samuel Johnson, in -November, 1740. This is the commencement of the era of parliamentary -reporting in England. Short-hand, before that time is involved in -chaos, and it is doubtful if Johnson knew anything more than the -rudiments of the then crude system of stenography. - -Indeed, Johnson appears to have given more of his own eloquence than of -what had actually been uttered in Parliament; but still, what he did -was, in all probability, only to substitute one kind of eloquence for -another--a better for a worse; or, it might be, sometimes, a worse for -a better--and therefore, on the whole, the speeches written by him, -though less true to the letter than those given by his predecessors, -may be received as a more living, and, as such, a truer representation -of the real debates than had ever before been produced. - -He would not take the trouble to or be guilty of the absurdity of -expending his lofty rhetoric upon the version of a debate or speech -which had not really attracted attention by that quality, but I -suppose he reserved his strength for occasions on which those who had -heard, or heard of, the original oration, would look for something -more brilliant than usual. It was not, however, until after a long -and severe struggle, with a desperate fight at the close, that the -right of reporting the debates of Parliament was gained by the English -press of that day. It is only about one hundred and thirty years ago, -(in the old days of the Hanoverian and Pretender's troubles), since -anything spoken in the House was allowed to be printed until after the -session was dissolved. The House, in its wisdom, denounced any earlier -publication of the eloquence of the honorable members as a daring act -of illegality. - -On the 13th of April, 1738, the House resolved "that it is an high -indignity to, and a notorious breach of the privilege of this House, -for any news matter or letters, or other papers, as minutes, or under -any other denomination, or for any printer or publisher of any printed -newspaper of any denomination to presume to insert in the said letters -or papers, or to give therein any account of, the debates or other -proceedings of this House, or any committee thereof, _as well during -the recess as the sitting of Parliament_, and that this House will -proceed with the utmost severity against such offenders." The House of -Commons, it is needless to say, has progressed somewhat since that day. - -The monthly magazines, notwithstanding the resolution of the House, -still continued to print the debates, although for some time they took -the necessary precaution of indicating the speakers by fictitious -names, to which they furnished their readers with a key when the House -became dissolved. But it was not until the year 1771, nearly a century -ago, that the debates began to be given to the public day by day as -they occurred, and then the attempt gave rise to a contest between the -House and the newspapers, which occupied the House, to the exclusion of -all other business, for three weeks, when a committee was appointed, -whose report, when it was read two months after, suggested whether it -might not be expedient to order that the offending parties should be -taken into the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Edmund Burke compared -the decision, in his own brilliant manner, to the resolution of the -bewildered convocation of mice,--that the cat, to prevent her doing -future destruction, should have a bell hung to her neck, but forgot to -say how the rash act was to be performed. Well, that is all past and -gone now, and the only complaint made in these busy days by members of -Parliament against the score of daily newspapers, published in London, -is that they err in not printing enough of the speeches to satisfy each -individual representative. - -[Sidenote: THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE.] - -I noticed that the majority of the parliamentary reporters in the -Gallery were considerably advanced in age, many of them wearing gray -hairs, and fully sixty per cent. of the whole number that I saw were -above forty years of age. Some of these gentlemen, by careful saving -and strict attention to their arduous professional duties, have amassed -comfortable competencies, and some of them own, in the environs of -the city, snug little houses, with snug little libraries, and in some -of them, I can certainly say, are to be found pleasant tables and -home-comforts rarely possessed by their brethren of the note-book and -pencil in America. There are, to be sure, many improvident ones in -London, as elsewhere, and here Bohemianism has a lower depth than it -ever was known to have in America, for it is here that the really -depraved and abandoned Bohemian confines himself exclusively to the -consumption of gin--raw and simple gin. A low London Bohemian is a -mere animal, and will beg a copper from you in the same breath that he -professes his willingness to translate a Greek tragedy--to oblige the -giver of the copper, or else he will favor you with an account of his -days at Oxford or Trinity, when he was a "first honor" man or a B.A. -But one thing I have not found as yet in London on the press, and that -is an illiterate or badly taught man, such as can be met with by the -score on the American press. - -The House to-night is in a Committee of the Whole on the Scottish -Education bill. The Ministerial benches are pretty well filled, while -the Opposition benches, to the left of the Speaker's chair, are but -thinly populated. Fronting the Speaker's chair of state is a table -of polished mahogany, the surface of which is about ten feet wide by -fifteen feet long. Directly before the chair of the Right Honorable -Speaker are two low-seated chairs of less pretension, occupied by -the Clerk of the House of Commons, Sir Denis Le Marchant, and his -assistant, Sir Thomas Erskine May, K.C.B. The former is a smooth-faced -man, having the inevitable wig upon his head, which gives him a much -older appearance than his years would warrant. His shoulders are -enveloped in an ample black silk gown, and a blank book of large -dimensions is open before him upon whose leaves he is supposed to -enter the minutes of the House. This person has a magnificent suite -of apartments in a wing of the Parliament House, beside a very large -salary, and is as comfortably housed as if he belonged to the royal -blood of Britain. Sir Thomas Erskine May, K.C.B., seated upon his -left, is a clean-shaved gentleman in evening dress, who also has -apartments in the palace, and a good salary. He has nothing remarkable -about his person or manner, with the exception of a very drawling -voice and a hesitancy in announcing motions made by the members, or -in calling a division when the House so wills it. He is the author -of the continuation of Hallam's Constitutional History of England. -Beside these high officials there are four "Principal Clerks," one -of whom, like Sir Thomas May, enjoys the high dignity of a Knight -Companion of the Bath, &c. Then there are twelve "Assistant Clerks" -and twelve "Junior Clerks," with an "Accountant," an "Assistant -Accountant," a "Private Secretary to the Chairman of Ways and -Means;" a "Sergeant-at-Arms," who is a Lord; two "Deputy Sergeants;" -a "Chaplain," no less a man than Canon Merivale, the accomplished -Roman historian, who has the good sense to make his prayers at the -commencement of the proceedings very short; a "Secretary to the -Speaker;" a "Librarian," a poor cadet of the great overshadowing family -of Howard; an "Assistant Librarian," with an Irish name; two "Examiners -of Petitions for Private Bills," one of whom is Mr. R.D.F. Palgrave, -of whom Americans have heard, and finally a "Taxing Officer," beside -innumerable servants, of superfine bearing, correct evening dress, and -consummate self-possession. I asked one of these ponderous servants, -whom at first sight I took to be the "Juke of Linsther," as an Irish -reporter pronounced it, if he was not awed by the dignity of the house. - -[Illustration: COULD YOU MAKE IT A TANNER?] - -"Aw," said he, in a gracious manner, "you er, I preeszhume, en -Eemireken. This sawt of thing boaws me 'orrid; it does. I hev dun hit -for heit yeers. I wish they wud adjoan, and I wud go to my CLUB." - -[Sidenote: THE SPEAKER AND HIS WIG.] - -Timidly I offered this gorgeous being four-pence, expecting to be -rebuked in a dignified manner for my presumption by the personage who -talked so fluently of "'is club." He never turned around, but, gazing -steadily at the Speaker's chair, as if he was desirous of catching the -Right Honorable Gentleman's eye, thrust his hand behind him, counted -the pennies with his fingers, and said to the writer in a stage whisper: - -"Would your 'onor pleese to make it a 'tanner'? We 'ave no perkisites -in the Commons, pleese." Let me here state that a "tanner" is the slang -term for sixpence, and a "bob" is a shilling among the London cockneys, -servants, bar-boys, and wild children of the thousand streets and lanes -of London. - -When the House is in committee it is not the custom for the Speaker -to be present. When the House is in open session, then the Speaker is -arrayed in wig and gown, and he sits far back in the recesses of his -chair, like some dried-up mummy, so closely is he swathed and covered. -It is pretty hard work for a member to actually catch his eye, being -so muffled up as to defy recognition by a casual observer. Yet it is a -part and parcel of the British Constitution, that this Right Honorable -John Evelyn Dennison should be smothered in this huge box and gown and -wig on a warm August night like this. During committee proceedings the -Speaker may walk out, doff his wig and gown, and dine as he has done -to-night, and then come back, and finding the House still in committee, -he will seat himself in his chair without his legal vesture. I have -been in this House four nights, and this is the first time that I have -seen the Speaker's legs--palpably. He lolls back without any of that -reverence that I have heard so much of, as belonging to the Commons, -and he has at last gone to sleep, like Mr. Greeley under Dr. Chapin's -sermons. In the meantime, the bill, which has twenty-five clauses or -sections, is being canvassed and considered by the members who stream -in, now that the dinner hour has passed. - -While the Speaker slumbers in a quiet way, the chief and assistant -clerks of the House conduct the business, the assistant taking up the -bill, and repeating as he reads each clause in detail: "It is moved," -or "it is proposed that a substitute," or that the "word ---- instead -of ----," and so on, in soporific tones, for two long hours. A number -of people in the gallery are gently dozing, and visibly many of the -messengers are relapsing into a blissful repose. - -The Speaker's table is covered with reports, large bound and gilt -volumes, books of reference, pamphlets, newspapers, costly ink-horns, -and other clerical paraphernalia of the state service. The huge gilded -mace of the Speaker, which lies on the further end of the table below -his chair, when the House is not in committee, is now pendant under -the table on a rack, to show that it is not an open session for the -introduction of new measures or for the making of set speeches. - -[Illustration: THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.] - -Out of six hundred and seventy or eighty members of the House, there -are not present to-night more than one hundred and fifty. Many of the -remaining members are scattered all over the Continent in nooks and -corners. A large number may be found on the Parisian boulevards; some -are at Fontainebleau; some in the Pyrenees, swallowing chalybeate -waters; many are yachting in the Mediterranean, or wasting their time -with the peasant girls in Isles of the Greek Archipelago; not a few are -off at the races at Goodwood or Brighton; some are at Rome, burning, -fuming, and cursing the garlic and salads; dozens of them are at -Constantinople, at St. Petersburg, or climbing the Alps out of a sheer -love of danger and the reckless fondness of physical excitement inborn -in the Englishman; and probably as many as could be numbered on the -fingers of the hand are scattered over the American Continent in search -of novelty. There are also a number of City members absent, in their -out-of-town residences, compelled to forego forensic honors, at the -command of wife and daughters who are packing and poking preparatory to -a flight to the Rhine and Germany. The ministerial benches show a good -front for the late season; first, because the government has a great -deal of unfinished business on its hands, which must be transacted -before Parliament is closed; and secondly, because the exertions of the -government whip have been most arduous in hunting up Mr. Gladstone's -supporters, and compelling them to remain in their seats, while there -is work to be done by them. - -[Sidenote: DIGNITY OF THE HOUSE.] - -With a great number of Americans, that have not visited England, -there is in some way or another an abiding impression that the House -of Commons is the most stately and dignified legislative body in the -world. To be disabused of this notion it is only necessary for an -American to sit during a night session in the gallery of the House, -with a proviso that he has been a visitor at some time or another to -the Senate Chamber or the House of Representatives at Washington. When -a member of this House rises to claim the attention of the Speaker, -it is common to find half a dozen of his fellow members rising also -with him for the same purpose. A member of the government gets on his -honorable legs with his face turned toward the Speaker. If on the -lower bench, he will walk a little forward to the table, and if he is -accustomed to speak from notes, it is more than possible that he will -lay one hand on the table and with the other turn the leaves of his -manuscript. If he speaks extemporaneously, he will probably lean in a -lounging position forward, his two hands resting on the Speaker's table. - -Many of the members who are best known to the public have this fashion, -and it is most unpleasant to hear them drawl forth sentence after -sentence as if they were dragged from their honorable throats by sheer -force. It has often been reported by English writers that American -legislators have a bad fashion of elevating their legs and laying back -in an irreverent attitude while listening to a debate. Also, that they -expectorate freely. Well, I have seen the most distinguished statesman -at present in England--I mean Mr. Gladstone--lounge and disperse his -limbs, while within ten feet of the Speaker, in a fashion that would -bring shouts of laughter from a crowded theatre, were the same thing -done in a farce or low comedy. - -Each member of the Commons, as he walks into the House, to-night, has -his hat on his head. As he passes the Speaker's chair, he doffs it -for an instant, but when he takes his seat the hat is replaced upon -his head as before. As a general thing, a member who speaks without -notes, addresses the Speaker, with his hat in one hand. They all seem -to conclude whatever remarks they have to make with a jerk, and as -soon as they sit down the hat is again replaced, or rather slapped on -the head, with a vehement motion that seems impelled by some hidden -mechanical power. Then they have a fashion of lounging in and out in -a free-and-easy way during debate, that is highly suggestive of a -bar-room in a frontier town. - -There is rarely, or never--in the House of Commons--an exhibition of -the nervous, impassioned speaking which may be heard all over America -or in the Corps Legislatif. When there is a clear or telling speech -made, (as far as the manner of delivery goes,)--mind, I do not speak of -its effect practically--or if the eloquence is of a florid description, -it will be surely spoken by one of the one hundred and five Irish -members. Certainly, when Whalley or Newdegate get on their legs, to -smash the Pope or to recount horrible but dramatic stories about -the mysteries and child massacres of convents, there is no lack of -vehemence and buncombe. But this style of oratory is confined to a few -of the members who have hobbies to ride, and who cannot be driven from -them even at the point of the bayonet. - -[Sidenote: AMBASSADOR LAYARD.] - -Physically speaking, a majority of the members are gallant-looking -fellows, and they are all dressed simply, but with the taste always -observed by a gentleman in the selection of articles of clothing. A -small number of them wear white beaver hats, and their trowsers are cut -widely at the bottom in the now prevailing fashion. With the exception -of a few of the younger and more fashionable members, who frequent -the race-courses, the Opera,--go to hear Schneider, lounge into the -Cremorne after eleven o'clock at night, or frequent the society of such -famous demi-reps as "Mabel Grey," "Baby Hamilton," "Baby Thornell," or -other women who have beggared and ruined hundreds of those young men -about town who have a disposition to be fast, there is a total absence -of showy or loud colors in their apparel. A great many of the "fast" -young men attend the session--occasionally--for the sake of common -decency, or because their constituencies compel it, as in the case of -a City borough the other day, where a member was rebuked by a public -resolution of condemnation and asked to resign, for absence from his -seat. Younger sons of noble lords look upon the House of Commons as -a necessary evil, which must be "done," like an occasional visit to -church, or to Richmond, or Greenwich, to eat fish. - -As the members come in one by one and take their places on the benches, -I find opportunities to observe and note their peculiarities and looks. -That gentleman who comes in so slowly and so quietly, dressed in dark -clothes, and having a head, whiskers, and general resemblance to our -Longfellow, is the Right Honorable Austin H. Layard, Commissioner of -Public Works, one of the Ministers, but not a member of the Cabinet, -and lately appointed English Ambassador to Spain. You would take him -for a literary man or a thinker, anywhere, by reason of his long, -flowing, white hair and thoughtful look. Mr. Layard is the author of -the celebrated book on Nineveh. He receives attention in the House -always when he rises to speak of Eastern affairs. He was at one time an -attache of the English embassy to the Porte, and was Under Secretary -for Foreign Affairs in the administration of Earl Granville. Mr. Layard -has the reputation of being rather hot tempered in debate, and at one -time he earned the ill-will of the aristocratic faction in the House -by his persevering liberalism, but at present he is popular enough, and -no one can look at his bright dark-blue eye and general appearance, -without feeling that he is in the presence of a man who possesses a -considerate and calmly philosophical spirit, broken at times by a -sudden flash of the scholar's enthusiasm. - -That gentleman with the exquisitely carved face and very red hair, with -a slight dimple in his chin, and clear, frank eyes, is the Secretary -of State for War, the Right Honorable Edward Cardwell, M.P. for Oxford -City, and an old follower of Sir Robert Peel. He has in his time held -various offices of trust under different administrations, and in June, -1866, when the forces of Col. William R. Roberts, President of the -Fenian Brotherhood, invaded the Canadas, Mr. Cardwell, as Secretary -for the Colonies, had his hands full of a rather difficult business, -which he managed as well as the very annoying circumstances--for a -British Crown Minister--would permit. I like to hear Mr. Cardwell -speak. He is always ready, yet deliberate, and with these qualities he -possesses a happy and easy manner in argument. The most difficult job -of Mr. Cardwell's life was the management of the Governor Eyre-Jamaica -business, which at its crisis covered the English administration with -shame and ignominy. Mr. Cardwell had, while at Oxford, a very good -reputation, which he has not as yet contradicted by his course in -Parliament, of which body he was returned as a member as early as 1842. -Thackeray once ran against him and was defeated. - -[Sidenote: LORNE AND CHILDERS.] - -That really handsome young gentleman, who is said to have the -best-shaped leg in the House, as well as the friendship of the -most charming female members of the aristocracy, as he certainly -is the owner of a most beautiful head of hair, of the hue of a new -guinea, such as is seen in Carlo Dolce's Virgins--is the member for -Argyllshire, the Marquis of Lorne, heir presumptive to George Douglas -Campbell, eighth Duke of Argyll, the Liberal Secretary of State for -India in the Gladstone Cabinet, a Privy Counsellor, and a Knight of the -Thistle. The young marquis, at twenty-five, has the face and skin of a -maiden of twenty, and I could not but observe that his trowsers were of -a fashion superior to any other known trowsers in the House of Commons. -I do not know whether the handsome Marquis inherits the Covenanting -piety of the Argyll-Campbells, his ancestors; but he bears a wonderful -resemblance to his father, the Duke, and among the frescoes in the -corridors of the House there is one by Copely, entitled the "Sleep of -Argyll," and I was astonished to notice the strong likeness of the -young Marquis--who passed the fresco at the moment--to the face of his -illustrious ancestor of two hundred years ago, as it was depicted by -the artist--lying on a prison pallet. The Marquis of Lorne, while I -was in the gallery, sat behind Mr. Gladstone, on an upper bench, as a -Liberal, like his father who sits in the Lords. When the hereditary -Campbell got up on his well-shaped legs to speak as a Scotch member on -the Parochial Schools bill, he did it quietly, and in a clear, musical -voice, that seemed to attract attention. - -The Marquis of Lorne has a very ready delivery, though he is not as yet -of great account in debate, and he is I believe, from all reports, a -marvelously proper young man, compelled to exist upon about £25,000 a -year, which amount will be largely augmented when the present Duke is -committed to the family vaults. - -That big, bulky six-footer, of great shoulders and massive limb, -wearing tightly fitting clothes, his forehead overshadowed with dark, -reddish-brown hair, and his whole manner indicative of pluck and a -contest against life-long odds, is the Right Honorable H.C.E. Childers, -member for Pontefract, and First Lord of the Admiralty, an office that -in England somewhat resembles the position of Secretary of the Navy of -the United States, having this difference only--that the First Lord, -while in his place on the Treasury or Cabinet benches in the House of -Commons, is compelled to reply to all attacks on the management of the -Navy, and to defend the expenditure and estimates of that department. -He is now giving facts from a pamphlet which he holds in one hand, -while he rests his body on his other hand across the table in a -negligent manner, as if he were more used to roughing it in the bush -than supporting a minister by a recapitulation of dreary statistics in -the House. - -Mr. Childers was at one time, I believe, a fellow-member with Mr. -Robert Lowe, of the Parliament of Victoria, after both of them had -exiled themselves voluntarily to the antipodes. Mr. Childers only -became a member of the House in 1860, and his rise to eminence was -achieved with more than American rapidity, in a country where it is a -cardinal principle that a man should not receive emolument, honor, or -position, until he has grown the gray hair of sixty years. - -Mr. Childers is the chairman and director also of at least threescore -of corporations and foundations of charity of one kind or another, and -is said to be very good in figures--a necessary gift in a Lord of the -Admiralty. If his mind is half as big as his whiskers, he is certainly -a genius. The hard work of defending the Gladstone administration in -detail is usually given to Mr. Childers, to W.E. Foster, M.P. for -Bradford, or to Mr. Bruce, the Home Secretary. In all Irish matters, -Mr. Chichester Fortescue, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, is expected -to stand by his leader, Mr. Gladstone, and he has been of great service -to him in the Irish Land Bill legislative measures. Mr. Childers, like -the young Marquis of Lorne, is a Trinity College, Cambridge, man, but -not an Eton boy like the former. - -[Illustration: FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY.] - -The next noticeable person on the ministerial bench, and by all -acknowledged to be one of the ablest men in Parliament, is the Right -Honorable Robert Lowe, member for London University, an Oxford man, and -son of a Church of England clergyman. London University, which Mr. Lowe -represents, is the most liberal educational institution in England, and -grants University degrees to students, irrespective of their religious -belief. A short time ago the Queen opened the new London University -buildings, which are, I believe, unequaled in the metropolis for beauty -of design and commodious comfort. Mr. Lowe is now in his fiftieth -year, and is a member of the Gladstone Cabinet, and Chancellor of the -Exchequer--the office formerly held by his illustrious chief, and one -of the greatest trust and responsibility in England. - -[Sidenote: THE SATIRICAL LOWE.] - -As an orator Lowe has few equals, and stands in the following order -of precedence: Gladstone,--Bright,--Disraeli,--Lowe,--according to -the best judges. By many he is said to be superior to Disraeli in -satirical power, although not his equal in vehement philippic, and -not a few consider him equal in logical force to Bright. Yet, with -all his ability and power, he is one of the best-hated public men in -all England, and this is said to be the result of his unfortunate -proclivity for satire, and for a certain unpleasant gruffness, that, -spite of his education and inward natural courtesy, will break out, and -in a minute demolish the labor of a year of statesmanship. I might call -Mr. Lowe a pure-blooded Albino, as he is first noticeable by his bushy -white eyebrows, white hair of great length, and rather pinkish eye-lids. - -He has a positive, firm chin, a clear eye, and, from the abutment -of his nostril to the corner of his lower lip on either side deep -ridges extend, giving him in that part of the face the look of a _bon -vivant_. The eye is very steady, and looks at a stranger of doubtful -appearance with a sneering way that seems to say: "I have to be -polite; but if I choose to think you an idiot, it is my own business." -The ears are large, and seem to be buttoned back, as if ready for a -row on the slightest provocation. Mr. Lowe is quite near-sighted, -and it is said that to this defect he owed his release from holy -orders, having studied for the Church at University College, Oxford. -He certainly would have made a very unpleasant sort of a clergyman -for some of the lax and rather immoral public men who illuminate the -House occasionally. He is a man of many edges, bristling all over -with sharp and hard angles, and is in every way an aggressive person. -Lord Palmerston, who was with every other member of the House--on the -footing of a jolly good fellow, could never be brought to like Robert -Lowe. Lowe never laughed at the veteran Premier's jokes. - -Mr. Lowe owes his first important advancement from an ordinary station -in life to the fact that when he returned to England from Sydney, he -had the good fortune to contribute a smashing article to the _Times_, -and since that time Mr. Lowe, it is understood, has been a regular -outside contributor of that journal, with great good luck to back him. -Mr. Lowe has also the reputation of being a very quick and facile -"leader" writer upon the topics with which he is best acquainted. - -[Illustration: ROBERT E. LOWE.] - -Mr. Lowe once had his head well smashed by the roughs at an election -row, and it is said that the memory of it has stuck to him ever since, -like the caning of Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks, and, like that -episode, it has served to keep old fires burning. In the memorable -debates of 1866, upon the suffrage question, Mr. Lowe shone with his -greatest force. With such rivals as Bright, Disraeli, Gladstone, Hardy, -and Milner Gibson, it was no joke to keep on the top of the tide, -but Lowe never faltered in his career. The more pitiless were his -adversaries in argument, the more pitiless became Robert Lowe. - -[Sidenote: THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON.] - -The fancy, the vigor, the antithesis, the irony, wit, force, energetic -subtlety, and strength of his speeches during that stormy session of -1866, are not likely to be forgotten soon, by friend or adversary, in -the House of Commons. Lowe is, I believe, the only instance of a man -who has at one and the same time a dimpled chin and a bad temper. - -That mild-looking, dark-faced man, with neat attire and jeweled -fingers, who comes in almost stealthily from behind the Speaker's -chair, and takes his seat upon the Ministerial Bench, is Goschen, -who represents London, and is a member of the Cabinet, President -of the Poor Law Board, and son of a Leipsic bookseller of moderate -circumstances. - -Mr. Goschen is evidently of Jewish origin, and his rise to power has -been speedy. He is still a young man--of polished manners, and more -than any other member in Parliament represents the moneyed interests -of the great city for which he sits. He is a Rugby and Oriel College -man, and was at one time Vice-President of the Board of Trade, and -afterwards Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Yet he is scarcely -developing the statesmanlike power which was predicted for him by -his friends who had watched his career as a Director in the Bank of -England, and as the author of essays and treatises on some topics of -political economy. - -The middle-sized gentleman, inclined to baldness, wearing a brown -coat and a mixed trousers, with straps at the bottom of the latter, -and who has a slight fringe of whiskers and a round bright eye, is no -less a personage than the Marquis of Hartington, Postmaster-General, a -member of the Cabinet, heir presumptive to the Dukedom of Devonshire, -the Earldom of Burlington, Baron Cavendish in Derbyshire and Baron -Cavendish in York, chiefly celebrated for his advocacy of the -Confederacy in Parliament, and a man of not exceedingly great calibre -as a debater or thinker; but from the possessions which he will one -day inherit in this broad and merry England, a man of most decided -influence and power. He has for his family motto, "Secure in Caution," -and generally sticks to it in the House. - -In his young days, it is hinted that the Marquis of Hartington was in -the habit of going home very late with his night key in his coat-tail -pocket, and at one time it is said that the notorious "Skittles," -(since dead,) had emblazoned on her handsome brougham--presented her -by the Marquis--the crest of the now steady and religiously inclined -Postmaster-General of Great Britain. He is just now conversing with a -tall, black-whiskered man, of sharp features and equally sharp accent, -in drab clothing. This is George Armistead, M.P. for Dundee, formerly a -Russia merchant, and said to be a good man on committees. - -A medium-sized, dark-faced, and portly person in black clothes walks -in slowly by the Speaker and seats himself, with his hat bent forward -over his eyes, and having a book, whose leaves he is cutting, in his -hand. This is Alexander James Beresford-Hope, one of the two M.P.'s for -Cambridge University--the other being the Right Hon. Spencer Horatio -Walpole, whose mother was Countess of Egmont. - -Mr. Beresford-Hope is part proprietor of that well known weekly -and satirical journal, the _Saturday Review_, and is or has been -a writer for the same sheet. During the Civil War in America, Mr. -Beresford-Hope spoke early and often in support of the Confederacy -while in Parliament, and also wrote a book favoring Jefferson Davis -and his cause. In this course he had no more ardent colleague than the -gentleman who now approaches him with his head moving from right to -left, in a nervous fashion--I mean William Henry Gregory, member for -Galway. - -[Sidenote: PEERS IN THE GALLERY.] - -Mr. Hope is no doubt a good liver, and is a member of the Carlton, -Athenæum, University, Oxford and Cambridge, and New University Clubs, -where, possibly, he has a great opportunity to study cookery as a fine -art. His fellow member from Cambridge, who stands toying with his watch -chain and drumming on the floor, bears the imposing name of Spencer -Walpole, and has no decided individuality in the House. Both Hope -and Walpole are Conservatives, and are sadly shocked at the continued -majorities of Mr. Gladstone. - -The man just now speaking from notes is Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert -Anstruther, of the Grenadier Guards, member for Fifeshire, a Harrow -man, and an earnest liberal of the Scotch stamp. - -The little old man in evening dress, pale face, and having a circle -of white beard around his throat, who is playing with his fingers -nervously, is The O'Conor Don, member for Roscommon, who is looked up -to by all the Irish members. - -The slender young gentleman, not yet in his twenty-fifth year, and -very fashionably dressed, leaning up against the back of the Speaker's -chair in conversation, is Henry George, Earl Percy, son of the Duke of -Northumberland, who married the eldest daughter of the Duke of Argyll, -and will one day be the proprietor of the second proudest title in -England as well as of half a dozen castles, a score of manors, and -three or four baronies. This young man was sent to the House of Commons -by his father, the Duke of Northumberland, as a Conservative, but it -is rarely that he takes the trouble to open his lips in debate. He has -a very great reputation for driving tandem, and is known to be a judge -of boquets and claret--young as he is as a legislator in the House of -Commons--but he bears a good reputation, and has not done anything to -dishonor the proud name of Percy as yet. - -That young gentleman with the pointed yellow moustache and goatee of -the Vandyke type, is Sir David Wedderburn, of an old Scotch family, -and quite an active working young member of the opposition when led -by Disraeli. Very often the peers of the Upper House may be found in -the Commons, from motives of curiosity or to get intelligence of the -birth of new bills before they are sent to the Upper House. They have a -gallery of their own, these peers, and hardly ever trouble the floor of -the House. - -Occasionally a prelate of the English Established Church may be found -in the Peers' Gallery of the House of Commons, listening to the -debates, and to-night there are two bishops in the gallery, one of -whom is Dr. Fraser, Bishop of Manchester, who is said to be the most -practical minded prelate in England. Dr. Fraser has a well outlined -face and a very compact head, with a clear, firm eye. He is big with a -scheme for the education of the working classes, and looks to be deeply -interested in the debate. His companion is the Bishop of Peterborough, -who is acknowledged to be the ablest speaker and clearest thinker in -the English Episcopate. Viscount Bury is now on his legs. The Viscount -is of all the speakers I have heard, the very dullest. He reads from -notes which he takes page for page from his hat, and I am certain -that I never listened to such a dreadful monotone as his voice. The -Viscount dresses plainly, and yet he has a Dundreary look, the light -side whiskers which he wears giving him an affected appearance. The -Viscountess Bury is a daughter of Sir Allan McNab, and in her younger -days was a celebrated beauty, and was a toast in fashionable society. - -That young gentleman with the slight, downy moustache and gloriously -handsome face, leaning over the side of the Peers' Gallery, is the -Marquis of Huntley, a member of the House of Lords, and is the first -Marquis in rank of the Scottish peerage. He is only twenty-three years -of age, and was married a short time since in Westminster Abbey, the -Prince of Wales acting as his best man, and all the notabilities of the -court attending. The old, soldierly-looking man who is conversing with -him and having a white rose in his button-hole, whose hair is cropped -quite close, is the Earl of Fingall, who was formerly an officer in the -8th Hussars, and a hero of the Crimean war. - -[Sidenote: LORD STANLEY AND THE O'DONOGHUE.] - -The medium sized gentleman with the thoroughly English face, wavy hair, -and plain and unostentatious attire, who passes behind the Speaker's -Chair for a moment, and then whispers to that awful dignitary, is the -Duke of Richmond, the leader of the Conservative party in the House -of Lords. The Duke is quite popular in England, and has a magnificent -park and castle at Goodwood, where a race takes place every year, for -a prize called the "Goodwood Cup." Under the administration of Mr. -Disraeli the Duke held the position now occupied by John Bright, who is -President of the Board of Trade. - -There was for some time a warm rivalry between the Duke of Richmond, -Lord Cairns, and the Marquis of Salisbury, as to which of the three -should lead in the House of Lords, and at one time, I believe after the -death of the lion-like Earl of Derby, Lord Cairns, who used to be an -Irish lawyer before he was ennobled, had the best chance from his great -ability, but the high position and family of the Duke carried the day. - -That plain looking man who with a slight inclination to the Speaker -and doffing his hat, passes out to the Division Lobby, is Lord -Stanley--now Earl Derby, since the death of his father. Lord Stanley, -who is now in the House of Lords, was one of the ablest members of -the House of Commons, a forcible debater, a logical reasoner, and a -thorough gentleman in all respects. Lord Stanley entered political -life very early, and has filled various offices of trust, being -successively--Under Secretary of Foreign affairs in 1852; Secretary -for the Colonies in 1858; Secretary of State for India in 1858-9, and -Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1866-8. - -The tall, dark-haired and handsome looking member who has followed -Viscount Bury in debate, and who speaks so fluently without notes, -and whose language and gestures are not without a certain grace and -elegance, is The O'Donoghue member from Tralee, who was going to -marry an Earl's daughter in order to pay his debts--but didn't. The -O'Donoghue challenged Sir Robert Peel to fight a duel a few years ago, -having been offended by some unparliamentary language of Peel's in -the House, but the latter backed out of the row in a very undignified -manner. - -Lord Stanley having forgot something, comes back to find it, and -searches the bench behind the spot where The O'Donoghue is speaking -from, which rather confuses the Irish orator a little--but Lord Stanley -apologises at once. By the way, Earl Derby is said to be engaged to -the Marchioness of Salisbury, whose husband died a year ago. This -will be a late marriage for both parties, the intended bride being -forty-six years of age with five children, the youngest of whom is a -daughter twenty-two years of age, while Earl Derby is forty-four years -of age, and very common-place and prosaic in his domestic habits. The -Marchioness is, I believe, a daughter of Earl De La Warr. - -Three men now enter the House and take seats--two in the galleries, -who are soon joined by a third. This last man is the richest noble -in England. He is an old man on the brink of the grave, and yet he -could buy up a dozen of the members of Parliament who are fuming and -fidgeting below in the freshness of good health. It is the Marquis -of Westminster, who owns half of the borough from which he takes his -title, and his income I have been told is something like four hundred -thousand pounds a year. The Marquis is very charitable, and has -spent over £100,000 in erecting model tenements for poor people in -London. Beside the title of Marquis, he also bears that of Sir Richard -Grosvenor, which is supposed to be derived from the French of Gros -Veneur--"Great Huntsman,"--some of the ancestors of the family having -acted in that capacity to the Norman Dukes at a remote period. - -The other gentlemen are Earl Spencer, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, -a big man with a big head, a big whisker and a big look in the face, -wearing a big tweed coat; and the Hon. Robert Wellesley Grosvenor, one -of the members for Westminster, a Captain in the 1st Life Guards, and -belonging to the family of the old Marquis of Westminster. He has for -his colleague who now takes his seat, William Henry Smith, the other -member for Westminster, who owns the largest news agency in the world, -at No. 186 Strand. - -[Illustration: GLADSTONE SPEAKING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.] - -And now the Premier is on his legs at last. I had heard of Gladstone -so often that I was curious to hear his voice and look upon his face. -Imagine a tall man, six feet in his stockings, with a massive head, a -good strong body, sparse side whiskers just whitening with years, a -pair of dark eyes, deep as an abyss, with the thoughts and struggles of -a mighty spirit welling up--firm lips and cavernous eyebrows, a massive -and persistent under jaw, the lines of the face strongly marked -and indicating by their rigidness the conflict that has been going -on inwardly for years, and dress that figure up in deep black upper -garments and mixed trousers, and you have something like the Premier -of Great Britain as I saw him in his seat on the end of the Treasury -benches in Parliament. One leg is thrown over another in a negligent -and thoughtful attitude, the head being bowed forward on the breast, -while every few minutes he raises his eyes with a wonderful mystery -glittering in them, to the face of the member who has the floor, as -if he were taking the mental measurement of the speaker. The face -represents a fierce enthusiasm which can kindle into great deeds, or -express with a glance great thoughts. - -[Sidenote: MR. GLADSTONE'S EARLY LIFE.] - -This wonderful man started in life as a High Churchman and Tory, -believing that all bishops should know Greek and acknowledge the -Apostolic Succession, and now he is an advanced Liberal, but opposes -woman's suffrage as a dangerous measure. In religion Gladstone sticks -to his Oxford teachings, and this is best proved by his Episcopal -appointments, nearly all of whom are High Churchmen. - -How grandly the sentences roll from the lips of the scholarly Premier, -as he stands up to reply to some attack on the administration. Every -sentence is rounded, full, concise, and flowing, and every phrase -seems chosen with elegance. He is a marvelously brilliant speaker, -but it is better to hear him than to read his speeches, which though -perfect literary compositions, are yet, in type, brilliant and dry -abstractions, while the contrary may be said of Bright's speeches, -whose productions sound better in a report than they do when they are -delivered. - -And now he has done, and sits down, slamming his hat on his head, and -reclining back, with his eyes glued on his shirt bosom; and from the -Opposition benches at the other side of the House, a tall, massive -figure, which is radiant with jewelry and surmounted by a poll of black -curly hair, rises to answer Mr. Gladstone. The face is corrugated, -the nose like an eagle's beak--curved--like those on Roman coins, or -just such a nose as Titus encountered by the thousand, under piercing, -almond-shaped black eyes, in the Court of the Holy of Holies, when the -Chosen People fell in heaps behind their shields, only glad to die for -Jerusalem. - -Yes, here is one of that same wonderful, plucky race, which has -survived hundreds of years' of war, pestilence, famine, persecution, -and contumely, and now finds its best representative in Benjamin -Disraeli, the author of "Tancred," "Coningsby," "Henrietta Temple," -and "Lothair," that book of books. This is the same Jew whom -O'Connell thundered at thirty years ago, and whom he denounced as the -lineal descendant of the impenitent thief who died upon the Cross. -Thirty-three years ago this man entered Parliament and made his maiden -speech, or attempted to make it,--as a member from Maidstone. The -crowded House laughed at him that night,--men who were used to Canning, -and Henry Brougham; to that consummate orator, Daniel O'Connell, and to -the brilliant fireworks of Richard Lalor Sheil,--laughed at the young -member with the Jewish beak and profile, and he sat down discomfited, -but not beaten, crying out to the House, which was indulging in -cock-crowing and geese-cackling at his expense, "You will not hear me -now, but you shall hear me yet." - -He is an older man now, and success in everything he has attempted, -such as has never been given to any living man but Louis Napoleon, -has rewarded his efforts. Hear how he dashes into Gladstone's -eloquent sentences with his biting, withering words of sarcasm,--how -he overthrows the airy edifice which the Liberals were just now -contemplating,--listen to the fiery words of this master of wit and -trenchant, cutting invective--invective that spares no feeling or -cherished opinion, but bares the breast of the Minister like the -surgeon's hand to plunge still deeper the scalpel in the roots of the -wound. - -Now he has done, and he sits down, and members crowd around him and -congratulate him, but he receives their incense with a wearied, -indifferent air, that seems to say, "I have been Premier myself, and I -think it to be a small place for a man of ability." - -[Sidenote: DANIEL O'CONNELL.] - -And so the night passes on in the House, member after member getting -upon his honorable legs, and the small hours come on apace, and the -small talk continues, and the Speaker comes in and goes out, yet still -the House remains in Committee--a very wearisome night it is, and hot -and close in the galleries, and many sleep the sleep of exhaustion in -the legislative arena--while off in green fields and on grassy meads, -by lakes and rivers, the dew falls heavily, and the English Moon shines -with a soft light all over the broad land. - -It is amusing to see the Speaker of the House settle a point of order -when members become obstreperous, with his little cocked hat in his -hand, or to see him reprimand a member who crosses the horizon of a -member who is addressing the House. This last offence is considered -a great breach of etiquette, and the Speaker always instructs the -offender that he should have made a tour around the House to avoid -giving offence to the orator. Sometimes a tired member will notice that -there is not a sufficient number of members in the House to transact -business, and if he wishes to escape a threatened monstrous debate, he -must notify the Speaker that there is not a quorum present. Perhaps the -Speaker may desire to rush some business through, and he will therefore -have to be notified several times before he will take warning to count -the members, which he does at last with slow reluctance. - -It has been the privilege of any member (from time immemorial,) to -inform the Speaker that there are strangers in the gallery, meaning -ladies, reporters, or any one who is not a member of Parliament. When -so notified, the Speaker, by this musty old rule, is compelled to order -the strangers to leave the House. Thirty years ago Daniel O'Connell -quarreled with the London _Times_, and that paper in revenge would not -print his speeches. O'Connell determined to be even with the journal, -and whenever he saw a _Times'_ reporter in the gallery, he would cry -out, "Mr. Speaker, I beg to call your attention to the fact that -there are strangers in the gallery." Then the Speaker would order the -galleries cleared, and the _Times'_ reporters had to take their note -books and march off disgusted. It was not long before the _Times_ gave -in and stopped the fight, and O'Connell's speeches were reported with -fidelity. This has always been regarded as a joke of O'Connell's, but I -see that lately a Scotch member named Craufurd, who represents the town -of Ayr, and is also editor of the _Legal Examiner_, has been putting -O'Connell's joke in practice. - -Miss Florence Nightingale, Miss Lydia Beckett, and Miss Harriett -Martineau, as well as many other well known ladies, have been for -some time working with great zeal for the repeal of the act which -licenses prostitution in garrison towns. Many members of the House are -opposed to the repeal of the act, and consequently when the question -of repealing it came up in the House, and just as the debate had -opened, the member for Ayr, Mr. Craufurd, rose and said, "Mr. Speaker, -I beg to call your attention to the fact that there are strangers in -the gallery," pointing to the gallery where a few ladies had placed -themselves, for the purpose of hearing a question of so much moment to -their sex, discussed. The Speaker and many members urged Mr. Craufurd -not to look that way, and to permit the obnoxious persons to stay where -they were; but with Scotch obstinacy he insisted, and Mr. Bouverie -upheld him in it, saying, "I believe it is an undoubted rule of the -House, sir, that if an honorable member does notice the presence of -strangers, the galleries are cleared." Accordingly they were cleared; -the reporters, as well as the ladies, were put out, and then the debate -went on for several hours. At the close of this, the Prime minister, -Mr. Gladstone, got up and lectured Mr. Craufurd for his ill-timed -modesty, telling him that the feeling of the whole House was against -him. The debate was therefore adjourned, by a strong vote of 229 to 88, -to come up again in the presence of reporters, and most likely, of such -strangers of either sex as may choose to come in. - -[Sidenote: DUCAL HOUSES.] - -The House of Lords is the Upper House of Parliament; in England all -bills that are born in the Commons have to be confirmed by the Lords -and signed by the Queen, before they become part of the statutory law -of the land. There are about four hundred of these legislators in the -House of Peers, for it must be understood that every nobleman does not -sit by right in the House of Lords. In many families the privilege is -hereditary, and generation after generation a family is represented by -the oldest son, who, on the death of his father, takes the seat made -vacant in the Lords. The highest rank of nobility in England is that of -Duke. There are eighteen nobles who enjoy the Ducal dignity in England, -two in Ireland, and six in Scotland. They are as follows: - -English Dukes.--Norfolk, Somerset, Richmond and Lennox, Grafton, -Beaufort, St. Albans, Leeds, Bedford, Devonshire, Marlborough, Rutland, -Manchester, Newcastle, Northumberland, Wellington, Buckingham and -Chandos, Sutherland, and Cleveland. - -Irish Dukes.--Leinster, Abercorn. - -Scotch Dukes.--Hamilton and Brandon, Buccleuch, Argyll, Athole, -Montrose, and Roxburghe. - -There is only one Duchess in her own right--the Duchess of Inverness, -which is a Scotch title. On state occasions Dukes wear velvet robes and -ducal caps of state, with strawberry leaves in gold. - -A stranger addressing one of these Dukes, has to begin his letter as -follows: - -"My Lord Duke, may it please your Grace." And in state proceedings a -Duke is styled "High, Puissant, and Noble Prince." There are Dukes -and Dukes. Dukes of the royal blood are still higher in rank than the -noble Dukes. The eldest son of the reigning monarch always bears the -title of "Prince of Wales." The eldest daughter is called the "Princess -Royal." This princess is married to the Crown Prince of Prussia. These -two dignitaries, according to court etiquette, are served by the -attendants, when at table, on bended knees with uncovered heads. Those -admitted to kiss their hands must also kneel. In the House of Lords, -when the Queen is present, the Prince of Wales, as heir apparent, sits -on the right hand of Her Majesty, while Prince Albert always sat on her -left hand. The younger sons of the Queen, when they are Peers, sit on -the left hand of the throne, but after the father dies, they sit below -the Wool Sack, (a huge fiery red bed-tick full of wool, on which the -Lord Chancellor takes it easy when the Lords are in session,) on the -bench assigned to the other Dukes. - -The Prince of Wales, when on his throne, wears a robe of ermine, a -cape of ermine, and a red velvet cap, with a gold tassel over a gold -crown, ornamented with pearls. The younger sons and daughters have no -diamonds, pearls, or crosses surmounting their diadems--unlike the -Prince of Wales. - -The three highest subjects after the Queen and the Royal Family in -England, are: First, The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. Second, The -Lord High Chancellor of England. Third, The Lord Archbishop of York. -The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is Primate of England, is styled in -public documents, and he also writes himself, "The most Reverend Father -in God, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, by Divine Providence." The -Archbishop of York signs himself, "By Divine Permission," as do all the -other Bishops. There are only two Ecclesiastical Provinces in England, -those of York and Canterbury, and two Archbishops. In the House of -Lords the Archbishops and Bishops, (excepting the Irish Bishops now -disfranchised,) sit as Spiritual Peers, and the two Archbishops wear -Ducal Coronets--the Bishops wearing fillets of gold on their heads, -with pearls and jewels. The Bishop of Sodor and Man, and the junior -Bishops have no seats in the House of Lords. A Bishop ranks next to a -Viscount. The nobility of Great Britain own three-fifths of the landed -property of the Kingdom, while starvation and want run riot in the land. - -England is studded with parks, villas, castles, game preserves, rabbit -warrens, trout streams and deer parks, all of which are held by right -of primogeniture. No poor man can enter these beautiful ancestral -domains, and the severest penal punishments are meted out to those poor -wretches who dare to infringe on the game laws. - -The English nobility are not cowardly or treacherous, but many of the -younger members are very corrupt, extravagant, and reckless, and no -doubt in time their order will pass away, for they are out of place in -this century. - -[Sidenote: PRIVILEGES OF THE PEERS.] - -England has nineteen Dukes, seventeen Marquises, one hundred and -three Earls, one Countess (widow of an Earl), nineteen Viscounts, one -Viscountess, and one hundred and fifty-two Barons. - -Ireland has two Dukes, twelve Marquises, sixty-four Earls, and sixty -Barons, besides twelve Viscounts. When three Irish Peers die in -succession without issue, one other Irish Peer is created to fill the -gap. - -Scotland has seven Dukes, four Marquises, forty-four Earls, five -Viscounts, and twenty-five Barons. The wife of a Duke is entitled -"Duchess," the wife of a Marquis "Marchioness," the wife of an Earl is -a "Countess," the wife of a Viscount is called a "Viscountess," and -the wife of a Baron enjoys the title of "Baroness." The better-half -of a Baronet, which is a title bestowed upon fat aldermen and rich -manufacturers--being a cheap order of knighthood, conferred by the -Queen, is called "My Lady This," or "My Lady That," as the case may be. - -The people of England are heartily tired of their nobility, and the -success of American principles upon this continent has a tendency -to cause the destruction of this social outrage upon the Nineteenth -Century. - -Peers, or members of the House of Lords, have many privileges which -others of noble blood do not enjoy. A Peer can only be tried for High -Treason or murder by his Peers, who compose the House of Lords, and the -trial takes place in a session of that body specially convened for that -purpose, after the fashion here described. - -The Peers having taken their seats in full, flowing robes, the Lord -Chancellor seats himself on the Woolsack in the middle of the House of -Lords, the Garter-King-at-Arms, in his gorgeous surcoat and tabard, -makes proclamation of the offences against the culprit Peer. The Lord -High Steward puts the question to each peer in his seat, after the -evidence has been heard; - -"Is the prisoner at the Bar Guilty or Not Guilty?" - -Then each Peer, rising, says, "Guilty," or, "Not Guilty upon my Honor," -as the case may be. A Peer cannot be taken into custody unless for -an indictable offence. This is also a parliamentary privilege of the -members of the House of Commons, who cannot be arrested for debt while -the House is in session, or while attending the proceedings, or going -to or from Parliament. An old custom of England allows a Peer, going to -or from Parliament, the privilege of killing one or two deer belonging -to the Sovereign, after he has blown a horn. This is very seldom done -now-a-days. A Peer cannot be bound over to keep the peace, excepting -in the Court of Queen's Bench. Slander against a Peer is known in the -courts as _scan. mag._ and is severely punishable. - -A Peer cannot lose his title of nobility excepting by death, or when -he has been attainted for High Treason. He is allowed to answer to a -bill in Chancery upon his word, and is not required to take an oath. -The Sovereign may degrade a Peer from his rank for wasting his estate, -as in the case of George Neville, Duke of Bedford, who had led a -dissolute life and had squandered all his fortune. He was deprived of -his title, honors, and possessions, by Edward IV, the latter being -forfeited to the Crown. If that precedent was followed in these times, -a great number of scampish young nobles would lose their titles and the -remnants of princely estates. - -Lately, I believe, Parliament has ordered it so that a Peer may be -proceeded against for debt, as in the case of the bankrupt Duke of -Newcastle. Besides all these manifold privileges, which exist for -the benefit of the nobility, the Diplomatic Service is chiefly for -their support, and here, as in the Foreign Office, fat sinecures are -available at all times, for the improvident and spendthrift nobles. -Some idea of the rich prizes of the Diplomatic Service may be got from -the following list of salaries of the different Ambassadors, Ministers, -and Charges d'Affaires, at the principal countries with which Great -Britain holds intercourse. The salaries I give are those of the -Ministers alone, not including the salaries of attaches, and they are -thus enumerated: - -[Sidenote: SALARIES OF AMBASSADORS.] - -France, £10,000; Turkey, £8,000; Russia, £7,800; Austria, £8,000; -Prussia, £7,000; Spain, £5,000; United States, £5,000; Portugal, -£4,000; Brazil, £4,000; Netherlands, £3,600; Belgium, £3,480; Italy, -£5,000; Bavaria, £3,600; Denmark, £3,600; Sweden, £3,000; Greece, -£3,500; Switzerland, £2,500; Wirtemberg, £2,000; Argentine Republic, -£3,000; Central American Republics, £2,000; Chili, £2,000; Peru, -£2,000; Columbia, £2,000; Venezuela, £2,000; Ecuador, £1,400; Coburg, -£400; Dresden, £500; Darmstadt, £500; Rome, £800; Persia, £5,000; -China, £6,000; and Japan, £4,000. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -THE LONDON POLICE AND DETECTIVES. - - -ABOUT ten o'clock in the evening, the rain, which had been gathering -all day, came down in bucketfuls. The gutters ran like little rivers, -and on Lothbury and the Poultry, and on all the buildings behind the -Bank and over London Bridge there came down a hot steaming fog that -almost blinded, as the rain poured against the faces of those who had -to encounter the storm. The rain was hot, and the fog had a fetid, -sticky odor, that seemed like the breath of a graveyard, or a festering -corpse in an old vault on a hot July day. - -Down below, on the river, all was quiet among the noisy Wapping -boatmen, and the river below London Bridge looked gloomy and vast and -dangerous as the entrance to the shades of the Inferno. Now and then, -through the dense darkness and gloom which hung like a tissue over the -river, came a whistle, eldritch-like, from the funnel of some Greenwich -or Chelsea steamer, as she grated against the fishermen's barges, that -lay like huge floating carcasses out on the bosom of the dark river; -and anon came the hoarse, drunken shout of some intoxicated oyster -or herring navigator, who lay in the shadow of Billingsgate Market, -returned from some Flemish or Scotch port with a precious cargo of eels -or sprats. London, or the City, seemed deserted and lonely. The portal -of the Bank was as solemn as a churchyard. - -[Sidenote: THE OLD JEWRY.] - -The insurance offices in Bishopsgate and Broad streets, the -money-changers' and money-brokers' haunts in Leadenhall street, and -the merchants' desks in Cornhill and Gracechurch street, were forsaken. -A footfall seemed like an echo of past years, and while the water ran -in torrents in the gutters, and while misery haunted doorsteps and dark -passages, seeking shelter with dripping rags to hide its shame, the -stolid policemen walked their rounds and looked sharply through the -thick fog as cabs dashed by, for the West End, and the noise of the -horses' feet died away under the arch of Temple Bar. - -Where the Poultry, Bucklersbury, and Cheapside, form a junction, just -below the Mansion House, there is a little, narrow, and short street. -This street is called the "Old Jewry," and it has its outlet in Coleman -street and Moorgate street, which run in the direction of Finsbury -square. Behind the Old Jewry is Basinghall street, the Aldermanbury, -and Finsbury square. Then there are Milk street, Wood street, Botolph -street, Pudding lane, Fish street, Mark lane, Lime street, and Love -lane. In all these narrow causeways, dark passages, and crooked -sinuosities of brick, stone, and mortar, untold and uncounted wealth is -hidden away, safely behind bolts and bars. - -These tall, lowering warehouses, with their treasures of spices and -silks, ingots and bars of yellow metal, where guineas are shoveled -about all day as if they were plentiful as cherry-pits--have a dismal -effect this sloppy, stormy night. Then the Old Jewry has its memories, -some sorrowful and sad enough. Its very name a synonym for persecution -and torture, a relic of steel-clad days and roystering and merciless -nights, when the tribes of Israel were the playthings of the Gentiles -and unbelievers. - -Here, in this narrow lane, stood the proudest synagogue in all England -until the year of grace 1291, when the Jews were, by edict, expelled -the kingdom; and here came the Brothers of the Sack, a mendicant -order of friars, to take possession of the deserted temple, one sunny -May afternoon, when the orchards were blooming, and the linnets were -singing in Cheapside--now a mart of all the nations of mankind. And -then, in the natural order of things, came Sir Robert Fitzwalter on -another sunny afternoon, to dispossess the Brothers of the Sack; and -this doughty knight, having the ear of the then King, turned the monks -out, and they, invoking the displeasure of the Maker of all things -upon Knight Fitzwalter, banner-bearer to the city and the Lord Mayor -of London, left the convent and dispersed themselves severally and -sorrowfully, all over the by-paths and sequestered roads and nooks of -merry Old England. - -The Old Jewry is about two hundred and fifty feet long. Short passages, -that cannot be dignified by the title of lanes, jut off this narrow -street. High buildings loom up to the sky above the heads of the -passers-by, and the dome of mighty St. Paul's is hid away from the -vision. - -In this Old Jewry is a court-yard hidden away. There are jewelers' -shops, silk-mercers' shops, and chop-houses of the better class on -either side, and a man, in a blue cloth uniform of heavy fabric, walks -up and down, day and night, with a pasteboard helmet on his head. His -wrists are trimmed with bands of crimson and white flannel, and one row -of gilt brass buttons bifurcate his blue, close-fitting coat, and meet -to part no more at his throat and waist. The face of the man is homely, -and his black eyes burn under his helmet of a hat, and in the glare of -the street lamp. Not a soul stirring in the Old Jewry to-night but this -silent patrolman, who looks up and down the lane, now to Cheapside, -now over the roofs as if he would like to get a glimpse of St. Paul's, -whose bell booms with an affrighting suddenness and energy on the air, -through the beating rain and blinding fog. - -"Is this the Central Detectives' Office?" I ask of the helmeted patrol. - -"Yes, sir. This 'ere is the Central Hoffis of the City of Lunnun; the -hother hoffis is down Scotland-yard way in Parliament street, hopposite -the Hadmiralty and the 'Oss Gy-a-ads." - -I find my way past the patrol, and around me I can see a court-yard -fifty by a hundred feet in size, and at either side a gas-lamp burns -dimly, and the wind whistles down from above, and the rain patters -unceasingly. - -[Sidenote: RELICS OF CRIME.] - -It is like a play-ground or school-yard, but there is in it the -quietness of a deserted church. Turning to the right, I ascend two -steps and enter a hall, where another morose-looking patrolman demands -my business. - -"Who do you want to see, sir? Oh, Hinspector Bailey. Well, sir, he is -werry busy just now; got a precious 'ard case to desect; but I'll take -your card and I'll try wot I can do." - -In a few minutes I am ushered into the presence of the chief detective -officer of the chief city of England. He sits in a room secluded from -the main rooms, and as I pass through a number of these chambers a -squad of men, who are sitting on chairs and lounges, look up at me -quietly for a second, and, not recognizing any one whom they "want," -drop their eyes immediately. The room in which Inspector Bailey sits -is not a large one, and there is no superfluity of furniture, but the -walls are covered with placards offering rewards for the apprehension -and conviction of criminals, murderers, forgers, and other runaways -from justice. Some of these are so curious that I must give a few of -them: - - RING STOLEN--£1 REWARD. - - A reward of £1 will be paid for information that shall lead to the - discovery of a gold ring, the setting in which was originally arranged - for a round stone, with about five small teeth or holders to fix the - same; the original stone having been lost it was replaced by an oval - or pear-shaped rose diamond, which was loose in the setting. - - The said ring was stolen from a warehouse in the city, on the 14th - inst.; and it is requested that any person hereafter offering it, for - pledge or sale, may be detained until the police are informed. - - Information to Inspector Bailey, City of London Police, Detective - Office, 26 Old Jewry: or to the officers on duty at any of the city or - metropolitan stations. - - £1 10s. REWARD. - - TO CAB-DRIVERS, ATTENDANTS, AND OTHERS. - - INFORMATION WANTED. - - On Saturday, the 17th of April, 1869, about 4.45 in the afternoon, a - four-wheeled cab, took up at Messrs. Smith, Payne & Co.'s Bank, at - the end of King William street, near the Mansion House, a gentleman, - 48 years of age, 5 feet 8-1/2 inches high, dark brown hair, fresh - complexion, scanty whiskers, square build, and moderately stout; with - a dark-brown portmanteau, which was put inside. He told the driver - to take him to Finsbury square and he would tell him the number - afterwards. £1 10s. reward will be paid on the required information - (as to his destination) being given to Inspector Bailey, City of - London Police, Detective Department, Old Jewry, E.C. - - London, 8th May, 1869. - - £200 Reward. - - EMBEZZLEMENT. - - Absconded, on Friday, the 5th inst., from the employment of the Great - Central Gas Company, 28 Coleman street, London, Benjamin Higgs, late - of Tide-End House, Teddington, Middlesex. Description.--About 35 years - of age, 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, black hair, mustache, whiskers, - and beard, pale complexion, slender build, gentleman-like appearance. - Generally dressed in black or dark clothes and brown overcoat. Had a - large-sized dark green-colored leather bag and a small black bag. - - The said Benjamin Higgs is charged on a warrant with embezzling - a large sum of money belonging to the above company: and notice - is hereby given, that a reward of £100 will be paid to any person - who will give such information as shall lead to his apprehension; - and a further reward of £100 on recovery of the monies embezzled. - A photograph of Benjamin Higgs may be seen on application at the - principal police stations. - - Information to be given to Messrs. Davidson, Carr, and Bannister, - Solicitors, 22 Basinghall street, E.C., or to Inspector Bailey, City - of London Police, Detective Department, 26 Old Jewry, E.C. - - London, 18th March, 1869. - -"So you would like to see London under its most unfavorable aspects. -You would like to scour it by day and night, Sir. Well, you have a big -job on hand, let me tell you, Sir," said a cheery voice which came from -behind a low desk. This was Inspector Bailey, a very English-looking -gentleman, with a ruddy oval face, reddish whiskers,--thick and neatly -trimmed, and wearing a dark-mixed suit of clothes. He had clear blue -eyes, this cheery-voiced inspector, and did not in any way give the -idea of a detective, he looked so jolly and well-fed, and there was -such a humorous, good-natured, twinkle in his eyes. - -[Sidenote: MR. FUNNELL'S SECRET.] - -"Well," said he, "let us see what's best to do for you, sir. I'll give -you the best men I have, and I can do no more. I suppose you want -to see St. Giles? Well, St. Giles is not what it once was. You see -they have been rooting up the worst holes, and the parish authorities -are quite active, and three new streets have been opened, and a -great change has come over the place. But there's a terrible lot of -destitution and crime and misery in the City of London still, and you -can see it all if you have the heart for it. Send up Sergeant Moss," -said the Inspector to a messenger. - -Sergeant Moss came up from below stairs, a dark-eyed, thick-whiskered, -good-looking fellow of thirty-five years, dressed like a dissenting -minister, and trying to look very meek. Butter would not have melted in -Sergeant Moss's mouth. He wasn't "fly" to what was going on neither. -Oh, no! - -"Sergeant Moss, you will take this gentleman through Ratcliffe Highway -and Wapping, and show him the sailors' dens and the thieves who haunt -Lower Thames street. Give him the best chances you can, and look out -for Bill Blokey. He's down that way to-night, more nor likely, and if -you brought him in it would be no particular harm to him or you. We got -the trunk that he broke open and left behind. That will be your detail. -Send me Funnell up stairs." - -Mr. Funnell came. Mr. Funnell had a very huge beard, which hung down -on his chest like a door-mat, and a sharp eye for business. In fact, -he was all business, this cheerful Mr. Funnell. He was a first-class -detective in London. But he had hard feelings against New York. It was -no place for Mr. Funnell. Mr. Funnell confided to me a secret which I -will now give to my readers. - -"I wos wonst over in New York. That's a good many years ago. _That_ was -a long time ago. Yes, a very long time ago, in Bob Bowyer's time, when -Bob was the topper, as we say. He wos the 'Awkshaw of the period, wos -Bob. I wos awfully innocent then, and Bob didn't take the right care of -me, and I fell into the hands of the Philistines. I went down one day -to Fulton Market; I think it's just opposite some ferry where you go -across, just like Southwark, and you can get very big oysters there. -Well, as I wos saying, I wos werry innocent, and as I wos walking -along, thinking of a good many things, when one of these fellows I -believe you call the gentry on your side 'heelers'--dropped a big fat -pocket-book at my feet. - -"Now, mind you, I did not see him drop it, and that's where I was taken -in. That made the trouble for me. I had never seen anything of that -kind done in England, and of course the 'heeler' naturally insisted -that the pocket-book wos mine. I tried to argue with him that the -pocket-book wos not mine, but the more I argued that way the more he -persewered the other way. Well, I wos perswaded against my own ideas -that, perhaps, I might have lost a pocket-book, and the fellow wos -so blessed positive about it too. So I fell a wictim to the infernal -scoundrel, and gave him some money for the pocket-book, and, of course, -the money wos worth nothink, and Bob Bowyer could do nothing for me. -Ah, New York is a precious bad place.--So it is." - -[Illustration: THE POCKET-BOOK GAME.] - -"Well, now, Mr. Funnell, as you have done relating your sad -experiences, you will please do as I tell you. You will report to -our American friend, or, rather, he will report to you early in the -morning, and you will take him and show him Billingsgate Market before -daybreak. You are the best man for Billingsgate, I think, and you had -better attend to that detail." - -[Sidenote: "PIPING OFF."] - -"I will meet him there or at the Fish Hill monument, at 5 o'clock in -the morning, if that will do, Sir." - -"That will do very well," said the Inspector. "And now we want a man -for Smithfield. Who is a good man for Smithfield? Let me see," and the -Inspector tapped his forehead. "I think Ralfe will do for that. He -knows the Smithfield Market best, and he will show you everything, with -a knowledge of what he is doing. Let Ralfe come up, and Sergeant Scott -and Webb. I want to speak to them." - -Ralfe, or Dick Ralfe, as he was called, was a good-looking young -Englishman, who had not been long on the force, and who was in capital -health and spirits, having lately been detailed, for his quickness, to -special duty from the patrol to the Old Jewry. - -"Mr. Ralfe, you are good on Smithfield Market. Take this gentleman -there at 4 o'clock to-morrow morning. Meet him at the Smithfield -Police Station at 4 o'clock in the morning, and time your inspection -so that you will be able to catch Funnell at the Fish Hill Monument at -5 o'clock in the morning, so as to have him see the fish come in at -Billingsgate. And now, Sergeant Scott, you will show this gentleman -the Minories, Petticoat Lane, Bevis Marks, Houndsditch, and the Jews' -Quarters, but those you will have to take on another day, as you have -already a hard day's work before you. You had better see the market on -Sunday morning, one of the greatest sights in the world, sir, I assure -you, and the Rag Fair is also a grand show of the kind, I also assure -you; and now, Sergeant Webb, I will give our friend in your charge -when he has got through with the rest of them, and you and he can work -the City, I think. You will do the Bank and the Mansion House and -Newgate; and, let me see,--Funnell can take him to the Sessions and the -Old Bailey Courts; and he will have to go to Scotland-yard to do the -Borough of Westminster, as that is not in our jurisdiction. And now, -Sir, good morning, and don't carry a watch with you in the places where -you are going, for some of the people are not very moral or very pious -to get a look at. Good morning, Sir. Smithfield at 4 o'clock, Ralfe." - -Sergeant Webb was a tall, well-built man, in the prime of life, with -ruddy cheeks, and a look that resembled the expression usually worn by -Mr. Seward before he lost all chances for the presidency. His face was -smoothly shaved, and he looked as if he could assist with great dignity -at a banquet. - -Sergeant Scott was a man just above the middle height, with light brown -whiskers, and an easy, good-natured manner, who had a memory well -stored with anecdotes of "blokes," and "wires," and "dummies." He had, -also, choice stories of distinguished people who had, during their -lives, been known in the "faking" line, and could have pointed me out a -number of pals who were celebrated in the "kinchin lay" for snatching -"wipes" and "grabbing tanners" and "browns" from little children when -they were sent to the shops for bread or milk. - -At the back of the apartment in which the detectives were assembled -to receive orders, stood a short, thick-set looking young man, with -an amber moustache and goatee. His eyes were blue and his complexion -very fair. He was dressed in a quiet manner, and nodded to each of the -detectives as they passed out into the court of the Old Jewry. This -was Jim Irving, the celebrated American detective, who had apprehended -Clement Harwood, the great forger, just as he was about to land in New -York, and he was now waiting the trial of the accused which was to take -place at the Mansion House. - -"Jim" was already quite familiar with the City of London, although he -had been in it but a few days. He was, of course, rather astonished, -at the quiet, old-fashioned way, that the English detectives had with -them of waiting for a thief until he came and gave himself up. But he -was very much charmed with a gorgeous seal-skin vest, for which he gave -five guineas. - -[Sidenote: POLICE DIVISIONS.] - -Seventy-five years ago, London had not more than sixty-eight policemen -or constables, and the present admirable system of Police is all owing -to the clear head and sagacious mind of Sir Robert Peel, who first -organized it about thirty-five years ago. The old local watch of the -city consisted of the Bow street force of sixty-eight men, and the -parish beadles, constables, headboroughs, street keepers, and watchmen, -in the several wards of the City, and in many cases these so-called -officers of the peace were rascals of the worst description, in league -with thieves and prostitutes. - -It is said that a Mr. George Vincent Dowling, (who was editor of -"Bell's Life" at the time,) gave Sir Robert Peel the first idea of -the present organization, which consists of a Board of three Police -Commissioners, a chief Superintendent, 25 Sub-Superintendents, 136 -Inspectors, 700 sergeants, and over 7,000 policemen. 4,000 men are on -duty in the day-time and 3,000 in the night time. During the day they -are never allowed to cease patrolling, being forbidden even to sit -down. They wear dark-blue pilot woven short frock coats, buttoned up to -the neck, trousers of the same material, with brass buttons on the coat -and a pasteboard helmet covered with black rough felt. - -The Police Districts are mapped out into divisions, the divisions -into sub-divisions, the sub-divisions into sections, and the sections -into beats, all being numbered and carefully defined. To every beat, -certain policemen are detailed, specifically, and they are provided -with little slips of pasteboard, on which are printed the routes they -are to take. So thoroughly has this management been perfected, that -every street, lane, road, alley, and court, within the Metropolitan -District--that is, the whole of the metropolis--(excepting that part in -a radius of three-quarters of a mile from St. Paul's, which is called -the City of London Proper)--including the County of Middlesex, and all -the parishes, 220 in number, in the Counties of Surrey, Kent, Essex, -and Hertfordshire, which are not more than 15 miles from Charing Cross -in any direction, comprising an area of about 700 square miles, and 90 -miles in circumference, and with a population of 3,500,000,--is visited -constantly, day and night, by some of the police. Within a circle -of six miles from St. Paul's, the beats are traversed in periods of -time varying from twenty to fifty minutes, and there are some points, -such as the Bank, the Mint, the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Abbey of -Westminster, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Horse -Guards, and the Inns of Court, which are never free from inspection for -a single moment. - -There are 130 police stations in the metropolis, and by a telegraph -signal a Police Commissioner at White Hall, in Parliament street, which -is contiguous to Scotland Yard,--the headquarters of the Metropolitan -Detective force, who are separated in their duties from the Old Jewry -or City of London Detective force,--can concentrate in an hour and a -half as many as 6,000 men for instant duty. This vast force, each man -receiving but three shillings to three and sixpence a day, is really -under a wonderful control. Each officer has to walk twenty miles a day -in his rounds beside attending the police courts, which is equal to -five miles in addition. 98,000 persons were arrested in one year--1869, -of which number 40,000 were discharged. The cost of the Metropolitan -Police for one year was about £525,000, and the City Police, for the -same term, £60,000--the City Police numbering 700, the Metropolitan -force nearly 7,000. - -The expenses of the Police Courts, for 1869, was £88,240, including the -salary of one Magistrate at £1,500 a year, and thirty other Magistrates -at £1,200 a year, each. Sixty pounds and six shillings were expended -for rattles, swords, and clubs, in the same time. The City Corporation -are allowed, by act of Parliament, to have their own Police and -Commissioners in the heart of the metropolis, or City proper. There -is, besides, a "Horse Patrol" for public occasions; eight hundred -of which were on duty on the day of the Oxford and Harvard race; a -"Thames River" Police, the "Westminster Constabulary," and a "Police -Office Agency," for recovery of stolen goods. Before the establishment -of the Thames Police, in 1797, the annual loss by robberies alone -on the river, was £750,000 a year, the depredators having various, -curious names, such as "River Pirates," "Light" and "Heavy Horsemen," -"Mud-larks," "Capemen," and "Scuffle-hunters." - -[Sidenote: RIVER THIEVES.] - -They were frequently known to weigh a ship's anchor, hoist it with -the cable into a boat, and when discovered, to hail the captain, tell -him of his loss, and row away cheerily. They also would cut shipping -and lighters adrift, run them ashore and then clean them out. Many of -the "Light Horsemen" cleared as much as thirty pounds a night, and -an apprentice to a "mock-waterman" often kept his saddle horse and -country seat. During the first year of the Thames Police, the saving to -the West India merchants alone amounted to £150,000, and 2,200 river -thieves were convicted during that time, of misdemeanor. - -In those days, the magnificent docks which are now the chief ornament -of London, had not been built with their high walls to keep out the -swarming thieves who haunted the shipping. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -HUNTING THE SEWERS. - - -HIDDEN in the bosoms of the sewers of every Great City lies a world of -romance. The secrets of thousands of human beings, with their hopes -and aspirations, their defeats and disappointments, are garnered, in -the relics of myriad households, whose rubbish is shot through drains, -to be imbedded in the accumulated masses at the bottom of the soggy -sewerage. - -London has two thousand miles of bricked sewers, and the entire -metropolis is honey-combed by these effluvious passages. - -These sewers are, of course, choked with refuse and swarming with rats -and other pestiferous vermin, by night and day, and are pervaded with -noxious gases, which, when inhaled, cause almost instantaneous death. -The rats grow as big as kittens in the sewers, and will face strong, -healthy men, and give them combat--in legions. The rats feed on offal -from the butchers' slaughter houses, which is poured into the sewers, -and they also subsist on the grain which comes from the breweries, in -different parts of the city. - -Twenty years ago, the main sewers of London, having their outlets on -the river side, were completely open, and it was lawful to enter them -to search for valuables, but since then so many people have died of -the gases, or have lost themselves in their noxious recesses, that -a law was at last passed, by which persons entering the sewers to -explore them, unless they were employed as workmen, became amenable to -imprisonment, and at present the law is strictly enforced. - -[Sidenote: SEWER HUNTERS.] - -Formerly, when the spring tides in the Thames began, it was of common -occurrence for the waters to dash into the sewers, sweeping everything -in their way, and very often engulfing the workmen, or others engaged -illegally in searching the sewers; and days after one of these tidal -floods had occurred bodies of drowned and disfigured men would be -vomited from the mouths of the sewers. - -Now, however, this is changed, and hanging iron doors, with hinges, are -affixed to the mouths of the sewers, and are so arranged that when the -tides are low the iron doors are forced open by the rubbish and wet -refuse which is emptied into the Thames, and when the tides rise the -volume of water forces the doors back, and the river cannot enter the -sewers. - -There are two or three hundred men in London, who earn a living by -working in the sewers. These men, though there is a law against the -practice, search the sewers, night and day, for old iron, rope, -metal, money, or whatever is of value to the finder. They are called -"Toshers," or "Shore-men," and are, in some things, very like the -"mud-larks," who frequent the river sides. - -Some of these men are very fortunate at times, and succeed in obtaining -good prizes from the black, stinking mud of the sewers. Gold watches, -silver milk-jugs, breast-pins, bracelets, and gold rings, are obtained -by them. These sewer hunters, however, do not trouble themselves to -collect coal, wood, or chips, as is the case with the mud-larks. There -are better prizes for them, and accordingly, they do not waste their -time on such trifles. - -The Sewer-Hunter, before penetrating a sewer, provides himself with -a pair of canvas trousers, very thick and coarse, and a pair of old -shoes, or high-topped boots--the higher the legs the better. The coat -may be of any material, only it must be of heavy fabric, and there are -large pockets in the sides, where articles may be crammed at will. - -They carry a bag on their backs, these sewer-hunters, and in their hand -a pole, seven or eight feet long, on one end of which is fastened a -large iron hoe to rake up rubbish. - -Whenever they think the ground is unsafe, or treacherous, they test it -with the rake, and steady their steps with the staff. - -Should a Sewer-Hunter find himself sinking in a quag-mire, he -immediately throws out the long pole, armed with the hoe, and seizes -the first object in the sewer, to hold himself up. In some places, had -the searcher no pole, he would sink, and the more he tried to extricate -his person, the deeper he would imbed his body. - -Use is made of the pole to rake the mud for iron, copper, or bones, and -occasionally the rake turns up the remains of a human being, who may -have perished in those fetid cells. Great skill is necessary in the -hunter, to know always when the tide leaves and comes, so as to enable -him to find articles at certain points. - -The brick work in many parts is rotten, especially in old sewers, and -there is great risk in traversing the channels, as sometimes, when the -sewers are being flooded from the dams erected at stated intervals, -the passage is flooded to a height of three feet, very suddenly, and -if the Sewer-Hunter be not notified the first intimation of his danger -is given by a thundering, rushing sound, and before he can escape the -waters are upon him, and he is enveloped by them or hurled down with -tremendous force, and swept along for miles in darkness, and filth, and -despair, cut off from all human aid, no ear to hear his shouts, and no -hand stretched forth to save. - -In some places where the arches are unsafe, he will not dare to touch -any part of the roof of the sewers, or the sides, fearing that he may -be buried beneath the ruins. The main sewers are generally five feet -high from floor to ceiling, but the branch sewers are much lower, and -it is necessary to crawl on hands and knees to proceed. In the main -sewers, there are niches built in the brick walls of some depth, with a -raised platform, and the hunters always step into one of those when the -sewers are being flooded, to clean them. - -[Sidenote: AN UNLAWFUL BUSINESS.] - -Rats, unless in great numbers, will not attack a man if he passes them -quietly, but if driven to a corner they will fly at the intruder's -face and legs in hundreds. A bite from one of these rats will swell a -man's face or arms to an enormous size. The men who are employed as -"flushers" to clean the sewers wear leather boots, the legs of which -come up to the hips, and of thick leather, and when the rats make -an attack on these men, they always flash their lanterns, which are -fastened to leather belts around their waists, and this frightens the -vermin away, as they are not accustomed to light, and will flee from -it if not molested. The big leather boots of the "flushers" cannot be -bitten through by the rats. - -The trenches or water-tanks for the cleansing of the sewers, are -chiefly on the south side of the Thames, and as a proof of the great -danger incurred by sewer-hunters from these floods of water suddenly -let in on them, I am told that when a ladder was put down a sewer from -the street some years ago, on which a hod-carrier was descending with a -hod of brick, the rush of water from the sluice struck the ladder, and -instantly, ladder, hod-carrier, and all, were swept away, and afterward -the poor man was found at the mouth of the sewer, all battered, torn, -bruised, and dead. - -Whenever a Sewer-Hunter passes through a sewer under a street grating, -he is compelled to close his lantern, else the reflection of the -light through the grating would call the attention of the police, and -he would be taken before a magistrate. Dogs are never taken through -the sewers, for the same reason, as their barking would be noticed, -although they would be an excellent defense against the rats. - -Occasionally skeletons of unfortunate cats have been found in the -sewers, their bones completely cleared of flesh, and nothing but a -little fur remaining. I should pity the cat that strayed into a sewer, -as they do occasionally from house-drains and cesspools. - -As the Sewer-Hunters go along in the sewers, they often pick money from -between the crevices of the brick-work, and now and then a handful of -sovereigns have been taken from these crevices. Sometimes a small pick -is needed to recover metals or money from the crevices where they are -wedged. - -One man told me that he found a small leather bag with two hundred -sovereigns and some shillings in it, that had no doubt been washed out -from a drain. He said that he had often found money, and that he was -well satisfied with his luck in general. He had been for twenty years -searching the sewers, and had amassed considerable property. He told me -his story as follows: - -[Illustration: THE SEWER-HUNTER.] - -[Sidenote: A RAT STORY.] - - "The first night, ye know, that I went into a sewer, I had a pal with - me, as is dead now. Steve Williams was his name--God rest his soul. I - felt afeered when I went in and got lost two or three times, but Steve - allers found me agin by hollering at me. I got the greatest fright - that night I ever got in my life. We were somewhere in a sewer in old - Smithfield, and there must have been a distillery somewhere there, for - when I turned out of the main sewer into a branch one, I saw by the - light of the lantern a thick steam beyond me. I was a little ahead of - Steve, who had just got a haul of two silver table-knives and a watch - chain of goold, and he was looking at the haul he made when I saw the - steam a fillin of the sewer. I went along, when I got near it my head - begun to get dizzy, and I fell back on my shoulders into the sewer. I - got drunk in the steam from the distillery,--that's what ailed me--and - it was so sudden like, that I would have lost my life if Steve hadn't - been there. - - "Well, Steve saved my life agin the same night. We were pretty near - the mouth of the sewer on the Thames, near Wapping, where we had a - boat to take us off, for in those times the peelers never meddled with - us like they does now. - - "Well, there was one place very ticklish in the sewer, that Steve had - cautioned me about, and this place was all broken and in holes, and - it was chuck full of rats. When we came by I was foolish enough to - turn the light of my lantern on the broken place in the sewer, and - sure enough, there was a reglar colony o' rats in a room--keeping - house,--about two thousand of them--with a hall-way and a room gnawed - out of the bricks, as large as the room I live in at home. There they - were, all stuck together, with their eyes a glarin at me like winkin, - and they all in a heap as big as a horse and cart. I never seed - such a sight in my life. Steve told me to come on, and I was going, - for the rats never said a word all the time, but looked at me and - squealed--but just as I was turning around after Steve my foot slipped - and I fell, and the lantern dropped into a pool and went out. - - "I must have frightened the rats, for there was an awful squealing - and scampering--but they didn't all run away, for I found a hundred of - them fastened on my hands, legs, face, and body, when I fell. You may - be sure I hollowed and yelled, for I wasn't used to these vermin then, - and the more I hollowed and beat them, the more they squealed and bit - me. - - "In a few minutes Steve came running back with his lantern, and seeing - I was down and couldn't get up, he drove at them with his pole and - killed half a dozen of them, and then they left me and jumped at him. - Then we went at it for a couple of minutes, battling for our lives, - and when we did beat them off we were bitten all over our bodies. I am - sure if it warnt for Steve and his lantern that time, I should have - been eaten up by the rats. You see, Sir, they thought when I stumbled - and fell that I attacked them, for I found out since that they never - begin first if they can help it." - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -BACCHUS AND BEER. - - -IT is an undeniable fact, that the English are the greatest -beer-drinking people in the world. The assertion may be disputed in -favor of the Germans (and their beverage, lager bier,) but who can -compare the thin resinous beer of Munich and Vienna with the heavy -bodied, soporific, and sinewy London pale ale, Edinburgh ale, or -Guiness Brown Stout, that has ever drank the latter malt liquors. - -To believe in his native beer is a necessary part of the Englishman's -religion, and it is with the proverbial Briton a trite saying, when an -exile at Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Madrid, Constantinople, St. -Petersburg, or Calcutta, - -"You cawnt get a glass of hale in this blessed country--you knaw. You -hawvent got the 'ops you knaw, and ye cawnt make it ye knaw." - -English literature and English poetry are full of beer and redolent of -malt and hops, from Chaucer and Shakespeare down to the present day. -Tom Jones, Roderick Random, the Spectator, the Tatler, the Guardian, -Fielding, Hume, Smollett, Pope, Addison, Dryden, Goldsmith, and Samuel -Johnson, never let slip a chance to prove the virtues and efficacy of -beer, and 'Alf and 'Alf. - -It was in a room in Barclay & Perkins' brewery in Southwark, then owned -by Mr. Thrale, that Samuel Johnson, (who, if he was an obstinate, -dogged, and overbearing old rascal,--yet was the father of modern -English,) wrote the famous English Dictionary, and when Mr. Thrale -died, Johnson being one of his executors, the property was sold to the -Barclay & Perkins of that day for the sum of £135,000. The present -brewery encloses fifteen acres of buildings and vats, and is the -largest in the world but one. - -The tribes that came from India and settled in Germany, to which -Tacitus refers, were the first to introduce beer into Europe. The -descendants of these long haired, fair skinned tribes, were long after, -(in the sixteenth century,) the first to teach the English brewers the -use of hops, for the people of England, of that day, made their beer -after the manner of the ancient Egyptians, by the admixture of herbs, -broom, and berries of the bay and ivy. - -In 1585, there were twenty-six brewers in London and Westminster, who -brewed in that year 648,960 barrels of beer, and, six years after, they -exported 24,000 barrels of beer to the Low Countries and Dieppe. In -1643, the first excise duty was imposed on beer. In 1722, the brewers -stored their beer to keep it mellow, for the first time, and sold it -to all house-keepers to be retailed at three-pence a pot--holding over -a pint. In 1869, 500,000 barrels of beer, valued at £1,800,000, were -exported from London to foreign places, being one-fourth of the total -amount that was exported during the same time from other ports in -England. - -British India took 201,000 barrels, Australia and New Zealand, 148,000 -barrels, China, 35,000 barrels, Cape of Good Hope, 15,000, British West -Indies, 30,000 barrels, Spain took 209 barrels, Brazil, 15,000 barrels, -Russia, 6,000, and France 7,000 barrels. - -Barclay and Perkins employ a capital of £2,000,000 annually in their -trade, and 300 huge horses, brought from Flanders, at a cost of from -£60 to £100 each. These horses consume 9,000 quarter hundreds of oats, -beans, or other grain, 900 tons of clover, and 290 tons of straw for -litter. The manure hops that are spent, and other refuse, are taken -by a Railway Company. There are five partners in the house; the firm -being worth £8,000,000, and the head brewer receives a salary of £2,000 -a year. - -[Sidenote: CATS ON GUARD.] - -The water used for brewing purposes is that of the Thames, pumped by -a steam engine, on the same ground where Shakespeare's Globe Theatre -stood three hundred years ago. One hundred and fifty thousand gallons -of beer can be brewed from this water, daily. There are two engines -of 100 horse power each, which are nearly a hundred years old. The -furnace shaft is 19 feet below the surface and 110 above it. The malt -is carried from barges at the river-side, by porters, and deposited in -enormous bins, each of the height and depth of a three-story house. -Rats are fond of malt, but to keep them off a staff of sixty large cats -are constantly employed on the premises, and all these cats are under -the supervision of a big-headed or chief cat, with a long moustache and -Angola blood. - -[Illustration: CATS RECEIVING RATIONS.] - -It is quite a sight to witness the anxious solicitude of this Chief -Cat for the honor of the house of Barclay & Perkins, and for the -discipline of his subordinate cats, the chief being a Thomas of the -purest breed. - -Thirty-six tons of coal per day are used here for brewing purposes, and -the malt is stored in a huge room, with light windows, called the Great -Brewhouse, built entirely of iron and brick. There is no continuous -floor, but looking upwards, whenever the steaming vapor rises, there -may be seen, at various heights, stages, platforms, and flights of -stairs, all occupied by the Cyclopean piles of brewing vessels. - -There are also huge buildings next to the brewhouse, with cooling -floors, into which is pumped the "hot Wort," as it is called, or beer. -The surface of the floor in one of these buildings is 10,000 feet -square, and I saw men with gigantic wooden shoes swimming about in this -beer, which looked like a vast lake. The beer is sometimes cooled by -passing it through a refrigerator which has contact with a stream of -cold spring water. The cold beer is then allowed to ferment in vast -rooms or squares, as large as an ordinary block of houses,--which are -made to hold 2,000 barrels. It is a strange sight to look at one of -these lakes of beer, the yeast rising in masses like coral reefs in -a southern sea,--upon the surface of the water, and these rock-like -elevations yield, after the force of the yeast is spent, to the -slightest wind, giving it the appearance of a vast ocean of beer in a -storm. There is one huge vat for porter that will hold 5,000 gallons, -which at selling price is worth £12,000. The Great Tun of Heidelberg -holds but half of this quantity. One thousand quarter-hundreds of malt -are brewed daily by Barclay & Perkins. - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT PORTER TUN.] - -The great rival house to that of Barclay & Perkins, is that of Hanbury, -Buxton & Co., in Brick-Lane, Spitalfields, covering eight acres; in -which 275,000 gallons of water are used daily, obtained from a well 530 -feet deep;--600,000 barrels of beer are brewed here annually. There are -150 vats, the largest of which contains 3,000 barrels, or about 100,000 -gallons of beer. There are eight brewing coppers, three of which are -capable of containing 800 barrels each. 700 quarters of malt can be -mashed at one time in six mash tubs;--10,000 tons of coal are used -annually, and there are 200 huge horses, each horse consuming 42 pounds -of food per day, or about 2,500,000 pounds per annum. - -There is a library with 5,000 volumes, a billiard-room, reading-room, -and savings-bank, on the premises, with a benefit Club for the workmen, -each member paying sixpence a week, and receiving fourteen shillings -a week in case of sickness; and on the death of his wife, £8, and in -the event of his own death the family receives £18. Two companies of -volunteers were raised from the 800 employees of the firm, and the men -are allowed one holiday in a fortnight. - -The brewery of Mr. Salt, at Burton-on-Trent, has been established for -eighty years, and brews annually 25,000 barrels of that peculiarly -strong and bitter ale. - -[Illustration: THE GREAT PORTER TUN.] - -In London it is calculated that about 6,500,000 barrels of ale, beer, -and porter, are brewed annually, valued at about £20,000,000, and I -think I am therefore correct in calling the English a beer-drinking -people. - -Everybody drinks beer in London. You can see laborers and dockmen -sitting on benches outside of public houses, swilling what they call -swipes, at two pence a pot. So if you drink at a Club you will see men -as eminent as Mr. Bright, or Mr. Disraeli, calling for a "pint of Bass' -East India Ale," or "a bottle of Stout." Even in work-houses beer is -kept on tap, and were the paupers to be deprived of their beer, they -would, I believe, rise and annihilate their masters. A quart bottle of -good beer or porter can be got anywhere in London for sixpence, and -of all the beverages that I have ever tasted, I never found anything -to equal in fragrance a drink of good London "Brown Stout" on a warm -summer day. A man may procure as much good beer as he can drink at a -draught, for three pence, in London, at any public house or restaurant, -and it is the common custom with the Cockneys to have it at every meal, -and also between meals. - -They have also a fashion in large parties among the working and middle -classes, of ordering what is called a "Queen Ann," which is simply -three pints of beer in a large, brightly burnished metal pot with a -handle, and the man who calls for it having paid, takes a drink, then -wipes the edge of the pot with the cuff of his coat-sleeve, to remove -the foam from his lips,--then passes it to his wife, sweetheart or -his eldest child, who each in turn drink and wipe the edge of the -measure; then it is passed to the stranger, and all around the board, -each person being careful to wipe the "pewter" in the same fashion. -This custom seems rather strange and savage at the first sight to an -American, but it is the custom of the country, and therefore cannot be -quarreled with. - -Benjamin Franklin, as we learn by his diary, was disgusted by the -beer-swilling Londoners. When a journeyman printer in London before -1776, he says--"I drank only water; the other workmen, near fifty in -number, were drinkers of beer. We had an alehouse boy who attended -always in the house to supply workmen. My companion at the press drank -every day, a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread -and cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint at dinner, a -pint in the afternoon about six o'clock, and another pint when he had -done his work. I thought it a detestable custom, but it was necessary, -he supposed, to drink _strong_ beer, that he might be _strong_ himself. -He had four or five shillings to pay out of his wages every week for -the detestable liquor." - -This is pretty strong testimony from Franklin, and I find that -although he frequented alehouses in London, where all the men of wit -and learning of the time were to be found, yet he never indulged in -beer. - -[Sidenote: QUANTITY DRANK IN LONDON.] - -Any foreigner passing through a London street which is inhabited by -working men and their families, or in the neighborhood of factories or -other industrial establishments, if the period of the day be between -twelve and one o'clock, or just after twelve, cannot fail to notice -a sudden commotion and rush of men, women, and half naked children, -with jugs, pewter measures, tin cans, and earthen vessels, to the -neighboring tap-room or beer-house. All this large multitude are in -quest of beer for the noonday meal. - -At noon and night the pot boys of the innumerable beer-shops may be -seen carrying out the quarts and pints daily received by those families -who do not choose to lay in a stock or store of their own beer, or the -mothers and children of the same families, to whom the half-penny given -to the pot boy is a matter of consequence, may be seen journeying to -the beer-conduits themselves, and the drinking goes on from morning -until night, among truckmen, coal heavers, street pavers, mechanics in -the "skittle grounds," medical students in the hospitals, law students -in the Inns of Court, and "swells" in taverns. - -From the gray of the morning until the hour of dark, you may see in -the London streets those large drays, larger horses, huge draymen, and -large casks of beer, ever present and never absent from the Londoner's -eyes. Go down to the Strand, that street which borders the river, and -you will see the same drays and Flemish horses emerging from the huge -brewery gates, preparatory to carrying barrels of beer to tap-houses, -and nine-gallon casks, the weekly allowance of a private London family, -to dwelling-houses. - -A competent authority has estimated that each and every inhabitant of -London will drink, averaging young and old--80 gallons of beer in the -year. The population is 3,500,000. - -Therefore, Great is Beer, and Barclay and Perkins are its prophets. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -HARVARD AGAINST OXFORD. - - -SELDOM--perhaps not twice in a hundred years, had such a night of -excitement been known in London as that which ushered in the morning -of the Twenty-Seventh of August, 1869, the ever-memorable day on which -a million of half-crazy people were to witness the Great University -Boat Race between Oxford and Harvard. This race, it was universally -declared, would forever settle the mooted question of British pluck -and American endurance, by twenty-five minutes hard pulling in two -four-oared boats on the River Thames, between Putney and Mortlake. - -The boasted phlegm of the English race had, as it were, disappeared -before the touchstone of national rivalry, and prince, peer, peasant, -and cabman alike felt that the honor of England was in the hands of Mr. -Darbishire's Oxford crew. - -For weeks before the race came off, the London shopkeepers, mercers, -haberdashers, and drapers, had illuminated windows and doorways with -neck-ties, scarfs, shoe-buckles, ribbons, silks, and hosiery, and with -the greatest commercial impartiality, these articles that I have named, -with a hundred others that I cannot recollect, had been made to assume -the modest hues of the Oxford Dark Blue, and the blazing brilliancy of -the Harvard Magenta. The merits of the men of both Universities had -undergone the severest mental and conversational scrutiny in every part -of the metropolis. - -[Sidenote: POLICE ARRANGEMENTS.] - -In a great city with a population of over three millions of Englishmen, -it was but natural and just that Oxford should hold high ascendancy, -and that Oxford favors should be worn almost exclusively, and that the -superiority of Oxford rowing, should be with high and low a question of -orthodoxy. Night settled down on the myriad roofs and church steeples -of London, and ten young lads, down at the little village of Putney, -with its narrow streets and old-fashioned church, braced themselves, -before going to sleep, for the greatest athletic conflict that the -Nineteenth century has known. - -The sun broke over the London housetops on that eventful Friday -morning, the Twenty-Seventh of August, with unusual brilliancy for an -English sun. The weather had not been of the most promising kind for -some days previous, and it was feared that the day might turn out a -foggy or a rainy nuisance, and thus interfere with the pleasure which -so many countless thousands had promised themselves in witnessing the -race. London was astir at an early hour, and great crowds filled the -streets in the direction of the railroad stations on the Surrey side -of the river, and in the vicinity of the numerous steamboat wharves, -for the purpose of securing an early transportation to the scene of the -conflict. - -At 9 o'clock the stations of the Northwestern, the Metropolitan, -and the London and Northwestern Railways--at Waterloo, Vauxhall, -Clapham Junction, Wadsworth, Putney, Ludgate Hill, London and -Blackfriars Bridges, Euston, Chalk Farm, Hammersmith, Paddington, and -Westminster--were swarming with masses of men, women, and children, -vainly endeavoring, struggling, pushing, and trying to obtain -precedence of each other, in order to get tickets to be carried to -the boat race. The different railway companies of London, in order to -accommodate the tremendous number of spectators, had suspended their -regular traffic and agreed to run excursion trains all day steadily -until an hour before the race. - -The Thames Conservancy Board, which has the power to clear the river -and prevent obstructions from delaying the race, had worked manfully, -and by great exertions had succeeded in making every steamboat captain -and owner on the river know that he would be compelled by force to -remain above Putney Bridge, where the race was to begin, on penalty of -£20 fine; and if rash enough to run the risk of fine, the police were -to seize the offending steamer and quench her fires, and thus prevent -further locomotion. - -One steamboat speculator had been selling tickets at two guineas a head -for the steamer Venus, and had declared openly that he would pay the -fine of £20 and run the boat anyhow, despite the authorities of the -river and the police who swarmed, in hundreds of small boats and tiny -steam launches, all over the broad surface of the Thames. - -When the steamer Venus came down to Putney Bridge, however, she was -stopped very quickly, and her cheated passengers were forced to remain -on board and witness the start, but the steamer was fastened at anchor -and could no farther go. Passengers by this unlucky boat, who were -unable to stand the broiling sun for four or five hours, debarked at -Putney, and consoled themselves with mutton chops and bitter beer at -the Star and Garter. Formerly, at the University races between Oxford -and Cambridge, there was not only danger that the race itself would be -interrupted, or perhaps lost, by the reckless rushing to and fro of the -innumerable steamers that were sure to follow the progress of the boats -towards Mortlake, but it was also very unsafe for passengers in small -boats, wherries, or launches, to venture on the river, owing to the -manner in which the steamers dashed to and fro at the bidding of the -eager captains. - -But the assertions in some of the American newspapers, that the Harvard -crew would meet with foul-play from some scoundrel or other who might -employ money to influence a master of one of those vessels, had aroused -a determined energy among the members of the Thames Conservancy -Board, and the result was a clear river, in one sense, from Putney to -Mortlake, for the two crews. - -When I say in one sense, I mean that the channel of the river was -kept clear of steamboats and skiffs alike; but, while the steamers -were not allowed inside of the chains stretched across at Putney and -Mortlake, thousands of every description of small craft lined the river -for a space of five miles on both sides, on the Surrey and Middlesex -shores,--but out of the path where the race-boats were to make the -essay for superiority. - -[Sidenote: THOMAS HUGHES, M.P.] - -But two steamboats were allowed to follow the crews, and one of these -was the steamer Lotus, engaged to carry the referee, Mr. Thomas Hughes, -M.P., author of "Tom Brown at Oxford," "School Days at Rugby," and -other well-known and popular books--Besides the umpire for each crew, -the judge of the race, Sir Aubrey Paul, and a number of ladies and -gentlemen specially invited. Besides this boat there was also the -steamboat Sunflower, chartered for the use of the press of London and -for the benefit of American correspondents in London, by one of the -editors of _Bell's Life_. These two boats were never more than fifty -yards to the rear of the Oxford and Harvard shells during the progress -of the race. - -At half past 1 o'clock the press boat had been advertised to leave -the Temple Pier for the scene of the race. Taking a cab at the head -of Regent street, I had a good opportunity to observe the streets and -shops and numerous vehicles. Of the six or seven thousand cabs which -are to be found at the different stands all over London, hardly one -this morning but is in some way decorated for the festival. These -sharp-eyed, cunning-looking cabbies, in their careless attire, each -with a brass medal depending from his breast, giving his number and -license, have an eye to the main chance. Their long whips are tipped -with short bows of blue ribbon in the greater number, while a few have -magenta ties. Out of respect for the Yankees, they will charge them -to-day a shilling a head more than they dare ask from an Englishman. - -The great clumsy busses, that look more like advertising vans than -vehicles for the purpose of carrying passengers, are splendid this day -with decoration. They are made, as the sign above each tells you, to -carry twelve inside and sixteen outside. The drivers of the busses have -a more respectable look and are more profound in their wit than the -cabbies. They have a solid British look that tells plainly of roast -beef and careful usage. The cabbies are to the buss drivers a sort of -gypsies, and are looked upon by them with suspicion. Every omnibus is -crowded with passengers this cheerful, sunny day. - -All London seems going to the race. Dry goods clerks, licensed -victualers, "cads," grocers, public-house keepers, bar-boys, -stable-boys, bar-maids, servant-maids, well-to-do tradesmen and their -wives and children, apothecaries' assistants, golden-haired milliners -nicely gloved, dressmakers' apprentices, pickpockets, peers of the -United Kingdom, University men in cap and gown, Charter House boys -with yellow stockings on their legs, and dark-blue frocks fastened -at their waists with leather straps, wandering Americans displaying -large diamonds and shocking bad hats, Westminster schoolboys on the -foundation of Elizabeth, the Dean of St. Paul's in his shovel hat, -city men, brokers and bankers, watermen from the Thames, professional -oarsmen, Jew and Gentile;--they are all interested and will all see the -race or a part of it. - -I never saw anything like this great crowd before. It is believed that -two hundred and fifty thousand people is the average number that are in -the habit of witnessing a Cambridge and Oxford boat-race, but Cambridge -has been beaten so often that the interest does not compare at one of -these races with the tumultuous, all-pervading feeling that is borne in -every man's bosom as he hurries along to-day. It is not so very certain -that Harvard will be beaten, although it is rumored here and there that -Loring, the stroke of the crew, is unwell, which rumor only tends to -increase the odds on Oxford. - -The Temple Pier is reached at last. We pass through an arched gateway -at the bottom of a narrow street opening on the Thames. This spot is -more historic even than Westminster Abbey. There before us is the -Church of the Temple, seven hundred years old and black with time. All -the ground around us belonged, in the old bygone days, to the Knights -of the Order of the Temple. Now the place is the resort of attorneys -and barristers, and in it legal people have chambers. Right in the -shadows of the old Norman towers and battlements of the ancient church, -Jack Cade's followers rose from a swinish, drunken sleep to turn their -weapons against each other, hundreds falling in the conflict. - -[Sidenote: DARK BLUE AND MAGENTA.] - -Here in these chambers resided Chaucer, Gower, Spenser, Clarendon, -Coke, Plowden, Selden, Beaumont, Congreve, Wycherley, Edmund Burke, -Cowper, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Pope, Eldon, Erskine, and -others equally famous. Here they slept, joked, read, ate, and drank. -Surely, if this ground be not hallowed, none other is. In company -with a well-known American journalist, Mr. George Wilkes, I find my -way to the Press boat, which is lying at the foot of the Temple Pier, -off the Embankment. She is a long, double-ender, with a red streak -on the upper part of her keel, and a black hull. Her steam funnel is -made to be lowered at the base, working on hinges, when going under a -bridge. Like all Thames boats to-day, there are two flags hoisted on -her twin flag-staffs--the American and English. There is no awning, no -upper-deck, to shade us from the August sun, which is now beginning to -burn with an intensity peculiarly un-English. - -There are, perhaps, about fifty persons on the boat, of whom two-thirds -are English; the remainder Americans. They are not all newspaper men, -though it was understood, before the tickets were sold, that none but -newspaper men would be allowed on board. - -The Englishmen wear blue scarfs and bows; the Americans sport the -magenta all over their clothes. The sun falls on the broad, muddy river -in slanting beams of kindling gold, making the old warehouses on both -banks of the stream, with their yellow brick gables, to stand out in -bold relief. - -Above us is London Bridge, lowering in its immensity, and to the -right is Billingsgate Market and Paul's wharf. Close upon our stern -is Blackfriars Bridge, the Temple Gardens, Kings College--a massive, -dirty gray structure, running along the river bank; Somerset House, the -government building where all the clerical work of the administration -is done, and where well-fed and well-paid clerks enjoy sinecures of the -kind which the Barnacle family were so fond of. Before us is Waterloo -Bridge, Cecil, Duke, Salisbury, Surrey, Buckingham, Villiers, and other -streets called after the mansions once inhabited by the favorites of -Charles, James, and William of Blessed Memory. - -At a little before two o'clock the Sunflower steams off on her journey -up the river. The course of the steamer is impeded at almost every foot -by small craft of all descriptions, en route to Putney and the race. - -We pass, on our way down, Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge, with -its huge railroad trains thundering over our heads, bound to Dover, -with passengers for the Continent; Westminster Bridge and the Houses of -Parliament, with their gilt vanes, towers, and battlements glistening -in the sun; Lambeth Bridge and Lambeth Palace, the residence of the -Primate of England, with its gardens and red brick towers; St. Thomas -Hospitals, in process of construction; Millbank Penitentiary, a gloomy, -six-sided fortress of crime; Vauxhall Bridge; Pimlico Pier, where -we stop a moment; the Nine Elms Road, Chelsea Bridge, and Chelsea -Hospital, where a number of frisky, one-legged and one-armed veterans -are disporting themselves on its smooth, grassy lawn; the Botanic -Garden on the right, and the green fields and trees and silvery lake of -Battersea Park on the left; Albert Bridge, Cadogan Pier, Chelsea Pier, -Battersea Bridge, and the Cremorne Gardens, with its kiosks, captive -balloon, statues, shady walks, fountains, and flower beds; and now we -are opposite Fulham and Brompton, where the splendid and extravagant -Formosas of the metropolis enjoy their ill-gotten gains in pleasant -villas and cozy little houses. - -We are now getting away from the thickly populated districts of London, -and the bridges that cross the river are fewer and farther between, -and, being generally of wood, are more rickety. - -During the entire passage we are continually stopped by small craft of -all kinds. The river is alive with them. - -[Sidenote: ON THE TOWING PATH.] - -There are huge yawls, of broad bottom and clumsy construction, -containing family parties, with their provender--bread, cheese, and -beer, ham pies, and beef pies, kidneys and tongues--spread out in the -bottom of the boats on white cloths or in open baskets; there are long -shells with crews of eight and four, carrying coxswains; single sculls, -double sculls, wherries, watermen's boats, small steam launches, -lighters, watermen's barges, small sloops and schooners with dirty -sails and unseemly rudders, pleasure yachts, and craft of such queer -shape and rig as are never seen on our American rivers. - -All are bent on pleasure, and in many of the boats they are singing -the slang songs of the London streets; and now and then are warbled -the cheering chants of the boatmen immortalized by Dibdin and Taylor, -the water poets. A couple of miles more and we are in sight of Putney -Bridge, which towers aloft, rickety, worn, and decayed, thousands -crossing to and fro on its frail planks to get positions for the race. - -And now the full grandeur of a sight such as is seldom or ever seen -bursts upon every one on board the Press boat, and even the Londoners -admit, in an easy way, that the Derby Day is eclipsed by the great -number of people who line the banks of the river for miles on the -Surrey and Middlesex shores. - -To the left, above the old bridge, is the village of Putney, with its -narrow streets and noisome lanes, its green fields, festering pools, -eccentric-looking mansions and houses of an humbler kind, the steeples -of St. John's and St. Mary's, with their quaint clock-towers; and to -the left, on the Middlesex bank, are Fulham and the Bishop of London's -palace, the long grass on the Bishop's lawn waving in the breeze, and -upon whose surface were stretched pic-nickers eating and drinking. - -The Star and Garter at Putney, a famous hostelry, where the crew -of Harvard had lodged when they first came to England, was covered -all over its surface toward the river with the flags of America and -England. The old wooden balconies were crowded with ladies wearing -favors in their bosoms; the passages and lanes leading to the -towing-path on the river swarmed with foot passengers, all having one -determination and one sole object. The "Bell Inn," a rival to the Star -and Garter, was also glorious with colors, and all the house-owners -for miles along the river had let their windows and seats on their -roofs for various sums, varying from five shillings to five guineas per -head. - -One generous American "lady" had advertised in the _Times_ that she -would let seats in her windows to her countrymen at the modest price of -two guineas per head, and she found that she had not half room enough -for her compatriots. An innkeeper on the towing-path had let the front -of his house for £40 to a speculator, who realized a profit of £25 on -the venture. The Leander Boat-house, belonging to a well-known boating -club, had a scaffolding erected fronting the river for the members and -their ladies, which was covered with Union Jack bunting, the structure -being the place where the Oxford crew had housed their race-boat. - -Close to it was the boat-house of the London Rowing Club, an -association of four hundred gentlemen, who had proved themselves -warm and steady friends of the Harvard crew since their arrival -here. The Harvard boat was housed here, and the staging and platform -were decorated with American colors. A number of ladies, wearing red -rosettes, were seated upon this balcony. - -A few yards below was the modest stone house where the Harvard crew -were sleeping two hours before the race. This place was enclosed by -a stone wall, breast high, and shaded by green trees. Platforms were -erected behind this wall, and on them I noticed seated the American -Minister, Mr. Motley, the Hon. S.S. Cox, "Tom Hughes," Charles Reade, -the novelist--a bluff-looking, hearty Englishman, in gray clothes--and -a number of ladies, just before the race began. - -[Sidenote: A FRIGHTFUL JAM.] - -Back from this house ran the High street, and, I believe, the only -street of Putney, and in this street was located the unpretending -place of residence of the Oxford men. The towing-path on the Surrey -side of the river runs along for miles away beyond Mortlake, and on -the Middlesex bank there is also a path, and on both of these paths it -is customary on a race day for thousands of harmless maniacs to run -along, hats and coats in hand, vainly endeavoring to keep up with -race-boats going at a speed greater than a mile every five minutes. - -[Illustration: THE HARVARD CREW.] - -Of course, they soon lose sight of the boats after the start; yet they -will still run, hallooing, cheering, and shouting like madmen. To -furnish sport and amusement for the myriads of Cockneys who come by -rail, steamboat, or on foot, from London and its environs, there are -not wanting sharpers, players, peddlers, fighting-men, showmen, venders -of all kinds of fruit, vegetables, meats, pies, drinks, ices, and all -kinds of knick-knacks--things useful and useless; and these people and -their wares combined make up a kind of a Bartholomew's fair on a grand -scale. - -The fair and its accessories covered the towing-path for three miles, -and rendered the passage most difficult on this occasion for the many -pedestrians. Dresses were torn, buttons pulled off, hats smashed, -bonnets rumpled, hoops irretrievably wrecked, children trod on, women -half suffocated and rendered faint and sick; yet, back from the river, -for fifty or sixty feet, for a distance of three miles, the uproar and -sale of questionable merchandise and doubtful provender never ceased -for an instant. - -It was a scene such as is displayed once in a man's life-time, to -remain indelibly engraved on his mind ever after. One thousand -policemen lined both banks of the river to keep order, but most of them -were on the Surrey, or most thronged bank of the stream. A large number -of those were mounted on huge black horses, and but for them many lives -would have been lost on this most eventful day of days. - -At the boat-houses, where the shells of the rival crews were concealed -from the gaze of the crowds, outside, the jam was frightful, and very -dangerous, as the police every few moments had to back their horses -into the crowd to keep a passage-way clear, and on several occasions -were compelled to charge the dense masses of men, women, and children. - -Some time before the race came off, I made my way along the towing-path -as well as I could through the swaying, surging crowds, for the purpose -of taking a look at the amusements they were enjoying. - -There was a large crowd around a man who stood before a circular -table, the top of which revolved on a pivot. The surface was painted -and divided into four triangles by colored lines. In each angle was -painted the name of some famous horse, such as "Formosa," "Pretender," -"Blue Gown," and "Lady Elizabeth." An indicator, like the hand of an -eight-day clock, swung on a pivot in the centre of the circle. - -A spectator being invited to place sixpence on the name of some -favorite horse, the proprietor of the show gave the circular board -a spin, and if the indicator stopped opposite the name of the horse -where he had placed his money, he gained a shilling. The fellow who had -this machine in operation was a hard-looking case, in a greasy cutaway -velvet coat. His oratory was to the point and business-like. - -"Down vith yer sixpence; and make yer bets, gentlemen. My hindicator is -sure as the clock of St. Paul's and twice as waluable ha hacquisition. -I don't care vether it is Formosy or Purtendir that yer bets yer bob -hon. Yer take Hoxford or ye take 'Avard-- - - Hi gives 'er a spin - Han lets yer vin; - -vich is poetry, and if ye dosn't vin, I gits the tin; vich is po-e-try -agin, and is halso a favrite hexpression of the Chanselur of the -Hexcheckever ven he piles hon the blessed taxis has 'as made me sell -hall my property to havoid a bust hup. Try yer luck agin; thank ye sir. -Formosy, sir, sure to vin or lose." - -Close by this amusing blackguard is the stand of the root-beer, -ginger-beer, and bitter-beer seller, who is crying out from behind his -little cart: - -[Sidenote: BOOTHS AND SHOWS.] - -"Valk hup and try this ere de-lee-shus bewerage, honly tuppence a -bottle. If ye don't like it I gives ye yer money back, and no 'arm -done. The Prinse of Vales alvays buys 'is beer hof me ven 'e isnt -travelin, for the good of 'is 'ealth. Valk hup and don't be ashamed; -the no-bil-e-tee and gen-te-ree hall patronizes me. Ginger-beer, -ginger-beer, and may the best man win, as my vife says, ven she sees -two pickpockets a fightin' for a shillin'." - -"Trick-hat-the-loop, ring the nail, and ye gets three h'apens. Ring the -nail and ye gets three h'apens. And 'ow much does ye hinvest. Vy honly -ha'apenny. A man von two hundred pun hof me last veek, and there 'e -his just now agoin to bet hit all on the Hoxford crew, and ef ye don't -believe me just hax 'im 'isself," said a seedy looking wretch, with a -handful of small iron rings in his hand, directing his index finger -to some indistinct personage in the crowd, whom no one present could -recognize. - -The number of apple, pear, goosberry, plum, pie, and ice-cream stands -that line the path are almost incalculable to think of. Pies square, -round, and triangular of shape, in all the varied stages of decay, are -for sale at a penny a piece. Tarts, cheese cakes, mutton pot-pies, -ham pies, suet puddings, whelks, a sort of odorous shell-fish, at -half-penny apiece, green gages, and "sandviches" are shouted on every -side of us. - -There are all kinds of games in progress. There is the ancient and -honorable game of "cockshie," and "cocoa-nut." The latter is curious. -Three cocoa-nuts, hollowed out, are placed on the top of as many -sticks, which are stuck upright in the ground, and the game, costing -a penny, is to knock off those cocoa-nuts at three strokes, when you -can claim three pence--providing, of course, that you knock off all -three cocoa-nuts; which, of course, can only be done by the princely -proprietor himself after hard training. - -There is one noisy fellow on a little hillock, pockmarked and -ferret-eyed, in a greasy woolen duster, who has drawn a large crowd -around him by his peculiar and quack-like oratory. This fellow is a -gem, in his way, of purest ray serene. He is a merchant of penny scarf -and finger rings. - -"Now," says he, elevating a scarf ring on one finger and a wedding ring -on another, in sight of the wondering crowd, "hif hi was to tell you -good people that these beuty-_fool_ rings wor pure goold, vot vould -you say? Vy, you vould say, in the most hexitibel and hunmistakabel -langvidge has could come from your blessed traps, 'ee his a harrant -himposter. - -"Could hi blame yer for hexpressing yer feelinks in sich langvidge? No. -Hi vould say to my disturbed conscience, has was at that very moment -a tearing my hinsides to pieces, 'you, Villiam Bowsley, have forsaken -the good karraktir has was 'anded down to yer by hancestors who 'ad -their hown hestates, 'osses, and kerridges; Villiam Bowsley, you 'ave -been han harrant himpostor, and deserves to be 'ung.' Vell, does I tell -ye that these ere rings is goold? No; on the contreery, I says they -are brass. Vell, may be ye don't care so much for brass harticles. Ham -hi a friend of brass? No, agin. But I ham a friend of Hart. I asks ye -to look at this ere image of Mr. Glads_tun_, as is now hour blessed -Pri-_meer_. Wos hever anything so beau-ty-fool? Look at the insinivatin -smile on 'is sveet feetyures. Ven I last dined vith Mr. Glads_tun_--ye -needn't laff, cos ye knows, perhaps, the story in the Good Book of the -bad children 'oo chaffed the old Profits and wus heat hup by bares--ven -I last dined vith Glads_tun_, hour blessed Pri-_meer_, he says, -'Bill'--he calls me 'Bill' ven 'ee his friendly--'Bill, them pictures -on them ere kam-e-o-s as you sells is my likeness just like twins. Cos, -vy,' said he, 'my maiden haunt reckignized them, and fainted avay ven -she seed vun.'" - -Passing along a few feet I am attracted by the noise of a loud, rough -voice, that is shouting over the thickly packed heads of another crowd: - -"Step hup gentlemen and take a look hat the noble hart of Self-Defence -has his practised in the Royal Tent. This vay gentlemen, honly tuppens. -Brisket Bill and the 'Ackney Vick Cove is a goin' to set-too. Step hup." - -[Sidenote: THE BOXING TENT.] - -There is a large tent back from the path covered all over with -representations of half-naked boxers in the act of defending -themselves, or mauling or beating each other to pieces, and the master -pugilist stands on a high bench to attract the crowd, while at the -same time he can look inside of the tent and direct the ceremonies by -calling time and announcing the names of the combatants. Two wretched, -miserable looking women, their features furrowed with want, their -eyes bleared with gin, and their general appearance indicative of hard -luck, cruel treatment and filth, hold each a sheet of the tent in their -hands, and one of them puts out her hand to take the two pence which is -the price of admission. - -I pass in to the tent and find twenty or thirty hard-looking cases -circling around "Brisket Bill" and the "Hackney Wick Cove," who are -stripped to their waists, their features inflamed with passion, their -hair cropped short, and boxing gloves on their hands. There are half a -dozen burly, big soldiers in the tent belonging to different arms of -the Queen's service, and two of them wear the red shell jackets and -army fatigue caps of the Life Guards. Brisket Bill is a low-sized, -compact, thick witted brute in corduroys and heavy hob-nailed shoes, -who has been probably "starring" in the provinces, and the Hackney -Cove is a tall, well-made, fresh-faced-looking young fellow, who is -quite lively on his feet, and seems to rather like the punishment which -Brisket gives him every now and then in the chest and face. - -A ruffianly-faced scoundrel offers me a ticket to go to his boxing -benefit on the next Monday night, which is declined, and at the next -moment the Hackney Cove knocks Brisket Bill, with a tremendous blow, -kicking at my feet, while cheers greet the feat from the Life Guards, -roughs, thieves, and clodhoppers in the tent, and the Master Pugilist -cries from the top of the tent outside: - -"Vind hup, Brisket; 'it 'im 'ard and be done vith your larking. Give -these gentlemen the vorth of their tupence. Vind hup, I say, and stop -'im." - -Going down the towing path I found the crowd increasing every moment, -and all streaming from the direction of London. A great number of -soldiers were present all in bright uniform, without side-arms, -and all carrying jaunty canes--lancers, foot guards, riflemen, -artillery drivers, men of the siege train, heavy cavalry, dragoons, -and light-infantry men. The majority of these warriors bold were -accompanied by their sweethearts, pretty, clear-skinned English girls -in their best bibs and tuckers, and of course they all wore the Oxford -blue on their persons. Hundreds of small dirty-faced and ragged boys -swarmed in and out of the numerous tents, and many grown men were -endeavoring by bawling loudly, to dispose of badges and rosettes. Some -of them had pieces of wide dark blue ribbon with the words cribbed from -the famous ballad of Tommy Dodd a little altered, inscribed in gilt -type on them: - - "Now boys, let's all go in; - Oxford--Oxford sure to win, - Tommy Dodd." - -Others sold small rosettes with the words "Oxford Laurels" engraved, -and Harvard badges made of red, white, and blue lutestring, bearing the -arms of the United States, the eagle rampant, and screaming fiercely, -while one costermonger's cart had elevated on canvas in bold letters, -the words of Nelson at Trafalgar, forever classic in the English tongue: - - "ENGLAND EXPECTS THIS DAY THAT EVERY MAN SHALL DO HIS DUTY." - -Almost every person who passed this costermonger cart cheered or -approved of the legend in some way, while as a counter irritant a party -of Americans who had hired a whole house, had the Star Spangled Banner -displayed with the following couplet underneath, in glaring type, and -which attracted very considerable attention: - - "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, - And this be our motto: In God be our trust!" - -I saw numbers of Americans, during the great excitement of that -memorable day, pass and repass the sacred symbol of their country -just for the sake of lifting their hats to the dear old flag. Blood -_is_ thicker than water--even if it was only a boat race. One young -fellow who had been for four years studying his profession at Halle, in -Germany, and had not seen the Gridiron during that time, doffed his hat -twice and was cheered from the balcony in return; and when he came to -me and spoke, his eyelashes were humid, and, when I asked him what was -the matter, he answered in a polyglot of Deutsch and English: - -[Sidenote: THE DEAR OLD FLAG.] - -"Ach Gott! I've been having a blamed good cry at the sight of the Stars -and Stripes." - -And thus the day passed, and the sun declined in force and fell in -strips of silver and gold and purple on Putney church and steeple, -and on all that mad, roaring, shouting, gambling, eating, and -drinking multitude, that lined both banks of the river from Putney to -Mortlake--a million human beings in all--to witness ten lads struggle -for less than half an hour in two frail boats. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -STRUGGLE AND VICTORY. - - -AS I passed down the towing path toward the stone house where the -Harvard crew were resting, I saw the blue blades of four slender oars -elevated above the crowd, and passing through the closely wedged -ranks. The men who carried them, the Oxford Four, appeared on the -river's bank--four fine looking young fellows, with the coxswain, a -mere lad, in their rowing suits. They were going to take a paddle -preparatory to the race, for half a mile up the Thames toward the Duke -of Devonshire's. They looked well, and were loudly cheered as they got -into their boat. They paddled up the river. - -As I passed the gate of the stone house I saw the Chevalier Wykoff and -George Wilkes standing together and spoke to them both. Just at this -moment the face of Loring, the stroke of the Harvard crew, appeared -looking out toward the river, which was packed with boats full of -people. There was something in the man's face that I did not like. I -had not seen him for a few days previous. He had a huge boil under his -right chin in his neck, with a white crust on the top of it; his eyes -seemed wild, his manner anxious and hurried, and altogether he seemed -very unsteady. I shook hands with him and asked him how he felt. - -[Sidenote: ON BOARD THE PRESS BOAT.] - -He said slowly, "Pretty well," and after we talked a few minutes he -went in to prepare for the struggle. I stepped back to the towing path -and spoke to Mr. Wilkes, who asked of me "Who is that? Is not that -Mr. Loring, the Stroke of Harvard?" I answered in the affirmative. Mr. -Wilkes then asked me, "What did he say? Does he feel well?" I answered, -"He says he feels pretty well?" Wilkes burst out, "Pretty well! He -doesn't look like it. That man's sick." and in an instant he dashed -into the crowd to find some one and I lost him for the time being. - -I walked down to the "Star and Garter" inn slowly, thinking of the last -look I had at Loring, and I felt astonished that he should be ready -to pull a race in his condition. The man was evidently in a state of -exhaustion; he looked overworked, overstrained, and out of condition -for a four mile and three furlong race--he who had, when at his best, -only been used to pull a three mile race, turning at a stake of a mile -and a half distance. - -Warned by the noise and rapid movements of the crowd that something -was astir, I made my way by the Star and and Garter, out of whose -windows men were handing porter bottles to their friends beneath, and, -walking to the river's bank, I hailed a boat with two Thames watermen -in it, who pulled me through the line of Police boats to the Press boat -Sunflower, which had her steam up and was getting ready. - -Getting on the deck I took a look around me. Above and at our back was -the old Putney Bridge, thick with human beings of both sexes. Beneath -were countless steamboats and small craft, wedged together in a dense -mass, covering the river behind the bridge for acres, and at our stern -a huge iron chain of Vulcanic links stretched from the Star and Garter -to a point off Fulham on the Middlesex shore. The chain in the middle -of the river was under water, but near both shores it was visible to -all the passengers on the steamboats behind Putney Bridge, but also -impassable to them, however they might rage, fume, and curse at their -ill-luck and guineas thrown away. - -By the side of the Press boat, the Umpire's boat--a craft similar in -build and appearance--was anchored, many of the passengers wearing -the rival colors; the Americans drinking brandy and soda to refresh -themselves, and the Englishmen giving odds on Oxford with great good -will and humor. - -The picture on the river was a most striking one, and worthy of a -master's brush, with its vivid color, the striking dresses of the -crowds, the flags and bunting from housetops and steam funnels; the -green-leaved trees, their branches covered with human fruit, and the -hot August sun, just losing its intensity, as a cool breeze came down -from the direction of Mortlake to ruffle the surface of the river, its -eddies and wavelets sparkling and dancing like diamonds of price. - -It was now within a few minutes of five o'clock. There was a sudden -hum above on the river, at a place called the Crab Tree, as the Oxford -crew got into their boat, and the hum became distinct and swelled into -a pronounced noise, and the noise became a great solid, full cheer from -a hundred thousand throats, as the bright blue blades of the Oxford -Four were dipped in the water, and they came paddling down the stream -in their narrow shell to take position by the Umpire's boat near the -bridge. They paddled easily, and took position with a quiet look in -their fair English faces that impressed every American favorably. - -Then there was another hum as before, when the Harvard crew came down -from the boat-house of the London Rowing Club, and a tremendous cheer -as their boat came up to the Middlesex shore--in among the seedy long -grass. - -And now let us look for a moment at the two crews as they sit there -passively awaiting the order to "go." The Harvard boat is long, narrow, -and the frail cedar wood timbers that compose it are polished like a -steel mirror. Its nose and bow are sharp as a lancet, and amidships it -is but a few inches out of the water. So frail, and yet to carry the -good or bad fortune of a mighty nation's hope. - -[Sidenote: LORING'S CONDITION.] - -The Harvard crew wore white flannel shirts, the sleeves cut away at -the shoulders, with white drawers shortened above the ankles, and -white fillets bound around their temples to save their heads from -the sun's rays. To a spectator they looked magnificent--all of them -bronzed as they sat well forward in the boat, their skins like a new -guinea. Burnham, the coxswain, had his back to the steamer and faced -the stroke, Mr. Loring. Burnham looked stout, massive, and in good -condition. His broad back, rather too broad for a coxswain, gave an -idea of endurance and "staying" more useful in a stroke than a "cox." -His face was tanned, and his quick, restless eyes scanned the broad -Thames with a short, momentary glance, and then they rested on Simmons, -the hope of the American boat. - -Burnham wore a Vandyke tuft at his chin, and a stiff, bristling -mustache of sandy hue. He looked old enough to be father to the Oxford -coxswain. Loring sat with both hands grasping the stroke-oar on the -right side of the boat. His face was turned also, and his dark eyes had -something nervous and flitting in them that I did not like. His body -was as lean as a greyhound's--in fact, he was too lean for a long race. -But the muscles and sinews stood out in bold relief, and the cords of -flesh between the shoulder-blades were hard, and, Loring being slightly -round in the shoulders, it gave him a look of great strength, more -fictitious than real. - -He wore a mustache and goatee--not quite so artistic in shape as -Burnham's--and the hair was cropped close to his ears. His face, -however, did not satisfy the Americans, who watched him closely. There -was something that was indefinite, something unstrung, in the lines -that should have been set and hardened like steel bars. He had a -feverish look as he sat forward, with his long, massive arms, grasping -the oars. - -Simmons, the pride of the crew, sat behind Loring, his perfect physical -form astounding the Englishmen by its massive and beautiful outline. -The face was gravely handsome, the chin round yet firm, the shoulders -grand in their proportions, and the loins like the waist of an oak -trunk. His naked arms were marble for their shape and purity of skin, -and the neck, proudly resting upon his shoulders, could not have -disgraced the Sun God. - -Take him altogether, I never saw such a perfect specimen of manhood -and physical beauty as he looked that day in the Harvard boat. And yet -his eyes, usually intense and piercing, and bluish gray, which always -looked a man in the face, were to-day yellowish and overcast. That -lion heart, which could hardly think of defeat, was torn in a struggle -to maintain composure. He and Loring for four days had been gradually -weakening almost to the point of exhaustion, and these two men, upon -whom the race principally depended, were perfectly aware that their -form was not good, and they were well aware, also, that without their -strength and health the race was lost before it began. - -Simmonds towered above all his companions, and he held the wrist of his -oar calmly as he could, while behind him sat Lyman, a grave, austere -looking young gentleman, with a well cut face, mouth, and chin, dark -hair, a resolute look, and a well shaped body; of modest, but athletic -look and determination. - -Lyman seemed in very good shape, though a little anxious--as was -no more than natural--about Loring and Simmonds, while the most -insouciant, daring looking man in the boat to-day, is that haughty, -imperious looking fellow who sits in the bow, Joseph Story Fay, a man -of proud will, self confidence, and great endurance. He sits seeming -a careless observer of the preparatory and technical part of the -programme, but those keen, watchful eyes, that seem to stab like a -knife, are bent with no little solicitude on the Oxford boat, which is -almost stationary a few yards distant. - -The Harvard crew had a manly, bold look, taking them in a mass, and a -sombre, matured appearance, their bodies and faces stained deep yellow, -like a crew of Indians, and they also sat, if I may use the word, -taller in their boat than the Oxford crew did in theirs. - -[Sidenote: CONDITION OF THE MEN.] - -The Oxford crew were boyish, fresh-faced fellows, compared with -them, their light skins and hair making them look more juvenile in -appearance, and beside, they had not such an ascetic look as the -Harvards, who had lived more like monks than athletes, without any -amusement or even beer--for weeks training themselves to death, and -working body and mind too much. The Harvard crew seemed anxious and -careworn, when their faces were studied, and they were certainly not in -good training condition for the race. - -Loring had worked like a horse, pulling long distances in broiling -suns; and the crew when together had a bad fashion of rowing the whole -course, while the Oxford men contented themselves with a pull of a -couple of miles at a time, being careful not to overdo the business. -Then, on Sunday the Oxford men always went down to the sea-shore at -Brighton, and drank beer moderately and ate fruit in a jolly sort of -a way, and plenty of roast meats, while the Harvard men lived to some -extent on farinaceous food and porridge and figs and mutton, a favorite -dish of theirs when roasted--and to be brief, they were too anxious to -win, and the consequence came in the shape of a fidgetty, nervous, and -overtrained condition. - -Besides, the stroke of the Harvard crew was too labored and fiery and -energetic to last, for the amount of powder belonging to them. The arms -were with them the great impelling power, and the recover was too high -up in the chest, while the Oxford men recovered a little above the pit -of the stomach, which is less wearisome and distressing. In catching -the oar forward they expended too much force, and spent a great deal of -strength in dropping it, while their strength would have been better -used in holding the water just before the recovery. - -The coxswain, too, was naturally uncertain of his Stroke and Simmonds, -both men being in poor condition; and Loring told him before the race, -in case that he flagged to sprinkle his face and that of Simmonds, with -water. This alone was enough to make Burnham rather shaky, and not a -little doubtful of his crew. A few lengths lost by wild steering or -nervousness, and it would be of course impossible to win in the case of -two crews so very closely matched otherwise. I say all this advisedly, -and I am sure the conclusion will bear out my premises. In addition, -they had tried half a dozen boats while in training, and displaced two -of their crew. Whether it was wise to make this change or not, I have -no means of knowing, and cannot say. - -The Oxford crew having paddled their boat a little nearer the Press -steamer, I now had a good look at them. They all had a fresh, fair, -English look, and were not, as far as I could see, at all fagged before -going into the race. Darbishire, the Stroke, was the first man who -caught my eye. He did not look at all burly in frame, and his figure -was lower in the thwarts of the boat by a head, than that of the -gigantic-framed Cornwall Celt, Mr. Tinne. - -Darbishire had a merry blue eye and a turn-up nose, indicating good -humor. His body was well set, his shoulders compact, and his hair, -though short, had a proclivity to curl and kink. He had a broad -forehead, a mouth a little turned down at the corners and arching, and -his chin was moderately firm. - -Yarborough was far more determined in his look, and sported a pair of -thin, mutton-chop whiskers. He was the darkest-skinned and darkest-eyed -man in the Oxford boat, besides being a fine oarsman and a victor -of many college matches. His nose was of the snub order, and the -chin dimpled, the forehead being broad and white, and the hair, like -Darbishire's, inclined to curl. He was what would be a "big small" man, -and was as compact and tough as a hickory nut. - -Tinne was, however, the giant of the crew. I never saw a more glorious -looking fellow than this clear-skinned, handsome Cornwall lad, with his -splendid clearly cut profile, frank, merry face, laughing eyes, and -thoroughbred look. - -It was worth a day's walk to see Tinne pull. He was a man a good deal -after the style of our own Simmonds, but not so gravely reserved. He -was not as tall as Simmonds, but a great deal heavier, and looked as if -he could pull a man-of-war's gig in a race, with those grand shoulders -and hips broad as a barrel of beer. Yet, with all his great physique, -his gait was as light as a girl's, and the feather of his oar when -taken from the water was artistic in itself. - -[Sidenote: HALL, THE COXSWAIN.] - -This huge fellow, weighing 192 pounds on the day of the race, was -formidable enough to intimidate the boldest betting American of us -all. Tinne, like his friend Willan, the bow oar, had been president of -the Oxford University Boat Club, and had never known defeat. Willan, -the Bow, looked as if the matter was mere play, while he amused himself -with the oar and watched Walter Brown, who held the nose of the Harvard -boat from a launch, with a keen alert look. His white Guernsey shirt -was open at the neck, and it showed a wonderfully muscular but white -throat. His shoulders were broad across, and his fingers grasped the -oar as if they were riveted with steel nails to the frail shaft. - -[Illustration: THE OXFORD CREW.] - -The most innocent looking boy I ever saw in a boat was Hall, a slight, -frail, girlish looking lad, and coxswain of the Oxford crew. Weighing -one hundred pounds on the day of the race, and being about seventeen -years of age, he was the last person that a man would choose for a -coxswain, who knew nothing of the mysteries and science of the art -of rowing as practiced in England. His skin was light and almost -transparent, the blue veins in his face being very prominent. His hair -was very light, and his eyes blue as the sky. A handsomer lad could not -be found, but he seemed delicate enough to be blown away with a breath. -The face was weak, and the mouth of a curious shape, the corners being -drawn down, and giving him a soft, credulous look. - -Looking at him there in his dark-blue jacket of thin flannel--all the -rest of the crew were in white shirts cut away at the elbows, and white -drawers shortened at the ankles--he looked so innocent and lady-like, -that it needed but a crinoline and silk skirt to transform him into a -pretty English girl of the period. - -And yet that delicate boy had a great trust, and "Little Corpus," as -he was called from his college at Oxford, well deserved it all, for -his knowledge of the river was unrivaled, and his steering was simply -perfection. Nothing could be finer. A New York betting-man, who lost -heavily, declared that he was a "young weasel" for sagacity and cool -nerve. - -By the time I had taken a good look at both crews, the arrangements had -all been made, and the two boats had been brought by their coxswains -up to a line stretched across the river, and the crews now lay in their -boats, with bodies bent forward, their faces set, their oars grasped -with energy, the coxswains with the ropes in both hands, and the stroke -of each boat having his oar blade poised a few feet above the water. - -Walter Brown held the nose of the Harvard boat, and John Phelps, a -rugged looking Thames waterman, had his grip fastened on the Oxford -boat, waiting for the word to go. Loring's eyes are blazing with -unwonted fire; Darbishire seems confident and easy, with his ears -dilated like a pointer, and a death-like silence reigns all over that -swarming river--just now the noise was deafening; the Americans have -ceased to drink any more brandy and soda; Tom Hughes looks up the river -to see if all is clear; Mr. Lord, of the Thames Conservancy, reports -all clear--and the bulky figure of Blakey, the starter of the race, is -seen to ascend the paddle-box of the Lotus steamer, and his voice rings -over the water, and is heard with a thrill, for the decisive moment has -come at last. - -"I shall ask," says Blakey, "are you _Ready_--are you _Ready_, and if -you do not stop me I shall give the word Go, after which God speed you -both." - -"Are you ready?" - -"No!" shouts Darbishire. - -"Are you ready?" - -"No!" again, distinct and clear, from Darbishire. - -"Are you _Ready_?" No answer this time from either crew. - -"GO!" - -A hundred thousand throats, as if made of cast-iron, bellow forth: a -hundred thousand eyes are dazzled for a moment as the diamond drops -fall from the upraised blue blades of Oxford and the white blades of -Harvard. Walter Brown executes a war dance in an instant after he has -sent the Harvard shell a full length on its way. The 'Rah, 'Rah, 'Rah, -of Harvard pierces the air; the masses on the banks of the river begin -to show incipient symptoms of madness. Both boats are off, Harvard -pulling like demons, and Oxford has just got into her careless, easy -swing, pumping away like machines. The two steamers start on a -helter-skelter race, and the greatest boat race the world ever saw has -just begun for better or for worse. - -[Sidenote: HARVARD'S LIGHTNING STROKE.] - -No man that day who witnessed the start of the two boats--the terrific -spring of the Harvard crew, and the cool, rythmical measure of the -Oxford stroke--can ever forget that moment of moments, unless, indeed, -his blood be thinner than water and his pulse of ice. The Harvard crew -caught the water first, and were well on their way before the crowds -were recovered from the shock. Loring swept away like a tiger after his -prey, and Burnham--who had won the toss for choice of position, steered -in on the Middlesex shore, the Oxford crew having won a blank, and -having to keep in, consequently, on the Surrey side--showing very good -judgment at first, and keeping his boat well under way. It was but a -minute, and Harvard was a full length clear in the water of the Oxford -boat, Loring pulling forty-two strokes a minute, and Simmond's elbows -going backward and forward like a steam engine. - -The Oxford crew, after a pause, recovered from their slight surprise, -and fell into stroke as if a piece of mechanism were propelling their -narrow shell. Darbishire is now rowing beautifully, and has settled -down to hard work, while Tinne's great shoulders, bob up and down with -superhuman energy, his glorious chest expanded to its full power, -and he pulls with the magnificence of incarnate force, while "Little -Corpus," the coxswain, is as quiet as a mouse, watching every stroke of -the Harvard crew, as he sets in the stern sheets of the Oxford shell. - -Oxford has started with thirty-eight strokes, and now, when Mr. -Darbishire sees Loring putting on the steam at forty-four, he quickens -his stroke to thirty-nine, and Hall gets the boat headed a little -toward the Middlesex shore. - -The Star and Garter is fast disappearing from the stern of the Press -boat, and the Umpire's boat follows closely, neck and neck almost. -The crowds at a place called the "Creek," where a little stream runs -tributary to the Thames, are shouting "Oxford" all their might and -main. Fay, in the bow of the Harvard boat, seems to hear the taunt, -and begins to show evidence of his strength, by pulling the bow-side -around slightly, which compels Burnham to put his rudder down and keep -off from the Oxford boat. - -At Simmond's boat-house the jam is tremendous, and the crowd cheers -Harvard as she sweeps by a length ahead; and Oxford going a few -feet wild at this point, the Harvard men on the two steamers shout -themselves hoarse, and one man with a Magenta-ribbon takes off a new -hat, carefully inspects it for a moment, and then in a delirium of -frenzy kicks the crown of it in, and presents it skyward as a peace -offering. - -The people on the Surrey towing-path seem all mad, Oxford is not -showing speed enough for them, and the stands and shows and booths are -deserted as if they had never been in existence, the crowds pressing -forward to the bank of the river wildly. Passing the "Willows," a -pleasant little grove of trees, with a quaint stone house nestled in -their bosom, a loud cheer is given as the Oxonians spurt a little, -while at the same time the water falls, or rather dashes from Loring's -oar with increased vehemence, for Harvard is now pulling at the -tremendous pace of 45 strokes a minute, a thing unheard of before in an -English boat race. - -At "Craven Cottage" Oxford gains slightly, but the fact is hardly -noticed by the Harvard men, who can see but one thing, and that is -the Harvard boat, now ahead by a length and a half. I never imagined -that Loring could do the work he is now doing, which is superhuman, -and therefore cannot last. At the "Soap Works," a crazy old place, -Darbishire seems to be creeping up, and his stroke is most assuredly -telling on the Harvard energy and fire. Oxford is now pulling 40, and -the cheers are deafening from the shore, while cries and exclamations -and yells of encouragement come from the countless wherries, stationary -barges, and craft of all kinds that line the Surrey side. - -[Illustration: THE UNIVERSITY RACE.] - -"Well pulled, Willan. Nobly done for Exeter," shouts an excited Oxford -University man from a small boat. "You are sure to win." - -[Sidenote: BURNHAM'S BAD STEERING.] - -"Oh, _go_ it Harvard; _go_ it Harvard. 'Rah--'Rah--'Rah--'Rah. Hit her -up, Loring." - -"Keep your steam on, Burnham. Don't get frightened." - -"What's the matter with Harvard, now," says a Harvard man to a -dignified English gentleman on the Press boat. - -"Wonderful stroke, sir; 'fraid it can't last. Great power, sir, in the -Oxford crew," says the old gentleman rather curtly. - -"Well done, Simmonds, you are the man for my money," cries a Western -man who has a bottle of soda water in his hand, and has been betting -heavily all the way down the river on the boat. - -Opposite the "Doves," Harvard goes away splendidly from Oxford; but -now the Harvard men on the steamboats begin to notice something queer -in the steering of Burnham. Briefly, he is steering wide of his race, -and very badly, and his nerve seems to be going, for the boat looks -quite unsteady and veers in the water more than she ought to. Now -we are rounding a bend in the river, and the great, single span of -Hammersmith Bridge looms up before us. Every coigne of vantage on this -immense pile, from one side of the river to the other, is covered -with vehicles, broughams, carriages, 'busses, and at least thirty -thousand people are clustered and hanging on to the structure in a most -astonishing manner. It was a mad sight, that bridge, with the great -swaying masses, pushing, shouting, and fighting to get a look at the -boats. - -Cries of "Hoxford," "Hoxford," come down from above our heads as we -near the bridge, and the excitement is perfectly terrific. We have -already passed a quarter of a million of people, to estimate them in -the rough, and still they line the banks above us in impenetrable -masses. The waving of handkerchiefs and shouting is enough to make a -man lose his senses, if the race did not claim so much attention from -the spectators. - -Harvard prepares to shoot under the bridge, being still a length and a -half ahead, but Loring is not doing his work so stoutly now, although -the Harvard boat glides through the water at 46 strokes a minute. The -pace is too hard and it will not and cannot last five minutes longer. - -Oxford steers out from the Surrey bank to shoot the bridge, and -"Little Corpus" makes a circuit to avoid an eddy where the tide is -bad, while Burnham is mad enough to go away from the race by giving -room to Darbishire's boat, whose coxswain never loses an inch by weak -or ill-judged steering, Burnham going out of his way too much to -accommodate Oxford, instead of keeping on and taking Oxford's water in -a direct line. It was at this place that Harvard lost the race, wholly -by Burnham's bad steering and Loring's nervousness. - -"Oh, my God! what are you doing Burnham, why do you steer so?" shouts -an excited Yale man in the Press boat thinking vainly that Burnham -will hear him; but Harvard is too far on our bow to hear the warning -voice, and here she loses a full half length. The excitement is now -beyond description. From all the vast stagings that are erected on the -Surrey side, decorated with English bunting and covered with thousands -of people, comes a glad swell of triumph, borne on the breeze, and -striking despair to every American heart. - -Now, at this moment, after shooting Hammersmith bridge, Loring's oar -seems to hang loosely from the gunwale of the boat, and his head is -bent forward as if he were about to faint. In an instant the coxswain, -Burnham, dashes water into his face and chest, and repeats the ablution -five or six times, throwing the water also on Simmonds, who is weakened -from the pace he has been pulling. - -The Harvard stroke now goes down to 42, to 41, and to 40; for Loring is -knocked up, and the pulling is being done by Fay, on the bow side, in -despair. Elliott, the boat-builder, standing on the paddle-box of the -Lotus, is black in the face from shouting, "Harvard! Harvard!" "Pull up -Harvard!" - -[Sidenote: OXFORD'S VENGEANCE STROKE.] - -There goes that same steady, wonderful, glorious stroke of Oxford, -like the knell of doom, not to be stopped until victory perches on her -gallant crew. At Chiswick Island Loring spurted and made a despairing -effort; but the man is sick and gone for the race, and it is no use -hallooing now, for Oxford forges past the Harvard boat with a will -and power that calls forth a shout from the assembled multitude, which -rings in the ears of Loring's crew like a sentence of death. - -Still the gallant fellows struggle on, inspired by an agony which none -may describe in such a race, and they never falter for an instant, but -pull as if they were determined to win. During the first mile and a -half of the race, Burnham received the back wash of the Oxford boat, by -keeping all the time in a line behind Darbishire's crew with a seeming -blunder that actually called tears of rage to the eyes of Americans on -the steamboats. Getting along by Chiswick Church, which was crowded -with people, the Oxford crew pulling 40, their boat was a length ahead -of the Harvard bow oar, and Hall, the coxswain, took care that no -ground should be lost by his steering. Then Darbishire spoke the word -to his crew, and throwing all the powder they could into their backs, -they gave Harvard only the alternative of pulling to Barnes's Bridge -for an honorable defeat. - -Never for a moment did Oxford flag, but kept the stroke as if grim -death was at their heels, yet all the time throughout the race they -seemed easy in their style, and regular as the pendulum of an eight-day -clock. - -The want of time and catch in the Harvard stroke was very noticeable at -Barnes's Bridge, and here the same immense crowds were gathered as at -the bridge at Hammersmith, and now the Oxford boat being positively a -length and a half ahead, and no mistake, the cries and shouts were most -appalling. Past the green fields in the Duke of Devonshire's meadows a -large crowd was gathered, who hailed the appearance of the Oxford crew -with great and significant pleasure. - -The race was now lost, virtually. Harvard was out of time--knocked -up--and the men in her boat were laboring like oxen in chains. The -morale of the Harvard crew was gone a mile below Barnes's Bridge, when -Loring's oar hung loose for the first time, and nothing human could now -give old Massachusetts a victory. It was a gallant struggle, too, and -nobly waged. Passing the "White Cottage" and the "White Hart" in the -race for the Ship Tavern at Mortlake, the Harvard crew, in the last -quarter of a mile, put on a desperate spurt and rowing for a minute and -a half at 44 strokes, they gained ground on Oxford, whose crew seemed -as fresh as when they began. - -Now is the last desperate struggle. Pull, Harvard; you cannot hope to -win. Pull, Harvard, and pluck the sting from defeat! Both crews go at -it for a minute, and Loring's last spark of fire is given to drive his -boat through the water. There is a shout from the Ship Tavern, where -the American flag is displayed. Oxford comes by with that terrible -vengeance stroke, the terror of many a gallant Cantab oarsman. There is -a shout which splits the clouds almost, a report of a gun, and Oxford -has struck the tow line, a boat and a half's length ahead, (not three -lengths ahead as was reported,) the race is lost and won, by about 65 -feet, and the most gallant display ever seen on the Thames is over, and -the dark blue swarms go home triumphant at heart. Bridges, river bank, -and church steeple are deserted, as the Oxford crew paddle their boat -along side of the Harvard crew, and, raising their hands in air, give -the defeated oarsmen a hearty English cheer and shake hands with them, -and the Harvard boys cheer back, and Charles Reade, who stands on the -deck of the steamer Lotus, lifts his straw hat in respect to Loring, -who smiles back sadly at him, and all is over. The children's children -of those two crews will yet tell of that day's struggle, which for one -hour served to call back the Homeric days of Greece. - -The distance pulled by the Harvard and Oxford crews was four miles and -three furlongs, without any turning at a stake boat. The day was a very -warm one, the thermometer being at 87° Fahrenheit--in the shade. - -The names and weight of the crews were as follows: - - OXFORD UNIVERSITY. HARVARD UNIVERSITY. - - 1. Darbishire, (stroke) 160 lbs. 1. Loring, (stroke) 154 lbs. - 2. Yarborough, 170 " 2. Simmonds, 170 " - 3. Tinne, 192 " 3. Lyman, 155 " - 4. Willan, (bow) 166 " 4. Fay, (bow) 155 " - Hall, coxswain, 100 " Burnham, coxswain, 112 " - ____ ____ - 788 746 - -[Sidenote: BEATEN BY EIGHT SECONDS.] - -The time occupied by both crews in pulling the race was as follows: - - Oxford, 22 minutes 20 seconds. - Harvard, 22 " 26 " - -Both crews did their best, but the Oxford style of rowing, and their -form, was superior to that of Harvard. Rowing with a coxswain will -one day supersede the Harvard bow-steering. The Harvard crew received -perfect fair-play and courtesy, and all the stories to the contrary -which have been circulated are untrue. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -THE CURIOSITIES OF LONDON. - - -A MOST venerable relic--none more so in London--is the Domesday Book, -which I was allowed to inspect one day while sauntering through the -Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. This hoary volume is called the -"Domesday Book," or, "Register of the Lands of England," and was made -in the year 1086, almost in the morning of English history. - -There are two volumes of the "Domesday Book," one being a folio and the -other a quarto. A fee of a shilling is charged strangers, to inspect -the musty old tomes, with their illuminated characters, which detail -the various "messuages," "folkmotes," "carucates," and "hydes," of -land, which were divided among Norman William's mail clad barons, by -right of conquest, nearly a thousand years ago. - -These volumes are the oldest in England, although I have been informed -that there are, in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, two books, in Greek -characters, which were saved from the destruction of the Alexandrian -Library in the Ninth Century. - -[Sidenote: THE DREADNOUGHT.] - -One of the Domesday volumes is a very large folio, the other is a -quarto. The quarto is written on 382 double pages of vellum, in one -and the same hand, in small but plain characters, each page having -double columns. Some of the capital letters and principal pages are -touched with black ink, and others are crossed with lines of red ink. -The second volume, in folio, is written in 450 pages of vellum, but in -single columns, occupying each page, and in a large, fair character. -At the end of the second volume is the following memorial, in capital -letters, of the time of its completion: - -"Anno Millesimo Octogesimo Sexto ab Incarnatione Domini, vigesimo vero -regni Willielmi, facta est ista Descriptio, non solum per hos tres -Comitatus, sed etiam per alios." - -These books, until the year 1696, or for over six hundred years, were -carried innumerable times from place to place, through England, under -strong guards, within the jurisdiction of the various Lord Chancellors, -and Courts, to settle disputes and verify local records and documents, -in regard to the transmission of real estate, for every acre of land -owned to-day in England is held by the original tenure, given in -Domesday Book. - -Since 1696 the book has been kept with the King's Seal, at Westminster, -in the Exchequer, under three locks and keys in the charge of the -Auditor, the Chamberlain, and Deputy Chamberlains of the Exchequer. -It is kept in a vaulted porch never warmed by fire. For eight hundred -years it has never felt or seen a fire, and yet the pages are bright, -sound, and perfect as ever. In making searches, or transcripts from the -volume, the text must not be touched, and this has always been the rule -from forgotten days. All the cities, towns, and villages of England -are recorded in this book, with their value, location, and boundaries, -their castles, fortresses, marches, and the religious houses of the -Kingdom, as they stood twenty years after Duke William, of Normandy, -reined in his war horse from the slaughter of Hastings' dread field. - -The Hospital Ship "Dreadnought," (soon to be broken up and sold,) which -lies moored off Greenwich, in the dirty Thames, is another of the -curious sights of London. An hospital for the sick and diseased seamen -of all nations arriving in the port of London, was established on board -of the "Grampus," a 50 gun frigate, in 1821, but the "Grampus" did not -prove large enough for the purpose, and the next vessel chosen was the -104 gun three-decker "Dreadnought," which was fitted up in 1831, as an -Hospital Ship. This old hulk has glorious memories for all Englishmen, -who, as they look at her rotting timbers, can imagine that they see her -coming out of the smoke of Trafalgar fight, after capturing the Spanish -three-decker, "San Juan," which had, two hours before, beaten off the -English frigates, "Bellerophon" and "Defiance." - -[Illustration: HOSPITAL SHIP, DREADNOUGHT.] - -The establishment on board of the "Dreadnought" consists of a -Superintendent, two Surgeons, an Apothecary, Visiting Physicians, and -a Chaplain. The ship is moored contiguous to the bulk of the shipping -in the docks, and in the river, and is the only place in London for the -reception of sick seamen arriving from abroad, or to whom accidents may -happen between the mouth of the river and London Bridge. Sick seamen of -every nation, on presenting themselves alongside, are immediately and -kindly received without any recommendatory letters, and ship-wrecked -sailors, and vagrant seamen, are admitted, if deserving. In 1869, 2,463 -patients were received on board, and 1,836 seamen were attended to as -out patients. - -[Sidenote: A GAUDY SHOW.] - -The Emperor of Russia subscribes annually £150, the Queen of Spain -£100, the King of Italy £100, the Emperor of France £200, the Sultan -of Turkey £100, the King of Denmark £50, and the King of Prussia £100. -I heard nothing of a contribution from the American Government, but it -is probable that the American Consul may, in some way, provide for the -destitute seamen of his country. - -The patients are ranged upon the lower decks, the portholes affording -a sort of ventilation, such as it is--the breeze coming in from the -putrid Thames' river, and in the cabin are all the implements of -surgery, so that a leg or arm can be whipped off at a moment's notice, -or an abscess, or ulcer, may be punctured equally quick. - -Visitors can inspect the "Dreadnought" on any day of the week, -excepting Sunday--between the hours of eleven and three. - -The number of seamen cared for in this floating hospital, for the past -thirty years, with their different places of nativity, is as follows: - -Englishmen, 84,600; Scotchmen, 18,960; Irishmen, 17,325; Frenchmen, -3,911; Germans, 2,800; Russians, 2,230; Prussians, 1,840; Hollanders, -480; Danes, 1,600; Swedes, 2,117; Norwegians, 1,604; Italians, 1,208; -Portuguese, 706; Spaniards, 801; East Indians, 2,014; West Indians, -3,212; British Americans, 1,582; United States, 3,316; South Americans, -712; Africans, 1,200; Turks, 174; Greeks, 295; New Zealanders, 98; -Australians, 307; South Sea Islanders, 80; Chinese, 347; born at sea, -206. - -Generally there are about two hundred patients in the floating Hospital -at a time, and it is kept pretty full, from the fact that a poor sailor -will perish afloat sooner than enter a land hospital, and seamen often -travel from the most distant parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, -to be received in the Dreadnought. - -One day, while standing on Cheapside looking at the busy thoroughfare, -which much resembles Broadway, New York, in its main features, I saw a -queerly-shaped, but magnificent vehicle dash by, embellished in gold -and silver, and hung with crimson velvet. - -I asked a bystander what it was, and he answered with proper British -pride: - -"Why, don't you know? That's the Queen's State Kerridge a-goin to the -Tower to be repaired." - -I afterward saw this vehicle in all its glory and detail, and for the -benefit of Americans who may desire to get up a gorgeous equipage, I -will do my best to describe it. - -The carriage is composed of four Sea Tritons, who support the body -by cables; the two placed on the front, as it were, bear the driver, -(a most magnificent flunkey in powder and velvet,) and are sounding -shells, and those on the back part carry the bundles of Lictors rods -which are seen on Roman monuments and medals. The foot board on which -the driver rests his noble feet, is a large scallop shell, supported -by marine plants of different kinds. The pole resembles a bundle of -lances, and the wheels are made in imitation of the war chariots which -once rolled around classic arenas in the Games. The body of the coach -is composed of eight palm trees, which, branching out at the top, -sustain the roof, and at each angle are trophies of English battles by -land and sea. - -On the top of the roof are three little figures of fairies representing -England, Ireland, and Scotland, supporting a golden crown, and holding -the sceptre, the sword of state, and insignia of knighthood, and from -their bodies fall festoons of laurel to the four corners of the roof. - -On the right and left doors, and on the back and front pannels, are -painted allegorical designs in splendid style, representing Britannia -on a Throne, Religion, Wisdom, Justice, Valor, Fortitude, Commerce, -Plenty, Victory, and all the other virtues and acquisitions which all -Englishmen flatter themselves can only be found in "Britain ye knaw." - -[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S STATE COACH.] - -Inside the State Coach it is simply magnificent. The body is lined with -scarlet embossed velvet, superbly laced and embroidered with the Star, -enameled by the Collar of the Order of the Garter, and surmounted by -the crown with the George and Dragon pendant. St. George, St. Michael, -and even St. Patrick, get a show here, although the latter has very -little show from the Queen in his own country. - -The hammer cloth is of scarlet velvet, with gold badges, ropes, and -tassels. The length of the carriage and body is 24 feet, width 8 -feet 3 inches, height 12 feet, length of pole 12 feet, weight four -tons. So that the Queen, when she desires a state airing, is carted -around for the amusement of her subjects, in a four-ton vehicle. The -painting of the panels cost £800, or about $4,000 greenbacks. The -eight horses which are employed to draw this magnificent carriage on -state occasions, are valued at £2,000, and the expense for grooms, -drivers, coachmen, and boys, of this equipage, which is not used more -than once in five years, (and when not used being chiefly of service -in showing off the manly proportions of John Brown,) is for every year -over $25,000, or as much as the salary of the President of the United -States. The Queen's coach is one hundred and eight years old, and is -kept in the Royal Mews or Stables at Pimlico. - -The bill which a loyal people had to pay when it was sent in for this -coach, was as follows: - - Coachmaker (including Wheelwright and Smith), £1637 15 0 - Carver, 2500 0 0 - Gilder, 935 14 0 - Painter, 315 0 0 - Laceman, 737 10 7 - Chaser, 665 4 6 - Harnessmaker, 385 15 0 - Mercer, 202 5 10-1/2 - Beltmaker, 99 6 6 - Milliner, 31 3 4 - Saddler, 10 16 6 - Woollendraper, 4 3 6 - Covermaker, 3 9 6 - ---------- - £7528 4 3-1/2 - -There was an awful row about the size of the bill, which was at first -£8,000, but after a great argument it was cut down to the amount paid, -£7,528 4 3-1/2. The maker refused to take off the three-half pence, -and declared that he had been "skinned and robbed," but I imagine it -was the poor miserable wretches who died of starvation and cold and -exposure in the London streets that had the best right to complain. - -The Lord Mayor's State Coach, which was built in 1757, is almost as -magnificent as the Queen's, and is designed in fully as good or bad -taste, I do not know which to call it. - -To show how the people of England tolerate the most outrageous humbugs -on the face of the earth, I will give some of the items in regard to -the cost of the Lord Mayor's coach. When the coach was built, one -hundred and thirteen years ago, each alderman in the city subscribed -£60 towards its construction; then each alderman who was afterward -sworn into office, was forced to contribute £60 on taking the oath. -And each Lord Mayor also gave £100 on entering his office, to keep the -coach in order. In 1768 the entire expense of keeping the coach fell -on the Lord Mayor, who had to pay £300 during that year, and twenty -years after its construction, the coach cost in 1787, £355 to keep it -in order for that twelve months. During seven years of this present -century, the cost for repairs was per annum--£115, and in 1812 it was -newly lined and gilt for the benefit of the gaping London crowds, at -an expense of £600, and a new seat cloth was furnished for £90; and -again in 1821, this costly vehicle devoured the bread which ought to -have been eaten by the starving poor, to the tune of £206 for another -relining. In 1812 a carriage-making firm agreed to keep the coach in -order for ten years at an expense to the city of £48 a year, which -offer was accepted. The real amount of money swallowed up in this old -lumbering vehicle is incalculable. Six horses are required to draw -it, valued at £200 a piece, and the coach weighs 7,600 pounds. A Lord -Mayor, when well fed and taken care of, weighs, I believe, about 312 -pounds. The harnesses for each of the six horses weighs 106 pounds, or -636 pounds in all. - -The State Coach belonging to the Speaker of the House of Commons, was -built for Oliver Cromwell, and is drawn by two horses. - -[Sidenote: JONATHAN WILD'S SKELETON.] - -The two sheriffs of London have also State Coaches, burnished and -blazoned with gold, and hung with silks and velvets, and although they -only receive £1,000 for their year's services, the expense of state -coaches, horses, liveries, and drivers, never falls below 2,500 guineas -for their term. They are not allowed to serve if they swear themselves -to be worth over £15,000, or $75,000. - -The ceremony of installing a London sheriff I am afraid would make a -New York Sheriff howl, and much profanity would result were the ancient -ceremonies to become necessary at the City Hall of New York. I give the -curious form of installation of a Sheriff of London. - -[Illustration: JONATHAN WILD'S SKELETON.] - -The sheriffs are chosen by the Livery Companies or Trade Associations -of London, on the morning of the Feast of St. Michael, and are -presented in the Court of Exchequer, accompanied by the Lord Mayor -and all the Aldermen, when the Recorder of London introduces the -two sheriffs, one for London proper, and the other for Middlesex -County, and the Chief Judge in his red robes, signifies the Queen's -assent, handing the sheriff's "roll"--a sheet of paper which has had -the names of the sheriffs pricked in by the Queen's own hand, the -writs and appliances are read and filed, and the sheriffs and senior -under-sheriffs take the oaths; when the late sheriffs present their -accounts. The crier of the court then makes proclamation for one who -does homage for the sheriffs of London to "stand forth and do his -duty;" when the senior alderman below the chair rises, the usher of the -court hands him a bill-hook, and holds in both hands a small bundle of -sticks, which the alderman cuts asunder, and then cuts another bundle -with a hatchet. Similar proclamation is then made for the sheriff of -Middlesex, when the alderman counts six horse-shoes lying upon the -table, and sixty-one hob-nails handed in a tray; and the numbers are -declared twice. - -The sticks are thin peeled twigs tied in a bundle at each end with red -tape; the horse-shoes are of large size, and very old; the hob-nails -are supplied fresh every year. By the first ceremony the alderman does -suit and service for the tenants of a manor in Shropshire, the chopping -of sticks betokening the custom of the tenants supplying their lord -with fuel. The counting of the horse-shoes and nails is another suit -and service of the owners of a forge in St. Clement Danes, Strand, -which formerly belonged to the city, but no longer exists. Sheriff -Hoare, in his MS. journal of his shrievalty, 1740-41, says, "where -the tenements and lands are situated no one knows, nor doth the city -receive any rents or profits thereby." - -In the Town Hall or Guildhall of London, some very strange relics are -preserved, but none can be more strange than the yellow faded parchment -shown me on which was written the humble petition of that notorious -rascal and thief-taker, Jonathan Wild, who had first trained Jack -Sheppard to thievery, after which he entrapped and hung him. Well, this -very virtuous old gentleman had the audacity to send a petition to the -Court of Aldermen in the year 1724, praying for the freedom of the City -in view of the benefit he had conferred on it by the apprehension of so -many thieves who had returned from transportation. - -One day while paying a visit to a celebrated surgeon, whose residence -is at Windsor, I was invited to look into his closets, in which were -stored a number of curiosities. Suddenly a door in a recess of the -chamber flew open, and out popped a skeleton on wires, with a ghastly, -grinning jaw, and its ribs all open like the timbers of a wrecked ship. - -"That's the skeleton of Jonathan Wild," said the surgeon, "It has been -in our family for a hundred years, I believe." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -STREET SIGHTS OF LONDON. - - -VERY strange sights are seen in London. No city that I have ever -visited will compare with London for the number of its street peddlers, -hawkers, booth proprietors, open-air performers, ballad singers, -mountebanks, and other street itinerants. - -From daybreak until dark, and long into the night, in the ramification -of Streets and Lanes, Squares, Mews, and Ovals, the ear of the stranger -is saluted with the harshest and most discordant sounds which emanate -from the throats of a street-selling population of both sexes, large -enough alone to make the population of a fifth-rate city. - -The London Cockney who has heard the same grating sounds from the days -of his earliest childhood, never stops in his walk to listen to the -cries, but the stranger in London is compelled by the very want of -melody or intelligibility in the hawker's cries to listen, yet it is -useless for him to attempt to solve the meaning of their uncouth and -barbarous gibberage. - -For these seventy-five thousand men, women, and boys, as well as -girls, many of a tender age--have their several dialects, and signals, -and patois, which it would be madness to try to understand without -a thorough schooling in the rudiments of their language and several -occupations. - -In another part of this work I have taken a glance at the London -Costermongers and their habits and amusements, such as they are. - -Beside this, the largest and most hard-working class of street hawkers, -there are a hundred other branches of street merchandise, and all these -different branches have their followers, who navigate every quarter of -the metropolis, trying to pick up a shilling here and there from the -sale of their commodities, as luck or energy may chance to send the -shilling their way. - -It is calculated that the gross receipts of the street peddlers of -London amount to as much as £5,000,000 a year. This would make an -average of £70 a year, or nearly $500 for each person engaged in street -peddling. Of course in this aggregate I must include all those who keep -stands or booths of a greater or lesser magnitude. - -Some of these poor wretches may earn in good weeks about fifteen to -twenty shillings, while at other seasons when green stuff is scarce, it -is rarely that they exceed more than eight shillings on an average for -the same amount of labor and hawking. - -Ten shillings, however, is a fair week's earning if that amount be -realized during the current year. It may be calculated that the profits -will average as high as £1,500,000 where the gross receipts for sales -are as high as £5,000,000. - -A bitter hostility exists between the tradesmen who occupy shops and -pay what they consider to be exorbitant rents, and the street sellers. -No sooner has a street seller made a round of custom for himself and -advertised his wares sufficiently, than the blue-coated policeman is -sure to appear, armed with the authority which cannot be disobeyed, and -he is compelled to move his stand or barrow. - -The hawker or peddler is forced to pay four or five pounds a year for -a license to sell in this precarious way, and yet in London he has no -legal right to occupy a stand or booth. He has always to move on, like -the boy Joe in Bleak House. - -It is more than wonderful to think of the shifts made by the poor -classes of London to make a living. - -[Sidenote: SECOND-HAND BOOTS AND SHOES.] - -The rich man passes by objects in the crowded streets every day with -scorn or loathing, which serve to yield a sustenance to the indigent -population, and even the offal of the streets will bring a price when -offered for sale. The work of the class who gather this material is -generally done before daybreak, and in some cases their earnings are -considerable. - -The second-hand metal and tool sellers are to be found chiefly as -proprietors of booths or barrows in the vicinity of Petticoat and -Rosemary Lanes. The street trade of the city is, to a great extent, -done by those who have barrows, and as it is convenient for them to -move their barrows from place to place, the costermongers are found all -over the metropolis. - -I made it my business to go almost incessantly among those street -hawkers, and I got from them a vast amount of useful information, and a -great many statistics. - -Some of them tell curious stories, and have considerable wit of -a coarse kind, but to the wandering American they are, with few -exceptions, very civil, and will relate their checkered life-histories -with great eagerness. - -There are hundreds of old boot and shoe shops and stands, where a great -business is carried on in the mending, patching, and vending of old -shoes and boots. - -In one branch of the street trade alone, it will be interesting to give -some statistics which may be deemed reliable, as having been collected -by Mr. Henry Mayhew. There are shops and stands included in this trade -alone-- - - In Drury Lane and streets adjacent, 50 shops. - Seven Dials, " " 100 " - Monmouth Street, " " 40 " - Hanway Court, Oxford Street, 4 " - Lisson-grove, " " 100 " - Paddington, " " 30 " - Petticoat Lane, " " 200 " - Somerstown, 50 " - Field Lane, Saffron Hill, 40 " - Clerkenwell, 50 " - Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, 100 " - Rosemary Lane and vicinity, 30 " - ---- - 744 shops. - -About two thousand five hundred men are employed mending and patching -shoes. Then there are hundreds of poor men and women who gain -subsistence, but barely subsistence, by collecting the old material of -all articles that are made of leather, and selling it to those who keep -shops or stands. - -I visited the lodgings of a man, in Cutler street, who paid his -landlord a weekly rent of 1s. 8d. for the use of one bare room, which -had no furniture with the exception of a three-legged chair upon which -he sat--and a heap of straw and dirty rags, which served him as a bed. -On the bare mantel-piece was a broken loaf of brown-bread, and a cooked -kidney, with a broken mustard-pot. - -The man was named Ferguson, and had only one eye, the other having -been obliterated by the small pox. He was a cheerful old fellow, this -peddler of second-hand boots and shoes, and seemed to take the world as -it came without thought of the morrow. I told him that I was in search -of information, and statistics in regard to the working people of -London, and he offered me very politely his only stool. I declined the -courtesy and sat on the heap of rags while he told his story. - -"Ye need not be afeered of the bugs, yer honor, in the bed. The place -is not warm enough for them to stay here. - -"Stistiks ye want is it? Well, I don't know how I can give ye stistiks, -but I can tell you my own story. - -"I began life a shoemaker's apprentice, in Edinburgh, although I am by -birth an Englishman. My master's name was Mac Donald, and when he drank -whiskey his temper generally ruz, and the divil couldn't stand him or -get the better of him. So I listed for a soldier and went to furrin -parts, and after I sarved my time I came back a good deal wiser but not -a penny richer of it all. - -[Sidenote: THE DOG FANCIER.] - -"I had my ups and downs when I came back, but I didn't marry, as it -was too bad to bring another person into poverty besides myself. I've -smoked a pipe when I was troubled in mind and could not get a bite to -eat, or a drop of gin to drink, but how would it be if I had a young -daughter? What good would it do to smoke if she wos hungry and I had -nothing to eat for her. I used to sell cherries and strawberries, and -then I gave that up and went into the old shoe trade. It paid better, -but sometimes I hadn't a penny-piece for two days at a time, and I -would have to sell my stock to get my grub. - -"The regular sort of men's shoes are not a werry good sale. I gets from -ten-pence to five shillings a pair, but the high priced ones is always -soled or heeled and covered with mud. I gets from one shilling to -two-and-sixpence for cloth in the shoes, when they are in decent trim. -Blucher's brings two shillings and upwards, and Wellington's about the -same. I have sold children's shoes as low as three-pence and as high -as one and sixpence. I carry a wooden seat with me so that a man who -wants to buy from me can sit down and try on a pair anywhere. People -who havn't got any money to throw away generally likes to get their -second-hand boots or shoes as big as you have them, cos wy, when they -take them in the rain if they are a tight fit they can't put them on." - -On an average the one-eyed boot and shoe seller informed me that he -made about four to seven shillings a week, and he called it a very good -week when he managed to make ten shillings profit. - -Dog-sellers, of whom there are about two hundred in London, always -choose the most public places for their stations. - -Down in Parliament street, opposite the Horse Guards, in Trafalgar -square, at the base of Nelson's Monument, in Upper Regent street by the -Coliseum, on the steps of the Bank and the Royal Exchange, on Waterloo -Bridge and along the Thames Embankment, and in fact wherever a large -open space may be found, or a well known public building located, the -dog-fancier may be noticed with a poodle between his legs, a black and -tan under one arm and a spaniel under the other, and by his side, it is -more than probable that a basket will be placed full of live, kicking, -and sagacious pups, of different colors and of as many breeds. - -These dog-sellers are the keenest street traders to be found in London, -and dramatists and playwrights are never weary of making sketches and -amusing characters of dog fanciers. - -Some years ago, two rascals, bearing the names of "Ginger" and -"Carrots," made themselves famous for the number of dogs stolen by -them. At last it was impossible for any canine to escape these fellows, -and so industrious did they become in the pursuit of them that they -were arrested by the police and sent to the House of Correction for -six months, which is the penalty for stealing one dog, yet "Ginger" -and "Carrots" had, in their career, stolen thousands of unsuspecting -yelpers from their owners. - -In one year 60 dogs were reported lost, 606 stolen, 38 persons were -charged with dog stealing, 18 of whom were convicted, and 20 discharged. - -It is a fact worth noting, that, excepting in rare cases, the -dog stealers do not affiliate with or frequent the company of -house-breakers, or thieves of any other class. Dog stealing among -professionals is looked upon as a noble science, and deserving of long -and arduous practice. - -On wet days, when pedestrians may be forced by the suddenness of the -rain gusts to seek refuge in some arcade or colonade, like those in -Piccadilly or the Regents' Quadrant, it is then that the dog fancier -suddenly emerges from his hibernation, and knowing that he will have -the attention of a group of people who are without occupation while in -shelter, he may be certain to dispose of his dogs to advantage. It is -upon old and timid ladies that these dog venders are sure to practice -their tricks. - -Let an old maid but look longingly at some hairy poodle or woolly King -Charles,--then woe be to her if she attempt to escape without buying. - -"Wot," said one heartless villain of a dog fancier to a spinster -wearing gold spectacles, who was trying to make her escape from his -alarming language, as he stood in the Strand with a pet poodle in his -arms, "does ye keep me 'ere a torkin for three blessed hours and then -ye goes hoff without buying this beutifool dorg as is dirt cheap at -twenty pounds and I hoffers it to ye for five sovs. I say, do take it -with ye and make a muff of hit, the precious dear. All ye have to do -is to get its legs and tail cut off, and get its insides scooped out, -and ye'll have a splendid muff. Wot, ye won't buy, hey? Pir-leece, -Pir-leece," and the fellow began to scream for the police as if the -poor frightened old maid had intended to rob him. - -[Sidenote: WHO KEEP BIRDS.] - -Bird-Sellers frequent the New Cut, Lambeth, Bermondsey, Whitechapel, -Billingsgate, and Smithfield, as well as the different streets of -Southwark and Blackfriars. - -There are hundreds of these bird-sellers to be found hawking their -birds all over the city. They are shrewd, speculative men, and can tell -a bird's age and power of singing almost at a glance. - -The smallest cage costs sixpence, and a thrush and cage of a common -kind is valued at 2s. 6d. A canary that sings well may fetch about -3s. The hens or female birds do not have a large sale, and the trade -in pigeons is decreasing, owing to the emigration of many of the -Spitalfield weavers, who had a great love for pigeons and were the -principal breeders of that bird in England. - -The poorer the family, the more likely that a bird will be found in the -house; and stable boys, laborers, and the humbler class of artisans, -are in the habit of keeping birds in their dwellings. - -It is also curious to notice the love formed by women who lead an -abandoned life, for all kinds of birds, chiefly, however, for those -that will sing. I noticed, in making a tour of inspection with the -police among the Slums of the Haymarket, that nearly every woman of -foreign extraction and of dissolute life had a linnet, canary, or -blackbird, in her room. Frenchwomen of this class are very fond of -canaries. Poor, lonely, forsaken wretches, it is the instinct of -deprived maternity which demands that they should have something to -love and make a pet of. - -Sailors, who have returned from long voyages, will stop in the street -when they see a bird-seller's stand, look at it for a moment with open -mouth, and taking out a handful of silver, will give the bird-fancier -any price he chooses to ask for a sweet singing bird. The bird will -serve as a gift to some female relative, a wife, or as, in many cases, -some woman of the town will receive the cage and its occupant as a gift -from the drunken Jack-Tar. - -About five thousand parrots are imported and sold annually in London. -They are chiefly brought from Africa, and a fine parrot will bring as -high as a pound. Quite a number of these birds die on the homeward -voyage, and this makes the price of parrots very high. Birds' nests are -also sold in the streets by Italian and Savoyard boys in great numbers. - -Squirrels, rabbits, and gold and silver fish may be also found for sale -in the streets, the latter being bought to keep in glass globes as -ornaments. - -At every railroad station, in and outside of London, a person can be -weighed for a penny. A man named Read has at least one hundred weighing -chairs, which he rents out to men and boys at a certain rate of the -gross receipts. On the different bridges cripples and retired soldiers -may be found with brass instruments for testing the lungs and power of -a man's arms, and also machines are to be found in front of well-known -public houses, and in the parks and squares, for measuring the height -of pedestrians. - -There was one old fellow with whom I became acquainted, who kept a -measuring and a weighing machine. - -His station was on the Middlesex side of the Waterloo Bridge. He told -me that he had been a pot-boy in a cheap eating house for five years, -and then was a helper in a gentleman's stable for six years. One of his -arms was rendered useless from an attack of paralysis, and finding that -he could not any longer work as a helper, he borrowed enough money to -purchase the weighing and measuring machines. - -Having some curiosity to know the average weight and height of his many -customers, I made a bargain with him, as he could read and write, to -keep a record of his experience for three days of the physique of those -who patronized his machines. - -His patrons were chiefly laboring men on the new Thames Embankment, -boatmen plying on the river, clerks going and coming to their business -over Waterloo Bridge, and soldiers. - -[Sidenote: COKE SELLERS.] - -His largest income was on Saturday nights, when the laboring people -were flush of copper pennies, and as nearly every third man was sure -to be drunk going over the bridge on Saturday night, he was certain to -reap a good harvest from their generous pockets. - -In three days he had weighed one hundred and thirty-two persons of the -male sex, and eight women. The average weight of each person I found -was, including the women, one hundred and fifty-five pounds. The number -of persons measured for their height was sixty-four, and the average -tallness of each person, among which number was only one female, was -five feet eight inches. The soldiers were of course the tallest. These -figures speak well for the London Cockneys. One of the women, a cook, -measured six feet, and weighed one hundred and ninety-eight lbs. I gave -the venerable statistician a shilling and bade him good-bye, but not -before I had received his blessing in fervent tones. - -[Illustration: COKE PEDDLER.] - -The consumption of coke purchased from the various gas houses of the -city by peddlers and hawkers is enormous. - -There are about two thousand persons concerned in this street trade, -one hundred of whom are women, and the aggregate includes boys. The -various gas companies realize a yearly sum equal to six million of -dollars from the sale of the coke. The peddlers distribute the coke to -their customers in large vans, wheelbarrows, donkey carts, hand carts, -and some of these strong limbed, broad chested fellows, carry the -coke from door to door in large sacks. A few of the women own routes, -and hire boys or men to sell the coke, giving them eight to twelve -shillings a week, according to their merits and enterprise as hawkers. -Coke is bought by these hawkers at the gas houses at from three to four -pence per bushel, and is sold by them again at eight pence per bushel. - -In giving the rates which I will have occasion to quote from time to -time in this work, I shall generally give the prices in British money. - -Salt is also vended in carts and wheelbarrows like coke, and some of -the peddlers of that much desired article for seasoning and preserving -food, sell in one day as much as five hundred pounds. The wholesale -price to the hawkers is about 2s. 6d. per hundred pounds, and it is -sold by them to the poor people in thickly populated districts, at a -penny a pound, or sometimes cheaper. - -Sand is sold in large quantities to the keepers of publics and small -shops, and to those keeping stalls in the old markets, at twenty -shillings a load, and the sand peddlers pay a license of two pounds per -annum. In fact all the London peddlers pay a tax or license of some -kind or another. - -One of the strangest sights in London is the "Bum Boat" of a "Purl," -or warm beer seller, who may be found now and then of a dark foggy day -plying his vocation on the Thames. - -Formerly there were hundreds of these beer peddlers upon the river, but -I believe that there are but a few, perhaps not more than five or six, -who still follow this occupation. - -One day while pulling around the shipping below London bridge in a -small boat, I came across one of the "Bum Boat" men, who might, I -believe, be taken as a very fair specimen of his class, or calling, -once numerous, but now only a scattered remnant of their former numbers. - -[Sidenote: STOCK IN TRADE.] - -This fellow, a sun-browned-looking man of thirty years of age or -thereabout, was impelling a craft, a strongly constructed, broad -bottomed barge or yawl, in and out among the smoky looking coal -barges, fish and oyster craft and coasting steamers. He wore a dark -blue guernsey shirt and a yellow oil-skin jacket, with heavy water -boots which encased his large legs from the knees downward. An immense -"Sou'-wester" shaded his broad face, and he was trying to drive the fog -away by smoking a dreadful black clay pipe. - -At the stern of the boat was a rough canvas awning, and under this the -"Purl" man told me that he slept for weeks and months, while his boat -lay at anchorage in some of the nooks of the busy river. - -[Illustration: BUM BOAT MAN.] - -He seldom or ever went ashore, excepting when necessity compelled him -to debark for the purpose of laying in beer and other stock for his -customers. - -In the bottom of the boat were heaps of fresh onions, a bag of -potatoes, a couple of bushels of Swedish turnips, parsnips, carrots, -some packages of tea and coffee in small square brown parcels, tied -with white string, a tin box full of mutton chops and beef steaks, cut -ready for sale, and other articles of food that would be most relished -by seafaring men on their return from a voyage. - -There were also in the boat a small patent sheet-iron furnace, two -little casks of beer, each containing about four gallons of that -beverage, a can with a gallon of gin of the cheap and fiery brand, -and two tin pannikins in which he warmed the beer, or "Purl," as it -is called, upon the small sheet-iron stove. This he sold hot to the -sailors, oystermen, and coal bargees, at four pence a pint. It was -most wonderful to see the dexterous manner in which this Bum Boat man -passed in and out between the numerous craft, paddling and ringing a -hand bell the while, without any collision or trouble, and then to hear -through the fog, the answering cries from the sailors who recognized -his welcome bell: - -"Boat ahoy!" - -"Bell ah-o-o-y!" - -"P-i-n-t o' P-u-r-l a-h-o-o-y!" - -Then for an instant the bell would cease, and the dark shapes of the -"Bum Boat" and its proprietor would be seen, as the latter stood up -to reach a noggin of gin to a bargee, or a pewter pint of foaming hot -"Purl" to some thirsty soul of a tar just arrived from Greenwich, -Glasgow, or Cork. - -The "Bum Boat" man is one of the most picturesque sights of that most -picturesque of cities, London. The few who still ply their avocation -on the river, are in pretty comfortable circumstances, and their lives -are as happy as can be imagined, much more so, I have no doubt, than -they were when there were hundreds of them paddling about the river and -impoverishing themselves by a ruinous competition. - -[Sidenote: HOW DICK GETS HIS PORRIDGE.] - -I have often noticed miserable, wan, and half naked looking little -children, in and around the Regent's Circus, and in the neighborhood of -the Cafés and Pall Mall, with small bags made from the material used in -potato sacks, collecting cigar ends and crusts of bread from ash heaps -and dust bins. Wondering what use could be made of these disgusting -fragments, I one day accosted a lad of twelve years or thereabouts, -who was busily engaged in searching a dust bin near Simpson's Tavern -in the Strand, which is a resort for fashionable diners out. - -I said to him, after giving him a penny, which will always unclose the -lips of the sauciest London street boy: - -"Child, why do you collect these fragments of crusts and cigar ends?" - -"Mister," said the half frightened child, who took me at the first -glance for a detective in plain clothes--and by the way, it seems as if -every poorly clad and hungry man and woman in London were suspicious -of the police, for the reason that they are poorly clad, and for that -reason alone-- - -[Illustration: "I GETS IT FOR CIGAR STUMPS."] - -"Mister," said the hungry child, whose face was prematurely aged, "I -aint doing nothink; I was only grabbing the crusts for porridge." - -"For porridge,--how do you make the porridge, my lad?" - -"My mother--she is down in Milbank street, and has got the small pox, -but before she was sick she used to bile the crusts in hot water and -put a pennorth o' oat meal in the pot. She borrowed the pot from Mrs. -Clarke, she did." - -"Who makes the porridge now, boy," said I to him. - -"A gal--me big sister Mag--she makes ladies' shoes for a shop, and -wacks me when she's mad and I aint got no money for gin. I likes -porridge, and Mag she makes it so preshis 'ot. My name's Dick." - -"Well, Dick, how do you get the 'pennorth' of oat meal for the -porridge?" - -"I gets it for cigar stumps. I finds a lot on 'em and sells 'em, and -I gets ten browns for a pound on 'em. The tibbaccy man buys 'em, but -he wont buy the short ones, cause he says they are all wet and the -tibbaccy is all gone from them. I makes tuppence a day sometimes." - -There are, I am told, fifty or sixty persons, men and boys, some of -whom are Irish, engaged in this branch of the Street Finders' vocation. - -It would be tedious to give an account of all the different branches -of street selling and buying in London. Their number is legion, and -it would be the work of weeks to merely recapitulate all the strange -ways and means whereby wretchedness exists in the heart of surrounding -splendor, and what would seem to be, but is not--an all-pervading -charity. - -But I cannot close this chapter without glancing at the street -performers--street "Peep" Shows, Reciters, Showmen, Strong Men, Dancing -boys and men, Tom Tom players, Street Clowns and Acrobats, Bagpipe -players, Negro Serenaders, Street Bands, Punch and Judy shows, and -other street folk, who are almost if not as numerous as the hawkers and -collectors. - -There is to be seen on Saturday nights, in the vicinity of Farringdon -and the old London markets, now and then a stray Peep Show man, who -frequents the most crowded districts, where the poorer people have -money to spend. These Peep Shows are conveyed through the streets on -a low four wheeled wagon, sometimes by the performer or proprietor -in person, at other times by a donkey. Donkeys cost from two to five -pounds in London, according to their breed and tractability. - -On the wagon a square box is generally placed, having a large glass -front, which is covered with green baize or a dirty velvet curtain. - -[Illustration: STREET ACROBATS.] - -This screen conceals the automaton figures that are set in motion -by the man in charge. Sometimes there is a hurdy gurdy, or hand -organ, attached, and while the exhibitor turns a crank to allow the -spectators to look at the revolving pictures of the "Capture of the -Malakoff," the "Death of Nelson," "Napoleon at Waterloo," or some -other historic picture, the hurdy gurdy will play "Old Dog Tray," "The -Lancashire Lass," or some other popular ditty. Representations of the -most horrible murders, or executions of well known criminals, are much -relished by the London mobs, and are well patronized. One of these men -told me that he was accustomed to take three and four shillings on -Saturday nights in Farringdon market or the New Cut, while during the -week he might not make four shillings altogether. - -[Sidenote: STREET ACROBATS.] - -Street acrobats, or posturers, are often met with in London. They are -to be found usually in streets which have one end closed, or near -the river. Thus the traffic is not impeded, owing to the absence of -vehicles; and a street like those which run off the Strand toward the -river will be quiet as the grave all day long until near the dusk, -when all at once, as if by magic, a curious crowd of men, women, and -children will collect around a man and boy or boys, who will in the -most business like fashion proceed to divest themselves of their -outward clothing, which of course is of a rather shabby kind, and -in a few moments they will appear in all the glory of flesh-colored -tights, just as they may be seen standing in the sawdust of a circus -arena. Their foreheads are glorious with silver tinsel or silk ribbon -fillets, their loins girt with strips of velvet, and their whole rig -of a theatrical character. Some of the children are really handsome, -and most exquisitely shaped, the results of athletic exercise and free -fresh air. But the men, poor devils, have all of them a haggard, worn, -fretful look, with hollowed cheek and straggling gray hair. - -Having placed a piece of carpet, rather threadbare in appearance, in -the middle of the street, after selecting the cleanest spot for it, -these fellows (who are soon in the centre of a ring of people, from -whom coppers are collected while the acrobats are bounding in air), go -to work, and for half an hour will amaze, delight, edify, and instruct -the grown children, larking street boys, and nursery maids of the -neighborhood, and having collected perhaps ten pence or a shilling, -they will gather up the carpet, don their sober, shabby garments, and -find another quarter to do their trapeze, pyramid, and dancing feats. - -Nearly all these street acrobats are bruised, or are in some way -injured, and many die young from falls. - -Occasionally they will disappear from the crowded London streets, in -search of a scanty existence in some miserable provincial barn of -a theatre or music hall, and years may perhaps elapse before their -pinched cheeks and hungry eyes will again be encountered in the shabby -chop houses and dark, lanes of London. Six shillings a week is as much -as these poor wanderers, soiled by the glare of tallow candles in -crazy barns and sheds, can expect to make in the provincial towns and -villages. Therefore London, with all its misery, is very dear to them, -for with much less toil and labor they can realize twelve to fifteen -shillings per week in the Capital. - -[Sidenote: PUNCH AND JUDY SHOW.] - -But the great and lasting attraction among the multifarious street -scenes of London, is the Punch and Judy show, the delight of joyous -children, of the rich and poor, whether in Belgravia or St. Giles. And -indeed, Punch and Judy shows reap more profit in a poor and squalid -district than they will in the aristocratic quarters. - -[Illustration: PUNCH AND JUDY.] - -It is rarely that the police will disturb these street shows, unless -that householders should prefer a complaint that they were annoyed, -and then of course they are driven away. I have myself looked and -listened for many an hour to these absurdly humorous shows, to Punch -and Judy, the Dog, the Clown, and some negro characters selected for -the exhibition. Usually there is a man, his wife, and a boy to collect -the pennies thrown from windows or given by the crowd which assembles -to witness the performance. - -The man plays the pipes, fastened at his breast, and the drum with his -elbow; and the woman keeps the figures in motion on the miniature -stage, the back of which is hidden by a green curtain or tent, placed -in the cart. Behind this screen the woman conceals herself and talks -for the little automaton figures. There is a set dialogue in which the -figures are supposed to converse, and as it is seldom changed, I give -the following portion of a comedy of conversation, as that chiefly used -for many years by the London Punch and Judy shows: - - Enter Judy. - - _Punch._ What a sweet creature! what a handsome nose and chin! (He - pats Judy on the face lovingly.) - - _Judy._ Keep quiet, do! (Slapping him wickedly.) - - _Punch._ Don't be cross, my ducky, but give me a kiss. - - _Judy._ Oh, to be sure, my love. (They embrace and kiss.) - - _Punch._ Bless your sweet lips. (Hugging her.) These are melting - moments. I'm very fond of my wife, I must have a dance. - - _Judy._ Agreed. (Dancing.) - - _Punch._ Get out of the way, you don't dance well enough for me. (Hits - her on the nose.) Go and fetch the baby, and mind and take care of it - and not hurt it. (Judy goes off.) - - Judy. (Coming back with the baby.) - - Take care of the baby while I go and cook the dumplings. - - _Punch._ (Striking Judy with his hand.) Get out of the way! I'll take - care of the baby (and Judy goes out). - - Punch. (Sits down and sings to the baby.) - - "Hush a-bye baby on the tree top, - When the wind blows the cradle will rock; - When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, - Down comes the baby, cradle and all." - - (The baby cries and Punch throws it up and down violently.) - - _Punch._ What a cross child! I can't abear cross children. (Shakes the - baby and pretends that he is about to kill it, and finally throws it - out of the window.) - - Enter Judy. - - _Judy._ Where is the baby? - -[Sidenote: PUNCH IS EXECUTED.] - - _Punch._ (In a lemoncholy tone.) I have had a misfortune; the - child was so terrible cross I throwed it out of the window, I did. - (Lamentation of Judy for her dear child. She goes into asterisks, and - then excites and fetches a cudgel, and commences beating Punch over - the head.) - - _Punch._ Don't be cross, my dear, I didn't go to do it. - - _Judy._ I'll pay yer for a throwin' the child out of the winder. (She - keeps a beatin him on the blessed head with the stick, but Punch - snatches the stick away, and commences a smashin of her blessed head.) - - _Judy._ (Screaming like hanythink.) I'll go to the Constable and have - you locked up. - - _Punch._ Go to the devil. I don't care where you go. Get out of the - way. (Judy goes hoff, and Punch sings, "Par Excellence," or, "Ten - Little Indians." N.B. All before is sentimental, but this here's - comic. Punch goes through his roo-too-to-rooey, and in comes the - Beadle hall in red.) - -Then the "Clown" and "Jim Crow," the "Doctor," "Jack Ketch," the -hangman, with various characters, follow each other in quick succession -and enact their absurdities to the intense delight of the "juveniles," -as the showman, in his printed book of the play calls the children. -Punch is tried and convicted of murder, and being sentenced to death, -is finally hung by Jack Ketch, at Newgate, as a punishment for his -crimes, and is then placed in a coffin and given to be dissected. - -All through these performances I have frequently noticed that the child -spectators sympathized with Punch,--who is certainly a most notorious -criminal if we are to judge by his actions on the stage of the Punch -and Judy show,--and they always applauded when the Beadle got the worst -of the fight. - -It is a strange instinct, that which rises and glows in the breast of a -child,--this resistance to the spirit or personification of authority. - -The same instinct in the full-grown man, draws a mob of ragged blouses -after a Rochefort, in the streets of Paris, and builds barricades from -which they fire upon the hireling soldiery of a Bonaparte. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND NATIONAL GALLERY. - - -ON Great Russell street, Bloomsbury square, is the British Museum, one -of the chief glories of the English metropolis, and an institution of -which every Londoner is deservedly proud. There is, perhaps, no finer -collection of curiosities and antiquities, and the nation has been -for a century gathering the tributes of Science, Art, and Antiquity -together in this vast building, which covers, with grounds and -outbuildings, an area of seven acres. - -The first purchase for the collection was made in 1750, when Sir Hans -Sloane, a great collector and scientific man, died, leaving a will, in -which he suggested that his collection which cost him £50,000 should be -bought by Parliament for £20,000. This offer was accepted, and an act -was passed purchasing Sir Hans Sloane's "library of books, drawings, -manuscripts, prints, medals, seals, cameos, and intaglios, precious -stones, agates, jaspers, vessels of agate, crystals, mathematical -instruments, pictures, &c." Thus was laid the first foundation of the -now world famous British Museum. By the same act a purchase was made of -the Harleian Library of about 7,000 rare volumes of rolls, charters, -and manuscripts, to which were added the Cottonian Library, and the -library of Major Arthur Edwards. A lottery was devised, from which -£100,000 was realized, and the collections were paid for from this -fund, as well as the sum of £10,250 which was paid to Lord Halifax for -Montague House, in which the museum was then located, and on which -site the present building has been erected. The additional sum of -£12,873 was paid for the repairs of Montague House, and a fund was also -set apart for its taxes, salaries of officers, and Trustees, who were -chosen from the best and noblest in the land, and in 1759 the Museum -was opened to the public. - -[Sidenote: THE READING ROOM AND ITS OCCUPANTS.] - -The present lofty and imposing building was thirty years in -construction, although the Museum was all that time open to the public, -the building being erected piecemeal. The main buildings form a -quadrangle with spacious and lofty galleries and courts. The entrances -to the buildings are by magnificent staircases of stone, and the -portico is adorned with giant figures and groups of sculpture. - -Even in the old Egyptian days, no greater masses of stone were ever -used than those which have been placed in the grand flight of steps -of the main facade. There are twelve stone steps, 120 feet in width, -terminating with pedestals, on which are the groups of sculpture. There -are 800 huge stones in the edifice, weighing from five to nine tons -each. - -In the pediment, on the main front, are typified in storied stone, -Man, Religion, Paganism, Music, the Drama, Poetry, the Patriarchs, -Civilization, Science, Mathematics, and other allegorical figures. The -entire buildings have cost upward of £1,000,000. The principal doorway -is really majestic, being twenty-four feet high and ten feet wide. - -The Reading-Room of the Library contains 1,250,000 cubic feet of space, -the dome being 140 feet in diameter and 106 feet high. In this vast -room an echo is heard like the sound of a trumpet, and on its shelves, -and in contiguous alcoves, are 800,000 volumes of books upon every -known subject and in every known language. This room cost £150,000. -4,200 tons of iron were used in the construction of the dome alone. -There is accommodation for 300 readers, each person having a desk and -table in a space of four feet three inches. - -There is a great silence in this vast room where every one seems bent -on study. The very doorkeepers who take your hat and umbrella, have a -studious look. Every visitor presents his ticket of admission, and is -registered for the benefit of the statistics of the Kingdom. Scores of -men who have a taste for literature and reading, and no money to buy -books, come here, and, during lunch-hours, those who are anxious to -study, and do not wish to leave their seats, may be seen taking from -under their tables light luncheons, kidney-pies, and sandwiches, of -which they partake with that peculiar shamefacedness which is always -observable in people who eat in public places. - -There is a member of Parliament in his natty suit, and with a heavy -watch-chain, who has gotten him down an old rusty tome, from which he -is cramming with great earnestness for the next debate. Last night he -had never heard of the subject of which he is reading, and just now he -is full of it, and so puzzled with the wealth of the material before -him that he does not know at which end to begin. - -There is an old gentleman, in threadbare clothes, and worn cuffs, who -has a very mild and placid face, and blue bulbous eyes. The table -before him is strewn with old, worn volumes, bound with parchment and -sheep-skin covers, and every time he turns a leaf a cloud of powdered -dust ascends to his nostrils, and he is nearly suffocated. It is easy -to see from this man's soft and fixed look that he is a monomaniac upon -some subject, and that he is now settled for the day. Ah! what a sigh -of relief from the old codger. He has, after great trouble, secured in -his mind the point in dispute, and now he is at work rapidly scratching -away at his notes. Looking over his shoulder I can see that the old -fellow has a number of works on the subject of Heraldry before him, and -he is, of course, tracing some mystic pedigree to the Flood, or further -back, perhaps for the satisfaction of a butcher or tailor who may be in -want of an escutcheon and a bar sinister in his shield. - -In 1827, Sir Joseph Banks presented his botanical collection, and -66,000 valuable volumes. In 1837, the Prints and Drawings, the Geology -and Zoology departments were formed, and in 1857, the Department of -Mineralogy. The Museum is divided into departments of Printed Books, -Manuscripts, Antiquities, Art, Botany, Prints, and Drawings, Zoology, -Paleontology, Mineralogy, and Sculpture, each under the charge of an -"Under-Librarian." - -[Sidenote: THE MAGNIFICENT LIBRARIES.] - -There are five Zoological galleries or saloons, embracing everything -in the schedule of serpents, monkeys, lizards, tortoises, crocodiles, -toads, antelopes, rhinoceri, elephants, and hippopotami, giraffes, -buffaloes, oxen, lions, tigers, bears, otters, kangaroos, apes, -squirrels, whales, sharks, porpoises, and all kinds of fish and -mollusca. - -There is also a gallery of Fossils, Zoological and Geological, and -a Gallery of Minerals. In these galleries are eight saloons. Then -follow the Departments of Botany, and the Department of Antiquities, -containing vases, terra cottas, bronzes, coins, and medals. There are -also three saloons of Anglo-Roman Antiquities, of Roman Iconography, -three Greco-Roman saloons, the Greco-Roman Basement Room, the Lyceum -Gallery, and the Elgin Rooms, in which are the splendid marbles -collected by Lord Elgin at Athens, and which were bought for £35,000 by -Parliament. - -There are also the Hellenic Galleries of Marbles, the second Elgin -Room, the Assyrian Galleries, 300 feet in length, and thirty other -galleries, and innumerable saloons crowded with the most wonderful and -valuable objects of art and science. - -There is a Newspaper Saloon with the finest collection of newspapers -in England. The catalogues of the libraries and collections of the -Museum alone amount to 620 volumes. The collections are valued at -£15,000,000. By act of Parliament, a copy of every book, pamphlet, -sheet of letter-press, sheet of music, chart, plan or map, issued in -Queen Victoria's dominions must be delivered to the British Museum. -There are three libraries in the Museum: the King's Library, presented -by George IV, consisting of 80,000 volumes; the Greenville Library, -21,000 volumes; and the General Library of 730,000 volumes, and which -is inferior only to those of Munich and Paris. - -Magna Charta, if not the original, a copy made when King John's seal -was affixed to it, was acquired by the British Museum with the -Cottonian Library. It was nearly destroyed in the fire of Westminster -in 1731; the parchment is much shriveled and mutilated, and the seal is -reduced to an almost shapeless mass of wax. The MS. was carefully lined -and mounted; and in 1733 an excellent _fac-simile_ of it was published -by John Pine, surrounded by inaccurate representations of the armorial -ensigns of the twenty-five barons appointed as securities for the due -performance of Magna Charta. - -An impression of this _fac-simile_, printed on vellum, with the -arms carved and gilded, is placed opposite the Cottonian original -of the Great Charter, which is now secured under glass. It is about -two feet square, is written in Latin, and is quite illegible. It -is traditionally stated to have been bought for four-pence, by Sir -Robert Cotton, of a tailor, who was about to cut up the parchment into -measures! But this anecdote, if true, may refer to another copy of -the Charter preserved at the British Museum, in a portfolio of royal -and ecclesiastical instruments, marked Augustus II, art. 106; and the -original Charter is believed to have been presented to Sir Robert -Cotton by Sir Edward Dering, Lieut.-Governor of Dover Castle; and to be -that referred to in a letter dated May 10, 1630, extant in the Museum -Library, in the volume of Correspondence, Julius C. III. fol. 191. - -In the Museum, also, is the original Bull, in Latin, of Pope Innocent -III, receiving the kingdoms of England and Ireland under his -protection, and granting them in fee to King John and his successors, -dated 1214, and reciting King John's charter of fealty to the Church -of Rome, dated 1213. Also, the original Bull, in Latin, of Pope Leo X, -conferring the title of Defender of the Faith upon Henry VIII. - -[Sidenote: ADMISSION TO THE MUSEUM.] - -The Reading Room is open every day, except on Sundays, on Ash -Wednesdays, Good Fridays, Christmas-day, and on any Fast or -Thanksgiving days ordered by authority; except also between the 1st -and 7th of May, the 1st and 7th of September, and the 1st and 7th of -January, inclusive. The hours are from 9 till 7 during May, June, -July, and August (except on Saturdays, at 5), and from 9 till 4 during -the rest of the year. To obtain admission, persons are to send their -applications in writing, specifying their Christian and surnames, rank -or profession, and places of abode, to the principal Librarian; or, -in his absence, to the Secretary; or, in his absence, to the senior -Under-Librarian; who will either immediately admit such persons, or lay -their applications before the next meeting of the Trustees. - -Every person applying is to produce a recommendation satisfactory to -a Trustee or an officer of the establishment. Applications defective -in this respect will not be attended to. Permission will in general -be granted for six months, and at the expiration of this term fresh -application is to be made for a renewal. The tickets given to readers -are not transferable, and no person can be admitted without a ticket. -Persons under eighteen years of age are not admissible. - -The Reader having ascertained from the Catalogue the book he requires, -transcribes literally into a printed form the press-mark, title of the -work wanted, size, place, and date, and signs the same. Readers, before -leaving the room, are to return the books or MSS. they have received to -an attendant, and are to obtain the corresponding ticket, the reader -being responsible for such books or MSS. so long as the ticket remains -uncanceled. Readers are allowed to make one or more extracts from any -printed book or MS.; but no whole or greater part of a MS. is to be -transcribed without a particular permission from the Trustees. The -transcribers are not to lay the papers on which they write on any part -of the book or MS. they are using, nor are any tracings allowed without -special leave of the Trustees. No person is, on any pretence whatever, -to write on any part of a printed book or MS. belonging to the Museum. - -The persons whose recommendations are accepted are Peers of the Realm, -Members of Parliament, Judges, Queen's Counsel, Masters in Chancery or -any of the great law-officers of the Crown, any one of the forty-eight -Trustees of the British Museum, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, -rectors of parishes in the metropolis, principals or heads of colleges, -eminent physicians and surgeons, and Royal Academicians, or any -gentleman in superior position to an ordinary clerk in any of the -public offices. - -Some idea of the magnitude of this great Museum may be formed when -I state that the clerical and literary force connected with the -institution is larger than that of any similar foundation in Europe but -one--the Imperial Library at Paris. - -There is first a Principal Librarian, a Secretary, fifteen keepers -of departments, beside a little army of attendants, messengers, -bookbinders, watchmen, and doorkeepers, numbering over one hundred -persons. Beside there are fifty or sixty persons of literary eminence -and celebrity connected with the Museum, and employed to perfect the -collection, to collate and arrange the books and to classify subjects. -In this way alone the expenses of the establishment amount to £40,000 -yearly. - -The average number of visitors to the Museum yearly is over one -million, and the galleries are entirely free to the public. - -[Illustration: NELSON'S MONUMENT.] - -Next to the British Museum, the most frequented place in London is the -National Gallery of Art, in Trafalgar Square, facing Nelson's Monument. -This lofty monument fills the eye of the spectator as it takes in the -range of one of the finest squares in Europe. The column is a circular -one, 145 feet high, and the figure of the great naval hero, Nelson, -on the top, is 17 feet high. The monument was built in 1840-43, and -is placed on an elevated pedestal of granite. The Emperor Nicholas of -Russia gave £500 toward the erection of the monument, and the rest was -raised by public subscription. The two immense lions of bronze who lie -couchant at the base of the monument, were modeled in iron from visits -made by Sir Edwin Landseer to the live lions at the Zoological Gardens. - -[Sidenote: THE NATIONAL GALLERY.] - -There are also statues of Sir Henry Havelock and of Sir Charles Napier, -on each side of the inclosure which fronts the Nelson column, twelve -feet high and of bronze, and just below in an angle of the square is a -bronze statue of George IV, which cost £10,000. These three statues, -which are all equestrian, were paid for by public subscription. - -On one side of the square is the church of St. Martin, an imposing -looking building, built by Wren, and on the lofty steps of this church -the crossing sweepers and bootblacks of the Metropolis have their daily -rendezvous, and here divide their earnings with each other. - -The National Gallery is, therefore, in a most commanding site, and from -its broad steps a very fine view can be obtained of the Strand, Charing -Cross, Parliament Street, and the Houses of Parliament. - -The edifice was finished in 1838, and is 461 feet in length, and -its greatest width across the saloons of painting is 56 feet. The -stones were taken to construct it entirely from the King's Stables or -Mews, and the building has a peculiarly sombre and solid effect. In -it are a range of spacious galleries, whose walls are covered with -the greatest works of the old masters and modern painters. It is the -chief collection of paintings in the British Islands, and the number -of subjects amount to 1,600. The number of pictures in the National -Gallery, as compared with the number in the Continental galleries, is -as follows: National Gallery, 1,600; Dresden Gallery, 2,000; Madrid, -1,833; Louvre, 2,500; Vienna, 1,500; The Vatican, 37; the Capitol, -Rome, 250; Bologna, 280; Milan, 503; Turin, 563; Venice, 688; Naples, -700; Frankfort, 380; Berlin, 1,350; Munich, 1,300; Florence, 1,200; -Pitti Palace, 500; Amsterdam, 386; Hague, 304; Brussels, 400; and -Versailles, 4,000. - -The pictures in the National Gallery are divided into the British and -Foreign Schools. Of the British School there are 795 paintings of -various artists, and of various degrees of merit, in which the names of -every English painter of consequence is included by his works. - -The chief collection in this division is that of Turner, the great -colorist, and here are exhibited in a saloon by themselves the finest -specimens of that great painter's works, in all numbering over one -hundred subjects, which, together with a large collection of drawings -and water colors, he bequeathed to the English people. - -The Foreign School is sub-divided into the Italian, Spanish, Flemish, -and French Schools, and these schools embrace 797 fine pictures, in -which the old masters chiefly predominate. Three of Corregio's pictures -in this gallery cost £15,000, and the latest acquisition is a Michael -Angelo valued at £30,000. - -The Gallery is open to the public on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and -Saturdays; and on Thursdays and Fridays to students only. It is open -from Ten to Five from October until April 30, inclusive; and from Ten -to Six from April until the middle of September. It is wholly closed -during the month of October. - -Daily this free gallery of art is thrown open to the working people -who enjoy the paintings, excepting on the days specified. There is no -charge whatever excepting for catalogues of the British and Foreign -Schools, which cost a shilling each. - -The question of opening the Galleries on Sunday has been much agitated -of late, but I question if the British public, particularly the -working or artisan class, care much for paintings. The lower classes -of Englishmen are not, as a rule, very esthetical in their views or -ideas, and I think the British masses are best calculated to shine at a -cattle-show. There is nothing in this world so capable of striking an -average Englishman's fancy as a huge ox or a mountain of moving beef. - -Corregio's master pieces, Turner's flaming colors, or Claude's -landscapes do not move him at all; but take him to a cattle-show, and -behold he is all life and animation, and give him a pot of beer in his -red fist, and he becomes positively witty, and capable of conversation. - -[Sidenote: WANT OF TASTE AMONG THE ENGLISH.] - -One thing struck me as I wandered hour after hour through these -galleries, and that was the total lack of education in the commonest -rudiments of art, and the complete ignorance manifested in the remarks -of the boors who gave the greatest works of their countrymen but a -passing glance, and walked on in stupid stolidity. At Versailles or -Florence, there was life, enthusiasm, and criticism of a very fair kind -noticeable in the remarks of delight or disapproval which came from -groups around a famous painting or a daub, but at the National Gallery -the cattle-show and the pot of beer was still uppermost in all the -looks and phrases of the spectators who used the place as a show room -to pass an hour away. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -NAKED AND NEEDY. - - -ONE hundred and thirty years ago, infanticide and desertion of -children, were twin crimes, very prevalent among English women of -the humbler and lower classes. The dull, twaddling, gossip-monging -newspapers of that day were often the vehicle through which the public -ascertained that infants were found in dust-bins and dark alleys, and -on dung-hills, there exposed by their miserable and heartless mothers -to starvation and storm. Twenty or thirty children per week were -exposed, in London, after this fashion, and the evil grew to such an -extent that it served to awaken the benevolence of God-fearing men and -women, and among those was one Capt. Coram, a seafaring man who, by his -long and repeated voyages and wanderings over many lands and in many -strange waters, had accumulated a large sum of money. - -I fancy I can see that brave old fellow now in his closely buttoned-up -tunic, his three-cornered mariner's hat set askew, his eyes beaming -with kindness and compassion, picking his steps through the worst -holes and quarters of Old London, the London of Queen Anne and of -Bolingbroke, of conspiracies, of Hanoverian Successions, of Highwaymen -and Newgate, and of all the faded memories of that olden time which -enthrall sense and memory, when we try to recall that which we can -only see as Macaulay saw it by the light of old newspaper scraps, -chronicles, and by the memoirs and diaries, of the then insignificant -but to-day useful people, like Evelyn and Pepys. - -[Sidenote: THE FATHER OF THE FOUNDLING.] - -Who will not bless that noble old sailor, as I did, the May evening I -stood in the principal dormitory of the Foundling Hospital, in which -were comfortably housed over fifty of the devoted lambs, sleeping -with warm clothes covering their little bodies, and their infantile -chirpings seeming like a chorus of angels, whose visits are alas--few -but far between. - -[Illustration: NURSERY IN THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.] - -There was the row of cots, and the kind-hearted women attending -to their wants, and when I gave one of them an orange, the little -twelve-pounder seemed as glad as if it had descended from the loins of -a Tudor or a Stuart, instead of being, as it was, both fatherless and -motherless. - -I can see him who was to be father of the first Foundling Hospital in -England, losing his way purposely, night after night, among those dark -and badly lighted and unpaved streets and lanes that fringed the Thames -River in those days, and from which issued nightly shouts of murder -and rapine, and the boisterous but less deadly revelry of bacchanalian -seafaring men, in trunk hose and canvas tunics. I can see the link -boys with their smoky torches passing to and fro as in a fevered -dream and the bearers of sedan chairs,--the porters shouting at the -brave-hearted grim seaman, who turns his kindly old eyes aside from -the flashing glance of beauty shot at him in dumb wonder by the damsel -on her way to Vauxhall, Ranelagh, or a Rout, and Captain Coram the -meanwhile chatting and bestowing pennies upon the beggar's offspring -or forsaken child. His heart was large as the seas which he had sailed -over, and his happiest moment was when he had rescued from the gutters -and death some poor foundling who had been thrown on the world to make -its way. - -He had first embarked in the Newfoundland trade, and after some time -spent in ploughing the waters between England and the Colonies, he -set up at Taunton, Massachusetts, as a shipwright, where he prospered -apace. Then we find him, after some years, in Boston, where, by his -enterprise, the manufacture of tar was established in the then infant -Colonies. Home to Old England again after thirty years of wandering, -and on landing at Cuxhaven the brave old man was set upon by thieves -and ruffians and plundered of all his earnings. Then the Government, -in 1732, appoints him as a trustee for the settlement of Georgia, and -subsequently he is engaged in the colonization of Nova Scotia. Finally -he came home to project and carry out the idea of his life, which was -the establishment of a Foundling Hospital in London. - -Never was there a more indefatigable or tireless philanthropist than -this bluff old sailor. Insult, contumely, and humiliation he cheerfully -underwent to carry out his cherished plan. - -One cold, stinging, December day, in the year 1737, Thomas Coram,--who -had been advised that the Princess Amelia was a charitable and well -disposed lady, and would be, perhaps, favorable to an application for -the scheme he had in view--started for St. James' Palace, the then -residence of royalty--with his three-cornered hat well planted upon -his head, and his coat buttoned up, and offered a petition for the -formation of a foundling hospital through Lady Isabella Finch, the lady -of the Bed Chamber in waiting, who turned upon Coram when he presented -her the paper, like a vixen, and bade him begone with cutting words and -sneers. The poor old fellow, with rage in his heart, strode from the -doors of royalty and never troubled the Princess Amelia again. - -[Sidenote: ADMISSION OF CHILDREN--HOW OBTAINED.] - -Finally, George II became interested so far as to give a charter on -the application of John, Duke of Bedford, the Master of the Rolls, -the Chief Justice, the Chief Baron, the Speaker of the Commons, and -the Solicitor and Attorney's General. Hogarth, who also became deeply -interested in the charity, and ever afterward continued its benefactor, -painted a shield for the Hospital, and on the 26th of October, 1740, -the old house in Hatton Garden was thrown open to nameless and homeless -children. - -The charter was signed by twenty-one ladies, of birth and distinction, -and stated that "no expedient has been found out for preventing the -frequent murders of poor infants at their birth, or of suppressing the -custom of exposing them to perish in the streets, or putting them out -to nurses, who, undertaking to bring them up for small sums, suffered -them to starve, or, if permitted to live, either turned them out to beg -or steal, or hired them out to persons by whom they were trained up in -that way of living, and sometimes blinded or maimed, in order to move -pity, and thereby become fitter instruments of gain to their employers. -In order to redress this shameful grievance, the memorialists express -their willingness to erect and support a hospital for all helpless -children as may be brought to it, 'in order that they may be made good -servants, or, when qualified, be disposed of to the sea or land service -of His Majesty the King.'" - -The children who are maintained by this charity are admitted on -application of their mothers only, whose application to the governors -must take place within twelve months of the birth of the child. - -The petition is read to the governors assembled in committee; and -the petitioner is called in and examined as to her allegations; and -then the steward of the hospital (with the petitioner's permission) -is instructed to make secret inquiries as to the truth of the -case. If the admission be ordered, it takes place on the Saturday -fortnight after the order (a small weekly allowance being made in the -interim, if necessary, to the mother), when the child is examined -by the apothecary, and if found perfect in eyes, limbs, and health, -is received into the Institution. Its mother is presented with a -certificate of its reception--with a certain letter on the margin, by -which her infant pledge may be subsequently identified if necessary; -but in all probability she never sees the child again. - -It has a particular number assigned to it, which is sewn to its -clothes, and becomes a property and chattel of the hospital. It is at -once sent to the matron's room, and delivered to a wet-nurse previously -engaged; and on the following day, being Sunday, it is baptised in -the chapel of the institution--some common name, such as Smith or -Jones, being given to it out of a list approved by the committee. On -the same night, or following day, it is sent with its nurse into the -country, who carries it to her own residence--she being generally -the wife of some agricultural laborer--and reared there, under the -occasional supervision of inspectors, for five years, when it returns -to town for its education at the hospital. The number attached to its -clothes remains so attached thoughout that time. At fourteen, the boys, -at fifteen, the girls, are apprenticed, but still looked after by -inspectors from the hospital until they are twenty-one years of age, -when they are supposed to be able to take care of themselves. Deserving -adults, however, are not lost sight of by the governors, and in case of -incurable infirmities preventing apprenticeship, the Hospital does not -desert its children to the end. - -That the child be illegitimate is of course the most essential -regulation, but an exception is made if the father be a soldier or -sailor killed in the service of his country. Immediately after the -battle of Waterloo, it was enacted that fifteen children of each sex -should be forthwith admitted, the offspring of those who fell in that -action; but to the honor of the soldiers' wives, it is recorded that -only two mothers gave way to the temptation, and accepted the offer. No -legitimate child has been admitted into the hospital for the last ten -years. - -[Sidenote: A RUSH OF BABIES.] - -The other conditions of admission are: that the petitioner shall not -have applied for parish relief; that she shall have borne a good -character previous to her misfortune; and that the father shall have -_bonâ fide_ deserted his offspring, and be not forthcoming. The child -acquires stronger claims for admission, if, First: the petitioner has -no relations able to maintain the child; Second: if her shame is known -to few persons (the express wish of the founder being that she might, -if possible, recover her lost position); and, Thirdly: that in the -event of the child's being received, the petitioner has a prospect of -obtaining an honest livelihood. - -The manner of admission was originally based upon that pursued "in -France, Holland, and other Christian countries," as the wording of the -quaint old charter went. The applicant came in at the outward door, -rung the bell at the inward door, and presented her child; no questions -whatever were asked of her, nor did "any servant of the hospital -presume to endeavor to discover who such person was, on pain of being -dismissed." When the narrow limit of accommodation was reached, the -notice, "The house is full," was affixed over the door. - -In October, 1745, the western wing of the present building was opened; -but so many more children were brought than the place could hold, that -there were frequently a hundred women with children at the door, when -only twenty could be admitted. The ballot was then resorted to: all the -women were admitted into the court-room, and drew balls out of a bag; -but it was still stipulated that if any desired to be concealed, the -bag might be carried to them, or the matron was empowered to draw for -them. - -In 1754, the hospital authorities had six hundred children to support, -the cost of which exceeded their income fourfold. They therefore -appealed to Parliament, who voted them ten thousand pounds on the -condition that _all_ applicants under twelve months old should be -received. This wholesale scheme of charity, which was largely assisted -by more public grants, only lasted for four years. On the very first -general reception-day, 117 infants were taken in, and 1,800 before the -half-year was out; while in the ensuing year 3,727 were admitted. The -consequences are described to be lamentable. Immorality was greatly -encouraged by the unlimited facility for thus disposing of its fruits, -and the children themselves--though "the Foundling" had then branch -establishments in many country places--could not be supported in such -vast numbers. - -Of the 15,000 children received in those four years, no less than -10,000 perished in their infancy. Parish officers, with local cunning, -sent to the Foundling the legitimate children of paupers, in order to -relieve their constituents; parents brought their own children, when -dying, in order that the hospital should pay for their interment; and -surgeons were even employed by parents to convey their children to this -Alma Mater, at so so much per head, like pigs, or other cattle. - -Parliament withdrew its grant from this formidable charity in 1759, -although it humanely provided for the maintenance of all whom its too -lavish charity had already admitted, and the branch country hospitals -were discontinued. There were at that time 6,000 children in the -institution under five years of age, and it was not until 1769, that -by apprenticing all who were fit to be placed out, their number was -reduced below 1,000. At the present time the yearly admissions average -32, and the total number maintained by the Hospital is 430. - -As years sped by the spirit of the institution changed with its -succeeding governors, and children were received without any inquiry, -with whom a hundred pounds were paid down. - -The Court Room of the Foundling Hospital has probably witnessed as -painful scenes as any chamber in Great Britain, and though mothers -may abandon their illicit offspring to the tender mercies of a public -company, they cannot do it without great pain, and many an after pang -of agony. - -[Sidenote: AN AGED FOUNDLING.] - -These scenes are renewed again when the children at five years of age -are brought up to London from the places they have been farmed out like -young goats, and they are then separated from their foster mothers. -Even the foster fathers are sometimes greatly affected by the parting, -while the grief of their wives is most excessive; and the children -themselves so pine after their supposed parents that they are humored -by holidays and treats, for a day or two after their arrival, in order -to mitigate the change. - -Though infants received into the hospital are never again seen by their -parents, save in peculiar cases, a kind of intercourse with them is -still permitted. Mothers are allowed to come every Monday and ask after -their children's health, but are allowed no further information. On an -average about eight women a week avail themselves of this privilege, -and there are some who come regularly every fortnight. - -I was present in one of the rooms of the Foundling Hospital while a -stout red faced matron was engaged in washing one of these dear little -babes of misfortune, and it was indeed an affecting spectacle, to hear -the little motherless waif cry and watch its infantile kickings and -splurgings in the wash tub. - -[Illustration: WASHING THE WAIF.] - -Even when application is made by mothers for the return of their child, -it is frequently refused; when it is apprenticed, and no intercourse is -permitted between them, unless master and mistress, as well as parent -and child, approve of it; nor when it has attained maturity, unless the -child as well as the mother demand it. - -Thus a woman, who was married from the hospital, and had borne seven -children, once requested to know her parents, on the ground that -"there was money belonging to her," and her application was refused. -But in November of the same year the name of a certain Foundling was -revealed upon the application of a solicitor, and his setting forth -that money had been invested for its use by the dead mother; the -governors granting this request upon the ground that the mother herself -had disclosed the secret, which they were otherwise bound to keep -inviolable. Again, in 1833, a Foundling, seventy-six years of age, was -permitted, for certain good reasons, to become acquainted with his own -name, though, as one may imagine, not with his parent. It is a wise -child in the Foundling who even knows its own mother. - -Sometimes notes are found attached to the infant's garments, beseeching -the nurse to tell the mother her name and residence, that the latter -may visit her child during its stay in the country; and they have been -even known to follow the van on foot which conveys their little one -to its new home. They will also attend the baptism in the chapel, in -the hope of hearing the name conferred upon the infant; for, if they -succeed in identifying the child during its stay at nurse, they can -always preserve the identification during its subsequent abode in the -hospital, since the children appear in chapel twice on Sunday, and dine -in public on that day, which gives opportunities of seeing them from -time to time, and preserving the recollection of their features. - -In these attempts at discovery, mistakes, however, are often committed, -and attention lavished on the wrong child; instances have even occurred -of mothers coming in mourning attire to the hospital to return thanks -for the kindness bestowed upon their deceased offspring, only to be -informed that they are alive and well. - -It is stated that children who are discovered by the mother are spoiled -by indulgence--and I can imagine that efforts to make up for the past -would be lavish enough in such cases--and rarely turn out well. - -[Sidenote: HOW THEY DINE.] - -One exception to the rule of non-intercourse is related, where a -medical attendant certified that the sanity of one unhappy woman might -be affected unless she was allowed to see her child. - -Twice or thrice in the year the boys are permitted to take an excursion -to Primrose Hill; but at other times (except when sent on errands), -and the girls at all times--are kept within the hospital walls. This -confinement so affects their growth, that few of either sex attain to -the average height of men and women. - -It is a curious old place, this hospital for Foundlings, and full -of memories. Here are some of Hogarth's best efforts as a portrait -painter, and it was for this hospital that Handel wrote his glorious -oratorio of the "Messiah." The organ, so magnificent in tone, which is -placed in the chapel, was also the gift of Handel. - -The high old-fashioned reading desk, from whence the chaplain expounds -the scriptures; the side galleries in the style of George I, and -the pillars that seem to tell of the days of Addison and Sterne and -Swift, and all the rest of that galaxy who made the Augustan age of -England--the rows of high backed benches such as are to be met with in -all the London churches, built after the architectural period of Wren -and Inigo Jones--combined with the low full toned voices of the boys -and girls, as they raise the Anthem, seem to make the place a haven of -rest and an abode of happiness for the poor world outcasts. - -Then there is the girls' dining-room, hung with some fine paintings and -works of art. The girls enter and take their stand, each in her proper -place, against the long row of tables that extends from end to end of -the room, the crowds forming a lane on either side. - -A moment's pause, and a sweet voice is heard saying grace: the utterer -being that modest looking girl at the centre of the table, who from her -superior height and appearance seems chosen as one of the oldest among -her companions. Scarcely has she finished before another girl, at the -end of the table, dispenses with the ease and rapidity of habit, from -the large dishes of baked meat and vegetables before her, the dinners -of the expectant children, plate following plate with marvelous -rapidity, till all are satisfied. - -This room occupies a great portion of one side of the edifice. - -In the boys' room the evolutions of the lads preparatory to taking -dinner are most interesting. The change at once, and without blunder, -hesitation, or want of concert, from a two deep to a three deep line, -then they beat time, march, turn and turn again, until the welcome -word is given for the final march to the dinner table. Thousands of -the citizens of London visit this hospital yearly, and ladies are -particularly interested in all that pertains to its welfare. - -It has been enriched by innumerable bequests, and has a revenue of over -£120,000 a year from rents, stock, and other sources. - -The charities of London are incalculable in their extent, and it is my -belief that no other city in the world--excepting Paris--possesses so -many and such various institutions where the sick, naked, and needy -are taken in and cared for. And yet with all this benevolence, there -is a pharisaical spirit of ostentation at the bottom of every pound -that is given, and the pupils of the beneficed schools, the inmates -of the almshouses, the patients in the various hospitals, and the -vagrants and lost ones in reformatories, refuges, and model lodging -houses are drilled, uniformed, preached at, exhibited to the public, -and ventilated in the newspapers, while the donations of those who -have established the charities are be-puffed and be-lauded until the -stranger is astonished at the mountains of cant which smother the work -of so many generously benevolent people. - -However, there is a vast amount of charity in London, and incalculable -good is done those who are in need of it. - -I can only give the aggregate of all these charities, hospitals and -almshouses, as I have not space for details. - -[Sidenote: INCOME OF CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.] - -The incomes and receipts of the various Metropolitan Charitable -Institutions amount to about twelve millions of dollars annually, much -of which is contributed voluntarily, and this vast sum does not include -contributions to police courts for the use of prisoners, amounting to -£50,000 a year, or the erection and endowment of schools, and other -similar gifts by individuals, deeds which are impossible to classify, -from their isolation. Besides the regular incomes, as below, the -proceeds of former legacies amounts to £841,373, or nearly six million -dollars of United States money. - -This large amount of nearly eighteen millions of dollars, double the -entire sum realized from poor rates obtained in London, is divided -among 640 institutions, of which 144 have been founded during the last -ten years, 279 during the first half of the century, 114 during the -Eighteenth Century, and 103 before that period. - -The classification--generally speaking--and aggregate incomes are as -follows: - - INSTITUTIONS. ANNUAL INCOME. - - 14 General Hospitals, £174,858 - - 66 Hospitals and Institutions for Special Medical purposes, 155,025 - - 39 Dispensaries, 23,877 - - 12 Institutions for the Preservation of Life, Health, and Morals, 46,230 - - 1 Foundling Hospital, 20,200 - - 22 Hospitals, Penitentiaries, and 16 Reformatories--total, 93,981 - - 29 Relief Institutions, 64,720 - - 21 Homes, for both sexes, and all ages, 18,200 - - 9 Benevolent Pension Funds, 26,000 - - 20 Poor Clergymen's Benefit Funds, 49,508 - - 72 Professional and Trade Benevolent Funds, 125,051 - - 24 City Company and Parochial Trust Funds, 40,820 - - 4 Special National Funds, 53,000 - - 124 Colleges, Almshouses, and Asylums, for the Aged, 103,063 - - 1 Cripple's Charity, 7,215 - - 16 Deaf and Dumb Institutions, 43,521 - - 35 General Educational Funds, 112,600 - - 16 Asylums, educating 2,400 orphans, 80,634 - - 24 Educational Asylums for 3,700 children, 120,000 - - 60 Home Missionary Societies, 413,171 - - 30 Foreign Missionary Societies, 642,217 - - 19 Jewish Charities, Hospitals, Schools, Almshouses, and Refuges, 163,000 - - 3 Grammar Schools, on original Foundations, 862,000 - - 2 Educational Establishments,8 parochial schools, libraries, - lectures, and miscellaneous societies, of a charitable or benevolent - character, 732,000 - -Some of these hospitals are not equaled by any in the world excepting -those of Paris, and have splendid beds and the best of medical Staffs. - -Guy's Hospital is called after a London Alderman and Member of -Parliament, who made a fortune, in Oliver Cromwell's time, selling -Bibles, buying sailors' pawn-tickets, and in the South Sea Speculation -Bubble. It has 22 wards and 600 beds, and averages, yearly, 6,000 -in-door and 55,000 out-door beds, with 24 professors and 250 students. -The legacies left to this hospital amount to £500,000, and its annual -income is over £30,000. Kings' College Hospital has 180 beds, and about -2,000 in-door and 40,000 out-door patients, annually. Its income is -about £5,000 a year. The London Hospital has 500 beds. - -Bartholomew's Hospital, founded by a Catholic monk, in the hoary past, -is the oldest and largest hospital in London, as its students are the -wildest and most reckless in the metropolis. The number of in-door -patients is 7,000; out-door, 100,000, annually, and the yearly income -is £32,000. There are 700 beds, 36 professors, and 500 students. - -The St. Thomas' Hospitals, now in process of construction at the Surrey -Side of the Thames, in Lambeth, opposite the Houses of Parliament, -will combine a number of hospitals for Special Diseases, and will -accommodate about 2,000 patients, with as many beds, and will have an -income of £50,000 a year, or more. - -It is impossible to think of any disease, complaint, deformity, or -injury to any member or organ of the body, which has not its special -hospital or institution for relief or cure, in the English metropolis. -There are homes for distressed widows, for Asiatics, Africans, and -South Sea Islanders, a Benevolent Society of Female Musicians, one for -the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a Life-Boat Society, Homes for -Teaching the Blind to read, for Governesses, a Shoe-Black Society, and, -in fact, all classes of indigent and impoverished persons are provided -for. - -[Sidenote: INTERESTING SIGHT.] - -The Sick Children's Hospital is one of the best and most needed -institutions in London. This hospital was opened eighteen years ago, -and has among its patrons the excessively pious Prince of Wales, and -the lady whom he admired so much--the wife of Sir Charles Mordaunt, as -also the highest ecclesiastical authority in England, the Archbishop of -Canterbury. This Hospital for Sick Children is situated at No. 49 Great -Ormond street, Bloomsbury, in an old-fashioned house built in the time -of Queen Anne. The annual income of this hospital is about £25,000 a -year, with 100 beds, including about a dozen at Highgate and Margate, -the latter for those children who require sea air. It has about 600 -in-door and 12,000 out-door patients, annually. - -A sick child among the rich has, at least, solace in its sickness, -besides every chance for its recovery that money can supply. A sick -child among the poor may have attendance or not, as the case may be, -but its father and its mother in London have but little time to bestow -upon its sufferings. It is, perhaps, uncared for and all but abandoned -to battle with disease without help. It is for the children of the -needy poor that this hospital is established and is carried on. - -No child suffering from small pox is admitted into the house, nor are -any cases of rickets, hip joint or scrofulous disease of the spine -or joint. They are refused for three reasons: because they are quite -incurable, because they require nothing but rest for many months, and -because good diet and fresh air, continued for months or years, are -essential to improvement. - -Glad children's laughter may be heard within those old walls, and -pretty little voices murmuring to each other, as the tiny sick people -chatter to their next bedside friends and neighbors. Sometimes a little -tired one, wearied from weakness, lies still watching the blue scroll -on the ceiling, or trying to make out what all the pink-cheeked and -powdered ladies are doing upon the frescoes of the old-fashioned walls. - -Each child has its cot to itself, and besides those in the house -myriads of children are brought each year, by their mothers, to be -seen by the doctors and nurses. In the room where mothers bring their -children is a box, affixed to the wall, with a printed solicitation -for pence, and fifty pounds a year is collected in this way, which -is devoted to sending children to the watering places who are getting -convalescent and need sea air. - -The Queen, and other members of her family, are accustomed to send -yearly donations of toys and jimcracks for the amusement of the -children; and proud ladies may be seen daily moving among the sick beds -with all kinds of gifts and childish luxuries, and who shall say that -the faces of these beautiful girls, and the toys they bring, do not -help most signally to establish convalescence, for what sick child ever -suffered without appreciating a kindly smile, a wooden horse, a cart, a -Punch, or a Noah's ark. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -MARKETS AND FOOD. - - -THE aggregate of time, labor, and expenditure, necessary to provide -three millions and a half of inhabitants with food, in a city like -London, is something beyond comprehension. In getting at the food -statistics of this great City, I found more trouble than in procuring -material and detail for any other portion of this book. And yet there -cannot be anything of more interest to the public than to know how, -when, and from where, a great city derives the food which subsists its -citizens. - -The London markets are well built, well ventilated, well situated, and -well regulated. The markets of London are a credit to the city and -people. The markets of New York are a scandal and a shame to that great -city. - -Some idea may be formed of the amount of food needed to subsist London -from the figures which I will give. - -The Metropolitan Cattle Market, in Caledonian Road, Islington, is the -largest market in London, covering fifteen acres, and having three -acres of slaughter houses. This market cost one million four hundred -and sixty thousand pounds, and cannot be surpassed by any other market -in the world. The yearly receipts at this market was as follows: -360,000 beef cattle, 36,000 calves, 1,900,000 sheep, and 37,650 pigs. -Besides this vast amount of meat there was nearly as much more received -at the Newgate, Leadenhall, and Whitechapel meat markets. - -The other articles of food, brought to the London markets, are -estimated by those who profess to have nearly accurate information, -as follows: Seven million head of game and poultry, six hundred and -fifty million pounds of fish, two hundred and fifty million barrels of -oysters, and two hundred and fifty million cubic feet of eggs. This -last item rather staggered me, but the other estimated quantities are, -I am assured, rather below than above the aggregate annual consumption. - -The inspections of the London markets are made very rigidly, and I do -not wonder at the necessity for a strict watchfulness, when I find -that, in 1868, 160,340 pounds of meat, and 1,963 head of game and -poultry, were seized by the officers as being unfit for human food. -This amount consisted in part of 1,200 sheep, 186 pigs, 73 calves, -1,100 quarters of beef, 762 joints of meat, 462 tame fowls, 121 wild -fowl, 300 geese, 290 ducks, 316 pigeons, 15 lambs, and only thirty -pounds of sausages. There were also 239 rabbits, 111 hares, 75 haunches -and quarters of venison, 84 partridges, and four pounds of pickled -pork. It will be seen that there was a very great deal of beef and -mutton to a very little pickled pork and sausage. All of the game, and -most of the poultry seized, was putrid, and of the meat 108,000 pounds -were diseased, while 21,000 pounds were stinking; 36,240 pounds of meat -being taken from animals that had died of natural causes. As soon as -the meat is seized it is sprinkled with creosote of coal tar, which -checks putrefaction, and at the same time prevents it from being used -as food, after which it is sent to the bone-boilers and destroyed. - -Besides the enormous amount of food received at the markets already -enumerated, there was also received at the Borough Market, Southwark, -Smithfield New Market, Newport Market, Cumberland, Portman, Clare, and -the Potato Markets, by railway, in the same year, 17,000 tons of meat -of all kinds, 100,000 tons of potatoes, 14,000 tons of fish, 15,000 -tons of vegetables, and 60,000 tons of grain, wherewith to feed the -Londoners. - -[Sidenote: THE SMITHFIELD POLICE STATION.] - -Before daybreak is the best time to see the Markets of London in all -their bustle and brisk traffic, and one summer morning I accordingly -took a cab from the Langham Hotel and told the sleepy driver to take me -to the New Smithfield Market, which is convenient to Newgate Prison. -We dashed madly in the gray of the morning (it was not yet more than -four o'clock) through Regent street, up Oxford street, over the Holborn -Viaduct, and so on to the Smithfield Police Station, which is situated -at a few rods distant from the place where the Cock Lane Ghost was -first discovered. - -I had been directed by Inspector Bailey, of the Old Jewry office, to -call at this police station, and he informed me that I should find a -special policeman there at my disposal to show me the markets, and -procure me any information I might desire in regard to them. - -The Smithfield Police Station is like most London police stations, -a very quiet and not pretentious edifice, just in the shadow of -Smithfield New Market. - -There was a little desk and a little railing, behind which sat a little -man in a blue uniform of pilot cloth, and behind the little man were -hung upon the plainly whitewashed walls a collection of handcuffs, -pistols, and knives, all of which were deodands to the law. There were -also placards, offering rewards for all kinds of offenders, thieves, -forgers, murderers, and embezzlers, and giving detailed descriptions -of their persons and clothing when last seen. These placards covered -the walls, but did not add much to the appearance of the apartment. -On producing my letter of introduction from Inspector Bailey to the -Sergeant in command--who treated me with much civility, a bell was -rung by the latter, and a policeman in uniform appeared, my old friend -Ralfe, whom the Sergeant addressed as follows: - -"Ralfe, you are to take this gentleman all through Smithfield Market, -and show him the sights, and then you can transfer him to some one -else to have him taken through Billingsgate Market, and after that he -may take a look at Covent Garden Market, if he so desires. Show him -everything that you can, then report to me back again." - -"Yesir," said Mr. Ralfe, touching his hat, although he was not in -uniform, and in another instant we were in the London streets, which -were very drear and damp, the gas lamps yet burning with a feeble -light, and the daybreak as yet not having revealed itself. - -The way was murky and dark, and the vicinity of the market was -sufficiently indicated by the peculiar raw, fresh smell, with which -newly killed meat greets the nasal organs. - -Smithfield Market is built on a large, open square, and being on high -ground commands a good view of the City of London proper. The site of -the New Market which was opened a year ago, was formerly covered by -the Cattle Market, which is now removed to Islington, in the suburbs. -The building is of mixed stone and brick, and the cost was about half -a million pounds. The ground on which it is built is also nearly as -valuable as the building. The market is about four hundred feet in -length and a hundred and fifty in width. The roof is of iron, and a -vast avenue, high, broad, and spacious in every way, runs through the -entire building. - -[Sidenote: THE HOT COFFEE GIRL.] - -When I reached the market with my friend, the policeman, the gas was -still burning, and the long rows of stalls situated on the wide avenues -of the market, were covered with beef and mutton, the stalls averaging -thirty to forty feet in height. There was a confused hum of many -voices, and coarse rough looking fellows in smalls and canvas smocks, -with broad, scoop-shaped hats, rushed hither and thither with immense -loins and quarters of beef on their brawny shoulders. Over each stall, -and inside of the market beneath the roof, the proprietor or lessee of -the stall has a small wooden edifice, with doors and windows and places -to sleep for two or three persons. At each corner of the market is a -lofty tower, a hundred feet high, and in these towers are board-rooms -and dining-rooms, and reading rooms for select parties, and at the base -or bottom floor of each tower is a bar where liquors and hot coffee, -bread, butter, and tea, and other refreshments are sold during the -early hours of the morning, to those who need sustainment. Two or three -pretty girls were behind each of these stalls, and were serving with -great dilligence and taste, the knots of butchers' helpers, cartmen, -butchers' boys, and market officials who stood in their vicinity. - -There are at least half a dozen meat inspectors in each market, and -these men are paid one hundred pounds a year to examine and decide as -to the wholesomeness of each and every pound or carcass of meat brought -into the markets. - -To one of these I spoke and asked him if he had much trouble with the -butchers in regard to putrid meat. - -"Trouble--Lord bless you sir, we have no trouble here to speak on. Ye -see, sir, the class of butchers as sells meat here in Smithfield Market -allers sells on commission. All this meat that you see a hanging on -these ere hooks doesn't belong to the butchers. It is sent to them to -sell on commission by the Railway Companies, and they do not own the -stalls themselves either. They pays one pound ten shilling and sixpence -a week for five square feet of ground--that's about the rate they pays, -and the City owns the markit. Lord bless you, Sir," said the loquacious -inspector, who was dressed like a butcher, having an apron, and stood -leaning against a large quarter of beef. "I don't know where all the -blessed meat comes from, but I knows that the pigs come from Hireland, -and a goodish bit of the beef from Devonshire. It comes to the city by -the Underground Railway, and you can see the place down stairs where -all the meat comes in the mornin'." - -At the breakfast stalls I noticed that nearly every one called for "two -pennorth of bread and butter," and drank with it a bowl of hot tea or -a smoking cup of coffee. The girls who served the coffee were chatty -and lively, and desired information of me in regard to America. One of -them, a little black brunette, queried: - -"They say, sir, as how that a young leedy in Hamerica can get married -on nothink--if she's good looking and can cook. Is it so, sir?" - -I had no means of satisfying her as to that question, and I left her as -she was preparing a sandwich for a hungry clodhopper, whose eyes were -bulbous with hunger and expectation, and went below to the basement -story, which opens by arches on the depot of the Underground Railway, -and I found the entire earthen floor cut up by rails and platforms, on -to which the meat from incoming trains is shunted and delivered. All -meat delivered at Smithfield is of course dead, and no slaughtering is -carried on in this market. Millions of pounds worth of meat finds its -way here day after day, and thousands of men--porters and helpers and -butchers' assistants--find employment here, their wages ranging from -ten to thirty-five shillings a week. - -Each helper is paid so much for every carcass which he carries into -the market on his shoulders, and broad shoulders they have to be to -carry these huge quarters of beef from the wagons which are drawn up in -dense masses in and around the open spaces outside of the market walls. -When this market was opened by the Mayor of London and other city -dignitaries, sixteen hundred officials, connected with the market and -the municipal government, dined in the central avenue, and two hundred -barrels of ale were drank. This is a sample of a municipal British -feast. - -Outside of the building are little houses or market lodges, built of -stone, in which are weighing machines, where men are constantly in -attendance as weighers of beef and mutton. For this service they are -paid one hundred and twenty pounds a year. The weighing machine in the -little house connects under the middle of the street, where a platform -is constructed, level with the surface of the pavement, and when a -cart-load of beef is to be weighed, horse, cart, and beef are weighed -together, and the total is placed on a slate, and when the helpers -have carried all the meat into the stalls in the market to be sold -wholesale, (for it is not a retail market,) the horse and cart are -again weighed, and then their united weight having been deducted from -the gross weight, the actual weight of the meat is thus ascertained by -this simple and easy process. I think that the Smithfield Market is the -finest I ever saw, and its ventilation and perfect system cannot be -surpassed anywhere. - -[Sidenote: THE VEGETABLE MARKET.] - -From Smithfield Market I went to Covent Garden Market, which is a -couple of miles distant, in Russell street, forming quite a spacious -area. This is the great vegetable and flower market of London. There is -a market held every morning in summer, but in winter, markets are held -only on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. The market is owned -by the Duke of Bedford, and was built at a cost of £30,000 by a former -Duke of that family, forty years ago. - -It has a colonade running around the entire building on the exterior, -under which are shops having apartments in the upper stories. Joined -to the back of these is another row of shops facing the inner courts, -and through the centre runs a passage with shops on either side, in -which are exposed for sale herbs and flowers, and the most magnificent -bouquets can be procured here on a fine morning in summer. Scarce -and delicate plants and flowers are here found in abundance, and -around these stands I noticed numbers of male servants and pages in -the liveries of some of the best known families among the London -aristocracy, barganing for bouquets for their mistresses' tables. The -noise and hub-bub around the open spaces in this market was perfectly -deafening. It was now about four o'clock in the morning, and all the -open areas were thronged with market-men and women and boys, carrying -baskets and flowers in their arms, to and fro, chaffing each other or -cursing and swearing with great good will. - -Immense vans and market-carts loaded down with cabbages, onions, peas, -cauliflowers, turnips, beans, parsley, greens, cucumbers, lettuce, -apples, pears, parsnips, and other vegetables and fruits, are moving -to and fro, some of them blocked in with the increasing traffic, the -drivers, great big hulking fellows, mopping their perspiring foreheads -and shouting at each other, as is usual among all cartmen. Women are -hurrying hither and thither, making bargains and chaffering about the -prices of vegetables, and meanwhile, it is almost impossible to hear or -understand anything that is said. The police who are scattered here and -there with their tall helmets, goodnaturedly push and shove those who -block the passage ways, and frown sternly at the impudent young rascals -who excite crowds and gather small knots of boys against the breakfast -stalls outside the market. - -Here and there around these coffee stalls, which are generally kept -by old men or dilapidated and ancient women, you will see a couple of -drunken or half sober roysterers, who have been on the tramp all night, -and have at this early hour of the morning reached Covent Garden to get -a cup of hot coffee in the market, which will clear the fumes of the -liquor away, before they stagger home to a fond and anxious wife or an -unrelenting landlady. - -Wagons and carts have been arriving from a very early hour, and five -o'clock seems to be the busiest time in Covent Garden. The houses of -refreshment around the market are open at half past one in summer, and -little tables are placed against the wooden pillars of the market by -the tea and coffee venders, from which porters and carters make hearty -breakfasts. There is no need to resort to exciting liquors, as the -coffee is good and hot, and a baked potato, fresh and smoking from the -oven, costs only one penny. - -Every few minutes, through all the roaring and shouting, singing, -talking, whistling, and laughing, I could hear the clear voice of the -Baked Potato man, vending his smoking tubers and shouting: - -[Illustration: BREAKFAST STALL, COVENT GARDEN MARKET.] - -"Tates hot!--all 'ot, 'ot! Taters all 'ot." His can with its steam -pipe, from which issues forth a fragrant odor on the morning air, is -already surrounded by young street boys, who will run an errand for -a penny, hold your horse, catch a flying hat, steal a cabbage or a -pocket full of potatoes from the stalls with equal impartiality and -energy. These markets are the worst places in London for young lads, -as there is always some excuse for their presence in the vicinity, -under pretence of earning a penny or picking up the refuse and odds -and ends of a vegetable market. Observe this young rascal now, who is -surveying the Baked Potato man with an assumption of scorn combined -with a profound look of wisdom in his features. His hands are in his -pockets, his trousers are ragged to the knees, and his linen is nowhere -visible--a miserable London street boy--and yet you would imagine, -to look at him as he steps up to negotiate for a potato, that he was -the agent of the Rothschilds about to make arrangements for a loan. -His age does not exceed fifteen years, and he has been sleeping in -the purlieus of the market all night, as his ragged and soiled coat -testify, and his hair is full of slimy straws which he has accumulated -while reclining his head on a market gardener's basket. The Baked -Potato man eyes him with distrust and timidity, for he is well aware -that there is no profit to be made from him, and that he is about to -"chaff" him. The young rascals who stand around are all wide awake, and -await the contest with solicitude in their countenances. - -[Sidenote: THE POTATO MAN GETS ANGRY.] - -"Taters all 'ot--taters all 'ot--'ot--'ot," cries the Potato Man. - -"Well, guv'nor, I see you're a keepin the steam up as usual. Vot's -the werry lowest figger you names for the werry best taters, takin a -lot--takin a quantity? I feels like patronizin you, I does." - -"Penny a-piece, all 'ot--'ot." - -"A penny a-piece for _baked taters_, and the Funds agoin down like -winkin! Vy, I 'ad a pine apple myself out of a Garden this mornin for -two-pence. Trade's unkimmon bad, guv'nor." - -"Penny apiece--all 'ot--all 'ot--I say, keep your dirty fingers away -from the can. You doesn't buy anythink, I know." - -"I doesn't buy hanythink, eh? There's a hopposition can, too, started -by a gentleman of my acquaintance"--here the young scamp put his -thumbs in his waistcoat armholes and inflated himself after the -supposed aristocratic fashion--"in the 'Aymarket. He calls the can the -'Gladstone,' and it's a werry spicy concern, I tell ye. Don't he give -prime taters neither? They're real nobby ones, and plenty o' butter, -and pepper, and salt. Oh! not at all! And its so werry respectable for -a cove comin from the Hopera to stop and have a bit of supper on his -road home. My heye, and haint the pro-pre-i-e-tor a makin of his fortin -neither? Of course not! Oh, no. But there 'ill be fun when he returns -to his willa with a postchay in Belgrawey in a few years." - -By this time the Baked Potato man is pretty mad, between the -pertinacity of his young tormentor and the highly colored picture of -his rival's prosperity, as depicted by the boy, and he tells him in an -angry way to "move hon, hif 'e doesn't want 'is preshis neck stretched." - -"Wot, wiolence to one of her Majesty's subjecks, and hin the hopen day, -too? Move hon, hey? Oh, werry likely. I'm a standin 'ere on my Sovrin's -kerbstone--a Briton's 'Ouse is 'is castle, and when an Englishman -hexpresses his hopinion hon the subjeck of baked taters he's to move -hon, is he? Consekevently I'll stay here." - -The "Baked Tater" man is now almost foaming at the mouth with rage, -which is not lessened by the cheers of the spectators, who are, of -course, on the side of the young orator. - -He is about to lay down his can and pitch into his tormentor, when -all at once that young gentleman assumes a pacific attitude, after -displaying so much public spirit, and says: - -"I don't want money nor credit, so look sharp ole feller and pick me a -stunner from the Can." - -At this moment the Potato Man's countenance relaxes, as the boy -produces a penny-piece, and while he extracts a mealy potato from his -can, the boy proceeds to amuse his audience further by going through -a series of sleight of hand tricks, such as shaking the coin out of -his cap after having swallowed it, or thrusting it into his eye and -bringing it out of his ear, assuring the spectators the while that he -had spent £20,000 in learning these tricks, and now, when the potato is -handed to him, smoking hot, he expresses his indignation at the fact -that the butter is "shaved too thin," and demands that what he loses in -butter shall be made up to him by an extra shake of the pepper-box. At -last he goes off to eat the potato, as the gray dawn breaks, and the -man at the Can says: - -"Oh, my eye--_he is a_ precious leary cove for such a young von." - -This market, as well as all the other London markets, is haunted with -beggars who appeal to the charity of strangers with great effect. - -[Sidenote: FRUIT AND VEGETABLES.] - -One of these sat up behind a pile of empty baskets, and I saw that his -trousers had rotted away at the bottom from long use and dirt. His -face was that of a prematurely aged young man, and his torn shirt and -worn features bespoke real misery. He was deaf and dumb it seemed, and -the manner in which he solicited alms was by pointing to the following -sentence, written on the flag-stone before him with a piece of chalk: - - +-------------------------+ - | I am Starving. Help me. | - +-------------------------+ - -A rental of about £26,000 a year is derived from Covent Garden Market -by its proprietor, the Duke of Bedford, and the shops and stalls -rent at from two to four hundred pounds a year. In the immediate -neighborhood is Covent Garden Theatre, and all the little old rookeries -of chop houses in this quarter have the smell of the greenroom and the -rehearsal lingering about them. Here was, formerly, the garden of the -Convent of Westminster. - -Before the construction of the present market this was one of the -most dangerous places in London with its tumble-down and crazy old -structures, where abounded people of both sexes herded together like -pigs. The Convent has become a play-house, and the monks and nuns have -been transposed into actors and actresses. Where the salad was cut for -the Lady Abbess in past times, drunkards now brawl and attack each -other, and the flowers that would have been in the olden time plucked -to adorn the statues of the Virgin or St. Peter, are now chosen to -grace the marble mantel of some proud dame of Belgravia, or some gaudy -and painted courtezan of Pimlico. The foreign fruit trade of Covent -Garden is very extensive in pine apples, melons, cherries, apples, and -plums. Pine apples were first cried in the London streets at "a penny -a slice," twenty-five years ago. To supply this market with vegetables -alone, 25,000 acres are required to be cultivated, and about 10,000 -acres of trees are necessary to supply its annual demand for fruit. The -trade in water-cresses is immense and they are chiefly hawked about -the markets by little girls, although, of course, every stall has -its own stock of cresses. They supply the same want as a relish for -the Londoners' table that the small red radishes do to an American's -appetite. - -A man, curious in such things, has estimated as follows the yearly -sales of this appetizing little green relish: - -Covent Garden Market, 2,000,000 bunches, Farringdon Market, 15,000,000 -bunches, Borough Market, (Southwark), 1,000,000 bunches, Spitalfield's -Market, 500,000 bunches, Portman Market, 260,000 bunches, and Oxford -Market, 200,000 bunches. It will be seen that Cockneys relish greens -very much. - -A little of everything can be procured at Covent Garden. Here are -peddlers of account books, lead pencils, watch chains, dog-collars, -whips, chains, curry-combs, pastry, money-bags, tissue-paper for the -tops of strawberry-pottles, and horse-chestnut leaves for garnishing -fruit-stalls; coffee-stalls, and stalls of pea-soup and pickled eels; -basket-makers; women making up nosegays; and girls splitting huge -bundles of water-cresses into little bunches. - -Here are fruits and vegetables from all parts of the world; peas, -and asparagus, and new potatoes, from the south of France, Belgium, -Holland, Portugal, and the Bermudas, are brought in steam-vessels. -Besides Deptford onions, Battersea cabbages, Mortlake asparagus, -Chelsea celery, and Charlton peas, immense quantities are brought by -railway from Cornwall and Devonshire, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and -Jersey, the Kentish and Essex banks of the Thames, the banks of the -Humber, the Mersey, the Orwell, the Trent, and the Ouse. - -The Scilly Isles send early articles by steamer to Southampton, and -thence to Covent Garden by railway. Strawberries are sent from gardens -about Bath. The money paid annually for fruits and vegetables sold in -this market is estimated at three millions sterling: for 6 or 700,000 -pottles of strawberries; 40,000,000 cabbages; 2,000,000 cauliflowers; -300,000 bushels of peas; 750,000 lettuces; and 500,000 bushels of -onions. In Centre-row, hot-house grapes are sold at 25s. per pound, -British Queen and Black Prince strawberries at 1s. per ounce, slender -French beans at 3s. per hundred, peas at a guinea a quart, and new -potatoes at 4s. 6d. per pound; a moss-rose for half-a-crown, and -bouquets of flowers from one shilling to two guineas each. - -Green peas have been sold here at Christmas when they are deemed a -luxury, for three pounds a quart, and asparagus has brought, in the -same season, a pound, and rhubarb, a pound and five shillings a bunch. - -The cries of the children peddling violets are sometimes almost -heartrending, as these little waifs are very often fasting for a whole -day before they can realize a few pennies to buy their food, to say -nothing of food for those who have sent them to peddle the violets. - -There is an Artesian well under Covent Garden Market, 280 feet deep, -which supplies 1,600 gallons an hour, sufficient for the needs of -the market people, most of which is consumed in watering flowers -and vegetables, or in giving horses to drink. There are elegant -conservatories over the colonnades of the market fifteen feet broad and -fifteen feet high, for the preservation of the more costly and delicate -plants and flowers. From this market nearly all the button-hole flowers -which are vended at from a penny to four-pence a piece are obtained for -the use of the London "swells." - -[Sidenote: THE JEWS' ORANGE MARKET.] - -One of the most curious places in London is the Orange and Nut Market, -in Houndsditch. This market is chiefly in the hands of the lowest -kind of Jews, men in greasy garments, and having frightfully hooked -noses. The Costermongers come here for oranges, nuts, and lemons, to -sell or hawk them around the suburbs or slums of London. The market is -called Dukes'-Place Market. There is a big, massive, Synagogue, a lot -of ancient-looking houses, the oranges themselves have a cob-webbed -appearance, and the people are all dingy here. The nuts are for sale -in sacks, and the baskets have a dilapidated look. The Jews, in all -countries, are an industrious and economical people, and in London, -as elsewhere, they monopolize the most profitable and least laborious -occupations. They are represented by lawyers, members of Parliament, -great bankers, like Rothschild, merchants, like Solomons, and men of -liberal taste, like Sir Francis Goldsmid. The number of Jews in London -is estimated at 48,000. - -[Illustration: THE ORANGE MARKET.] - -Each dwelling around this Orange Market seems as if it had been -partially consumed by fire, for not one of the shops have a window, -and they are comparatively empty, save where a crate of oranges, or a -bag of nuts, are exposed for sale. A few sickly fowls, looking as if -they were dyspeptic, wander here picking up crumbs among the orange -baskets and nut sacks, and dirty, ragged little Jewish children, play -around with great equanimity among the rubbish. The disputes among the -loud-voiced Costermongers who come here with their little wagons and -jackasses, to draw their fruit, and the Jews who have all glib-toned, -smooth voices,--at some times, when the oranges are changing hands from -sellers to buyers--are very amusing. - -There I saw slatternly-looking girls sorting the good from the bad -fruit, and one big, tall Jewish wench, was engaged over a barrel -of common black grapes, plunging her dirty arms down in the barrel -and pulling up the decayed fruit which she gave to a little child -who stood by her, and ate of them greedily from her hand. Some of -these Jewish fruit-traders take in as much as £200 in a day's sale of -oranges, from Costermongers. Most of these oranges are sent to the Jews -on commission. Years ago the Jew boys had a monopoly of the orange -peddling trade, but now the monopoly is in the hands of Irish boys, who -are more eloquent, more aggressive, and more popular, than the Jews, -and consequently sell they more fruit. - -[Sidenote: FARRINGDON MARKET.] - -Farringdon Market, near the Strand, on the sloping surface of the hill, -upon which the Holborn and Fleet street stand, is one of the principal -markets in London, though it covers but an acre and a half. The ground -and buildings cost about £200,000. The market building is 480 feet long -at the centre, 41 feet high, and 48 feet broad, and has a court-yard -in the centre of which the wagons, and baskets, and market lumber, are -placed. The court, or, as it is called, the quadrangle, is generally -filled with vegetables and fruit. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -SECRETS OF A RIVER. - - -IT had been a stormy night in the London streets. In the Strand the -shopkeepers' assistants were hurriedly fastening the shutters upon the -windows of their masters' shops, eager to escape the hurricane of rain -which swept over the London housetops, and tore through the lanes of -brick and mortar like an enraged fiend. Thirsty souls who were draining -huge mugs of malt liquor in the many publics along Thames street, -looked out with scared faces on the river which was beating its sides -angrily against the shipping and lesser craft. - -The waters of the Thames ran high and wild, and down in the Pool and by -Limehouse Reach, huge ships bearing the colors of many nations at their -peaks, swung and rocked in the seething tides, while black night and -the angry shades of the coming storm gathered around their twinkling -red and blue signal lamps, which lazily danced from their yards over -the surface of the river, leaving faint streaks of light that were -ever and anon swallowed by the angry waters. Boatmen were anxiously -securing wherries and fastening them under bridges and by water-stairs, -and all the while the clouds above lowered, and the sweeping gusts of -rain stung the faces of those who were unfortunate enough to be in the -streets without shelter. Shutters slapped and banged in and out, and -chimney pots were whirled about by the fierce and howling winds. - -I had been on a tour of inspection, with a friend and a police -sergeant, through London during the night, and had left the Alhambra -at midnight for Evan's Supper Rooms, in Covent Garden, where we passed -an hour listening to the music of the glee and madrigal boys, and on -leaving Evan's at one o'clock in the morning, my friend had parted with -me to go to bed, and I left him at the corner of Wellington street and -the Strand, he going westward to his residence in Westminster, while -the police Sergeant and myself called a cab, as I had a desire to see -London in the small hours, and Sergeant Scott had insinuated that a -stormy night was the best for seeing strange sights. He little thought -at the time how truly he spoke. - -After some discussion between this veteran of the Old Jewry office and -myself, it was decided that we should visit some of the thieves' haunts -in the Borough of Southwark, as it was about the hour when these night -birds came home to roost, and of a consequence the best time to see -their places of residence. - -The first place chosen for a visit was a den in the New Kent Road, and -to get there it was necessary for us to cross Waterloo Bridge. - -[Sidenote: THE STRANGER AT WATERLOO BRIDGE.] - -To cross some of the bridges in London it is necessary to pay a -trifling toll, which goes toward the repairs of the bridge. The charge -for each pedestrian on Westminster and Waterloo Bridges is half a penny -each--for a horse one penny. As the cab dashed up to the turnstile at -Waterloo Bridge, the toll keeper came out to take his dues, a gruff -looking fellow wrapped up in a big hairy coat. He took the two pence -grumblingly, and just at that moment I noticed a woman coming up to the -toll-house in a gaudy looking silk dress, and having a soiled velvet -wrapper about her shivering shoulders. The light from the toll-house -shone on her face, which was very pale, the eyes burning with a strange -light, and the garments which hung to her figure were dripping with the -rain. - -"Please let me pass," said she to the gruff toll keeper, with an -imploring glance, "I have not a penny in the world--please let me cross -the bridge?" - -"Please let yer cross the bridge--yer 'aint got a penny? Well wot -d'ye want ter cross the bridge for then? If yer 'aint got a h'apenny I -thinks yer as well on the one side of the bridge as the other? Well go -on with ye, I don't mind a h'apenny, and go to bed as soon as ye can," -the toll keeper shouted through the storm after the wretched woman as -she dashed through the turnstile on the bridge, and was lost in the -storm and darkness of the night. - -As she fled into the night, my companion caught sight of her face, and -a hasty exclamation escaped his lips. - -"My God, that's Mag S----, that we saw to-night at the Alhambra! D'ye -remember that pale faced girl who asked you to give her some liquor in -the Canteen?" - -"The woman who seemed out of her senses or crazed, and who danced and -swore?" I asked. - -"Yes sir, the same--well that's her, and what she can be doing here on -this bridge at this time I don't know. She used to be a highflyer once, -did Mag, but her fancy man has left her, and I'm afraid she's dead -broke now, at times. My eye, wot a temper she has to be sure, when she -blazes hup." - -By this time we had reached the end of the bridge at the Southwark -side, and the cab dashed madly by a female figure cowering in an alcove -of the structure, the cabby swearing an oath as the horse shied at it -going by. - -As the night advanced, it blew harder and harder, and the storm raged -with great violence. The waters under the bridge rebounded against -the base of the stone arches, but the rain had ceased. We were now on -our route back to the city, having inspected the dens of thievery to -my great satisfaction. While going and coming, until we reached the -bridge again, the mind of my companion, Sergeant Scott, seemed ill at -ease in regard to the woman whom we had met upon the bridge before -we had crossed. He was anxious and uneasy, and talked of the meeting -incessantly, to my surprise. - -"Some'ow or anuther I don't like meeting that gal on the bridge, Sir," -said he. "She looked a little desperate, and when they looks that way I -don't like to see 'em near water. Its touch and go with 'em then." - -"Do you fear that the girl will attempt to commit suicide?" said I to -him. - -"I do, Sir. You see there's twelve hundred suicides in London every -year, and half of 'em or more drowns themselves. The gals are more -fonder of the water than the men. A man will blow his brains out or -take pison, but a gal allers takes to the water. Why, bless you, -Sir, we have as many as a hundred and twenty suicides hoff this here -Waterloo Bridge every year. And this is their favorite bridge, this -Waterloo Bridge. When they haven't got a penny in the world, and no -friends, then they leap hoff the battelmints." - -By this time we had reached the toll gate again, and the cab horse was -walking slowly over the stone floor of the bridge, making echoes with -his feet. The bridge was quite dark, yet I could see the buildings and -spires on the London side piercing the skies, and the railway depot -at Charing Cross Bridge, the towers of the Parliament Houses, and the -square roofs of the St. Thomas' Hospitals rising vaguely and in shadows -above the river. - -There are stone alcoves on all the London bridges, which bulge out in -a semi-circular form over the water on either side, and they will each -accommodate a dozen persons, should such a number wish to sit down and -look at the river. There are eight of these alcoves on Waterloo Bridge, -and a raised sidewalk runs along on each side of the road, of solid and -smooth flagging. The middle of the bridge is taken up by a causeway -fifty or sixty feet wide, and this causeway is paved with a sort of -Russ, or rather large Belgian pavement. - -The cabby had stopped his horse to give me an opportunity to take a -look at the river. - -[Sidenote: THREE O'CLOCK.] - -One boom--two booms--three booms! The bell in the Clock Tower at -Westminster rolled out over the river. Three o'clock of a stormy -morning, and all London asleep. It was a grand and impressive sight, -the dark river, with bridge after bridge girdling it, and nothing to -be heard but the champing of the horse in the awful stillness of that -lone hour. Hark! There are voices on the bridge, voices passionate and -imploring, that seem to shudder over the water and to creep through -the arches of the bridge. - -"Let us get out of the cab and see what it is, Sir, if you please. -There's some cadgers a bunking in this vicinity, I imagines," said the -police officer. - -We walked along the bridge for a hundred feet or so, but could see -nothing, although we heard the voices still. - -"There's something wrong a-goin' on, but I don't know wot it is," said -he again. - -We advanced still further, and could see a woman's figure half hidden -by the alcove which was across on the other side of the bridge from us. -The woman was in earnest conversation with a man, who spoke in a clear, -manly voice to her. - -"This is the woman that begged the toll-gate man to let her cross -to-night cos she hadn't a tanner," said the officer to me. "Let's watch -'em," said he; and feeling that it was an adventure of some sort, I -silently acquiesced. We concealed ourselves in an alcove or embrasure. - -"Keep quiet, now, and we'll see something, sure," said the Sergeant. - -And we kept very quiet for a few minutes. The man was talking earnestly -with the woman, who seemed half crazy with drink or excitement, -we could not tell which, as we could only hear snatches of the -conversation now and then. - -It was the man's voice which we now heard. - -"Come home, for God's sake, Margaret, and all will be well. You will be -forgiven, and nothing will ever be cast up to you. I'll pledge you my -word to that. Your mother is in the city, and your father is dead. She -has come up from Glastonbury to see you, and I've spent eight nights -walking for you, and hoping to get a sight of a face that was once -dearer to me than life, and is now even still dear to me, if it only -was to see you reformed, poor, unfortunate girl. Come home, for God's -sake. Make the attempt, and it will be all well once more." - -[Sidenote: WEARY OF LIFE.] - -The girl was sobbing now very hard. The man seemed to implore her by -all that had ever been sacred or dear to the lost girl, and she was -evidently moved by his tone and earnestness, and the recollections that -he had called forth. - -"He's doin' of his best, and we can't do any think more--hany of us," -said the Sergeant, who seemed a little touched. - -"You talk to me of my mother, Harry? Why, I have not heard that name -in three years. I thought I'd never hear it again. I have thought of -her, too. But it's too late, Harry. The girl that my mother expects to -see is the bright little Maggie, the school-girl who never had a hard -word or an unkind look from her. I had an innocent face then, and was -not afraid to meet her kind old eyes. But now, to meet her in this -garb"--and she shook her flaunting silks--"I dare not--I dare not. -Harry, I tell you it is too late. Too late. Too late." - -"It's never too late, poor girl," said the stranger, "come home at -once, or if you'll wait here a moment I'll go and call a cab and take -you home to your mother at once. Wait here a moment and I will get a -cab. Wait a moment, Maggie, only a moment:" and the stranger ran across -the bridge, up King William street, and in the direction of the Bank, -where he expected to find a cab. - -The lost girl was left alone. Alone with night and solitude. Alone -with naught but her past life, which arose from the waters like a -shadow to keep her company. Alone and miserable, with the cruel sky -darkling above her as if to shut out all hope, while the river yawned -and gaped beneath, seeking an offering. God unheeded, her bosom cold as -a stone; no prayer to conquer her anguish; with memories of promises -broken and tender words unsaid; the passionate love of a fond mother -given in vain; and at last an atonement is to be made. The old, old -story--betrayal, dishonor, and the grave. - -We crept nearer by some unknown impulse, to where she stood, and could -hear her talking to herself, though we could not see her features, or -anything definite, but a weird figure looming up like a shadow against -the balustrade of the bridge. Her voice, which had fallen to a murmur -almost, was like some forgotten music, the strains of which are heard -in a dream. Who was this lone, wretched girl, and why came she here at -this hour? - -"My God, why should I go back to shame my poor old mother? I never -will. I cannot do it. The sight of her would blast me. And Charley, for -whom I lost all, where is he? In India, and no one here to-night, and -I alone with my black thoughts on this spot. Why am I here? What do I -live for? My life has been wretched enough. Why prolong it any longer? -I will settle the matter now and forever. Good-by, Mother," said the -wretched girl, looking up at the sky, and before she could be stopped -in her fearful purpose, she had mounted the parapet by the embrasure, -and leaped with a shriek into the devouring river beneath. - -"By Heavens," said the Sergeant, darting forward and making an effort -to catch at her clothes as her figure disappeared, "she has made a hole -in the water with herself." At this moment a patrolman, hearing the -girl scream and the shouts of the policeman, appeared upon the parapet. -All three of us dashed down the stairs of the old bridge, and it was -the work of a moment only to get a boat out, which, fortunately, had -the oars inside. In a minute we were all out on the river, and the tide -running very fast in the direction of the Pool--after pulling towards -the middle arch the Sergeant cried out: - -"Steady your rudder, there; what's that bobbing up and down on the -water? That's a woman's head, sure; she's got hoops, too; that's lucky. -Pull away, for your lives!" - -In a few moments we were alongside of the dark, floating object, and -the patrolman, drawing his lantern out, threw its reflection over the -waters, while the head of the boat was kept well up to the dismal -object. - -The policeman leaned over the gunwale of the skiff and caught at the -dress, and dragged in what he supposed to be a woman's body, but was -only a bundle of rags and straw, the refuse of some lodging-house bed. - -This was a severe disappointment to all in the boat, and we looked at -each other without speaking, for a minute. The Sergeant had a scared -look, and said aloud: - -[Sidenote: SADLY IMPORTUNATE.] - -"I'm afraid poor Mag's gone. She must have struck the bottom of the -arches when she went down, and if she did, all's over and settled. The -tide's running fast, too, and we will have hard work to find her." - -For half an hour the most diligent search was made for her body, but no -traces could be found of it but a bonnet and shawl, which were caught -in some floating wood below the bridge. - -We left the bridge, and the cab was driven home slowly, after the -nearest police station had been notified of the poor girl's death or -disappearance. The Sergeant of the Police District said that he would -have another search in the morning, and I remained at the station to -accompany the police in their visit. - -A little after daybreak we were on Waterloo bridge again, and even at -that hour a small assemblage had gathered around some object at the -Southwark end of the bridge, where we could see the tall helmets of two -policemen in the midst of the crowd of carters and market gardeners, -who were en route to Covent Garden Market, and had stopped to look upon -the body of a woman who had been fished up from the river. - -Yes, there lay the body of the girl whose toll to eternity had been -paid by her own rash act--stretched out on the cold stones, her -garments dripping, her fingers clinched, and her eyes stark wide open. -A young woman she was, but oh, how worn! The face was pinched, and the -long, silken lashes sunk into the eyebrows. - -The day was breaking in the East, but the policemen held their -lanterns, which they had not yet extinguished, over the poor, pale -features, and the grimy garments, revealing the long, matted, and -tangled hair, and the stark, cold body, which had once held an Immortal -Soul, but was now all that remained of the gay, merry-hearted, -lost girl, who had fully reaped the harvest of vice--the Wages of -Sin--called by the Evangelist, Death. - -Last year, the number of suicides in London amounted to 1,160, and of -this number 415 committed self-destruction by drowning. The Thames -Watermen fish many a ghastly body from the River, and for each -carcass--the result of their terrible trolling, they receive three -pounds from the City authorities. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH. - - -VERY singular is the appearance of Leicester square, where are the -resorts and lodgings of the foreign colonists of London. It is the -dirtiest and darkest square in the city, with the exception of some of -the fields in the outer suburbs. On every side you may behold traces -of the foreign element which centres here. The people whom you meet in -Leicester square, if you ask them a question, will be sure to answer -you in a strange tongue, or else in a strange gibberish of English or -Continental patois. There is an acre or two of sickly grass in the -middle of the square which is guarded from the footsteps of pedestrians -by a rickety and worn iron railing. In the middle of this patch of -scanty grass is an equestrian statue of one of the Georges on an iron -horse, the nose of which has been broken or has rotted off, and its -appearance is in keeping with the buildings that tower all round it. -The streets leading to and from the square are filled with foreign -restaurants, and they are narrow and from them all issue forth smells -such as the olfactories of a traveler encounter in the back slums of -Paris or Vienna. - -The buildings are shabby, the windows are shabby, and the people -sitting at the tables, whom you may see through the dusty windows, -rattling dominoes and playing cards at little tables, are shabby. -Were it not for the statue in the middle of the square, it might -be taken for the Gross Platz of a Continental town. Houses with -strange names rise on every side, having signs in their windows of -"Restaurant a la Carte," "Table d'hote a cinq heures," and are passed -in quick succession, and the linen-drapers and other shopkeepers in -the neighborhood take especial pains to inform all the passers-by that -their employees can speak German, French, and Italian, and occasionally -Spanish or Portuguese. - -[Illustration: FOREIGN CAFE IN COVENTRY STREET.] - -The loungers in the square give visible and olfactory demonstration -that they are not Cockneys; their tanned skins, long moustachios, -military coats, and brigand-like hats, their polite and impressive -bows,--all show the Frenchman, the Spaniard, the Polish exile, the -Italian revolutionist, and the Greek wine merchant. The mingled fumes -of tobacco and garlic, the peddlers who make desperate attempts to sell -you copies of the _Internationale_, _Patrie_, _Journal Pour Rire_, and -_Diritto_, all give ample evidence that you are in a strange quarter -of London. The lodging-houses here are on the Parisian plan, and are -let at five to ten shillings a week to mysterious men, who rise late, -and are away all day in the cafés or gaming-houses to come home singing -operatic airs at a late hour of the morning. Polish exiles, Italian -supernumeraries of the opera, French figurantes of the inferior grades, -German musicians, teachers and translators of languages, touters for -gambling-dens--all congregate here. This is their Arcadia--their place -of meeting, eating, drinking and sleeping--and for a hundred years past -it has been frequented by such parasites. - -[Sidenote: LEICESTER SQUARE.] - -Here in this very square in one of the houses which form the "Hotel -Sabloniere," lived Peter the Great and his boon companion, the Marquis -of Carmaerthen; and in this square they have reeled home night after -night; the master of all the Russias half-crazy with his potations of -strong brandy and red pepper, of which he was passionately fond. Up -yonder stairs passed Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, in her powder, -hoops, and patches, her train glistening under the glaring lights of -the link boys who preceded her sedan chair, to the wedding of John -Spencer, first Earl Spencer, and Miss Poyntz--bearing a case of jewels -valued at £100,000, and a pair of shoe buckles valued at £30,000, for -presentation to the beautiful bride. - -The old-fashioned house opposite was the abode of Sir Joshua Reynolds, -and the one at the corner of Sydney's Alley was the residence of -William Hogarth, the bitterest and yet the truest caricaturist of -his day. Here nightly came Samuel Johnson with his huge bulk and big -walking-stick, to dogmatize with Reynolds, and with him came his toady, -Boswell; and here came Goldsmith to read his "Deserted Village" to -his coterie of choice spirits--and here Frederick, the "Good Prince -of Wales," as he has been called to distinguish him from all the rest -of his title, came to die of a bad cold which he caught walking in -Kew Gardens in 1751; and here resided John Hunter, in the house now -occupied by a humbug keeping a Turkish bath. It is a place of strange, -quaint memories of good and brave, base and ignoble men and women in -the past; it is now the Alcedama of licensed vice, the festering spot -of all London. - -It is now a place where wantons expose their shame; where social -rottenness, winked at by the authorities, eats at the heart of a people -who publish and read books condemning the depravity of Paris; who, in a -pharisaical way, talk of the Mabille and the Quartier Breda, and yet in -this very square is the "Royal Alhambra Palace," as it is called in the -huge colored posters; and in the daily advertisements in all of the -morning and evening papers of the metropolis, you may read such notices -as these: - -"The Alhambra--This evening at 8 o'clock, 'Pierrot,' the grand ballet, -by Mr. Harry Boleno and troupe. - -"The Alhambra--At 9 o'clock, the Christy Minstrels, by Riviere. - -"The Alhambra--At 10 o'clock, the magnificent spectacular ballet, 'The -Spirit of the Deep;' 10:15, Pitteri, the graceful and world-renowned -danseuse, in a new grand pas seul; 10:30, 'The Home of the Naiads;' -11:15, grand Spanish ballet, 'Pepita.' 'God Save the Queen' at 11:45. -Prices: Promenade, 1s.; stall and balcony, 2s.; gallery, 6d.; reserved -seats, 4s.; new tier of private boxes, 2 guineas, 31s. 6d., and 21s. -Closes at 12." - -It was a rainy, unpleasant night--such a night as is often met with in -London--when I first paid a visit to the Alhambra. The streets were -deserted, and few persons were out of their houses, and those who were -out took to cover in the cabs, which went madly dashing by, or in the -busses, with their advertising signs, that were visible as they passed -a lamp--the horses steaming and sweating, and the passengers inside -grumbling and cursing their luck because of the bad air within and -worse weather without. - -[Sidenote: THE ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE.] - -Nothing in the streets looked pleasant or cheerful, excepting the -windows of the gin-shops with their bright brass and metal pumps, and -the gaudy placards giving a list of the beverages for sale in the -"publics," where men and women of the humbler class were consuming -large quantities of beer and spirits. Passing through the Haymarket, -I went down Coventry street, and in a few minutes stood before the -gorgeous, gilded façade of the Alhambra. The building is about five -stories high, painted of a cream-color, with minarets and gilt vanes -and turrets in imitation of the manner of Owen Jones. The attempt to -copy the Moresco style is rather absurd in the midst of common-place -London. Indeed, it would be hard to find a Court of Lions in the -building, and those who look for that most beautiful feature of the -real Alhambra will go away disappointed. There is, however, a Court of -Female Tigresses in the gallery up stairs which will compensate the -curious for the absence of the Court of Lions. Though the streets were -deserted, a large number of cabs stood at the front of the building and -crowds of people were getting in and getting out of them. - -The moon peeped just then from a bank of cloud, its rays breaking over -the disfigured statue in the square, and threw a faint dead glare on -the flaunting women who filled the passage leading to the Alhambra; -the helmeted policemen; the porters in their black caps trimmed with -red bands; the noisy, swearing cabmen disputing about their fares; the -horses champing and biting, and the beggar boys and match-women who -solicited languid swells to purchase their wares. It is the custom -to give a penny to the men or boys who eagerly rush to open the door -of your cab, and should you neglect them, they will follow until by -wearying you they have achieved their object. There was a little hole -in the wall, and a counter or desk, behind which was a sharp-looking -young man, whose face seemed hard and cynical under the glare of the -gas-jet over his head. Handing this man a shilling, I received a huge -circular piece of tin, with a hole and letters punched in its surface. -This was the ticket of admission, which I surrendered at the door to a -big man in a red uniform, who looked like a Life Guardsman, his breast -being all covered with service medals, but for what service I could not -tell, or where performed. - -Passing a wooden barrier, I caught a glimpse of lights, a stage, and -legs of ballet-girls--a noise of many voices came by my ears, a number -of young ladies smoking cigarettes opened a way for me to pass, and I -stood inside of the Alhambra. I found myself in the promenade, which -encircled the ground floor of the house, leaving a large space which -was railed in for the wives and families of decent people who wanted to -hear the music and see the dancing and pantomime. To walk in and around -the promenade costs one shilling. To go inside of the railing in the -space--which corresponds with the parquette at Niblo's, only that the -whole floor is level and there is no descent here--will cost another -shilling. - -I saw a bar and a bar-maid before I got actually into the place from -whence the stage could be seen; there was a bar and three bar-maids -half-way down the promenade, and there was a bar and two bar-maids down -before me in the alcove leading to the Canteen, with a corresponding -number of bars and bar-maids in the same positions on the other side of -the house. - -All these bars had splendid bottles, with various fluids in them, -arranged with an eye to effect, making it look like a vast apothecary's -window, and there were bright brass beer-pumps all in a row, and pewter -and silver and metal pots and tankards, and oval glass frames with -pies, sandwiches, and all kinds of lunches to satisfy the thirst and -appetites of the audience. The promenade was choked with men and women, -walking past each other, looking at the stage, drinking at the bars, -chaffing each other in a rough way, and laughing loudly. Although the -night was stormy without, the revelry was high within. - -Perhaps in this audience of three thousand people, who filled the -ground floor and galleries, standing and sitting, and eating and -drinking, there might have been fifteen hundred women, all well, and -many of them fashionably, dressed and gloved. A sergeant of police with -me said: - -"If there are 1,500 women here to-night, as I believe there are, you -may be sure that there are 1,200 women of the town among that number, -Sir." - -Twelve hundred unfortunate women in one place of amusement--and half a -dozen other places like this, but of an inferior class, are open this -rainy, unpleasant night, with a like complement of wretched females -recklessly passing the hours that intervene before the dens close at -midnight. The crash of sixty pieces of fine music falls on the ear, the -glare, the gas, the tinsel on the stage, the well-dressed, fine-faced -women around cannot shut out my thoughts of the "Legion of the Lost" -who are so merry, so thoughtless, so careless of the morrow--deep in -the fallacies of sin and despair. - -[Sidenote: THE SOCIAL EVIL.] - -The men who are conversing with these women seem to be of a good class, -and spend a good deal of money in refreshments and liquor upon their -fair, frail acquaintances. These last are not allowed to go inside -of the railing on the ground floor alone, but they do not care for -that privilege, as there is plenty to drink outside and more of the -company of the male gender. Whenever a woman on the stage capers more -vigorously, or flings her leg higher than the others, the applause is -loud, long, and continued, and pewter and metal pots are dented in the -surfaces of the tables that are ranged before each red-cushioned seat. - -The comic singers are the favorites of the audience, however, and are -always encored with vociferous enthusiasm. These singers get in a place -like the Alhambra as much as ten pounds a week, as the proprietors -know well the value of their services. The pantomimes are of the very -best kind I ever saw; the dancing is, of its kind, good; the orchestra -excellent and full in numbers, the acrobatic performances very fine, -and the picture at the close of the pantomime is really superb. -Yet with all these excellences combined, if the Alhambra and every -Music-Hall-Hell like it in London were suddenly scorched up by a fire -from Heaven, it would be the most incomparable benefit ever bestowed -upon the English metropolis, and a saving grace to thousands of young -English men and women--both in body and soul. - -And the reason for this is that women are allowed admission at the door -on payment of the price, without the escort of a man. Consequently it -is, with the exception of the Argyle, and Holborn Casino, the greatest -place of infamy in all London. It is convenient, in a central location, -and were women not admitted alone the business of the place would break -up. The men under twenty-five years of age, who comprise the largest -part of the male audience, would not come were these Formosas debarred -from admission. The performance--a first-class one--is not heeded. The -chief attraction is the women. - -And are these women calculated, by their manner, dress or appearance, -to shock or warn people by their degradation? On the contrary they are -cheerful, pleasant-looking girls, of quite fair breeding, and of a far -better taste in their dress than the honest wives and sweethearts of -the mechanics and shopkeepers, who sit in the place of virtue, within -the painted railing. These women are satisfied with their lot, and do -not repine so long as they have male acquaintances or "friends," as -they call them, to give them champagne, moselle, and late suppers of -game and native oysters in the Café de l'Europe, or at Barnes's in the -Haymarket. Despite the arguments of those who have sought to eradicate -the evil, these women, to any great number, never forsake their calling -for the life of an honest working-woman. They laugh at such an idea, -and will tell you that they could not do without wine, rich food, and -costly dresses, even at the fearful price they have given to obtain -them. - -Besides, there is no field open to them, and suspicion follows every -effort for reformation made by the few who have left the life of -prostitution to go to hard work or service. They look down upon -shop-girls and bar-maids with contempt, and many of them keep servants -from the gains of their infamy. Whenever one of these girls happens to -notice a stranger who does not seem to know the place, she will not -hesitate to walk up to him, take his arm, and ask him: "Come, won't you -give me my liquor?" - -Many of these women have had no education whatever; still they manage -to conceal the fact as much as possible, while others will tell you -that they came originally from the workhouse, where they were sent as -children, and being thrown on the streets when grown up, had no means -of making a living but that which they were compelled to adopt. I spoke -to one lady-like girl who seemed to be rather abstracted, and asked her -if she were not tired of her present life, and anxious to leave it. - -"Tired of my life? You may believe it that I am; but what of that. No -one would take me by the hand after leaving this life. I am not such a -fool as to jump from the frying pan into the fire. I get tight about -twice a week, and then I come here and talk and drink more, and that -serves to pass away the time. My friend is in Paris, and he sends me -money when I want it. My mother is dead and my father is in America. I -don't know where, and I don't care much, for he never bothered himself -about me. Are you going to treat?" - -I saw this girl walk up to the bar ten minutes after, pushing her way -through the crowd, and saw her toss off nearly half a pint of raw gin, -or "gin neat," as it is called here, without winking. Such is life. -The detective told me that the girl had been one of the flashiest and -best-dressed women who visited the Alhambra until a few months before, -when she began drinking, and rapidly descended, when she had to pawn -all her jewelry. - -[Sidenote: "WOTTEN WOW."] - -The songs sung in the Alhambra are not quite as low as those heard in -some of the music-halls, and chiefly derive their short popularity from -the fact that there is a comic vein in each one. Sentimental songs are -not so popular, and do not receive so many encores as the comic ones. -A man came on the stage, dressed in the exaggerated costume of a Pall -Mall lounger, who sang a song, of which the following is a verse, with -a very affected voice and lisp, keeping his body bent in a painful -position the while: - - THE BEAU OF WOTTEN WOW. - - Now evewy sumwah's day - I always pass my time away; - Arm in arm with fwiends I go, - And stwoll awound sweet Wotten Wow; - For that's the place, none can deny, - To see blooming faces and laughing eye; - And if your hawts with love would glow, - Why, patwonize sweet Wotten Wow. - - _Chorus_: - - So come young gents and dont be slow, - But stylish dwess and each day go, - And view the beauties to and fwo, - Who dwive and wide wound Wotten Wow. - -The chief merit in the singing of this song to the audience--was the -affected lisp and farcical airs of the singer, who did his best to -imitate the swells who lean over the railings in Rotten Row, when that -fashionable drive is crowded with equestrians and foot passengers in -the regular London season. The mob liked the satire on the aristocrats -and relished all the local hits of the speech and the dress of the -ideal do-nothing. Something of a more grotesque nature, and more -broadly funny, which was cheered to the echo, was a nonsensical song -called the "Royal Beast Show," that seemed to please the men and -women in the audience. This song was sung by a man in a blood-red -scarf, a pea-green body coat, and green glass goggles. The costume was -indicative of nothing under heaven or earth that I ever saw before, -but the song was exactly suited to the comprehension of the people, as -their shouts of laughter testified: - - THE ROYAL BEAST SHOW. - - Come, stand aside, good people all, and hear vot I've got to say, - But let the little dears come hup, wot's going for to pay. - At all the coorts in Europe, we are reckoned quite the go: - Then pay yer sixpences, and see the Royal Wild Beast Show. - - _Chorus._ - - The cammomiles, the crockodiles, and all that you could wish; - The mice and rats, and tabby cats, and other kinds of fish; - A dozen sphinxes hupside down and standing hin a row; - Hits only sixpence heach to see the Royal Wild Beast Show. - - The first one is the Kangaroo, you ought to see him jump; - The next one is the Ippopotymus, you ought to see 'is hump; - The third one is the Halligator, and he's such a one to crow, - He wakes hus hevery morning in the Royal Wild Beast Show. - - The Donkey in the corner, with the Tiger hon 'is harm, - Comes from Hass-iriya, vere once his father kept a farm; - That Billy-Goat that's dressed in Pink and valking rayther slow, - He's wery _Horn_-imental in a Royal Wild Beast show. - - The cammomiles, &c. - -After these choice ballads had been sung, there was a ballet in which -about fifty young ladies capered and pranced in a Bower of Angels, -with a lot of dolphins, just like dolphins and angels in their mutual -festivities in the other world: and then the detective who accompanied -me, said: - -[Sidenote: IN THE CANTEEN.] - -"Would you like to see the Canteen? That's a werry 'igh old game is the -Canteen; sort of priveet like." - -[Illustration: CANTEEN OF THE ALHAMBRA.] - -The Canteen of the Alhambra is situated on the lower floor of the -building, under the stage, and has a dark entrance through a door -which is supported on swinging hinges. The descent is by a spiral -flight of stone steps, and on going through this door, the stranger -receives the idea that he is going behind the scenes, which is a great -mistake. The proprietors have made the entrance as dark and mysterious -as possible, in order to throw a kind of greenroom air about it, which -captivates simple people, and induces them to spend more money than -they would otherwise. It is, in fact (this Canteen), nothing more than -a subterranean bar-room, where men treat to Champagne wine and Moselle -cup, the ballet-girls who come down, wrapped in travelling-cloaks; -and after each ballet is concluded, flirt, drink, and make eligible -acquaintances. The bar is in the form of a half circle, and two very -largely framed women were behind it this night, serving the customers, -who sit around on wooden benches. The ceiling is supported by rude -posts, and everything is as uncouth as possible; and this gives it an -additional charm to countrymen. They feel that they are doing something -sinful, something indiscreet, which they would not like to have their -wives or relations hear of, and, with the natural perversity of human -nature, it is enjoyable to a corresponding degree. The waiters who -bring the drinks and cigars from the bar, wear black dress-coats and -red plush waist coats. - -When I descended to the Canteen, the ballet was still on above us, and -I could hear the tramping of the feet of the dancers as they bounded to -and fro on the stage boards over my head. There were no ballet girls in -the Canteen, but in a few minutes the strains of the dance music died -away and down came the coryphees, trooping by twos and threes, their -faces painted and chalked, and their white slippers and tights peeping -out from the bottoms of the gray waterproof cloaks which they wore. -They took their seats in the room on the wooden benches, and it was -not long until each ballet girl found her male affinity, and of course -the male affinity treated her to whatever the dear creature called -for--however expensive. In such a moment, when these angels in tissue -condescend to talk to mortals, who could think of expense. - -There were a number of soldiers in the room, wearing the uniforms of -different regiments, chiefly of the Household troops, with here and -there a line private in buff and blue; a rifleman in dark green, or -an artilleryman, with his gorgeous red facings and trimmings. But the -angels of the ballet never wasted their time on such low people as -common soldiers. Their game was much higher, and if they could not -get a drink from an officer holding her Majesty's commission, they -were content with stray Americans, who have a reputation for reckless -liberality. In fact, Americans rank above par in the Canteen market, -and are received with due honor. - -[Sidenote: THE OLD SINNER.] - -I saw one old gentleman, fully six feet high, with a venerable face -and white whiskers, evidently of a respectable position in society, -with his arm around the chalked neck of a girl of fifteen, whose light -brown curls fell in masses over her shoulders, and, while he talked -with her, he supplied her quickly-emptied glass with a sparkling wine. -The detective said, in explanation of the scene, to me: - -[Illustration: THE OLD SINNER.] - -"You see, sir, these gals as is down here in the Canteen only gets ten -to sixteen shillin' a week for their night's work, and that isn't much. -They is only the figurantys, and can't dance a bit; but they gets a bad -fashion from the swells who go behind the scenes a drinkin' champagne -and sich like, and that fashion leads them to wuss nor hannything that -you'll see 'ere. They comes down here and drinks between the balley, -and then goes hup on to the stage and dances again, and comes down -hagain after the next balley, and by the time the Alhambra closes -they are so blessed tight that they are ready for hanythink. I means, -of course, the gals as is innocent yet; but the old hands are werry -knowin' cards, so they is, bless you." - -"That little gal as is just now a takin' that gentleman's address is a -werry downy gal, she is. They calls her the 'Daisy,' because she has a -fondness for bokays, and she is hup to all sorts of games. She 'ad some -kind of a heddykation, when she was a little gal, and I thinks she was -a governess or sich like once, and went to the dogs through somebody's -fault; and she writes a beautiful hand, she does, and her little game -is to send letters to strangers who visit London for the first time and -don't know what to do with their money, and full of affekshun and such -gammon--and tells them, in the writin' as 'ow she seed better days and -axes their parding for givin' so much trouble--and 'opes they won't -think the wuss of her for such freedom or liberty; and then she gets a -few pun from the spooney, and she goes on a habsolutely hawful drunk -for a few days and doesn't come to the rehearsal--and when the money is -all spent she writes more letters and 'umbugs some other spoon. Oh, she -_is werry_ deep, is the 'Daisy.'" - -The "Tulip," the other young girl, according to the story of the -policeman, was famous for her aptitude in swearing and drinking -"Stout"; otherwise there was nothing of special interest in her -character, and her face, though a pretty one, was strongly marked -with lines of dissipation. By the time that I was ready to leave the -Canteen, having seen all that was worth seeing in the den (for it is -a den, and nothing else) which has been the cause of many a promising -youth's ruin, it was nearly eleven o'clock. - -[Sidenote: THE SIX PENNY GALLERY.] - -We paid another shilling to go up in the "Gallery," where there is not -the slightest disguise in the conduct of the females who throng the -place. Back of the gallery, in the corridors, where the performance -can be seen over the heads of the men who stand in front, are ranged -a number of bars, and at each end of this place, which forms a kind -of saloon, small tables with marble tops. At these tables a number of -men and women sat and drank and laughed, and told each other anecdotes -more pointed than polished in their application. The clamor and the -smoke made the place unbearable, and the strains of music from the -orchestra, playing Weber's "Last Waltz," filled the vast building with -its circular galleries, that were heaped one upon another, to the -ceiling. Up in the highest gallery of all, where the admittance is -only sixpence, the riff-raff were collected. When a woman goes to the -six-penny gallery in the Alhambra she is indeed lost beyond all hope of -rescue. - -I came down disgusted, and on going below stairs to the first tier I -found there a kid glove, fan, and bouquet stand. It is the fashion for -the young men of this pious city of London, who have more money than -brains, when they visit the Alhambra, to buy kid gloves or fans for -the unfortunates who throng the place. Quite a trade is done in this -way, as some of the swells are not satisfied, when intoxicated, unless -they can prevail upon their feminine friends to accept of a slight -trifle of their esteem in the shape of a dozen pairs of fine kids in -a gilt box. The man at the glove stand told me that business in the -season--when people came home from the Continent--was very brisk, and -he said that in one night he had sold as many as nineteen dozen kids to -be presented to the Formosas of the place. - -The detective said to me as we went down stairs: "Suppose we go to the -Argyle, in the 'Aymarket, and then finish with the Casino and Barnes's; -they'll be very lively just now, I warrant ye, and the fun grows -furious near midnight." I assented to this proposal, and we took a cab -and went to the Argyle Rooms. The cabby put his tongue in his cheek -when I said "Argyle Rooms," and drove us there. I gave him eighteen -pence, and he desired to know if I didn't want to borrow the price of -admission, because I refused to give him half a crown for a ride of a -thousand feet. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE "ARGYLE," "BARNES'S," AND "CASINO." - - -IT is a quarter past eleven o'clock and the Haymarket is full of -people--men and women jostling each other, many of both sexes being -intoxicated; and beggars solicit us at every crossing, doffing their -greasy caps and thrusting their dirty paws under our noses in their -persistency. The cafes are overflowing with Gauls from across the -channel, and when the crowds become too thick to leave the sidewalks -passable, the policemen, who are in great numbers here, have to -interfere to quell rows every few minutes. They clear the streets in a -mild, civil way, very different from the manner of the New York police -in like contingencies. - -A stranger cannot help being astonished at the vast, almost -incalculable, number of unfortunate women who haunt the London streets -in this quarter as the hour of midnight approaches. There must be a -great rottenness in Denmark where such a state of things can exist, and -exist without any surprise on the part of those who witness such scenes -nightly. I paid a shilling to enter the Argyle Rooms, and received a -tin check, which was given up at the door, as in the Alhambra. The -Argyle has not such high architectural pretensions as the Alhambra, but -the class of visitors are better in the sense of dress and position. -I entered through a side door, and found myself in a carpeted room, -handsomely and tastefully furnished and decorated. - -[Sidenote: THE "ARGYLE ROOMS."] - -The saloon is nearly as large as Irving Hall, in New York, but lit up -in a splendid manner with handsome chandeliers, which depend from the -lofty ceiling, the gas jets burning in a deep glow through the shining -metal stalactites that ornament the chandeliers. A splendid band of -fifty instruments is stationed in the gallery at the further end of -the room, and the music is of the best kind. The leader is attired in -full evening dress, as is also every fiddler in the band, and the wave -of the chef's baton is as graceful as that of Julien, when he was in -his prime. Women, dressed in costly silks and satins and velvets, the -majority of them wearing rich jewels and gold ornaments, are lounging -on the plush sofas in a free and easy way, conversing with men whose -dress betoken that they are in respectable society. A number of these -are in full evening dress, wearing their overcoats, and a few of them -have come from the clubs, a few from dinner parties, and a greater -number from the theatres or opera. - -They are not ashamed to be seen here by their acquaintances--far from -it; they think this is a nice and clever thing to do, and, as no -virtuous woman ever enters this place, there is no danger of meeting -those who own a sisterly or still dearer tie, and who might cause a -blush to redden the cheeks of these charming young men. Across the -lower end of the room an iron railing is stretched, and this keeps the -vulgar herd from mingling with the elite of the abandoned women who -frequent the Argyle. Three-fourths of the ground space is devoted to -dancing, and inside this railing sets are formed at a signal from the -band above. - -The charge for admission below, where I stand with the detective -surveying this strange scene, is but a shilling, while the entrance fee -to the gallery is two shillings, and this admits, as I am told by a -servant, to all the privileges of the place whatever they may be. Even -in vice the "horrid spirit of caste" prevails. It is chiefly clerks and -tradesmen who are dancing in the shilling place, and at the end of each -dance, be it waltz or quadrille, the man who has danced is expected -to refresh his partner with a copious draught of beer, or a glass of -plain gin. These women all take their gin without water, and smoke -cigarettes if some one will pay for them. Inside the railing it is -different. - -The bars here are furnished with great splendor, and the calls for -champagne are incessant. The women call champagne "fizz," and ale -"swill." All around the room cushioned seats or benches are placed so -that those who have done dancing may rest themselves and drink. There -are liquor counters in every corner of the room, and a good business -is done, the bar-maids being kept actively employed all the time -while the music is playing. Upstairs there is another gallery and a -fine bar, and here the really fast women congregate, to look over the -balconies, but never condescending to mix among the vulgar dancers, -excepting when their reason is gone through intoxication. These women -all carry expensive fans, and their trains are as long as the train of -a Countess in a reception at St. James's. There is a handsomely fitted -up alcove to the right of the bar, and this alcove is ornamented with -panels, on which are painted such pictures as "Europa and the Bull," -"Leda," "Bacchus and Silenus;" and here are a number of women and men -with Venetian goblets foaming full of champagne before them. Standing -at the entrance to the alcove, is a stout, florid-faced woman, vulgar -in appearance, with incipient moustachios at the corners of her lips. -She is covered with jewelry, and her fingers, fat, red, and unshapely, -glitter with diamonds. - -This is the famous "Kate Hamilton," who was at one time the reigning -beauty of her class, and has now degenerated into a vile pander. She -is surrounded by a cluster of girls, and they are all in an animated -discussion with her. The detective introduces me to this famous, or -rather infamous, Messalina, and her first question is, "Will you stand -some 'Sham?'" The next is to make inquiry about a number of New York -politicians and sporting men who have patronized her den, somewhere in -the Haymarket, while doing the foreign tour. She is most business-like -and brief, this fetid old wretch, and has a speaking acquaintance with -every man in the saloon. - -[Sidenote: THE HAYMARKET BY NIGHT.] - -While we are standing looking at her and her friends, the room -is darkened, the gas being almost extinguished, and a chemical, -light-colored flame irradiates the room like a twilight at sea, and -the entire female population rush below to join in the last, wild, -mad shadow-dance of the night. Around and around they go in each -other's arms, whirling in the dim, uncertain, graveyard light, these -unclean things of the darkness, shouting and shrieking, totally lost -to shame--their gestures wanton as the movements of an Egyptian Almee -and mad as the capers of a dancing dervish. Then the hall is darkened, -the band ceases playing, the waiters finish the remains of the uncorked -champagne bottles, the women dash madly down the carpeted stairs and -into the streets with their male companions, and are whirled away with -the cabs, which wait in long rows before the entrance of the Argyle, to -the purlieus of Pimlico and the sensual shades of St. John's Wood, at -Brompton. - -The night has closed, a full English moon floats silently in the -heavens, white snowy powder hangs over our heads like a film of -lace--the clock-tower at Westminster Palace booms out the hour of -midnight over the dark surface of the Thames, and we escape from the -bustle of that vile dancing hall with gladness. - -"Now," said my conductor, "let's go down in the Haymarket to Barnes's, -and look at that for a few minutes, and then we will go to the Casino, -in the Holborn, for a finish, if you please, sir." - -Down through Coventry street, past the cafés again, which are preparing -to close, and now we are in the Haymarket, one of the worst quarters of -London. This street is wide, beginning at Coventry street and running -down for a distance of about 1,400 feet to the "bottom," ending at the -line where Pall Mall begins. They always say the "bottom" or "top" of a -street in London, never "east" or "west." If there be a place in London -that is deserving of notice, it is the Haymarket. Hundreds of years -ago, the washerwomen of the village of Charing, just below us, and now -one of the great business centres of London, used to bring their dirty -linen here to cleanse it, and then dry it on the green fields in the -Haymarket. - -The green fields of the Haymarket have long ago been covered over -with theatres, opera-houses and palatial shops, and now not all the -washerwomen in England could cleanse the immoral sewage that streams -through the Haymarket night after night--through the snows of winter, -the heated nights of July, and August, and the fragrance of May. Here, -at this chemist's door, formerly a tennis court, Charles II., his -brother, the Duke of York, Sedley, Rochester, and the rest of the wild, -reckless lot, used to come to play their favorite game; and here sat -Mistress Gwynne, Portsmouth, Mrs. Hyde, Louise de Queroailles, Frances -Stewart, and other dissolute beauties of the merry monarch's court, -applauding the feats of skill performed by their lovers. In the theatre -formerly standing on the site of the present Haymarket Theatre, and -opposite to Her Majesty's Opera House, with its long, drab colonnades -and dark shops imbedded in the arcades, Foote and glorious Garrick woke -the passions of all who were intellectual and noble in the Addisonian -age of England. - -Here was the public house kept by Broughton, the champion of England, -who has been forever immortalized by Hogarth--just off Cockspur street; -and here was his swinging sign-board, having a portrait of himself, -battered and bruised, in a cocked hat and wig, with the legend on the -sign-board-- - - "Hic Victor Cæstus artemque repono." - -Think of a modern prize buffer attempting to quote from the classics. -Cibber wrote a show-bill for Broughton once, which I reproduce, as a -specimen of advertising skill: - - "At The New Theatre - - "In the Haymarket, on Wednesday. The 29th of This Instant April, - -"The Beauty of the Science of Defence will be shown in a Trial of Skill -between the following Masters, viz., Whereas, there was a battle fought -on the 18th of March last, between Mr. Johnson, from Yorkshire, and -Mr. Sherlock, from Ireland, in which engagement they came so near as to -throw each other down. Since that rough battle the said Sherlock has -challenged Johnson to fight him, strapt down to the stage, for twenty -pounds; to which the said Johnson has agreed; and they are to meet at -the time and place above mentioned, and fight in the following manner, -viz., to have their left feet strapt down to the stage, within reach -of each other's right leg; and the most bleeding wounds to decide the -wager. N.B.--The undaunted young James, who is thought the bravest of -his age in the manly art of boxing, fights himself the stout-hearted -George Gray for ten pounds, who values himself for fighting at -Tottenham Court. Attendance to be _given at ten, and the Masters mount -at twelve_. Cudgel-playing and boxing to _divert_ the _gentlemen_ until -the battle begins. - -"N.B.--Frenchmen are requested to bring smelling bottles." - -Think only of these wigged nobles and their clients, the boxers, in -knee-breeches and wigs, going to a battle, and think of the Frenchmen -who were compelled to bring smelling-bottles to keep their stomachs in -order, and who will not say that even in prize-fighting the Nineteenth -century has brought progress, as in every other scientific matter? - -[Sidenote: AT "BARNES'S."] - -We are now at Barnes's, a famous night house, or, rather, an infamous -night house, in the Haymarket. When the dancing places and music-halls -of the metropolis close, this door remains open to catch all stray -night birds who can find no other resting place. The place is an -ordinary drinking saloon, with a confectionery and pastry counter, and -the attendants are five or six over-dressed young ladies, all of whom -have their hair dyed of a light color, and are very free and chatty in -their manner. These girls are well supplied with jewelry and lockets. -Their salary is not large enough to furnish them with the trinkets, -as they only get one pound five shillings a week; yet they manage to -dress expensively, and Champagne is so common to their palates that -they have become indifferent to it and it absolutely palls upon them. -Yet there is a percentage on every bottle that is consumed here, and -consequently they do their best to sell Moet & Chandon at ten shillings -a bottle to the customers--and will even drink with them. - -[Illustration: IN THE HAYMARKET.] - -This is a great place for rump-steaks and native oysters--late at -night, and a good business is done here in those articles of food. The -oysters are small, black, and have a bitter, copperish taste. A New -Yorker, used to Sounds and East Rivers, would leave them in disgust; -but Englishmen, whose throats are parched with the liquors they get -at the Argyle and in the Haymarket, prefer them to the most luscious -Saddle Rocks. There is a large screen in the center of the room, the -bar glitters with costly mirrors, and behind the screen are a number -of small boxes partitioned off, and having red plush seats. In these -are several noisy women, inflamed with liquor, eating and drinking and -hallooing at their male companions. One girl, in a black silk dress, -with her hair hanging down in disorder, is crying drunk at one of the -tables, and has just spilled a bottle of wine over her handsome dress. -She is cursing the waiter, who is also drunk, with much earnestness of -purpose, and as soon as she sees the detective she halloos at him in a -harsh voice: - -[Sidenote: THE "HOLBORN CASINO."] - -"I say, Bobby, you don't want me, do you?" I 'avent done nothink, -although I wos wonst in Newgate for taking a swell's watch, which he -guv to me for my wedding present, as was just four year ago, come -Micklemas Goose. I wish I could throw meself in the Thames, but I -'aven't got the 'art-- - - "'Hoh, my 'art is in the 'Ighlands - A follerin the vild roe. - My 'art is in the 'Ighlands, - Wheresomdever I--go--I go." - -"Ah! that's a rum customer," said the policeman; "she's fly to -heverythink. Now, hif that gal ain't watched this night, she is jest as -likely to go to London Bridge and throw her blessed body hoff into the -dirty water as not. They always goes to Lunnun Bridge when they want to -make way with themselves--it's so lively like." - -"Now," said the policeman, "I would hadvise you to make the finish at -the 'Casino,' in the 'Olborn, afore you go to your hotel, sir, and -then you may say you've seen the best of the bad places of Lunnun. The -Casino is hopen till one o'clock to-night, I think, and we'll just be -in time for the best dance." - -We took a cab again, which dashed up Coventry street, through -Cranbourne street, into Long acre, and up Drury Lane, past the old -theatre of that name, and in a few minutes we descended in the wide, -open space of the Holborn, before the entrance of the Casino, the -fashionable dance-house of London. The street was lined with cabs, and -policemen were thick in the vicinity of the entrance, ordering the men -and women just coming out to pass on, and keep the street clear, a duty -which gained for them a great deal of abuse from the intoxicated women, -who did not want to pass on by any means. The entrance to this place is -through a gaudy, gilded vestibule and down a descent of four or five -steps to a spacious marble floor, which was covered with dancers. The -whole interior was gilded, gold leaf and white predominating above all -other colors. - -The band, as at the other places of evil resort, was placed in the -farthest end gallery, and was an excellent one. The leader wore white -kids and the musicians white vests, and the crash of the instruments -was almost deafening, filling the large space with a wild and not -unpleasing harmony. Attendants in evening dress were on the floor, -making up sets and soliciting the habitues of the place to dance -with the female partners, which were easily found for them. A high -balcony ran all round the hall, which is 100 feet by 75 in dimension, -and in the corners of the saloon, up and down stairs, were cafés and -refreshment bars, which were crowded with customers. The entrance to -this place is only one shilling, and the class of visitors is of a -superior kind to those who go to any other dance-house in London. - -The saloon was really a magnificent one, rich and tasteful in its -decoration, and the women were well and neatly dressed, and very -quiet and well-behaved in their manner. Every woman wore nice gloves, -high-heeled boots, and all of them had the lace frill or ruff now -prevalent in London around their necks. They also wore charms and -lockets and gold watches, and every one was attended by a cavalier. The -men were smoking cigars and flirting, and a number of foreigners were -present and danced incessantly, just as they would at the Mabille or -any Continental garden. In fact, this is the only place in London, with -the exception of Cremorne Gardens, that in any way approaches the mad -gaiety of the Mabille. - -Still, there is a certain English decorum observed here, and any girl -who would get drunk or lift her skirts too high would be expelled -instantly by the master of ceremonies, assisted by the policemen who -are to be found scattered all over the place. Some of the girls will -go up and ask for partners to dance with them, and then, if the latter -wish to give them liquor,--well and good, but they will not solicit -it, because these women affect the fashionable lady as much as their -limited resources will allow. - -[Sidenote: GOOD NIGHT.] - -They are generally the mistresses of men of leisure, and when the -season is at its height a great number of men about town may be -seen here, as spectators, who come from the clubs or the Houses of -Parliament, bored by the ennui of the reading rooms at one place, or -the prosy speeches of members of the other. Some of the men dance with -cigars in their mouths, and whirl around in such a wild manner as to -cause collision with the other couples. Occasionally you will see two -girls waltzing, and men who have sat too long at the dinner-table will, -once in an evening, get up together and dance a "stag dance." But this -is not encouraged by the master of ceremonies, as the dancing of a pair -of male bipeds is not calculated to help the business of the place, and -it is instantly suppressed, amid cheers and laughter. - -The music strikes up for the last gallop, and there is a rush -for partners; the balconies and alcoves and luxurious seats and -marble tables are deserted, and in a moment everything is in a wild -hurly-burly and a confusion and uproar; men and women galloping and -bounding and yelling to the right, and to the left, and as the last -crash of the big drum beats on the ear the passages and doorways are -thronged with the dancers, every man crying for a cab to take himself -and partner somewhere, perhaps they care not where--it is no matter; -and now the place is in darkness, and the policemen having seen the -last of the women leave the doorway, begin their patrol duty, which -will last until day breaks and the stars fall from the London sky, -telling them that they are relieved from their night's watch. - -The detective shakes hand with and leaves me, he to go eastward to -Temple Bar, and I to bed in a remote quarter of the great Babylon, -whose noises and turmoil are now hushed into silence, excepting where a -solitary street-walker, famishing from hunger, or a drunken pedestrian -bars the way, and makes the night resound with insane shouts. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. - - -THE best expression of Protestant Ecclesiastical art in England, and -perhaps in the world, is manifested in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. It -is a stupendous temple rather than a church, and the religious effect -is lost in the interior by the number of tombs erected to admirals, -generals, colonels, and other military and naval heroes. - -When Nelson ordered the decks of the Victory cleared for action at -Trafalgar, he cried out to his lieutenant, Hardy: - -"Now for a peerage or Westminster Abbey." - -But Nelson lies in St. Paul's, and the tomb of England's greatest -soldier--Wellington, is quite near his, under the same lofty nave. -All the great Cathedrals and Abbies of England were built before the -Reformation, and, consequently, St. Paul's is the best and truest proof -of Protestant art in England. - -[Sidenote: WHEN ERECTED AND THE ARCHITECT.] - -The yearly revenues of this Cathedral are £23,422. This does not -include the salaries of the Bishop of London, the Dean of St. Paul's, -four Canons, a Precentor, a Chancellor, Treasurer, Archdeacon of -London, Archdeacon of Middlesex, 29 Canons who do nothing but draw -their salaries, a Divinity Lecturer, a Sub-Dean, 12 Minor Canons, -among whom are a Succentor, Sacrist, Gospeller, Epistolar, Librarian, -Almoner, and Warden, a Commissary, a Registrar and Chapter Clerk, a -Deputy Registrar, a Receiver and Steward, six Vicars, a Choral, and an -Organist; five Bishops' Chaplains, an Examining Chaplain, a Chancellor -of the Diocese, a Secretary to the Bishop of London, and a Registrar -to the Bishop of London at the Cathedral. Altogether about eighty -ecclesiastics who receive salaries from the Cathedral, besides a swarm -of vergers, choristers, and servants of all kinds the salaries of whom -amount to at least £50,000 a year. - -[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.] - -Sir Christopher Wren was the architect of St. Paul's, and the first -stone of the new Cathedral was laid on the site of the old St. -Paul's (which had been destroyed by fire in 1666), in June 1671, and -thirty-nine years afterward, the last stone was laid at the top of the -lantern in 1710, by the son of Sir Christopher Wren, who had succeeded -his father as the architect. - -As St. Peter's at Rome is considered to be the chief temple of Catholic -Christendom, so is St. Paul's entitled to hold the first place in -Protestant Christendom. The whole expense of rebuilding St. Paul's -was £736,752 2s. 3d. for the Cathedral, and £11,202 0s. 6d. for the -stone wall and railings around the Cathedral. The architect received -a beggarly £200 a year during its construction, for his services. The -same architect afterwards designed fifty churches to take the place of -those burnt down in the Great Fire, and they are all standing to-day, I -believe. - -The dimensions of St. Paul's as compared with St. Peter's at Rome, are -as follows: - - St. Paul's. St. Peter's. - Feet. Feet. - Length within 500 669 - Breadth at entrance 100 226 - Front without 180 395 - Breadth at cross 223 442 - Cupola clear 108 139 - Cupola and lantern high 330 432 - Church high 110 146 - Pillars in front 40 91 - Superficial area 84,025 227,069 - -The diameter of the gilt ball is 6 feet 2 inches; the weight 5,600 -lbs., and will contain eight persons; the weight of the cross is 3,360 -lbs. - -The ground on which the present Cathedral stands has, from time -immemorial, been sacred to Divine Worship. There was a Christian church -here as early as the Second century, built, as it is supposed, by the -Romans, which was destroyed during the persecutions of Diocletian, and -again rebuilt, and in the Sixth century it was desecrated by the Pagan -Saxons, who celebrated their Heathenish mysteries in the church. - -It was afterwards richly endowed with lordships by Athelstan, Edgar, -Ethelred, Canute, and Edward the Confessor. The Norman barons, when -they came, made a raid on the property of the church as they did upon -everything they saw in England, and the Saxon priests, half frightened -to death by such violence, had their property returned them by Duke -William, who gave it a charter on his coronation day, cursing all those -who should molest the property of St. Paul's, and blessing those who -should augment its revenues. - -[Sidenote: DESTRUCTION OF OLD ST. PAUL'S.] - -The enumeration of the jewels, and precious stones, and gold and silver -ornaments presented to St. Paul's by its various pious benefactors, -takes up twenty-eight pages of Dugdale's Monasticon. - -The dimensions of Old St. Paul's in the year 1315 were: - - Feet. - Length 690 - Breadth 130 - Height of nave 102 - Length of nave 150 - -The height of the gilt ball on the top of the dome, (which was large -enough to hold ten bushels of corn inside) from the ground, was 520 -feet and it supported a cross, which made the entire height to the top -of the cross, 534 feet. The area occupied by the edifice of Old St. -Paul's was three and a half acres, one and one-half rood and 6 perches. -The walls of the present Cathedral are 1,500 feet in circuit, and -enclose five-eighths of an acre, or about one-fifth of the space of the -old St. Paul's. In fine, the present Cathedral is in every way inferior -to the old one, and in some places it is very tawdy in decoration, -while the Old St. Paul's was in many respects a finer cathedral than -St. Peter's, and twenty feet deeper. - -In 1561 the steeple of Old St. Paul's was burnt down, a few years after -Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, and it was subsequently decided -to rebuild the Cathedral, and Inigo Jones, a far superior architect -to Wren, was chosen for the task. In 1633, Archbishop Laud laid the -first stone of Inigo Jones's Cathedral, which was destroyed by fire in -1666. In 1643 the building was finished at an expense of £100,000. This -Cathedral was architecturally and in every way superior to that built -afterward by Wren, but was as much inferior to the old Cathedral of the -Middle Ages, which Wren sought to improve upon. - -It is believed that modern European Freemasonry was first founded -among the workmen who were employed in rebuilding St. Paul's, from the -fact of a number of the stone masons meeting together during the work -in a social fashion, and from this casual association it is stated -that the Lodge of Antiquity, of which Sir Christopher Wren was Master, -originated, the occasion being the laying of the highest or lantern -stone of the Cathedral in 1710--and it is stated that from this Lodge -of Antiquity all the other Lodges of modern Europe have sprung. - -The Cathedral contains monuments to Nelson, who is buried in a wooden -coffin taken from the mainmast of the French Admiral's ship captured at -the battle of the Nile the very same ship in which the boy Casabianca, -the Admiral's son, "stood on the burning deck, whence all but him had -fled." Nelson lies close to Wellington, and other illustrious men. His -coffin is enclosed in a sarcophagus made by order of Cardinal Wolsey -for Henry VIII. - -Wellington is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral, in a sarcophagus -made of Cornish porphyry, and near him is his old subordinate, the -Irish Sir Thomas Picton, who commanded the Fighting Fifth Division at -Waterloo. Queen Anne, who used to come to St. Paul's in great state -and procession to thank God for the victories won for her by the Duke -of Marlborough, and whom she afterwards betrayed--has a bronze statue -erected in the pediment of the Cathedral. - -Besides these worthies, the tombs of Collingwood, Nelson's friend, -Wren, Rennie, the builder of London Bridge, and Mylne, of Waterloo -Bridge, Dr. Samuel Johnson, who expected to be buried in Westminster -Abbey, and was disappointed, like many others, Sir William Jones, Sir -Astley Cooper, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Turner, the greatest colorist -England has ever produced, Fuseli, Barry, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Opie, -West and other famous painters, John, of Gaunt, Vandyke, Dr. Donne, Sir -C. Hatton, Dean Colet, founder of St. Paul's School, and Sir Nicholas -Bacon are buried in the crypt under St. Faith's--the parish church of -St. Paul's--which is quite contiguous to the latter. - -There are monuments to Bishop Heber, Lord Cornwallis, Nelson, Reynolds, -Johnson, Sir John Moore, Elliott, who defended Gibraltar, Lord Howe, -Rodney, Ponsonby, Admiral Dundas, and a large number beside of their -country's defenders in the Cathedral. - -[Sidenote: PRICES OF ADMISSION.] - -To speak plainly the interior does not look like a church of God at -all. It is simply a huge Pantheon, with monumental effigies, and slabs -indicating the virtues, heroism, gallantry and acts in battle of -innumerable soldiers and sailors who have fought for Britain in times -gone by. The vast Rotunda and the gigantic Dome do not give the idea of -a church, and the pillars and cornices have little in their aspect to -make a spectator feel that he stands in the presence of the Almighty. - -Yet the monuments and the vastness of the Cathedral are worthy of -inspection, though the exterior of the Cathedral is far more imposing -than the interior, owing to the fact that the real height of the walls -of the body of the edifice is marked by a double row of pillars, which -are ranged on top of each other, giving to the spectator an impression -that the Cathedral walls to the roof, exclusive of the dome and cupola, -are twice as high as they are in reality. - -The following are the charges to see the different places in the -Cathedral:--to the body of the church, 2d.; to the Whispering Gallery -and the outside galleries around the dome, 6d.; to the Library, the -Model Room, the Geometrical Staircase in the south turret, and the -Great Bell, which weighs 12,000 pounds, 1s.; to the Ball at the top, -1s. 6d.; to the clock, 2d., and to the vaults 1s., in all 4s. 4d. from -each visitor; which is nothing less than a downright robbery. This is -playing Barnum with a vengeance. - -It was the great bell of St. Paul's which a soldier on the ramparts at -Windsor, twenty miles away, heard striking thirteen strokes one night, -instead of twelve. He was tried for sleeping on his post, found guilty, -and sentenced to death, and would have suffered had it not been for his -stout heart, and his persistent assertion that he heard the bell strike -thirteen instead of twelve strokes. It was proved that the bell did -strike thirteen on the night in question, by the mistake of the ringer, -and thus the soldier was exonerated. - -It was for this same bell that Henry VIII. and a dissolute nobleman -named Partridge, rattled the dice one night; and finally Henry lost the -stake. Partridge having won, died in the same year in an unfortunate -manner, just before he had made up his impious mind to have the bell -melted down. This was looked upon as a judgment of God, for in those -days judgments of God were of common occurrence. - -The grandest sight ever seen under the dome of St. Paul's was the -funeral of Nelson, which took place January 9, 1806. The body was -brought through the streets from Whitehall Stairs, with the King, -Lord Mayor, the Lords of the Admiralty, the Princes of the Blood, the -nobles, prelates and civic companies following, through densely packed -streets, which were almost impassable, for all England was there in -heart, if not in body. The bands played the "Dead March in Saul" during -the afternoon, and minute guns were fired from the Tower and along -the wharves as the body passed. Hardy, Nelson's post-captain, and -forty-eight sailors, who had seen the hero die, surrounded the corpse, -and when the body was taken from the hearse into the vast Cathedral, a -clear space was formed amid all that great sea of faces by the Highland -soldiers of Abercromby, who had been with Nelson in Egypt and at -Aboukir. Above was the immense dome, and from its dark and impenetrable -depths depended a huge octagonal lantern, encircled by innumerable -lamps. - -Then came the words from the lips of the prelate who officiated: - -"I am the Resurrection and the Life, and he who believeth in me -though he were dead, yet shall he rise again," the mighty organ -bursting forth--and out of all that vast multitude went forth a great, -tremendous sob as the body was lowered into the grave enshrouded by the -oak which came from the enemies' ship, and Nelson's flag, which he had -borne at his masthead in victory so often was also about to be lowered, -when suddenly the forty-eight sailors of his vessel, some of whom had -carried his lifeless body from the deck to the cockpit--as if moved by -one impulse, closed around the grave, rent the flag in pieces, each man -securing a piece of the sacred emblem upon his person, as a testament -of the greatest hero England ever saw, or ever will see again. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -GOING TO THE PLAY. - - -THERE can be no doubt but that London is a city much given to -amusement, and I question if there can be found another city which -spends more money and with a better grace, to support music and the -drama. - -It is very true that in a great degree the cheap amusement halls of -London are of the very lowest kind to be found anywhere, but then the -reader must understand that the greater number of theatre going and -music-loving people never enter these haunts, which have won so much -infamy among strangers. I refer, of course, to such places as the -Argyle, the Alhambra, Cremorne, the Casino, and other resorts of the -kind. - -I think that the Londoners as compared with the Parisians, give a great -deal more money for the amusements which they attend than the Parisians -do for theirs. - -Lately the French government has been compelled to build for the -delectation of the Parisians, a splendid opera house, and besides -the cost of this structure, which was two million of dollars, the -government of France pays the following annual subventions or donations -for opera alone: to the Italian Opera 120,000 francs, French Opera -900,000 francs and 250,000 francs to the Opera Comique, beside 200,000 -francs annually to the Conservatoire, where music is taught. - -In London, however, the support of such places is voluntary, and no -state interference is dreamed of, save that of the Lord Chamberlain -who is a sort of censor, and whose duty is chiefly to see that the -ballet-girls do not abbreviate their skirts too much. - -[Illustration: "BEAUTIFUL MISS NEILSON."] - -The most popular and lady-like actress in London is Miss Neilson, who -performs at the Lyceum, the Princess's and Queen's Theatres. This young -and charming actress is a favorite with all classes, owing to her -perfect skill as an artiste, and her reputation is without reproach. -She is known as "Beautiful Miss Neilson," and is of medium height, -with dark, languishing eyes, in which the fire of genius burns, with a -steady flame. Miss Kate Bateman, now Mrs. Dr. Crowe, is also a great -favorite with the Londoners, and most deservedly so, for she has not -her equal on the English stage in her distinctive line of characters. -Who that ever saw the last act of "Leah," or the "Prison Scene" in -"Mary Warner," will deny her terrible power as an actress. The English -capital is divided into two camps as to the merits of the rival -comedians--Lawrence, Toole and John Baldwin Buckstone. Alfred Wigan, -and our own "Dundreary Sothern," stand high in the ranks of their -profession, and no English comedian ever met with a more successful -triumph in his own land than that earned by John S. Clarke at the -Strand Theatre in 1869-70. French plays are very well received at the -St. James Theatre--and I had the pleasure of listening to Schneider, in -"Barbe Bleue" and "Orphee aux Enfer," who was supported by Dupuis, the -celebrated tenor. Having visited many theatres in England, I can safely -avow that I never saw an English comedy, or a play dealing with English -characters and English homes, performed in better taste, or with more -fidelity, than I have seen like plays produced at Wallack's Theatre, in -New York City. - -[Sidenote: FULL DRESS REQUIRED.] - -Nearly all London theatres except the Queen's, in Long Acre, are dark -and gloomy, and in the opera houses, the old style of erecting the -private boxes or loges tier over tier and then hanging them with red -velvet, gives a peculiarly heavy look to the interiors. Besides, prices -for reserved seats are awfully high, and unless a man is the possessor -of a pretty large private fortune, he cannot think of indulging in -opera at all. As a proof of this I will here subjoin the prices at -the Haymarket Opera House or "Her Majesty's," as it is called. The -performances were Italian, German, and French, Grand Opera, and ballet: - -Tariff of prices for private boxes: Pit boxes, 150 guineas for -the season; grand tier, 200 guineas; one pair, 150 guineas; two -pair, 100 guineas; orchestra stalls, 25 guineas; pit tickets, 10s. -6d.; amphitheatre stalls, 5s.; gallery, 2s. 6d. Opera on Tuesdays, -Thursdays, and Saturdays, and special extra nights. No extra charge -for booking places. Evening dress to boxes, stalls and pit. Gratuities -to boxkeepers optional. Doors open at eight; performance commences at -half-past eight. - -These prices, it will be seen, are simply frightful. Then, unless you -go in the gallery, you must be in full dress swallowtail and white -choker, which is not relished by Americans, and particularly by those -from the back-woods, who are not very familiar with evening dress -coats. Of course the large sums are the subscriptions for a season of -perhaps thirty nights. - -At the Covent Garden Opera House, the tariff of prices is as follows: - -Private boxes: Second tier, 2-1/2 guineas; first tier, near the stage, -3 guineas; ditto, at the side, 4 guineas; ditto, in the centre, 5 -guineas; grand tier, 6 guineas; pit tier, 5 guineas; pit stalls, 21s.; -pit, 7 s.; amphitheatre, 2s. 6d.; amphitheatre stalls, front row, -10s. 6d.; second row 7s.; all other rows, 5s. No extra charge for -booking places. Evening dress to all parts except the amphitheatre and -amphitheatre stalls. No gratuities allowed to boxkeepers. Doors open at -eight; performance commences at half-past eight. - -In most of the theatres in London hideous old women or shabby looking -men attend in the lobbies, and wait upon the people who have need for -their services during the night, demanding a fee for every trifling -errand, and in a first-class place of amusement, a boxkeeper would be -insulted if offered less than a shilling for turning a key. - -And then there are terrible young blackguards who insist upon the -stranger's buying oranges, walnuts or apples from them, or else he must -take their chaff as it is given. - -But the biggest swindle of all is, that a man must pay two pence for -the programme of the play, or three pence or four pence, as the case -may be, and yet I have heard Englishmen tell me with audacity that they -lived in a free country. - -And now before I proceed to tell anything of the London theatres, I -will give a table of the prices and the time of opening doors, with the -location of each place of amusement for the benefit of those who may -visit London: - -[Sidenote: ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE.] - -The Adelphi, 411 Strand; admission, seven o'clock--6s., 5s., 3s., 2s., -1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; Astley's, Westminster Road, Lambeth; seven -o'clock--5s., 3s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; Britannia, Hoxton Old -Town, will hold 3,400 persons; half-past six o'clock--2s., 1s., 6d., -and 3d.; City of London, 36 Norton Folgate; seven o'clock--2s., 1s., -and 6d.; Covent Garden, Bow street; eight o'clock--7s., 5s., 3s., 2s. -6d., 2s., and 1s. It was built in 1849, with Floral Hall adjoining. -Its size, 240 feet by 123 feet, and 100 feet high, equals that of La -Scala, the largest in Europe. Drury Lane, seven o'clock--7s., 5s., 2s., -1s., and 6d.; Grecian, City Road, seven o'clock--1s., 6d., and 3d.; -Haymarket, seven o'clock--7s. 5s., 3s., 2s., and 1s.; Her Majesty's, -corner of Haymarket, eight o'clock--7s., 5s., 3s., 2s. 6d., 2s., -and 1s.; Holborn, High Holborn, nearly opposite Chancery Lane, seven -o'clock--6s., 4s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; Lyceum, Strand, seven -o'clock--6s., 5s., 3s., 2s., and 1s.; Olympic, Wych street, Drury -Lane, half-past seven o'clock--6s., 4s., 2s., 1s.; Marylebone, Portman -Market, seven o'clock--3s., 2s., 1s., and 6d.; Pavilion, Whitechapel, -half-past six o'clock--2s., 1s., and 6d.; Prince of Wales, Tottenham -Court Road, seven o'clock--6s., 3s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; Princess's, -Oxford street, seven o'clock--6s., 5s., 4s., 2s., and 1s.; Queen's, -Long Acre, formerly St. Martin's Hall, seven o'clock--6s., 5s., 4s., -2s. 6d., 2s., and 1s.; Royalty or Soho, Dean street, Oxford street, -half-past seven o'clock--5s., 3s., 1s., and 6d.; Royal Amphitheatre, -High Holborn, west of Red Lion street, seven o'clock--4s., 2s., 1s. -6d., and 1s.; Sadler's Wells, Clerkenwell, seven o'clock--3s., 2s., -1s., and 6d.; Standard, Shoreditch, half-past six o'clock--3s., 1s. -6d., 1s., 6d., and 3d., burnt down in 1866, is rebuilding; St. James's, -King street, St. James's Square, half-past seven o'clock--4s., 3s., -2s., and 6d.; Strand, Strand, seven o'clock--5s., 3s., 1s. 6d., and 6.; -Surrey, Blackfriar's Road, seven o'clock--3s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and -6d.; Victoria, New Cut, Lambeth, half-past six o'clock--1s. 6d., 1s., -6d., and 3d. - -Drury Lane, which was built in 1812, will seat 1,700 persons, and its -vestibule and saloons are as fine as any in Europe. Private boxes in -the London theatres range in price for a single seat at from one guinea -to four pounds, or from $5 to $20 a night. The Olympic seats 2,000; the -Adelphi 1,500; Astley's Circus 4,000, and the gallery of the Victoria -will seat 2,000, while the Pit of the Pavilion, a murderous hole in -Whitechapel, seats 1,500 roughs. - -Astley's is a sort of Hippodrome for spectacles, and is much loved -by young London for the prancing of its horses and its grand shows. -Astley's is at Lambeth, on the Surrey side of the Thames, and is in -the heart of the democratic quarter of London. The present building -is the fourth erected upon this site. The first was one of the -nineteen theatres built by Philip Astley, and was opened in 1773, -burnt in 1794; rebuilt 1795, burnt 1803; rebuilt 1804, burnt June 8, -1841, within two hours, the house being principally constructed from -old ship-timber. It was rebuilt, and opened April 17, 1843, and has -since been enlarged. There is only one other theatre in London for -equestrianism; and the stud of trained horses numbers from fifty to -sixty. - -Philip Astley, originally a cavalry soldier, commenced horsemanship in -1763, in an open field at Lambeth. He built his first theatre partly -with £60, the produce of an unowned diamond ring which he found on -Westminster Bridge. Andrew Ducrow, subsequently proprietor of the -Amphitheatre, was born at the Nag's Head, Borough, in 1793, when his -father, Peter Ducrow, a native of Bruges, was "the Flemish Hercules" -at Astley's. The fire in 1841 arose from ignited wadding, such as -caused the destruction of the old Globe Theatre in 1613, and Covent -Garden Theatre in 1808. Andrew Ducrow died January 26, 1842, of mental -derangement and paralysis, produced by the above catastrophe. - -Covent Garden theatre is the second one built on its site,--it being -a strange fact that nearly all the theatres in London have been burnt -down from time to time. It was here that the "O.P.," or "Old Prices," -riots took place in 1804, and continued for seventy-seven nights, the -management having made an attempt to raise the prices, but at last they -had to back down before the popular storm. Incledon, Charles Kemble, -Mrs. Glover, George Frederick Cooke, Miss O'Neill, Macready, Farren, -Fanny Kemble, Adelaide Kemble and Edmund Kean have strutted their brief -hours on its stage, but now the house is entirely devoted to opera. - -Drury Lane Theatre, or "Old Drury," as it is sometimes known, and was -at one time called the "Wilderness" by Mrs. Siddons, is situated in -one of the lowest quarters of London, where vice, crime, poverty and -drunkenness abound, but still it is frequented by the best classes of -the play-going public. Here, one night in August, 1869, I saw "Formosa" -played to a very full house, the excitement about the Harvard and -Oxford race having culminated about this time. It was then under the -direction of Mr. Dion Boucicault, who has made and lost two or three -fortunes in the management of theatres. All the famous disciples of -the histrionic art who live in English dramatic history, have appeared -during the last two hundred years on the boards of Old Drury. - -In 1799 sixteen persons were trodden to death in an alarm which took -place at the Haymarket theatre. - -There is a little theatre called the Adelphi, in the Strand, near Cecil -street where I had rooms for some time, and this little dirty theatre, -which has a vestibule like the entrance to a New York lager bier -saloon, has been very much frequented by Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. -This royal lady has some queer tastes, and among them is a fondness for -broad farce or low comedy. She is also fond of the piano, which she -learned from a Mrs. Anderson, and sometimes when she plays she likes -to be accompanied by two or three of the most distinguished violinists -that can be procured. The Queen used to sing, and in the old days, -when the world was new to her and before she had been widowed, it was -the custom at the nice little private parties which she gave, to have -Prince Albert sing with her, while the Hon. Mrs. Grey, wife of her -Secretary (and a lady who had a good deal of work in helping to compose -the Queen's memoirs), performed on the piano. - -In every place of amusement in London, be it high or low, there is -a place set apart for the Queen's family, so that should she take a -notion to visit the most out of the way place, she may be certain of -being able to secure a secluded nook or loge where she will not be -intruded upon. - -[Sidenote: A GIN PUBLIC IN THE NEW CUT.] - -In the vicinity of all the theatres of the lower grade in and about -London, I found nests of cheap public houses or drinking bars, and -toward nine or ten o'clock, while the performances are at the height of -dramatic agony, these resorts are crowded, with persons of both sexes, -who have slipped out of the amusement halls to get a pint of beer or -"tuppence" worth of "gin neat." Gin "neat" is gin without water or -sugar, and this drink is very popular among women of the lowest class -in London. - -[Illustration: A GIN PUBLIC IN THE NEW CUT.] - -In Waterloo Road, close upon the Victoria theatre, I saw one of -these "gin publics," the doors of which were choked with customers -passing in and out from the adjoining theatre. There were negroes, -Malays and Chinamen, with an overflowing majority of Cockneys, in the -"public," all of whom were busily engaged in assuaging their thirst, -or firing up their stomach furnaces. Not a little puzzled was I, to -see women with small children in their arms, drinking alongside of -sooty coal-bargemen--negroes, and young children, who had been driven -by their miserable parents to beg coppers wherewith to procure them -gin. It was a dreadful scene to witness, and the smiling fiend behind -the bar was positively fat and enjoying the haggardness in some of his -customers' faces. - -[Sidenote: IN THE GALLERY OF THE "VIC."] - -I had been told that there was a theatre on the Surrey side of the -river, in which, if I visited it, I might find all the unwashed -elements of the London democracy at home, and one evening I found -myself before its door, after a long journey. - -This was the "Royal Victoria Theatre," New Cut, Lambeth. The Bowery, in -its palmiest and most glorious days, could not hold a candle to this -histrionic temple. Its tragedies and dramas of the highway robber and -George Barnewell apprentice school are not, perhaps, to be equaled in -any theatre in the world. The Porte St. Martin, in Paris, is a mere -training-school of horror compared with this, the most bloodthirsty of -places of amusement. There were two entrances--one for the aristocracy -of Lambeth, the other for the underfed plough-holders, or, rather, -for the Costermongers. The aristocratic entrance had a dark, dirty -box-office, illumined by a pair of gas-jets that could hardly find air -to flutter in, so strong was the stench of men and filthy materialism. - -Over the door of the box-office was a sign, "Pit, 6d.; gallery, 3d.; -private stage boxes, 2s." The crowds pushed hard and fast to get an -entrance. They came in swarms of fustian and corduroys, with unkempt -hair, the bosoms of some of the costerwomen almost laid bare with -the shoving and crushing; the lads and men wearing heavy hob-nailed -shoes, such shoes as are never seen in America excepting on the feet -of emigrants, who stream through the gates of Castle Garden from the -waste of Atlantic waters--and these heavy hob-nailed shoes did wonders -in hurrying the progress of the front ranks, by repeated applications -to the calves and ankles of those who had the good or bad luck to stand -nearest the door of the theatre. - -After a severe struggle, in which some greasy corduroys are ripped and -several caps lost, and a number of babies squeezed--who are in the -arms of girls hardly old enough, one would think, to be their lawful -mothers--we get clear of the mob, shouting, screaming, and whistling, -and pass up the dirty, rickety stairs to the three-penny Gallery of -the "Vic," as the theatre is called by the class who frequent it; and -now a sight presents itself to the writer such as is seldom seen, and -never in any city but London. - -[Illustration: THE GALLERY OF THE "VIC."] - -I lost my hat on the stairs, and in the crush I discovered it in the -hands of a mutinous boy, about a dozen steps below me, who threatened -if I did not give him a sixpence "to kick the brains hout hof hit." I -give the truly amusing boy sixpence and the hat is flung up to me much -the worse for wear, while a young girl with a dowdy bonnet and a face -swelled with gin asks me in chaff if I am fond of "periwinkles." - -The gallery of the Victoria is one of the largest in the world, and -will hold, on a modest computation, 2,200 people. - -[Sidenote: THE CHORUS OF "IMMENSEKOFF."] - -Five minutes after I found myself in the gallery; it was crowded and -not a seat could be had, for these people gather at the theatre doors, -and fill the surrounding streets and lanes for an hour before the place -is advertised to be open. - -As I have no seat and look rather out of place, several cheerful young -ladies offer to let me sit in their laps, and facetious remarks are -made on the different articles of apparel which I have on me. Being -a very warm evening, nearly all of the males, men and boys, are in -their shirt-sleeves, and it grieves one to think that many of these -shirts are sadly in need of washing, and not a few want repairing. The -boys and men are hardly seated when they fall into something like the -Old Bowery tramp--only that here they all seem to be acquainted with -the same slang song, and it is sung by them in a loud, full, and not -unmelodious chorus, with a vehemence that shakes the old timbers of the -house. - -In the well-ordered pit of the Bowery theatre in other days, if I -remember right, such truly scandalous conduct would have instantly been -suppressed by the strong arm and heavy stinging cane of the brawny -fellow who stood with his back to the stage, immediately behind the -orchestra; his watchful eyes surveying every rugged face in the pit, -and ready with his powerful arm to rain blows like a storm on the -shoulders of the brawler. - -I should like to see a man with a brawny arm and cane try the same -thing on the audience in the gallery of the "Vic." I am sure he -would be thrown over the rail into the lower part of the theatre, -particularly if he were to interrupt a chorus. Many of the men and -lads, who have their entire week's earnings in their pockets, are -very drunk already, though it is only half-past seven o'clock of the -Saturday night. The chorus which they are singing is that of a popular -street and music-hall song, which every one is now humming in London. -They sung it as follows: - - "Ha! my dear frens, pray 'ow de doo, - Hi 'opes I sees yer well, - Peer'aps yer don't know 'oo I is; - Well, then, I'm the Heastern swell. - My chambers is in Shoreditch, - And I fancy I'm a Toff; - From top to toe I _really_ think - I looks--Immensekoff. - Immensekoff--Immensekoff, - Behold me a Shoreditch Toff-- - A toff, a toff, a Shoreditch Toff, - Hand I thinks myself--Immensekoff." - -"Come hup there, ye lazy fiddlers, and give us our thrip-pence worth," -shouts an irate lad to the orchestra, who are scraping and rosining -their instruments. - -"Yes, give us moosic for our money, old bald head," shouts another -young ruffian to the despised leader of the orchestra, who responds -with a wave, and then we have "God Save the Queen," done after the -style popular in the New Cut. - -When this is over a red-headed fellow, with his arms bare and -perspiring like the lower animal that he is, cries out loudly, "Now -for the next varse, and give us a good chorious," and then they all -commence again: - - "Vith the fair sec', bless 'em, need I say-- - That hi am 'number Von;' - Hits _really_ quite a bore to me - The way the gals do run-- - Not away from me--but hafter me. - Hah--you may laugh and scoff, - But I can tell yer--that the gals - Think me--Immensekoff. - Immensekoff--Immensekoff." - -And so on for five mortal verses the whole mad swarm of dirty, ignorant -wretches, keeping time with hands and feet until my head ached, and -I went down the narrow stairs, while a number of polite young ladies -inquired as I passed, "if I had been sea-sick." The descent to the -lower part of the theatre was about forty-feet, down a dimly lighted -stairs, and I found myself in the family circle, as it would be called -in America, the seats being of planed planks without cushions, while -the aisles were crowded with people, as above in the three-penny -gallery. - -[Sidenote: THE "TERROR OF LONDON."] - -Here the admission was, I think, a shilling, and the audience was a -little more select, yet not enough to cause remark from a stranger. -The doorkeeper told me he could get me a seat in a private box on the -stage for two shillings, and I followed him through another dirty, dark -passage, my feet crushing the shells of walnuts and filberts, which -here take the place of the old time peanuts. - -I was solicited to buy sandwiches of a very ancient aspect by several -men, and pigs' feet and sheep's trotters by a number of women, at a -penny and "tuppence" apiece; and a boy with a large flat basket offered -me a pint of periwinkles for "three ha'pence," "all fresh, sir;" and -finally I got into the box on the stage, which gave me a very good view -of the entire theatre and its sweltering audience. Pit, circle, and -"three-penny" gallery were packed with human heads, tier upon tier, in -a manner that seemed to defy description. - -The walls were rough, and in some places but poorly papered, and in -the corners of the upper gallery, flirtation, small-talk, and chaff -went on so audibly that I could hear almost what was spoken, or rather -cried out from the gallery, although I was at the other extremity of -the building. Great anxiety was manifested to have the curtain hoisted -by the unruly audience, and not a little shouting was done to make the -fiddlers hurry up their overture. - -The piece was called the "Terror of London," and it depicted the life -of an apprentice who had departed from the ways of honesty to take up -with bad companions in pot-houses, and was in four acts. The apprentice -was of course the hero of the drama, and the author of the piece -played the character of the abused apprentice. Whenever the apprentice -kicked a policeman or threw one of his pursuers down a dark trap-door, -there was great applause of his dexterity; but when the villain of the -piece, a snaky-looking wretch, unworthy to breathe the "a-i-r-r-r of -heving," slapped his hands after the commission of a fresh crime, he -was received with derisive shouts and yells, which he, however, took as -compliments to his histrionic skill. - -The heroine of the piece was in love with the unfortunate and -dissipated apprentice, and did nothing but clasp her hands and tear her -hair at his "goings on." But at last she was roused to fury when the -villain of the play followed the dishonest apprentice to his mother's -grave to give him up to the police. The apprentice was discovered lying -across a painted marble tombstone, and when the police entered, led on -by the heavy villain, the heroine threw her body between him and his -enemies, and drawing her form to its full height, she declaimed thus: - -"The fust m-a-n who places his polyuted touch on the form of my nobil -up-e-r-en-tis, though he were doubly armed with the king's authority, -shall find his fate on the point of this pon-yard." - -After this necessary outburst several more people were killed, and the -whole concluded with the dying scene at Tyburn, the gallows, and the -culprit, the bowl of ale, and the apprentice asking his friends if they -would not prevent him from dying a disgraceful death. Here he makes an -attempt to escape, and is pistoled admirably by the villain, who is -convenient, and who is in turn pistoled by the apprentice's sweetheart, -she being also ready at the proper moment for action. Then the curtain -went down, and a stout girl, with fat legs and a green pair of tights, -danced a hornpipe, which was loudly encored, the young lady being -encouraged by such remarks as: - -"Do you want some kidney pies?" - -"Kick up, Miss Jenny." - -"Don't mind the shoes; we pays for that." - -"Tell the fiddlers to give it to yer 'otter--vy, yer not dancing at -all!" - -[Sidenote: "DO YOU WANT SOME KIDNEY PIES?"] - -Every one in the theatre seemed to be on speaking terms with each -and all of the performers, and, in some instances, the latter would -answer the chaff back merrily, an incessant fire of replies and -counter-replies being kept up that was amusing, if not edifying. While -the dancing was going on an old woman made her entrance into the box -where I was sitting, and asked if "I didn't want some porter or kidney -pies." At the "Vic" it is the custom to eat during the performance, and -drink porter or beer, which is brought by old women and boys between -the acts, and sold at four-pence a bottle. Then the dancing girl -retired gracefully amid great applause. She was succeeded by a comic -singer, who sang, in a green coat and kerseys, a song, the burden of -which was: - - "Wait for the turn of the tide, boys, - For Rome wasn't built in a day: - Whatever through life may betide, boys, - Why, wait for the turn of the tide." - -This concluded the performance, and the curtain went down, and the -lights in the dirty lamps being extinguished, the roughest audience of -the roughest play-house in London wandered right and left, up and down -the New Cut to their homes, or else they stopped to drink and drain in -the pot-houses, or choke the thoroughfare to buy in the street market, -which was now--eleven o'clock--at the height of commercial prosperity. -Eleven o'clock tolled from St. Paul's as I repassed Waterloo Bridge -back to the city, and the Thames swam and bubbled calmly against the -stone piers of the massive bridge. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET. - - -WHEN a foot passenger crossing London Bridge looks down the river to -the left, he cannot help noticing a little cluster of masts tapering -upward from a series of small hulks and craft which lie quite near to -each other, in the shadow of a long building of part brick and stone, -the river side of which is open and crowded with people of both sexes -from an early hour of the morning. - -This is the famous Billingsgate Fish Market, which has given or -originated a synonym for blackguardism and low abuse all the world over. - -The market for many years consisted of a collection of wooden pent -houses, rude sheds, and benches, and the business formerly commenced -at three o'clock in the summer and at five in winter. In the latter -season it was a strange scene, its large, flaming lamps of oil, showing -a crowd of fish venders and fish buyers struggling amid a Babel din of -vulgar tongues, which has rendered Billingsgate a by-word for abuse -and foul-mouthed language. Addison has referred to the Billingsgate -fish-wives and to their quarrels as "the debates which frequently arise -among ladies of the British fishery." - -[Sidenote: PROFIT ON FISH.] - -The old style Billingsgate fish-woman wore a strong, stiff gown tucked -up, with a large quilted petticoat; her hair, cap and bonnet flattened -into a mass from carrying fish baskets upon her head; her coarse -cracked voice, her bloated face and her large brawny limbs completing -the picture of the old Billingsgate "fish fag." - -This virago has disappeared and a new market building was erected in -1849. A stone river-wall was constructed where an old mud bank formerly -existed and the surface was filled in and levelled to equalize the -grade in Thames street on which the market has its frontage. Within, -the ground was excavated and formed into a lower market, which has -two subterranean openings on the river, for the sale of shell-fish, -oysters, muscles, prawns, periwinkles, and whelks. These shell-fish are -kept in large half puncheons bound with iron hoops. The market has a -superficial area of 2,700 feet, but the drainage in the lower market -is very bad as it is below the level of the river. The upper market is -open to the public through two large arched apertures, 400 feet wide, -and below it is bounded by eighteen dark arches which are used by the -salesmen as depositories for their goods. These arches are entirely -without ventilation and even the market itself, thronged as it is for -twelve hours of the day, receives no air but that which comes in a -chance way from the already vitiated atmosphere of the neighborhood. -The market is covered on the side next to London Bridge by a roof of -rough glass. The light iron columns which serve to support the roof, -also serve to divide the market into a series of narrow gangways, and -within these gangways the dealers take their stand to vend and auction -the fish every morning, book and pencil in hand, and their aprons -hanging from their chests to their knees. There is a clock tower on -the building and a bell which is rung at five o'clock every morning to -announce the opening of the market, and then is witnessed a general -rush like the retreat of an army. The railways alone carry to this -market annually, 15,000 tons of fish, besides the amount which is -brought by water. - -Five hundred years ago this market produced a rental of forty-six -pounds per annum; to-day there is a firm which has a small stall whose -profits on fish amount to £10,000 a year, and the good-will of one -fish merchant in the market, I believe, was purchased last year for -the large sum of £30,000. About the same time that the market rental -was forty-six pounds a year, the best soles sold for three pence per -dozen, the best turbot for six pence each, the best mackerel one penny -each, the best pickled herrings one penny the score; fresh oysters -two pennies a gallon, and the best eels two pennies per quarter of a -hundred. William Wallace, the Scottish hero, was then a prisoner in the -Tower, and Bannockburn had not been won by Bruce, and the ink on the -Magna Charta was hardly dry. - -In 1548, although the king of England was a Protestant, and the -government a Protestant one, yet an act was passed which imposed a -penalty on those who ate flesh on fish days. This was to protect the -trade in the fisheries, however, and not to interfere with the private -religious opinions of the people. The consumption of fish in the -household of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in the year 1314, was 6,800 -stock fish, consisting of ling, haberdine, &c., besides six barrels of -sturgeon, the whole valued at £60 of the money of that period. - -It is four o'clock of a summer morning at Billingsgate market and all -London is as yet solitary, and the streets are unpeopled by traffic -or pedestrians. The sight from London Bridge is magnificent on such a -morning. In the words of the poet who looked upon this same scene: - - "This city now doth like a garment wear - The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, - Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie, - Open unto the fields and to the sky - All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. - Never did sun more beautifully steep - In his first splendor valley, rock, or hill; - Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! - The river glideth at its own sweet will; - Dear God! The very houses seem asleep, - And all that mighty heart is still." - -Riot, profligacy, want and misery have retired, and labor has scarcely -risen. As we approach Billingsgate, the profound silence of the dawn is -now and then broken by the wheels of the fishmonger's light cart, which -is proceeding to the market. - -[Illustration: AN AUCTION AT BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET.] - -The whole area of the market, brilliantly lighted with streaming -flames of gas, comes into view. One might fancy that the stalls were -dressed for a feast. The tables of the salesmen, which are arranged -from one side of the covered area to the other, afford ample space -for clustering throngs of buyers around each. The stalls appear to -form one table, but the portion assigned to each is nine feet by six. -Each salesman sits with his back to another, and between them is a -wooden shelf, so that they are apparently enclosed in a recess, but -by this arrangement they escape having their pockets picked, a common -occurrence where there is a large crowd. There are about 200 fish -salesmen in London and half of that number have stalls in this market -for which a pretty good rent is paid. - -Proceeding to the bottom of the market, we perceive the masts of the -fishing boats rising out of the fog which envelopes the river. The -boats lie considerably below the level of the market, and the descent -is by several ladders to a floating wharf, which rises and falls with -the tide, and is therefore always on the same level with the boats. -About fifty of these craft are moored alongside of each other. - -[Sidenote: THE OYSTER BOATS.] - -The oyster boats are crowded together by themselves. The buyer goes on -board the oyster boat, as oysters are not sold in the ordinary, morning -market. The fishermen and porters are busily engaged in arranging their -cargoes for quick delivery as soon as the market begins. Two or three -minutes before five the salesmen take their seats in the enclosed -recesses, watching each other eagerly. The porters with their dirty -canvass aprons and their huge scooped hats stand ready with their -baskets on their heads, but not one of them is allowed, however, to -have the advantage of his fellows by an unfair start, or to overstep -a line marked out by the clerk of the market. The instant the clock -strikes the melee commences and then woe to the bystander who blocks up -the way--he is knocked down and trampled on, and fish of all sizes are -spilled over his prostrate body, while his eyes, hands, limbs and other -members, are blessed with great fervor by the porters. - -Each porter now rushes at his utmost speed to the respective salesman -to whom his basket is consigned. The largest codfish are brought in -baskets which contain four; those somewhat smaller are brought in -boxes; and smaller sizes in dozens, and still larger numbers, but -always in baskets. All fish are sold by the "tail," or by number -excepting salmon, which are sold by weight, and oysters and shell-fish -by measure. The baskets are instantly emptied on the tables, and the -porters hasten for a fresh supply. It is the fisherman's interest to -bring his whole cargo into the market as soon as possible, for if the -quantity brought to market be large, prices will fall the more quickly, -and if they are high, buyers purchase less freely, and he may miss the -sale. As, for example, a boat load of mackerel from Brighton sold at -Billingsgate for forty guineas per hundred, or seven shillings each, -an extraordinary price--while the next boat load produced but thirteen -guineas per hundred. - -The majority of the fishing vessels are sloops and schooners under -fifty tons each, and of this number the greater part belong to ports on -the coast as follows: - - Yarmouth 630 - Faversham 416 - Brighton 60 - Dartmouth 357 - Southampton 193 - Maldon 218 - Rochester 363 - Colchester 318 - Dover 180 - Rye 80 - Ramsgate 170 - -Salmon is conveyed by rail in large boxes, covered with pounded ice, -which preserves them fresh for six days, and sometimes in the summer -months as many as 3,000 boxes of salmon are received at Billingsgate -in a day. The salmon are sent to agents to be sold on commission at -a profit of five to ten per cent., the agent taking the risk of bad -debts, and the price varies from fivepence to a shilling a pound, -according to the supply in market. - -[Sidenote: BREAKFAST AT BILLINGSGATE.] - -The best time to see Billingsgate is of a Friday morning between six -and seven o'clock. The regular fish merchants come first and are served -first, and then their places are taken by the Costermongers, or street -pedlars, who buy the refuse, or what is left. Lower Thames street, -above and below London Bridge, is sure to be crammed full of fish carts -and fish porters running hither and thither with baskets of fish upon -their shoulders, and it is noticeable that the lower part of every -building is open and the spaces filled with fish of all kinds, chiefly -smoked and preserved fish, which are exposed in large baskets and boxes -for sale. The proprietors of these places, some of whom do business in -salted and smoked fish with every part of the civilized globe, stand -at the doors of their wholesale shops with large aprons upon them, -although their bank accounts may amount to scores of thousands of -pounds. - -Up Fish street as far as the monument are long lines of carts waiting -for fish, drawn by asses and horses, and around the monument may be -seen a perfect circle of carts guarded by ragged boys, some of whom -contract to take care of a dozen carts at a time for a penny a cart, -while the Costers are purchasing the fish. - -Formerly the consumption of spirits here among the buyers of fish was -very great, but now at a very early hour in the morning a hot cup of -coffee with a slice of bread and butter can be procured at any of the -numerous coffee stalls for twopence-halfpenny. - -The men and women are shouting and hallooing at each other as if they -were mad. Old gentlemen who have a good appetite and come here to make -a market for their families, are very often seen to enter the tavern -called the "Three Tuns," which is in the market enclosure, and at which -a fish dinner or fish breakfast of three dishes can be procured for -eighteen pence. It is very puzzling at first to understand the cries, -which come hard and fast from the mouths of salesmen and hucksters, -costers and pedlars of newspapers, frequenters of coffee stands, and -other trades people. - -"Now, you mussel buyers," shouts one, "come along--come along--now's -your time for fine, fat, greasy, mussels." - -"All alive! al-ive oh--alive oh! Han-some cod! best in the market. All -alive oh!" - -"Y-e-o--y-e-o! Y-e-o--here's your fine Yarmouth Bloaters! Who's the -buyer?" - -"Here you are, guv'-ner; splendid whiting! some of the right sort." - -"M-o-rning _T-e-l-e-graph_, one penny. _Standard_ and _Times_." - -"Turbot! all alive--turbot." - -"Glass o' nice peppermint! this cold morning--ha'penny a glass!" - -"Here you are at yer hown price! Fine soles, Oh!" - -"W-oy, w-o-y! Now's your time--preguzzling sprouts--all large and no -small 'uns." - -"H-u-l-l-o, h-u-l-l-o, here, I say--bewteeful lobsters--good and -cheap--fine cock crabs, all alive, hoh." - -"Never mind 'im, guvner; he'll cheat yer; look at this 'ere -turbot--have that lot for a pound--come and see--now don't go away, -guvner--the're preshis cheap, and filling at the price." - -"Had-had-had-had-haddick--all fresh and good." - -"Here, this way--this way for splendid Skate--Skate O--Skate O." - -"Currant and meat puddin's, a penny each and werry 'ot." "Here's food -for the belly and clothes for the back, but I sell food for the mind" -(shouts the newspaper vender). "Here's smelt O!" "Here ye are, fine -Finney haddick!" "Hot soup! nice pea soup! a-all hot! hot! Ahoy! ahoy -here! live plaice! all alive O! Now or never! whelk! whelk! whelk! -whelk! Who'll buy brill O! brill O! Capes! waterproof capes! sure to -keep the wet out! a shilling a piece! Eels O! eels O! Alive! alive -O!" "Fine flounders, a shilling a lot! Who'll buy this prime lot of -flounders? Shrimps! shrimps! fine shrimps! Wink! wink! wink! Hi! hi-i! -here you are, just eight eels left, only eight! O ho! O ho! this -way--this way--this way! Fish alive! alive! alive O!" - -[Sidenote: THE CAPITAL INVESTED.] - -"Fresh do you call these?" says one who finds the price of a lot of -sprats too high for him. "Look a-how they rolls hup the vites of their -heyes, as hif they vanted a little rain. I should say they hadn't a -blessed smell of water for a week past." - -"Think I've been a robbin' of somebody?" says another. "Vy, bless you, -all the whole bilin' of my customers hasn't got so much among 'em as -would buy the lot--no, not if they sold their veskits." - -As many as two thousand persons breakfast at the coffee houses in the -neighborhood of Billingsgate every morning, all of whom are engaged in -the fish business. - -The following estimate has been made of the gross amount of fish of -different kinds, sold at Billingsgate market in the course of the year: - - Salmon 750,000 - Live Codfish 600,000 - Haddock 3,000,000 - Flounders 420,000 - Eels 12,000,000 - Yarmouth Bloaters 200,000,000 - Red Herrings 75,000,000 - Sprats 1,200,000,000 - Crabs 1,000,000 - Oysters 500,000,000 - Periwinkles 400,000,000 - Whiting 60,000,000 - Mackerel 30,000,000 - Shrimps 600,000,000 - Soles 120,000,000 - Lobsters 2,500,000 - -The capital embarked in this trade is something enormous to think of. -Salmon when scarce, have sold for twenty shillings a pound. The market -is the property of the Municipality of London associated with the -Company of Fishmongers, one of the most powerful and wealthy corporate -societies in London. Fifty per cent. of the gross amount of fish -received at Billingsgate market is purchased by the Costermongers and -sold from carts in the streets, at a small profit to the pedlars. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -THE INNS OF COURT. - - -THEREe are four Inns of Court in London and thirteen Inns of Chancery. -The Inns of Court are the Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Lincoln's Inn, -and Gray's Inn. The Inns of Chancery are Barnard's Inn, Holborn; -Clement's Inn, Strand; Clifford's Inn, Fleet street; Furnival's Inn, -between Brook street and Leather lane; Lyon's Inn, Strand; New Inn, -Wych street; Sergeant's Inn, Chancery lane; Staple Inn, Holborn; -Sergeant's Inn, Fleet street; Symond's Inn, Chancery Inn, and Thavie's -Inn, 56 and 57 Holborn Hill. - -These Inns of Court and Chancery are large boarding-houses or hotels; -and in the middle ages, they were called "inns" or "hostels," where -students in law and Chancery were taught the legal science and ate -their meals while living as students at a common table as in college. -This is called "dining in hall," and certain rules and regulations are -prescribed so that the aspiring student may not expect to have the -license of the American boarding-house, being in fact in a state of -pupilage as was intended by the founders of the splendid (for I cannot -use any other term) Inns of Court. - -In the old days of the York and Lancaster factions, the Sergeants and -"apprentices at law," as the students were called, each had their -pillars in Old St. Paul's, and at the foot of the pillar the student, -half kneeling, heard his client's case and jotted down the points on -his tablet. - -[Sidenote: GRAY'S INN GARDENS.] - -The four Inns of Court were frequented by sons of wealthy commoners and -the nobility, while the Inns of Chancery had for pupils and boarders, -the sons of merchants and tradesmen, who had not the means of paying -the expenses of the Inns of Court which amounted to twenty marks, -annually, a large sum in those days. - -About 8,000 students attend the Inns of Court and Chancery in London, -and it is a very strange sight to see the dark chambers in some of -these ancient Inns with their old fashioned, mediæval architecture, -parapets, gate-ways, unillumined windows, courts, and passages, amidst -one of the very busiest spots in London. - -Go inside of one of these courts and you shall no longer hear the -sullen roar of the city, or the clatter of the omnibusses, nor the -incessant and deafening din of hawkers and street pedlars. A monastic -silence reigns, and in the grass-grown square of Lincoln's Inn, all -is silent as the grave, and in the dim passages of Clifford's and -Clement's Inns, it is very difficult to believe that the densely-packed -Strand and thronged Fleet street are so near. - -During Elizabeth's reign, alms were distributed twice a week at the -gate of Gray's Inn, and James I. signified that none but gentlemen of -descent and blood should be admitted to matriculate. The "Reader," a -lazy official of Gray's had a liberal allowance of wine and venison -for which sixpence and eightpence were paid per mess, and eggs and -green sauce were breakfast dishes on Lenten day. Beer was then only -six shillings a barrel. Caps were worn at supper by order, and hats -and boots and spurs, and standing with the back to the fire in the -hall were forbidden the students under penalty. Dice and cards were -only allowed at Christmas. Two students slept in a bed and Coke and -Littleton are said to have been at one time bed-fellows. - -Gray's Inn Gardens was one of the most pleasant places in London in -the old days long agone, and during the reign of Charles I., it was -frequented as a place of assignation. The principal entrance to Gray's -Inn is from Holborn by a gateway, a fine specimen of brick-work of -1542. The hall of Lincoln's Inn has an open oak roof, divided into -seven bays by gothic arched ribs, the spandrils and pendants richly -carved; in the centre is an open louvre, which is pinnacled externally. -The interior is richly wainscoted, decorated with Tuscan columns, and -the windows are of stained glass, gorgeously emblazoned. The library 80 -feet long, 40 feet wide, and 44 feet high has an open oak roof, with -separate apartments for study, and iron balconies running around the -book-cases. There are in this apartment five stained glass windows, and -a collection of valuable law books and MSS. to the number of 25,000. - -[Illustration: LINCOLN'S INN.] - -On either side of the dais of the dining hall beneath the lofty oriel -window in Lincoln's Inn, is a sideboard for the upper or "benchers" -table who are the high authorities of the place; the other tables are -arranged in graduation, two crosswise and five along the hall for -the barristers and students who dine here every day during term; the -average number is 200; and of those who dine on one day or another -during the term "keeping commons," there are about 500 students. - -[Sidenote: LINCOLN'S INN.] - -The new hall of Lincoln's Inn, just completed and equal to anything in -England, is situated on the site of the old hall, between Middle Temple -Cloister and Crown Office-row. It is of the Perpendicular Gothic style, -faced externally with Portland stone and internally with Bath. The -building projects towards the gardens 14 feet more than the old hall, -which measured 70 feet by 29 feet; the new hall being 93 feet by 41 -feet. Its floor above the pavement-level, and the basement is occupied -by the various offices required for the officials. In rebuilding -their hall, the "Benchers" have availed themselves of the opportunity -to extend and improve the domestic offices; to provide commodious -robing-rooms, and lavatories for the use of members and of students and -to obtain better clerks' offices. - -New offices have also been built for the treasurer, and the Parliament -Chamber has been increased in size. The interior of the hall is -panelled, to the height of nine feet, with a very handsome wainscot -dado; the panels with cinquefoil cusp heads, surmounted by an embattled -cornice--a magnificent specimen of joiner's work. The Parliament -Chamber, attached to the hall eastward, has been considerably altered -and improved--this is what may be called the drawing-room attached -to the hall, where the "Benchers" retire for dessert. The kitchen -is attached at the west end, and fitted up with the latest modern -appliances. The hall is to be heated with hot water and lighted with -sun-burners, and very handsome ornamental gas-brackets have also been -introduced on the side walls. - -Lincoln's Inn occupied the site of the Convent of Blackfriars, which -was built by Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. Among the famous students of the -Middle Temple, were Edmund Burke, Bulstrode Whitelocke, Wycherley and -Congreve, Sir William Blackstone, Lord Chancellors Eldon and Stowell, -Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and Oliver Goldsmith. - -The number of students in the reign of Henry VI. were: Four Inns of -Court, each 200--800; ten Inns of Chancery, each 100--1000; total 1800. -To-day there are in the four Inns of Court alone, 4500 students. - -In Gray's Inn lived Dr. Rawlinson, "Tom Folio" of the "Tatler," who -stuffed four chambers so full of books that he was compelled to sleep -in the passage. - -How to become a lawyer is the only science studied in the Inns of -Court, and the manner of doing it is as I shall describe. The four -Inns of Court, viz.: the Middle and Inner Temples, Lincoln's Inn, and -Gray's Inn, have exclusively the power of conferring the degree of -Barrister-at-Law, requsite for practising as an advocate or counsel in -the superior courts. Lincoln's Inn is generally preferred by students -who contemplate the Equity Bar; it being the locality of Equity Counsel -and Conveyancers, and of Equity Courts or Courts of Chancery. If the -student design to practise the common law, either immediately as an -advocate at Westminster, the assizes, and sessions, or as a special -pleader (a learned person who, having kept his terms, is allowed to -draw legal forms and pleadings, though not actually at the bar), his -choice lies usually between the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, and -Gray's Inn, though he may adopt Lincoln's Inn. The Inner Temple, from -its formerly insisting on a classical examination before admission, -became more exclusive than the Middle Temple or Gray's Inn. Gray's Inn -is numerously attended by Irish students, and has produced some of the -greatest luminaries at the Irish Bar, including Daniel O'Connell. - -To procure admission to either of these Inns, the student must obtain -the certificate of two barristers, coupled in the Middle Temple with -that of a Bencher, to the effect that the applicant is a fit person to -be received into the Inn, for the purpose of being called to the Bar. -Once admitted, the student has the use of the library, and is entitled -to a seat in the church or chapel of the Inn, and to have his name set -down for chambers. - -[Sidenote: "DINNER IN HALL"] - -He is then required to keep "commons," by dining in the hall for -twelve terms (four terms occur each year), on commencing which, he -must deposit with the treasurer £100, to be retained with interest -until he is "called"; but members of the Universities are exempt from -this deposit. The student must also sign a bond with sureties for the -payment of his commons and term-fees. In all the Inns no person can be -called unless he is above twenty-one years of age and of three years' -standing as a student. The "call" is made by the Benchers in council; -after which the student becomes a barrister, and takes the usual oath -at Westminster. In certain Inns, however, the student must, before his -call, attend certain lectures, which are a revival of the old readings, -without their festivities. - -To witness one of the "Hall Dinners" is enough to bring back the days -of chivalry to one's mind. There is the lofty, grand Gothic roof, the -long tables, the grace before meat, which is offered by the "Reader," -the magnificent windows of stained glass, which project a thousand -varied hues on the faces of the students, and the grave features of the -Benchers who sit aloft on the dais. - -At five or half-past five o'clock, the barristers, students and other -members, in their gowns, having assembled in the hall, the Benchers -enter in procession to the dais; the steward strikes the table three -times, grace is said by the treasurer or senior Bencher present, and -the dinner commences; the Benchers observe somewhat more style at -their table than the other members do at theirs; the general repast -is a tureen of soup, a joint of meat, a tart, and cheese, to each -mess consisting of four persons; each mess is also allowed a bottle -of port-wine. The dinner over, the Benchers, after grace, retire to -their own apartments. At the Inner Temple, on May 29, a gold cup of -"sack" is handed to each member, who drinks to the happy restoration of -Charles II. At Gray's Inn a similar custom prevails, but the toast is -the memory of Queen Elizabeth. The Inner Temple Hall waiters are called -"panniers," from "pan-arii" who attended the Knights Templars. At both -Temples the form of the dinner resembles the repasts of the military -monks; the Benchers on the dais representing the "knights;" the -barristers the "freres," or brethren; and the students, the "novices." -The Middle Temple still bears the arms of the Knights Templars, viz., -the figure of the Holy Lamb. - -The entrance expenses at the Inner Temple (the average of the costs at -other Inns), are £40 11s. 5d., of which £25 1s. 3d. is for the stamp; -on call, £82 12s., of which £52 2s. 6d. is for the stamp; total, £123 -3s. The commons bill is about £12 annually. - -Of Clement's Inn in the Strand which is just the same Clement's Inn as -it was when Shakspeare lived, that poet speaks as follows in the second -part of Henry IV.: - -_Shallow._ I was once of Clement's Inn, where, I think, they will talk -of mad Shallow yet. - -_Silence._ You were called lusty Shallow, then, cousin. - -_Shallow._ By the mass, I was called any thing; and I would have done -any thing indeed, and roundly too. There was I, and little John Doit of -Staffordshire, and Black George Barnes of Staffordshire, and Francis -Pickbone, and Will Squele, a Cotswold man; you had not four such -swinge-bucklers in all the Inns of Court again. - -Then Shallow tells of Sir John Falstaff breaking "Skogan's head at the -court-gate when he was a crack not thus high; and the very same day did -I fight with one Sampson Stockfish, a fruiterer, behind Gray's Inn." - -_Shallow._ Oh, Sir John, do you remember since we lay all night in the -Windmill in St. George's Fields? - -_Falstaff._ We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow. - -_Shallow._ I remember at Mile-End Green (when I lay at Clement's Inn), -I was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur's Show. - -Then Falstaff says of Shallow: "I do remember him at Clement's Inn, -like a man made after supper of a cheese-paring." - -Before a student can enter an Inn of Court and eat his first dinner, -he must deposit £100 as security that he will pay for the rest of his -dinners. No student is allowed to keep a "term" unless he has been -three days in "hall" when grace is said at dinner. - -[Sidenote: IRISH STUDENTS.] - -No person in trade or in deacon's orders, or one who has been a -conveyancer's clerk, can be admitted at all, so strict are the rules. -No gentleman can be called to the bar by any of these Inns which are -corporate and chartered bodies, before having been a member or student -of his Inn for five years, unless that he is a Bachelor of Laws, or a -Master of Arts of the Universities of Oxford, Dublin, or Cambridge, -when three years is the period required. No one can be called to the -bar until his name and description have been put up on the screen in -the hall of the Inn to which he belongs for a fortnight previous to his -call, and communicated to all the other societies. - -Irish students must keep eight terms in one of the English Inns, as -well as nine in the King's Inns, Dublin, before they can be called to -the Irish bar. - -Irish students may keep terms in London and Dublin alternately, or in -any other order they may think proper. Gray's Inn is the favorite Inn -of Irish students, for the reason that discipline is not so strict -as in the Inner or Middle Temple, or Lincoln's Inn, and, besides, no -charge is made for "absent commons," or being away from the dinners, -while in the other Inns the student is charged for his meals in any -case. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -THE BANK OF ENGLAND AND THE MINT. - - -THE Bank of England is the greatest moneyed institution in the world. -It is situated in the very heart of the City of London, opposite the -Royal Exchange and the Mansion House, and is composed of an insulated -mass of stone buildings and courts covering four acres of ground, -bounded by Princes's street, west; Lothbury, north; Bartholomew Lane, -east; and Threadneedle street, south. Its exterior measurements are 365 -feet south, 410 feet north, 245 feet east, and 440 feet west. - -Within this area are nine open courts, a magnificent Rotunda, numerous -public offices, court and committee rooms, an armory, engraving and -printing offices, a library, apartments for officers' servants, -beadles, detectives, porters, and messengers. - -During the No-Popery riots of 1780, the Bank was attacked by the -mob, when Wilkes rushed out of the building and seized some of -the ringleaders. The Bank was defended by the regulars, the City -Volunteers, and the Clerks of the establishment, who melted their -leaden inkstands into bullets. For ninety years since that terrible -night, the bank has been guarded by a company of foot soldiers, -detailed in regular rotation from the Horse Guards, under command of -one officer, for whom a sumptuous table is set every night, with the -privilege of inviting two friends, while servants are provided for him. - -[Sidenote: THE BANK ESTABLISHED.] - -In the political tumult of November, 1830, provisions were made at the -Bank for a state of siege, and when the Chartists made their great -demonstrations in 1848, the roof of the Bank was fortified by a company -of sappers and miners, cannon were planted, and a strong garrison held -every court and passage in the interior. - -The number of clerks and porters and other employees who are retained -by the Bank, is one thousand or more, and their salaries amount to half -a million of pounds, or two and a half millions of dollars annually. - -In 1808 an arrangement was made by the English Government with the -Bank, by which the latter undertook the management of the English -national Debt, at a rate of £340 for each million of the debt up to 600 -millions of pounds, and £300 for every additional million. - -The Bank of England was established (1694) chiefly by Mr. William -Paterson, the projector of the Scotch Colony of Darien, who commenced -by founding a National Bank, 1691. To carry on the war with France -(1694) Government required a loan of £1,200,000, and imposed new taxes, -expected to yield a million and a half. The subscribers to the loan -were incorporated under the title of the Governor and Company of the -Bank of England, and empowered to buy land, to deal in gold and silver, -and in bills of exchange. The interest on the loan was 8 per cent., -besides which Government agreed to pay £4,000 a year for the cost of -management, or £100,000 in all. - -In the vicinity of the Bank of England there is a dense traffic, and -it is necessary that suitable provender should be found for the large -number of bankers and bankers' clerks, who, living in cosy little -villas at Brompton, Paddington, and Maida Hill, and are compelled to -eat their warm lunches in the city during business hours. - -The Poultry, Bucklersbury, King William, Prince and Leadenhall streets, -are lined with these comfortable, pleasant looking eating-houses and -dining-rooms, where the moneyed men and their smart looking clerks sit -back in easy little boxes, with turtle soup, salad, and juicy rump -steaks before them, and long necked wine bottles in ice coolers between -their feet, chatting about stocks and Change and Turkish Loans. - -In the parlor lobby of the Bank is a portrait of Mr. David Race, who -was in the service of the institution over fifty years, during which -time he amassed a fortune of £200,000. - -[Illustration: BANKERS' EATING HOUSE.] - -The Bullion Office, on the western side of the Bank, consists of a -public chamber and two vaults--one for the open deposit of bullion free -of charge, unless weighed, the other for the private stock of the Bank. - -Here are employed a Principal, Deputy Principal, Clerk, Assistant -Clerk, and porters. - -The gold is kept in solid bars, each bar weighing 16 pounds and valued -at £800, or $4,000, and the silver in pigs and bars, while the dollars -are kept in bags. - -The value of the gold in the vaults of the Bank in 1869 was about -twenty millions of pounds, or one hundred millions of dollars. - -One day I received an order which was sent me by a friend, giving -me full authority to visit the Bank of England. I had not a little -curiosity to satisfy, and accordingly I arrived at the Bank as early as -eleven o'clock in the day. - -[Sidenote: LEDGERS AND MONEY-BAGS.] - -Passing through the central entrance, which is opposite the Mansion -House, I found myself in a spacious court well flagged, and here were -two boxes in which sat a brace of Old Jewry detectives, who are on duty -in this spot from one end of the year to the other. These men receive -gratuities from the Bank beside their regular pay. There were also in -the yard two big fat beadles in red coats and leggings, their garments -being covered with tinsel. These fat, logy looking fellows are the -footmen of the Bank, who are employed to watch for suspicious strangers -and to guide any visitors who may come. - -While an attendant was reading the order which I handed him, I could -hear the musical jingle of sovereigns and silver coins, being rattled -up and down in the interior of the building. - -I was taken by the guide into a large vaulted room with a cupola, in -which were a perfect army of clerks, some young and brisk, others old, -gray, and ponderous, ranged in long rows behind the desks, making up -accounts, weighing gold and paying it over the counters, or writing in -huge ledgers. - -Outside the circular railings, which run all around this very large -room, were stationed a vast crowd of depositors, men and women, or -persons drawing money in gold or silver. Continually from the throats -of the clerks arose the words: - -"How will you have it. Gold or silver? Sovereigns or halves?" - -Here is a lady who has traveled very far, perhaps, for her dividends. -She has taken a seat and a number of curious eyes are gazing at her as -she slowly takes a wing of a chicken and a piece of snowy white bread -from a napkin and commences to eat, in the midst of all this wealth and -confusion of the richest city in the world. - -The number of ledgers and account books behind these bars are enough -to frighten one. When the day's business is done all these huge books -are stowed away by the porters in the fire-proof room under ground, and -brought up again in the morning, for they are fully as valuable as the -large sums inscribed on their leaves. - -Machinery has been perfected so that these bulky account books may be -hoisted and lowered every day. - -Look at that young man with his banking case chained under his arm; the -rolls of checks and notes he holds in his hands will probably amount to -thousands of pounds; he catches the eyes of one of the clerks, calls -out the amount, hands the bulky bundle over the brass mounted railing -and quits the room, leaving the sum to be counted over at leisure. - -See how carelessly the cashier handles that heavy bag of gold; he has -no time to count it, but throws it into the scale as a coal heaver -would a sack of coals--so long as it is right weight, that's all he -cares about; he then shoots it into his large drawer and throws the bag -aside as if he did not mind whether a sovereign stuck in the bag or not. - -He counts sovereigns by twos and threes at a time; you feel confident -that he must have given you either too many or too few, he appears so -negligent; you count them, and there they are quite correct, and no -mistake whatever. - -The guide says to me: "Sometimes, Sir, the clerks are kept in the Bank -for hours when there's a sixpence wrong in the balance, and they have -to go over and over the books until they make the sixpence right. It's -awful work, to have to go over them long columns of figures and no -chance of getting away until everything is correct." - -"Was there ever any great forgery committed on the Bank?" I asked the -guide, who seemed to be a very intelligent man, having been in the Bank -forty years. - -"Ah, yes Sir, there was two great ones. In old times a great many men -were hanged for forging Bank of England notes. In one year, I think it -was 1820, there was over a hundred persons convicted of forgery, and -nearly nine hundred were convicted for having forged notes in their -pockets. Why, Sir, when I was a boy I remember as many as twenty-four -hanged in one year for forgery on the Bank. I think the year was 1818. -In 1803 there was a great forgery, committed by Mr. Astlett, who was -one of the chief cashiers of the Bank. The amount was so large it -frightened every body. Astlett done his work so well, by re-issuing -Exchequer bills, that he defrauded the Bank out of £320,000 before they -knew it. You may imagine what a row there was when it was found out. -The old Governor nearly went mad." - -"Was any other great forgery ever attempted?" said I, curious to hear -those details of forgotten crime. - -"Oh yes Sir," said the old man, "the biggest forgery of all was -Fauntleroy's, in 1816, that was a great deal bigger than Astlett's, for -it was for £360,000, and the way of it was this: You see Mr. Fauntleroy -was the head partner of a bank in Berners street that had dealing with -the Bank of England, and the bank that he belonged to was in a bad -state, so what does Fauntleroy do to keep up its credit, but he goes to -work quite cooly and forges powers of attorney of a lot of nobs and he -sells out their funds, and all the time he was a-working in the dark -this way, he wos a payin' of the divydends to them. Then the crash -came at last, and before he was caught, when the police broke into his -house, they found a note and on the note was written:-- - -"The Bank first began to refuse to discount our acceptances, and to -destroy the credit of our house; and by G--d the Bank shall smart for -it." - -"So, that's the way he did it, but he was hanged for it, and I saw him -swing. I never saw so many people in my life as was at that hanging. -All London was there, Sir, and when he got off the cart you would have -thought he was going to a party, he was so blessed cool." - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT PANIC OF 1825.] - -There was a "Great Panic" in the Bank of England in December, 1825, -caused by the redemption of interest on £215,000,000 of stock held by -the public. The Bank of England was acting as banker for the Nation, -and offered to advance money to holders of stock to pay off their -principal investment. This was an era of mad speculation, and no less -than £372,000,000 was invested in all kinds of bogus stock projects. In -some of these schemes shares of £100 on which only £5 had been paid, -rose to a premium of £40, yielding a profit of eight times the amount -of money paid. Everything went merry as a marriage bell for a time, and -large sums had been withdrawn from the Bank of England, reducing the -gold in its vaults from £8,750,000, in October, 1824, to £3,624,320 in -February, 1825. - -The panic began on the 5th of December, 1825, when a London bank -failed, at which the agency of above forty country banks was -transacted, and such a re-action was the necessary result of the -previous madness of speculation. Lombard street, and the vicinity of -the Bank, were filled with excited men and women, who were waiting -eagerly to withdraw their investments. Next day, a number of other -banks failed. The rush on the Bank of England was terrific, but the -clerks kept paying away gold in bags of twenty-five sovereigns each. -From nine until five, each day, twenty-five clerks were engaged, -counting out gold, and as it would take that number of clerks to count -out £50,000 in sovereigns, if counted by hand, a plan was made by -which the tellers counted 25 sovereigns into one scale and 25 into -another, and if the scales balanced, they continued until there were -200 sovereigns in each scale. In this way £1,000 were paid out in a few -minutes, the weight of one thousand sovereigns being 21 pounds, while -512 bank notes only weigh one pound. In this way £307,000, in gold, was -paid out in nine hours to the clamorous people. - -[Sidenote: THE PANIC CEASES.] - -Instead of contracting their issues the Directors of the Bank boldly -extended them. In one day they discounted 4,200 bills. December 8th, -the discounts at the Bank amounted to £7,500,000; on the 15th, they -were £11,500,000, and on the 29th, £15,000,000. December 3d, the -circulation of the Bank was £17,500,000, and the day before Christmas, -December 24th, it was £25,500,000, or, $127,500,000. Any kind of paper -that was not absolutely worthless, was discounted. Tremendous advances -on deposits of bills of exchange were made by the Bank, stock was -entered as security, and exchequer bills were purchased. The gallant -old institution weathered the storm, and, on the 26th of December, gold -began to come in slowly. During the latter part of the panic week a -forgotten box of one-pound notes, containing £700,000, was discovered, -and these were immediately issued, and the Directors acknowledged -that the forgotten box saved the commercial credit of the Bank and -of England. There was only £601,000 in bullion and £426,000 in coin -when the rush stopped. In February, 1797, when the Bank suspended cash -payments, there was £1,086,170 in coin and bullion remaining in the -vaults. - -[Illustration: THE BANK OF ENGLAND.] - -I saw, in a glass case, a bank note for one million of pounds -(canceled,) which had passed between the Bank and the government in -some transaction or another. Think of it, a piece of paper five by two -and a half inches in size, which was good on its face any place in -the world for Five Millions of Dollars. I saw also here, several other -bank bills for large amounts, such as ten, fifty, one hundred, and two -hundred and fifty thousand pounds each. These were the most valuable -strips of printed paper I ever saw. - -It must be recollected, that inside of the walls of the Bank of -England, which covers four acres, as I have observed, everything is -made, excepting the paper of which the bank notes are manufactured. -The gold, of course, is coined in the Mint on Tower Hill, but -everything else is done inside of the Bank walls, including paper -staining, engraving, making the steel plates from which the notes are -transferred, and other useful arts. Printer's ink is also made, the ink -having to be of a peculiar shade so as to prevent counterfeiting. Then -there are book binderies, where the ledgers and accounts are bound, and -a number of other rooms devoted to various purposes. - -It is a noticeable fact, that every Bank official whom we meet on our -journey through all these lofty apartments, halls and saloons, wears -full evening dress though it is not yet noonday. Swallow-tail coats, -white neck-cloths, and white vests, of the most spotless hues, seem to -be the Bank uniform. - -And what pleasant surprises there are in this institution. Now the -guide leading, and I following, we emerge into an open court-yard, of -very good size, which has lawns, shrubberies, and dainty little grass -plots, with the most cheering flower-beds, the colors of which are -very refreshing to the eye. Here are well-shaded and sanded paths, and -lofty, leafy trees, and all these rural delights are concentrated in -a space of one and a half acres, the dimensions of the grounds walled -in by the Bank. Here, in the heart of mighty London, is a green oasis, -like a diamond set in a pig's nose. - -These detached buildings, with white steps leading to their doors, and -neatly-ornamented porticoes, are the residences of the Governor and -Directors, and here they hold receptions, and levees, and the questions -and inquiries of angry stockholders are heard and answered at quarterly -meetings. The guide asks me if "I would like to see the workshops of -the Bank." I agree at once to his proposition, and on ascending a -flight of narrow stone steps, we find ourselves in a large room which -is used by the Bank mechanics to prepare the steel plates upon which -the Bank notes are engraved. - -A very powerful steam engine, which is used for other mechanical and -artistic purposes in the Bank, is the motive power by which the work -is done in this room. I can hear the sharp steel wedge scraping and -polishing the already bright sheets of steel, and the noise is a most -disagreeable one. All the workman has to do, however, is simply to -place the plate and spindle in the exact spot, when the machine, like a -stroke of vengeance seizes it, and in a second it is bright as silver. - -[Sidenote: MAKING INK FOR BANK NOTES.] - -Now we are in the room in which the printer's ink is manufactured with -which the Bank notes are printed. The ink has to be of a very peculiar -black shade, as counterfeiting would be easy were the materials used to -be the same as in other inks. - -Masses of black matter are being ground into a fine powder by rollers, -I think that the guide told me it was nutgalls; large lumps are placed -beneath the rollers, the cylinder revolves, and the powder is crushed -to a fine paste. - -The guide says, "If there's a bit of sand left in the paste, why then -the grinding hasn't been done right." The rollers are of strong steel, -and the smallest substance would be ground under them. A grain of sand -will cause the two rollers as they meet to recede from each other, so -sensitive are they to the finest hard substance. - -Now we are out in a court again and we can see the engine room, -and the huge coal fires burning, and the big boiler sweltering and -steaming away at a great rate. The man who attends the engine is in -his shirt-sleeves, and a little blackened, and I believe that, not -excepting the Beadle, this was the only man whom I saw inside of the -Bank who was not in full dress. - -Here is a large room where the Bank-paper is cut to the proper size for -notes, and a thousand pound note is exactly the same size as one for -five pounds, which is the smallest denomination issued by the Bank. - -Then there is the room for the compositors and binders, and in the -latter apartment, all the account books which the vast business of the -Bank make necessary, are paged, lined, and bound. Of ledgers alone, one -thousand are used yearly, in this fountain head of finance, and check -books innumerable are also printed and bound here. - -Now I am again in the court-yard, which is paved very neatly--but no, I -have not been here before. This fact I recognize as I look around me. -This _another_ court-yard. - -"This is the Library, Sir," said the guide. - -I began to think that the Bank officials were indeed a very literary -set of people, who could find time in business hours to read books, but -I was presently made aware of my mistake. - -The guide knocks quietly at a small iron door, which revolves on its -hinges with a noise, and a man in that same inevitable dress-coat, -cravat, and neck-tie, opens the door, and I gain an entrance to a place -which looks to me very like the casemate of a Monitor, or a sally-port -in a stone fortress. Iron doors, iron hinges, and iron windows, shaped -in a circular form, and embayed in the wall, are the most significant -signs around me. - -Although it is broad daylight outside, there is utter darkness within, -but for the single gas jet which burns as if suffering from some defect -in the pipe. - -I feel that some mystery is to be explained, or some strange sight -shown me--or else why this change from sunlight to this cribbed and -dungeon-like casemate. - -It would be impossible to break into this room; and to get out of it, -if the doors were locked, would be equally difficult, I imagine. - -Now the gentleman who has opened the door goes behind an iron railing, -and says: - -"This is the Library of the Bank, Sir, and these are the volumes -that compose the Library," he says to the writer, at the same time -taking a large package of notes from a shelf--on which there are many -hundred packages of like description--"we keep here the canceled notes -which are called in, and therefore they can never be used again. We -keep these old notes for twenty-five years, in case a forgery has -been committed, and when it becomes necessary to produce the notes -for evidence--why, here they are--we have notes here for millions of -pounds," said he, turning over bundle after bundle of ragged looking -papers, that had once been of incalculable value. - -These notes, after a certain time, are reduced to pulp, and again are -made into paper, from which in turn fresh bank notes are made, so that -these old rags have the property which Ponce de Leon's fountain gave, -of renewing their youth. - -Into another room now, where the notes are printed from the plates, and -to insure honesty in the printer--the machine registers the number of -each note printed--the registering being done in a distant part of the -establishment. - -[Sidenote: IN THE VAULTS.] - -And now we are in the Vaults, where the precious metals are kept, and -where I saw and handled riches such as would have bewildered Pizzaro, -or Cortez, even in their wildest imaginings. - -Here are the Bullion Vaults, in which are kept bars of gold and silver. -The gold bars weigh sixteen pounds each, while the silver bar varies. - -The Bank pays for gold seventy-eight shillings an ounce, while silver -is generally valued at about five shillings and two pence an ounce. - -It is enough to dazzle the eyes of a miser, or render him blind, to -look at the show of gold bars piled up behind the railings, in those -large glass presses. Thousands of them! And they are piled up just as I -have often seen the stacks of solder in a plumber or gas-fitter's shop -in America, without any seeming care as to how they are laid. - -Here a couple of men entered with kegs, and one of them, stepping up to -me, asks: - -"Would you like to handle a large sum of money, Sir?" - -"I don't care if I do," I said; and the very polite gentleman went to a -safe in the corner and opening one of the numerous black doors of iron -which ornament every portion of the room, he brought forth four medium -sized packages, and laid them on the counter before me, saying: - -"Please to hold open your hand. Now, Sir, there are four packages of -Bank of England notes, all ready for delivery, and in each package is -_one million of pounds_." - -[Illustration: "I BEGAN TO PERSPIRE."] - -I began to perspire and lose my sight and hearing. "Can there be," I -said, "so much money in the world?" and then I heard him say again: - -"Please to examine the packages--_one--two--three--four--millions_." - -I cried out, "stop, stop--give me breath--do you mean to say," said I, -"that there are four million of pounds in these four packages--_twenty -million_ of dollars?" - -"That is what I mean," said the polite official, and he smiled slightly -at the excitement which he saw in my features. - -At that moment I did not envy C. Vanderbilt, and I despised Jim Fisk. - -Dim thoughts of murder flashed across my brain--and yet, no--I banished -it from my mind. Twenty million of dollars! But then, the Tower! -Ha-ha--away, fell design. - -In one week the issue of bank notes amount to twenty-five million of -pounds, or one hundred and twenty-five million of dollars. During the -last twelve months the Bank has purchased three million and a half -pounds' worth of gold bars, and one million eight hundred pounds' worth -of silver bars. During the same period it sold six million pounds' -worth of gold bars, and a quarter of a million pounds' worth of silver' -bars. - -[Sidenote: MAKING SOVEREIGNS.] - -In the Weighing Office, established in 1842, to detect light gold, is -the ingenious machine invented by Mr. W. Cotton, then Deputy-Governor -of the Bank. About 80 or 100 light and heavy sovereigns are placed -indiscriminately in a round tube; as they descend on the machinery -beneath, those which are light receive a slight touch, which moves them -into their proper receptacle, and those which are of legitimate weight -pass into their appointed place. The light coins are then defaced by a -machine, 200 in a minute; and by the weighing-machinery 35,000 may be -weighed in one day. There are six of these machines, which from 1844 to -1849 weighed upwards of 48,000,000 pieces without any inaccuracy. The -average amount of gold tendered in one year is nine millions, of which -more than a quarter is light. The silver is put up into bags, each of -one hundred pounds value, and the gold into bags of a thousand; and -then these bagsful of bullion are sent through a strongly guarded door, -or rather window, into the Treasury, a dark, gloomy apartment, fitted -up with iron presses, supplied with huge locks and bolts. - -And now I was to behold the process. After leaving the Treasury vaults, -where I was shown the Bank notes, I was taken to a very large room on -an upper floor, in which was a small and elegant steam engine, with -other intricate machines, for weighing and defacing, or marking coins. - -There was a large table with a number of coin shovels, and its entire -surface was covered with sovereigns, heaped a foot high, the table -having a raised rim all around it. - -They were weighing these sovereigns--these officials with the finely -starched shirts and white neck-ties; and this was the manner of it: - -There were two open square boxes, which had connections with a number -of wheels and revolving cylinders, and from each of these boxes -projected the mouth of a scoop or highly polished funnel. A roll of -sovereigns passed into this box, sliding slowly down through the mouth, -and thence into a larger box below on the floor. - -The attendants fill the tubes, and at the lower end of the scoop the -work is done. Whenever a sovereign of light weight touches this spot in -the lower part of the tube, a small brass plate jumps out and pushes -the light sovereign into the left-hand aperture, while the full-weight -pieces drop without hindrance into the right-hand box. The small brass -plate does the business very quietly. - -The light sovereigns are then gathered, placed in a bag, and sent back -to the Mint to be re-coined. The man who was working the machine pulled -a crank and a number, perhaps a thousand, of these marked sovereigns -fell into the box. I took some of them in my hand, and found them -almost totally defaced, and a number had been slit in two halves by the -process, but no gold dust is lost the operation is performed so cleanly. - -On the very same spot where once stood the Monastery of the Cistercian -Monks, or Gray Friars, the Royal Mint of England is now located, and -here all the money in use in England is coined by the "Company of -Moneyers," as they are called. The building is situated on Tower Hill, -the Mint having for a thousand years been carried on in the Tower -itself. - -For many hundreds of years the coinage of England had been debased -by succeeding money-makers, who were entrusted by the Kings with the -coinage, and in the reign of King Edward I, 280 Jews, of both sexes, -were charged by this monarch with having debased the silver and -gold coins, and were hung in London for the offence. King John, in -1212, ordered all the prisoners in his custody, among whom were some -ecclesiastics, to be brought before him for instant judgment, at the -same time summoning Cardinal Pandulph, the Papal Legate, to appear also -to witness the judgment. Pandulph appeared, and King John thinking to -frighten that haughty prelate who had often humbled him, ordered a -priest among the prisoners, who had counterfeited money, to be hanged. - -Pandulph stepped forward and said: - -"Lord King, who so dares lay finger on yon clerk, though he were of -royal blood, him shall I excommunicate, and he shall be anathema of -Holy Church." - -Pandulph, who was indeed a very energetic person, left the apartment -to get a candle, so that he might curse John in due form, and the King -having been thoroughly frightened, delivered the priest to Pandulph -to have that prelate do justice on him, but the legate immediately -liberated the offender. - -During the reign of the Saxon Edgar, the penny had become scarcely -equal to a half-penny in weight, and St. Dunstan, who was a bishop and -confessor to the King, became so outraged at the debasement of the -coinage, that on Whit-Sunday he refused to celebrate the mass before -the King until justice had been done on three officials, or as they -were called "moneyers." They were at once taken out of the Church and -had their right hands struck off by order of the King. - -In those days even the gold coins were of square, longitudinal, and all -sorts of irregular and uncouth shapes. - -One of the prophecies of the Sage Merlin was to the effect that when -the money of England should become round, the Prince of Wales would be -crowned in London. Edward I, having ascertained that such a prophecy -was believed among the Welsh people, caused the head of their last -native Prince, Llewellyn, to be cut off and sent to the Tower in -London, where it was crowned with willows in mockery of the prophecy, -and since then no native Welshman has held the title of Prince of -Wales, with England's consent. - -[Sidenote: HENRY VIII A COUNTERFEITER.] - -Henry VIII, among his many acts of scoundrelism, was guilty of debasing -the coinage of his kingdom, and when his illegitimate daughter, Queen -Elizabeth, called in £638,000 of silver and gold money for the purpose -of re-coining it, she ascertained on going to the Mint in person, -(where she coined with her own hands several pieces of money) that -these monies, whose current value on the face had been £638,000, were -then only worth in reality £244,000. - -On the day that George the Third's first son and successor was -born--afterwards George IV--the captured treasure of the Spanish vessel -"Hermione," amounting to sixty-five tons of silver and one bag full -of gold, was carried in triumphant procession through the streets of -London--amid the acclamation of the citizens--borne by twenty wagons. -The value of the treasure was one million of pounds. This money was -taken to the Mint to be coined. - -In 1804 the English Government having determined to declare war against -Spain, some private parties under the leadership of a Captain Moore, -fitted out four ships to intercept some Spanish vessels on their way -home from the Indies with treasure, and this infamous act of piracy was -performed before the capturers of the Spanish galleons had heard of the -impending declaration of war, and in fact before war was declared. - -Some hundreds of persons were blown up in the Spanish Admiral's vessel, -and one rich Spanish merchant who was returning on one of the vessels -with his wife and daughters--having accumulated a great fortune--lost -their lives by this act of treachery. - -In 1804 the ransom payable to the British Government from the Chinese -Nation, amounting to sixty-five tons of silver, or two millions of -Chinese dollars, the price which China had to pay for not taking her -opium quietly, was brought home and transferred to the Mint to be -coined. - -The money paid by France to Charles II of England for the town of -Dunkirk, an immense treasure, was spent by that monarch in the worst -kind of debauchery, and the face of Britannia which remains to this day -upon English coins, is the likeness of Miss Frances Stewart, afterward -Duchess of Richmond, and at one time a mistress of this dissolute King. - -Guineas, which are valued at twenty-one shillings, while the sovereign -is valued at a pound or twenty shillings, were first coined from the -gold brought by the African Company from Guinea, and the coins had an -elephant stamped on them. - -In the same reign were struck the five guinea, the two guinea piece -and the half guinea pieces. The coinage of this monarch's reign, who -was only fitted to be the keeper of a bagnio, was so much depreciated, -that in the reign of William and Mary, when 572 bags of silver coin -were called in of Charles II's reign, it was found to weigh only 9,480 -pounds, although the proper weight should have been 18,450 pounds. - -The gold quarter guinea was coined by George I, and this coin is -remarkable for bearing for the first time the letters "F.D." (_Fidei -Defensor_,) or "Defender of the Faith." George III, an old blockhead as -the First George was an old blackguard, coined seven shilling pieces, -but these have been withdrawn, as have also the guineas and half -guineas, which are now replaced by the sovereign, half sovereign, and -crown, which latter coin is valued at five shillings. - -When the bad money of Henry VIII was called in, the workmen in the Mint -declared that it contained arsenic, and many of them "became sick to -death with the savor." For this sickness some venerable idiot ordered -them to drink from dead men's skulls, and a warrant was actually -obtained whereby the heads of several Catholic priests, which then -decorated London Bridge, were taken down and drinking cups were made -from them for the workmen. - -The present building in use by the Company of Moneyers for a Mint, -was erected in 1811 on Tower Hill, and cost with the construction -of machinery two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. If one hundred -thousand pounds worth of gold bars are sent into the Mint one morning, -on the next they will be ready for delivery in sovereigns. - -[Sidenote: HOW TO MAKE MONEY.] - -The gold is melted in pots made of black lead, which will not break -in annealing, and then the alloy of copper is added (to gold one -part in twelve; to silver eighteen pennyweights to a pound), and the -mixed metal cast into small bars. The bars then in a heated state -are first passed through the rollers, which are of tremendous power, -these reducing them to one fourth of their former thickness and -increasing them proportionally in length. Then the sheets of metal are -passed through the cold rollers, which laminates them to the required -thickness of coin. - -Now comes the work of the cutting-out machines. There are fifteen of -these elegant engines in the same basement, set apart for them. - -The bars having been cut into the required strips and thickness, -the protecting rim is next raised in the "Marking Room," and after -blanching and annealing, they are ready for coining. - -There are twelve presses for this purpose, each of which makes a -hundred strokes a minute, and at each stroke, above and below, a blank -is made into a perfect coin, stamped on both sides and milled at the -edge, each press coining about ten thousand pieces of money in one -hour. One little boy is alone needed to feed a press with blanks. - -The coin is tested before the Lord Chancellor or Chancellor of the -Exchequer and a jury of twelve goldsmiths, who are sworn to give a -fair judgment, once a year--this being a trial between the Company -of Coiners and the Government who own the coin. In a late trial of -two hundred pounds weight of gold coin, the bulk weighed just one -pennyweight and fifteen grains less than was correct--which is pretty -good workmanship. - -In a period of eighteen years the amount of money coined by the Company -was as follows: - - Gold, £55,000,000 - Silver, 12,000,000 - Copper, 250,000 - ----------- - Total, £67,250,000 - -Profit to the Company for coinage of above amount £214,000. - -Amount charged for coining £67,250,000--by the Company of -Moneyers--£421,000. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: LONDON BRIDGE.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -THE BRIDGES OF LONDON. - - -LONDON may well be proud of her bridges. Fifteen of the finest -structures of their kind in the world span with mighty and enduring -arches, the surface of the Thames; in a distance of seven miles on the -river from London Bridge, to the Suspension Bridge, at Hammersmith. -Paris alone can rival London in her super-aqueous structures, but in -massiveness and grandeur there is no bridge covering the Seine, and -having such a magnificent roadway and arches as Waterloo Bridge. - -Of all the bridges which span the Thames, none have a history like -that of London Bridge; although the present structure dates only from -1825. The history of old London Bridge is that of London itself, for -the bridge was coeval with the overthrow of the Saxon dynasty, and the -death of Richard Coeur de Lion. - -The first bridge erected on the site of the present London Bridge, -was a wooden one by Ethelred III., in 994, and the tolls were paid by -boats bringing fish to "Bylingsgate," which was then a water-gate of -the city. The next bridge here was constructed by the pious brothers of -St. Mary, Southwark, which house was originally a convent, established -by a young girl named Mary, daughter to a ferryman, who plied at this -point, and from the profits of the ferry the bridge was constructed. -This bridge was almost totally destroyed by the Norwegian King Olave in -1008, and was rebuilt by Canute in 1016, swept away by a flood 1091, -rebuilt 1097, burnt 1136, and a new one was erected of elm timber in -1163 by Peter, a priest and chaplain of St. Mary's, Colechurch, in the -Poultry. - -This bridge did not satisfy the pious architect, however, and he began -with great zeal to build a stone one, the first in England, a little to -the westward of the timber bridge in 1176, when Henry II. gave toward -the construction the proceeds of a tax on wool, from which originated -the saying, "London Bridge was built on woolpacks," a phrase that has -often been taken in its literal meaning. Priest Peter died in 1205 and -the bridge was finished in 1209. - -This bridge consisted of a stone platform 926 feet long, and 40 -feet wide, standing about 60 feet above the level of the water, and -comprehended a draw bridge and nineteen pointed arches, with massive -piers raised upon strong oak and elm piles covered by thick planks -bolted together, so that after all, the famous stone bridge had a -wooden platform. There was a gate-house, with turrets and battlements -at either end, and toward the centre, on the east side, was built -a beautiful gothic chapel of stone to the memory of St. Thomas (à -Becket), of Canterbury. In a crypt of the chapel was placed a stone -tomb over the body of Priest Peter, the founder of the bridge. This -bridge, in the time of Elizabeth, is described as having "sumptuous -buildings, and stately and beautiful houses on either side," making -one continuous street from end to end and having an archway under -the houses and dwellings through which vehicles, sedan-chairs, and -pedestrians passed. The river could be seen at intervals in the gaps of -masonry, and, in fact, this bridge was as much of a thoroughfare and -causeway besides, having all the characteristics of a street on solid -ground, as any open space in London. Some of the buildings had shops -and beer-houses in the lower stories. - -The chronicles of this stone bridge during six centuries, form, -perhaps, the most interesting episodes in the history of London. -The scenes of fire, siege, insurrection, and popular vengeance, of -national rejoicing, and of the pageant victories of man and of death, -of fame or funeral, which have transpired on and about the bridge, it -were vain for me to attempt to describe. In 1212, four years after the -completion of the structure, a terrific conflagration took place on -the bridge, and 3000 persons perished in the flames, both ends being -on fire at the same time. De Montfort repulsed Henry III., on this -bridge, and the populace attacked and stoned his Queen in her barge as -she prepared to shoot the bridge. Wat Tyler, the popular rebel entered -London by this road to be struck down by Sir William Walworth in 1381. -Richard II. was received here by the citizens in 1392. In 1415 Henry -V., fresh from Agincourt, passed the bridge, and seven years after his -corpse was carried over it to be buried at Westminster Abbey. In 1450 -Jack Cade attempted to storm London Bridge, but he was defeated and -his head placed on a pole over the gate-house. In 1477 the Bastard of -Falconbridge attacked the bridge, and fired several houses. In 1554 Sir -Thomas Wyatt crossed the bridge at the head of 2000 men, to dethrone -Queen Mary, and lost his head for it. In 1632 more than one-third of -the houses on the bridge were destroyed by fire, and in 1666 the whole -labyrinth of dwellings, shops, and edifices, were swept away by the -Great Fire; the entire street being rebuilt within twenty years after. -The houses were entirely removed and parapets and balustrades were -erected on each side in 1732, and one hundred years after, in 1832, -the venerable structure was demolished to make way for the new London -Bridge now standing. Holbein, the painter, lived on the bridge, book -publishers occupied shops on it, and the London tradesmen believed -it to be one of the Seven Wonders of the world. Hogarth lodged here, -and Swift and Pope visited Tucker, a bookseller who had a shop on the -bridge. - -[Sidenote: GRINNING SKULLS.] - -The most terrible reminiscence of the bridge is connected with the fact -that its gate-houses at either end were garnished for many hundreds -of years by the heads of many great and good men as well as of bad -and depraved villains, whose skulls were exposed on spikes to dry and -bleach in the sun. - -The heads of Sir William Wallace, 1305; Simon Frisel, 1306; four -traitor knights, 1397; Lord Bardolf, 1308; Bolingbroke, 1440; Jack Cade -and his rebels, 1451; the Cornish traitors of 1497, and of Fisher, -Bishop of Rochester (displaced in fourteen days after by that of Sir -Thomas More, 1335), have adorned this ghostly bridge. From 1578 to -1605, it was a common sight to see the heads of Roman Catholic priests -exposed on this bridge, their offence being that they sought to preach -their doctrines in London. Finally, in the reign of Charles II., this -display of bare, grinning skulls was transferred to Temple Bar. - -[Illustration: TEMPLE BAR, FLEET STREET.] - -Temple Bar, as it is called, is a large, gray archway, which spans -Fleet street in its busiest traffic and jam. The archway was formerly -the limit of the City of London, and when a sovereign came westward -from Westminster, or eastward from the Tower, to make a formal entry, -the Lord Mayor and the City Councils, in robes of state, were present -under its historic archway to offer the keys and admit the Sovereign. -The rusty gates were then rolled back, and on such occasions the -pageants were very fine. - -For over a hundred years the London traders and shopkeepers, and the -students of the Temple, were regaled with the daily and ghastly sight -of a row of grinning and socketless skulls, which were ranged in lines -on cruel spikes above the architrave of Temple Bar. There is an empty -room in the upper story which has a terrible history, for here heads -were boiled in pitch before being exposed. - -In 1737, Eustace Budgell, a cousin of Addison and a contributor to the -Spectator, when reduced to poverty, took a boat at Somerset Stairs, and -ordering the waterman to row down the river, threw himself into the -flood as the boat shot London Bridge. He had filled his pockets with -stones, and he left behind him a slip of paper on which was written, -"What Cato did and Addison approved cannot be wrong." This was a great -puff for Addison's tragedy. Edward Osborne, an apprentice of Sir -William Hewet, afterwards Lord Mayor, jumped from the window of one of -the bridge houses, in 1536, to save his master's daughter, an infant, -and years afterwards he was rewarded with her hand in marriage, and -became Lord Mayor himself. The grandson of the apprentice became Duke -of Leeds and the founder of the present ducal house of that name. No -bridge ever constructed had such a history as that of Old London Bridge. - -[Sidenote: THE TRAFFIC ON LONDON BRIDGES.] - -The flow of traffic on some of the principal bridges by actual -computation during twelve hours, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., was: -Pedestrians, London Bridge, 96,080; Southwark Bridge, 2,500; -Blackfriars Bridge, 48,095; Waterloo Bridge, 12,000; Westminster -Bridge, 38,015. Equestrian traffic: London Bridge, 211; Southwark -Bridge, 93; Blackfriars, 91; Waterloo, 38; Westminster Bridge, 311. -Vehicular traffic: London Bridge, 26,800; Southwark Bridge, 516; -Blackfriars Bridge, 6,384; Waterloo Bridge, 2,603; Westminster Bridge, -7,300. From these figures it will be seen that the traffic on London -Bridge which leads from the heart of the business portion of the city, -and is toll free, exceeded that on all of the others put together. Some -of the bridges are owned by companies and a toll of half a penny per -passenger is taken for revenue by them. - -London Bridge was designed by Sir John Rennie and built by his son. -The first pile was driven March 15th, 1824, government contributing -£200,000 toward the undertaking. Altogether the bridge cost £2,000,000 -before it was finished. It is built on coffer-dams, and the bridge has -five semi-elliptical arches. The centre arch has a span of 152 feet, -and a rise above high water mark of 24 feet 6 inches; the two arches -next the centre are 140 feet span, and the two abutment arches have 130 -feet of span. There is a parapet four feet high and the length between -the abutments is 782 feet, while the width between the parapets is 53 -feet. The bridge was nearly eight years in construction, and 120,000 -tons of stone were used in its erection. - -Southwark Bridge is constructed of iron with three colossal arches, and -was built by Rennie. The middle arch has a span of 240 feet and a rise -of 24 feet. Its height above low-water mark to the roadway is 55 feet. -The cost was £800,000 and the bridge was opened in 1819. Its length is -700 feet, and the roadway is 42 feet wide. - -The new Blackfriars Bridge is 1,000 feet long, 42 feet wide, and the -cost will be £300,000. - -Waterloo Bridge is the finest in the world. Its dimensions are: Length -between abutments 2,456 feet, water-way, 1,326 feet. The carriage-way -is 28 feet wide with a pathway on each side of seven feet. There are -nine arches, each of which are 120 feet in span with a rise of 35 feet. -Waterloo Bridge has a level grade from one end to the other. Canova, -the sculptor, said of this bridge, "It was alone worth a journey from -Rome to London to see it." The cost was £1,000,000. - -[Sidenote: WATERLOO BRIDGE.] - -As a set-off to what Macaulay has prophesied in regard to London Bridge -and the future New Zealander, Baron Charles Dupin, the great French -publicist, speaks of Waterloo Bridge as follows: - -[Illustration: THE NEW BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE.] - -"If from the incalculable effect of the revolutions which empires -undergo, the nations of a future age should demand one day what was -formerly the New Sidon, and what has become of the Tyre of the West, -which covered with her vessels every sea?--most of the edifices -devoured by a destructive climate will no longer exist to answer the -curiosity of man by the voice of monuments; But Waterloo Bridge, built -in the centre of the commercial world, will exist to tell the most -remote generations--'here was a rich, industrious, and powerful city.' -The traveller, on beholding this superb monument, will suppose that -some great prince wished, by many years of labor, to consecrate forever -the glory of his life by this imposing structure. But if tradition -instruct the traveller that six years sufficed for the undertaking -and finishing the work--if he learns that an association of a number -of private individuals was rich enough to defray the expense of this -colossal monument, worthy of Sesostris and the Cæsars--he will admire -still more the nation in which similar undertakings could be the fruit -of the efforts of a few obscure individuals, lost in the crowd of -industrious citizens." - -Charing Cross is the next bridge on the Thames, being built of iron and -used by a railway company. It was built by Brunel, and is a graceful -structure, but does not permit of pedestrian traffic. - -Westminster Bridge is nearly level in its grade, and has seven arches. -It is 1,220 feet long. The cost was £400,000. - -Lambeth Bridge is of iron with three arches, each of 280 feet span, and -the width is 54 feet. Cost, £100,000. - -Vauxhall Bridge is of iron with nine arches of equal span--each 78 feet -wide. The breadth of the roadway is 36 feet, and the total length of -the bridge is 840 feet. - -Pimlico Railway Bridge is built of iron, with four openings or spans of -175 feet each. The bridge is 900 feet in length, and has a width of 24 -feet. - -Chelsea Chain Suspension Bridge is 922 feet long and 45 feet wide. -Cost, £75,000. - -Hammersmith Suspension Bridge is 841 feet long and 32 feet wide. Cost, -£180,000. - -Scott, the American diver, lost his life while performing acrobatic -feats on Waterloo Bridge. The season he chose for diving from a -height of twenty feet above the parapet of the highest London bridge -was during an intense frost, when the river was full of ice, and the -enormous masses floating with the tide scarcely appeared to leave a -space for his reckless plunge into the river or his rise therefrom. He -watched his moment, and the feat was performed over and over again with -perfect safety. But he had been told that the Londoners wanted novelty. -It was not enough that he should do day after day what no man had ever -ventured to do before. - -[Sidenote: DEADLY ACROBATICS.] - -To leap off the parapets of the Southwark and Waterloo bridges into -the half-frozen river had become a common thing; and so the poor -fellow must have a scaffold put up, and he must suspend himself from -its cross bars by his arm, his leg and his neck, in succession. Twice -was the last experiment repeated; but on the third attempt the body -hung motionless. The applause and laughter that death could be so -counterfeited was tumultuous; but a cry of terror went forth that the -man was dead. He perished for catering to a morbid public appetite. -Every one who saw this voluntary hanging went away degraded and -disgusted at the terrible result of the show. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - -AT WINDSOR CASTLE. - - -FROM Windsor Castle the view is one of the finest in England. A vast -panorama extending as far as the eye can reach. All flat--the faint, -bare, blue horizontal line, scarcely discernible from the clouds, so -distant is it, as straight as the boundary of a calm sea--and yet how -infinitely varied! What would such an expanse of land be in any other -country but England, which is, in itself, a huge landscape garden? - -A lovely river, to which the hackneyed illustration of "a stream -of molten gold" might well be applied, from the silent roll of its -glittering waters, as if impeded by their own rich weight, now flashing -like a strip of the sun's self, through broad meadows, whose green -is scarcely less dazzling--now lost in shady nooks of wondrous and -refreshing coolness. - -Trees of various species and growth, singly, in clumps, and in rows, -are everywhere. Little bright-looking villages, with their white -spires, or grey towers, are dotted all over the scene. Beyond where -I stand, on the ramparts of the Castle, I can see the Gothic turrets -and spires of Eton College, founded by Henry of Lancaster, flanked by -oak and birch trees, and above us, on this delightful day in autumn, -the banner of St. George is floating right saucily, denoting that this -Martial Keep is a royal fortress and a hereditary residence of the -Sovereigns of England. - -[Sidenote: THE DEMON HUNTSMAN.] - -Everything seems in perfect harmony around us, as the sun falls in -slanting and roseate beams on grass, tree, flower, castle, and river. -There are not many hours, in one's life, such as I enjoyed that -pleasant evening in September. The gentle hum of human life reaching me -from the distance, is no more injurious to the effect than the rustling -of the trees, or the chirping of the birds. The quiet bustle down at -the stone bridge, the shouts of the bargemen--heard several seconds -after their utterance,--the plashing of the oars of stray boats, the -cricketers over there in their play-ground, where reposes some of the -dust of Arthur's blood; all these have a charm for the drowsy senses. - -The sleepy-looking chimneys of the old, royal town, immediately beneath -me, fill up their place in the picture famously; even steam--that most -implacable enemy of romance--appears on the scene without injuring -it. The little toy-house-looking railway station, which I can see -from where I stand, on the battlements, is a harmless, nay a pleasing -object; and to watch the lilliputian train that has just left it, -disappearing fussily among the old trees, is a perfect delight. - -Windsor Castle has been the abode of royalty from the time of the -Saxon Kings. It was while King John lived at Windsor, that the barons -obtained from him Magna Charta. Cromwell has held his republican courts -in Windsor, and Charles I lies buried in its Chapel Royal. - -James, the Royal poet and King of Scotland, has visited here, and -David, another Scottish monarch, was a prisoner in its gloomy towers. -Here was instituted the Order of the Garter by Edward, who was "every -inch a King," and some of the most splendid pageantries and courtly -ceremonies of history have been enacted within the walls of Windsor -Castle. In its vast forests, Herne, the Diabolical Hunter, has chased -the Phantom Deer to the tally-ho of unearthly horns. This forest, or, -as it was called, "Windsor Great Forest," was of enormous extent, and -comprehended a circumference of one hundred and twenty miles. In the -time of James I, this great area had been reduced to seventy-seven and -a half miles. There were then three thousand head of deer, and fifteen -walks, in the forest, each about three miles long. The next reduction -of its size left the Forest only fifty-six miles in circumference, and -in 1814 an act of Parliament was passed to enclose its boundaries. -Since then villages, and detached buildings, and private residences, -have encroached upon this once magnificent demesne, until but 6,000 -acres of wood and dell have been left of all the great medieval acreage. - -Edward, the Confessor, held a court here, and assigned the Manor of -Windsor to the Abbot and Monks of Westminster. William de Wykeham, the -great philanthropist and scholar, who founded Winchester School and the -New College at Oxford, was appointed Clerk of the Works at Windsor to -superintend the reconstruction of the Castle, in 1356, and his fee from -Edward III for the service was one shilling a day while he remained in -the town, and two shillings a day when he went elsewhere upon business. - -The Castle is divided into a great number of apartments, many of which -are memorable for their historical recollections, and among them are -St. George's Chapel, Beaufort Chapel, the Round Tower, the North -Terrace, the Audience Chamber, the Vandyck Gallery, the Queen's Drawing -Room, the State Ante-Room, the Grand Vestibule, the Waterloo Chamber, -the Grand Ball Room, St. George's Hall, the Guard Chamber, the Queen's -Presence Chamber, the King's Closet, the Queen's Private Closet, the -King's Drawing Room, the Throne Room, the State Apartments, and the -Private Apartments. The Home Park attached to the Castle is a private -garden in which the Queen walks or rides while residing at Windsor. The -Queen seldom rides on horseback of late years, as she has become so fat -and pursy that she is in constant dread that she will have to take any -such exercise as walking in the open air, or even promenading upon the -Grand Terrace of Windsor. - -In St. George's Chapel, a beautiful little edifice, are hung the -banners of the Knights of the Order of the Garter, and under each -banner is the carved stall, made of wood, on which each Knight of the -Chapter sits, at the installation of a new member, or when any grand -ceremony may make their presence necessary. In the groined roof above -the banners, are worked the arms of Edward the Black Prince, Henry -VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and the succeeding English Sovereigns. The -helmets, swords, and mantles of the Knights, together with the brass -plates, recording their titles, are also to be seen here. In this -Chapel is buried the crumbled dust of poor Jane Seymour, one of Henry -VIII's unfortunate wives and the mother of Edward VI, who reformed the -Prayer Book and Liturgy of the Church of England. The body of Charles -I also lies here, but he was more fortunate than Jane Seymour, whose -memory is almost forgotten. - -In the Beaufort Chapel is the family tomb of that perverse old idiot -of a king, George III, in which repose the ashes of his children and -Queen; the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, Princess Charlotte, -William IV, uncle to Queen Victoria, the royal blackguard and scoundrel -George IV, the Princess Augusta, who was believed to have been insane, -and Queen Adelaide. - -It is in the Beaufort Chapel that the Poor or Military Knights of St. -George's College, assemble to pray and beseech the Almighty for the -health and welfare of the Queen of England, and for the Most Noble -Companions of the Order of the Garter, to whom the Poor Knights cling -as a species of indigent parasites. The Order of Poor Knights was -established by act of Parliament of Edward IV, in the name of the -"Poor Knights of St. George's College," and was to consist of a Dean, -12 Secular Canons, 13 Priests, 4 Clerks, 6 Choristers, and 24 "Alms -Knights." - -[Sidenote: PRAYING FOR CHEESE AND BEER.] - -At divine service in the Beaufort Chapel, these old, broken-down -looking men may be seen, on every festival, and on all occasions when -services are held, praying for the reigning Sovereign of England. For -this service they receive bread, cheese, beer, and meat, ten times a -week. I saw these worn, meek-looking men, who seemed to glide rather -than walk during service, but it seemed to me that very little prayers -were uttered by them for the Sovereign, as they all had a vacant, -absent look, with the exception of one or two who had the regular fixed -John Bull stare, and were evidently awaiting the hour when bread, -cheese, and beer, were to be announced. - -[Illustration: WINDSOR CASTLE.] - -In the Round Tower, which is 295 feet high, there were confined nearly -all the State prisoners whom despotism found it necessary to secure -in its dungeons, from Edward III to Charles II, and in the "Audience -Chamber," which is hung with Gobelin Tapestry, representing the story -of Queen Esther, are paintings of Mary, Queen of Scots, and William, -Prince of Orange. This is an "Audience Chamber" only in name, for the -Queen very seldom holds levees in this big, desolate-looking room. - -The "Waterloo Chamber" is 47 feet in length and 45 in height, and has -a gallery of magnificent portraits, by Lawrence, all of whom were, in -some fashion, connected either in the closets of diplomacy, or the -fields of strife, with the downfall of Napoleon; hence the name of -"Waterloo Gallery." Here are life-size portraits of Wellington, Lord -Castlereagh, Humboldt, Alexander I, Count Nesselrode, Capo d'Istria, -Prince Schwartzenburg, Archduke Charles, Blucher, Platoff, the Marquis -of Anglesea, Francis II, of Austria, Pope Pius VII, and others equally -famous. - -In the Grand Chamber is a piece of ordnance, taken from Tippo Saib, -at Seringapatam, a table made from the wreck of the Royal George, and -an elaborately worked shield of silver, inlaid with gold, made by -Benvenuto Cellini, which was presented by Francis I, of France, to -Henry VIII, of England, at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. - -The Throne Room has a fine ceiling, ornamented with the different -emblems of the Order of the Garter. Here the Queen sits enthroned on -occasions of State, and receives her guests habited in a scarlet velvet -mantle, trimmed with miniver. On one occasion, when her Majesty took -her seat here, her costume, including the jewels and Crown, was valued -at £150,000, a vast sum to be thrown away on such heartless vanities, -when it is recollected that myriads of people were dying of want and -starvation in her Kingdom at the time. - -The Throne is a very fine piece of work, and is covered with heavy -hangings of red velvet, and is ornamented with the rose, shamrock and -thistle. - -[Sidenote: IN THE QUEEN'S CHAMBER.] - -By special permission I had the pleasure of beholding the Queen's -bed-room, or Private Closet. This is a favor seldom shown to any -but foreign noblemen, or Embassadors, but by diligent efforts I had -succeeded in getting permission to look at this sacred place. - -On the day that I visited Windsor Castle, it luckily happened that -very few visitors had called, and as I had a note from a most high -personage, with permission to see the private apartments of Her -Majesty, I was glad that there was not a crowd to witness the result of -my mission. As a point of honor, I find it impossible to mention the -name of the great personage who gave me permission to visit the Queen's -Chamber, as I fear it might give him trouble, and perhaps deprive him -of his lofty position. - -Even the attendant, to whom I showed the note, was afraid to allow me -to enter the apartments, as the Queen had only left them early that -same morning to take a drive, and was expected back during the evening. -It was now two o'clock in the afternoon, and I began to fear that I -would not see the private saloons of her Majesty. - -The attendant said, in answer to my request: - -"I tell you, Sir, I'll lose my place and perkisites if I show the -hapartments to you. I dare not do it." - -"But," said I, "there is an order from Lord ----, will not that be -sufficient?" - -"Yes," said he, "his Lordship is a great friend of the Queen, but -I'm afraid this order is a mistake, and only refers to the public -apartments, which I have no hobjection, Sir, to your seeing." - -I began to think I would fail if I did not find a weak spot in the -gorgeous flunkey. - -Suddenly a thought struck me. I asked myself "who has been the most -popular and best loved American in England?" - -Echo answered, "George Peabody." - -And "why," the inward monitor asked. - -Echo answered again, "because he gave so much money away," for I was -positive that the English (servants at least) did not care for any of -his less showy virtues, in comparison with that of bestowing millions -from his private purse! Why, the Queen herself give him her portrait. -Did she not? - -The flunkey seemed to read my soul the while that I communed with -myself. - -I felt that I must throw myself in the breach. Suddenly I slipped a -bright new sovereign into the man's hand. His fingers closed on the -shining gold coin like the teeth of a vise and his eyes glistened. I -knew then from his look that I would have to pistol the flunkey on the -spot before I could get back my sovereign. We were going toward the -private apartments of her Britannic Majesty, who is also Defender of -the Faith. - -A long corridor lay before us, and the flunkey stopped and said to me: - -[Sidenote: THE SECRETS OF ROYALTY.] - -"I'll try it, Sir. You are indeed very generous, and I honor you for -it, but I don't know whether we can pass the Yeoman of the Guard. They -are always about here guarding Her Majesty's private apartments. This -is the Queen's Closet." - -He pointed to a lofty doorway, and I saw a big, bloated Britisher, -walking up and down with something on his shoulder that looked like a -meat-axe fastened upon a clothes-pole. He had a red tunic, and wore a -round flat hat, and his legs which were very noble and imposing, were -clad in red hose. - -The flunkey, who was also in tights, went up to him and spoke, and I -assumed a business-like air. He was telling the red-faced Beef-Eater, -as I afterwards ascertained, that I came to make some repairs in the -closet, but the Beef-Eater did not seem willing to admit any one; but -by some moral suasion he obviated his scruples, and I was allowed to -enter. I think he divided the sovereign with him. - -The flunkey beckoned to me, and I approached. The Beef-Eater--noble -fellow--looked the other way, as I entered the imposing apartment. - -The flunkey stood in silent awe, as I looked around on the splendors of -the lofty room. - -A magnificent bed stood in a corner of the apartment, hung with red -velvet and yellow silk. The arms of Great Britain were emblazoned on -the heavy red velvet, and the Lions and Unicorns, disported playfully -all over the room in their usual attitudes. There were large oil -paintings of George IV, King William IV, the Duke of Kent, father of -Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales as a Colonel of the British army, -and the Princess Louise, a marriageable daughter of Queen Victoria. - -The bed was large and would have held three persons of the size -of Queen Victoria. Elegant lounges were arranged around the lofty -apartment, covered with damask satin. A faint and delicious odor filled -the room, and I seemed to sink in the soft and luxuriant carpets. -Mystery, silence, and enchantment prevailed, and I trembled to think -that I stood in the presence of Royalty unbidden, and without the -permission of the Queen. - -There was a sideboard of most intricate carving at one end of the -room, with some green Venetian glasses on one of its shelves, but I saw -no decanters. The room was filled with a glory and power, reflected -in the possessor of three Kingdoms. From without, through the deeply -embayed windows, also hung with satin of the color of a morning sky, -I could hear the tramp of the sentinels on the battlements, and -the hoarse cry of the warders, going their rounds, demanding the -counter-sign of strangers. - -The charmed silence was broken by the voice of the flunkey in answer to -my enquiry as to how the aromatic odors of the chamber were procured. - -"Her Majesty is werry fond of perfumes, Sir," said he. "The carpets has -Cologne shook on them every morning, and if you will come here to the -bed, you will also get the smell of Patshooly." - -I walked to the bed and I found that there was an odor of cologne, -otter of roses, and musk, proceeding from the counterpane, which -was bordered with purple velvet and gold lace, and had the royal -arms embroidered in the centre. The pillow slips had trimmings of -Valenciennes lace, half a yard wide, hanging from their open ends. -The counterpane was of quilted blue and pink satin, and inside of the -velvet canopy that covered the bed, was a lining of blue and white -satin, from which hung down heavy folds of Mechlin lace. - -A little table of ivory, inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli, stood a -few feet from the bed, supported by a tripod elegantly worked in solid -silver. - -The flunkey explained to me the use of this table. "Sometimes Her -Majesty takes her breakfast in bed," said he, "when she is indisposed. -Her Majesty is werry fond of coffee, and often takes two cups of a -morning when she is stopping at Windsor. She is fond of veal cutlets, -well done, and sweet breads, for breakfast. Yes, Sir, I have heard -that Her Majesty, God bless her, when she had a good appetite, before -Prince Albert died, would eat a pound of veal at breakfast. The lady in -waiting places her coffee on that small table, and after handing Her -Majesty her breakfast in bed, she stands off at a respectful distance, -and waits until she is called again to offer Her Majesty a favorite -dish. The Duchess of Athole, who is a relation of Lady Mordaunt, is -greatly liked by Her Majesty, and when she waits on the Queen, Her -Majesty allows her to sit down, but all the other ladies in waiting, -excepting Lady Dianna Beauclerk, has to stand up. Sometimes, when -the Prince of Wales comes here, God bless him, he is awfully screwed -(drunk), and then the Queen makes a preshis row, and she wont speak to -him for a week after. - -[Sidenote: "WOT A PEOPLE THE HAMERICANS ARE."] - -"You are the only American ever was allowed to enter this ere room, -Sir; but I have heard that one of your countrymen once strayed in here, -and was astonished to find that there was no 'spittoons,' I think he -called them, in the Queen's bed-room. A preshis thing that would be, -to have sich things as 'spittoons' in the Queen's bed-room," said the -indignant and loyal flunkey. - -I informed the man that the story was incredible, and that my -countrymen were not such savages as he believed them to be. When I -informed him that in the old times in America, any free and unwashed -citizen might have inspected the President's bed-room at the White -House at Washington, he was greatly astonished, and said: - -"My God, what a strange people the Hamericans are! And they allowed -them to look at his bed, did they? My heyes, wot a people!" - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - -BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES. - - -THERE are two places well worth seeing in London. One is the Central -Criminal Court or "Old Bailey" as it is usually called, situated next -door to Newgate, and the "Lord Mayor's" Court, in the Mansion House. - -The Old Bailey is a famous criminal Court, and has had an eventful -history. The magistrates who sit here, are the Lord Mayor, who opens -the Court, the sheriffs of Middlesex and London, the Lord Chancellor, -who is never present excepting in a State trial, the Judges, Aldermen, -and Recorder, the Common Sergeant of London, the Judge of the Sheriff's -Court, or City Commissions, and others whom the Crown may appoint to -assist them. Of these dignitaries the Recorder and Common Sergeant -of London are most generally to be found presiding, as the common -law judges only assist when knotty points are to be decided, or when -conviction may affect the life of the prisoner. - -At the Old Bailey are tried crimes of every kind, from treason to -petty larceny, and even offences committed upon the high seas. The -jurisdiction comprises every part of the metropolis of London, together -with the county of Middlesex; the parishes of Richmond and Mortlake in -Surrey, and the greater part of Essex county, adjoining Middlesex. - -[Sidenote: THE "OLD BAILEY" COURT.] - -The Old Bailey Court is a square hall with a gallery for visitors, -below which is a large clock, that ticks in the prisoner's ears, like -a bell of doom. Below it is the dock for the culprits, with stairs -descending to the covered passage, by which they are conveyed to and -from Newgate. Opposite the dock in which the wretched prisoner stands -up to plead for mercy, is the bench for the judges, and here may be -seen day after day the Recorder of London sitting to try offenders, -in his blue cloth gown, with furred borders, and his neck encircled -with a gold chain, listening listlessly to the testimony, and now and -then making notes on a square piece of paper, while from the open -window comes the chirruping of birds; and before him are arraigned poor -wretches in rags and squalor, on trial for offences which may peril -their lives, reputation and happiness. - -There are three large square windows in this Court, through which -appear the ridge of the gloomy walls of Newgate, having on their left -a gallery close to the ceiling, with projecting boxes, and on the -right the Bench extending the whole length of the wall, with desks -at intervals, for the use of the judges, whilst in the body of the -Court are the witness-box and the jury-box, below the windows of the -Court, an arrangement that allows the jury to look clearly, and without -turning, on the faces of the witnesses and the prisoners. The strong -light from the windows enables the witness to identify the prisoner, -who stands shivering in the dock, at the same time that it permits the -judges on the Bench and the counsel below in the hollow space of the -Court to keep jury, witnesses and prisoners all at once within the same -perspective line. - -In the upper seats are the double rows of reporters, smart, -well-looking and well-dressed fellows, the majority of whom look bored -and disgusted, as well they may, when it is taken into account that -they have to sit here day after day, to look at the same horse-hair -wigs of the jabbering lawyers, the same gowns, the same blank ceiling, -the same stupid, harsh faced jurymen, and the same hard looking or -wobegone wretches who stand up in the dock to listen to sentence or -acquittal. Occasionally there is a little amusement for them when some -ass of an alderman attempts in a pompous way, to show the bearing -of a statute in a criminal case, and only succeeds in exposing his -turtle-fed ignorance to the merriment of the knowing ones. - -Look there now. A youth well-dressed and cleanly-looking is brought -into the dock and placed for trial on a charge of forgery on his -employer, for the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds. The young fellow -has a weak, pallid face, and seems rather dazed at all the preparation -and mysterious jabber on his account. A dozen of the counsel, in black -stuff gowns and with white wigs of horse-hair look around for a minute -at the dock, where the prisoner stands, merely out of curiosity, as if -he were a sheep or a calf brought in for slaughter. Their curiosity -satisfied, they turn away from him and dismiss his pale face from their -thoughts almost instantaneously. The judge on the bench--who is flanked -by a fat alderman on each side, in red robes--sits, looking at some -documents, with a far-away, abstracted look, as if the prisoner at the -bar was a thousand miles distant, and a free man. - -And meanwhile the case progresses, the counsel for the Crown opening -indignantly on the side of virtue and the law, and witness after -witness is called up and kisses the book, and there is much making of -affidavit and counter-affidavit, and through all this maze of swearing -and mist of statement, it appears that the young lad at the bar has -been wild and reckless, and has signed his master's name, beyond all -doubt, to a check, which he had cashed, the proceeds of which were -spent in the haunts of vice and shame. The case goes to the jury, who -pronounce him guilty without leaving their seats, and the sun streams -through the windows on the despairing face of the youth, and I am -awakened from a sort of a trance into which I have fallen, to hear the -voice of the Recorder of the good city of London, drone out at the -prisoner: - -"In this case I can find no extenuating circumstances. You are of age -to know better, and the sentence of the Court is, therefore, that you -suffer penal servitude, with hard labor, for the space of twelve years." - -Good God! twelve years! He is not yet eighteen, and the twelve best -years of his life are erased from his span of existence, by the breath -of the man in blue cloth gown and the fur tippet, and now the latter -goes up stairs to eat his dinner, the jury are dismissed, and a young -girl falls fainting in the Court as the prisoner is led out--however it -is only his sister. There is a little stir among the horse-hair-wigged -counsel and a buzz in the audience, and in three minutes another case -comes on to excite new interest, and make us forget the convict and his -sobbing, fair-haired sister. - -Upon the front of the dock is placed a sprig of rue, which dissipates -any infection that may proceed from the clothes of the prisoner, should -he be suffering from illness. The origination of this custom is worthy -of note. - -In 1750, when the jail fever raged in Newgate, the effluvia entering -the Court, caused the death of Baron Clarke, Sir Thomas Abney, the -judge of the Common Pleas; and Pennant's "respected kinsman," Sir -Samuel Pennant, Lord Mayor; besides members of the bar and of the jury, -and other persons. This disease was also fatal to several persons in -1772. Since that time a sprig of rue has always been kept in the dock -to drive away contagion. - -[Sidenote: THE JUDGES' DINNER.] - -Above the old Court is a stately dining-room, wherein, during the Old -Bailey sittings, the dinners are given by the sheriffs to the judges -and aldermen, the Recorder, Common Sergeant, city pleaders, and a few -visitors. Marrow-puddings and rump-steaks are always provided. Two -dinners, exact duplicates, are served each day, at 3 and 5 o'clock; and -the judges relieve each other, but aldermen have eaten both dinners; -and a chaplain, who invariably presided at the lower end of the table, -thus ate two dinners a day for ten years. Theodore Hook admirably -describes a Judges' Dinner in his _Gilbert Gurney_. In 1807-8, the -dinners for three sessions, nineteen days, cost Sheriff Phillips £35 -per day--£665; 145 dozen of wine, consumed at the above dinners, £450: -total £1,115. The amount is now considerably greater, as the sessions -are held monthly. - -Outside in the lobbies and hall rooms, passages and corridors adjacent -to and connected with the Old Bailey Court there is always a crowd -of lawyers, policemen, hangers-on, countrymen, cadgers, and persons -anxious to become spectators, females of the poorer class, members -of the aristocratic swell mob, sneak thieves and pickpockets, all -curious to know how matters are going on inside with their friends or -associates in crime or misfortune, and among them all, rushing hither -and thither, chatting and joking, conferring with his clients, and -nodding familiarly to the police and the officers of the Court, may -be seen the sharpest legal bird in the world. I mean the regular Old -Bailey practitioner, who could take a penny from a dead man's eyes, rob -an altar, or cheat the widow and orphan, and still prove to his own -satisfaction that it was done for a good and laudable purpose. - -[Illustration: LOADING THE PRISON VAN.] - -A not uncommon sight in the vicinity of police offices and petty -Courts, in London, is the noisy, brawling discharge of prisoners, -who are turned out on the streets in the morning, after having been -locked up all night for trifling offences, or disorderly conduct and -intoxication. - -Their unlucky companions, who have received sentences of imprisonment, -are taken from the Courts to the places of confinement in which they -are to pay the penalty of their indiscretion or crime. Every morning -there is a dreadful row and confusion at the Bow street police office, -when the prisoners are brought out to be placed in the prison wagon or -"van," in which they are transported to Holloway, Milbank or Newgate -prisons. A large crowd assembles daily to witness the embarkation of -these poor wretches for their new residences. Fighting women, squalling -children, patient policemen, and drunken blackguards are among the -details of these assemblages. There is a strong able bodied virago, -with her dress hanging to her form in shreds, who has just tossed her -soiled bonnet madly among the crowd, with a series of shrieks, and -three policemen are hardly sufficient to restrain her, while she is -being helped into the "Van." At last she is locked up with other unruly -personages inside of the iron door, in a dark box, where she may swear -away to her heart's content for a ride of five to ten miles. - -[Sidenote: THE MANSION HOUSE.] - -And now let us take a look at the Justice Room of the Mansion House, -which is only a few rods distant from the Old Bailey. - -Be it known to all my readers that the Mansion House, or Guildhall, -is to London what the City Hall is to New York--the Hotel de Ville to -Paris or Brussels--and the Stadt Haus to Amsterdam. It is here that -the Lord Mayor of London lives and here he deals out justice to his -constituents. The Guildhall or Mansion House of London is one of the -finest public buildings in the city, and has a noble gallery, dining -hall, and a service of municipal gold and silver plate, which is used -by the Lord Mayor on state occasions, besides a splendid collection of -paintings. - -But it is of the Justice Court, a small room in the Mansion House, that -we have to speak on this occasion, and not of the plate, or of the Lord -Mayor's annual show. - -The Mansion House is just opposite the Bank of England and the Royal -Exchange, in the very heart of moneyed London, Lombard street being -but a very short distance around the corner, with its horde of money -changers, bill discounters brokers, and bankers. - -This Court is not opened before noonday, as the Lord Mayor of London is -too mighty a magnate to be hurried in his daily duties for any command -or Court of Justice. - -Accordingly at noon, I find myself below the steps leading to the -Mansion House, and presently I begin to ascend the broad staircase -of stone, with a small crowd of policemen, officers of the Court, -witnesses, and lawyers. I am questioned as to my business by an officer -at the door, but being in company with detective Irving, of New York -City (who is about to appear before the Lord Mayor, in the case of -Clement Harwood, the celebrated forger, whom the former had captured -at New York on board of an English steamer, before she had touched her -dock, and had him brought back to London for trial), I am admitted, -and after one or two turnings, find myself in a well-lighted room of -moderate size, with a high ceiling and two windows looking out on the -Poultry and Threadneedle street. - -[Illustration: DETECTIVE IRVING.] - -Between those two windows is a throne or dais, gorgeous enough for -a monarch, and behind the throne are emblazoned the municipal mace -and sword, and the motto of the City of London, "Domine Dirige Nos," -surmounted by the lion and unicorn, the arms of Great Britain. This -is the Lord Mayor's Chair of Justice, but the awful being to whom it -appertains has not yet made his appearance, and I have leisure to look -around me. - -There are two rows of desks, for the reporters, and behind them sit -representatives of the _Times_, _Daily News_, _Daily Telegraph_, -_Standard_, _Morning Advertiser_, and other leading journals, the -evening papers, with the exception of the _Echo_, _Pall Mall Gazette_ -and _Globe_ not being represented, the others always copying their -police reports from the morning journals. - -[Sidenote: THE RICH RASCAL.] - -There are two or three high desks in the centre of the room, a square -iron railing, and a number of police waiting to make charges, but -the prisoners are kept below in the lockup and will presently appear -through a trap door in the floor when they are called to answer to the -charges on the sheet. - -The American detective has just finished his business regarding -Harwood's case, and saunters in carelessly with his hat in his hand to -take a look around him. - -Presently there is a bustle and commotion, and a man looking like a -drum major of a band, with scarlet and gold facings on his coat, whom -I am informed enjoys the dignity of Mayor's Marshal, marches into the -room like a peacock, with his big staff of office, and cries out: - -"Make way there, for the Right Honorable the Lud Mayor." - -Then enters the awful being himself, in a furred robe of heavy cloth, -like one of Rembrandt's burgomasters, a blazing gold chain depending -from his neck and covering his waistcoat, and having taken his seat, -the charge sheet is examined by him in a dignified way, and the first -case is called. - -This is the case of the forger Harwood, a young man, the son of the -senior partner of one of the largest banking firms in London, who has -forged his father's name for the amount of £15,000. - -The trap door opens and discloses a fashionably-dressed and -good-looking young fellow, with a police officer on each side. The case -had excited great interest in London, and the prisoner having fled to -New York was captured before the steamer got to her dock, and brought -back to London. Harwood had been brought to justice because the junior -member of the firm, to protect its interests, had been compelled to the -unwilling task of making the charge against his partner's son. - -[Illustration: BEFORE THE "LORD MAYOR."] - -Harwood has the air of a languid and haughty "swell," or exquisite, -and is most fashionably dressed. There is no flinching in his blonde -and whiskered face as he is brought up for sentence, having been -previously convicted. Out of £15,000, detective Irving recovered over -£11,000 from the forger, and it seems the charge is to be hushed up. -The father of the culprit is a wealthy citizen, and the counsel for the -prisoner makes his point that the greater part of the money having been -recovered, and the prisoner having "suffered much anguish of mind" for -his crime, has offered to go to America if released, and make amends -for his "fault" by leading a new and repentant life. - -I looked at the exquisite, who stood there as cool as a cucumber, and -it seemed to me rather doubtful that he had suffered much anguish of -mind. I also doubted if he would be willing to lead a very virtuous -life in America. As he stood there with his assured and rather -contemptuous look and insolent face, he was quite a contrast to the -pale, weak-looking lad, who stood the day before in the dock of the -Old Bailey to receive with trembling lips his sentence of twelve long -years penal servitude, and just as the thought struck me, Irving, the -detective, whispered to me: - -[Sidenote: THE POOR RASCAL.] - -"He looks very sorry, don't he? Of course! Cheese things." - -Then the Lord Mayor plucked up a proper spirit, threw back his -furred sleeves, put on a look of profound wisdom, consulted with the -prisoner's counsel, and making up his judicial mind that Harwood had -"suffered enough,"--poor young man--the forger was released and set -at liberty in order to allow him to become a virtuous citizen of the -United States. Nothing was said about the deficit of two or three -thousand pounds; the young man's family was wealthy and respectable. -But who is this poor rascal at the bar now, who appears as the friends -of the wealthy forger gather in a knot to congratulate him. Why it -is a low ruffian of a pickpocket who has been caught in the act of -abstracting a lady's reticule valued at fourteen shillings. The -villain! He has no wealthy friends, so let him take eighteen months -imprisonment at Hollaway prison, and there let him repent while on the -treadmill. - -I left the Lord Mayor's Court with mixed feelings, and the remarks of -the detective failed to reassure me as to the honesty of the method of -administering justice by his Worship, the Lord Mayor of London. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - -TWO RIVALS--CANTERBURY AND ROME. - - -METROPOLITAN Life has its religious phases, also. London contains about -410,000 dwelling-houses, places of business, and public buildings, and -in this vast agglomeration of brick, stone, and mortar--there are about -seven hundred edifices devoted to public worship. In this number are -comprised places of worship for all sects: Roman Catholics, Protestants -of the Established Church of England, Baptists, Presbyterians, -Independents, Jews, Greeks, Moravians, Quakers, Socinians, -Wesleyan-Methodists, and even Hindoos, who have a temple of their own. - -There are two hundred and eighteen parishes in the Metropolis, under -the jurisdiction of vestries and parochial bodies who, in turn, are -subject to the Bishop of London, sitting as a temporal and spiritual -peer in the House of Lords. He is Provincial Dean of Canterbury, and -Dean of the Chapels Royal at Whitehall and the Savoy. - -The Bishop of London ranks next to the Archbishop of York and -Canterbury, and has an income of £10,000, annually, and the free gift -of one hundred and nine livings, ranging in value from £2,000 to £30 a -year. As Dean of Canterbury his income amounts to £2,000 a year. The -clergymen of the Established Church receiving the largest salaries in -the City of London, whose livings are in the gift of the Bishop of -London, are those of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, £2,290, St. Olave's, -Hart street, Bloomsbury, £1,891, and St. Giles, Cripplegate, £1,580. - -The smallest salary is that received by the pastor of St. Bartholomew -the Less, who only gets £30 a year, although his work is far harder -than that of the Dean of Westminster, who receives £4,000 a year. The -salary of the Archbishop of Canterbury is £20,000, and he has half a -dozen palaces throughout the country. The Archbishop of York receives -about £15,000 a year, and has two Episcopal and palatial residences. - -[Sidenote: SPURGEON AND "APOCALYPSE" CUMMING.] - -Spurgeon, the great Baptist divine, who ranks somewhat like Henry Ward -Beecher, receives a salary of $18,000 a year for his preaching, and his -congregation, in 1860, erected for him a grand tabernacle at Newington, -on the Surrey side of the Thames near the Elephant and Castle, and in -one of the roughest districts of London, at a cost of £25,000. The -design is simple; the dimensions 85 by 174 feet, and here, every Sunday -evening, nearly six thousand persons assemble to listen to the vehement -eloquence of Spurgeon, who has his congregation drilled like a company -of infantry, and can move them to tears or laughter, as he chooses. - -[Illustration: SPURGEON.] - -In Crown Court, Strand, is the Free Church of Scotland, a well-built -and commodious edifice, where the Scottish Presbyterians attend. The -pastor of this church is known all over the world by his writings and -his prophetic denunciations of the coming destruction of the world, -as "Apocalypse" Cumming. Thousands of pages have been written by this -eminent divine, and hundreds of sermons have been preached by him, in -which he has identified the Pope of Rome with the "Scarlet Woman" and -the "Beast," having the mark on her forehead, yet at the call of the -Ecumenical Council, he was the first Protestant divine in England, who, -in a manner acknowledged the Pope's jurisdiction by writing to him for -admission to the Council as a Priest or "Presbyter." Dr. Cumming is a -very energetic preacher, and his services are always well attended by -the disciples of his church, as well as by strangers, in London, who -manifest a great desire to hear the illustrious Scotch divine. - -[Illustration: FATHER IGNATIUS.] - -One of the most talked-about people in London is the famous "Father -Ignatius," whose design is to bring over English Episcopalians to the -Roman Catholic Church, although he does not say so ostensibly. This -man is evidently sincere in his efforts to bring back the English -Church to the place of its departure, for the Reformation--as far as -the ceremonial goes. It is very little different, that old-fashioned -church of St. Mary-le-Strand--where I saw Father Ignatius officiating -one Sunday afternoon, in the midst of incense, ringing of silver -bells, and kneeling worshippers, who went through all the most devout -genuflections of Roman Catholicism--from the Mother Church, in its -ceremonial. Father Ignatius wore a vestment, with a huge cross down -the back, his head was shaved on the top like that of a monk, and -his face and eyes, as he descended the steps of the altar, which was -surmounted with a Gothic cross, covered with flowers, and blazing -with lights, had an ascetic aspect, which is not commonly seen in -the features or eyes of a clergyman of the State Church. At every -motion of the body he made a low reverence to the Crucifix over the -altar. This Father Ignatius does not believe in a married Clergy, or -in Lay or Congregational administration of a Church--in fact he does -everything that a Roman Catholic Priest does, including the hearing of -confessions, yet he dares not acknowledge the Supremacy of the Bishop -of Rome, excepting in a negative sense. He is an advanced soldier of a -large and growing party in the Church of England, who gravitate with -tremendous strides daily towards the Church of Rome, but do not know -that they are thus gravitating, or knowing, will not acknowledge the -fact. This puny, slab-faced, and livid-looking Priest, has suffered, -too, with steadiness, has been stoned and mobbed by angry crowds, yet -he perseveres in his work, and has many thousand followers, male and -female, among the brightest, best, bravest, and most cultivated of -England's aristocracy. - -[Sidenote: THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.] - -It is a strange, old-fashioned, and conservative Church, this State -Church of Great Britain. It has lasted three hundred years, with its -feasts and fasts, its liturgy, its prelates, spiritual peers, and -Thirty-Nine Articles. - -Englishmen have always, until of late days, been conservative, and -this old-fashioned Church, with its grave ceremonial, its Canons, and -Deaneries, with its Westminster Abbey, its St. Paul's Cathedral, and -its Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, has, in every way, satisfied -the English people--at any rate, it has served the purposes of the -ruling classes. - -But the Church of England, like all other things in this world, has -received some heavy blows in the course of its existence. - -First came the Great Civil War, in which Charles I lost his head, -and with him the Church of England lost its revenues, and its great -prestige departed when Laud ascended the scaffold. - -Then came the Restoration, which brought with it a dissolute King, -a dissolute nobility, and worst of all a dissolute clergy. The -horse-riding, beer-drinking, and gambling parsons of the reigns of -Queen Anne, William, and the Georges, such as Thackeray has so well -described, in his Parson Sampson, were morally unfit to join issue, -in a spiritual encounter, with such earnest, plucky, and aggressive -Christians as Wesley, Whitfield, and Bunyan, proved themselves, and -consequently the Established Church lost its hold on half of the -working men and the agricultural classes of England toward the first -decade of the Nineteenth century. In particular, the manufacturing -towns lost all respect for the faith of the King and court, and such -places as Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, and Birmingham, became -strongholds of Dissent, while the pews of the rural churches, where -the poor of the parishes had never been welcome, since the days of the -dissolution of the monasteries, by Henry VIII, were left untenanted, -and a brutal ignorance took the place of implicit faith among the -English masses. - -And to cap the climax, a year ago a bill was brought into Parliament -for the destruction of the Established Church of Ireland, a church -which never had been accepted by the Irish people, and though the -English Churchmen, the Ministers, and the Tory party, rallied to save -the doomed edifice, yet it was swept away in a night, despite the -maneuvers of the leaders of the House of Lords, who wisely fought the -bill as long as they could, believing it to be the first great blow -delivered at the Established Church and the English aristocracy since -Catholic Emancipation in 1829. - -At present there is a terrific struggle going on in the Established -Church. One half of the clergy, among whom are the best educated and -most scholarly divines, secretly lean to the Catholic Church, and -belong to the "Ritualistic" party, with its incense, flowers, banners, -and Protestant Sisters of Mercy and Nuns; and the other half are again -divided into those who doubt the inspiration of the Scriptures, and -openly denounce the entire books of the Bible as a tissue of fables, -with Colenso, and a third party, who having sprung from the people, and -having no connection with any of the great beneficed Church families, -and being incumbents of £100 livings, or less, cannot support their -families or educate their children properly. This last faction is a -growing one, and though less educated than the other two parties, they -are equally earnest, and eagerly await the day when they can join the -ranks of the Baptists, Independents, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, or -Methodists, for the purpose of forming a "Liberal" or "Broad" English -Church, such as Dean Stanley is supposed to represent in his theories. - -[Sidenote: ROMAN CATHOLIC STATISTICS.] - -In the mean time the Roman Catholic Clergy are sleepless, -indefatigable, and aggressive in their movements, and as they do not -hope to convert the middle classes of the English people, who are all -staunch Protestants, they have laid siege to the souls of the two -extreme bodies, the aristocracy and the very poor and destitute, as -well as the working classes. And they are making great progress--in -fact alarming progress, as I will show here. - -In 1380, when England and Wales had been Catholic countries for more -than seven hundred and fifty years, there were more than 14,000 parish -churches, and 2,000 religious houses in the kingdom; there was one -parish church to every four square miles throughout the kingdom, and -one religious house to every thirty square miles; and there were 40,000 -priests, monks, and friars. The whole of these churches and convents -were taken away or destroyed during the Reformation; and, as I have -said, when the church was at last again set free, she had to commence -her work anew. In the half century since her hands were fully untied, -she has built more than 1,000 churches and chapels, and something -like 300 monasteries and convents, and she has over 1,700 priests -ministering at her altars. If this be the work of fifty years, how much -less is it, proportionately, than the work accomplished by the same -church in the first seven hundred and fifty years of her life. - -Therefore, the Roman Catholics, while they held supreme sway in -England, built 14,000 churches, which is less than twenty in each year, -while during the last fifty years they have built 1,000 churches, -which is also twenty in each year; but during this period, it must -be remembered that the public sentiment of Great Britain had been -overwhelmingly Protestant, while in the previous period referred to, a -Protestant was unknown. - -And now for the social status and influence of the Romanists in -England. - -There are, in the first place, 33 Catholic peers, 48 Catholic baronets, -and 36 Catholic members of Parliament. There are lords and lords, -and one lord differeth from another in glory as one star differeth -from another. It is unquestionably true that the Roman Catholic peers -and baronets are the representatives of the oldest, most noble, and -most influential families in the kingdom. The reigns of Edward VI, -Elizabeth, James I, and William and Mary, were marked by the extinction -of the greater part of the Roman Catholic houses. The nobles, who clung -to the ancient faith, were slain by the axe of the executioner, driven -into exile, or beggared by the confiscation of their estates, which -passed into the hands of the comparatively mushroom aristocracy that -sprang up upon the ruins of these illustrious families. But a few of -the old nobility contrived to escape the fate of the majority. - -There are in the United Kingdom 27 dukes, 32 marquises, 194 earls, -55 viscounts, and 220 barons--in all, 528 noblemen. But as I have -ascertained by dint of patiently reading through Burke's peerage, 228 -of these are the holders of titles which are the "creations" of the -present century; 163 date back only to the eighteenth century; 89 -to the seventeenth century; 17 to the sixteenth century; 20 to the -fifteenth century; 3 to the fourteenth century; 4 to the thirteenth -century; and 1 to the twelfth century. This last is Baron Kingsale, -whose title dates from 1181, and who is the twenty-ninth of his name. - -The most ancient dukedom is that of the Duke of Norfolk, created in -1483. The Norfolks, throughout all their history, remained faithful to -the Roman Catholic church. The present Duke is the fifteenth of the -name, and is "Earl Marshal, Premier Duke, and Earl of England." Of the -three nobles whose creation dates back to the fourteenth century, two -are Roman Catholics; of the twenty who date from the fifteenth century, -six are of that religion; and of the seventeen who date from the -sixteenth century, three are of the old faith. Out of the four hundred -and eighty whose titles are less than 270 years old, only twenty-two -are Catholics. And of the forty-eight Roman Catholic baronets, about -half of the number are the descendants of gentlemen to whom this -hereditary rank was given in the early part of the seventeenth century. - -The ancient Roman Catholic hierarchy in England ended in 1584, with -the death of Thomas Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, who died in prison in -that year. The hierarchy was not restored until Sept. 9, 1850, when the -present Pope erected it by establishing all England as the "Province -of Westminster," embracing thirteen dioceses, and presided over by -an Archbishop. During this interval of 266 years, the Roman Catholic -Clergy in England were at first under the direction of an Archpriest. - -In Scotland the hierarchy has not yet been restored. It ended with the -death of the last Archbishop of Glasgow, who died in exile at Paris in -1603. Since then the Catholic Church in Scotland has been under the -charge of Vicars-apostolic. - -[Sidenote: A SKETCH OF "LOTHAIR."] - -The greatest conquest made by the Roman Catholic clergy, of late years, -is that of the young Marquis of Bute, the original of Mr. Disraeli's -"Lothair," in his social and politico-religious novel of that name. -This young and noble lord was born on the 12th of September, 1847, -and is now in his twenty-third year. His father, the second Marquis -of Bute, married Lady Maria North, eldest daughter and co-heir of -George Augustus, third Earl of Guilford. This estimable lady died -childless, in 1841, and the old Marquis married again in 1845, Lady -Sophia-Frederica-Christina Hastings, second daughter of the first -Marquis of Hastings. The young Marquis was unfortunate in losing his -mother when he was in his twelfth year. Lord Bute has been a great -traveler for a man of his age, and being an only child he has had the -best of tutors that Europe could afford. - -[Illustration: "LOTHAIR," (MARQUIS OF BUTE.)] - -Nearly every young lady of wealth and rank in England set her cap for -the young Marquis when he attained his majority; but this nobleman is -very unlike the Marquis of Waterford or the Duke of Hamilton, who by -the way are distant relatives of his. He is not fond of dissipation, -and since his boyish days he has been of a reflective turn of mind, -with deep religious yearnings--yet withal he is not guilty of cant, and -does not bore one with his religious views. He is good looking, but -is not showy in his dress, and just now he is the lion of fashionable -Europe from the fame which attends him everywhere as the hero of -Disraeli's novel. The Marquis was reared a Presbyterian with decided -Church of England leanings, and was converted one year ago, to the -Roman Catholic faith through the efforts of Monsigneur Capel, who has -also a niche in "Lothair," under the title of Monsigneur Catesby. He -is a most accomplished ecclesiastic, who unites with a fascinating -exterior the greatest ability and perseverance. - -[Sidenote: BUTE, MANNING, AND NEWMAN.] - -The income of the Marquis is about £380,000 annually, and he has -decided to give one year's income, which is nearly two millions of -dollars, toward the construction of a Catholic Cathedral at Oxford, in -which all the glories of the Medieval Gothic shall be renewed. The roll -of this young nobleman's titles is enough to startle an American. They -are as follows: John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, Marquis of Bute, Earl of -Windsor, Viscount Mountjoy in the Isle of Wight, Baron Mount-Stuart of -Wortley and Baron of Cardiff Castle, Wales, in the Peerage of Great -Britain. He is also Earl of Dumfries and Bute, Viscount of Ayr and -Kingarth, Baron Crichton, Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, Lord Mount-Stuart -of Cumbrae and Inchmarnock, and Hereditary Keeper of Rothesay Castle -(formerly a Royal residence). Besides, he is a Baronet of Nova Scotia -among the Blue-Noses. - -Through his mother he is a Crichton, which is a royal House, and by his -father he comes of the equally royal House of Stuart, and he holds the -title of "Lord of the Isles." The motto of his family is "_Avito viret -honore_." (He flourishes in an honorable ancestry.) The motto of the -Hastings family, with which Lord Bute is connected, is "Trust warrants -troth." - -The most beautiful woman of the English nobility is Lady Victoria-Maria -Louisa Hastings, who is now in her thirty-third year. This lady was -a great pet of Queen Victoria, and when a child Her Royal Highness, -the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the Queen, held the pretty baby -in her arms as sponsor at the baptismal font, for the sake of a dear -friend, Lady Victoria's mother, who was Stephanie, Duchess of Baden, -and a relation of the Emperor Napoleon. The young girl grew up, and is -now the wife of John Forbes-Stratford Kirwan, Esq., of Moyne, County -Galway, Ireland. - -The Marquis of Bute is a relation of the late Baron Stuart de Rothesay, -for many years English Ambassador at Paris. - -It has been variously hinted and rumored that the Marquis of -Bute was at one time engaged to the Lady Albertina Hamilton, a -daughter of the Duke of Abercorn, and also to a young lady of the -Sutherland-Leveson-Gower family, which has for its head the Duke of -Sutherland. It is said that the "Lady Corisande" of "Lothair," is none -other than a daughter of the Duchess of Sutherland, the former firm -friend of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. - -If the Marquis of Bute was indeed a suitor for the hand of a daughter -of the Duke of Abercorn, I am quite sure that he might have succeeded -in his endeavor, for I believe that that worthy nobleman has been -blessed with ten daughters and four stalwart sons, who can all answer -to the Slogan of the Hamiltons. - -The young Marquis has residences and castles, and immense domains, -at Mt. Stuart; Isle of Bute, at Cardiff Castle, Glamorganshire, at -Dumfries House, and he has a town house in London; besides, his name is -inscribed on the registers of four London and three Parisian Clubs. - -The ablest man in the English Roman Catholic Church is Archbishop -Manning, who has been such a firm supporter of the Papal Infallibility -in the Ecumenical Council. In due time, no doubt, this prelate will -have the Cardinal's red hat conferred upon him for his services. - -The greatest scholar in the Roman Catholic Church, in England, is Dr. -J.H. Newman, the celebrated Oxford Tractarian, or Puseyite, who became -a convert to Catholicism, with Manning, and since 1840 has devoted his -brains to the service of his new Mother Church with great learning and -zeal. His picture shows one of the most spiritual faces in England--it -is almost weird in its nature. - -There is a monument erected to a man named Dow, in St. Botolph's Church -(Church of England) Aldgate, who bequeathed a sum of money to the -clerk of the church, to pay him for ringing a bell at midnight, on the -occasion of the execution of a criminal at Newgate. This was to call -the attention of the condemned man to his soul. - -It was this same Robert Dow who left, by will, in the year 1612, the -sum of £1 6s. 8d., annually, as a fee to the Sexton of St. Sepulchres, -which is just opposite Newgate Prison, for pronouncing two solemn -exhortations to condemned criminals on the night preceding and on the -morning of their execution, as they passed the church-door on their way -to Tyburn-Tree. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - -THE LEGION OF THE LOST. - - -VERY different estimates have been made as to the extent of the Social -Evil in London, but that made some fifteen months ago by the Right -Reverend Dr. Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, from facts and figures -furnished him by medical men, the police returns, and the minor clergy, -places the number of abandoned or public women in London, at the -startling aggregate of eighty thousand unfortunates. - -This estimate of Vice and Sin is certainly calculated to intimidate and -terrify the Christian people of England, were it not for the fact that -a hundred agencies are constantly at work, upheld and supported by good -men and women, to lessen the number of these fair and frail members of -the Legion of the Lost. - -The great parade ground of the abandoned women of London, is the -Haymarket, when all London is at rest--when bed-room blinds are drawn -down, and street doors locked and chained--when lights are rarely seen -but in the windows of the sick wards of hospitals--then the Haymarket -is in its glory, gay and lively as a ball-room, and swarming with -gaudily dressed women sauntering and flaunting up and down its broad -pavements, crowding them as on an illumination night. The dissolute and -idle, the debauchee and the debauched, pour into this market of sin, -this Exchange of Vice and Harlotry, like moths attracted by the glare -that must sooner or later utterly destroy them. This street is always -at night full of cabs, drunken men, noisy women, jugglers, and thieves. - -The Haymarket is the Republic of Vice, where all who enter are hale -fellows well met, for every one knows why the other has come here, and -caution being cast off for the time, all ranks and stations mingle. - -[Sidenote: "SCOTT'S" IN THE HAYMARKET.] - -Outside the tavern doors are gathered clusters of swells talking to the -poor souls, who, disguised by some flash dressmaker, have hidden the -figure of the servant-maid under the toilette of the mistress. The heir -to a title stands bowing to some pretty faced girl, who mixes her bad -grammar with oaths. The door of a public house swings back to let the -hope of a family enter, who is about to sip wine at the counter with -the chip bonnet at his side. - -[Illustration: "SCOTT'S" IN THE HAYMARKET.] - -Let us enter "Scott's" in the Haymarket. "Scott's" is the great Oyster -House of London. It is a little cosy, crowded place, and not more -than fifty feet deep by half as many feet in width. At any hour of -the night and until two o'clock in the morning, it is possible to get -oysters, fried, roasted or raw, at "Scott's." They are also cooked -with cracker dust, which makes them taste as if they had been broiled -in sawdust. Oysters are quite dear at "Scott's," and will cost three -shillings a dozen, raw, which is a very high rate when compared with -the price of our American oysters. They are small and bitter, and -black, and the best of the bivalves come from Ostend in Belgium. - -There is a counter at the front of the shop, and behind this counter -are exposed all kinds of shell-fish, lobsters, prawns, crabs, -periwinkles or "winkles," and oysters, as well as mussels. The bounding -clam is unknown in England, however, and is not found amongst the -edibles. Behind this counter the proprietor and his wife, and three -or four male assistants in white aprons, are busily engaged opening -oysters and serving up lobsters and dressed lettuce, to the customers -who prefer to eat standing. To eat standing, however, is not the -common custom in England, and the majority who wish to eat oysters -take seats in the little stalls behind in the back room, which are -exactly like our American oyster stalls, only that they are furnished -with plush cushions. In these stalls are clerks, swells, men about -town, Englishmen and foreigners, eating oysters and drinking Stout, -or supping on lobsters and champagne, and as it is now after eleven -o'clock, nearly every man in these stalls has a girl of a certain class -with him, who is of course eating supper at his expense. - -Upstairs there is a room somewhat similar to the one below, which -is now densely crowded; but the upper room is more select. I went -upstairs, and here I found a number of couples lounging in a free and -easy manner, and some were calling loudly upon the waiters for brandy -and water. Seated in one of these stalls is a pink-faced boy, fresh -from his country home, helping with delicate attention the painted -woman beside him to costly viands. - -She laughs noisily as a man, flinging her arms about, and as the -Champagne foams in her glass, she tosses her head like a Bacchante. -But an action that by daylight would seem disgusting to the boy, is -charming in the blaze of the Haymarket gaslight, and the lad looks with -admiration upon the companion whom on the morrow he would pass without -a nod of recognition. - -The police returns for the year 1868-9, give the following figures as -to the number of public women, or prostitutes, who are known to the -police in the metropolitan district of London: - - Brothels. - Prostitutes. - Within the districts of Westminster, Brompton, and - Pimlico, there are, 153 524 - St. James, Regent-street, Soho, Leicester-square, 152 318 - Marylebone, Paddington, St. John's-wood, 139 526 - Oxford-street, Portland-place, New-road, Gray's-inn-lane, 194 546 - Covent-garden, Drury-lane, St. Giles's, 45 480 - Clerkenwell, Pentonwell, City-road, Shoreditch, 152 349 - Spitalfields, Houndsditch, Whitechapel, Ratcliff, 471 1,803 - Bethnal-green, Mile-end, Shadwell to Blackwall, 419 965 - Lambeth, Blackfriars, Waterloo-road, 377 802 - Southwark, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, 178 667 - Islington, Hackney, Homerton, 185 445 - Camberwell, Walworth, Peckham, 65 228 - Deptford and Greenwich, 148 401 - Kilburn, Portland, Kentish, and Camden Towns, 88 231 - Kensington, Hammersmith, Fulham, 12 106 - Waltham-green, Chelsea, Cremorne, 47 209 - ---- ---- - 2,825 8,600 - -For the one public woman here registered there are five who do not -reside in brothels, but live alone, hiring lodgings for which they -pay from eight shillings to five guineas a week, according to the -manner in which the apartments are furnished, and the character of the -neighborhood in which they are situated, so that it is calculated that -there are seventy to eighty thousand women in London whose names do not -appear in the official list of the Lost, yet lead immoral lives, and -whose sin is as great in the sight of God, but less in the sight of -man, as their infamy is not of that nature that the law can punish them -for it. - -[Illustration: THE MIDNIGHT MISSION.] - -[Sidenote: "MIDNIGHT MISSION."] - -God knows it is from no persistent desire to uncover the sores and -ulcers of the huge city, that I state these facts. - -Great and unceasing efforts are being made by the clergy and -philanthropic citizens of London to diminish this terrible Traffic in -Souls, which is the distinguishing mark of infamy that clings to the -Haymarket. - -For some years past these unfortunate women have been collected -together while plying their avocation, in an apartment in the vicinity -of the Haymarket, in which some slight refreshments are prepared for -them, ices and cooling but temperate drinks being served up gratis to -all who will attend and listen to the words of repentance and hope from -the mouths of clergymen who visit this place nightly for the purpose of -reclaiming these Lost Ones. This is called the "Midnight Mission," or -"Meeting," and the girls are gathered by having circulars presented to -them in the street as the hour nears midnight. A great number attend, -and they generally listen with patience and decorum. This Mission was -founded by the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, who first preached to the -unfortunate girls. - -A high officer of the London police informed me that there were in -that city about seven thousand lost women who are always well dressed, -well gloved, and well shod, who live comfortably, and many of them -elegantly. These women, of course, are all Free Lances, and prey upon -the fashionable young men of London and strangers who visit the great -Babylon. - -Of this number, he stated that three thousand five hundred were what -is called under protection, or kept mistresses. The remainder have -hired lodgings for themselves in Pimlico, Fitzroy square, Portman -street, Howard street, Winchester street, Sutherland street, Gloucester -street, and other respectable localities of the metropolis, paying two -or three sovereigns a week for a suite of apartments, and furnishing -them at their own expense. This latter class, as a general thing, live -individually apart from each other, and keep each a servant of all -work, to do their cooking and washing. - -Some of these girls have furnished their apartments at a cost of -from two to five hundred pounds, ordering the most costly articles -of furniture with the extravagance and profusion peculiar to their -class. Pictures, etageres, buffets, mirrors, ormolu clocks, tapestry -carpets, and the most luxurious articles of bijouterie and the -toilet are to be found in their apartments; and, unlike their frail -sisters in New York and Paris, these London girls act with complete -independence of their landladies, who in the cities mentioned, as a -rule, treat the unfortunate women placed in their power more like -dogs than human beings. In London, these girls are in the strictest -sense their own mistresses, and therefore do not come under any police -regulations; nor can they receive the designation of professionals, -as they never solicit men on the street, or live in what is called a -house of ill-fame. The persons who rent apartments to these girls in -the districts which I have thus enumerated, are not supposed to know -anything about the occupation or business of tenants, and they never, -by any possibility, attempt to interfere with them. - -One of the most frequented resorts of Lost Women in London is the -Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea, on the Thames river bank, and distant -about four miles from the Post Office and St. Paul's Cathedral. - -These Gardens comprise about four acres, which are covered with trees, -and ornamented with fountains, flower-beds, and statues. This is the -maddest place in London, after ten o'clock in the evening. Until that -hour, the middle class of London citizens, shopkeepers, tradesmen, -and clerks, and their wives and sweethearts, have possession of the -Gardens; but at that hour they leave the place, and from thence until -one and two o'clock in the morning Cremorne is in the possession of -Lost Women and their male friends and abettors. - -The Cremorne is in many respects very like the Mabille at Paris, but -decency is better enforced, and the women at Cremorne have not such a -debased look as their unfortunate sisters of the Mabille. - -At Cremorne there is a circular platform on which a band of music -is constantly stationed during the evening, and here the dancing is -principally done. Between the dances the girls promenade, or take -supper with their male friends in the numerous restaurants, which -are always crowded to excess by noisy people of both sexes, drinking -Champagne and Moselle, or eating lobster or devilled kidneys. Cold -suppers are provided for the girls in an upper saloon, for which they -are charged two shillings and sixpence a piece, without wine. Then -there are fireworks, two or three theatres and music halls, Japanese -jugglers, bowling alleys, shooting galleries, and other modes of -diversion and amusement. - -Swarms of young fashionables from the Opera, where they have been -listening to the enchanting strains of a Tietjens, a Nillson, or a -Patti, in evening dress with thin overcoats, may be seen here of a warm -night, or perhaps they may have come from the clubs in St. James or -Piccadilly, to kill time. - -[Illustration: "SKITTLES" AND THE PRINCESS MARY.] - -[Sidenote: "SKITTLES" AND THE PRINCESS MARY.] - -"Skittles," now dead, who was at one time the most famous woman of her -class in London, was very fond of attending Cremorne, where she was in -the habit of drinking large quantities of Champagne. "Skittles" was -at one time a great personage in London, and bore on her brougham the -crest of a Marquis. This audacious woman had the temerity to dispute -the way with the Princess Mary of Cambridge, while that member of the -Royal family was riding in Rotten Row. "Skittles" was on horseback, -being in full riding dress, and the Princess Mary was also on -horseback, when they met, and it is said that "Skittles" lifted her -dainty little riding whip at the astonished Princess, and demanded that -she should give her precedence in the Ride. - -Cremorne is a great place for rows between the women and the fast -young men who attend the amusements there. While promenading around -the Dancing Ring one evening, I noticed a crowd gathering, and heard -a female voice uttering screams of distress. The young lady with the -unearthly voice I ascertained was a habitue of the place, known as "Mad -Rose," and the offending biped was a certain fast baronet named Sir -Frederick Johnstone, who has since figured in the Mordaunt Divorce Suit. - -[Illustration: A ROW AT CREMORNE.] - -It seems that this "Mad Rose" had been at one time under the baronet's -protection, and the afternoon before the rencontre he had met her in -the Park, and passed her without recognition, although she sought it -from him. She was determined to have her revenge for this, besides -some old scores she had to settle with him; or it was that he had not -settled some old scores with her. - -The girl was tall, elegantly shaped, and dressed in a tasteful and rich -manner, becoming her blonde hair and complexion. Seeing the baronet -with his friends, she stepped up to him, and singling him out, struck -him across the face with her gloved hand, which was glittering with -diamonds. - -[Sidenote: A ROW AT CREMORNE.] - -Then she uttered a scream of feminine distress, and a crowd of swells -gathered around her. Then she knocked off his hat and screamed again. -The baronet uttered no remonstrance, but backed up against a railing, -his hat lying on the ground. Attempting to pick it up, she knocked -it off again and screamed. This thing went on for the space of ten -minutes, the girl, in a passion--whether fictitious or not, I cannot -tell--slapping the exquisite in the face at intervals, knocking off -his hat and screaming, but not forgetting to pour volleys of abuse -upon the baronet's head in the meanwhile. A great crowd collected and -enjoyed the fun. But I noticed that not a man in the assemblage offered -to interfere, and the baronet's friends refused to molest her, with -the exception of one, who caught hold of her wrists, and he had to let -go his hold of her in an instant, as he was attacked in a body by the -other girls, who put him to flight immediately. The baronet begged for -mercy, but got none; and, finally, a grand charge was made on the crowd -by the Cremorne police, and it was dispersed. - -This movement relieved the baronet from further persecution, and the -mad woman was taken away. One fact was noticeable--not a man in the -crowd even attempted to raise his hand to the girl during her repeated -assaults. Had it been in America, I am certain she would, under such -circumstances, have met with very rough, if not brutal treatment. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -SCARLET WOMEN. - - -WE were standing on the smooth, grassy lawn, at Goodwood, a wandering -American and the writer, strangers in a strange land, with the bustle -and uproar which are always adjuncts to a Race Course in any country, -and the Babel exclamations of a multitudinous assemblage sounding in -our ears. - -[Sidenote: GOODWOOD RACES.] - -It was the first day of the annual races, which are run for three days -in every year, at Goodwood, the princely residence and grounds of the -Duke of Richmond. This is the most aristocratic race meeting held in -England, and it is always frequented by the nobles and people of high -social position, with their wives, daughters, and lady friends. - -The meeting is divided into three separate days running, each day -having a distinctive title, and known to those familiar with equine -sport, as the "Stakes Day," the "Cup Day," and the "Duke's Plate Day." - -It was a beautiful and unclouded English July noon, and the smell of -the hawthorn hedges, and the faint breath of the hollyhocks made a -perfume in the air, which banished all humors and sulkiness from the -crowds of well dressed and well bred people who had been waiting to -hear the saddling bell rung before the start. Lithe and sinewy little -jockeys, clad in parti-colored silk shirts, and wearing kaleidoscopic -caps of the same material, walked the fresh-looking, silken-maned, and -symmetrical-limbed horses, up and down the velvety green sward, to give -the high bred English girls an opportunity to inspect their favorites, -whose colors predominated in the shades of their gloves, parasols, and -gracefully-hung robes, which rustled around their supple and elegant -figures. - -Under high, sheltering greenwood trees, cosy seats were arranged for -the ladies, who made the Lawn picturesque with their bright colored -dresses that shone with splendor as their owners gathered in brilliant -patches on the velvety turf, gossiping and chatting while Guardsmen, -and Clubmen, Heavy Swells, and noisy boys, from Eton and Harrow, -gamboled and shouted as if at cricket, and sedate gownsmen from -Cambridge, and Double Firsts, and Wranglers, from Oxford, made wagers, -and drew from their coat-pockets small betting books to record the sums -invested. - -The Embankment, a high, long, and well-kept mound of grass-covered -earth, was swarming with the fair sex, all of whom had their swan-like -necks encircled with white lace ruffs, which serve so well as a setting -for a well-shaped and milk-white throat. - -Afar off we could observe, through yawning gaps in the ancient and -stately trees, which were pierced by the ruddy beams of sunlight, the -tall towers and fair proportions of Goodwood House, the magnificent -mansion of the Duke of Richmond. Twenty to twenty-five thousand people -were gathered in the noble old Park whose vistas stretched off into -dells, copses, and woodland nooks, for thousands of acres. - -Here were gathered all the well-known aristocratic patrons of the turf -in England, men who would hardly be seen at Newmarket or Epsom, and -here again were the racing men, whose names are met with everywhere -in England, where the warning bell is rung to saddle, and where -thousands may be lost and won in an hour--the Westmorelands, the -Savilles, Chaplins, Anneslies, Prince Soltykoff, Count de Lagrange, -who owned "Gladiateur," Lord Vivian, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Lord -Roseberry, Sir Joseph Hawley, Admiral Rous, Captain Hall, Lord Wilton, -Lord St. Vincent, Lord Ailesbury, Sir C. Legard, Baron Rothschild, -the Duke of Beaufort, Mr. W.S. Crawfurd, Lord Poulett, Lord Falmouth, -Lord Calthorpe, Mr. E. Brayley, Lord Strafford, Mr. Bromsgrove, and -many others, titled and untitled, who are leaders among the racing -aristocracy. The Marquis of Hastings, and the Duke of Newcastle, that -day, were absent--the first in his grave, the other beggared by his -extravagance, and an outcast among his peers. - -As the day grew apace, the swarms of people became more densely packed -until all classes of the sporting multitude were represented. There -was the "Welcher," who makes bets and does not pay when he loses, a -low-sized, stumpy fellow, in cutaway frock coat and drab beaver hat, a -huge horse's head pin sticking out of his gaudy, blue scarf, which is -dotted with small white balls, and wearing a shaggy moustache, which he -twists with the head of his cane, that has for a knob a nag's head, in -bone-work. - -Yonder, stopping to ask for a noggin of gin from one of the proprietors -of the numerous ginger beer and refreshment stands, is the London prize -fighter--a model, in his way--thick set, broad in the loins, and having -a murderous forehead and a battered face, from some recent encounter, -one of those dangerous-looking, suspicious fellows, whom you may meet -with any night wandering about the docks in Wapping, or lounging at the -notched doorway of a tavern in Shoreditch, or Whitechapel. - -Sauntering this way, where I stand in a shady spot with my American -friend, are two "heavy swells," dressed in the height of fashion, and -mincing their vowels in a feminine manner; yet effeminate as their -language sounds, they are both massive-looking fellows, and now I -recollect having seen both leaning out of the bow window of the Guard's -Club, in Pall Mall, and one of the pair I have also noticed trooping -his company at St. James' Palace, at the unusually early hour--for -him--of nine o'clock, of a summer's morning. - -Men are gambling, and singing, and eating, and drinking, and betting -shillings and sovereigns all around us, and my companion seems stunned -by the noise and uproar which rises and swells in an indistinct way -this hot July day, as we move from place to place seeking a quiet nook -where we may commune together. - -[Sidenote: ENGLISH MINSTRELSY.] - -There is suddenly a discordant hum and a party of strolling minstrels -halt before a carriage and commence to serenade the fair lady -listeners, who fling sixpences to them languidly. These minstrels have -their faces blacked, and are appareled in hideous check coats with very -small bodies, and have very large buttons sewed to the skirts, which -are ornamented with ridiculously long tails. The songs generally sung -by those wretched minstrels, are slangy, and sound senseless to an -American's ear, as witness the following stanza which they chant with -wide-mouthed refrain:-- - - "Button up your waistcoat, button up your shoes, - Have another liquor and throw away the blues, - Be like me and good for a spree, - From now till the day is dawning. - For I am a member of the Rollicking Rams, - Come and be a member of the Rollicking Rams, - The only boys to make a noise, - From now till the day is dawning." - -The course was lined and packed with every known manner of vehicle and -equipage. There were drags, four-in-hands, dog-carts, landaus, tandem -teams, ladies' pony chaises, phætons, carryalls, clarences, broughams, -and open barouches. Many of the turn-outs were adorned with the crests -of noble families, and some few bore the princely cognizances of great -Continental houses. - -One of these large, roomy, and handsomely-constructed, open barouches, -drawn by four grey horses, served as a focus for many glances drawn -toward it. Some of the glances bestowed on the female occupants of the -handsome barouche were very unfriendly--and when some proud patrician -girl rode by, her eyes shot fire at the borrowed splendor of the three -Scarlet Women, who reclined lazily upon the softly-cushioned seats, and -no less hostile were the glances thrown on the graceful wavy figure of -the handsome girl who sat her thoroughbred and silken-eared and shapely -chestnut bay mare by the side of the barouche, and who bent over like -a reed to chat with the principal female figure leaning back on the -cushions. - -I looked at these four gaily dressed, handsome women, with their loud -chatty manners, their indescribably bold flashes of the eye, their -familiar and free conversation with the titled fools and giddy young -lordlings, and baronets and rich young commoners, and as I looked I -saw that these four women represented the Great Social Plague Spot of -England. While I looked, a police inspector, from London, who had come -down to this ordinarily quiet, Sussex town, to keep an eye on some -distinguished pickpockets who were to attend the races, sauntered to -where I stood with my friend, and as I had made his acquaintance in the -English capital he was not long in informing me as to the character of -the magnificently attired women. - -"They are the four gayest women in England, Sir," said he, "Those four -ladies--_we_ call them _ladies_ because we dare not call them anything -else, they have so many protectors of rank and influence--are "Mabel -Grey," "Anonyma," "Baby Hamilton," and "Alice Gordon." - -"Mabel Gray?" said my friend enquiringly, "I think I've heard of her -before--which is she?" - -[Illustration: "MABEL GREY."] - -"That's her, Sir, as is sitting back in the front seat with a plate of -chicken on her lap, with the golden butterflies in her lace bonnet, -and the splendid diamond cross hanging from her neck--that's the gal -with the blue eyes and auburn hair. The gal that's holding the long -necked green glass for that swell to pour champagne into it, is "Baby -Hamilton"--ah, she is a wild one--many's the thousand pounds the young -Jook of Hamilton squandered on her, and so did the poor Marquis of -Hastings, poor fellow--wuss for him. The finest looking gal of all is -that "Anonyma" gal as some of these fellows that has book eddication -has called her--they say it means "No Name," but I know she has a -name, for it used to be Kate Bellingham when she came to London first. -Oh, she's a high blooded one--just look at how she sits that chestnut -mare--I'll warrant you that mare would bring six hundred guineas at -Tattersall's--if she'd bring a pound--ye won't ketch her drinking in -public, she's too proud of herself to do that--no, Sir, she wouldn't -be seen taking a drink from the Prince of Wales himself at a public -place like the Race Course. Now there's Alice Gordon," added the police -officer, who began to grow loquacious in his description of these fair -but frail and giddy beauties, "she's a quiet, orderly, young creature, -and as pretty as a peach, poor little thing--God help her--she never -knew a mother's care, and she was lost for want of a kind word and a -loving heart to guide her young steps." - -[Sidenote: "THEY ARE OFF."] - -Now the saddling bell has rung amid the greatest excitement, and the -multitude who have been flirting, eating, and drinking, betting, and -playing at divers games of chance, become suddenly hushed, and a great -quiet comes over the populated fields, stands, and tents, as the -jockeys ride forth to the starting point, five famous horses held in -the leash and straining their necks with avidity and equine eagerness -for the race. The ladies of the demi-monde settled themselves well -forward in their seats. "Anonyma" swept by on her chestnut to get a -good position for a look at the horses. "Mabel Grey" allowed her knife -and fork, which she had been using on the unoffending chicken, to fall -into her plate, and the tangled curls of "Baby Hamilton" reclined on -her shoulders as a fool of a Guardsman gave her his arm to assist her -to stand up in the drag, and handed her his glass to sweep the field. -The stately looking footman who is bustling among the dishes and wine -bottles, assisting "Anonyma's" butler in preparation for the coming -feast, stops in his occupation to listen to the thundering roar of the -crowd, and to look at the gallant animals as they come forward to the -stand. The butler, who is a grave and elderly personage, receives his -orders from "Anonyma," with dignity, and he is lost to sight among -the game-hampers and the champagne bottles, and Moselle flasks, for a -moment. - -Listen to that cheer and long-continued shout! They are off, they are -off; and the whole vast swarm of human beings is aroused. The ladies -clap their hands and utter weak sounds of joy or distress, and the -cadgers, tramps, and more polished pickpockets, are now beginning to -reap their harvest in the midst of the excitement and momentary frenzy. - -The race is a two-mile stretch, and only five horses are entered. The -prize is the Goodwood Cup, valued at three hundred sovereigns. - -Two of the horses entered are four-year-olds, and the others are -three-year-olds. The great Jewish banker and member of Parliament, -Baron Rothschild, has entered "Restitution," a four year old, who is -ridden by Daley, an Irish jockey of fame. Sir Frederick Johnstone's -entry is "Brigantine," a three year old. Mr. Saville's "Blueskin," Lord -Calthorpe's "Robespierre," and Lord Strafford's "Rupert," make up the -number of horses who have darted by the Grand Stand in the storm of -wild huzzas. - -[Sidenote: "ANONYMA."] - -"Anonyma," whose chestnut was pawing the turf in a frisky manner, -grips the bridle of the blooded mare, and pulls hardily at her mouth. -A number of roughs around a booth salute her with not very choice -language, for she is known at the races, and the blood mantles in -her cheek and the crimson tide surges up to her temples as a coarse -blackguard repeats an opprobious epithet, and before he can draw -back she lays his cheek open with her dainty riding-whip, and giving -the mare more rope, the crowd opens wide for her with a cheer, and -she dashes across the Course on a canter, just as the Rothschild's -jockey, with his head bent down to the mane of "Restitution," and his -silken cap flying in the hot wind, sweeps by, "Blueskin" following -fast, and the great banker's jockey swerving aside from his course, -wins, by a miracle; "Restitution" having been for a moment blinded by -the long skirts of "Anonyma," in her mad canter across the turf, and -now there is a huzza, and a rending, wild hurricane of applause, as -Rothschild's colors go forward to the Weighing Stand, and "Restitution" -is pronounced winner of the Goodwood Cup of 1869, "Robespierre" being a -bad fourth, and "Rupert" coming in last of the field. - -Now the principal race of the day is ended, and great acclaim having -been given to the victor, the crowds disintegrate and separate into -little knots for refreshments, and hard-faced fellows, in flashy -costumes, may be seen pulling from capacious pockets, greasy wallets, -to settle their debts of "honor," and much beer is drank among the -humble people, and floods of costly wines are poured out in drags and -dog-carts, and bright eyes and smiling lips meet one everywhere, and -there is a clatter of knives and forks, and a popping of corks in the -vicinity of the carriages occupied by the Scarlet Women of London, who -are here to-day in swarms, and who are caressed and welcomed as if -their position was assured and the dark shadow of a Shameful Life had -not fallen upon them. - -[Illustration: "ANONYMA."] - -Leaning over the side of the drag, and talking to Mabel Grey, are three -of the "fastest" young men in England, Lord Arthur Pelham Clinton -(since dead), Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and the Duke of Newcastle, -brother to Lord Arthur. All three are bankrupt in fortune as well as -in morality. Lord Arthur's mother, a daughter of the former Duke of -Hamilton, dishonored her husband, and there seems to be a taint in the -blood of the young noble, who has been living on his wits for years. He -is a languid-looking fellow, and does not look as if he could fall-to -and saw a load of wood. - -Mabel Grey says to Lord Arthur, with a lisp: "Clinton, do take a bit of -chicken and a glass of fizz. No? Well then, take a glass of hock, like -a dear good boy. You look awfully cut. What can be the matter with the -man?" - -Just under the shadow of the wide-spreading beech-tree, where the drag -is stationed, an itinerant preacher is about to commence a phillipic -against Vice and Crime. He could not have chosen a better location than -this, where the ears of these Painted Women may be filled by him with -some truths that they seldom seek after. - -[Illustration: "ALICE GORDON."] - -"Alice Gordon," the fair-haired blonde, with the deep blue eyes, -condescends to bestow a glance at the preacher, who, now that he is -beginning to draw a crowd by his fiery invective, and denunciatory -language, directs a look of scorn and pity at the Lost Women in the -drag. The crowd, who naturally dislike women of the class of Lais and -Aspasia, give encouragement to the squat-figured and harshly-spoken -Boanerges. The swells around the drag, who are now joined by Sir -Frederick Johnstone, advise the Scarlet Women to tell the coachman -to whip up the horses and "dwive the dwag away from that beastly -preacher--the howid little boah." - -The preacher thunders at them, "Go, you gaudy libertines, with your -harlots and your women of Sodom, England is cursed with such as you. -But God will punish you all, and will smite you in your hour of pride. -For what says the Book, whose pages you never open: - -"_The ungodly are forward, even from their mother's womb; as soon as -they are born they go astray, and speak lies._ - -"_They are venomous as the poison of a serpent, even like the deaf -adder, that stoppeth her ears._ - -"_Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; smite the jaw-bones of the -Lions, O Lord; let them fall away like water that runneth apace; and -when they shoot their arrows let them be rooted out._" - -"Baby Hamilton," one of the women in the drag, shudders at these -Inspired Words and grows pale, while "Anonyma," who canters up easily -on her chestnut, asks Sir Frederick Johnstone: - -"Did you pull off a pot of money on "Brigantine," Sir Frederick?" - -"No, the doose of it was I lost two thousand on my own horse. But I -hedged and took 'Restitution' against the field, so I am not so badly -plucked." - -And this is the entertainment and conversation of some of the -hereditary rulers of England. Pardon me, reader, if I have brought you -into such loose and unprincipled company. I did it to show you who are -the female companions of a majority of the young English nobility. It -is this class of young men who patronise these Social Pariahs, and look -with contempt upon the manners of a respectable girl, and vote the -conversation of virtuous women as a bore. - -[Sidenote: "MABEL GREY."] - -That woman with the sunny smile, laying back in the drag, toying with -her fan--Mabel Grey--was, five years ago, a wretchedly-paid working -girl, who eked out an existence as a shoe-binder, in a shop in Oxford -street, London, on a pittance of seven shillings a week. Now, the -diamonds on her fingers would purchase a comfortable villa, and around -her throat, which is white as alabaster, is a necklace of pearls, that -cost the Prince of Wales five thousand pounds, it is said. She rides -every day in Rotten Row, the famous ride and fashionable drive in -Hyde Park, and her skirts often touch the garments of the Princess of -Wales as they pass each other in the crowded Row. And certainly the -Princess has no reason to look pleasantly at Mabel Grey. Mother to five -children, and daughter of the Vikings, with clear, unsullied Norse -blood in her veins, she may well question herself, when alone, "Why did -I marry a profligate and blackguard?" - -Mabel Grey is the original of Boucicault's "Formosa," and it was she -who gave a name to Dan Godfrey's famous "Mabel Waltz." Godfrey is the -leader of the Guard's band, and the musician thought that it would be -received as a delicate compliment by his aristocratic patrons, to call -a delicious piece of dance music by the Christian name of the chief of -England's Hetairæ. - -In every shop-window the features of Mabel Grey are flaunted at one -along with the portraits of Nillson, Patti, the Queen, the Princess -of Wales, and other virtuous and good women. You may meet her and -"Anonyma" at the Opera, at the Chiswick Flower Show, at Kensington -Gardens, and other fashionable resorts, mingling unrebuked among -the noblest ladies in the land. She has a sumptous villa at St. -John's Wood, Brompton, a suburb of London, and in her stables are -constantly kept twelve to fifteen blooded animals for the saddle or -for driving--these horses being the gifts of her numerous aristocratic -admirers. She dines off dishes of silver and gold, and has a host of -servants. At Ascot she induced the Prince of Wales to bet on a certain -horse, whereby he lost the nice little sum of $100,000, or £20,000. - -And it is this bold, brazen, and bad woman, who divides the heart of -the Prince of Wales with the Princess Alexandra, his lawful wife and -the mother of his children, the other half being owned by Mabel Grey, -together with his pocket-book, which he is most apt to keep closed to -all others. - -She was the cause of the ruin of Captain Milbanke, of the Guards--a -distant relation of the deceased wife of Lord Byron, I believe--and she -has destroyed dozens of young men in their fortunes, social position, -and masculine character. - -[Sidenote: "MABEL GREY AT HOME."] - -And here, I suppose, I may be pardoned for giving a pen and ink -description of the interior of her palatial residence at St. John's -Wood, Brompton, where she resides, by one who saw and conversed with -her there: - -[Illustration: "MABEL GREY AT HOME."] - -The salon was about sixty feet long by thirty wide, and the ceiling -was probably fifteen feet from the velvet carpet. Velvet decorated -the walls, hanging in crimson folds somewhat like the arras hangings -that I had seen in some of the mildewed chateaux of the French nobles. -There was, in the front of the salon, an immense mirror framed in gold, -and inside of the golden frame was a sub-frame of crimson velvet. The -lounges, chairs, ottomans, and buffets, were trimmed with velvet of the -same warm color. The carpet on the floor was a Gobelin, in which was -worked a pictured design of the port of Marseilles, at a cost of two -thousand pounds. There were richly carved statues of Parian, bronzes, -antique and richly-painted vases, shells standing on golden tripods, -caricatures of dogs' heads, tigers' heads, and the bodies of serpents, -with glistening eyes--all of which articles had more or less of the -precious metals in their composition. Pictures of Diana of Poictiers, -Margaruite de Valois, Theroigne de Mericourt, Anna Boleyn, Louisa de -Valliere, and a supposed mistress of John Wilkes Booth, of whom I had -never before heard, adorned the walls of the salon. - -These were all done in oil, well painted, and magnificently framed. -The place of honor, however, was reserved for Ninon de l'Enclos, the -mistress of one of the Bourbon Kings. This picture was a beautiful -work of art, and represented the famous beauty of the old French -Court, reclining opposite a mirror. There was a small figure piece by -Meissonier, and a statue of Minerva of pure marble, from whose spear -head depended a small but richly chased gas-chandelier, of six burners, -that spread a flood of light all over the salon. A hundred thousand -dollars would not have purchased the furniture, carpets, statues, -paintings, and ornaments, in this gorgeous apartment, to say nothing of -the diamonds which covered the neck and arms of the beautiful but frail -mistress of the mansion. - -And now for Mabel herself. This distinguished personage, as she lounged -on the tiger-skin, looked to me a little above the medium height of -women; her hair, of a rich, silky brown, full and lustrous, was looped -in coils at the top of the back of her head a la Grecque, and was -trimmed with small red flowers. From her ears were pendant long, oval, -diamond ear-rings, and from her snowy neck was hung a necklace, of -pearl shells interwoven with diamonds, worth a monarch's ransom. Her -arms were bare and rounded, and her shoulders were decollete. She was -attired in a loosely flowing robe of pink velvet--the only thing pink -I saw in the apartment--and at her waist was a plain thin cincture of -gold. She wore her dress without hoops, which allowed the folds of her -costly robe to fall over her shapely limbs in studied yet artistic -confusion. On the different fingers of both hands were rings of topaz, -sapphire, ruby, emerald, amethyst, and opal, fastened by golden -keepers. She had crimson slippers, embroidered in gold, and in her -right hand she waved lazily, to and fro, a fan of costly feathers. The -woman herself was a magnificent animal to look at, with a spice of the -tiger shining out of her clear, lustrous eyes. - -[Sidenote: PERSONNEL.] - -The neck was well poised and finely cut, as were the face and -shoulders. The mouth was large and full of good, white, regular teeth, -which she displayed often during the conversation to advantage. The -nose was irregular, pert, and snubbish, and her chin was like the cone -of a ripe peach. Something there was brazen in this woman's face, -despite the magnificence reigning in the apartment. Her voice was loud -and sharp, and her gestures were unladylike, though she endeavored to -atone for these defects by a studied ease which occasionally lapsed -into a masculine freedom. She was continually showing her rings, her -fan, and her slippers--and seemed careless of the little prudential -details that go to make up the manner of a virtuous woman. - -"Anonyma" is, in many respects, a different woman from Mabel Grey. This -celebrated Lorette, unlike her frail sisters, has a taste, or perhaps -affects to have a taste, for literature. Originally a clergyman's -daughter, and born and bred in Sussex, she had, when she came first to -London, all the charms of a fresh country girl, and, although exposed -for a long time to temptation in her station as a governess in the -family of a rich commoner, whose name is now often before the public, -she held on her way firmly as she could, and would have succeeded had -not she met a man who outraged her by a false or mock marriage. - -The poor girl, whose real name is Brandling, when she found that she -was deserted with a few pounds in her pocket, went almost mad. But she -had to starve or else become what she is now. Her father, overworked -in his curacy at £150 a year, and having a family of five children, -refused to admit her to his home, and gave as a reason that it would be -setting a bad example to his parishioners, which he, as a minister of -the Gospel could not do. Driven from her birthplace, with despair in -her heart, she fled to London, and, sinking at once into the slough of -iniquity, was not heard of for a year, when she emerged in grandeur at -the opera in the company of a wealthy banker, who has since failed and -fled the country. - -The girl, from her reticent disposition, her lady-like manner, and -the mystery attending her appearance in the world--no one being able -to tell her exact position--received the name of "Anonyma" from the -_Saturday Review_. Unlike the other women of her sex, this girl was -never formerly seen in the company of any woman whose position was -affected by the slightest breath of reproach. In the Park she never -made acquaintances, and all notes sent to her were sent back to the -writers. To become acquainted with "Anonyma," though the seeker -after her intimacy were a prince, it was necessary to have a formal -introduction to the lady. - -The "Kitten" is a young lady well known at the Cremorne Gardens for -her expensive suppers, loud voice, and magnificent pony carriage, -before which she drives sometimes a brace of Shetland ponies, three in -a tandem. At the Cremorne she always puts ice-cream in her champagne, -and never drinks any light or thin wines, as she says that they do not -agree with her constitution. I saw her at the Ascot Races in company -with Mabel Grey, the "Kitten" being mounted on a splendid roan, which -she managed with the skill of an old army officer, and a dozen men -belonging to the best known clubs in London were clustering about her, -and assisting her to luncheon, looking after the wine, or doing a -hundred little errands which women of her character always find for men -to do in a public place. The "Kitten" is a blonde, with black eyes, a -pretty, babyish face, a dimpled chin, a profusion of golden hair which -is not dyed, and a capital seat in the saddle. She is always gloved -to a nicety, and her ensemble is of the best kind. She has a pert -fashion of saying sharp or impudent things, and this seems to be the -chief accomplishment of all this class of shameless women. They know -the stable-talk and the slang of the betting ring, and of the hunt, -but nothing more. The "Kitten," five years ago--she is now 22--was a -coryphee in the ballet of a London theatre, at the magnificent salary -of fifteen shillings a week, and now she has an annuity of £2,000 -settled upon her by a young fool of a lord, who has no better use for -his money. - -The wardrobe of Alice Gordon, another of the Hetairæ, is valued at -£12,000. She is a brilliant horse woman. - -[Illustration: "BABY HAMILTON."] - -[Sidenote: "BABY HAMILTON."] - -"Baby Hamilton" is another celebrity of the Half-World. Many stories -are told about the recklessness of this girl. She forced her way to -a meeting in one of the shires when the hounds were all assembled, -and followed the hunt, despite the remonstrances of the master, and -regardless of the fact that more than half the ladies who were present -left the field on her appearance in a hunting costume. She made a bet -while in Paris with a wild young duke that she would get a recognition -from the Empress Eugenie. The stake was a thoroughbred of the young -duke's which she desired to have for her own use. The bet was made, and -while the Empress was riding in the Bois, the "Baby," magnificently -dressed and mounted, placed herself in the way of the Empress, and -bowed quite reverentially. The Empress looked at her for an instant, -and, thinking that it was some English lady of rank, bowed very -graciously in return. The young duke--who is, by the way, a relative of -the Empress by marriage--saw the salutation. It was too good to keep, -and accordingly, before the next night, the "Baby" had to leave Paris, -by order of the Prefect of Police. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - -CHEAP LODGING HOUSES. - - -ONE night, having made an appointment with one of the Scotland Yard -detectives, I met him as I had promised, punctually, at the India -House, which is situated at the junction of Victoria and Dean streets, -Westminster. - -Be it remembered, that Westminster is a borough, and sends two Members -of Parliament, yet it is a part and a portion of the metropolis of -London. - -He came muffled in his coat, and, having saluted me, asked me if I -was ready to accompany him, to visit some of the low lodgings houses -that abound in a certain part of Westminster, at the back of Millbank -Prison, which fronts the river between Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridges. - -It was the night before the great Derby Race, at which nearly all -England is represented, peer and peasant, tradesman, beggar, burglar, -and pickpocket. On such a night all the London lodging-houses were sure -to be full of tramps. - -Briefly, I said I was ready to accompany him and without further -conversation we penetrated to the darkest recesses of the borough of -Westminster, going down Dean into Orchard street, through Orchard -street into New-Pye street, down Great Peter street, through Holland -street, and so into a short, dark street, called Medway street, at the -back of the Greycoats School. - -All these streets which I have named have low lodging houses, and -were filled this night with tramps, vagrants, peddlers, itinerant -showmen, vagabonds, and thieves. Great Peter street is so called to -distinguish it from Little Peter street, and both streets being within -a stone's throw of the Abbey of Westminster, derive their names from -the dedicatory title of the ancient and world-renowned abbey which was -called, at one time, and is yet known in official documents, as the -"Abbey Church of St. Peter's, Westminster." - -Medway street leads into the Horseferry Road, which is at one end a -continuation of Lambeth Bridge, and at the other end is flanked by -Holland street. - -My blue-coated friend said to me, after pulling out a small dark -lantern, which he used in these dark rookeries and streets by the water -side: - -[Sidenote: THE WESTMINSTER SLUMS.] - -"The worst place I can take you to in Westminster, and perhaps in -London, Sir, barrin always 'Paddy's Goose,' in Ratcliffe Highway, is -the lodging house kept by 'Jack Scrag,' or 'Damnable Jack,' as he is -called on account of his swearin'--in Medway street. I can't guarantee -that you will bring your watch or pocket-book back, but I will save -your life if you get in a row, and that will be as much as I can do. If -there are any thieves there they will be afraid of me, but the roughs -and tramps, who are out of the law's reach, are up to anything, and -will break your leg or arms, or mine either, without talking twice -about it." - -On our way to the Slums of Westminster I entered a cheap lodging house, -in which the lodgers were preparing their evening meal, for which they -paid four-pence to the proprietor. A potato was given each person with -a small junk of broiled or fried meat, and a tin-skittle full of washy -tea or coffee, such as is given to steerage passengers at sea, was -handed to the tramps and beggars, who frequented the place. - -The room was large and lofty, with smoky rafters, and a number of men, -women, and boys, were sitting, standing, and reclining on the floor -or on chairs, but nearly all were eating like ravenous beasts from -tin-plates or earthen-ware platters. - -A man might purchase a herring for a half-penny at any of the refuse -sales in the markets, and bring it here and toast it over the huge -fire for an additional half-penny, and many of the occupants of this -gipsy-looking place were employed in the pleasing occupation of cooking -as we left the place on our journey after an adventure. - -Medway street, as I have before mentioned, is quite short, and -therefore it was not long before I saw a light of more brilliancy than -those around it, bursting from the window of the first story of a brick -building, the bricks being set off about the windows with trimmings of -dark blue stone. Above the door were painted the emblems of the Lion -and the Unicorn, which are everywhere displayed in English cities, -and a lamp of a square shape projected from the doorway, throwing a -dead and unwholsome-like light upon the street and sidewalk. In the -window a sign was painted, indicating that lodgings were to be had for -four-pence a night for single persons, and also a notification that -"boiling water" was "always ready." - -The house was probably a hundred years old, as near as I could tell -by its old beams, which were bare, the besmeared and notched lintels -on which names, effigies, and initials, had been carved, from time -immemorial, by lodgers, thieves, and cadgers. There was a bar, and -glistening beer-pumps, and pewter noggins, and copper measures, were -hung up behind the counter. Against the walls, which were environed by -brass railing to keep intruders from making too free or breaking the -glasses if a fight should occur, was inscribed on a tin plate of greasy -hue the words: - - John Scragg & Co., - Wine and Liquor Merchants. - Beds, 4d. a Night. - -The proprietor, a fellow with beetle brows, a furzy black beard, and a -fustian jacket well greased, sat on a worn bench near the beer pump. - -"Good evenin, Mr. Scragg," said the detective to the rascally-looking -fellow. - -[Illustration: A MEAL AT A CHEAP LODGING HOUSE.] - -[Sidenote: AT MR. SCRAGG'S.] - -"Good evenin--the same to you, Bobby--are you lookin for lodgins -to-night?" said he in reply. - -"Well, not exzackly--I came with a friend o' mine to take a look at the -Crib--have you many lodgers to-night, Jack?" - -[Illustration: "DAMNABLE JACK."] - -"Mayhap a matter o' fifty or more. So you wants to look at the Crib, -do ye? Well, I ha' no hobjections so as ye don't disturb my lodgers. -They are a precious set o' lambs, and belong to the best families in -the Kingdom, so I keeps heverythink quiet, sort a like, as they have a -great deal a money bet on the races at the Darby, to-morrow." - -"Could you give my friend a bed, to-night, and he'll pay you well. He -doesn't want to go back to his hotel it's so far at the West End, and -he might lose hiself in this big city. - -"Give yer friend a bed? D----n my heyes, I should think I could! A -dozen beds if he likes--and yourself, too, me hearty." - -"But no pocket-picking, Jack--no 'plant' agin him. Keep hoff yer -'Bug-hunters,' or ye'll get in trouble for it, Jack." - -"Do I look like a man 'ud permit sich goings on in my 'Ouse," said -Damnable Jack, indignantly, and looking with an injured face at the -policeman, "Wot, in my 'ouse, vich is patronized by the Nobility and -Gentry? I hopes not. Ye'll not find a man or woman 'ere as would 'crack -a case', or 'break a drum,' and the 'Kidsmen' are, all on them, as -perlite as young Swells, they is, on me 'onor." - -I followed Mr. Scragg through an unpaved hall-way or passage, and into -a small court, from which the lodging house keeper diverged to the -right, and knocking at a door in an extension of the main building, -it was opened to us, and we entered the apartment. The apartment had -a low roof, and the stench from the place was most terrible. In a -room about fifty feet long by thirty in width, at least sixty persons -were sleeping, or sitting up on their coarse, common flock beds, some -smoking, others eating and drinking, and a few were playing cards. - -There was a high, old-fashioned fireplace, in the apartment, without -coals, and the walls of plaster were very dirty, and broken in many -places, showing the bare laths. - -Prints of highwaymen adorned the walls, among which was conspicuous -Claude Duval leaping a five-barred gate on horseback, and a posse of -constables, in bobwigs, in full chase. There was also a daub of paint -representing the execution of a wife-murderer, at Newgate, and a copy -of the murderer's last speech, framed alongside of the other print. -These, with a cheap engraving of Sir Robert Peel, completed the list of -works of art in the place. - -There was a murmur which grew into quite a hub-bub as I entered the -apartment, and not a few of the lodgers vented their surprise or -disgust at my appearance, jointly with that of the "Peeler," as they -called the policeman. - -[Sidenote: THE DIRTY CADGER.] - -"Wot the blazes does that Swell want in 'ere," said an old cadger, who -was reclining on a bed on the floor, trimming his toe-nails with a -jack-knife preparatory to going to bed, much to the edification of a -young girl who sat by his side on the bed, and could not have been more -than fifteen years of age. - -"Mebbe he's a swell pickpocket, or fogle-hunter (handkerchief thief,)" -said the innocent young creature. - -"Hit stands to reason he can't be a fogle hunter, 'cos he's with the -blessed Peeler," said the Cadger. - -"Well, mebbe he's wiring for the perlice," said the young girl, "and -wants to ketch some on us for a 'dummy.'" - -"Never mind, Moll, he doesn't want us, and we'll go to sleep, cos we've -got to be on the tramp, early in the morning, for the Darby." - -This man was forty years of age, and the young girl, not more than -fifteen years old, was his mistress, as I afterward learned. - -The policeman signified to the proprietor, "Damnable Jack," that he -wanted to get a bed where we might sleep together for the night. - -"I hardly got a bed left but one and ye's are welcome to it, and for -that matter it will hold five men and women, if I wanted to put 'em in -it. Come here Phil, and give these gents a bed--they wants to taste the -blessed sweets of lodgin house life. Give them their fill of it. Put -them in the 'Lord Chancellor's' bed. Its the best in the house." - -Let it be understood, that all the beds in the apartment were placed -upon the bare floor, and that the mattresses were filled with dirty -straw, which bulged out of their sides, or rags, and gave the room a -close, fetid odor. For covering, there were dirty canvass quilts, made -of the same stuff from which sails or potato sacks are fashioned. There -were no sheets whatever, and the pillows and bolsters were stuffed as -were the mattresses with rags or straw. - -Near the fireplace was a bare space of smoothly laid brick, without -any pretence of bedding at all, which was chalked out in a number -of compartments, and each of these compartments was chalked out for -a human being to sleep upon. By reposing on the bare, cold floor, -the lodger saved a penny and got his bed for three-pence instead of -four-pence. - -Among the sixty persons present, there were at least twenty-five women, -composed of female tramps, vagrants, prostitutes, coster-girls, and -peddlers of different kinds of commodities, which they had to leave -in an adjoining room that was locked up by the Deputy Lodging Master -until the time of leaving their beds early in the morning, when the -merchandise was delivered to its owners. - -It was by the advice of an Inspector of Police that I made this essay -to sleep in a cheap lodging house. He informed me that it was the only -method of obtaining a clear knowledge of the habits and practices of -the lodgers. - -The "Lord Chancellor's" bed, as Damnable Jack called it, facetiously, -was the best, from its appearance, in the room, and was at the farthest -corner. It was generally used by the Deputy Lodging Master, and had -a little chintz screen around it, and the bed itself, which had -comparatively clean sheets and bed-furniture, was elevated a few feet -from the floor on a sort of trestle work. - -The charge for this bed was a shilling to each of us, and the policeman -and myself laid down upon it in our clothes, the policeman having a -revolver in his side pocket, upon which he kept his right hand during -the night, whether he slept or had his eyes open. - -I could not sleep in the terrible hole for several hours, and, in fact, -did not think of doing so, as I was eager to watch the proceedings of -the Scum of London, of which the lodgers were composed. - -Many of the young girls had not retired when we came in, and a few of -them now began to divest themselves of their clothing, without shame -or compunction on their part, or surprise on the part of their fellow -lodgers, excepting that now and then some low-bred ruffian would pour -forth a torrent of obscenity when some of the female lodgers exposed -portions of their filthy bodies. - -The place was swarming with vermin, bed-bugs, roaches, and body -parasites, in countless numbers, and this was one reason why many -of the female lodgers stripped themselves to lie down, for some -of the beds were so thickly packed that it was impossible for the -Deputy Lodging Master to pass through the room without treading upon -an exposed hand or foot, and in such a case, blasphemous and vile -execrations were heaped upon his devoted head by the lodgers. This he -bore with the greatest indifference as if he had never heard a word of -it. The lodgers hoped by stripping naked to avoid having any of the -vermin cling to their clothing--a wise precaution, as I found. - -[Sidenote: THE SCUM OF LONDON.] - -Men, women, and children, without regard to age, sex, condition, or -kindred, slept together in this room, and as the night advanced the -stench from their hot, loathsome bodies, rose like a hellish incense -and nearly smothered me with its fumes. There the breath of each lodger -was worse than the odor of a charnel house, so that I deemed it a -wonder as I sat up in bed looking through a rent in the chintz curtain -which enclosed our bed, a lamp burning faintly on a table the while, -that sixty of God's creatures could sleep this way night after night, -summer and winter, and yet be able to eat, drink, sleep, marry, beget -children, and still thrive like deadly nightshade, to poison London and -its neighborhood with their reeking effluvia. - -About three o'clock in the morning I heard a hammering, squashing -sound, and looking from under the chintz curtain, I was first -astonished and then disgusted to see a wan-looking, cadaverous -personage, from whom the most frightful snoring had proceeded during -the early part of the night, hammering with the heel of his shoe at -some dark moving objects, which he, every moment, scraped from his bed -and placing them on the floor smashed at them in a raging and furious -way with his shoe heel, taking care the while to keep up a steady -stream of curses from his lips. He saw me looking at him and said: - -"Well, neighbor, wot d'ye think of this. I pays four-pence for my -bed, and here I am a-fighting to keep off the blessed bugs, for my -life. I got myself gloriously drunk last night, to sleep, so that the -wipers might not wake me up, but all the gin in Lunnon couldn't make -a man sleep while the wermin are in the bed-clothes. I have took out -and killed a bushel, more or less, of 'em, in the last half hour, but -there's plenty more of 'em, Lord bless you." - -This was the keystone of the edifice of my disgust. Too much of a good -thing is said to be of no practical benefit to any one, and there was -such a richness of bed-bugs and body parasites to be found in "Damnable -Jack's" lodging house, that I thought I would not farther trouble his -hospitality, and touching the guardian of the place upon the shoulder, -who started up in a frightened way as if he were attacked, I left Mr. -Scragg's lodgings, and took a walk in the cool morning air as far -as Westminster Bridge, where I sat until daybreak, looking at the -Parliament House, and the silent river with its numerous craft. - -Before I left the accursed place, the policeman pointed to a pail of -foul water standing in a corner, that had been fresh over night, and -which had now had a thick scum on its top produced by so many poisonous -lungs. - -It is needless to say that I took a good warm bath early that morning, -more than satisfied with my experience of the previous night. - -Of this class of lodging houses, there are, in London, I believe, about -seventy-five, capable of accommodating any number of lodgers that the -proprietors may see fit to stow away in their dens. - -Some idea may be formed of the manner in which the poorer classes of -the London artisans are herded together from the fact that in the -Inner Ward of St. George's Parish the number of families apportioned -to the dwellings are so largely in excess of the room which they ought -to occupy that all kinds of frightful distempers are common in these -hell-dens. I give a table to show how human beings are crowded in this -district: - - Dwellings. No. of Families. | Beds. No. of Families. - Single room to each family, 929 | One bed to each family, 623 - Two rooms to ditto, 408 | Two " " 638 - Three " " 94 | Three " " 154 - Four " " 17 | Four " " 21 - Five " " 8 | Five " " 8 - Six " " 4 | Six " " 3 - Seven " " 1 | Seven " " 1 - Eight " " 1 | Dwellings without a bed, 7 - Not ascertained, 3 | Not ascertained, 10 - ----- | ----- - 1,465 | 1,465 - -[Sidenote: TEN IN A BED.] - -Among the most munificent philanthropists who have built model lodging -houses, for the poor and needy, I may enumerate Miss Burdett Coutts, -and George Peabody. The former has expended nearly £500,000 in erecting -model lodging houses for the poor, and the amount which was donated -for the same purpose by Mr. Peabody exceeded a million and a half of -dollars. - -[Illustration: STATUE OF GEORGE PEABODY.] - -In speaking of Mr. Peabody, I must not omit to state the fact that the -Londoners, to show their appreciation of his philanthropy, have erected -to him a magnificent bronze statue at the rear of the Royal Exchange in -their city, which was publicly uncovered by the Prince of Wales during -the life-time of the late philanthropist. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XLV. - -A TRAMP IN THE BY-WAYS. - - -GREAT as London may believe itself to be in works of benevolence and -philanthropy, there are spots in that mighty city which no one should -visit without an officer of the law in his company, to warn him from -the pitfalls and dangers which will beset his pathway. - -One evening, feeling rather dispirited and uncomfortable, while -sitting in the coffee-room of the Langham Hotel, a thought struck me -that I might find amusement or novelty in some way by taking a tour -through the city, and accordingly I called a cabman from the stand, in -Upper Regent street, and, determining to make an effort to dissipate -the blues, I jumped into the "hansom" and told the driver, an old -weather-beaten looking fellow, with a buttoned-up coat and dirty -neck-cloth, and wearing a black silk hat, which had once been quite -respectable, but was now utterly wrecked--to "drive me anywhere in -London--I don't care where as long as I can see something to interest -me." - -The driver, a well known character, who bore the title of "Old Smudge" -among his brethren on the cab stand, and who was always in trouble with -the police, replied: - -"Where shall I take you, Sir? Would you like to take a look at the -river? Or, mayhap you might wish to see a dog fight, or a ratting -match--the Americans are partial to ratting matches--I know some on 'em -are!" - -[Sidenote: THE LONDON CABBIES.] - -"Take me anywhere," said I from the recesses of the cab in which I had -ensconsced myself. - -These London Cabbies are, as a general thing, the most provoking and -abusive fellows in the world, but their usefulness cannot be denied by -any person who has experienced the delight of having a cab to hail when -attacked suddenly by the often recurring rain storms, which serve to -keep the atmosphere of Great Britain's capital in a state of perpetual -moisture. There are two kinds of Cabs--the "hansom," a two wheeled -vehicle, which falls back on its wheels, and is drawn by a single -horse, the cabman sitting over your head with the reins elevated in his -hands, and stretching through a metal ring in the roof to the collar of -the horse. Then there are folding doors which can be closed to keep mud -and dust from entering the cab, and a movable window fastened to the -interior of the roof that can be hoisted or let down at will, and is -most serviceable in case of rain or other inclement weather. - -[Illustration: "OLD SMUDGE"--THE CABBY.] - -Then there is the "four wheeler," as it is called, a cab which is also -drawn by one horse, but is built something after the fashion of the -American coupe or brougham. This vehicle has four wheels, and is more -comfortable and roomy than the "Hansom." The rates for transportation -are higher, however, and the four-wheelers are used by a better -class of people. There are six thousand one-horse cabs registered in -London, of which number 2,352 are "six day" cabs, whose proprietors -do not allow of their use on Sundays; and of "seven day" cabs, which -are constantly traversing the streets, there are as many as 3,366. -These cabs are all licensed, and their owners pay, annually, into the -Municipal Treasury as large a sum as £10,000. The legal rate of fare in -a "hansom," is sixpence a mile, and for a "four-wheeler," one shilling -per mile, but the cabbies charge strangers any fare they can get. - -[Illustration: "A HANSOM CAB."] - -"Leave me alone, Sir, and I'll show you some of the sights of Lunnon -town," said "Old Smudge," in a hoarse voice from the top of the cab in -reply to my anxious enquiry as to where we were traveling. We were then -some distance from the West End of the City, and from the noises which -every few minutes attracted our attention, I fancied that the cab was -being driven in the direction of the Thames. I saw, dimly, the masts of -the shipping and the Docks, with their adamantine fronts frowning down -upon me. - -The cab was stopped suddenly, and the horse was brought up on its -hind legs by a jerk of the reins from "Old Smudge," who was already in -conversation at the door of a beer shop, which was illuminated, and -had a large number of rough-mannered customers standing around its -entrance. They were a sufficiently hard looking set to make a stranger -think of his safety. - -"This is 'Jack Barley's "Convivial Pup,"' Sir," said the cabman to -me as I climbed out of the "hansom." "This is the finest rat-pit in -Lunnon, Sir." - -[Sidenote: A SOIREE AT A RAT PIT.] - -I had often heard of Mr. Barley before, and now I saw him face to face, -a most villainous and repulsive looking beast with a scarcely healed -cicatrice in his jaw, and a couple of bleary holes under his black -brows, miscalled eyes. Mr. Barley was famous in his way, and enjoyed -distinction among a certain class. None could tell the breed of a -dog, the age of a spaniel, the pluck of a terrier, or the gouging and -milling abilities of a middle weight bruiser, with Professor Barley. -In such matters his judgment was final and conclusive along the Thames -bank for some distance. - -The proprietor escorted us through a small bar, which was ornamented -with the usual sporting emblems found in low London tap rooms, and -after descending a stone stairs, I found myself in a room beneath the -ground floor, with small circular benches ranged in a cramped fashion -to the ceiling. On these seats about one hundred men, of all grades -in the sporting class, were seated. There were a few "gentlemen," -God save the mark, a brace of attorney's clerks, an officer of some -line regiment, and the rest of the audience were of a miscellaneous -character. - -There was a rat pit below the benches, a square enclosure with a board -fence about four feet high, enclosing it, the boards being whitewashed, -and the flooring of the pit having sawdust scattered over it. - -The only light in this dreary and subterraneous den came from six -greasy, unvarnished tin lanterns, in which half a dozen of cheap tallow -candles were fixed, and these flickered and sputtered with great -malevolence on the rascally faces of the men who swarmed around the -pit. - -I heard a squealing noise, and I saw a lad bring in a long and huge -flat wire cage, which was swarming with gray, black, and brown rats. -Way was made for the youth to enter the pit with his cage of live -rodents. Jumping in he opened the cage, and thrusting his forearm -fearlessly through the door he drew forth, one by one, over fifty large -and ferocious rats and threw them in a heap in the pit. These animals -ran about in a confused way for a few minutes, and looked with an -almost human and beseeching look into the murderous faces which were -gathered around the pit. Then another cage was handed to the young man, -and the same ceremony was performed again until there were one hundred -and five rats in the centre of the pit. - -[Illustration: "ONE HUNDRED RATS IN NINE MINUTES."] - -There was to be a match for fifty pounds, the proprietor of the pit -having matched his dog "Skid," a wiry and ferret-eyed little terrier, -to kill one hundred rats in nine minutes. Bets were now made against -and for the dog, that he would or would not kill the rats in the time -named, and the excitement ran high as the little venomous dog was -placed in the pit carefully by his master amid considerable applause -from the roughs. - -[Sidenote: "SKID'S" BATTLE WITH THE RATS.] - -It was simply disgusting to witness that dreadful little terrier run -at each rat, shake him for a second or two in the air and then drop -him quite dead on the floor of the pit, while the roughs encouraged -him to his work with shouts when the rat was destroyed quickly, but -occasionally when a big and ferocious rat was attacked and showed fight -in return, and when the terrier seemed to hang back for a moment, -a perfect storm of curses and obscene epithets were rained on the -unfortunate canine. Before five minutes had elapsed the whitewashed -board sides and flooring of the Rat Pit were daubed with splashes of -blood, and the little terrier was foaming at the lips, and his glossy -hide was flecked with dark smudgy stains. When eight minutes and forty -seconds had elapsed, "Skid" snapped the neck of the last rat, and now -there was nothing left in the pit but a large pool of blood on which -sawdust was quickly heaped, and a bleeding mass of heaving and dying -rats. - -Great cheering rewarded the efforts of "Skid," who was taken up -tenderly, almost lovingly by his master; and now being very sick at the -stomach from the disgusting sight I left the place and took the cab, -cogitating the while on what I had seen. - -Disgusting as the sight of the rat butchery had proved, I afterwards -learned that some two hundred men earn a living in London, and its -suburbs, in catching rats alive for the use of the rat-pits. Of this -number a great many, however, are paid extra by persons who wish to -drive the vermin from their dwellings, and have no means of doing so -but by calling in professional rat-catchers. - -Some fifteen or twenty of these professional rat-catchers pursue their -dangerous calling in the London sewers, preferring to catch those found -in drains to the house rats, who are not as ferocious as the former. -Beside, the sewer rat will fight a terrier longer and more savagely -than a house rat, and as this affords good sport, the sewer rat is at a -premium in the market. - -[Illustration: THE RAT CATCHER.] - -These rat-catchers traverse the sewers by night, and carry lanterns -and a long wire basket with lids and a handle of the same material. -They use ointment which they rub on their hands and with this same -composition they cover their arms, which is very distasteful to the -rats, who will not bite at any human flesh that is anointed with this -preparation. These men wear large slouch hats, and pursue their calling -in all seasons, to make a living. Often they have terrible battles with -the enraged colonies of rats, and not a few of the rat-catchers have -been over-powered in the sewers when attacked, and their bones whiten -many of the brick beds and slimy crevices of these dark and dismal -underground passages. - -[Sidenote: "PADDY'S GOOSE," RATCLIFFE HIGHWAY.] - -The cab driver now desired to know if I would like to visit "Paddy's -Goose," a den in "Ratcliffe Highway," one of the worst of the bad -districts of London. This place is frequented by sailors of all -nations, who visit the spot to dance with the abandoned women, that -are hired by the proprietors of these resorts to entice the foolish -seafaring men just discharged from their vessels, with more money than -they are able to take care of. - -[Illustration: "PADDY'S GOOSE."] - -"Paddy's Goose," or the "White Swan," as it is called by its owner, is -perhaps the most frightful hell-hole in London. The very sublimity of -vice and degradation is here attained, and the noisy scraping of wheezy -fiddles, and the brawls of intoxicated sailors are the only sounds -heard within its walls. It is an ordinary dance house, with a bar and -glasses, and a dirty floor on which scores of women of all countries -and shades of color may be found dancing with Danes, Americans, -Swedes, Spaniards, Russians, Negroes, Chinese, Malays, Italians, and -Portuguese, in one wild hell-medley of abomination. - -The proprietor of this den is undoubtedly the most desperate villain -I ever saw outside of a prison gate, a man whose face is scarred and -corrugated by the foot-prints of the Devil, whose servant he has -been for many years, and yet I was informed that this scoundrel was -tolerated, nay, encouraged by the government, from the fact that he -had great influence among English seamen. This man during the Crimean -War hired steamers, with bands of music, and served the Admiralty as a -"crimp" for enlisting sailors, or rather for trapping them by drugging -them first and then "burking" them off to the men-of-war, which needed -fresh complements of seamen. - -I did not stay long in this Devil's-Tavern, and I am sure my readers -will excuse me from going into particular mention of the beastliness -and orgies I saw there. - -[Illustration: "WAITING FOR THE TIDE."] - -Dismissing "Old Smudge" with a fee that seemed to meet his approbation, -I turned my steps in the direction of the river, not doubting for a -moment but that I should find further food for reflection. I came upon -the Thames suddenly as a vision, and saw it stretching out in all its -dark and terrible beauty, just above Shadwell. I had taken my seat on -an old dismasted hulk that lay some distance off in the river, and -which I had reached with considerable difficulty by clambering from -bowsprit to bowsprit among the silent shipping, on whose masts and -canvas God's silent stars shone brightly down. - -[Sidenote: WAITING FOR THE TIDE.] - -I had not been sitting long there when a clumsy-looking and -broad-bottomed boat passed me, directly below the hulk, one man pulling -in the boat while another leaned over and seemed to support something, -dark and bulky in shape, from the stern of the wherry. - -A chill came over me, and in a faint voice I asked the man what he had -in the skiff? - -"Oh, yer honor, we were Waiting for the Tide below Bridge. We goes out -every night, me and Tim, to look for bodies--we gets twenty shillings -a-piece for them, and all we can find, and Tim's got a dead 'un now, -and 'praps he's got a good haul, for there's a sparkling ring on Its -finger,--mayhap yer honor would like to buy it." - -Trailing slowly in the water was a lifeless corpse, and the boatman was -tearing a bright object from its stiff forefinger. - -Hastily I rose and turned my face away from the River which had given -up its dead in this startling manner. - -I went home thoroughly cured of the blues, and saw no more "sights" -that night. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - -ENGLISH LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM. - - -ENGLISH literature is one of the mainstays of our present civilization. -Wherever the English language is spoken or understood, or wherever -English thought predominates, English books are read, and the names of -English authors are held in reverence. And second only to the power -of English books is the power of the English press, which immediately -after French journalism, represents the most trained culture and best -talent employed in the Fourth Estate of our times. - -London ranks, as I have said, in the second place, as far as her -journalism is concerned. London journalists have not yet attained that -high influence, both social and political, in the State, which is -freely yielded to young and middle-aged men whose services are known to -be of value on the Parisian journals of ability and circulation. - -But the men who think for England, and who write its books, do not need -to fear comparison with the same class in any other land in breadth of -thought or influence on the masses of mankind. I shall make but a brief -mention of a few of England's worthies in the paths of literature, and -shall only speak of those who are best known by their works in America. - -[Illustration: JOHN RUSKIN--ART CRITIC.] - -Twenty-eight years ago, articles of wonderful force, beauty, and -breadth of tone, began to appear from some unknown pen, in the -literary journals of London. These articles attracted notice from the -best minds as they advocated a new and startling theory in art--the -theory of Pre-Raphaelitism, as it has since been called. The author of -these articles was John Ruskin--since become so famous--then in his -twenty-fourth year. Ruskin was the son of a wealthy London merchant, -and, unlike most men of genius he has never known any of the bitter -struggles of poverty. From his boyhood he has been accustomed to -elegance and plenty, the society of refined men and women, and his -mind has been enlarged by almost incessant and instructive travel. He -was very fond of the true and beautiful in Nature, and it is recorded -of him, that when a child he had one favorite spot--Friar's Crag, in -Derwentwater, which overhung a lake,--and here he was brought daily -by his fond nurse, who secretly gratified the child's taste for the -picturesque by allowing him to hang over the brow of the cliff, and -when permitted to do so he would gaze for hours with intense joy and -mingled awe into the depths of the dark waters below, hanging on by -the grassy roots which bloomed on the surface of the cliff. He had -always a feeling of awe and heart hunger in the presence of mountains, -and, at fifteen years of age, he had ascended the summits of the most -elevated hills in England. A landscape delighted him, while belle -lettres and mathematics only wearied his retrospective soul. At twenty, -his reflective and practical powers had increased by the incessant -traveling which he undertook, having visited every European city of -note, but in all these travels Venice always remained dear to his -heart. At Oxford he was a gentleman-commoner of Christ Church, where -he carried off the Newdigate prize for a poem called "Salsette and -Elephanta," a fragment now forgotten, and was graduated double fourth -class in 1842. Among his teachers in landscape painting, which he loved -with all his great heart, he had such men as Copely Fielding, Harding -and Prout. His great admiration was for Turner, however, and this love -led him to the field of art criticism, in defence of that eminent -painter. - -[Sidenote: RUSKIN'S LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL.] - -In 1843, the first volume of Ruskin's "Modern Painters" appeared, -and created the greatest sensation. No art critic had yet appeared -with such a wealth of language, and such an affluence of imaginative -ideas combined with the most striking powers of observation, and -an earnestness bordering on enthusiasm. Never thinking beforehand -of the subject, his philosophy and criticism consists mostly of -brilliant invective, and he is continually involving himself by his -inconsistencies, yet, so great was his power, a new school in art -was founded by him, with such disciples as Millais, Holman Hunt, and -others, equally well known. - -He is sometimes diffuse and discursive, and is far behind Henri -Taine for perspicuity of style, though far more solid, concentrated, -and vigorous, in his blows. The first volumes of Ruskin's "Lamps of -Architecture" made their appearance in 1849, and were followed by the -first volume of "The Stones of Venice," in 1851, the illustrations in -the latter provoking much hostility, but displaying to great advantage -his artistic powers. Ruskin has lectured and written on Manufactures, -Gothic Architecture, and Painting, and he has said to have realized, by -his works the sum of £95,000. He has a careworn face, sloped shoulders, -and wavy silken hair. His habits are simple, and it is said that he is -Brahminical in his tastes, never touching butcher's meat. His large -private fortune enables him to extend his benevolence to struggling -students, and others who are in need of assistance. Ruskin has taken up -the cause of the workingmen of England with great zeal, and is now in -his forty-ninth year. - -[Sidenote: FROUDE, THE HISTORIAN.] - -Since the death of Macaulay, England has had no successor to that -eminent and great man in the field of history, until of late years -James Anthony Froude has risen like a meteor to irradiate the dark -places and bloody scenes of English history. The author of the "History -of England from the Fall of Wolsey," may well claim a niche among the -loftiest names who have searched the archives of empire and statecraft. -James Anthony Froude comes of a High Church clerical family, and was -born at Dartington, Devonshire, April 23, 1818. His father, the late -Venerable R.H. Froude, was Archdeacon of Totnes, and young Froude went -to Westminster School, the most aristocratic of its kind in England, -and afterwards was graduated with high classical honors at Oriel -College, Oxford, obtaining the Chancellor's prize for an essay on -"Political Economy," and was elected Fellow of Exeter College in 1842. - -[Illustration: JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE.] - -For some time he was connected with the High Church party led by the -Rev. J.H. Newman, and so much was he imbued by its doctrines, that he -wrote the "Lives of the English Saints," and took deacon's orders in -1844. He has also written "The Shadows of the Clouds," 1847, and "The -Nemesis of Faith," in 1849, both of which works had to undergo the -severest condemnation of the University authorities, for the Puseyite -opinions broached in their pages. - -In 1850, Froude laid the foundation-stone of his fame by a series of -articles, chiefly on English History, which were contributed to the -_Westminster Review_ and _Frazer's Magazine_, and in 1856 he published -the two first volumes of his "History of England." This is his -greatest work, in ten volumes, and for clearness of thought, powerful -intensity, and acute understanding of those stormy periods of Henry -VIII, Elizabeth and Mary, there are few passages in written history to -equal Froude's descriptions of the age, and his grand delineations of -character. He is, however, prejudicial in many things, and his view -of the characters of Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth, is -altogether different from the view which all modern historians have -taken of these two women. - -In 1867, a work entitled "Short Studies on Great Subjects," was -published by Mr. Froude, and the historical sketches in this volume -are of the most masterly kind in English literature. Mr. Froude is -now Editor of _Frazer's Magazine_, whose pages his powerful genius -illuminated some twenty years ago. This magazine had formerly for its -contributors some of the finest scholars and best thinkers in Britain. -_Frazer's Magazine_ is issued by Longmans, Green & Co., Paternoster -Row, one of the great publishing houses, and whose business is only -rivaled by that of John Murray, McMillan, Sampson, Low & Son, and Smith -& Elder, among London booksellers. - -Among the contributors to _Frazer_ are Max Muller, F.W. Newman, E. -Lynn Linton, Jean Ingelow, Shirley Brooks, R. A. Proctor, Moncure D. -Conway, a Massachusetts man, and a personal and intimate friend of -Carlyle,--I believe he is to write the biography of that dogmatic old -thinker, who has failed to prevent the earth from revolving on its -axis, when he is gathered to his fathers, in the little churchyard -in Dumfriesshire. William Howard Russell, James Spedding, Frederick -Denison Maurice, a liberal clergyman and a professor in London -University, and others whom I do not recollect, are contributors to -_Frazer_. This magazine contains 134 double-column pages of large -print, on fine white paper, and is sold for two shillings and sixpence. -The same matter and workmanship could not be sold in America for less -than one dollar and twenty-five cents, I am informed. Miss Ingelow, one -of its contributors, is by no means a Miss in her teens, being now in -her forty-first year, but it is tolerably certain that such delightful -verse as hers could not have been written by one who had not endured -sorrow and trial. The several editions of her poems have realized -for Miss Ingelow the comfortable sum of £8,500, and I was told by a -leading London bookseller, that Mr. Froude, whose last article was on -"Salmon Fishing in Ireland," sold the copyright on four of his books -for £39,000. Miss Ingelow is a Suffolk girl, and rumor says has never -married because of a blighted affection in early life. - -[Illustration: ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE--POET.] - -A worthy successor to Lord Byron, in my opinion, is Algernon Charles -Swinburne, the most passionate English poet who has lived for one -hundred years. Swinburne is in his twenty-eighth year, and at that -early age he has attained for himself a position among the poets of his -native land, surpassed by none. For wealth of language, beauteous and -fervent passion, and gorgeousness of imagery, Keats alone is his peer. -Swinburne is an earnest republican, and sympathizes with revolution in -every land. He is a great admirer of Italy. For a poem of one page in -an English magazine he received two hundred and fifty pounds, a larger -price than was ever paid before in England for a poetical fragment. - -[Sidenote: SWINBURNE'S BOYISH DAYS.] - -Swinburne, though a republican in sentiment, belongs to one of the -oldest Roman Catholic families of Northumberland, and comes from -ancestors who have followed the Percy in plate armor against the fierce -barons of the House of Douglas. I am sorry to say, however, that the -poet does not look like a man who would wear a steel jerkin and hang a -battle-axe at his saddle bow. He has long curling hair, a pair of weird -fascinating eyes, a loose and slender frame, and a face which does not -impress one favorably at first. Take him altogether he seems like a -man who might like to recline on a bed of roses, with an Amphora of -Falernian by his couch, and half a dozen Syrian damsels to wait on him -and hand him flowing bumpers of golden wine. - -His boyish days were spent at Eton, and here he was noticed only for -his utter dislike to athletic sports, including the darling amusement -of every Etonian--I mean the cricket field. He was finished at Oxford, -but did not receive his degree from Alma Mater. From the University -he went to Florence, and there he contracted a warm friendship for -that great gothic and rough-angled character, Walter Savage Landor, -which was ardently reciprocated by the latter. Returning to England -in 1861 he published the "Queen Mother," and "Rosamond," neither of -which attracted much attention. His first great and decided success -was in that classic poem "Atalanta in Calydon," published in 1864, -when Swinburne had attained his twenty-first year. This poem took the -cultivated minds of England by storm, and was followed by "Chastelard," -"Poems and Ballads," "Laus Veneris," and a biography of "William -Blake," the painter, in quick succession. Since then his copy-rights -have amounted to £27,000, so rapid has been the sale of his books. -This moneyed success does not, however, prevent the poet from being -afflicted with a very penurious spirit, and it is said that he is in -the habit of giving waiters and servants sixpences for the pleasure of -taking the gifts back. - -[Sidenote: JOHN STUART MILL.] - -The greatest publicist in England, at this juncture, and the man whose -views demand most attention from press and people, after Carlyle, -is John Stuart Mill, the eminent writer on Political Economy, who -was formerly a clerk in the India House, like Charles Lamb, as his -father had been before him. Mr. Mill is now sixty-six years of age, -and has lately taken up the cudgel for the Woman's Suffrage party, in -England, along with Miss Harriet Martineau, after having exhausted -Utilitarianism, Political Economy, Parliamentary Reform, Logical -Systems, Auguste Comte, Positivism, Philosophy, and other light and -airy subjects. Yet all his great powers of thought did not prevent -him from being badly beaten by a Mr. Smith, a news agent, for the -representation of the Borough of Westminster, in the late parliamentary -elections. Mr. Mill has a grand broad forehead, a pair of deep -steadfast eyes, a firm mouth, and is of studious habits. Like all -students his oratory in Parliament, when first elected, was more ornate -and logical than impressive or forcible. His English is vigorous and -sterling, and it must be said of this venerable old man, that his whole -life has been devoted to an idea. - -[Illustration: JOHN STUART MILL--POLITICAL ECONOMIST.] - -The very opposite of John Stuart Mill is Benjamin F. Disraeli, who -was born in Bradenham, Buckinghamshire, Dec. 21, 1805. It is more -than positive that Mr. Disraeli has never sacrificed any thing for an -idea. Mr. Isaac Disraeli, his father, was a Christian, and an author, -who had written the "Curiosities of Literature," and the "Amenities -of Literature," the latter being a book in which the misfortunes and -failings of authors occupy a large space. The grandfather of the -great politician was a Jew of the Jews, I believe, and he who is now -leader of the Conservative party in the House of Commons, and who was -Lord Chancellor of England, has ever had a deep feeling for and faith -in Judaism, although he has been for many years the Champion of the -Anglican Church. At twenty years of age, Disraeli, who was then as -fond of velvet shooting jackets and jewelry as he is now in his old -age, or as Dickens was in his prime, began to write novels, and from -1825 to 1881 he had written "Vivian Grey," "The Young Duke," "Henrietta -Temple," "Contarini Fleming," "Venetia," "Alroy," and "Coningsby." - -[Illustration: BENJAMIN DISRAELI--POLITICIAN.] - -In 1837, he entered Parliament, and made a miserable failure as a -speaker and was laughed down, but he was not of the stuff to be -frightened. Since then he has filled the greatest offices of trust -that it is possible for a commoner to fill in England, and at times a -radical revolutionist, and then again a most staunch monarchist, he -has had greatness of soul enough to refuse a title offered him by the -Queen, when he retired from the Cabinet in which he was Prime Minister. -The honor tendered him was politely refused with many thanks, but -he accepted the title of Viscountess Beaconsfield for his noble and -devoted wife, who enriched and has sustained him in all his severest -struggles. - -It is told of this brave lady, that while accompanying her husband in -a carriage to the House one night, Disraeli became lost in thought -about a great speech which he was going to make, and the carriage door -having closed on one of her fingers, she never uttered a sound of pain -until the equippage drove into the Palace yard at Westminster, when the -footman jumped down, and she fainted in her husband's arms. One hundred -and fifty thousand copies of Disraeli's "Lothair" have been sold, and -it is more than probable that the sale will not stop short of 250,000 -copies. The bitterest article in review of this book was written in -_Blackwood's Magazine_, by Lawrence Oliphant, author of the "Piccadilly -Papers by a Peripatetic," in London Society. Mr. Oliphant deserted -fashionable London society to found a Communistic association on the -shores of Lake Erie, and having accumulated a secretion of gall and -wormwood there he went back to England and poured it out on the head of -Disraeli. - -[Illustration: CHARLES KINGSLEY--NOVELIST.] - -[Sidenote: CHARLES KINGSLEY.] - -The Rev. Charles Kingsley, formerly rector of Eversley and Chaplain -in Ordinary to the Queen, and now Dean of Rochester, is the defender -of Muscular Christianity in English literature. He is the son of a -clergyman, and is descended from the ancient Saxon family of the -Kingsleys, of Kingsley, in the Forest of Delamere. He was educated at -Kings College, London, and Magdalen College, Cambridge, and is nearly -fifty years of age. From his advocacy of the cause of the workingmen he -has been called the "Chartist Parson." His chief works are, "Hypatia, -or New Foes with Old Faces," "Alexandria and Her Schools," "Westward, -Ho," "Two Years ago," and "Hereward, Last of the Saxons." He delivered -the "Roman and Teuton Lectures" while professor of Modern History at -Cambridge University. He has also written a series of children's books -on historical subjects, which are very popular in England. His brother, -Henry Kingsley, a novelist of considerable reputation, is eleven -years younger, and is a contributor to the _Gentleman's Magazine_, -the oldest periodical of its kind in England, which is sold for one -shilling. - -Anthony Trollope, the most voluminous English novelist now living, was -born in 1815, and comes of a literary family, his mother having made -a certain sort of fame by her book of American travels which did not -redound to her credit. Many years after the issue of Mrs. Trollope's -book, her son visited America and sought to redeem the unfavorable -impression made by his parent's villification of our people, in his -"North America," published in 1861. Anthony Trollope was educated at -Winchester and Harrow, and at thirty-two years of age wrote his first -novel, "The McDermotts of Ballycloran," a picture of Irish middle class -life. Since then he has furnished to the publishers of his works enough -material to fill a small library. Many of his genial novels appeared -in the _Cornhill Magazine_, which was edited by Thackeray at one time, -and subsequently by Frederick Greenwood, who was, during the former's -management, a proof reader on the Cornhill, and is now the editor of -the _Pall Mall Gazette_, the establishment of which journal was the -realization of the dream of Thackeray's life. - -James Greenwood, the "Amateur Casual," a brother of Frederick -Greenwood, has written a number of books of adventure of the most -stirring kind, and was attached to the London _Morning Star_, a penny -morning paper, which advocated the cause of the North during the Civil -War, and local sketches every alternate day were furnished by him to -its columns, for which he received sixteen guineas a week. - -Mr. John Morley, whom I have to thank for much courtesy, was editor -of the _Star_ during my sojourn in London. He is now editor of the -_Fortnightly Review_, with which he was formerly connected. The _Star_ -suspended publication about six months ago. I believe John Bright held -a stockholding interest in the _Star_ previous to its suspension, and -had, on some occasions, directed its editorial opinions. - -[Sidenote: THE MAGAZINES.] - -Mr. Trollope has an eminently literary look, and wears huge large -shaggy whiskers, and a pair of spectacles. His pictures of Irish middle -class society and English clerical characters, are the best and -truest ever drawn by an British novelist, his Irish characters being -infinitely superior to those of Charles Lever, whose heroes swagger -and strut in a most atrocious manner. Anthony Trollope has a brother, -Thomas Adolphus Trollope, who is also a literary man of considerable -note, and is five years the junior of Anthony. Adolphus Trollope -resides chiefly in Florence, and has written several works of fiction -connected with the very romantic history of that city. The younger -Trollope has been twice married. His first wife was an authoress, named -Miss Garrow, who died in 1865, and eight months after her decease he -was again married to a Miss Ternan, who is now living. That was what -an unprejudiced mind might call quick work for a novelist. Anthony -Trollope is the editor, and also, I believe, the proprietor of _St. -Paul's Magazine_, which is sold for one shilling a number. - -[Illustration: ANTHONY TROLLOPE--NOVELIST.] - -The circulation of the numerous London magazines and periodicals is -only to be computed by millions. Of course the cheap magazines have the -largest circulation, and the cheapest are not by any means the worst -edited. The _Temple Bar_ magazine, which was established by George -Augustus Sala, a well known correspondent of the _Morning Telegraph_, -sells for a shilling, and has among its contributors Mrs. Edwards, -Florence Maryatt, Miss Harriet Martineau, who is also a contributor -to the _Daily News_, H. Sutherland Edwards, John Holingshead, who was -formerly the dramatic critic of the _Daily News_, and is now manager -of a London Theatre. The _Brittania Magazine_ is well edited and has -original stories and sketches, and sells for sixpence. _Bow Bells -Magazine_ is a good local periodical, selling for eightpence, and -_Belgravia_, edited by Miss Braddon, sells for one shilling, as does -the _St. James_, which is well known for its clever Parliamentary -sketches. Cyrus Redding, the famous octogenarian writer on wine -culture, was for many years a constant contributor to _Colburn's -Monthly_, in which many of William Harrison Ainsworth's sensation -serial stories have appeared. Louisa Stuart Costello and her brother -Dudley Costello, and Mrs. Ward, for many years contributed to the pages -of _Colburn's Monthly_. _Blackwood's Magazine_ is too well known to -need any enumeration of its famous writers. _Blackwood's_ sells at -two-and-sixpence the number. - -_McMillan's Magazine_ is issued at one shilling a number by the -publishing house of McMillan & Co., Bedford street, Covent Garden, -having 78 double column pages of matter. Among its contributors are -Frederick W.H. Myers, Edward Nolan, S. Greg, Thomas A. Lindsay, Dr. -Boyce, Edward A. Freeman, Charles Kingsley, Jean Ingelow, Menella Bute -Smedley, Mrs. Brotherton, F. Napier Broome, Thomas Hughes, Godfrey -Turner, T.W. Robinson, and F.W. Newman. _Cornhill_ is published by -Smith, Elder & Co. _All the Year Round_ is edited by Chas. Dickens, -Jr., who is rated very high as a sketch writer, and is also well -known as a rowing and yachting man. _The London Society Magazine_ is -published at 217 Piccadilly, and the most aristocratic of all the -London magazines, being beautifully illustrated, and having excellent -social, club, and fashionable sketches. The _London Society_ is sold -for a shilling, and has a number of lady artists who make drawings for -its pages. Watson, W. Brunton, Lionel Henley, Adelaide Claxton, H. -Tuck, A. Thompson, and F. Walker, are among the best known artists on -this magazine. Walter Thornbury, author of "Haunted London," Lawrence -Oliphant, Edmund Yates, and Lascelles Wraxall, are contributors to the -_London Society_. The "_Graphic_," the finest illustrated weekly ever -published in London, is edited by Arthur Lockyer, who has succeeded -its former editor--H. Sutherland Edwards. The circulation of the -different magazines is computed as follows: - -_Cornhill_, 36,000; _McMillan_, 28,000; _Blackwood_, 39,000; _London -Society_, 24,000; _Frazer_, 17,000; _Colburn's Monthly_, 7,500; _Temple -Bar_, 19,000; _St. Paul's_, 16,000; _Gentleman's Magazine_, 25,000; -_Britannia Magazine_, 26,000; _St. James'_, 15,000, and _Belgravia_, -16,000. - -[Illustration: DELIVERING THE "TIMES."] - -The circulation of the principal critical Weeklies is: _Saturday -Review_, sixpence, 38,000; _Spectator_, sixpence, 22,000; _Athenæum_, -sixpence, 29,600; _Examiner and London Review_, 13,000. The _Saturday -Review_ has forty pages of double-column matter, large print, twelve -of which are devoted to advertisements, the remaining pages being -taken up with editorials, book reviews, notices of the drama and fine -arts. The _Athenæum_ has twenty-two quarto pages of three columns -each, ten of which are taken up by advertisements, and the remainder -by book reviews, and dramatic, fine art, and scientific notes. The -editor of this journal is Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, M.P., who wrote -an excellent book of travel, entitled "Greater Britain." Ruskin and -Huxley have been contributors to the _Athenæum_. The _Spectator_ has -twenty-eight pages folio, and is chiefly noticeable for its valuable -historical studies, and its short and spicy paragraphs on the first -four pages of the paper. Any of these weeklies will be sent abroad for -the additional cost of a penny stamp. - -[Sidenote: THE LONDON TIMES.] - -The first number of the _London Times_ was printed January 1, 1788, by -John Walter, and the first newspaper printed by steam in Europe was the -_Times_ of November 29, 1814. Applegarth and Cowper's four cylindered -presses, printing five to eight thousand sheets an hour, were in use by -the _Times_ for many years. These were succeeded by Hoe's press with -Whithworth's improvement, and now the Bullock press modified, which -prints on an endless sheet, is used by the _Times_. The circulation -of this, the leading journal of Europe, varies from 57,000 to 65,000 -copies a day, and the owner is Mr. Walter, the son of its founder. John -Thaddeus Delane, the son of William F.A. Delane, the former financial -manager, who has been succeeded by Mowbray Morris, is the editor of -the _Times_. He is an Oxford man, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. -Since 1839 he has been connected with the _Times_, to whose editorship -he succeeded in 1841, on the decease of its then famous editor, Mr. -Thomas Barnes. The value of the _Times_ newspaper property has been -estimated at three million pounds, or fifteen million dollars. As -Thackeray said, its ambassadors are everywhere; one may be seen pricing -potatoes at Covent Garden, while another is committing to paper the -Cabinet intrigues at Berlin. Among its most celebrated writers have -been Barnes, Sterling, Horace Twiss, William Howard Russell, Thackeray, -Thomas Noon Talfourd, Baron Alderson, Louis J. Jennings, the American -correspondent, now editor of the New York _Times_, and others. Southey -was offered the editorial management at a salary of £2,000 a year, and -the same offer was made to Thomas Moore, the poet, but both declined -acceptance. The _Times_, with supplement, has seventy-two columns of -matter, on sixteen pages, and 2,250 advertisements have been inserted -in one day's issue, seven tons of paper, with a surface of thirty -acres, and seven tons of type, being used. - -[Sidenote: CIRCULATION OF JOURNALS.] - -The circulation and prices of the leading London journals, are as -follows: _Times_, 65,000, four pence; _Daily News_, 48,000, one penny; -_Daily Telegraph_, 175,000, one penny; _Morning and Evening Standard_, -80,000, one penny; _Morning Advertiser_ (rumseller's organ), 35,000, -one penny; _Pall Mall Gazette_ (evening), 30,000, one penny; _Echo_ -(evening), 75,000, one penny; _Globe_ (evening), 8,000, one penny; -_Punch_ (weekly), 55,000, six pence; _Illustrated London News_, 60,000, -four pence; _Graphic_, 80,000, six pence; _Bell's Life_ (sporting), -Wednesday and Saturday, 66,000, one penny; _The Field_ (sporting, -weekly), 18,000, six pence; _Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper_ (Sunday), -140,000, one penny; _Weekly Times_ (Sunday)--owned by _London Journal_, -which has a circulation of 200,000--110,000, one penny; _Cassell's -Weekly Magazine_, 90,000, _Weekly Dispatch_ (Sunday), 215,000, two -pence; _Reynold's Newspaper_ (Sunday), 280,000, one penny; _Jewish -Record_ (weekly), one penny, 7,500; _Tablet_ (Catholic weekly), four -pence, 36,000. - -[Illustration: SUB-EDITOR'S ROOM, "TELEGRAPH" OFFICE.] - -The _Morning Telegraph_ is the most popular daily newspaper in the -world. During periods of great excitement its circulation increases -to over 200,000 copies a day, and it takes four ten-cylinder, and -four six-cylinder Hoe's presses, to strike off its daily editions. -The correspondent of the _Telegraph_ at Paris, Mr. Whitehurst, is -hand and glove with Napoleon, and his salary amounts to £10,000, -with a horse and brougham thrown in. The editor of the _Telegraph_ -is Thornton Hunt, son of Leigh Hunt, who was for twenty years on the -staff of the _Spectator_. The sub-editor of the _Telegraph_, for -they have no managing editors in England, is Mr. Ralph Harrison, to -whom I am much indebted for courtesies received. The owner of the -_Telegraph_ is a Hebrew gentleman named Levy. The _Daily News_ is owned -by the Liberation Society, a Dissenters' association, and is edited I -believe, by Mr. Edward Dicey, formerly a special correspondent of the -_Telegraph_, who went to Suez for that journal. Tom Hood, son of the -poet, was editor of the _Tomahawk_ formerly, and lately of the _Latest -News_, a penny Saturday paper, and Arthur A. Becket has edited _Fun_. -James Grant is now editor of the _Morning Advertiser_, at a salary of -fifty pounds a week, and Blanchard Jerrold receives £800 a year for -editing _Lloyds' Weekly_. The salaries of editors on the London press -vary from fifteen to fifty pounds a week, according to the ability -displayed, and the circumstances of the journal on which they are -employed. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: HALF PENNY SOUP HOUSE.] - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - -THE POOR OF LONDON. - - -BEYOND comparison London exceeds all other cities of Europe for -the number of its poor, and the misery and suffering of those who -individually make up the gross totals in work-houses, back slums, and -miasmatic tenements. - -One of the most interesting--if not the most curious and cheerful -scenes in the metropolis--may be witnessed any day by a visit to the -East London "Half-Penny Soup House," an institution established by good -and merciful people, whereby the poor little castaways and waifs of the -city are provided with a dish of soup, a piece of meat, and a small -loaf of bread, once in each twenty-four hours. - -The children are gathered from the promiscuous juvenile assemblages -that may be, at any time, found in the London streets, and are taken -to the Soup House where large and steaming dishes of soup are given -them, by charitable ladies, after which they are dismissed until the -next twenty-four hours have elapsed, when again they assemble to -partake of the same plentiful and grateful food. This nourishment costs -but a half-penny per head, all the attendance and time being given -gratuitously by the good ladies who seek the little ones for their own -merciful purpose. - -The struggles of the London poor to keep soul and body together, -are very wonderful to understand or relate. Out of every five poor -families in London--it is known that at least three are compelled, -between Easter and Christmas, to denude their households of all the -most necessary articles of clothing and furniture, to take them to the -pawnbroker's shops in order that bread and meat may be procured for -their little ones. And what terrible scenes are witnessed in these -pawnbroker's shops, on Saturday nights when the goods are reclaimed by -dint of economy and hard scraping? None but God, the police, and the -pawnbroker, ever see such struggles. - -[Illustration: A PAWNBROKER'S SHOP.] - -One day I paid a visit to the Workhouse of St. Martin's, in the Fields, -which is not far distant from Trafalgar square. This workhouse looks -like a vast prison, stern, gloomy, and frowning, in the very busiest -quarter of the city. Opposite to its entrance was the barracks of some -regiment of infantry, and round the doors, were talking and smoking, -half-a-dozen of long-legged and slim-waisted private soldiers, in red -shell jackets, whose chief occupation seemed to be that of switching -their manly calves with slender rods which they jauntily carried in -their hands. - -[Sidenote: THE MASTER OF THE WORKHOUSE.] - -The workhouse door was shown to me by a squad of small boys who were at -play in the adjoining gutters, clad in a pauper's uniform of blue, and -on whose heads were dirty but comfortable caps of plaid pilot cloth. - -"Yes, master, there is the Workus, over yander. Will ye give us a -penny? We are all Workus," said they in chorus. - -I entered the low entrance and stood in a small vestibule, where stood -a shelf, or stand, upon which was placed an open blank or visitors' -book, in which each caller was to inscribe his name and residence, -together with his object for visiting the workhouse. On the opposite -page were blank spaces, on which an attendant entered the hours when a -visitor called and when he left the institution. - -A miserable, worm-eaten looking old man, devoid of teeth, and shambling -in his gait, a perfect wreck, shuffled up to me with a deprecating look -in his eye, as if he were asking pardon for being alive. Heavens! how -the iron of poverty, and the bitterness of dependence, must have eaten -away that poor wretch's soul before such enduring lines of degradation -could have been impressed on his features. - -This old pauper was detailed to wait upon the visitors, and to see that -their names were inscribed, with the warning that he should not attempt -to ask for or receive any gratuity. - -He faintly said in a childish voice: - -"What can I do for you, Sir? Do you wish to see the Workus? Ah, yes, of -course, a goodish bit of people comes to see the poor paupers, now and -then, but we are never allowed to take anything, Sir. No never, never. -Poor paupers, poor paupers," and so he mumbled away until the Master of -the workhouse was announced by his footsteps that came in echoes as I -sat in the little, poverty-stricken ante-room. - -To the Master, who is the supreme authority in the workhouse, under -the direction of the Board of Guardians of the parish, I explained my -motives for visiting the paupers' residence, and he welcomed me with -much politeness, offering me every facility to inspect the place. -He was a medium sized man, of middle age, plainly dressed, and after -having issued orders to several of the inmates of the establishment -he prepared to accompany me through the premises. Here and there, in -the walks and corridors, and courts of the workhouse, we met with an -occasional pauper, the males in a grey, rough, shoddy uniform, and the -women in check or plaid gowns, of a coarse cotton material, and wearing -caps of a faded whiteness upon their heads. - -They all had a vacant, listless look, and seemed lost in astonishment -to see a stranger with the Master, to whom they made the most servile -of salutations. - -I had seen, in my travels on the English railways, when I sought -the not very wholesome refuge of the third class carriages to study -character--just such poor, faded-looking people, among the families -journeying wearily to their various destinations, as these poor old -relics, who were now clustering around the workhouse tea tables. Oh, -God! how lonely they looked, and distant from all human kind. The same -wan, woe-begone faces, but more quiet and reserved than those I saw in -the close railway cars devoted to poor people. - -Smoking is a common thing in these crowded and close carriages, and -delicate women, and puny, weak children, are forced to travel for -hundreds of miles in these cattle boxes--I cannot call them aught -else--until they are sometimes known to vomit from the bad air and -worse stenches. - -Making inquiries of this gentleman as I went through the buildings, -I may as well give his explanations of workhouse life, and of the -condition of the poor and destitute of London. I freely admitted to him -that I had heard very strange stories in regard to the treatment, food, -and medical attendance of the paupers in the Unions, and that I would -be obliged to him if he could clear up my reasonable doubts on many -points. - -[Sidenote: SUGAR AND TEA.] - -In answer to one of these doubts the Master took me into a large, long -and clean-looking room, in which were about forty female paupers. These -women were engaged in getting supper for themselves, and were all -above middle age, and haggard-looking. - -[Illustration: A THIRD CLASS RAILWAY CARRIAGE.] - -"Now, Sir," said he to me, "you, of course, can see something of which -you speak, for yourself. Here is one of the busy wards of the Union. -Each of these old women is allowed an ounce of dry tea per day, and -enough sugar to moderately sweeten four cups of tea, which they make in -their own tea-caddies, or, sometimes they mess together--three or four -in a mess--and those who do not care for sugar will trade their surplus -sugar for the surplus dry tea with some other paupers." - -All the women arose from their low seats or benches, some of them being -clustered around a grate in which were a moderate stock of burning -coals, and bowed to the Master, who waved his hand and told them to sit -down again, which they did with courtesies and many feeble expressions -of thanks. - -"That old woman over there in the corner," said the Master, pointing -to a female of sixty years of age, who sat alone rubbing her bare -arms, and chatting to herself senselessly, "has lost her wits. She is -here forty-five years, and will die here in all probability. We have -about 400 in-door paupers in this workhouse, and perhaps twice as many -out-door poor, whom the parochial authorities assist as well as they -can. Every pauper whom we support in this house costs the rate-payers -of this parish about seventeen pounds six and ten-pence per head, which -does not include charge for rent, taking the interest of the value -of the property. For the children we have a school, and they get the -rudiments and that's all. It is an idea with some, and I am afraid, -with many poor people, "once a pauper always a pauper." The children -who are born in this place, would never become independent of the -parish if it were not that as soon as they grow up we send them to -schools of an industrial kind outside of London, where they learn a -trade, or are taught some occupation, such as gardening, blacksmithing, -carpentering, or, in fact, anything that will enable them to make a -living. The feeding and schooling of the children, with the nursing, -&c., costs more per head for them, strange to say, than it does for a -grown person's subsistence and clothing in London. - -[Sidenote: WORKHOUSE RATIONS.] - -"In this parish alone we have to take care of 478 children, and in some -of the London parishes in Bethnal Green, and Hackney, or Stepney, they -sometimes have to provide for from 1,500 to 2,000 children, of both -sexes. Of course, in the very large parishes they cannot afford to -educate the children, but have to content themselves with feeding and -clothing as many as they can inside the workhouse, while the majority -receive, with their parents, out-door relief, but the large and heavy -parishes could not afford to have such fine schools as we have in the -suburbs, with grounds attached, and sometimes goodish pieces of land, -where farming and gardening can be taught the children. It costs the -rate-payers of this parish twenty pounds a year to support and educate -the parish children, and, along with all the rest of the taxes, it is -no wonder that the people are grumbling and asking why we do not send -the beggars to America or Australia." - -"And why do you not?" said I to him, "if the sustenance of a pauper, -together with his clothing, costs the parish £21 annually." - -"Because, the people of London have an idea somehow or other, that the -Americans will not receive paupers, and then again, if £21 was given to -a pauper to go to America, they would raise a row in Parliament that -too much money was going out of the country. Why," said he, "down at -Birkenhead, near Liverpool, schools were built for paupers at a cost of -£15,000, with bath-rooms and fine dining-rooms, and the people there -raised an awful row because the cost to the rate-payers came to ten -shillings per head per annum to every inhabitant in the place. They -didn't want to give them bath-rooms or fine dining-rooms. They turned -a man away there who was frozen, and he had to lose all of his toes on -account of their neglect. In some of the work-houses, in the North of -England, they are beginning to let the children out to board by the -week, with farmers and families who can afford to take them, the parish -authorities allowing, for each child, three shillings per week for -board, with an outfit on leaving the workhouse, and six shillings and -sixpence a quarter for mending and repairing their clothes, an offer -which has been very cheerfully accepted by many families who are in -decent circumstances." - -"A 'Casual,'" said the Master, "is a pauper who is house-less and -destitute in a different parish from which he has lived. When he finds -himself in a strange place, as in London, he has to apply at the Police -Station for a ticket, which is given him as a reference to ask for one -night's lodging at the workhouse in the district. The ticket is shown -to the Master, who receives him, and I will send him down here, but -before he is sent down he gets a loaf of bread, weighing a pound and a -quarter. He must apply to the House for lodgings before ten o'clock at -night, or we will not let him in. Then he takes the loaf of bread and -eats half of it for his supper, and the other half he saves for his -breakfast. We give him, with the remaining half loaf of bread in the -morning, a half pint of coffee or tea. But before he goes he has got to -earn the breakfast which we give him, and is compelled to pick oakum -from six o'clock in the morning until nine, when he leaves the House." - -Before I left the workhouse the Master allowed me to inspect the beef, -bread, butter, and beer, which are served out daily to the paupers. -Each grown man and woman receives a twelve ounce loaf of bread, a pint -of the best beer, an ounce of butter, daily, and five days in the week -they receive six ounces of fresh meat, the other days being especially -devoted to beans, and a liquid compound known to seafaring men as -"skillagelee." - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: MAP of the CITY of LONDON.] - -[Illustration] - - - - -BELKNAP & BLISS, - -OF - -HARTFORD, CONN., - -Are engaged in the Publication of - -VALUABLE STANDARD WORKS, - -SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION. - -Old Agents, and all others who want the Best and most Popular Books, -and the Best Paying Agencies, will please send for their Circulars, -which are sent free, and give full particulars. - - -THE EXPOSÉ: - -OR, - -MORMONS AND MORMONISM. - -Giving its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition, with the Narration of - -Mrs. MARY ETTIE V. 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charset=ISO-8859-1" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Palace and Hovel, by Daniel Joseph Kirwan</title> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -.small { - font-size: small} - -.medium { - font-size: medium} - -.large { - font-size: large} - -.x-large { - font-size: x-large} - - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} -.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} -.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } -.ph5 { font-size: small; margin: 1.12em auto;text-align: center; } -.ph6 { font-size: x-small; margin: 1.12em auto;text-align: center; } - - -.hang { - text-indent: -2em; 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*/ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - -.linenum { - position: absolute; - top: auto; - left: 4%; -} /* poetry number */ - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -.sidenote { - width: 20%; - padding-bottom: .0em; - padding-top: .0em; - padding-left: .25em; - padding-right: .5em; - margin-left: .5em; - float: right; - clear: right; - margin-top: .25em; - margin-bottom: -.25em; - font-size: smaller; - color: black; - background: #eeeeee; - border: dashed 1px; -} - -.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} - -.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} - -.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} - -.br {border-right: solid 2px;} - -.bbox {border: solid 2px; - margin-left: 35%; - margin-right: 35%;} - - - - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.u {text-decoration: underline;} - - - - - -.caption {text-align: center; - font-size: small;} - - - -.figleft { - float: left; - clear: left; - margin-left: 0; - margin-bottom: -.5em; - margin-top: -.5em; - margin-right: 0; - padding: 0; - -} - -.figright { - float: right; - clear: right; - margin-left: 1em; - margin-bottom: - 1em; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-right: 0; - padding: 0; - text-align: center; -} - - - - - - - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -@media handheld { - .hidehand {display: none; visibility: hidden;} -} - - hr.pg { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Palace and Hovel, by Daniel Joseph Kirwan</h1> -<p>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 <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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.</p> -<p>Title: Palace and Hovel</p> -<p> Phases of London Life</p> -<p>Author: Daniel Joseph Kirwan</p> -<p>Release Date: October 12, 2017 [eBook #55732]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PALACE AND HOVEL***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4>E-text prepared by deaurider, Graeme Mackreth,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/palacehovel00kirw"> - https://archive.org/details/palacehovel00kirw</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pg" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus01.jpg" alt="" /> <a id="illus01" name="illus01"></a></p> - -<p class="caption"> ONE MORE UNFORTUNATE. (Page <a href="#Page_459">459</a>.)</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus02.jpg" alt="" /> <a id="illus02" name="illus02"></a></p> -<p class="caption">GRAND STAIRCASE, BUCKINGHAM PALACE.</p> - - - - -<p class="ph1" style="margin-top: 10em;"> -PALACE AND HOVEL:</p> -<p class="ph5">OR,</p> -<p class="ph2">PHASES OF LONDON LIFE.</p> - -<p class="ph5">BEING</p> - -<p class="center"><small>PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS OF AN AMERICAN IN LONDON, BY DAY AND NIGHT; WITH<br /> -GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF ROYAL AND NOBLE PERSONAGES, THEIR RESIDENCES<br /> -AND RELAXATIONS; TOGETHER WITH VIVID ILLUSTRATIONS<br /> -OF THE MANNERS, SOCIAL CUSTOMS, AND MODES OF<br /> -LIVING OF THE RICH AND THE RECKLESS, THE<br /> -DESTITUTE AND THE DEPRAVED, IN THE<br /> -METROPOLIS OF GREAT BRITAIN.</small></p> - -<p class="ph5">WITH</p> - -<p class="ph4">VALUABLE STATISTICAL INFORMATION,</p> -<p class="ph5">COLLECTED FROM THE MOST RELIABLE SOURCES.</p> - -<p class="ph5" style="margin-top: 5em;">BY</p> -<p class="ph4">DANIEL JOSEPH KIRWAN.</p> - -<p class="ph4">Beautifully Illustrated with Two Hundred Engravings, and a finely -executed Map of London.</p> - -<p class="ph5">PUBLISHED BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY.</p> - -<p class="ph5" style="margin-top: 5em;">Hartford, Conn.:<br /> -BELKNAP & BLISS.<br /> -W. E. BLISS, TOLEDO, OHIO.—NETTLETON & CO., CINCINNATI,<br /> -OHIO.—DUFFIELD ASHMEAD, PHILADELPHIA, PA.<br /> -UNION PUBLISHING CO., CHICAGO, ILL.<br /> -A. L. BANCROFT & CO., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.<br /> -1870 -</p> - - - - -<p class="ph6" style="margin-top: 10em;"> -<span class="smcap">Entered</span> according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by<br /> -BELKNAP & BLISS,<br /> -In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.<br /> -<br /> -WILLIAM H. LOCKWOOD,<br /> -Electrotyper<br /> -Hartford, Conn.</p> - - - - -<p class="ph6" style="margin-top: 10em;"> -TO</p> -<p class="ph4"><span class="smcap">Samuel L.M. Barlow, Esq.</span>,</p> -<p class="ph6">OF</p> -<p class="ph5">NEW YORK CITY,</p> -<p class="ph6">A</p> -<p class="ph5"><span class="smcap">True Gentleman in Every Quality and Duty of Life</span>,</p> -<p class="ph5">THESE PAGES ARE DEDICATED,</p> -<p class="ph6">AS A</p> -<p class="ph4">SLIGHT TESTIMONY</p> -<p class="ph6">TO THE</p> -<p class="ph5"><span class="smcap">Unvarying Friendship borne by him for the author</span> -</p> - - - - -<p class="ph2">PREFACE.</p> - - -<p>In offering this volume to the Public, the result of a year's -experience and labor, I must indeed feel gratified, and more than -rewarded, if any of those who may peruse its pages shall find in them -a tithe of the pleasure which I enjoyed in journeying in and about the -nooks, crannies, and curious places, of what may be justly called the -greatest and most populous City of the Modern World.</p> - -<p>Believing that a Metropolis of Three and a Half Millions of people -should be observed and described, if observed and described at all, in -a large and comprehensive sense, in order that a thorough knowledge -of it may be obtained by those who will do me the honor of turning -the leaves of this book, I have not hesitated to take my readers -into places which they might shrink from visiting alone, and which -are rarely or ever seen by the stranger, in London. Therefore have I -sketched its Haunts of Vice, Misery, and Crime, as well as its fairer -and brighter aspects, with no faltering in my purpose, so that the -American people might see London as I saw it, and as it exists To-Day.</p> - -<p>The material employed in making the book was gathered from personal -observation, while acting as a Special Correspondent of the New York -<i>World</i>, in London, and I cannot do less than make an acknowledgment of -the kindness of its Editor, Mr. Manton Marble, by whose permission I -have used some portions of the matter embodied in this work.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 55%;">DANIEL JOSEPH KIRWAN.</span></p> - -<p style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Hartford</span>, August 1st, 1870.<br /> -</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus03.jpg" alt="" /></p> - -<ol style="margin-left: 5em;"> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus01">One More Unfortunate</a></span> Frontispiece</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus02">Grand Staircase, Buckingham Palace</a></span>—Illuminated Title-Page.</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus05">Bird's-Eye View of London,</a></span></li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap01">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus06">The London Stone</a></span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus07">Thank you, Sir</a></span>,</li> -<li><a href="#tail01"><span class="smcap">The Rock and Chain</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> -<li> <span class="smcap"><a href="#icap02">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> -<li> <a href="#tail02"><span class="smcap">Sword</span>, &c., Tail Piece,</a></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus08">Entrance to Docks</a></span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus09">I Don't Think it Will Hurt me</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap04"><span class="smcap">Forest</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> -<li> <span class="smcap"><a href="#illus10">Buckingham Palace</a></span> (Full Page,)</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus11">Portrait of Queen Victoria</a>,</span></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus12">John Brown Exercising the Queen</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail04"><span class="smcap">Fancy Sketch</span>, Tail Piece,</a></li> - <li><a href="#icap05"><span class="smcap">Lion on Guard</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus13">Purty Bill Showing us in</a></span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus14">Wont you Take Something?</a></span></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus15">Snake Swallowing</a></span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus16"> "Bilking Bet takes the Chair</a></span>,"</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus17"> "Teddy the Kinchin's Song</a></span>,"</li> - <li><a href="#tail05"><span class="smcap">Explosive Materials</span>, Tail Piece,</a></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap06">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus18"> Cogers' Hall, Debating Club</a></span>,</li> - - <li><a href="#tail06"><span class="smcap">Snake in the Grass</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap07">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus19"> Conservative Club House</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus20"> Carlton Club House</a></span>, </li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus21"> Oxford and Cambridge Club House</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus22"> United Service Club House</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail07"><span class="smcap">Architectural Sketch</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap08">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus23"> Westminster Abbey</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus24"> Shakespeare's Tomb</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus25"> Tomb of Milton</a></span>,</li> - - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus26"> Tomb of Mary Queen of Scots</a></span>, </li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus27"> Coronation Chair</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail08"><span class="smcap">Gauntleted Hand and Sword</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap09">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus28"> Victoria Theatre in the New Cut</a></span>, (Full Page,)</li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus29"> Rag Fair</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap10"><span class="smcap">A Cell Window</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus30">The Last Execution at Newgate</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail10"><span class="smcap">Fetters and Chain</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap11"><span class="smcap">Broken Wheel</span>, Initial Letter,</a></li> -<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus31">Doctors' Commons</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail11"><span class="smcap">Eagle and Snake</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap12">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus32">A Bohemian Carouse</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail12"><span class="smcap">A Water Scene</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus33">Tower of London</a></span> (Full Page,)</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap13">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus34">Traitors' Gate</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus35">The Crown Jewels</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus36">Imperial Orb, Ampulla and other Jewels</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus37">The State Salt-Cellars</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail13"><span class="smcap">Cannon</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap14">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus38">The Cadgers' Meal</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail14"><span class="smcap">Raft Timber</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap15"><span class="smcap">The Old Oak</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus39">Bathing in Hyde Park</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus40">The Labyrinth</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus41">The Crystal Palace</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail15"><span class="smcap">The Promenade</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap16"><span class="smcap">Fort and Water Scene</span>, Initial Letter,</a></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus42">Portrait of the Prince of Wales</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus43">Prince and Cabman</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail16"><span class="smcap">Broken Wagon and Dead Horse</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap17"><span class="smcap">Blood-Hounds in the Leash</span>, Initial Letter,</a></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus44">Portrait of Lady Mordaunt</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus45">Portrait of the Duke of Hamilton</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus46">Portrait of the Marquis of Waterford</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus47">Portrait of the Marquis of Hastings</a></span>,</li> - - - <li><a href="#icap18"><span class="smcap">Mounted Cannon</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus48">Houses of Parliament</a></span> (Full Page,)</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus49">Portrait of William Ewart Gladstone</a></span></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus50">The Legislative Bar-Maid</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus51">Portrait of John Bright</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail18"><span class="smcap">The Student</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap19">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li>"<span class="smcap"><a href="#illus52">Could you Make it a Tanner?</a></span>"</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus53">The Speaker of the House</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus54">First Lord of the Admiralty</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus55">Portrait of Robert E. Lowe</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus56">Gladstone Speaking in the House of Commons</a></span> (Full Page,)</li> - <li><a href="#tail19"><span class="smcap">Landscape</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap20">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus57">The Pocket-Book Game</a></span>,</li> - -<li> <a href="#tail20"><span class="smcap">Steam Frigate</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap21"><span class="smcap">A Broadside</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus58">The Sewer Hunter</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail21"><span class="smcap">Blood-Hound</span>, Tail Piece,</a></li> - <li><a href="#icap22"><span class="smcap">Island</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus59">Cats Receiving Rations</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus60">The Great Porter Tun</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap23">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus61">The Harvard Crew</a></span> (Full Page,)</li> - <li><a href="#tail23"><span class="smcap">Bridge</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap24">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus62">The Oxford Crew</a></span>, (Full Page,)</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus63">The University Race</a></span>, (Full Page,)</li> - <li><a href="#tail24"><span class="smcap">Beautiful Craft</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap25">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus64">Hospital Ship "Dreadnought,"</a></span></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus65">Jonathan Wild's Skeleton</a></span>,</li> - - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap26">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus66">Coke Peddler</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus67">Bum Boatman</a></span>,</li> - <li>"<span class="smcap"><a href="#illus68">I Gets it for Cigar Stumps</a></span>,"</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus69">Street Acrobats</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus70">Punch and Judy</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap27">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus71">Nelson's Monument</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail27"><span class="smcap">Damaged Tree</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap28">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus72">Nursery in the Foundling Hospital</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus73">Washing the Waifs</a></span>,</li> - - <li><a href="#tail28"><span class="smcap">Landscape</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap29">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus74">Breakfast Stall, Covent Garden Market</a></span> (Full Page,)</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus75">The Orange Market</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail29"><span class="smcap">Going to Market</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap30"><span class="smcap">Fancy Piece</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail30"><span class="smcap">Wild and Desolate</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap31">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> -<li><span class="smcap"> <a href="#illus76">Foreign Cafe in Coventry Street</a></span></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus77">Canteen of the Alhambra</a></span>,</li> - - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus78">The Old Sinner</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail31"><span class="smcap">Rough and Ready</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus79">In the Haymarket</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap33">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus80">St. Paul's Cathedral</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap34"><span class="smcap">Sharp-Shooter</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li>"<span class="smcap"><a href="#illus81">Beautiful Miss Neilson</a></span>,"</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus82">A Gin Public in the New Cut</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus83">A Gallery of the "Vic,"</a></span></li> - <li><a href="#tail34"><span class="smcap">Putting on Airs</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap35">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus84">An Auction at Billingsgate Fish Market</a></span>, (Full Page,)</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap36">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus85">Lincoln's Inn</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail36"><span class="smcap">Fancy Sketch</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - - <li><a href="#icap37"><span class="smcap">An English Oak</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus86">Bankers' Eating-House</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus87">The Bank of England</a></span>,</li> - <li>"<span class="smcap"><a href="#illus88">I Began to Perspire</a></span>,"</li> - <li><a href="#tail37"><span class="smcap">Carpet-Bag</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus89">London Bridge</a></span>, (Full Page,)</li> - <li><a href="#icap38"><span class="smcap">Forest Scene</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus90">Temple Bar, Fleet Street</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus91">The New Blackfriars Bridge</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail38"><span class="smcap">Bridge and Water Scene</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap39">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus92">Windsor Castle</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#tail39">Tail Piece</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap40">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus93">Loading the Prison Van</a></span>,</li> - - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus94">Detective Irving</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus95">Before the Lord Mayor</a></span>,</li> -<li> <a href="#icap41"><span class="smcap">Bible and Hand</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus96">Portrait of Spurgeon</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus97">Portrait of Father Ignatius</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus98">"Lothair" (Marquis of Bute,)</a></span></li> - <li><a href="#tail41"><span class="smcap">Ruins</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap42">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus99">"Scott's" in the Haymarket</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus100">The Midnight Mission</a></span>, (Full Page,)</li> - - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus101">"Skittles" and the Princess Mary</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus102">A Row in Cremorne</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#icap43"><span class="smcap">Sword and Purse</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus103">Portrait of "Mabel Grey,"</a></span></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus104">Portrait of "Anonyma,"</a></span></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus107">Portrait of "Baby Hamilton,"</a></span></li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus106">Mabel Grey at Home</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus105">Portrait of "Alice Gordon,"</a></span></li> - <li><a href="#icap44"><span class="smcap">Snake and Dove</span>, Initial Letter</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus108">A Meal at a Cheap Lodging House</a></span>, (Full Page,)</li> -<li> "<span class="smcap"><a href="#illus109">Damnable Jack</a></span>,"</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus110">Statue of George Peabody</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#tail44">Tail Piece</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap45">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus111">Old "Smudge," the Cabby</a></span>,</li> - - <li>"<span class="smcap"><a href="#illus112">A Hansom Cab</a></span>,"</li> - <li>"<span class="smcap"><a href="#illus113">One Hundred Rats in Nine Minutes</a></span>,"</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus114">The Rat-Catcher</a></span>,</li> - <li>"<span class="smcap"><a href="#illus115">Paddy's Goose</a></span>,"</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus116">Waiting for the Tide</a></span>,</li> - <li><a href="#tail45"><span class="smcap">Ruins</span>, Tail Piece</a>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus124">"The Times" Office</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus125">The Sub-Editors' Room, "Daily Telegraph" Office</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus118">Portrait of James Anthony Froude</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus119">Portrait of Algernon Charles Swinburne</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus120">Portrait of John Stewart Mill</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus121">Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus117">Portrait of John Ruskin</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus122">Portrait of Charles Kingsley</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus123">Portrait of Anthony Trollope</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#tail46">Tail Piece</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#icap47">Initial Letter</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus126">Half-Penny Soup House</a></span>, (Full Page,)</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus127">A Pawn-Broker's Shop</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus128">A Third Class Railway Carriage</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#tail47">Tail Piece</a></span>,</li> - <li><span class="smcap"><a href="#illus129">Map of London</a></span>,</li> -</ol> - - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus04.jpg" alt="" /> </p> - - -<table summary="toc" width="60%"> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">View from the Cupola of St. Paul's Cathedral—Population of London—Its -Wealth and Poverty—Interesting Statistics, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_17">17</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE SILENT HIGHWAY. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The Thames Embankment—The Tunnel—The Subway—Tunnel Thieves—Pneumatic -Railway, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_24">24</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE DOCKS, SHIPPING, AND COMMERCE. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Custom-House Duties—Immense Wine Vaults under the Docks—Hoisting -and Discharging Cargoes—London and West India Docks—Opposition -to the New Dock System—Dock Laborers, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_28">28</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">PALACES OF LONDON. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">St. James—Whitehall—Buckingham Palace—Magnificence of the Queen's -Residence—The Grand Staircase—Queen's Library—The Famous <i>John -Brown</i>, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_42">42</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">HIDDEN DEPTHS. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Underground Life—A Friendly Visit among Thieves and Pick-Pockets—The -Midnight Feast, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">DEBATING CLUBS AND COGERS' HALL. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Society of Cogers—The Most Worthy Grand—News of the Week—Interesting -Debates—Irish Orator and Scotch Presbyterian—Liberals and -Conservatives—"Where are we now?"—Farce and Tragedy, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_76">76</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Aristocratic Members—Entrance and Subscription Fees—How Managed -and Supported—Architectural Splendor—Choice Wines and Luxurious -Dinners—Interesting Statistics—A Model Kitchen—Heavy Swell -Club, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_92">92</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">WESTMINSTER ABBEY. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Its Dimensions and Architectural Construction—Its Wealth and Immense -Revenues—The Burial-Place of the Kings and Queens—Magnificence of -their Tombs—Tomb of Shakespeare—Tomb of Milton—Tomb of Mary -Queen of Scots—Coronation of William the Conqueror—The Massacre, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE COSTERMONGERS AND RAG FAIR. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The New Cut—Heathenism of the Costers—Marriage Relation—Old -Clothes District—Petticoat Lane—Congress of Rags—Modus -Operandi of Selling, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128">128</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">FROM NEWGATE TO TYBURN. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Dying for an Idea—Execution of Barrett—Man in the Mask—Famous -Criminals—Pestiferous Prison—The Old Bailey Court—Hotel -Regulations—Drinking from St. Giles' Bowl, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_145">145</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">DOCTORS' COMMONS. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Marriage Licenses—Divorces—Ecclesiastical Court—High Court of -Admiralty—Paying the Piper—Legal Scoundrelism—The Last Will and -Testaments of Shakespeare, Milton, and of Napoleon Bonaparte—The -Forgotten Sailor, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_159">159</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE BOHEMIANS OF LONDON. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Carlisle Arms—A Pint of Cooper—Cockerell's Lodgings—Fitz and Dawson, -or the Radical and Conservative Reporter—The Short Hand -Reporter—Dawson's Story—A Song from the Speaker—Beautiful Potato, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_167">167</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">TOWER, PALACE, AND PRISON. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Its History and Dimensions—Council Chamber—Jolly Bishops and Royal -Prisoners—The Traitor's Gate—Anne Boleyn—Princess Elizabeth—Heroism -of Lady Jane Grey upon the Scaffold—The Crown Jewels—What -can be seen for a Sixpence, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_183">183</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">CADGERS OF LONDON BRIDGE. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Under the Arches—Vagrancy and Pauperism—The Family Gathering—The -Cadger's Meal—A Confirmed Vagrant—The Girl Molly—The -Hopeful Son—The Cadger's Story, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_207">207</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE LUNGS OF LONDON. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Regent's and Hyde Parks—Dimensions of the Public Parks and Gardens—What -they Contain—Bathing in Hyde Park—Richmond Park with its -Forests and Hunting Grounds—Hampton Court Park—Its Labyrinth—The -Crystal Palace—Veteran Musicians—Greenwich Park—Grand Observatory, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_216">216</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE RAKES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Vagabonds in Kingly Robes—Prince of Wales and his Personal -Friends—The Prince and the London Brewer as Firemen—Lord Carington -as a Coachman—His Cowardly Assault upon Greenville Murray—The Prince -and Cabman—Infamy of the Prince—A Mad King, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_226">226</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">FAST YOUNG ENGLAND. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Lord Carington—Lady Mordaunt, Divorce Proceedings, and Interesting -Testimony—Love Letters of the Prince—Duke of Hamilton—The Fastest -Young Man in England—The Marquis of Waterford—Marquis of Hastings—Duke -of Newcastle—Earl of Jersey—Lord Clinton and others, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_240">240</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">LORDS AND COMMONS. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Westminster Palace and Houses of Parliament—Interior of the House of -Commons—Bobbies and Cabbies—Strangers' Gallery—The Legislative -Bar-Maid—William Ewart Gladstone—England's Greatest Commoner -John Bright, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_270">270</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">LORDS AND COMMONS CONTINUED. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Reporters' Gallery—Dr. Johnson taking Notes—The Speaker and his -Wig—Important Personages—First Lord of the Admiralty—Peers in the -Gallery—Gladstone's Early Life—The Eloquence of the Premier—The -Sarcasm of Disraeli—Ducal Houses—Upper House of Parliament—Privileges -of the Peers, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_285">285</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">LONDON POLICE AND DETECTIVES. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The Old Jewry—Central Detective's Office—Relics of Crimes—Inspector -Bailey—Experience of Mr. Funnell—The Pocket-Book Game—New -York a Precious bad Place—Police Districts—Expenses Attending -them—River Thieves, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_318">318</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">HUNTING THE SEWERS. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The City Honey-Combed—2,000 Miles of Sewerage—An Unlawful and -Dangerous Business—Prizes Found—The Hunter's Story—Great Battle -with the Rats—Victory at last, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_330">330</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">BACCHUS AND BEER. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The English a Great Beer-Drinking People—Amount of Exports—Barclay and -Perkins—A Princely Firm—Cats on Guard—The House of Hanbury, Buxton -& Co.—Great Porter Tun—Libraries in the Establishments—Quantities -of Beer used in London, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_337">337</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">HARVARD AGAINST OXFORD. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Police Arrangements—Thomas Hughes, M.P.—Dark Blue and Magenta—On -the Tow-Path—A Frightful Jam—Booths and Shows—Badges and -Rosettes—The Dear Old Flag, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_344">344</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">STRUGGLE AND VICTORY. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">On Board the Press Boat—The Harvard Crew—Loring's Condition—Simmons -the Pride of the Crew—The Oxford Crew—"Little Corpus," the -Coxswain—The Start—Harvard Leads—Burnham's bad Steering—Oxford's -Vengeance Stroke—The Last Desperate Struggle—Beaten by -Six Seconds—Fair Play and Courtesy, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_362">362</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">CURIOSITIES OF LONDON. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">"Domesday Book"—Oldest Books in England—Hospital Ship "Dreadnought"—A -Gaudy Show—The Queen's Stage-Coach—Jonathan Wild's -Skeleton—The Lord Mayor's State Coach—Installation of a London -Sheriff, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_382">382</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">STREET SIGHTS OF LONDON. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Street Hawkers—Venders of Old Boots and Shoes—The Dog Fancier—Bird -Sellers—Coke Peddlers—Bum Boatman—Stock in Trade—How Dick -gets his Porridge—"I Gets it for Cigar-Stumps"—Street Acrobats—Punch -and Judy Show, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_391">391</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND NATIONAL GALLERY. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Its Origin—Laying the Foundation—Reading Room—Departments of the -Museum—The Galleries and Saloons—The Three Libraries—What can -be seen—Nelson's Monument—Pictures and Works of Art in the National -Gallery—The Great Masters—Free to the Working People, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_410">410</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">NAKED AND NEEDY. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Infanticide—The Benevolent Captain—Foundling Hospital—Admission of -Children—Great Numbers Received—How they Dine—How they Sleep—Washing -the Waifs—Charitable Institutions—An Interesting Sight—Innumerable -Bequests, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_420">420</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">MARKETS AND FOOD. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Amount of Food Sold—Inspections—Metropolitan Cattle Market—New -Smithfield Market—Covent Garden Market—Hot Coffee Girl—Vegetable -Market—The Baked Potato Man—The Jews' Orange Market, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_435">435</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">SECRETS OF A RIVER. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Waterloo Bridge—The Pale-Faced Girl—Three O'clock in the -Morning—Weary of Life—A Leap from the Parapet—Fruitless -Attempt to Save—A Sad Sight—The Wages of Sin is Death, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_452">452</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Leicester Square—Foreign Cafe in Coventry Street—The Abode of Sir -Joshua Reynolds—The Residence of William Hogarth—Royal Alhambra -Palace—The Great Social Evil—"Wotten Wow"—In the Canteen—The -Old Sinner—The Tulip and the Daisy, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_461">461</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE "ARGYLE," "BARNES'" AND "CASINO." -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The Haymarket by Night—The Argyle Rooms—Fast Young Men—Paint -and Jewelry—Silks and Satins—Free and Easy—Barnes'—"Holborn -Casino"—A Magnificent Saloon—Good Night, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_476">476</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Its History and Dimensions—Destruction of Old St. Paul's—Annual -Revenues—Prices of Admission—Monuments to Nelson—Burial-Place of -Wellington—Nelson's Funeral—A Grand Sight—"I am the Resurrection -and the Life," -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_486">486</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">GOING TO THE PLAY. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Beautiful Miss Neilson—The Lord Chamberlain a Censor—Royal -Victoria Theatre—Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres—A -"Gin Public" in the New Cut—The Gallery of the "Vic"—The -Chorus of "Immensekoff," -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_493">493</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Profit on Fish—Oyster Boats—Number of Fishing Vessels—The Fish -Woman—The Old Style of Dress—Breakfast at Billingsgate—Capital -Invested—Immense Sales, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_508">508</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE INNS OF COURT. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Number of Students—Gray's Inn—The New Hall of Lincoln's -Inn—Parliament Chamber—How to become a Lawyer—Procuring -Admission—"Hall Dinners"—Cup of "Sack"—The Toast—Irish -Students, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_518">518</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">BANK OF ENGLAND AND THE MINT. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Its History—The Riots—Ledgers and Money-Bags—A Powerful -Corporation—Bankers' Eating-House—Great Panic of 1825—In -the Vaults—Making Sovereigns—Marking Room—How the Coin is -Tested—Celebrated Counterfeiters, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_526">526</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">BRIDGES OF LONDON. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">History of Old London Bridge—The Fire of 1632—Where Traitors' Heads -were Suspended—Temple Bar—Traffic of London Bridges—Southwark -and Waterloo Bridges—The New Blackfriars Bridge—Suspension -Bridges—Acrobatic Feats—Scott, the American Diver, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_547">547</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">WINDSOR CASTLE. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Great number of Apartments—The Round Tower—The Audience -Chamber—Throne Room—Visit to the Queen's Bedroom—An -Elegant Apartment, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_556">556</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The "Old Bailey"—Its Jurisdiction—The Lord Mayor's Court—The -Trial of a Young Forger—The Judges' Dinner—Loading the Prison -Van—The Mansion House—Detective Irving—The Forger Harwood—How -Justice is Administered, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_566">566</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">CANTERBURY AND ROME. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Churches and Sects—Bishop of London—Archbishop of -Canterbury—Spurgeon—"Apocalypse Cumming"—Church of -England—Father Ignatius—Roman Catholic Lords—Marquis of Bute, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_576">576</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">LEGION OF THE LOST. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The Great Parade Ground—"Scott's" in the Haymarket—Oysters in every -Style—Prostitutes and Abandoned Women—The Midnight Mission—Rev. -Baptist Noel—Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea—A Row at Cremorne—"Skittles" -and the Princess Mary of Cambridge, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_587">587</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">SCARLET WOMEN. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Goodwood Races—Men of the Turf—Swarms of People—The Barouche and -Four—Beauty of its Occupants—"Anonyma" and the Chestnut Mare—"Mabel -Grey" and "Baby Hamilton"—The Race for the Goodwood -Cup—The Itinerant Preacher—Mabel Grey at Home—"The Kitten"—Alice -Gordon, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_598">598</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">CHEAP LODGING HOUSES. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Eve of the Great Derby Race—Visit to Westminster—Lodging House of -Jack Scrag—<i>Four-Penny</i> Beds—Unpleasant Bed-Fellow—Attacking -the Enemy—A Lucky Escape—Crowded Buildings—Eminent -Philanthropists—Model Lodging Houses—Munificent Gifts—George -Peabody's Statue, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_615">615</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">A TRAMP IN THE BY-WAYS. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">"Old Smudge," the Cabby—A "Hansom" Cab—Rates of Fares—A Convivial -Pup—The Rat Pit—The Terrier "Skid"—The Match for £50—Skid -Slaughters a Hundred Rats in 8:40—Paddy's "Goose," or "The -White Swan"—Please Excuse me—Waiting for the Tide—Cured of the -Blues, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_626">626</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Work and Wages—Influence of London Journals—Management of the -Press—Circulation and Delivery of Papers—Celebrated Writers—James -Anthony Froude—Algernon Charles Swinburne—John Stewart -Mill—Benjamin Disraeli—John Ruskin—Charles Kingsley, Anthony -Trollope, and others, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_636">636</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII.</a> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="center">THE POOR OF LONDON. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Half-Penny Soup House—The Little Cast-aways and Waifs Provided -for—Visit to the Work-House of St Martin's—The Workers' Uniform—The -Old Pauper—Daily Rations—Schools—Trades—Struggles and Trials of -the London Poor—Pawn-Brokers' Shops—Third Class Railway Carriages, -</td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_655">655</a> -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus05.jpg" alt="" /> <a id="illus05" name="illus05"></a> -</p> - - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></p> - -<p class="center" >THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD.</p> - - -<p><span class="figleft"> <img src="images/icap01.jpg" alt="I" /> <a id="icap01" name="icap01"></a></span>N the civilized world perhaps such another sight cannot be witnessed, -as that which greets the eye from the great Cupola of St. Paul's, -when the view is taken on a bright summer morning, after daybreak has -settled on the leads and huge gilded cross of this, the most mighty of -English Cathedrals.</p> - -<p>I saw this vast expanse of brick, stone, and mortar, one delicious, but -hazy September morning, from the outer circle of the dome, and I shall -never forget that peopled metropolis which lay swarming below me like a -vast human hive.</p> - -<p>For a radius of ten miles, the roofs and spires of countless religious -edifices, dwelling-houses, banks, the tall cones of storied monuments, -the delicate tracery of a forest of slender masts, and the smoky -chimneys of innumerable breweries, manufactories, and gas-houses, met -my vision, which had already begun to weary long before any of the -individual characteristics of the British metropolis had segregated -themselves from the aggregate mass.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> - -<p>Directly before me, and almost at my feet, lay the turbid Thames, -winding in and out sinuously under bridges, and heaving from the labor -which the paddles of numerous steam craft impressed in its dirty yellow -bosom. These small steamers were of a black and red, mixed, color, and -it was only through a glass that I could discern where the two colors -met and divided. Passing under the huge stone bridges, their smoke -stacks seemed to break in two parts for an instant as they shot under -an arch of the huge spans of London or Waterloo Bridges; gracefully -as a gentleman bows to his partner in a quadrille, and then the black -funnels went back to their original erect but raking position with -great deliberation.</p> - -<p>I had secured an eyrie in the top of St. Paul's at an early hour with -the aid of a greasy half crown, which I had slipped to an old toothless -verger with his silver-tipped wand, and he readily gratified my wish -to allow me egress from the Whispering gallery which encircles the -interior dome of the Cathedral, to a point where, giddily, I might lean -out and look all over the great city.</p> - -<p>"It's as good as my place is worth, sir," said he, "to let you look -out here. A man who was a little light headed from drinking tumbled -from this window some years ago, and was broken to pieces on the cobble -stones below."</p> - -<p>The danger did not prevent me from looking long and greedily at the -splendid coup d'[oe]il.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus06.jpg" alt="stone" /> <a id="illus06" name="illus06"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE LONDON STONE.</p> - -<p>Far up the river to the left the queerly shaped toy turrets and massive -ramparts and quadrangles of the Tower broke through the morning haze -in shapely and artistic masses, and at the back of the green spot of -grass which surmounts Tower Hill, the square, solid, and substantial -looking Mint showed where Her Majesty's sworn servants were already -at work employed in making counterfeit presentments of her features -for circulation in trade and commerce. The Norman tower and flanking -buttresses of St. Saviour's, Southwark, next came in range, followed -by the long oval glass roof of the Eastern Railway Terminus, facing -Cannon street, where is erected London Stone, upon which Jack Cade sat -in triumph<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> before the dirty, noisy, rabble, which had followed his -fortunes; and now I can see Guy's Hospital with its hundred windows, -the Corinthian Royal Exchange in Cornhill, the massive Guildhall where -many a bloated Britisher has fed on the fat of the land; the Mansion -House in which the Lord Mayor occasionally does petty offenders the -honor of sentencing them to the Bridewell; and now the view enlarges -to the southward, and the eye takes in the fine Holborn Viaduct, -lately honored by the Queen's presence; Barclay and Perkin's massive -caravanserai for the brewing of beer, and the gray stones of St. -Sepulchre's where the passing bell is always tolled for the condemned -Newgate prisoner just before execution. The square, gray blocks of -this fortress of crime gloom in an unpitying way below me, and there -now is the court yard of Christ's Hospital with the gowned and bare -headed school lads at their morning game of foot ball, and their -shouts peal upward, even up as high as the dome of St. Paul's, like -the chimes of merry music. The great piles of Somerset house and the -Custom House frown down on the busy river, and the sound of the bell -of St. Clement Dane's in the Strand, striking six o'clock, mingles -with the mighty thunder whirr of the incoming train from Dover, which -dashes like a demon over the Charing Cross bridge and into its station. -Structure after structure rises on the retina, the Treasury Buildings -and Horse Guards in Parliament street, Marlborough House, the British -Museum, Buckingham Palace, the University College, the Nelson and York -Monuments, the splendid club houses in Pall Mall and St. James; Apsley -House and Hyde Park with its lakes of silvery water, Westminster Abbey, -the Clock and Victoria Towers surmounting the Parliament Houses which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> -overhang the Thames, Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop -of Canterbury, Chief Dignitary of the English State Church and Milbank -Penitentiary down in dusty Westminster, and by the way this prison with -its eight towers looks like a cruet stand and its towers certainly -represent the caster bottles. With its parterre of trees in the central -square, the quadrangles of Chelsea Hospital, and the dome of the Palm -House in Kensington Garden next come under inspection, and finally I -became weary in endeavoring to pierce the haze which the sun had broken -into annoying fragments, and failing to penetrate farther than Vauxhall -bridge, I give up the task and draw in my head after a last look at the -Catherine and West India docks, bewildered and confused by the very -immensity of wealth and population which is centered and aggregated -below, under and in the shadow of St. Paul's, the Mother Church of -Great Britain.</p> -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus07.jpg" alt="tip" /> <a id="illus07" name="illus07"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "THANK YOU, SIR."</p> - -<p>The verger says with a weak and wheezy voice:</p> - -<p>"This is a werry great city, sir. They do say as how there's more nor -three millions of hooman beings in this 'ere metropolis, and how they -all gets a living is a blessed puzzle to me. I gets an occasional -sixpence, and Americans seem to be more generous than any other -visitors. Thank you, sir."</p> - -<p>London is a wonderful city in many ways. The year 1866 brought the -number of the inhabitants to the total of 3,186,000.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> This is a -population larger than that of Pekin, and as large and a half as that -of London's great rival, Paris. It has a greater number of edifices -devoted to religious worship than the Eternal City, Rome. Its commerce -exceeds that of New York, Glasgow, Cork, Havre, and Bremen in gross. -It sends abroad missionaries of all known sects, to convert the -heathen and blackamoor, and for them and their wives there is a larger -amount of money collected in London than could by any possibility be -subscribed in all the other great cities of the world combined for a -like purpose. It numbers among its population more prostitutes and -unfortunate females than Paris, there being according to a calculation -made by a former bishop of Oxford, 30,000 of this wretched class, -alone, who are strictly professionals.</p> - -<p>London has work houses to accommodate 150,000 paupers under the -parochial system, for which the residents or freeholders of every -parish in the metropolitan district are taxed at an annual rate of -fourteen pounds ten shillings per pauper, and yet men, women, and -children die of starvation, weekly, in the slums of St. Giles, Saffron -Hill, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch.</p> - -<p>For a penny the young thief or abandoned street girl can listen to -hoarse fiddling, obscene jests, and the lowest of low slang songs at -some penny "gaff" in Whitechapel, and on a benefit night at Covent -Garden, or the Haymarket, the man who is known in society will have to -pay twenty-five or thirty shillings or from six to ten dollars to hear -the musical warblings of a Patti or a Nillson.</p> - -<p>There are one hundred and three hospitals in London in which all the -complaints, frailties, and mishaps of poor human nature are supposed -to be provided for, and yet it will be much easier for a camel to -pass through the eye of a needle, or a rich man to get a free pass -into paradise, than that a poor wretch without friends or influence -should be able to find a bed in an hospital, unless he can succeed by -a miracle in dodging the sentinels which red tape has placed at every -entrance to these vaunted institutions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> - -<p>Down in the quiet and aristocratic dwellings of Pimlico, you shall find -such ladies as "Nelly Holmes," or "Skittles," and in St. John's Wood a -"Mabel Gray," and in a delicious villa at Fulham, a "Formosa," spending -in one night's Corinthian revelry the yearly salary of a bank clerk, -or hazarding at a game of cards the life-time pittance of a sewing -woman. And with these painted women shall be found night after night -the curled darlings of the Pall Mall clubs, some of them mere youths -who bear names as old as Magna Charta, and once as spotless perhaps as -those of Sidney or Hampden.</p> - -<p>At Blanchard's, in Regent street, you may dine for a pound upon the -choicest variety of dishes, cooked by a French <i>Chef</i>, who would scorn -a gift of the Order of the Garter were it given to him without the -proper culinary brevet to accompany it; and at a ham and beef shop in -Oxford street you may fill yourself to repletion, taking as a basis a -pork saveloy for a penny, a "penn'orth" of bread as a second layer, a -mutton-pie for "tuppence," a tart for a penny, and a pint of porter -for "tuppence," and then as a relish of a literary kind, you can look -at the great evening paper of London, the <i>Echo</i>, written in the most -scholarly English, without any fee. Or you can go down Camden Town way, -or up into Tottenham Court Road and get a kidney pie for two pence, or -an eel stew for two-pence half penny, with a dry bun for a penny, and a -good glass of Bass's ale for three half pence. And then you can go to -Morley's or the Langham Hotel and pick your teeth and no one will be -the wiser.</p> - -<p>For other amusements there is the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's -Park, with the amusing elephant, the comic kangaroo, the graceful -hippopotamus, the sleepy alligator, a band of music, lots of very -pretty English girls, a score of impudent waiters in the restaurant to -give you cold dishes when you call for hot ones, and all these delights -may be enjoyed on six-penny days, and when you come out from the wild -beasts, if you be thirsty it will only cost you a half-penny for a -chair in the Regent's Park with its noble avenues of stately trees, and -the little old woman at the little old house which juts off the gate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -will hand you a bottle of cooling ginger beer, a popular Cockney drink, -for one penny.</p> - -<p>In the National Gallery, a magnificent structure which faces the -Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, one of the finest collections -of paintings in the world is hung. Here is the noble Turner Gallery, -bought for the nation and free to all for copying or inspection. Here -are Corregio's, Angelos', Titians, the masterpieces of Velasquez, -Murillo, Paul Veronese, the best things done by Etty, Landseer, -Stanfield, Wilkie, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and nearly all of that glorious -galaxy whose names have been painted too deeply in their grand -canvasses ever to efface. All this is free to the public, poor and rich -alike, but on Sunday, British piety bolts the lofty doors in their -hapless faces.</p> - -<p>The Londoners have the finest public parks in the world. The flower -beds in Hyde Park, Battersea Park, Victoria Park, Regent's Park, -Kensington Gardens, and the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, are wonderful -for their beauty and constant freshness, and in the Serpentine, a -clear stream in Hyde Park, there is no hindrance from bathing, though -the stream laves the margin of Piccadilly, one of the principal -thoroughfares of the city, where many of the richest and most powerful -of the nation have their mansions.</p> - -<p>This is London in brief. But a rapid and imperfect glance can be given -of the wonderful city in the opening chapter of this book, but it is -my purpose to give such details as I hope may instruct and amuse my -readers, in the chapters that shall follow.</p> - -<p class="center"><img src="images/tail01.jpg" alt="tail" /> <a id="tail01" name="tail01"></a></p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE SILENT HIGHWAY.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap02.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap02" name="icap02"></a></span>HE Thames, the great river of England, which enriches London with the -cargoes of its thousand ships, weekly, rises in the southeastern slopes -of the Cotswold Hills. For about twenty miles it belongs wholly to -Gloucestershire, when for a short distance it divides that county from -Wiltshire. It then separates Berkshire first from Oxfordshire, and then -from Buckinghamshire. It afterward divides the counties of Surrey and -Middlesex, and to its mouth those of Kent and Essex.</p> - -<p>It falls into the sea at the Nore, which is about one hundred and ten -miles nearly due east from the source, and about twice that distance -measured along the windings of the river.</p> - -<p>From having no sandbar at its mouth like the Mersey outside of -Liverpool, it is navigable for sea vessels to London bridge, a distance -of forty-five miles from the Nore, or nearly a fourth of its entire -length. The area of the basin drained by the Thames is estimated at -about six thousand five hundred miles.</p> - -<p>The progress of half a century has made wonderful changes in the river.</p> - -<p>Wharves have taken the place of trim gardens, and the dirty coal scow -is now found where the nobleman's state barge formerly anchored.</p> - -<p>No man, it is said, can count the national debt of England, but who can -give an adequate idea of the number of millions of tons that annually -pass through this highway?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> - -<p>The flow of land water through Teddington Weir is annually 800,000,000 -gallons. This is the main body of the river within the metropolitan -area, not counting the additions it receives from rain-falls and other -sources.</p> - -<p>Since the removal of the old London Bridge, the tide has been lower -upon an average. Shoals have been brought to light, before unknown, and -the result has been that nothing but a most constant and unremitting -dredging has enabled the Thames Conservancy Board to keep the river -navigable.</p> - -<p>It requires but a glance at Blackfriar's Bridge to determine how much -longer it will take to remove all the gravel from the bed of the river, -and leave the solid London clay as its bed.</p> - -<p>Every old bridge when removed leaves so many tons of gravel which -eventually finds its way to the mouth of the Thames, and there forms -shoals.</p> - -<p>The channel of the river thus deepened, becomes more and more brackish -every year, and it can be but a question of time, as to how and from -what source the inhabitants are to derive their water supply for -drinking purposes.</p> - -<p>At the East India Docks the tide falls fourteen inches lower than -formerly, and it is a fact that the low water at London Docks is lower -than the low water at Sheerness, sixty miles below.</p> - -<p>At present the tide at London Bridge has a rise of 18 feet. This river -at almost any tide can float the largest ships, being 33 feet in depth -at London Bridge.</p> - -<p>The river water when found at low tide near the city is much prized -for its power of self-purification, and is much in requisition for -sea voyages, for the reason that it contains so large a percentage of -organic matter.</p> - -<p>There are few or no fish to be found in the Thames in the neighborhood -of the city or below, owing to the impurities prevailing from drainage -and sewage. This fact is particularly to be noticed in the vicinity of -the town of Barking on the Thames, where is located the outfall for -all the sewage of dirty London. Formerly salmon were very plentiful at -the Nore, and the last one there caught sold at fifteen shillings per -pound.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Thames embankment, which was first proposed by Sir Christopher -Wren, the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral, is now almost completed. -This magnificent roadway, one of the finest in Europe, and which gives -the modern observer some conception of what the Appian Way or Via Sacra -were in the palmy day of ancient Rome, is fifty feet broad, and three -and a half feet above the highest high-water mark. The embankment, -which is constructed of Portland stone, and extends on the Surrey side -from Westminster to Vauxhall bridge, a distance of nearly a mile, and -on the Middlesex shore from Westminster to Blackfriar's bridge, a -distance of fully a mile. The embankment is lined on both sides with -trees which throw a pleasant shade under the summer sun, and serve to -protect the thousands of people of both sexes, who seek in the evening -a breath of fresh air always grateful to the tired and sweltering -citizen.</p> - -<p>At different points, on both sides of the river, the embankment has -magnificent stone terraces with stone stairs to enable wayfarers, -who seek transportation up and down the river, to get on and off the -numerous ferry boats that swarm and ply all over the Thames from -Richmond to Rotherhithe.</p> - -<p>A description of the Thames tunnel, now closed to the public, may -appropriately be included in this chapter. It was commenced by a -joint stock company in 1824, after designs by Sir Isambard Brunel. -Early in December, 1825, the first horizontal shaft was sunk. The -difficulties encountered in the construction of the great engineering -work can scarcely be overestimated. For a distance of five hundred and -forty-four feet all went well, but at this point the river burst into -the shaft, while the workmen were at labor, filling the excavation -entirely in fifteen minutes, but fortunately no lives were lost. With -great difficulty the water was pumped out and work resumed.</p> - -<p>After adding fifty-two feet to the original length of the shaft, the -turbid Thames again broke through.</p> - -<p>Six men by this accident were smothered in the rush of angry waters, -the remaining laborers escaping. Thrice again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> the river broke into the -succeeding excavations, and at length the tunnel was completed to the -Wapping side of the river.</p> - -<p>Here a shaft was sunk from the surface to meet it. In sinking this -shaft, three distinct lines of piles, showing the existence of wharves -below the present level of the Thames, were discovered.</p> - -<p>March 25, 1843, nineteen years after its commencement, this monument -of British stupidity and dogged obstinacy, the Tunnel, was opened to -the London public. As an investment it has never paid a dollar; as a -convenience it was a swindle on the general public, but for the wild -Arabs of London, and the lowest order of shameful women, it rivaled -the infamous Adelphi Arches as a rendezvous; calling into existence a -distinct class known as "Tunnel Thieves," who, conscious of the fact -that strangers would naturally visit this much lauded work, were always -waiting in secret hiding places to plunder the unsuspecting visitor of -his watch or valuables.</p> - -<p>To take the place of this absurd tunnel, a Thames Subway has been -devised, starting at Tower Hill, and continuing under the bed of the -river to a point near Blackfriar's Bridge. The Thames subway is in a -manner similar to the Pneumatic Railway. Shafts are sunk on either side -of the river, and vehicles constructed like a horse railway car, are -used to convey passengers to and fro under the river, for a fare of two -pence per head. These vehicles are lighted by lamps, and a conductor is -attached to each car. Powerful engines at either end furnish the force -which propels these underground vehicles.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail02.jpg" alt="tail" /> <a id="tail02" name="tail02"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE DOCKS, SHIPPING, AND COMMERCE OF THE PORT OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap03.jpg" alt="I" /> <a id="icap03" name="icap03"></a></span>F you leave King William Street just at the foot of London Bridge, and -turn to the left, you will find your way into a grouping of streets, -narrow and steep, a few only of which admit of carriage and horse -traffic.</p> - -<p>This is the region of the world-renowned London Docks, the basins which -hold the greatest commerce known to any city on the globe; a commerce -before which the ancient traffic of Tyre, Sidon, Carthage, and Sicily, -the granary of the ancient world, was as nothing.</p> - -<p>The lower stories of the houses in this district, which smell of tar, -resin, and other merchantable commodities, are let out as offices, and -the upper as warehouse floors; the pavement is narrow and the roads are -as bad as broken staves and long neglect can make them; dirty boys in -sailor's jackets play at leap frog over the street posts; legions of -wheelbarrows encumber the broader part of these thoroughfares; packing -cases stand at the doors of houses, and iron cranes and levers peep out -from the upper stories.</p> - -<p>No man, it has been said, could ever tell how much money lies hidden -away in the vaults of the Bank of England, and it is about as difficult -to count up the tons of produce which London exports and imports -annually.</p> - - - -<p>For instance, during one year, (1865), the number of car<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>goes entered -and cleared coastwise, (which besides British ports includes the shores -from the Elbe to Brest,) was 30,820, and their tonnage, 5,263,565.</p> - -<p>As many as fifty thousand ships of all classes enter and leave the -Thames in twelve months, or about seventy vessels per day, exclusive of -all the innumerable kinds of miscellaneous small craft.</p> - -<p>The entire French commercial navy consists of twelve thousand vessels, -an aggregate of perhaps one million seven hundred thousand tons, -a little more than a quarter of the number of ships and the same -percentage of tonnage that enters and leaves this world metropolis of -London.</p> - -<p>If the ships that move to and fro on the bosom of the Thames be -supposed to average one hundred and fifty feet in length one with -another, they would reach, placed stem and stern together, upward of -thirteen hundred miles, or nearly half way across the Atlantic.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">CUSTOM HOUSE DUTIES OF LONDON.</div> - -<p>The Custom House duties, with a very low tariff for the port of London, -during one year amounts to sixty-eight millions of dollars in gold, -and the declared real value of exports from London for the same time -amounted to one hundred and seventy millions of dollars in gold. The -declared real value of the imports registered at the huge granite -custom house on the Thames, for the port of London, for 1869, from -foreign and colonial ports, was four hundred millions of dollars in -gold, or as much as the total value of the real estate on New York -island in 1870.</p> - -<p>Englishmen are very fond of coffee it seems, for they imported thirty -million pounds of the fragrant berry in 1869. The choleric temper of -the people may find an explanation in the six million pounds of pepper -received in London. London also imported seven million gallons of rum, -although it is supposed to be the great beer drinking city of the -world. Eighty thousand gallons of gin, sixty million pounds of tea, -thirty-eight million pounds of tobacco, nine million six hundred and -fifty-seven thousand and thirty-four gallons of foreign wines, two -million cwts. of raw sugar, and two million seven hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> sixty-two -thousand two hundred and forty-eight gallons of brandy were imported in -1869. These articles of merchandise were all held in bond at the London -Custom House, and from these figures my readers may form some idea of -the magnitude of the commerce of this great city.</p> - -<p>Russia sent one thousand three hundred vessels and received three -hundred and ninety-one vessels, Sweden one thousand one hundred and -twenty-one vessels and received five hundred and twenty vessels, -France sent one thousand four hundred and sixteen vessels and received -one thousand three hundred and eighty-two vessels, Holland sent nine -hundred and twenty-four vessels and received seven hundred and fourteen -vessels, Cuba sent three hundred and twelve vessels and received -sixty-two vessels, United States sent four hundred and twelve vessels -and received three hundred and seventeen vessels, China sent two -hundred and eight vessels and received one hundred and thirty vessels -in 1869.</p> - -<p>I have not space here to enumerate all the petty nationalities, whose -merchants trade with London, but the above table, obtained from the -custom house authorities and therefore authentic, may serve to indicate -what the trade of London is, and the vast interests which gather there. -The United States does not figure so conspicuously as might be expected -here, the Alabamas and Floridas perhaps have something to do with the -paucity of American commerce with the commercial metropolis of England.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE COMMERCIAL AND LONDON DOCKS.</div> -<p>The most wonderful of all the London sights are the huge artificial -basins, bound in masses of masonry and known as the London Docks. -No other city in the world can boast of such magnificent artificial -basins, where millions of tons of shipping can be accommodated. It is -enough to make an American feel humiliated to pay a visit to these -wonderful docks, and to be forced to compare them with the rotten -wooden wharves which environ the great city of New York, and which are -honored with the title of docks.</p> - - - -<p>The principal docks of London are those which I give below with their -water areas, cost, and the number of vessels which they accommodate:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> - -<table summary="docks" width="80%"> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td class="tdb">WATER AREA. -</td> -<td class="tdb">LAND AREA. -</td> -<td >NO OF VESSELS<br /> ACC. -</td> -<td class="tdb">COST. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Commercial Docks, -</td> -<td>75 acres, -</td> -<td>150 acres, -</td> -<td> 200 -</td> -<td align="right">£610,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>London Docks, -</td> -<td>40 " -</td> -<td>100 " -</td> -<td> 320 -</td> -<td align="right">900,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>West India Docks, -</td> -<td>90 " -</td> -<td>295 " -</td> -<td>1104 -</td> -<td align="right">1,600,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>East India Docks, -</td> -<td>18 " -</td> -<td>31 " -</td> -<td> 112 -</td> -<td align="right">380,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>St. Catharine's Docks, -</td> -<td>15 " -</td> -<td>24 " -</td> -<td> 160 -</td> -<td align="right">2,252,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Surrey Docks and Canal, -</td> -<td>71 " -</td> -<td>40 " -</td> -<td> 300 -</td> -<td align="right">423,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Victoria Docks, -</td> -<td>90 " -</td> -<td>½ mile frontage, -</td> -<td> 400 -</td> -<td align="right">1,072,871 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Brentford Dock and Canal, -</td> -<td>90 miles long, -</td> -<td>16 acres, -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">2,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Regent's Canal, -</td> -<td>8½ miles long, -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td> 300 -</td> -<td> -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p>The Commercial Dock is chiefly used by vessels in the oil, corn, -timber, and tobacco trade; and there is floating space for fifty -thousand loads of lumber, and the warehouses afford storage for one -hundred and fifty thousand quarters of corn, while the yards of the -company will hold four million pieces of deals, and staves without -number. The lock in the South Commercial Dock is two hundred and -twenty feet long by forty-eight feet wide, with a depth of twenty-two -feet, and will admit vessels of twenty-six feet draught. Five -hundred thousand tons of shipping have been received here in a year, -representing about one thousand five hundred vessels of various tonnage.</p> - -<p>The London Docks extend from East Smithfield to Shadwell and have -twelve thousand four hundred and forty feet of wharf frontage, and are -intended principally for the reception of vessels laden with wines, -brandy, tobacco, and rice.</p> - -<p>There are forty warehouses for the storage of merchandise of every -description, convenient in arrangement, and magnificent in design and -execution. The cubical capacity of the warehouses is two hundred and -forty-nine thousand four hundred and thirty tons; two hundred and -thirty-one thousand one hundred and forty-seven for dry goods, and -eighteen thousand two hundred and eighty-three for wet goods.</p> - -<p>The tobacco house in these docks sends its very strong odor all over -the Thames, and it is as good as the flavor of a Havana cigar almost to -smell this huge warehouse as you pass by on the river in a steamboat. -This warehouse is the largest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> of its kind in the world, covering five -acres of ground, and is rented by the government at fourteen thousand -pounds a year of the company, for all the London Docks are owned by -stock companies, and this perhaps explains the economy displayed in -their construction, and their useful adaptability to the commerce of -London.</p> -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus08.jpg" alt="docks" /> <a id="illus08" name="illus08"></a></p> -<p class="caption">ENTRANCE TO DOCKS.</p> - -<p>The tobacco warehouse will contain twenty-four thousand hogsheads -of tobacco, each hogshead holding one thousand two hundred pounds, -the total capacity being equal to thirty thousand tons of general -merchandise.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE WINE VAULTS, AND "TASTING PERMITS."</div> - -<p>Under the London Docks are the finest vaults in the world, vast -catacombs of the precious vintages garnered from every famous vineyard -in the globe. The vaults in the London docks cover an area of eighteen -acres, and afford accommodation for eighty thousand pipes of wine. One -of the vaults alone is seven acres in extent, and the tea warehouses -will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> hold one hundred and twenty thousand chests of that fragrant herb.</p> - -<p>To go into these vast wine vaults is indeed a treat. It is like -entering a City of the dead, only that instead of the skeletons of -human beings piled on top of each other, you find an Aceldama of casks, -pipes, barrels, hogsheads, and butts, bonded and stored tier upon tier, -until the eye becomes wearied, and a man wonders how all those costly -vintages can ever be consumed.</p> - -<p>There is no difference between night and day in these dim deep recesses -under the London streets. The vaults are only separated from the bed of -the Thames by a thick wall, and at noonday, gas has to be turned on to -light the way to the enormous storehouses of wine and brandy. Passes -are granted by the companies and the owners of liquors on bond, called -"tasting permits," which gives the privilege to the visitor to ask an -attendant for a sample of any wine, or wines and liquors that he may -choose to taste.</p> - -<p>Armed with one of these permits I visited the London docks one day with -a friend, and we penetrated the gloomy cavern's entrance, and finally -found our way to a part of the vaults where were stored thousands of -pipes of the delicious golden brown vintage of Xeres de la Frontera.</p> - -<p>My friend was one of those wandering Americans you are always sure to -light upon abroad, who makes your acquaintance whether you like it or -not, and who cries out frantically whenever he sees a foreign flag.</p> - -<p>"By Gad—Sir, that flag is all good enough in its way—but I <i>tell you</i> -it does not come up to our flag of beauty and glory—now I'll put it to -you—does it?"</p> - -<p>A grimy looking cellar man who smelled like an old claret bottle that -had long remained uncorked, wearing an apron and carrying a wooden -hammer for tapping, came to us and said, politely, on presentation of -our orders:</p> - -<p>"The horders are werry correct, sir. Would you like to try a little old -Sherry, sir, fine as a sovrin and sparkling as the sun?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, I don't care if I do take a little sherry—I don't think it will -hurt me—do you think it will?" said my friend.</p> - -<p>He then took about half a pint of fine golden sherry, and after taking -it he seemed all at once to discover a new beauty in the architecture -of the vaults, although he had condemned the place when he entered it, -as a "chilly, stinking hole, not fit for a dog, by Gad, sir."</p> - -<p>While he was delivering himself most eloquently on the merits of the -sherry, I had an opportunity to look about me and examine the place.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus09.jpg" alt="hurt" /> <a id="illus09" name="illus09"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "I DON'T THINK IT WILL HURT ME."</p> - -<p>Different parties were going from cask to cask, from hogshead to -hogshead, like my friend, trying each vintage, and tasting brandies, -and gins, and wines to their heart's content.</p> - - - -<p>I thought to myself, what a splendid boon these vaults would be to a -New York corner loafer, without restriction and with full liberty to -drink till he died like a soldier, contending to the last against the -enemy which deprives a man of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> brains. The attendants here never -object to the amount called for, and a tasting permit admits to all the -privileges.</p> - -<p>We were now standing in an arched alcove devoted exclusively to the -wines of Madeira, Teneriffe, and the Canary Islands. Some of these -huge casks held as many as seven hundred gallons, and the rich, old, -musty and fruity odors that came from them were truly revivifying to my -friend, who was loquacious under the influence of the sherry.</p> - -<p>"This ere sexshin is for the Madeery," said the bung starter. "Will you -try a little Madeery, sir?" said he.</p> - -<p>"Well I <i>don't</i> care if I <i>do</i> take a little Madeira—I don't think it -will hurt me. Now I put it to you this way—I don't think it will hurt -me if I am moderate?"</p> - -<p>He seemed to relish this heavy and fruity wine very much, and before he -left the alcove he had "tasted" a good deal of the Canary also smacking -his lips lusciously.</p> - -<p>There is considerable skill displayed in the building of the arches -of the range of vaults, and with the dim lights of the sperm lamps, -burning—as it is not deemed safe to have gas in the vaults where -spirits are stored—the vaults very much resemble the crypts under the -cloisters in Westminster Abbey, or the vaults under St. Paul's.</p> - -<p>The method for hoisting cargoes from the holds of ships to the grading, -which is level with the opening in the vaults is very perfect. The -opening in the wall of the basin or docks is eighteen feet high, and -large hogsheads can be hoisted and lowered at once into the vaults -instead of being temporarily deposited on the quay.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HOISTING AND DISCHARGING CARGOES.</div> -<p>In the old times before steam had been discovered and these magnificent -docks had been built, an East Indiaman of eight hundred tons took a -month to discharge her cargo, or if of one thousand two hundred tons, -six weeks were required for the labor, and their goods had to be taken -from Blackwall to London Bridge in lighters, when they were placed -on the quay exposed to dock rats and river thieves as goods are in -New York, where the private watchmen on the rotten wooden docks are -generally to be found in league with the thieves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<p>At St. Katharine's Docks the time occupied on an average in discharging -a vessel of three hundred tons is eight hours, and for one of six -hundred tons two days and a half. In one instance one thousand one -hundred casks of tallow were discharged in six hours, but of course -this was unusually rapid work. One of the cranes in the St. Katharine's -Docks cost about twenty-five thousand dollars, and will raise from -forty to sixty tons at a time.</p> - -<p>There is a wharf attached to the St. Katharine Docks, which Parliament -compelled the company to construct at a cost of nearly a million -of dollars, and the warehouses will contain one hundred and ten -thousand tons of goods and merchandise. The depth of water in the St. -Katharine's Docks is twenty-eight feet at spring tide, at dead tide -twenty-four feet, and at low water ten feet, so that vessels of eight -hundred tons register are docked and undocked without the slightest -difficulty. There is a water frontage and quays of one thousand five -hundred feet in the St. Katharine Docks. The wharfage of the London -Docks is one thousand two hundred and sixty feet in length and nine -hundred and sixty feet in breadth. The capital of the London Docks -company is about twenty-five million dollars in gold, and as many as -three thousand laborers are employed in the London Docks in a day.</p> - -<p>The walls surrounding the London Docks cost sixty-five thousand pounds -in construction, and all these walls are so high (nearly thirty feet,) -that they present an impregnable barrier to thieves and depredators.</p> - -<p>The receipts for one year in the London Docks were over three million -dollars, currency; the salaries and wages amounted to about one million -dollars, and the revenue customs paid about eleven hundred thousand -dollars. These figures show that the company is in a prosperous state, -and gives the municipal governments of our American Atlantic cities the -best reasons, when others which I have already enumerated are combined, -why New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, Savannah and Charleston, -should have stone docks to equal those of London and Liverpool in -magnitude and solidity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>Having made a lengthened inspection of the London Docks I turned to -leave and could not find my friend who had accompanied me. After some -difficulty I discovered him afar off at the other end of the vaults -discussing with the cellarman what liquor he was next to taste.</p> - -<p>"Yer honor might just taste a little of the Hennesey Brandy of 1832—it -is very fine and runs down like hile."</p> - -<p>"By Gad, sir, the very thing—now that you mention it I will try a -little, just a <i>leetle</i> Hennesey brandy. I'll put it to you in this -way—I don't think it can hurt me—and the cellarman says it's just -like oil. Now I recollect that oil never intoxicates. I will take just -the faintest tint."</p> - -<p>He did take the "faintest tint," perhaps a good sized glass-full, and -he became so jolly, and affectionate, and good natured, embracing me -and also the cellarman, that the latter personage had at last to call a -cab into which my friend was carried, and after being propped up he was -driven to his hotel. The cellarman said to me:</p> - -<p>"We've two agents as comes 'ere sober, bless 'em, and goes away drunk; -but they hurts nobody but themselves, bless them."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE WEST INDIA DOCKS.</div> - -<p>I went from the London Docks to the West India Docks, about a mile and -a half distant, at the Isle of Dogs, a small islet in the Thames near -Blackwall. These numerous basins and warehouses occupy three times -the space of the London Docks, or about two hundred and ninety-five -acres, with a canal three quarters of a mile in length as a feeder. The -Import Dock is five hundred and ten feet in length, and about the same -measurement in width. The Export Dock is about the same length and is -about four hundred feet wide. The docks and warehouse are enclosed by -a wall of masonry five feet thick, that seems as if it would endure as -long as the port of London is open to commerce and merchandise, and the -value of twenty millions of pounds is here stored by its owners.</p> - -<p>I gave an employee of the company a shilling to take me through, and he -was not at all backward in showing me the treasures under the care of -the company.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> - -<p>"These are the biggest docks in Lunnun, sir," said he: "say what they -will on the other docks. We will hold two hundred million tons of -merchandise here, sir, and we will not be crowded at all. Why, sir, -I've seen as much as two hundred thousand casks of sugar, five hundred -thousand bags of coffee, fifty thousand pipes of Jimaky rum, ten -thousand pipes of Madeery, twenty-five thousand tons of logwood, and -lots of other things here and we were not full.</p> - -<p>"I've seen an acre of 'ogsheads of tibaccy, eight feet high, and piles -of cinnamon, spices, pepper, indigo, salt pork, hides and leather, -Hindian corn, mahogany, and sich like, and no one of us, sir, ever -knows the walley of them, and I suppose Mr. Bright hiself would be more -nor puzzled to tell the walley, and I've heard as how he has got a -preshis head for figgers."</p> - -<p>Formerly when steamers employed paddle wheels as a means of locomotion, -the docks were very much crowded, but the use of the universal screw -has given much more space for berthways. There is, however, great risks -in these docks, of fire, from steam vessels, and I believe the rates -are much higher for steam craft than for sailing vessels. Small offices -and compact frame houses for the company's officers, revenue officers, -warehousemen, clerks, engineers, coopers and other petty attachees, -have been provided within the ground area of all these stone basins, -and everything connected with the docks is done in a systematic and -business like way that is truly wonderful. When I recollected that -less than fifty years ago London had no inclosed docks at all, and no -accommodation for shipping but a long and straggling line of private -quays, under the management of firms who had no public interests to -serve, (and in fact when the present system of docks was at first -proposed it met with almost universal opposition, particularly from -the interested parties,) I was amazed at the progress made in a half -century.</p> - -<p>There is not such a city in the world, perhaps, for the number of -corporations, guilds, societies, and titled people, who derive and did -derive emolument and income, of one kind or another, from these private -quay and wharfage receipts.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">OPPOSITION TO THE NEW DOCK SYSTEM.</div> - -<p>Therefore when the citizens of London became thoroughly awakened to the -possibility of substituting for these rotten old timber wharves and -tumble down old stone piers, a thorough, efficient, and lasting system -of dockage, the interested people began to clamor most hideously about -their "vested rights." These two words have always stood in England as -a safeguard to protect some oppressive or corporate interest.</p> - -<p>The "Tackle House" and City Porter Companies complained that if the -import and export business were removed beyond the city limits, their -right to the exclusive privilege of unloading and delivering all -merchandise imported into the city would be worthless. The carmen who -enjoyed a similar privilege and monopoly made the same complaint, and -they stated that Christ's Hospital, an institution much revered by all -Londoners, derived an income of four thousand pounds a year from the -licenses under which they held their monopoly; the watermen, who were -then numbered by thousands, foretold that the establishment of docks -would deprive one half of their number of bread; the lightermen stated -that they had a capital of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds -invested in tackle and craft, employed to transport merchandise, which -capital would be annihilated if ships were allowed to discharge their -cargoes on quays within docks; the proprietors of the "legal quays" as -they were called, and the "sufferance wharves," or wharves which held -no legal title, all prophesied that the trade of London would be ruined -at once if the new system of docks was established.</p> - -<p>However these people differed in some details of their grievances, they -all concurred in stating that unloading ships in closed docks would be -more expensive than discharging them into lighters in the river.</p> - -<p>On the other hand the advocates of the new system estimated on paper -that the unloading of five hundred hogsheads of sugar from a vessel -could be done in the new docks for about three hundred and fifty -dollars of American money less than under the old lighterage and open -quay system, to say nothing of the greater safety of the property thus -enclosed in dock walls.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> - -<p>Finally, Parliament passed an act creating the new docks and granting a -compensation of four hundred and eighty-six thousand and eighty-seven -pounds to the proprietors of the legal quays in addition to the sum -of one hundred and thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-one -pounds which was paid to persons having "vested rights" in the mooring -claims on the river. Altogether the cost of the different London Docks, -including ground purchases, etc., was about thirty millions of dollars. -The West India Docks were the first opened in 1802, and the citizens of -London have, I am sure, no cause to regret the decision which gave them -the finest and safest system of wharfage in the world.</p> - -<p>The passenger traffic, by water, which transpires daily between London -and Continental cities and towns is incalculable. This of course does -not include the traffic almost as great between London and American and -Colonial ports.</p> - -<p>You can go from London to New York in a splendid stateroom with every -comfort and luxury at sea, for about one hundred and thirty dollars, or -you can take passage in a steerage, herding like a beast as best you -may for about forty dollars, by steam.</p> - -<p>I can safely recommend the Inman Line of Steamships which ply between -New York and Liverpool, as the best afloat, the most punctual and the -most comfortable. This line has nineteen fine steamers constantly -plying between Europe and America.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">RATES OF FARES AND DOCK LABORERS.</div> - -<p>From London to Cork the fare, first class, is about twenty-three -English shillings, and to Dublin twelve shillings. From London to -Edinburgh, first class, by sea, fifteen shillings. London to Calais, by -rail and sea, twenty-five shillings, to Havre, eleven shillings. London -to Ostend, Belgium, fifteen shillings; to Antwerp, twenty shillings; -to Hamburg, two pounds; to Rotterdam one pound; to Belfast, forty-five -shillings; to Dundee, twenty shillings. London to Malta twelve pounds; -to Maderia sixteen pounds sixteen shillings; to Oporto, eight pounds -eight shillings; to Marseilles, twelve pounds ten shillings; to Rio -Janeiro, thirty pounds; to St. Petersburg,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> six pounds six shillings; -to Glasgow, twelve shillings; to Liverpool, twenty shillings; to -Stockholm, eighty-four shillings; to Brussels, forty-eight shillings; -to Genoa, twelve pounds; Leghorn, fifteen pounds; Naples, eighteen -pounds; Christiana, Norway, eighty shillings, and Copenhagen, -sixty-three shillings.</p> - -<p>I give these fares as I believe it may be of some use to Americans, who -design to travel, to know the correct rates of Continental travel. It -is much pleasanter to travel to the continent by sea from London than -by rail, the accommodations are better, the views of the best. There -is no hurry, you may get your meals regularly, it is more healthful -and certainly much cheaper, as the above fares are all for first class -passages, and it is easy to obtain second or third class accommodations -for a very great deal less money.</p> - -<p>In concluding this chapter on the Port of London, I may say that it is -almost impossible to name a place for which passage cannot be obtained, -by sea from London, and vessels are leaving daily and hourly for their -various destinations, from the many wharves and docks that line the -Thames between London and Westminster bridges, a distance of two miles, -on the river.</p> - -<p>Thirty thousand men find employment, daily, as laborers, in the -London Docks. Men who have been reduced by want, misfortune, or by -drunkeness, find in these vast commercial reservoirs, a precarious -means of subsistence, earning from eighteen pence to two shillings a -day, half of which generally goes for beer, or potations of a heavier -and more spirituous kind. This kind of labor is unskilled, and has -for its propulsion mere manual strength, so that, when a man fails in -everything else, he may possibly succeed as a dock laborer. The public -houses frequented by the laborers are situated in the dark alleys and -crowded courts near the river, and all of them partake of the brutal, -low appearance which distinguishes the London coal heaver and dock -lifter.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">PALACES OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap04.jpg" alt="L" /> <a id="icap04" name="icap04"></a></span>ONDON is studded with palaces some of which were constructed by -Royalty itself—some of which were confiscated by royalty, and others -again were bought by royalty from the nobles of England, or from those -persons who had amassed great wealth.</p> - -<p>The Court of St. James is a household word among diplomats, and is -used as a threat by ambassadors at Vienna, or perhaps as a phrase -of mediation at Washington, St. Petersburg, or Paris, but generally -this name is used by belligerent envoys with threat and menace at -Constantinople, Athens, Honduras, or Lisbon. English statecraft and -diplomacy always tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, and an English -Cabinet never fails to measure the strength of a nation before trying -conclusions with it.</p> - -<p>Even the Sultan himself, and he is by common consent supposed to be a -very sick man, could pass the dirty looking pile of St. James palace at -the lower end of Pall Mall, near St. James street, without a tremor, -and the only signs of royalty or power are the bear skin caps and red -coats of a couple of guardsmen, who walk up and down with their muskets -at a support, in a most melancholy and bored manner before the gates.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ST. JAMES AND WHITEHALL.</div> - -<p>This is one of the chief residences of royalty in the metropolis. In -1532, his majesty by the Grace of God, King Henry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> the Eighth, cast his -eyes upon St. James Hospital, a place set apart for lepers, fourteen -of whom were residing there at the time, and being convinced of the -healthfulness of the situation, the inmates were driven forth, a small -pension given to each, and on the site of the hospital for physical -lepers, this moral leper erected what is now known as the palace of St. -James, for the reception of the unfortunate but giddy Anne Boleyn.</p> - -<p>During the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth the palace was deserted, but -with the advent of the Stuarts, St. James became a royal nursery.</p> - -<p>The ill-fated Charles the First had a passionate fondness for this -palace, and on the morning of his execution attended divine service in -the chapel which he had fitted up.</p> - -<p>After the restoration, James II furnished St. James at great expense; -and from this period St. James became with hardly an intermission the -abode of royalty. George the Second died here mumbling. George IV was -born, and passed much of his time here. As a royal residence it has -fallen away from its ancient splendor and is now only used on occasions -of state solemnity; yet it is one of the best planned palaces in Europe -for comfort, and possesses a fine gallery of paintings.</p> - -<p>Whitehall, or the palace that is known by that name, was formerly -called York House, and for three centuries before the time of Cardinal -Wolsey, was the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.</p> - -<p>After the death of Wolsey its name was changed to Whitehall, from a -large hall in the building painted entirely white. Wolsey fitted up the -palace in a style of grandeur never equaled, much less excelled by any -other subject of the English crown, and being occupied by the king on -the demise of Wolsey, it was called the King's Palace of Westminster.</p> - -<p>When Queen Elizabeth died it was refitted by King James, and -enlarged—but was destroyed by fire in 1619. Immediately after its -destruction James determined to rebuild it, and a portion of the -palace was completed at a cost of fifteen thousand pounds, but such -extravagance could not be allowed in those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> days, parliament refusing -to grant money to continue the building, and the fanatical monarch, -whose memory has survived because of his hatred of tobacco, was forced -to suspend operations for want of funds.</p> - -<p>The ceiling of the banqueting-room, a work of Rubens and for which he -was paid three thousand pounds, is said to be one of the finest efforts -of that most gifted artist's pencil.</p> - -<p>In the time of the Protector Cromwell, one of the rarest collections -of paintings ever made in the world, and of immense value—which had -been accumulated here by successive kings, was ordered to be sold -by Cromwell in accordance with the Puritan belief that to possess -paintings or statuary was conducive of image worship in the owner. -Charles the First was really a great admirer of works of art, and had -he lived he would no doubt have made Whitehall the finest palace of -Europe.</p> - -<p>Cromwell occupied Whitehall as a residence for his family after -the execution of King Charles I, for butcher as he was, and strict -republican as he pretended to be, he was not above enjoying the good -things of this life, and despite his cadaverous countenance he could -appreciate a soft bed and a tender piece of roast beef with the -jolliest of cavaliers.</p> - -<p>On the 10th of April, 1691, a fire broke out in the apartments of the -bad Duchess of Portsmouth who occupied a portion of Whitehall, (this -woman was a mistress of Charles II,) and in 1698 the entire structure -was consumed with the exception of the banqueting-hall, and nothing but -the walls were left standing.</p> - -<p>This hall was altered to a chapel by King George II, and since that -time has been used for that purpose, the clergyman always being a royal -chaplain. Over the door is a bust of the founder, and the brilliant -frescos of the ceiling pieces of Rubens are all that is left of the -once magnificent palace of Whitehall.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BUCKINGHAM PALACE.</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>The residence of the Queen, when in London, is generally supposed to be -Buckingham Palace, a long gloomy looking building in St. James Park, not a stones' -throw from the Marble Arch in Hyde Park or Westminster -Abbey. The same big flashy looking soldiers in red coats, and hideous -grenadier bearskins are to be seen marching up and down opposite this -palace gate just as they do about St. James Palace, or at the Horse -Guards in Parliament street.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus10.jpg" alt="palace" /> <a id="illus10" name="illus10"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> BUCKINGHAM PALACE.</p> - -<p>St. James Park is a pretty place with fine shady trees, and here in -the mall or wide walk of the park was played a century ago, and still -farther back in the days of paint, powder, and patches, and garden -masquerades, the game of "pell mell."</p> - -<p>Buckingham Palace, though much frequented by the Queen, and situated -pleasantly as far as appearances go, is not a healthy place of -residence at all. The Queen frequently has complained of its dampness, -she having often contracted bad colds there. This I have on the -authority of her former chaplain.</p> - -<p>George the IV had a Dutch predeliction for low ceilings, and as he -never lived on good terms with his wife, whom he used to call a Fat -Dutch Hog, no accommodations were made for Queen Caroline his spouse, -in Buckingham Palace.</p> - -<p>The palace was occupied by this monarch, for whom it was built, in -1825. This king was one of the most profligate of men and a roue—and -yet had the reputation of being the finest gentleman in Europe, but he -never spared man in his rage nor woman in his lust.</p> - -<p>John, Duke of Buckingham, lived in a house on the site of the palace, -in 1703, from which circumstance it has derived its name.</p> - -<p>I had special permission to visit this palace while the Queen was -absent on her summer tour in Scotland; it being a great favor to be -admitted, and it was only by great perseverance and difficulty that I -obtained entrance to the royal abode.</p> - -<p>One bright morning I called about ten o'clock, and after presenting my -order of admittance was allowed to enter.</p> - -<p>I was bewildered by its sumptuous magnificence. Fancy a noble hall -surrounded with a double row of marble columns, every one composed of a -single piece of veined Carrara marble, with gilded bases and capitals; -the <i>tout ensemble</i> being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> a splendid perspective of over one hundred -and fifty feet. The steps of the grand staircase are also of the purest -marble. The Library, Council room, and Sculpture gallery are all most -beautifully decorated.</p> -<div class="sidenote">QUEEN'S LIBRARY.</div> -<p>The Library is used for a waiting room for deputations, which as soon -as the Queen is ready to receive them pass across the Sculpture Gallery -into the hall, and thence ascend by the Grand Stairway, through the -Ante-Room and the Green Drawing-room to the Throne room. The Library -and adjoining rooms are fitted up in a most gaudy fashion, there -being a sad want of taste displayed, either by her Majesty or her -upholsterer, but by which I am not able to say.</p> - -<p>The Sculpture Gallery contains the busts of leading statesmen of all -countries, and chief among them I noticed one of Prince Albert, the -late husband of the Queen, mounted on a fine pedestal. Busts of all the -members of the royal family, male and female, are also here. That of -the Princess Louisa is a charming, innocent looking English face; she -is said to be deeply in love with a rich Catholic nobleman of the Duke -of Norfolk's family.</p> - -<p>The Picture Gallery has fine skylights so as to throw a shaded light -on the works of art below, and here are to be found the master pieces -of the Dutch and Flemish schools, gems of Reynolds, Watteau, Titian, -Albert Durer, Rembrandt, Teniers, Ostade, Cuyps, Wouvermans, and -others, formerly the collection in great part of George IV.</p> - -<p>The Yellow Drawing room, a superb apartment, has a series of paintings -in panels of the royal family, there being full length pictures of -Queen Victoria, looking very fat, with the crown upon her head, and -Prince Albert in his costume of Knight of the Garter, a dress which -is supremely ridiculous in these days when none but priests and -academicians wear such drapery.</p> - - - -<p>The Throne Room is a gaudy looking apartment, very large and spacious, -and like all the rooms in Buckingham palace having a very low ceiling, -the prevailing decoration being curtains of striped satin, and the -alcoves are hung in rich crimson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> velvet relieved or rather bedizened -with an nearly obscured gilding. William IV, the sailor king, hated -this palace for its ugliness and discomfort, and this all the more that -he was used to sleeping in a hammock aboard his own frigate.</p> - -<p>The Marble Arch, an immense pile of stone now at the corner of -Piccadilly and Hyde Park, formerly occupied the central position in -this building, and was erected in its present position at a cost of -thirty-one thousand pounds.</p> - -<p>When the present Queen had her first child the palace was found so -uncomfortable that she had to have the nursery removed to the attic, -and there, while the royal child was getting its teeth cut, the Lord -Chamberlain of England, who had charge of the improvements, was boiling -glue and making French polish in the basement, so that altogether the -queen of the greatest nation of the earth, subsequent to her honeymoon, -was no better housed than a poor family in New York, dwelling in a -respectable tenement house.</p> - -<p>Parliament, however, was kind enough to grant the sum of one hundred -and fifty thousand pounds to alter and repair the building, and -accordingly the palace was made habitable for her Majesty.</p> - -<p>The Ball Room is one hundred and thirty-nine feet in length. The -Supper Room is seventy-six by sixty feet—with a promenade gallery -one hundred and nine feet in length, and twenty-one feet wide. There -is a riding school attached, with a mews or stable for horses; here -the state carriages and coaches are kept at an expense, for flunkies, -grooms, masters of the horse, stable boys, feed for horses and labor, -of thirty-six thousand pounds, or over two hundred thousand dollars -annually.</p> - -<p>I was allowed as a great favor to inspect the Queen's library, which -is very handsomely fitted up, and wherever the eye rested for a moment -it was sure to find a picture or bust of Prince Albert. There were a -number of small tables of inlaid ivory, mother of pearl, and gold, -covered with handsomely bound volumes of Shakespeare and other English -poets. I also saw a finely bound copy of the Memoirs of the Queen, -which it is supposed was written by her Majesty. This is a mistake, -how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>ever, as the entire book was written by a secretary of hers from -some scanty notes provided by her, and from personal recollections. -The Queen was nine months dictating the work before its publication. -The Queen was in the habit of sitting four hours a day giving these -reminiscences of her husband, and during this time she always had a -glass of sherry and a biscuit by her side.</p> - -<p>Very little is known of her Majesty outside of the British Isles. -Almost every other female sovereign has publicity given to all her -secret actions, and her private life is discussed with great personal -freedom, in the cafes and clubs. A thousand stories have been set -afloat and circulated in regard to Madam Isabella, lately Queen of -Spain, and but a few of them are true. Rochefort in his papers, "The -Lantern" and the "Marsellaise," has not hesitated to pour columns of -abuse upon the head of the Empress Eugenie, a lady whose principal -fault is a fondness for low necked dresses.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus11.jpg" alt="queen" /> <a id="illus11" name="illus11"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN.</p> - -<p>Two women have hitherto escaped this kind of slander, and these two are -the Empress of Austria and Queen Victoria. The reason is palpable in -the case of the Empress of Austria; she is an imperial lady to discuss -whose private life it would be dangerous if done on Austrian territory.</p> - -<p>In regard to the Queen of England, the reason why silence is kept in -relation to her private life is because of a sneaking regard for the -manners, customs, and good opinions of titled individuals among most -American travelers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>The Queen has been a good wife and mother, but in these two qualities -she is more than equaled by thousands of American women. She is no -better and no worse than the average married woman; has her faults, her -weaknesses, and her good qualities, and it is among her own people that -her failings find their loudest trumpeters.</p> - -<p>In honestly dealing with these stories I shall not stop to give the -gross yarns which are spun by the Jenkinses of the press, who make what -they call an honest penny by chronicling all the loose street scandal -that is poured into their ears.</p> - -<p>The London Times, the leading paper of England, has on several -occasions soundly berated the Queen for her continued seclusion from -the public, her exalted position being, it is said, her only excuse, -and subsequent to the death of Prince Albert this seclusion was -continued so long that the shopkeepers and tradesmen who profit by the -receptions, festivals, and gaieties of the court, were loud in their -complaints of what they deemed to be an overstrained and extravagant -grief.</p> - -<p>Several leading modistes or dress makers were obliged to give up -business, owing to the Queen having closed her drawing rooms; murmuring -loudly that they had been ruined by her Majesty, as their principal -business was to make dresses for the ladies of rank who have nothing -else to do but go to balls, parties, and drawing-room receptions when -invited. Indeed for the past three years there has been a growing -dissatisfaction with her Majesty, and sad stories are told of that -royal lady in the English capital—chiefly the shopkeepers were -enraged—although this class of people are usually the most loyal—then -the Fenian affair came and was added as fuel to the general discontent.</p> - -<p>But the worst remains to be told, and it is with no feeling of pleasure -that I am compelled to lift the veil.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">QUEEN'S SECLUSION.</div> - -<p>The story is everywhere prevalent that the seclusion of the Queen is -owing to her fondness for liquor; this statement has never been openly -promulgated in the papers, but is continually hinted at obscurely in -the more liberal organs. It is boldly spoken of by private individuals -that the temper of her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> Majesty has of late years become very irascible -and is sometimes ungovernable, and the cause is attributed to drink and -its consequent delirium which has seized upon this unfortunate lady.</p> - -<p>I was told by a clergyman who had it direct from the wife of a -former chaplain of her Majesty, that the Queen was in the habit of -drinking half a pint of raw liquor per day. The effects of these -liberal potations are making visible havoc in her once comely face. I -saw her thrice, and her inflamed face and swollen eyes gave her all -the appearance of an inebriate. Perhaps the trouble caused by her -scapegrace of a son, the Prince of Wales, who, without doubt, is as -reckless a scamp as ever existed, has had much to do with his mother's -present condition, and has driven her to drinking.</p> - -<p>It is also notorious that the Queen has chosen for her body servant one -John Brown, a raw boned, robust, and coarse Highlander, and clings to -him with more warmth and tenacity than becomes a lady who carried her -sorrow for a deceased husband previously to such an extravagant pitch.</p> - -<p>This John Brown whom I saw is over six feet in height, a powerful -looking fellow; but he has a face that would find favor in the eyes of -very few women. He was formerly a body servant of Prince Albert, and -was always an attendant on him in his hunting and fishing excursions. -The Queen took notice of him at Balmoral, her summer residence in -Scotland, and here she made a great pet of him.</p> - -<p>After the death of Prince Albert the Queen attached Brown to her -person, and ever since he has constantly attended her.</p> - -<p>It is the custom of the Queen to have herself pushed around the grounds -of her lodge at Balmoral in a perambulator or hand carriage when she -visits that charming spot.</p> - -<p>The person selected for this duty was the lucky John Brown. Day after -day he might be seen pushing around the spacious lawn, the Majesty of -England.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LUCKY JOHN BROWN.</div> - -<p>During her hours of idleness Brown is always allowed to converse -with the Queen in a familiar manner, and it is said pre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>sumes on her -gracious condescension more than her noblest subject would dare to do.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus12.jpg" alt="ercercise" /> <a id="illus12" name="illus12"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> JOHN BROWN EXERCISING THE QUEEN.</p> - -<p>When the Queen takes her seat in her perambulator it might often occur -that a servant would spring forward with a lowly reverence to assist -the royal lady, but in every instance the unfortunate flunkey would -receive a rebuking frown, and in a moment after might have to undergo -the mortification of a sneering laugh from Brown, who at this crisis -would make his appearance—strolling in a leisurely fashion toward the -perambulator, and stretching his long Celtic legs, his arms full of -warm wraps in which he proceeds to enfold the person of the Queen, with -as much seeming fondness as if he were the husband instead of the low -lackey of royalty, without polish and breeding; then in addition to the -silent rebuke of the Queen the offending servant would hear from Brown -some such remark as "I say my douce laddie, dinna ya offer yer sarvices -till her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> Majesty asks ya fur them. Dinna ye be sticking yer finger in -till anoother mun's haggis or ye moon be scalded."</p> - -<p>"That will do Brown," the Queen would say to prevent a scene which -would be sure to take place were Brown's violent temper not curbed -in time to prevent an explosion, for the tall Highland gillie is no -respecter of persons, and cares very little for royalty except in the -person of its chief representative.</p> - -<p>It is a current anecdote in the Pall Mall clubs, that the Queen's -cousin, the Duke of Cambridge, who is also the commander-in-chief of -the British Army, having one day desired an audience with the Queen of -a private nature, waited upon her at Buckingham Palace and presented -his card like any other private citizen. He was desired to wait, and -did so until he became tired, and finally he was admitted to the -presence, and was somewhat astonished to find the servant, John Brown, -in the room.</p> - -<p>The Duke being a member of the royal family did not hesitate to say to -her majesty in a respectful way:</p> - -<p>"Will your Majesty be so kind as to ask your footman to leave the -saloon, I desire to speak to you on a matter of importance, privately."</p> - -<p>"Very well, you may speak without intrusion," said the Queen, turning -her head slightly to the window where her servant stood with his back -turned coolly upon the Queen's cousin, "there is no one here but Brown, -he is very discreet."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A GOOD STORY.</div> - -<p>Finding that the Highlander could not be prevailed upon to leave the -room, the Duke made a virtue of necessity and proceeded to state the -purport of his visit. The Queen engaged in conversation with her -cousin, and some minutes having elapsed the conversation turned upon -different subjects. The Duke was relating a joke about the Clubs for -the edification of the Queen, in which a noble person was made to -assume a ridiculous position, when all at once he was interrupted -with a peal of coarse and irreverent laughter, which rang through the -apartments, and the Duke turning around with a thrill of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> horror and -astonishment, heard Brown scream out while he held his sides to contain -his mad mirth:</p> - -<p>"Oh! oh! What a d—d fule that fellow must have been."</p> - -<p>The Duke for a moment stood petrified with horror, an unpleasant tremor -ran down the small of his back, and then being seized with a sudden -idea, he took his hat and making a low reverence left the apartment as -the Queen said in an irritable tone:</p> - -<p>"Oh! never mind, it's only Brown."</p> - -<p>The story was too good to keep, and in a few days it was known all over -London.</p> - -<p>On the day that the Queen opened Blackfriars bridge she rode in a state -carriage with Brown behind her, and the act was so flagrant that when -the procession passed through the Strand, the Queen was openly hissed -by the people who stood on the sidewalks and saw the burly form of the -Scotsman in the carriage, so close to her Majesty.</p> - -<p>I leave facts to speak for themselves, there is no need of comment. The -great rival of Punch is a paper called the Tomahawk, published in Fleet -street, and which is edited with fearless ability. The chief artist is -a Matthew Morgan who excels all others of his craft in London for the -beauty and spirit of his cartoons. Well, one day the Tomahawk appeared -with a large two paged cartoon, in which the queen was pictured in her -perambulator, and the tall form of Brown behind pushing the vehicle, -while he leaned over the back and looked with an affectionate leer into -the face of the sovereign of England. There was no inscription at the -bottom of the picture, but it was so truthful and telling, that every -person who looked, saw the whole scandalous story at a glance. Three -editions of this number of the Tomahawk were sold in a few days, and in -the corner of the picture the daring artist did not hesitate to sign -his initials, "M.M." It is sufficient to state that no proceedings were -taken, nor was a suit of libel brought against the editors who publish -the paper.</p> - -<p>I have here only recounted facts well known in England, and I set them -down without malice or extenuation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> - -<p>The salary or income of Queen Victoria is, I believe, about five -thousand two hundred dollars a day, including Sundays, for which she -also receives her regular stipend. Like other sovereigns, she does not -toil or spin, yet the people must pay the bills all the same. Being -of a very economical and thrifty disposition, it is supposed that -her Majesty will leave a fortune of many millions of pounds to her -scapegrace son when she dies, that is to say, if he has common decency -enough too wait for her decease, and ceases to outrage her feelings to -much.</p> - -<p>Queen Victoria was born May 24th, 1819, and is consequently in her -fifty-second year.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail04.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail04" name="tail04"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></p> - -<p class="center">HIDDEN DEPTHS.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap05.jpg" alt="F" /> <a id="icap05" name="icap05"></a></span>INDING it necessary to have a companion with me who had a perfect -knowledge of the English Metropolis, I paid a visit to the headquarters -of the police in the Old Jewry, and procured from Inspector Bailey, the -Chief of Police, the aid of a detective to accompany me in my nightly -adventures. Shortly after midnight Sergeant Moss and myself passed -through Gracechurch into Fenchurch street, by towering warehouses, and -along Aldgate into High street, Whitechapel. Until we got well up into -Whitechapel we had not met more than three or four persons, and they -were principally individuals who had taken more ale or strong liquor -than was good for their equilibrium. One person, who was evidently -out of his latitude, accosted the detective and demanded of him, in a -menacing but rather ludicrous way:</p> - -<p>"I s'ay ole fel', whish ish Goodman's Feelsh? I wansh to go to -Somshseet sthreeths. Goodman's Feelsh, ole boy. Show we waysh and give -shixpensh, ole fel?"</p> - -<p>"Go along and turn off to your left, and when you get home eat an -onion, and it will do you good p'raps," said he, as he tried to dodge -the drunken fellow, who seemed well dressed, and had some jewelry on -his person.</p> - -<p>"Eesh an onionsh. Sir, yer a gentlesmansh—ole boy. Blesh you. Blesh -you," and he staggered away into the darkness, rolling like a yawl-boat -in the breakers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> - -<p>We turned off the Whitechapel road into Baker street, up Charles into -Wellington street. The neighborhood was a poor desolate one, and every -building, and every stone in the street, with the offal in the gutters, -spoke of poverty and wretchedness.</p> - -<p>Now and then a policeman spoke to us and looked sharply at me, but -always they seemed civil and obliging.</p> - -<p>The district we were now traversing was a kind of debatable land -between Whitechapel and Bethnal Green. The streets, or rather lanes, -ran across and along at angles and in circles of a perfect maze tending -to confound ways that were well calculated to puzzle a stranger.</p> - -<p>The lanes were, with few exceptions, not more than two or three hundred -feet long, and the odor from the cellars and lodging houses was -miasmatic. Shouts and yells and curses came from drunken male brutes -who passed us, and now and then a wretched looking outcast of a woman, -hideous with filth and bloated with gin, stole like a shadow from some -of the low public houses that were, in accordance with the beer-house -act, putting up their shutters.</p> - -<p>A woman passed us with a stone bottle in one hand and a herring in the -other, while we stood looking up and down the narrow street. Her eyes -were bloodshot and her face seamed with dissipation and wretchedness, -while she grasped the stone bottle hard, and seemed ready to defend her -precious property with her life.</p> - -<p>"Wot have you got there," said my companion seizing the stone jug and -holding it to his nose. The woman was almost frenzied at this attempt, -as she believed it was, to deprive her of what was far dearer to her -than her life. "Give me back my gin!" she screamed, and dashed forward -like a tigress to claw his eyes out. The sergeant seemed satisfied, and -handed her back the stone vessel with a motion of disgust.</p> - -<p>"That'll do, ole lady," said he, "I'd rather you'd drink that White -Satan nor me. I pitys yer precious witles, that's hall, when you drinks -it. Where do you live?"</p> - -<div class="sidenote">AN EXPLORATION.</div> - -<p>"I live's in 'Purty Bill's lodgin.' I'll show it to you for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> brown. -Come along." We followed her for a short distance, and now and then, -as we passed the doorways and courts, some low blackguard would vent -a little of his vile or rough humor upon our devoted heads, merely to -keep his intellect in play.</p> - -<p>"I say, ye pair of duffers, give us tuppence to get a pot o' beer, wont -ye; come here, and I'll cash yer check hif you 'ave no small change," -said a cut-throat looking rascal of large build who was lying across a -door that seemed to open into the earth somewhere. He half rose; fell -back on the broken cavern door stupefied with liquor, and began to -snore like a wild beast gorged with blood.</p> - -<p>"This is an awful district, sir," said the detective. "They doesn't -stand on ceremony with you here."</p> - -<p>We passed further down the dark street, and a very dark street it was. -The atmosphere was very different from that which hung over London -Bridge. The air was noisome, and the collected offal in the gutters -sent up a frightful stench to the heavens. At the end of the street -was a cul de sac, and before we came to it my conductor stopped at a -passage, dim under the midnight sky, which ran back for some distance; -I could not tell how far, owing to the darkness.</p> - -<p>We passed into the court, which seemed to yawn wider as one progressed, -between three-storied, tumble-down, dirty brick buildings, and finally -we found ourselves in a yard about a hundred feet square, from the -opposite side of whose buildings clothes lines depended covered with -canvass jackets, ragged highlows, aprons, and two or three sou'westers, -beside a lot of female articles of under-linen. There were barrows, -hand carts, small jackass carts and baskets, with a few empty barrels -piled up in a confused mass in the corner of the yard. Cabbage leaves, -bones of fish and animals, potato skins—the remains of carniverous -appetites—were strewed all round.</p> - -<p>The detective had by this time lit a lantern which he had concealed -in his breast, and thus I was enabled to look around me. He said, -"This is a rum spot; but never mind, it's safe enough. Now dy'e see -that cellar—that's where we are a goin' to spend an hour or two. Come -along."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> - -<p>He pointed in the direction of the cellar, or rather an opening in the -ground, at the further corner of the yard, from whose bowels issued -slanting streaks of light, shouts of laughter, and yells indicative of -mad revelry. Groping our way carefully over the heaps of rubbish, and -around the vehicles and barrels, we arrived at the cellar, which had -for an opening an aperture about six feet wide by five feet in length. -The broken wooden stairs leading to the bottom had some fifteen steps.</p> - -<p>We descended and found the door at the lowest step barring the -entrance. It was fastened, and had a dirty, impenetrable pane of glass -as a watchhole for the use of those inside, so that nothing could be -seen from the outside of the door. We gave the door a kick, and then -the shouting and laughing seemed to stop very suddenly, and there was a -hustling and running about inside which betokened preparation.</p> - -<p>A face appeared at the pane of glass, and, after a scrutiny of a minute -or two, the door went back on its hinges with a grating sound. A big -bullet-head protruded itself, and a voice said:</p> - -<p>"Who is that ere? Wot does you want, and who the d—l send you at this -time o' night a disturbin' of honest people in their comfortable beds?"</p> - -<p>"Bill, it's 'Faking Johnny' as wants to hold a few moments conversation -with you. The queen has just sent me with a patent of nobility for -you, from Buckingham Palace. You are to be made a barronnight right -hoff when you reforms," said the detective, in a jocular way, as he -descended into the cellar and faced the proprietor of the den, who held -a half-penny candle above his head to get a look at us both.</p> - -<p>The master of the mansion finally recognized my companion, but did not -seem at all well pleased with his visit.</p> - -<p>"Well," he said, in a very gruff voice, "is hit bizness or pleasure? -Vich? Kase, hif hits bizness you must 'elp yourself."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"PURTY BILL."</div> - -<p>"Oh, pleasure by all means, Purty Bill," said the sergeant, "myself -and friend here, who is a son of Henry Clay, as was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> President of the -United States of America, just wants to see how the fun is goin' on -to-night, and as I knew you kept a fust-class place, Bill, I thought -I would bring him around to see you. He has called on the Queen, Mr. -Bright, Mr. Gladstone, the Hemperor of the French, and he expressed a -great desire to see 'Purty Bill;' so here we are."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus13.jpg" alt="bill" /> <a id="illus13" name="illus13"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> PURTY BILL SHOWING US IN.</p> - -<p>The hideous vagabond seemed touched by this piece of insidious -flattery, and said in a modified tone:</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, that's fair enough. I don't hask hanything better. But ye -see I thought you might ha' wanted some of my lodgers, and so many of -them have been done for lately that they are getting suspicious of my -honesty, and I have to be careful. Come this way," and he held the -half-penny candle over his head, which gave me a chance to observe him. -The man was about six feet two inches in height, and much in form of -shoulders like an ox, with loins like a prize-fighter. The face was -pitted terribly with small-pox, his entire face was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> seared, and even -the corners of his eyebrows seemed eaten away by the awful disease. -Hence his name of "Purty Bill." His eyes were of a greenish blue, and -his attire was that of a costermonger; a smock of canvass, and knee -breeches and huge shoes, whose heavy nails made rapid incisions in the -clay floor of the long, dark passage through which we had to pass until -we came to still another door. This door was not a door; in fact it was -only a few planks strongly nailed together, and was not more than four -feet high, so that we were all compelled, as "Purty Bill" lifted the -latch, to put our feet in first, and making half circles of our bodies, -we entered, and after descending three or four flagged steps we were -at last in the cellar and establishment proper over which "Purty Bill" -claimed a proprietary interest.</p> - -<p>It was one of the strangest sights I ever saw—the interior of this -Wild Beast's Den. It was a huge cellar formerly used as a brewery, of -perhaps a hundred by seventy-five feet in dimension.</p> - -<p>The ceiling, or, rather, the rough, unplaned beams which supported -the roof above us, gave an appearance of great strength to the place. -There was a large fireplace in the center of the cellar, around which -fifty or sixty persons sat, of all ages and of both sexes. The floor -was of damp clay, smooth and trodden by the feet of countless thieves, -vagabonds, and prostitutes. The corners of the cellar were buried in -darkness, while the center of the cavern, near the fireplace, was -bright with the flames of a fire of logs, which threw a flickering -light on the wooden beams, the broken chairs and stools, the pewter -pots in the hands of the lodgers, and on many faces stained with dirt -and ploughed up with crime and misery. There were thirty or forty -berths roughly constructed as they are in the emigrant steerage of a -Liverpool packet, and a heap of dirty straw in each indicated that -they were used as beds by the occupants of the apartments. There was -a large black pot hanging from a big hook, which depended from the -brick chimney, and from this pot came a steaming odor of soup, or stew -of some kind. The majority of the lodgers were sitting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> on the bare -ground, which was dry and hardened near the fire, while at a distance -from its flame the ground was rather damp and the lodgers sat on broken -stools or on ragged pieces of matting, broken pieces of willow ware, -logs of wood, bundles of rags, or any other article, or articles, that -were convertible into seats for the time being.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"WONT YOU TAKE SOMETHING?"</div> - -<p>The room was lighted by four or five candles, which were stuck in glass -bottles, the bottles being fastened to the joists which supported the -berths in which the lodgers slept. The people nearest the fire had -fragments of food in their hands and were evidently preparing for a -grand midnight feast. Some of them were peeling potatoes, and one old -fellow with rheumy eyes had a piece of bacon of five or six pounds -weight between his crossed knees on a board, which he was cutting -into small square lumps, and as he hacked a piece off he threw it at -random into the large pot. A young girl was engaged in carving a huge -cabbage-head, and her assistant was scraping carrots and parsnips. -Every one seemed interested about the pot, and every one seemed to have -some contribution for the feast, which I found was a co-operative one.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus14.jpg" alt="take" /> <a id="illus14" name="illus14"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "WONT YOU TAKE SOMETHING?"</p> - -<p>"Purty Bill" bustled about and found two broken stools for myself and -conductor, and placed them near the fire, saying in a hospitable way:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Gent's, this ere night is werry wet, and you might as well dry -yourselves. Sit up nearer the fire. Won't ye take somethink?" and he -put his huge paws on the detectives knee in a friendly way. "This is -agoin to be a topper of a meal to-night, and all of us will welcome ye -gents to our 'umble board. So make yerselves at 'ome, and peck a bit -when it's biled."</p> - -<p>"Wot's the idea of getting up this cram at this time of the morning, -Bill? It's near two o'clock. Won't it interfere with yer lodgers' -precious digestion?"</p> - -<p>"Hinterfere with it? Wot, vith one of my lodgers? Rayther! No. Vy -there's Kicking Billy as heats six blessed meals a day, and then he's -all the time a lookin' for sangwiches and pigs trotters a-tween meals. -Urt their digestion hindeed? Vy they 'av got stomax like them ere -hanimals wot performs at Hastleys. You knows Slap-Up Peter. You used -to be a stone swallower in the purfession," and the proprietor touched -a man who was squatted on his haunches, smoking a dirty stump of clay -pipe, with his foot. Slap-Up Peter drew the pipe out of his mouth, -shook the ashes from it, dusted the venerable relic with a greasy red -handkerchief, carefully placed it in his breeches pocket, and said:</p> - -<p>"Vy don't ye keep yer big feet to yerself? Wot hanimals do you mean? Do -you mean cammomiles?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, them hanimals vith the 'umps on their hugly backs. You see, sir, -Slap-Up Peter has had a good eddycation in his time, and he knows the -names of the hanimals, 'cos he used to travel with the circus afore he -went on the tramp to swallow stones and snakes."</p> - -<p>"Peter," said the detective, "you must 'ave quite an 'istry. Could you -tell us somethink about your past life, my boy?"</p> - -<p>Slap-Up Peter had a melancholy face. The skin was tanned, the eyes -large, black, and bulging, and the nose like a hawk's. His clothes were -worn and greasy; his face was gaunt, and when he moved his body the -bones seemed to creak and grate as if they had been joined together by -metallic hinges. There was something mournful about the man—some queer -story attached to him, I felt.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">PETER AND JUDY.</div> - -<p>"Tell ye me 'istry, is it? Vell, I don't mind if I do; but them as -hears my story mout give me somethink to drink first, for I ham werry -dry. I lost my woice speaking on the Histablished Church bill tother -night in Parlymint, and I've been 'oarse hever since."</p> - -<p>"Well, take a drop, Peter," said Kicking Billy, a one-eyed and -one-legged, and rascally looking fellow, who sat with his crutches -between his knees, toasting his shin at the fire, and he handed a -bottle to Slap-Up Peter, who took it without saying a word, and lifting -it to his mouth, took a deep, deep draught without winking.</p> - -<p>"Look at that fellow that they call Kicking Billy—the one-legged -fellow, I mean," said the detective to me. "He's a returned burglar, -that fellow, and has served fourteen years. This place is full of -thieves. They are nearly all thieves, and this is a thieves feast," he -whispered in my ear.</p> - -<p>"My name is Peter Wilson, and I've been in the show business for -sixteen years, come Christmas, man and boy. I'm thirty-eight years of -age now, and they called me Slap-Up Peter when I fust began jumpin', as -a hacrobat in the penny gaffs. Cos wy, I had a way of turnin' myself -over a chair and coming back-handed on a somerset that used to take -well, but now so many does it that the haudience don't mind it a bit. I -jumped for four years, and wos counted pretty good in my line until I -dislocated my wrist a doin' of the Pyramids of Hegypt, and then I vos -laid hup and couldn't jump for six months and hover; so I thought I'd -leave the bus'ness and happear in another character. I got married to—"</p> - -<p>"More fool you," said Kicking Billy, sententiously, taking a drink.</p> - -<p>"Well, hit didn't cost you nothing, no more than it did for the -government to support you in Botany Bay for fourteen years. So you -needn't hinterrupt me again."</p> - -<p>"Go hon, Peter, and never mind him, its only 'is chaff."</p> - -<p>"Well, as I wos saying," continued Slap-Up Peter, "I got married, and -maybe it was rayther foolish, for when we were spliced, Judy and I—she -wos an Irish gal and a good worker—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>we went into our cash account and -found that we had only one pun six shillings and height pence, not a -blessed brown more. I said to Judy—she wor a good gal—</p> - -<p>"Judy, we can't keep 'ause on twenty-six shillings capital, that's -shure. That's all our fortune in silver and gold, and it won't last -long. So wot will we do?"</p> - -<p>"'Well, Peter,' said she, 'I didn't marry you for the dirty money; I -married you cos' you were sich a good jumper and hacrobat, and I'll -stick to you now when you can't jump any more;' for you see, Billy, my -wrist was two years afore it got well."</p> - -<p>"'Let us pad the hoof together,' said Judy, 'and we'll do the best we -can. Let us two work the southern counties and we'll get long French -or Hitalyan names, and we'll pick up a shillin here and there.' Cos -you see," said Peter, "Judy had been born and bred in Shoreditch, -and she knew all the wandering play-actors and showmen, and she wor -hup to all their affs. So I next came out as 'Signor Hokenfokos, the -fiery salamander of Naples, and my wife, the Baroness Padila, who had -to leave her country on account of the wiolent love vich the king's -son would persist in making hup to her, and she had to leave all her -property, to the amount of six millions, behind her.' This was a good -lay and we made from three to eight shillings a day down in Devonshire -and Cornwall, wherever we could get a crowd together. I used to swaller -hot iron bars, pokers, and red hot coals, and my wife used to play the -hurdy-gurdy while I was swallerin' the hot coals. I improved at this -werry much in two years, and then, after I had vorked the hot coals -out, Judy said to me one day:</p> - -<p>"'Peter, why don't you try and swaller snakes and swords? They are -better than coals, and not so dangerous.'"</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SNAKE SWALLOWING.</div> - -<p>"'Yes, but I don't know how,' I said, 'and I don't like snakes at all, -they are so precious slimy.' You see sir, even then I didn' know what -it was to get used to a thing. Well, I commenced to swallow knives at -first, and I had to oil them—that's the trick you see—with sweet oil -as good as I could find<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> at eighteen pence a pint, and I had to rub -this on with a piece of shammy cloth. This oil lets the knife down -easily, and when I wos well drilled there wos no danger at all—only -I had to be sober. My swallow was hawful bad with the hirritation for -two months, but I got over that; for when I felt my throat sore I took -sugar and lemon juice, and gorgled my throat and that took the soreness -away."</p> - -<p>"Tell us about the snakes, Peter," said Purty Bill. "That's a good -story, sir," to the author.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus15.jpg" alt="snake" /> <a id="illus15" name="illus15"></a></p> - -<p class="caption"> SNAKE SWALLOWING STORY.</p> - -<p>"Ah! that was the most unlikely thing I hever took to. It went aginst -my stomach hawful to swaller the snakes at first, and I don't believe -I'd ever have done it if it hadn't been for Judy, who said to me, when -I kicked agin it,—</p> - -<p>"'Wot difference does it make, Peter, whether you swallow red hot coals -or snakes? The snakes has their stings all taken out, and its nothing -more than swallowin' a sausage or pork saveloy.'"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, I went at it with a very bad 'art, and my old woman used to play -'Boney's March Across the Halps,' and the 'Death of Nelson,' whenever I -swallowed a snake. You see I generally took a snake about fourteen or -fifteen inches, or maybe a foot and a half long. The sting is out, you -know, and I takes the head and puts the snake in, and if he doesn't go -down why I pinches his tail, and then he rolls down the throat. It made -me sea-sick at first, and the people in Sussex thought I was the devil -out and out, and a good many hexamined my feet, which were in tights, -to see if I had cloven feet. A goodish lot of people thinks that the -snake goes entirely down the throat, but it stands to reason that the -snake is more frightened than the man, and he does not go down, and hif -he did he would be glad to come up, I can tell you."</p> - -<p>"Don't you put somethink in your throat," said a boy of fourteen, who -was known among the confraternity as 'Teddy the Kinchin;' "I mean, to -make the snake sick if he'd go too far."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SLAP-UP-PETER'S SONG.</div> - -<p>"No, that's no use at all; you see he doesn't go hall the way down. -He is afraid, is the snake, and if you cough he'll come up and draw -himself up and coil in a bunch in your mouth. But the duffers who pay -their money think that the snake is in your stomach. It stands to -reason that he'd get sick. It makes a man retch, and the first snake I -swallowed I threw up and had awful vomits, but the next one I rather -relished it, and it did me a sight o' good, like an oyster does after -ye 'ave been drinkin at night and take's tuppence worth of natives in -the morning. Well, when I began snake-swallowing it was rather new, and -I had it all my own way for a long time, but finally, lots of men began -to swallow snakes, and coal swallowing was not as good as it used to -be; so I took to ballad singing, Judy and I. By this time we had sixty -pounds saved, and we were doing well, but I made the acquaintance of a -lot of Doncaster men, who knew I had the money, and before I could say -'Jack Robinson,' the money was all gone. Judy was in her confinement -then, and she took on so bad about it that she died in child-bed, and -the kid as well, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> I've been on the tramp ever since, and now I do an -odd turn at anything that turns up, but mostly I sing ballads, and make -sometimes a shilling a day, and sometimes eightpence and ninepence a -day. Times have changed for me. Worse luck."</p> - -<p>Here the snake-swallower's story ended.</p> - -<p>"Slap-Up Peter, will you give us a song? and I'll give you a drink, me -oul wiper," said the crippled Kicking Billy to the snake-swallower.</p> - -<p>"Well, Billy, I don't mind if I do," said Slap-Up Peter, draining the -tin skillet to the last greasy drop.</p> - -<p>The thieves, loafers, and women gathered around the fire in a half -circle, and Purty Bill heaped logs very liberally, while Slap-Up Peter -chanted in a hoarse voice the song, an extract of which I give below, -as near as I remember it with my recollections of the scene, the -choking smoke, the blazing fire, and the band of outcasts and outlaws -in the den in Whitechapel:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Twas down in Whitechapel that once I used to dwell,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And of all the coves that knocked about, I was the greatest swell,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My highlows were the cheese, with breeches to the knees,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh, my toggery was quite correct—my coat was Irish frieze,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My togs from Bond street came, it's a nobby slap-up street,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In a fashionable locality—the swells the girls there meet;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nicol's my man for shirts, with his I cut a shine,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His shop's in far famed Regent street, he's a pal-o'-mine.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 9em;">Rum too-rul-um, Happy-go-Bill,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 10em;">Inyuns and greens who'll buy,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 9em;">Rum too-rul-um, Happy-go-Bill,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 10em;">Inyuns and greens who'll buy.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"That's a fine melojous voice of yours," said Purty Bill to the singer.</p> - -<p>"He's used to it," said one of the women.</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here's Spuds at Thrums a pound, they're prime 'uns as I've found,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh, I've Reds and Dukes and Flukes and Blues, I sells in going my round.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My greens are superfine, full blown and hearty are mine,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh, come make a deal with me, my dear; don't wait, you'll find 'em prime.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My inyuns now are new, you'll find what I says is true,</span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">In fact, the Queen, since these she's seen has cartloads just a few;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My carrots are long and red, you'll find they're well bred,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My vegetables are the cheese, bunch for you—penny-a-head.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 9em;">Rum too-rul-um, &c.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Now give us the last werse with all the 'armony," said Teddy the -Kinchin, in a piping voice.</p> - -<p>"I vill, vith moosh plesh-yar, as the Frenchman said," returned Slap-Up -Peter.</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jerry, my moke's a bird, of him perhaps you've heard,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He knows his way about, he does, to match him's quite absurd;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Just see him cock his eye when grub time's getting nigh,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He likes his feed, he does indeed, he lives on cabbage-pie.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Now any girl that's kind, and a husband wants to find,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I'm ready made and so's my trade, that's if I'm to her mind;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">So down to Whitechapel we'll trudge again to dwell,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And of all the coves that knock about I'll be the greatest swell.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 9em;">Rum too-rul-um, &c.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"That's wot I call a topper of a song. It's so werry sentimental that -it makes a gal peep. The lines are werry touchin'," said a young gal -of sixteen or seventeen years of age, who was not badly dressed nor -bad-looking, and who went by the name of "Bilking Bet." She was a -favorite, and several of them called upon her to sing. She had just the -same mock modesty, this young woman with the brassy face, as if she had -been a fashionable lady at the West End, with a jointure and a coach -and six.</p> - -<p>"Wot's that young gal's name, Bill," said the detective to the boss of -the thieves.</p> - -<p>He did not seem inclined to tell at first, but said sullenly, "you -don't want her do you? No? Well then that's 'Bilking Bet,' she used to -be a 'coster gal but now she's on the cross."</p> - -<p>"Oho!" said Serjeant Moss, "that's the gal as was hup before Mr. Knox -at Marlboro street the other morning for snatching a lady's purse in a -push."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Purty Bill, "but there was no proof aginst the gal. She was -brought out has hinnocent as the new-born baby. She wor."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE COSTER GAL.</div> - -<p>"Of course, Bill, you had that done and cooked. One of those nice -little halybi's as you halways 'ave ready just to suit your customers. -'Bilking Bet' was down in Wales a waitin upon her poor sick mother, who -was down with the scarlet fever, and not expected to live. My Heye? Eh, -Bill, one of your old tricks? But, I say, Bill, don't you get ketched, -cos its over the water to Charly with ye hif I ketch ye."</p> - -<p>This conversation was carried on in the corner of the room, from which -we could see that the group around the fire were preparing to hear a -song from "Bilking Bet," who cleared her throat twice with a pull at a -gin bottle—no glasses here to annoy a person—and began, in a mellow -and not unpleasing voice, the following slang song which is common -among the London costermongers, but is seldom heard among the thieves. -The song, no doubt, she owed to her early costermonger associations, -before she became a pickpocket. She was now one of the most expert in -London, and was the kept mistress of a well known burglar, who had, two -days before I saw her, broken open a tea shop in the Old Bailey, near -Ludgate Hill.</p> - -<p>The song was as follows:</p> - - -<p style="margin-left: 25%;">"THE COSTER' GAL."</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Some chaps they talk of damsels fine,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Being angels bright and fair,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But they should only see my girl,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She is beyond compare,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">She is the finest girl that's out,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Her name is Dinah Denny,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When you are out you'll hear her shout</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"New Walnuts, twelve a penny!"</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Chorus.</span>—S'help me never none so clever,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 7em;">As my Dinah Denny,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Can shout about, all round about</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 7em;">"New Walnuts, twelve a penny."</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Her voice is like a dove,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And bright is her black eye,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I think she does me truly love,</span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">She looks at me so sly.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">She sports the smartest side spring boots,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Eclipse her cannot many,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And shows feet small, while she does call</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"New Walnuts, twelve a penny."</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Chorus, &c.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rich noblemen may dress their wives</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In silk or satin dress,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But Dinah I like quite as well</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In her Manchester print, "Express,"</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We're going to be wed, and then</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If offspring we have many,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We'll be nuts on, and christen them</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"New Walnuts, twelve a penny."</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Chorus, &c.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus16.jpg" alt="chair" /> <a id="illus16" name="illus16"></a></p> -<p class="caption">"BILKING BET TAKES THE CHAIR."</p> - -<p>"Now I think that's werry neat and happropriate to the hoccasion," -said a cockney lodger who had successfully begged two-pence from the -detective to pay for his lodging, which he handed over to "Purty Bill" -as soon as he got the pennies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I moves we put Bilking Bet in the cheer? Wot dye say, gentlemen and -ladies hall, to the proposition?"</p> - -<p>"Hall right. Bet take the cheer and give us some of yer 'Ouse of -Commons."</p> - -<p>"Bilking Bet" was escorted to the middle of the group, placed standing -on a three-legged stool without any visible back, and assuming as -stately an air as she was capable of, the young girl, with the most -perfect sang froid, began:</p> - - - -<p>"Me lords and gentlemen, and likewise the ladies. Me noble pickpockets, -gonoffs, blokes, and pinchers. I am with you this hevening, for what -purpose, I hask? FOR WOT PURPOSE I HASK? Why, to be present at the -feast which takes place hannerally among the members of our noble -purfession—shall I say dignified purfession? No; I won't."</p> - -<p>"But ye have said it, Bet," said Kicking Billy.</p> - -<p>"Hear! hear! Shut up, will ye, and let the gal tork," said Slap-Up -Peter.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Bet, broken down in her attempt at a speech, "I move that -we have a song from 'Teddy the Kinchin.' Will he hoblige?"</p> - -<p>"He will! he will!" said a dozen voices.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG."</div> - -<p>"I am sorry, me blokes, that my woice is so werry much out of tune in -singing at Her Majesty's Hopera in the Haymarket, but howsumbever, as -I have given hup my hengagement at that 'ouse, I'll fake you a few -werses to show wot I wonce wos when I wos in woice," said this cheerful -young blackguard and thief, who had a pair of eyes like a ferret, and -could not have been more than seventeen years of age, as he stood there -dressed in the height of his idea of the fashion, with a flashy velvet -coat and satin scarf, showing a huge pin. He sang, after clearing his -throat with a long drink of gin, as follows:</p> - - -<p style="margin-left: 25%;">"TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG."</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I am a curious comical cove</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Everybody does own O,</span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, Cock-a-doodle-do!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I was born one day when father was out,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And mother she wasn't at home O,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, &c.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I went to school and played the fool,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">At learning was a shy man.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, &c.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The boys they used to hollo out,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"There goes a Simple Simon!"</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, &c.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh lor! oh my! I'm a Simple Simon,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh lor! oh my! cock-a-doodle-do!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where ere I go the folks they know,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And call me "Simple Simon;"</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, &c.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Haltogether, please," said the Kinchin.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus17.jpg" alt="song" /> <a id="illus17" name="illus17"></a></p> -<p class="caption">"TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG."</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I used to "kick" the cobbler out,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And rip up people's pockets,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, &c.</span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">And I was very fond of throwing stones</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And lumps of mud at coppers,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, &c.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But now I'm going to settle down,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Won't I cut a shine O,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, &c.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I'll marry a gal with lots of Tin,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And won't I spend her rhino,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Hey ricketty Barlow, &c.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 7em;">Oh lor! oh my! &c.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Now, once more, and a good haltogether please," and the young -pickpocket sat down amid thunders of applause from every one in the -cellar belonging to the band of thieves.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">TEDDY THE KINCHIN.</div> - -<p>The thieves stew was now declared ready for consumption by the <i>chef de -cuisine</i>, and as I at least felt no appetite for such a rich dish, we -left this underground den of infamy just as a few faint streaks of the -coming dawn began to gild the spire of St. Boldolph's ancient church.</p> - -<p>"That Purty Bill is one of the greatest scoundrels in London. He is a -fence, and we've got him once or twice, but he minds himself now, and -we are after his tricks every day. His cellar used to be a brewery, -that's why he's got so much room underground, and his game is to let -out lodgings, at two pence a night, for a blind, and then they can stay -all day at this place until twelve o'clock at night, and if they cannot -pay sure for the next night's lodging in advance, unless they are in -very good circumstances, he clubs them out, and they have got to pad -the hoof until daybreak, and sleep where they can. Good night." And we -parted for that twenty-four hours.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail05.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail05" name="tail05"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">DEBATING CLUBS AND COGERS'S HALL.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap06.jpg" alt="S" /> <a id="icap06" name="icap06"></a></span>SHOE lane hath a very unromantic sound for a locality. It does not -smell of the aristocracy. It hath not even a slight favor of the Landed -Gentry, and no one could possibly take the trouble to find armorial -bearings or hatchments for Shoe lane. Yet is Shoe lane a most eloquent -place, and there is a little old public house there deemed second only -in point of fame by the admirers of forensic eloquence who frequent it, -to the House of Commons.</p> - -<p>The way was long and dreary that Saturday night that I strolled from -Long Acre, whose carriage-shops and leather manufacturers' stalls were -all closed for the day; and the sultry London fog came down, blinding -the pedestrians, as I turned from Lincoln's-Inn-fields into the -better-lighted High Holborn, with the glare from its brassy gin-shops -and dirty-looking old houses, that seemed all of them as if a good -scouring would have done them an incalculable service in the way of a -fresher appearance. I thought that Shoe lane was in a very suspicious -neighborhood.</p> - -<p>Turning to the left through Farringdon Market, a huge square seemingly -devoted to the worship of highly odorous vegetables, I came into the -narrow Shoe lane, which runs down at its bottom to Fleet street, just -below where the gray stone arch of Temple bar bisects the Strand and -Fleet street. There is nothing particularly noticeable about this part -of Shoe lane.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SHOE LANE.</div> - -<p>There is a ham and beef shop, with its layers of cold meat-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>pies piled -on top of each other in the windows; and across the way there is the -inevitable gin-shop, with its polished brass fender outside to keep off -the boys who have no money to spend in gin, and there are the enticing -signs all over the gin-shop telling of the merits of the brown-stout -there vended, and the Burton ale and somebody's "entire" malt liquors -which the proprietor assures the public are only genuine at his shop.</p> - -<p>The lane is narrow here and not more than three or four men could pass -abreast, although there are sidewalks to the lane, or rather apologies -for sidewalks. This narrow lane is one of the few remaining relics of -old London. Below, at the foot of Shoe lane, runs Fleet street—one of -the busiest marts in the world, which is ever jammed and blocked with -drays, cabs, and vehicles of all descriptions crowding to and fro, in -sight of the mighty dome of St. Paul's; and under the pavement of that -street, so famous for its publications and shops, the old River Fleet -once ran in a dirty, hideous current, until it emptied its garnered -filth into the Thames.</p> - -<p>Here, opposite Shoe lane, one of the curious old conduits that formerly -supplied old London with water might have been seen about the time -of the wars of the Roses, when the English nobles were hard at work -cutting each other's throats and making and unmaking kings for the want -of something better to do. The cistern erected at the point where Shoe -lane intersects Fleet street, was counted one of the handsomest in -London. Stow—that quaint, old, musty chronicler—says:</p> - -<p>"Upon it was a fair tower of stone, garnished with the image of St. -Christopher on the top, and angels lower down, round about, with -sweetly sounding bells before them, whereupon, by an engine placed in -the tower, they, divers hours of the day and night, with hammers chimed -such a hymn as was appointed." Frolicsome Anne Boleyn, the first day -that she was queened, rode through Shoe lane on her way to the sacred -Abbey of Westminster to receive the gilded toy upon her fair forehead, -and pageantry and pomp met her at every step of her palfrey, in -Cornhill, Cheapside, Fleet street, and Shoe lane.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> - -<p>In those days the streets and lanes of London were narrow and -difficult, and the unfortunate queen that was to be might have touched -the over-hanging eaves and gables of the houses in her progress through -the city without leaving her saddle. The conduit in Shoe lane was -grandly gilded over to do her honor, and ran wine for the whole day. -At the base of the conduit a starvling poet sat reciting verses in her -honor as she and her newly made ruffian of a husband passed, and no -doubt this mediæval Mormon was highly pleased with the conceit. There -were towers and turrets erected to do her honor in Shoe lane, and in -one of these towers, according to the chronicler, "was such several -solemn instruments that seemed to be an heavenly noise, and was much -regarded and praised; and, besides this, the conduit ran wine, claret -and white, all the afternoon; so she, with all her company, rode forth -to Temple Bar, which was newly painted and repaired, where stood also -divers singing men and children, till she came to Westminster Hall, -which was richly hanged with cloths of Arras."</p> - -<p>While Prince Hal was splitting the skulls of fractious Frenchmen at -Agincourt and fording the passage of the Somme, Sir Robert Ferras de -Chastley held eight cottages in Shoe lane from his king. Here and there -was a garden peeping forth in its floral verdure; and here was also the -town residence of the Bishops of Bangor, powerful and pious prelates in -their day, God wot and odds bodkins; and as early as 1378 they held the -tenure by virtue of the patent of the forty-eighth of Edward the Third, -which says in most barbarous Latin: "<i>Unum messuag; unam placeam terræ, -unam gardinum cum aliis ædificis in Shoe Lane, London</i>."</p> - -<p>Times have changed since then in Shoe lane. A bishop of Bangor now, -with his train of lances, his men-at-arms, mitre, cross-bearer, and -torches, would be a sight indeed in Shoe lane. How that bright-eyed -bar-maid at the door of the Blue Pig would stare at his lordship! How -the greasy boy in the ham and beef shop would shout at the cope and -silks and velvet housings—taking them, perhaps, in an innocent way, -for a part of the Lord Mayor's show! And as for the conduit run<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>ning -Claret and Malmsley, the beer-swilling cockneys would not thank -headless Anne Boleyn for such washy foreign stuff. Their fancy could -only be fed by gin. A man-at-arms would be compelled now-a-days to wash -his throat with Bass's bitter beer or brown stout, instead of sack, -hippocras, or mead.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SOCIETY OF COGERS.</div> - -<p>At last we are in the neighborhood of "Cogers Hall"—the hall of the -Ancient and Honorable Society of Cogers. There is a gin-shop at the -front, with its low doorway and flaring signs. The windows are well -lit, and by the side of the bar is a long, narrow passage conducting -the visitor for twenty or thirty feet to a back room, about forty feet -long and twenty-five feet wide.</p> - -<p>Off the passage are a number of small waiting-rooms, noisy and smoky, -with the voices and vile pipes of the occupants. Four rows of tables -run along the room, in which are present fifty or sixty persons all -of the male sex. They are all decently dressed, for, although the -admission is free, yet is the visitor to the Cogers Hall expected to -drink or eat something, and the place, with its tariff of prices, -though moderate enough to an American, would not suit a costermonger or -laborer.</p> - -<p>The roof is arched and paneled, done in a feeble imitation of the -style of Sir Christopher Wren, who is popularly supposed to have -built everything in London after the great fire of 1666. A handsome -chandelier depends from an opening in the roof, and is ornamented -with a number of glass globes, which serve to light the apartment and -dissipate the thick clouds of smoke that constantly arise in the room.</p> - -<p>There is a large, gaudy sign in the hall, on which are printed these -cabalistic words: "Hot joints are served in this room from one until -five." At the farther end of the room, opposite the entrance, is a -paneling hollowed back in the wall, the entire room being paneled; and -this paneling is shaped like a door, and is gilded. A step from the -floor, in the paneling, is placed a chair of honor, which is occupied -by the Most Worthy Grand, as he is styled; or, in fact, the chairman -of the meeting. Those who are familiar with him go so far in their -irreverence as to call this awful personage "Me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> Grand," and whispers -have been heard that his name in reality is Tompkins or Noakes.</p> - -<p>Directly opposite this dignitary, at the other end of the room, is a -place in the paneling and a chair like to that which I have already -described, and this is occupied by a tall, lean man, with side whiskers -of a grayish pattern, who has the title of Vice Grand.</p> - -<p>But the Vice, or Worthy Wice, is of greatly inferior dignity to the -Most Worthy Grand. He is, so to speak, an empty ornament of the feast, -and his duties are simple, and confined to calling out in unison with -the assemblage, "Hear, hear," or "Good." "You are <span class="smcap">Right</span>," -when the Worthy Grand, in his oracular sentences, is most happy. -At other times, in a loud voice he will call the attention of the -waiters, who heartily detest him for his interference, to the fact that -some customer has drained his beer, or gin and hot water, and needs, -therefore, to be served afresh.</p> - -<p>Still this man is human, and will listen, when off his seat of duty, -to any scandal against the Most Worthy Grand with secret pleasure. In -fact, the Worthy Wice, inspired by a generous four-pence worth of gin -and hot water, told me aside, in conversation, that the Worthy Grand -was unfit for his high position. "He his han <span class="smcap">hass</span>, sir. He his -too Hold. And he 'as no woice watsomever, sir. Bah! <span class="smcap">that</span>, sir, -for Tompkins"—and the Worthy Wice snapped his fingers in an insane -manner at the air in which his potent imagination had conjured up the -semblance of the Worthy Grand. Sitting down at a table I followed the -custom of the place and called for something. On each table were placed -a couple of long-shanked clay pipes, and a thin-necked, big-paunched, -red-clay jar, which a man sitting near explained to my satisfaction.</p> - -<p>"You see," said he in a rather mysterious voice, "we 'aven't much ice -to speak of in England; leastways, it is too dear, and this 'ere red -clay 'as a peculiar wirtue—it keeps the water as cold as if it was in -the waults of Bow Church."</p> - - - -<p>This man was decently dressed, and was, I believe, a drover by -profession. He was very fleshy and very red in the face.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> - - <div class="sidenote">AT THE TABLES.</div> - -<p>Tissues of fat lay around his eyebrows in layers, and his double chin -was dewlapped like one of his own beeves. He had a heavy red hand, and -was, as I found out, a true Briton in every sense. I asked him why the -place was called Cogers Hall. To this conundrum he confessed himself -unable to answer, but after scratching his head the "Beefy One," as -I shall call him, made a sign for a waiter to come to the table. "I -say," said the Beefy One, "why do you call this place Cogers 'All?" The -waiter could not satisfy him, but said that he would call the Master. -Well, the Master came, a thin-faced, side-whiskered Englishman, with -watery blue eyes and trembling lip. The counterfeit presentment of -the Master hung over the Worthy Grand's chair of state, done in oil, -and it seemed as if the artist had endeavored, in accordance with the -spirit of the Cogers Hall, to give the face an oratorical, Gladstonian -expression, and the cloak was folded around the shoulders of the -Master as the toga is folded around the shoulders of Tully, in classic -pictures. Besides the picture of the Master, several other pictures -of Past Worthy Grands were hung as tokens of their former forensic -abilities. The Master, in answer to the question why the place was -called Cogers Hall, said:</p> - -<p>"Well, you see, we calls it Cogers Hall from the Latin -<i>ko-gee</i>-<span class="smcap">TO</span>—to cogitate, to think. Oh, yes, sir, we have -been a long time established, sir; since 1756, sir; a matter of a -hundred years or so, sir. You are han Hamerican, sir. Oh, yes, sir, -we've 'ad George Francis Train 'ere, sir, for many a night, sir; and 'e -spoke in that chair, sir; and when he was arrested, sir, in Ireland, -the Home Secretary as wos, sir, wrote to me to question me if he had -spoken treason, sir, or spoke agin the Queen, sir. Cos ye see, sir, -the principle of an Englishman, sir, is to allow every man liberty to -say wot he likes, sir, so long as he does not speak agin the Queen or -speaks treason. That's an Englishman's principle, sir."</p> - -<p>And George Francis Train had spoken in this very room! I could fancy -the feelings of poor Artemus Ward when he stood at the tomb of -Shakespeare at Stratford. These wooden chairs and benches were hallowed -in my eyes henceforward.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> Men had sat upon those chairs who had -listened to the fervid eloquence of a Train, and perhaps some of these -very men had survived. <i>Civis Americanus sum.</i></p> - -<p>As the night came on apace, the smoky, old-fashioned, paneled room -began to fill up, and before long nothing could be seen but rows of -men lining the small tables, puffing vigorously from the long clay -pipes, and at intervals taking deep draughts from the large, brightly -burnished metal pots, holding a pint each, or perhaps sipping fourpenny -glasses of hot gin and water. Along with the little jar of hot water -which the waiter brought on demand, were little saucers of sugar—these -little saucers never containing, by any chance, more than three lumps -of sugar, and each of these lumps being equalized in size with a -mathematical nicety. Some of the visitors, more hungry than others, -satisfied their longings with "Welsh Rabbits," at sixpence apiece; or, -when the rabbits had, in addition, two eggs cooked with them, the Welsh -rabbit was called a "Golden Buck," and the waiter, in his greasy tail -coat, raised his demand to eightpence.</p> - -<p>In a few minutes the Worthy Vice, a gray-bearded man with a meek face -and in shabby-genteel clothes, took his seat, and all the chairs in -the apartment were turned around by those who occupied them in order -that they might hear and see better. The Worthy Vice, who is sometimes -entered on the bills of the performance as a "Patriot" when he has to -take part in a discussion, read the minutes of the last meeting of -the Ancient and Honorable Society of Cogers, which were listened to -quietly, and then the attention of the audience was turned to the Most -Worthy Grand, who occupied the chair at the other end of the apartment. -This most noble Briton, in a quavering voice, having adjusted his -vest—which had a tendency to leave exposed the lower part of the -shirt-bosom at his stomach where his trousers bisected—opened the -proceedings with much solemnity, imitating by hems and haws, as well -as he could, the manners of the dullest and most common-place orators -of the House of Commons. His business as a specialty was to review the -events of the week.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">NEWS OF THE WEEK.</div> - -<p>"I don't think, gentlemen," said he, "that my task will be a very long -one this hevening in reviewing the hevents of the week. There, aw, -'asn't been much a-doing in furrin parts, ah, this week. There 'as been -'a row in Turkee again, and in, ah, fact we might say there is halways -a row in Turkee, more or less. There's a man in Hegipt whom we call the -Viceroy of that, ah, country, and when he, ah, wos here we gave 'im -fireworks and sich, and made a blessed time about him, as we might say -vulgarly, so to speak. Now, he has been a invitin' of all the sovrins -of Europe on his own hook to see him and his ryal family open the Sooz -Canal. Well, he has been, ah, spendin' sich a lot of money that the -Sultan comes out in a long letter and calls him a Cadivar, which is a -word that I can't understand, being neither Latin nor yet Greek.</p> - -<p>"Blessed hif I knowed that ye iver understood Greek or Lating, ither, -Jimmy," said an old man who sat observant of the reviewer in a corner, -drinking beer from a pewter pot.</p> - -<p>"I thank ye all the same, Mr. Wilkins, but I don't <i>like</i> to be -interrupted when I'm speaking," answered the Most Worthy Grand.</p> - -<p>"You're right, Me Grand. Horder! horder!" shouted several indignant -voices.</p> - -<p>"I wos goin' to say," continued the Grand, after taking a deep draught -of the porter which foamed in the pewter pot on the table before -him—"I wos goin' to say that the state of our neighbor, Fronse, just -hover the water, is now a spektikle for mankind. There's a great hadoo -about the Hemperor's 'elth; and I must say as how he is in a bad way -by all accounts. Nobody knows wot his disease is. It may be liver; it -may be kidneys. I might take the liberty of sayin', as a rule, kidneys -is bad. No one knows wot would be the consequences if the Hemperor was -to step out, wulgularly speakin'. It would p'r'aps be the cause of a -general war in Europe. Hengland doesn't want any more wars. We 'ave -'ad enough of them. They does no good for the workin' man. ('Hear! -hear!') We pays the piper when the dancin' is done; but we never dances -ourselves."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> - -<p>"True as the gospel, Jimmy," from a beer drinker.</p> - -<p>"Now, there's another question which we all 'ave heard of a good deal, -and that's the Halabama claims. They are in a precious muddle, to be -sure. They may be right and they may be wrong. But I must say that I -don't see where the money is to come from to pay them."</p> - -<p>"We'll never pay them. We aint got the "dibs;" leastways, I won't pay -any of it," says an irreverent young man whose face was quite flushed -with strong drink.</p> - -<p>"Well, as far as that goes, if they are to be paid, we know it will -come from the pockets of just such people as ourselves in the way of -taxes. Its taxes halways."</p> - -<p>"I differ from the gentleman who preceded me altogether. Prussia must -'ave the left bank of the Rhine, and I'll put sixteen bullets in the -Pope's heart. I tell ye, gentlemen, the Ekumenikal Council will be -the downfall of the Romish religion. I'll put sixteen bullets in the -Pope's heart," cried out a tall, thin-faced man in a half-clerical suit -of black, who got on his feet, and while in the act of energetically -expressing his feeling, by a wave of his right hand carried away a -glass globe shading the gaslight above his head. The man was very drunk -apparently, but by his language seemed to be a person of education. The -"Beefy One," who sat by my side, and who had reached his third bottle -of beer, whispered to me:</p> - -<p>"I say, yon is a fine fellow when he's sober, and can talk poetry by -the yard, but he is very drunk, and when he's fuddled he will talk a -man blind about the Pope. Will you have some beer? Do take a pot."</p> - -<p>It was with some trouble that the fiery Scotch orator was induced to -sit down and defer his assault upon the Pope until a more fitting -occasion.</p> - -<p>At this moment the Beefy One pointed out to me a tall, martial-looking -person in black clothes, who seemed to be very restive and looked as -if he wanted to speak. He was of large frame, about sixty years of -age, and was apparently a man of considerable stamina and backbone. -His white whiskers and neat dress gave him the look of a justice of -the peace who had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> dropped in to take a look at the assemblage from -curiosity, and to see that the public morals and the constitution were -properly taken care of.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus18.jpg" alt="hall" /> <a id="illus18" name="illus18"></a></p> -<p class="caption">COGERS HALL.</p> - -<p>While the Worthy Grand was making a series of remarks on the health -of the Emperor Napoleon and the menacing attitude of Prussia towards -France in a gentle, slipshod way, the stranger looked up at times from -the four-penn'orth of gin which he ordered when he came in to give an -incredulous, doubting smile to a few of the coterie who sat around him -and were evident admirers of his. The Beefy One whispered to me—</p> - -<p>"That ole gentlemun is the finest orator as ever was. I tell ye, -sir, he <i>can</i> talk when he's agoing. There's no end to his beautiful -sentiments, I do say it, although he's a Hirishman. Oh, 'e is a great -horator is the Ole One."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES.</div> - -<p>After the review of the week's public events by the Worthy Grand, -debate was in order on the topics reviewed by him. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> found that the -debaters who jumped to their feet one after the other in a manner -worthy of the most dignified legislative assemblage, were divided -into two parties, liberals and conservatives. The Liberals were the -most logical, strange to say; the Tories were most dogmatic and -violent. The Liberals—one of them at least—wished to do away with -all monarchies and established churches; while the Conservatives, -principally belonging to the shopkeeping element, in the audience, were -strenuously opposed to the eight-hour law and to the trades-unions. One -liberal orator would liked to have seen, as he expressed it, all the -kings, barons, prime ministers, and other like despots, placed in one -old rotten hulk of a vessel, and then the vessel was to be scuttled -on the Goodwin Sands. "And who," said the eloquent orator, "would not -say that it would not be a benefit to the human race? Who would not -exclaim with me," and here he looked around on his eager audience in a -threatening manner, "the more of sich cattle in the rotten old hulk the -better?" There was a general grunt of acquiescence from the advanced -Liberals at this possibility and a deprecatory shake of the head from -one Conservative with a great clay pipe.</p> - -<p>Finally, the Irish orator got a chance, and then it was wonderful -to see how, in a sarcastic tone, he humbugged his hearers for half -an hour by allusions to the good time coming, when every man should -have a vote, and every Irish tenant should give up the graceful and -sportsmanlike habit of potting from behind the Tipperary hedges all -landlords who were in the way of a freehold system. The orator waxed -wroth and became pathetic at times as he reviewed the past glories of -the Isle of Saints and her present degraded position among nations. Yet -in that he was skilful enough, in speaking of the Fenians, to deprecate -their acts mildly, but, at the same time, he told his English audience, -in the most forcible tones, of the abuses and tyranny that had led to -the organization of Fenianism.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I say, O'Brien, you are a humbugging of hus with that here gammon -habout '98, ye know."</p> - -<p>"I give yes me word, me Worthy Grand and gentlemen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> that I do not -advocate Fenianism at all, at all; but when yes dhrive min to madness -by oppression, by acts of oppression such as the world has never seen, -can yes blame the wu-r-rum if it turns on yes and bites."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN.</div> - -<p>No one could reply to this with the exception of the Scotch -Presbyterian, who, again rising from his seat, denounced the Pope and -Dr. Cumming as accomplices, and declared that at the first opportunity -he would cheerfully encounter martyrdom to be able to "put sixteen -bullets into the Pope's carcass," as he politely and charitably -expressed himself. "I didn't care about your Ekumenikul Council," said -he; "it will be the downfall of popishness and prelacy, and those who -may go there are welcome; but as for me I would be burned to have him -under my pistol."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mac, yer not so bad as yer purtend in yer talk. I'll engage, if -his Holiness would give ye the chance, ye'd only be too glad to kiss -his toe."</p> - -<p>This raised a laugh at the Scotchman's expense, but he violently -disclaimed for himself, as a true disciple of John Knox, any intention -of submitting to such a degrading act of spiritual submission. The -debate continued as the night waned, and at eleven o'clock, when I left -the hall of discussion in Shoe lane, the subjects of vaccination, land -laws, and coinage were yet to be touched upon by the speakers.</p> - -<p>I have given but a glance at this place, which is the oldest -established of its kind among a number of discussion halls and forums, -whose sign-boards meet the stranger's eye in different parts of the -city where most thickly populated. There is invariably a pot-house -attached to these debating places, or rather the debating halls are -attached to the pot-houses.</p> - -<p>The better class of artisans and shopkeepers in a small way are -principally the frequenters of the discussion halls. Mechanics with a -gift of the gab, and who have five or six shillings a week to spend out -of twenty-five or thirty, are to be found here in large numbers. The -Most Worthy Grand and the Vice Grand are paid a fixed salary for their -stated eloquence, and it is principally their duty to read all the -cheap weeklies and dai<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>lies, not forgetting the <i>Times</i>, which is very -often quoted by them as a sort of a clincher in the argument brought -up. A place like this will take in five pounds of a night, and the -wages paid to the bar-maids is about sixteen shillings a week. There -were two here, and four waiters, who receive sixteen pounds a year and -their "grub," as they call it. A small paper of rough-cut tobacco is -furnished to each customer for a penny, and the consumption of this -narcotic and Welsh Rabbits is encouraged, as they are quite certain to -make the customers dry, and this dryness, as a matter of course, leads -to the imbibition of plenteous beer and gin and water. These shops are -licensed to sell spirits under the new Beer act, and they are compelled -to shut off the debate at midnight. As a general thing the most -advanced liberalism prevails in these places, and religious sentiments -are below par with the audience. Very often it is possible to hear a -well educated or scientific man debating in these halls, but, on closer -survey, his accent will betray him to be some impoverished French or -German physician, or reduced savan, who has no occupation in the hours -of the evening, and can, therefore, afford to dispense wisdom to the -thick-headed audience, gratis.</p> - -<p>About a week after my visit to Cogers Hall I went, accompanied by Mr. -Marsh, a member of the Daily Morning Telegraph's staff, and another -gentleman connected with the editorial management of the Pall Mall -Gazette, to take a look at another debating hall which is situated -at No. 16 Fleet street. This place is quite famous in London for the -virulence of its debates and the high flavor of its gin. Its Brown -Stout is also above reproach.</p> - -<p>As usual in all such places there is a public bar here, and this is -located at the entrance, and is attended by the inevitable bar-maid, -smiling and bedizined in all the glory of a two guinea silk dress, -bought perhaps in Regent street or the Oxford Circus.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"WHERE ARE WE NOW."</div> - -<p>The room here was not so large a one as that at Cogers Hall in which -the orators were in the habit of haranguing their auditors. There -were a dozen small tables, around which chairs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> were placed in a most -picturesque confusion. Small white placards printed in blue ink were -posted on the walls with the following announcement:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">TEMPLE</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">DISCUSSION FORUM.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ADMISSION FREE.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">STRANGERS ARE PARTICULARLY INVITED TO TAKE PART</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">IN THE DISCUSSION AND TO INTRODUCE SUBJECTS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">FOR DEBATE.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">THE QUESTION THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING WILL BE</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"THE POPE'S MODEL LETTER,"</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">WHERE ARE WE NOW?</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">TO BE OPENED BY "A PROTESTANT."</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">CHAIR TO BE TAKEN AT NINE O'CLOCK.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">SUPPER FROM EIGHT TILL TWELVE.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">BEDS. PRIVATE SITTING-ROOMS.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>There was a venerable looking old fellow in the chair when we entered -the Discussion Forum, who lifted a pair of gold rimmed spectacles from -his nose to take a look at us. This was the chairman of the meeting, -and shortly after we sat down he cried out to a tall person with a -short grey raglan coat who was speaking and perspiring at the same time.</p> - -<p>"Mister Chowley I will and cannot allow you, sir, to trample on the -religious feelings of any man present in this harmonious meeting. We -are all brothers here, sir, and the individual who disturbs our peace -and quietness, should be to us all as the 'Eathen and the publican, -sir." (Hear, hear.)</p> - -<p>The tall man with the raglan, who did not like to be suppressed so -easily, had taken his seat for a moment much against his will, but now -he arose slowly and scornfully looking around him, spoke, with one -hand leaning on a chair behind him, and another hand in his breast, as -follows:</p> - -<p>"Gentlemen, this his an age of science if it is an age of hanythink. -Wot does my honorable and noble Roman Catholic friend wish to advance -has an argument. Does he mean to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> tell <span class="smcap">ME</span>, with my heyes hopen -in this here blessed Nineteenth Century, which we are all so proud -of, and whose blessed light is the moving cause of so much mental -brilliancy—does he mean to tell me for a moment that the miracle of -the transposition of water into wine at the wedding of Cana wos han -hactual fact. Why gents it his altogether impossible—and no reasonable -man in this Nineteenth century can for a moment believe it possible. -Wot would Galileo, Kepler, Faraday or sich bright lights of the -Nineteenth century say to sich stories? Why gents, there is a chemical -change which would have to take place before such a translation, -and this chemical transformation could not take place without the -assistance of other substances. (Hear, hear.) And gents, as far as the -infallibility of the Pope is concerned, why I have only to say in the -words of the poet, hand I mention no names, that a piece of fat pork -might stick in his gullet as soon as it would stick in mine, and that's -all I think of infallibility and fat pork, with the blessed light of -the nineteenth century before me." (Hear, hear.)</p> - -<p>Mr. Chowley here sat down, thoroughly satisfied with himself and -auditory, who applauded him to the echo. Then a member of the Roman -Catholic persuasion answered him in a long and splendid oration, which -seemed to thoroughly convince every one present that the Catholic side -was right, and the Protestant one a most diabolical doctrine. After -each man had done his little speech, it was curious, nay amusing, to -hear the adherents of either party comment upon the previous argument.</p> - -<p>"Oh! I say," said a Presbyterian, "didn't he smash the old Pope -neither."</p> - -<p>"And wot a blessing he gave His Grace, Archbishop Manning, though?"</p> - -<p>"Well," said an ardent Irishman, "I niver heard such a lambeastin as -the heretics got to night."</p> - -<p>"You might well say that, Pether, and didn't he scald Martin Luther -with the holy wather, though," said an honest looking, hard working -fellow who sat smoking a pipe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">FARCE AND TRAGEDY.</div> - -<p>One thing struck me in all this wilderness of argument and polemic -discussion. While the two principals nearly argued their jaws off -in the heat of discussion, they failed miserably to convert any of -the opposite party, who sat the debate out with a heroic stupidity, -understanding with much difficulty about one-third of what was said, -and perhaps caring very little for the matter in hand, but sticking -to their prejudices to the last, with a partisan fidelity not to be -convinced by all the harangues that will take place from that night -until the Day of Judgment.</p> - -<p>And yet I could not enter a place of this kind in all London, from -Temple Bar to Hammersmith, without hearing this same everlasting -religious warfare of controversy.</p> - -<p>And to add to the joke, hardly one of five of these persons who attend -such discussions, were ever in a church of either the Catholic or -Protestant persuasion.</p> - -<p>Such is life—part farce, part tragedy.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail06.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail06" name="tail06"></a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap07.jpg" alt="W" /> <a id="icap07" name="icap07"></a></span>E cannot conceive of any greater contrast than that which exists -between the wretchedness and squalor of the lodging houses, and the -splendor and refined elegance, combined with comfort of the Club houses -of London, which are chiefly situated in Pall Mall, St. James street, -and the neighborhood of lower Regent street.</p> - -<p>Club life has attained its greatest perfection in London. No city upon -the Continent can compare with it for the number of its club houses, -the splendor of their architecture, their luxurious furniture, and the -standing in society of their members.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">INTERESTING STATISTICS.</div> - -<p>There are, I believe, upward of fifty clubs in London, in which all the -professions, and all the stations of life find representation, with a -roll of perhaps 45,000 members. The following are the principal clubs -with the cost of ground and construction: Army and Navy Club, George's -street, St. James' square, 1,450 members, £100,000; the Conservative -Club, St. James' street, 1,500 members, £81,000; Garrick Club, King -street, Convent Garden, 500 members, £25,000; Junior United Service -Club, corner of Charles and Regent streets, 1,500 members, £75,000; -Oxford and Cambridge Club, Pall Mall, 1,200 members, £100,000; Reform -Club, 1,400 members, £120,000; University Club, Pall Mall East, 500 -members, £20,000; Wyndham Club, St. James' square, 600 members, -£30,000; Westminster Club, Albemarle street, 560 members, £15,000; -Athenæum, Pall Mall, 1,200 members, £60,000;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> Carlton, Pall Mall, -800 members, £100,000; Guards Club, Pall Mall, 500 members, £40,000; -Oriental, Hanover square, 800 members, £30,000; Traveler's, Pall Mall, -700 members, £30,000; Union, Cockspur street, 1,000 members, £25,000; -United Service Club, Pall Mall, 1,500 members, £70,000; White's Club, -St. James' street, 550 members, £20,000; Boodles, St. James' street, -500 members, £15,000; Cavendish Club, 307 Regent street, 500 members, -£15,000; and Civil Service Club, 86 St. James' street, 1,000 members, -£45,000.</p> - -<p>Besides the before-mentioned clubs there are the following, which rank -nearly but not quite as high among Club men:</p> -<table summary="costs" width="80%"> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">MEMBERS. -</td> -<td align="right">COST. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Albert Club, 15 George street, Hanover square, -</td> -<td align="right">500 -</td> -<td align="right">£10,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Alpine Club, Trafalgar square, -</td> -<td align="right">600 -</td> -<td align="right">18,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Arlington Club, 4 Arlington street, -</td> -<td align="right">400 -</td> -<td align="right">16,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Arts Club, 17 Hanover square, -</td> -<td align="right">500 -</td> -<td align="right">16,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Arundel Club, 12 Salisbury street, Strand, -</td> -<td align="right">600 -</td> -<td align="right">52,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>City of London Club, 19 old Broad street, (merchants,) -</td> -<td align="right">1,000 -</td> -<td align="right">50,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Gresham Club, City, (bankers, &c.,) -</td> -<td align="right">1,000 -</td> -<td align="right">60,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Junior Athenæum Club, 29 King street, St. James, -</td> -<td align="right">800 -</td> -<td align="right">30,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Junior Carlton Club, 14 Regent street, -</td> -<td align="right">800 -</td> -<td align="right">40,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>New Carlton Club, Albemarle street, -</td> -<td align="right">800 -</td> -<td align="right">25,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>New University Club, 57 St. James' street, -</td> -<td align="right">600 -</td> -<td align="right">29,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Portland Club, Stratford Place, Oxford street, -</td> -<td align="right">400 -</td> -<td align="right">18,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Smithfield Club, Half-Moon street, Piccadilly, -</td> -<td align="right">300 -</td> -<td align="right">12,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>St. James' Club, 54 St. James' street, -</td> -<td align="right">500 -</td> -<td align="right">23,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Whitehall Club, Parliament street, -</td> -<td align="right">500 -</td> -<td align="right">9,000 -</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Whittington Club, 37 Arundel street, -</td> -<td align="right">1,600 -</td> -<td align="right">40,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Clarendon Club, 86 St. James' street, -</td> -<td align="right">900 -</td> -<td align="right">36,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Junior Reform Club, Albemarle street, -</td> -<td align="right">800 -</td> -<td align="right">40,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Brooks' Club, 60 St. James' street, -</td> -<td align="right">575 -</td> -<td align="right">20,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Arthur's Club,69 St. James' Strett, -</td> -<td align="right">600 -</td> -<td align="right">18,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Law Society, Chancery Lane, -</td> -<td align="right">1,000 -</td> -<td align="right">68,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>National, Whitehall-Gardens, -</td> -<td align="right">400 -</td> -<td align="right">17,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Prince's Racket and Tennis Club, Hans Place, Chelsea, -</td> -<td align="right">300 -</td> -<td align="right">11,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>United University, corner Suffolk street and Pall Mall, -</td> -<td align="right">500 -</td> -<td align="right">33,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Beefsteak Society, Lyceum Theatre, -</td> -<td align="right">250 -</td> -<td align="right">5,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Club Chambers, Regent street, -</td> -<td align="right">400 -</td> -<td align="right">31,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> " " St. James' square, -</td> -<td align="right">300 -</td> -<td align="right">17,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Ambassador's, 106 Piccadilly, -</td> -<td align="right">200 -</td> -<td align="right">16,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Erectheum, St. James's square, -</td> -<td align="right">300 -</td> -<td align="right">20,000 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> - -<p>In these several clubs each member is elected by ballot, and pays an -entrance on admission, and afterward an annual subscription, which -varies like entrance fees in different clubs.</p> - -<p>Thus, in the Athenæum, the entrance fee is £26.5<i>s.</i>, annual -subscription, £6.6<i>s.</i> Arthur's, entrance £21, subscription, £10 -10<i>s.</i> Brooks, entrance, £9 9<i>s.</i>, subscription, £11 11<i>s.</i> Carlton, -entrance, £15 15<i>s.</i>, annual subscription, £10 10<i>s.</i> Conservative -Club, £28 7<i>s.</i>, subscription, £8 8<i>s.</i> Garrick Club, entrance, -£21, subscription, £6 6<i>s.</i> Junior United Service, entrance, £30, -subscription £6. Oxford and Cambridge Club, entrance, £21 5<i>s.</i>, -subscription, £6 6<i>s.</i> Reform Club, entrance, £21 5<i>s.</i>, subscription, -£10 10<i>s.</i> Travelers' Club, entrance, £31 10<i>s.</i> Union, entrance, £38 -10<i>s.</i>, subscription, £6 6<i>s.</i> United Service Club, entrance, £36, -subscription, £6. Whittington, entrance, £10 10<i>s.</i>, subscription, -ladies £1, gentlemen, £2 2<i>s.</i> Wyndham, entrance, £27 6<i>s.</i>, -subscription, £8.</p> - -<p>When clubs were first started they were regarded with much hostility -as being most antagonistic to domestic life, and the ladies displayed -an intense spirit against them. The clubs, however, survived and -flourished under their enmity, and it was found that they discouraged -coarse drunkenness, the prevalent vice of Englishmen; encouraged social -intercourse—of which ladies partook of elsewhere; refined the manners -of the members, constituted courts of honor, and tended most materially -to the manufacture of gentlemen.</p> - -<p>The London clubs are private hotels on a vast and magnificent scale. -They have billiard rooms, coffee rooms, nine-pin rooms, splendid -libraries, saloons, and furniture, and plate of the costliest and -rarest description.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LUXURIOUS DINNER—LADIES EXCLUDED.</div> - -<p>All the refreshment which a member has, whether breakfast, dinner, -supper, or wine, are furnished to him at the <i>market cost</i> price, -all other expenses being defrayed from the annual subscriptions. For -a few pounds a year, advantages are to be had, which no incomes but -the most ample could procure. The Athenæum, which consists of twelve -hundred members, can be taken as a good example of the rest. Among -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> members can be reckoned a large proportion of the most eminent -persons in England—civil, military, and ecclesiastical, peers, -spiritual and temporal, commoners, men of the learned professions, -those connected with the sciences and arts, and commerce, as well as -the distinguished who do not belong to any particular class, and who -have nothing to do but live on their means, bore their tailors, and -admire their family genealogy, and their own figures. These men are -to be met with day after day at the clubs, living with more freedom -and nonchalance than they could at their own houses. For six or eight -guineas a year every member has the command of an excellent library, -with maps, the daily London papers, English and foreign periodicals, -and every material for writing, with a flock of gorgeous flunkies, in -powder and epaulettes, to attend at the nod of a member, and a host -of youthful pages in buttons and broadcloths. The club is a sort of a -palace with the comfort of a private dwelling, and every member is a -master without having the trouble of a master. He can have whatever -meat or refreshment he desires served up at all hours, with luxury -and dispatch. There is a fixed place for everything, and it is not -customary to remain long at table. You can dine alone, or you can -invite a dozen persons to dine with you, females being excluded. From -an account kept at the Athenæum for one year, it appears that 17,323 -dinners cost on an average 2s. 9¾<i>d.</i> each, and the average quantity -of wine drank by each person at these dinners was a small fraction more -than a pint for each. The bath accommodations are the finest that can -be imagined.</p> - -<p>The kitchen of the London clubs cannot be equaled in the world, and -the chief cooks who have charge of the kitchens, have each an European -fame. Alexis Soyer, the greatest cook since Ude or Vatel, had, for -a long time, the charge of the kitchen of the Reform Club, and the -kitchen of this club, of which John Bright, and all the leaders of the -English liberals are members, is the finest in London.</p> - -<p>A description of this kitchen will in a measure answer for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> that of any -other London club, and I will give it here for the information of those -who are curious in such matters.</p> - -<p>The kitchen, properly so called, is an apartment of moderate size, -surrounded on all four sides by smaller rooms, which form the pastry, -the poultry, the butchery, the scullery, and other subordinate offices. -There are doorways but no doors, between the different rooms, all -of which are formed in such a manner that the chief cook, from one -particular spot, can command a view of the whole. In the centre of -the kitchen is a table and a hot closet, where various knicknacks are -prepared and kept to a desired heat, the closet being brought to any -required temperature by admitting steam beneath it. Around the hot -closet is a bench or table, fitted with drawers and other conveniences -for culinary operations. A passage going around the four sides of this -table separates it from the various cooking apparatus, which involve -all that modern ingenuity has brought to bear on the cuisine.</p> - -<p>In the first place there are two enormous fireplaces for roasting, each -of which would, in sober truth, roast a whole sheep. The screens placed -before these fires are so arranged as to reflect back almost the entire -heat which falls upon them, and effectually shields the kitchen from -the intense heat which would be otherwise thrown out. Then again, these -screens are so provided with shelves and recesses as to bring into -profitable use the radiant heat which would be otherwise wasted.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">MODEL KITCHEN.</div> - -<p>Along two sides of the room are ranges of charcoal fires for broiling -and stewing, and other apparatus for other varieties of cooking. These -are at a height of about three feet from the ground. The broiling fires -are a kind of open pot or pan, throwing upward a fierce but blazeless -heat; behind them is a framework by which gridirons may be fixed at any -height above the fire, according to the intensity of the heat. Other -fires open only at the top, are adapted for various kinds of pans and -vessels; and in some cases a polished tin-reflector is so placed as -to reflect back to the viands the heat. Under and behind and over and -around, are pipes, tanks, and cisterns, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> abundance, containing water -to be heated, or to be used more directly in the processes of cooking.</p> - -<p>A boiler adjacent to the kitchen is expressly appropriated to the -supply of steam for "steaming," for heating the hot closets, the hot -iron plates and other apparatus. In another small room the meat is -kept, chopped, cut, and otherwise prepared for the kitchen. There are -also in the pastry room all the necessary appliances for preparing the -lightest and most luscious triumphs of the art. In another room there -are drawers in the bottoms of which blocks of ice are laid, and above -these are placed articles of undressed food, which must necessarily be -kept cool.</p> - -<p>There is a cheerful air, an air of magnificence about these superb -kitchens, which would charm a good housewife. Here all the genius that -can be brought to bear upon cookery is concentrated, and the head cook -would not deign to notice any person of less rank than a baronet, while -in superintendence. Although there are twelve hundred members or over, -yet he is not responsible to any individual one, and the only authority -in the club to which he has to bow is the eight or ten members of the -House Committee, whose decrees even to this great being are arbitrary.</p> - -<p>The pots and pans are of an exceeding brightness, and the entire -system is perfect. In one corner of the kitchen is a little stall or -counting-house, at a desk in which sits the "Clerk of the Kitchen." -Every day the chief cook provides, besides ordinary provisions which -are certain to be required, a selected list which he inserts in his -bill of fare—a list which is left to his judgment and skill.</p> - -<p>Say three or four gentlemen, members of the club, determine to dine -there at a given hour, they select from the bill of fare, or make a -separate "order" if preferred, or leave the dinner altogether to the -intellect of the <i>chef</i>, who is sure to be flattered by this dependence -on his judgment. A little slip of paper on which is written the -names of the dishes and the hour of dining, is hung on a hook in the -kitchen on a black board, where there are a number of hooks devoted to -different hours of the day or evening. The cooks proceed with their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> -avocations, and by the time the dinner is ready the clerk of the -kitchen has calculated and entered the exact value of every article -composing it, which entry is made out in the form of a bill—the cost -price being that by which the charge is regulated—nothing is ever -charged for the cooking. Immediately at the elbow of the clerk are -bells and speaking tubes, by which he can communicate with the servants -in the other parts of the building.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile a steam engine is "serving up" the dinner. In one corner -of the kitchen is a recess, on opening a door in which we see a -small platform, square-shaped, calculated to hold an ordinary sized -tray. This platform is connected with the shaft of a steam engine by -bands and wheels, so as to be elevated through a kind of vertical -trunk leading to the upper part of the building; and here are the -white-aproned servants or waiters ready to take out the hot and -luscious smelling viands from the platform, to the member or members of -the club who are anxiously awaiting dinner.</p> - -<p>Architecturally speaking the club houses are the finest buildings -in London, and in the west end of the town, and in the vicinity of -the parks they do much to beautify the city; these massive, richly -decorated, and pillared palaces of exclusiveness.</p> - -<p>The "Heavy Swell" Club of all London is the "Guards" in Pall Mall. -There are three or four regiments of the Queen's Household Brigade -stationed always in London to guard the sacred person of the Queen, -and it is from the officers of these crack regiments that the members -of the club are balloted for. These fellows are supposed to bathe -in champagne, and dine off rose water; they are afraid to carry an -umbrella thicker than a walking stick, they hate "low people," and -devote their existence to killing time, yet are withal sensitive, -honorable in many things, (except paying their grocers, wine and -haberdashing bills,) and will fight as becomes the descendants of the -men who dyed the sands at Hastings with their blood, to bequeath a rich -and fruitful kingdom to those who now inherit it.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE CONSERVATIVE AND GARRICK CLUBS.</div> - -<p>The Conservative Club is frequented by those athletic and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> slow going -squires and gentlemen who are always ready to applaud Mr. Disraeli in -the House of Commons, and are willing to serve as special constables -on days when the English democracy become restive and open their eyes -to the fact of their being plundered and robbed every day of their -lives. It was from the Conservative Club that Mr. Granville Murray was -expelled by the secret influence of the moral Prince of Wales, simply -because following his duty as a journalist he had told the hereditary -regulators of England that they were out of place in the nineteenth -century.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus19.jpg" alt="house" /> <a id="illus19" name="illus19"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> CONSERVATIVE CLUB HOUSE.</p> - -<p>The Garrick Club is, as its name indicates, made up of artists, -dramatists, actors, newspaper writers, and authors. It numbers among -its members Charles Reade, Tom Taylor, Charles Dickens, Bulwer, Wilkie -Collins, Anthony Trollope, Andrew Halliday, George Augustus Sala, Mr. -Delane of the Times, H. Sutherland Edwards, William Howard Russell, -Edward Dicey, Thornton Hunt, Editor of the <i>Telegraph</i>, John Ruskin, -and I believe Thomas Carlyle's name was proposed as an honorary member; -Charles Kean, Thackeray, Charles Matthews, Sr., who founded the club, -W.H. Ainsworth, the novelist, the Blanchards, the Mayhews, Samuel -Lover, Charles Lever, John Oxenford, Louis Blanc, Walter Thornbury, -Lascelles Wraxall, Edmund Yates, John Hollingshead, formerly critic of -the <i>Daily News</i>, James Greenwood, Frederick Greenwood, Brough, Dudley -Costello, Lord William Lennox, Thomas Miller, Cyrus Redding, and other -well known literary men belong to or have at some period or another -been members of this club. American authors, artists, and actors, are -always welcomed here, and among the habitues of the Garrick may be -found Lester Wallack, H.E. Bateman, and others. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> Garrick is noted -for its famous gin punch which is a specialty here, and for which the -following ingredients are necessary to composition; pour half a pint of -gin on the outer peel of a lemon, then a little lemon juice, a glass of -maraschino, a pint and a quarter of water, and two bottles of iced soda -water. This is a most fragrant punch and not very intoxicating. The -collection of pictures at the Garrick is very fine, and embraces nearly -all the people, both male and female, who have made themselves famous -in English histrionic art, among whom may be noticed Elliston, Macklin, -Peg Woffington, Nell Gwynne, Colley Cibber, Mrs. Bracegirdle, Garrick -as Richard III, John Phillip and Charles Kemble, Charles Mathews, -Mrs. Siddons, Macready, Miss Inchbald, Edmund Kean, Kitty Clive, Mrs. -Billington, and various others. Some of these portraits have been -painted by the first of English artists. This gallery is only rivalled -by that in Evan's Supper House in Convent Garden, where there is a fine -and similar collection.</p> - -<p>The Reform Club has among its members John Bright, W. E. Gladstone, -Lord Hatherley, the present Lord Chancellor of England, the Duke of -Argyll, W.E. Forster, Lord Dufferin, and other well known liberal -nobles. About a year ago John Bright and W.E. Forster, his able -aide-camp, resigned from the membership of the Reform Club, owing to -the fact that a correspondent of an American journal, proposed by them, -had had been black-balled in the Reform Club. This correspondent was -Geo. W. Smalley of the <i>New York Tribune</i>. I believe that the club -reconsidered their decision and admitted Mr. Smalley, and Mr. Bright -and Mr. Forster are now members of the club. Sir Charles Wentworth -Dilke, editor of the <i>Athenæum</i>, is a member of the Reform Club.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">CARLTON CLUB.</div> - -<p>The Carlton Club ranks high among the Tory or anti-liberal clubs of -London, has a very rich proprietary and a magnificent edifice in Pall -Mall. The Right Hon. Spencer Horatio Walpole, one of the members -for Cambridge University, and Alexander Beresford Hope, one of the -proprietors of the <i>Saturday Review</i>, who was a member of Parliament -during the American Civil War, and a bitter foe of the North, are both -mem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>bers of the Carlton Club, as is also Lord John Manners, a prominent -Conservative noble, and fifth son of the Duke of Rutland. John Laird, -M.P. for Liverpool, the builder of the <i>Alabama</i>, is also a member of -the Carlton Club.</p> - -<p>Lord Cole, a son of the Earl of Enskillen, and a chief accomplice with -the Prince of Wales in the Lady Mordaunt scandal, is a member of the -Carlton.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus20.jpg" alt="house" /> <a id="illus20" name="illus20"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> CARLTON CLUB HOUSE.</p> - -<p>Gregory, the member for Galway, also a sympathizer with the -Slaveholder's Rebellion, belongs to the Carlton. To be brief, this -Carlton Club, essentially aristocratic and inimical to democracy -all over the world, contributed more individual moneyed and social -influence and support to Jeff. Davis than all the London Clubs put -together.</p> - -<p>I might state here that Bass, the great East India Pale Ale man, is a -member of the Reform Club, while Sir Arthur Guiness, the Dublin Brown -Stout man, Bass's great rival, is a member of the National Club, which -is pseudo liberal. Jonathan Pim, the rich Irish Quaker, a member for -Dublin City like Guiness, does not belong to any London club and keeps -away from the flesh pots of Egypt. John Francis Maguire, M.P. for Cork, -is a member of the Stafford Club, which numbers some of the Catholic -families in its roll of membership. Sir Patrick O'Brien, an amusing -Irishman who frequents the Cremorne a good deal, belongs to the Reform -Club. The present Earl of Derby, late Lord Stanley, who was expected to -lead the liberals in the House of Lords, but does not give much promise -of doing so while he is an active member of the Carlton Club.</p> - -<p>The Right Hon. George Goschen, a Jewish merchant, who is President -of the Poor Law Board, yet quite a young man and promising, has his -name inscribed on the lists of the Reform<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> and Athenæum Clubs, and -Robert Lowe, the witty, sarcastic, and clear-headed Chancellor of -Exchequer, are lights in the Reform Club. Edward Sullivan, the Irish -Attorney General, may be seen at the Reform, and George Henry Moore, -a countryman of his, and an apologist for the Fenians, is a habitue -of Brook's Club in St. James street. Sir John Evelyn Dennison, the -Speaker of the House of Commons, while in town during the session, when -dinner time comes, always doffs his gown and wig and toddles around -to the Reform Club for a chop or steak, and a glass of wine. Vernon -Harcourt, who signs himself in the <i>Times</i> "Historicus," represents -Oxford Borough in the House of Commons, and is a member of the Oxford -and Cambridge University Club. A good story is told of "Historicus." -Three heavy swells of the Guards were dining at the Star and Garter at -Richmond, and all three made a wager that they each could boast of the -biggest bore in London as an acquaintance. The discussion wore high, -and they agreed to test it by bringing each his bore to dine on a set -day, and at a set hour, at the "Star and Garter." When the day came -two close carriages were drawn up to the "Star and Garter," and out of -each leaped one of the gentlemen who had made the wager. They were both -disappointed in their bores, and came without them as they had previous -engagements. A third carriage drove up, and out of it leaped the third -Swell who had made the wager, with a tall gentleman in a cloak. As soon -as the stranger uncovered and presented the smiling countenance of -"Historicus," the two swells cried out in astonishment,</p> - -<p>"By J-a-a-v ye knaw, that's not f-eh-ah—<i>he's got our bo-a-h</i>!"</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus21.jpg" alt="house" /> <a id="illus21" name="illus21"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE CLUB HOUSE.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>Whalley, the religious madman, belongs to the Reform Club, and so does -the Right Hon. Hugh Childers, First Lord of the Admiralty.</p> - -<p>Kinglake, the historian, who bribed his way into the House of Commons, -and afterwards testified to it without shame, is a member of Brooks, -the Travelers, the Athenæum, and the Oxford and Cambridge Clubs.</p> - -<p>Sir Robert Peel, the member for Farnsworth, is to be found at -Brook's and Boodle's. Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, formerly ambassador -at Washington, at the Reform Club. Layard, the Nineveh discoverer -and now English ambassador at Madrid, belongs to the Athenæum Club. -The O'Donoughue at the Stafford and Reform Clubs, while young Mr. -Gladstone, son to the Premier, modestly drinks his wine at the New -University Club. Lord Carrington, a boon companion of the Prince of -Wales, is a member of the Guards Club, and Sir Francis Crossley, the -great Yorkshire manufacturer, may be seen nightly during the session -passing his hours in the Reform and Brook's Clubs.</p> - -<p>Queer and strange reminiscences cling to the London Clubs like -barnacles to a packet ship. At the Alfred Club, George Canning, one of -the greatest men ever known in England, used to take a steak and onions -alongside of Lord Byron, who was always partial to Madeira negus.</p> - -<p>Louis Napoleon, in his cheerless and hard up days, ate his -eighteenpenny dinner at the Army and Navy Club in silence, while -aristocratic Englishmen sat around chaffing and joking and taking no -part in the sorrows of the exiled nephew of his Uncle. Since then -dynasties have changed, and now a magnificent piece of Gobelin tapestry -work, the "Sacrifice of Diana," worthy to be the gift of a sovereign, -hangs in the club house of which he was once a member. The Emperor -presented it to the Club.</p> - -<p>The stock of wine in the cellars of the Athenæum is worth about -$30,000, and is never allowed to run down or deteriorate, and its -yearly revenue amounts to about $50,000.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BEEFSTEAK CLUB.</div> -<p>The Beefsteak Club is a coterie of choice spirits who meet over the -Lyceum Theatre to eat beefsteaks and drink tobys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> of ale, each member -bringing his own beefsteak and furnishing his own jokes. Several -noblemen belong to it, and the President wears as his emblem of office, -a golden gridiron. Peg Woffington was at one time a member of this club.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus22.jpg" alt="house" /> <a id="illus22" name="illus22"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> UNITED SERVICE CLUB.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Wellington was in the habit of dining at the United Service -Club, in Pall Mall, off the roast joint of beef or mutton, and one day -he was charged 1<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i> for his plate of meat instead of 1<i>s.</i>, the -proper charge. He declared he would not pay the extra three-pence, and -denounced the swindle until the three-pence was deducted, when the old -soldier became satisfied and said that he would have paid the extra -charge, but that he did not wish to establish an unjust precedent -whereby others might suffer.</p> - -<p>Just one hundred years ago a man dropped down at the door of White's -Club, which is still flourishing in St. James' St., and the crowd of -loungers in the bow windows immediately began to lay wagers whether the -man was dead or not. A charitable person suggested that he be bled, but -those who had wagered refused to allow it, saying that it would affect -the fairness of the bet. In 1814, a banquet was given to the allied -sovereigns at White's, which cost over $50,000 of American money, and -the next year after a banquet was given to the Duke of Wellington which -cost £2,480 10<i>s.</i> 9<i>d.</i> George IV, and Chesterfield, the master of -politeness, were members of White's Club.</p> - -<p>During the hard winter of 1844, the aristocratic clubs of London -contributed to the starving poor of the metropolis, 3,104 pounds of -broken bread, 4,556 pounds of broken meat, 1,147 pints of tea-leaves, -and 1,158 pints of coffee-grounds. Otherwise these leavings might have -been given to swine to fatten them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">DEMOCRATIC CLUB.—LADIES ADMITTED.</div> - -<p>Gambling was carried on to a very high pitch at one time in the London -clubs, but many have mended within twenty years. Crockford's Club -House, No. 50 St. James' street, was known all over the world, and -kings, princes, ambassadors, and statesmen, were inscribed upon its -rolls as members. It no longer exists, however.</p> - -<p>Crockford started in life as a fishmonger, in the old bulk-shop -next door to Temple Bar Without, which he quitted for "play" in St. -James'. He began by taking Watier's old club-house, where he set up a -hazard-bank, and won a great deal of money; he then separated from his -partner, who had a bad year, and failed. Crockford now removed to St. -James' street, had a good year, and built the magnificent club house -which bore his name; the decorations alone are said to have cost him -£94,000. The election of the club members was vested in a committee; -the house appointments were superb, and Ude was engaged as <i>maître -d'hôtel</i>. "Crockford's" now became the high fashion. Card-tables -were regularly placed, and whist was played occasionally; but the -aim, end, and final cause of the whole was the hazard-bank, at which -the proprietor took his nightly stand, prepared for all comers. His -speculation was eminently successful. During several years, everything -that anybody had to lose and cared to risk was swallowed up; and -Crockford became a <i>millionaire</i>. He retired in 1840, "much as an -Indian chief retires from a hunting-country when there is not game -enough left for his tribe;" and the Club then tottered to its fall. -After Crockford's death, the lease of the club-house (thirty-two years, -rent £1,400) was sold for £2,900.</p> - -<p>The Whittington Club is the only democratic club in London. It was -started twenty-four years ago by Douglas Jerrold, who became its first -president. It combines a literary society, with a club house, upon an -economical scale, and contains dining and coffee rooms, library and -reading rooms, smoking and chess rooms, and a large hall for balls, -concerts, and soirees. Lectures are given here, and classes are held -for the higher branches of education, fencing, dancing, etc. Ladies -have all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> the privileges of gentlemen or members in the restaurant, -and in balloting, while their dues and subscriptions is half that of -the male members. This is the largest club in London, and combines -all classes, having a roll of 1,700 members, all of whom are to be -considered active. The Whittington Club is the only one in London where -a person may be proposed without having a crest, or without belonging -to a "good family," which means to loaf or idle a life away, and live -upon the bread which is furnished by the blood and sweat of what these -dandy Club men call the "lowah closses."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail07.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail07" name="tail07"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE ABBEY-CHURCH OF WESTMINSTER.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap08.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap08" name="icap08"></a></span>HIS is the Pantheon of England's Greatest Dead. As I stand here under -the groined roof of this vast and glorious Nave, with the sunbeams -streaming in through rose windows, and falling softly on sculptured -figures and tombs of Kings and Queens long mouldering in the dust, -their bodies recumbent in monumental brass, their hands clasped as in -prayer, with heroes, and poets, and statesmen, law-givers, and royal -murderers, lying silently around me on either hand, and under my feet -beneath the worn and antique stones which form the pavement, I realize -that I am in the Valhalla of the Anglo-Norman Race, a race that has -been prolific of strong wills, great minds, and heroic deeds.</p> - -<p>This is the most sacred spot in all Great Britain, this spot enclosed -by the four walls of Westminster Abbey. It does not seem an edifice -raised by human hands, rather would it appear, as I look to the roof, -supported by most marvelous pillars, resembling an interlaced avenue of -royal forest trees, that it had been constructed by beings of another -world.</p> - -<p>It was a grand faith that inspired Westminster Abbey, a faith that -believed in sacrificing all earthly aspirations for the honor and glory -of God.</p> - -<p>Thus musing I am interrupted by a tap on the shoulder, as I stand -leaning against a pillar in the gloom of the vast pile.</p> - -<p>"Would you like to see the Habbey, sir?—its sixpence to see the -Chapels—there's nine on 'em: the Hambulatory, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> Nave, Transept, -Choir, Chapels, and Cloisters, are free—beautiful sights—only -sixpence, sir."</p> - -<p>I turned, and saw a man in a black fustian gown, bareheaded, with a -tall thin stick in his right hand; he was old, and seemed to need its -frail support. This was a prebendary's "Verger," a sort of a porter -or Abbey guide, whose main object was to collect as many sixpences -as possible, but ostensibly he was a cicerone of the monuments and -architectural beauties of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter's, -Westminster.</p> - -<p>Numbers of visitors were straying in and out of the Abbey, looking at -the monuments, criticising the works of art, the mural tablets, or -gossiping over the ashes of dead Kings, as if they were in a concert -room, while here and there might be seen some scholar or learned man -delving for facts, and poring over the musty Latin of the crumbling -tombs.</p> - -<p>In Westminster Abbey rival statesmen rest in peace, the tongue of -the orator is mute, side by side rest the Crowned head and the -Chancellor with his great seal, the Archbishop and the Play-actor, the -philanthropist and the seaman, who died by his guns on the deck of -the vessel of war, the divine and the physician, the Princess and the -Soubrette, all mingle common dust together.</p> - -<p>In Westminster Abbey, the powerful, spiritual, Roman Catholic prelate -has celebrated High Mass with more than Eastern magnificence, the -Introit has issued forth from his lips, and the acolytes have answered -his "Dominus Vobiscum" with their "Amen;" and here the stern Puritan -has knelt in his less formal prayer.</p> - -<p>Here the dread sentence of excommunication has been launched forth in -all its terrors from the lips of Papal legates, enthroned, and in Abbot -John Estney's room Caxton printed the first English Bible.</p> - -<p>Here the magnificence and pomps of the coronation of a King have been -followed by the solemn and beautiful burial service for the dead, and -the pealing organ, and the swelling choir, reverberating through the -lofty grey-grown aisles, have chained men's minds to the power of -Almighty God.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">DIMENSIONS OF THE ABBEY.</div> - -<p>Westminster Abbey is the finest and noblest specimen of Gothic -architecture in all England.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus23.jpg" alt="abbey" /> <a id="illus23" name="illus23"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> WESTMINSTER ABBEY.</p> - -<p>Its dimensions are:</p> - -<table summary="abbey" width="60%"> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td>FEET. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdt">Exterior.— -</td> -<td>Length from east to west, including walls, but exclusive of -Henry VII's Chapel, -</td> -<td class="tdr">416 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Height of the West Tower to top of pinnacles, -</td> -<td align="right">225 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdt">Interior.— -</td> -<td>Length within the walls to the piers of Henry VII's Chapel, -</td> -<td class="tdr">383 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Breadth at the Transept, -</td> -<td align="right">203 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Nave.— -</td> -<td>Length, -</td> -<td align="right">166 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Breadth, -</td> -<td align="right">38 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Height, -</td> -<td align="right">102 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Breadth of each Aisle, -</td> -<td align="right">17 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Extreme breadth of nave and its aisles, -</td> -<td align="right">72 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Choir.— -</td> -<td>Length, -</td> -<td align="right">156 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Breadth, -</td> -<td align="right">31 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Height, -</td> -<td align="right">102 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td colspan="3">THE DIMENSIONS OF HENRY VII'S CHAPEL ARE— -</td> -<td> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Exterior.— -</td> -<td>Length from east to west, including the walls, -</td> -<td align="right">115 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Breadth, including the walls, -</td> -<td align="right">80 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Height of the Octagonal Towers, -</td> -<td align="right">71 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Height to the apex of the roof, -</td> -<td align="right">86 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Height to the top of Western Turrets, -</td> -<td align="right">102 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Nave.— -</td> -<td>Length, -</td> -<td align="right">104 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Breadth, -</td> -<td align="right">36 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Height, -</td> -<td align="right">61 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Breadth of each Aisle, -</td> -<td align="right">17 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - - - - - - - -<p>In a fine vault, under Henry VII's Chapel, is the burying-place of the -Royal family, erected by George II, but not now used.</p> - -<p>The cost of Henry VII's Chapel was originally about £200,000 of the -present money, but since then £50,000 in addition have been expended -in repairs. The roof is the most beautiful piece of work of its -kind in the world, and is not excelled by any Saracenic or Moorish -ornamentation known.</p> - -<p>No living being has ever computed the cost of the Abbey itself, but the -sum, altogether, since the foundations were built, must be very great.</p> - -<p>The "Lord Abbot of Westminster" was one of the most powerful barons in -England, and sat in Parliament as a great spiritual peer.</p> - -<p>The Abbey Church, formerly arose a magnificent apex to a Royal palace, -surrounded on all sides by its greater and lesser sanctuaries, (where -no criminal could be arrested,) and its almonries, where a profusion of -food was daily delivered to the poor, and raiment to the naked. It had -its bell-towers, the principal one being 72 feet 6 inches square, with -walls 20 feet thick; chapel, gate towers, boundary walls, and a train -of other buildings, of which we can at the present day scarcely form an -idea.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A WEALTHY SOCIETY.</div> - -<p>In addition to all the land around it, extending from the Thames -to Oxford Street, and from Vauxhall bridge to the Church of St. -Mary-le-Strand, in a demesne of three square miles, on what is now the -most valuable part of London, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> Abbey of St. Peter's, Westminster, -possessed besides, <i>ninety-seven towns and villages, seventeen hamlets, -and two hundred and sixteen manors</i>. Its officers fed hundreds -of persons daily, and one of its priests, who was not an Abbot, -entertained at his Pavillion at Tothill, a King and Queen of England, -with so large a retinue that seven hundred dishes did not suffice for -the first table, and the Abbey butler, in the reign of Edward III, -rebuilt, at his own expense, the stately gate-house which gave entrance -to Tothill Street, and a portion of the wall remains to this day.</p> - -<p>During the long ages, while men of noble Norman birth monopolized -nearly every office of emolument and trust in the kingdom, nearly all -the Lord Abbots of Westminster were of Norman birth or extraction. To -be chosen Lord Abbot of Westminster, it was necessary for the Monks, -headed by the prior, to select the Abbot "per Viam Compromissi," -that is, the Monks met in a body and selected a chosen few, who, in -their turn, selected the Lord Abbot. Then there was the method "per -Viam Spiritus Sancti," which means by the special influence of the -Holy Ghost, or all the Monks of the Abbey concurring unanimously in -the election. After that the assent of the King had to be got, and -the assent of the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, and even then all was -not secure, for the newly elected Abbot was often forced to make -the long and tedious journey to Rome and get the investiture of the -Abbey from the Pontiff, in person, and sometimes this cost money, -and trouble, that a person would hardly credit in these days. Abbot -Richard de Kedyington, who had been prior of Sudbury, a cell subject to -Westminster Abbey, on his election made the journey to Avignon, where -the Pope was, for confirmation, and was three years there before he -obtained investiture, and then it cost him eight thousand florins,—a -large sum of money in those days—to obtain it. In 1321, when 5,500 -florins had been paid, Pope John XXII remitted the remaining 2,500 -florins of the debt.</p> - -<p>Abbot Richard de Crokesley, together with a number of other nobles, and -Poitevins, who had incurred the enmity of a powerful party who were -opposed to court favoritism, were poisoned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> by the steward of William, -Earl of Clare, and Crokesley died July 1258, of the effects of the -poison.</p> - -<p>Phillip de Lewisham, who was elected to succeed Crokesley, was so gross -and fat that he procured a dispensation, so that he would not have -to go to Rome to be confirmed. An able deputation of monks went in -his place, and when they returned with the Pope's confirmation, after -having to pay 800 marks to certain Cardinals, who opposed it, they -found that Abbot de Lewisham had died during their absence.</p> - -<p>Gislebertus Crispinus, a monk, of the abbey of Bec, in Normandy, and -belonging to one of the noblest families in that duchy, was chosen -abbot in 1082. He was a very learned man, and held a great disputation -at Mentz, in Germany, with a deeply versed Jew, on the "Faith of the -Church against the Jews."</p> - -<p>Gervase de Blois, an illegitimate son of King Stephen, was made -abbot in 1141. This man was not fit to be a priest, being insolent, -arbitrary, and unjust, and, instead of attending to his duties as -head of the abbey, he was often in armor, depredating, or hunting, or -hawking. He dissipated the manors, livings, tithes, vestments, and -ornaments of the abbey, and was finally admonished to behave himself by -Pope Innocent, but the abbot disregarded the admonition of the Pope and -was then deposed by King Henry II, in 1159. He died in a year after.</p> - -<p>The Lord Abbot Laurentius, his successor, was a wise, just, and prudent -man, much trusted by King Henry II, and the Empress Maud. It was Abbot -Laurentius who first obtained for himself and successors the privilege -of wearing the mitre, ring, and gloves, until then the symbols of -Episcopacy, and only allowed to the Bishops by the Pope. The wearing of -these symbols gave the mitred abbots of Westminster, and other abbeys, -the right to sit as peers in parliament, the same as bishops to whom -the right belonged exclusively, before Abbot Laurentius obtained the -grant.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">REVENUES OF ABBEY IN 1540.</div> - -<p>Simon Langham was one of the greatest abbots that ever wore the mitre -in the abbey. He was made Lord Chancellor of England, and Archbishop of -Canterbury, Bishop of Ely, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom by Edward -III. It was this prelate who deprived John Wickliffe of the mastership -of Canterbury Hall, Oxford, which was the first cause of Wickliffe's -investigating the scriptures.</p> - -<p>On the 16th of January, 1540, the Abbey of Westminster, which had been -established for more than nine hundred years, having been founded by -King Sebert, a Saxon monarch, and his wife Ethelgoda, in honor of -St. Peter who was said to have appeared to the King in a dream, was -dissolved by order of Henry VIII, and the abbey was surrendered to the -King by Abbot Benson and twenty-four monks. The annual revenue, which -included the gross receipts, amounted to £3,977, equal to twenty times -the same amount of English money of to-day.</p> - -<p>Westminster was made a bishopric, the abbey was advanced to the dignity -of a Cathedral, with an establishment of a bishop, (Thomas Thirleby, -dean of the King's Chapel,) a dean, twelve prebendaries, and inferior -officers. Abbot Benson, who was always on the winning side, was made -dean of the Abbey, five of the monks were chosen prebendaries, four -other monks were made minor canons, and four more were elected to be -King's students in the University. The other twelve monks who did not -approve of the change were dismissed, with pensions of from ten pounds -a year to five marks. A revenue of £586 a year, and the Abbot's house -was allotted to the Bishop. Dean Benson died in an unhappy state from -the repeated attempts made by the rapacious nobles and courtiers to -deprive him of the lands of his deanery. He was buried in the abbey, -but the inscription on his tomb was obliterated. The bishopric of -Westminster lasted only ten years, and was then suppressed and reunited -to that of London, to which it has since belonged. Numerous attempts -were made by the partisans of the See of London to rob and deprive -the abbey of its lands and revenues, and hence arose the saying of -"robbing Peter to pay Paul," which is explained by the fact that the -patron saint of the See of London was St. Paul, while St. Peter was the -guardian of the Abbey of Westminster.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> - -<p>In 1556, Queen Mary being on the throne, the Church of Westminster -again became an abbey by order of the Queen, and John Feckenham was -made abbot of Westminster. He was held in general esteem for his -learning, charity, and piety, and he was continually engaged in doing -good offices for the Protestants who suffered by the laws of the realm -for their faith. Three years after, Mary having died, the monastery was -again suppressed by order of Queen Elizabeth, and the abbot and monks -were again turned out of the abbey. In 1560 the abbey, by enactment, -was made a collegiate church, which it remains to this day, and was -endowed with the lands which had belonged to the abbot and monastery. -Since that time Westminster Abbey has been governed by a dean and -chapter, and has had thirty-three deans in regular succession of the -Protestant faith.</p> - -<p>The Abbey has the following large clerical staff for its government:</p> - -<p>One Dean, eight Prebendaries, one of whom is a Lord, and another a -Bishop; a sub-Dean, an Archdeacon, a Precentor, five minor Canons, -eleven Lay Clerks, two Sacrists, a Dean's Verger, a Prebendary's -Verger, a High Steward, who is a Duke, a Deputy High Steward, a -Coroner, a High Bailiff, Searcher and Bailiff of the Sanctuary, a -High Constable, a Head Master of Westminster School, Second Master, -forty Queen's Scholars on the Foundation, a Steward of the Manorial -Court, two Joint Receiver's General, a Chapter Clerk and Registrar, -an Auditor, a Commissory and Official Principal, a Registrar of the -Consistory Court, and a Deputy Registrar, an Organist and Master of -the Choristers, twelve Almsmen, four Bell-ringers, two Organ-blowers, -an Abbey Surveyor, a Clerk of the Works, a Beadle of the Sanctuary, -and last of all a College Porter and four Probationary Choristers, in -all a staff of eighty persons, a very slight reduction upon the old -administration of the Abbots of Westminster. These different office -holders, in all, receive salaries of about one hundred thousand pounds -a year, and the cost of the school, and the repairs of the abbey, make -the sundries amount to about twenty thousand pounds a year additional.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">TOMB OF SHAKESPEARE.</div> - -<p>In the general plunder of monasteries and church property, which -distinguished the reign of Henry VIII, Westminster Abbey suffered -severely, but it was still worse treated by the Puritans in the great -civil war, the abbey being used as a barrack for the soldiers, by the -Parliament, who wantonly destroyed many of the tombs and monuments -that adorned the various chapels, the altars in the chapels dedicated -to the different saints being thrown down, the images broken, and the -richly stained windows shattered into fragments. The restoration of the -edifice was intrusted to Sir Christopher Wren, who built St. Paul's, -but he made a very botching piece of work in the additions which he -gave to the towers at the west end.</p> - -<p>The imitation of the Gothic style in Wren's additions are wretched and -out of place in such an edifice as the Abbey. The front of the Abbey -has no columns or pierced works of carving, to which the Gothic style -owes so much of its lightness and elegance, and there is a mixture of -ornamentation such as the broken scrolls, masques, and festoons over -the grand entrance, which gives it a very heavy, flat appearance.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus24.jpg" alt="tomb" /> <a id="illus24" name="illus24"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> SHAKESPEARE'S TOMB.</p> - -<p>The Abbey is very rich in monuments of all kinds, some of which are -very fine works of art. All along the walls, in the transepts and -aisles, in the Nave, in the chapels, in the flooring of the Abbey, and -everywhere around me I saw tablets, tombs, inscriptions, and medallions.</p> - -<p>Among the most noticeable are those of Ben Johnson, John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> Milton, -Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry and first poet buried -in the Abbey, A.D. 1400, Dryden, Thomas Campbell, William Shakespeare, -Oliver Goldsmith, Joseph Addison, Handel the musician, Richard Brinsley -Sheridan, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Sir William Davenant, and Robert Southey, -in the "Poet's Corner," which is situated in the south transept. They -are all richly ornamented with busts, effigies of the deceased, or -allegorical designs in marble, or brass, or bronze.</p> - -<p>The tomb of Shakespeare is of marble, with a full length figure of the -great poet leaning on his left elbow, and has the following epitaph -written by John Milton, who was best fitted to write it:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">What needs my Shakespeare for his honored bones,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The labor of an age in piled stones,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or that his hallow'd relics should be hid</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Under a star-y pointing pyramid!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thou in our wonder and astonishment</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hast built thyself a live-long monument,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For whilst to the shame of slow-endeavoring art</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Those Delphic lines with deep impression took;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then thou our fancy of itself bereaving</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dost make us marble with too much conceiving;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And so sepulchred, in such pomp dost lie,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Milton's epitaph is as follows:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Three great poets, in three distant ages born,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Greece, Italy and England did adorn;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The next in majesty—in both the last.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The force of Nature could no farther go,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To make the third, she joined the former two."—</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>John Gay, the author of the "Beggar's Opera," wrote his own epitaph, -which is on his tomb;</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Life is a jest, and all things show it;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I thought so once; but now I know it."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>There is a sarcophagus to Major John Andre who was executed as a spy by -order of George Washington. It has a representation of a flag of truce, -and Britannia in tears.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus25.jpg" alt="tomb" /> <a id="illus25" name="illus25"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> TOMB OF MILTON.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Oldfield, the actress who coquetishly ordered that she should -be buried in a fine Holland chemise, with a tucker, and a double -ruffle of lace, and a pair of white kid gloves, has a monument with -an inscription by Pope. Isaac Newton has also a very fine monument, -and William Pitt's monument cost £6,000. Henry Grattan, Robert Peel, -Charles James Fox, William Wilberforce, George Canning, and Lord -Palmerston also have monuments.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE LAST CATHOLIC FUNERAL.</div> - -<p>Mary Queen of Scots, and the Queen who slew her, have magnificent -monuments near each other, and similar in style. The funeral of Queen -Mary, sister of Queen Elizabeth, was the last one which was celebrated -in the Abbey with the ceremonial of the Roman Catholic Church. She died -in 1558, and her body was brought from St. James Palace with great pomp -to the Abbey, on a splendid chariot. It was met at the great entrance -of the abbey by four bishops and Lord Abbott Feckenham in mitre, robes, -and with crozier. The body lay all night under the hearse, with a guard -of nobles and pages to watch it. On the fourteenth day of December it -was interred in the vault, and a plain black tablet was erected to be -placed over it by King James I, with the inscription:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ET MARIA SORORES</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">IN SPES RESVRRECTIONIS.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>James II, who sought to re-establish the Roman Catholic Faith in -England, (like Queen Mary,) died at St. Germain En-Laye, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> France, -and has no tomb in the Abbey. His intestines were given to the Irish -College, in Paris, the brains to the Scotch College, and the heart to -the Convent of Chaillot.</p> - -<p>Admiral Kempenfeldt, who was drowned on the man-of-war Royal George, -which sunk with eight hundred men, all of whom were lost, off Spithead, -in 1782, is also buried here, with the epitaph on his tomb, written by -Cowper the poet:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Toll, toll, for the brave—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Brave Kempenfeldt is gone;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His last sea-fight is fought;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His work of glory done.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His sword was in its sheath,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His fingers held the pen,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When Kempenfeldt went down,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With twice four hundred men."—</span><br /> -</p> -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus26.jpg" alt="tomb" /> <a id="illus26" name="illus26"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> TOMB OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.</p> - -<p>The Chapel of Edward the Confessor, who founded the Abbey, is full -of dead Kings and Queens, so full that a poet has written of the -commingled Royal dust that is here reposing:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Think how many royal bones,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sleep within these heaps of stones.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here they lie, had realms and lands,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who now want strength to lift their hands.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where, from their pulpit sealed with dust,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">They preach, 'In greatness is no trust!'</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here's an acre, sown indeed,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With the richest, royalest seed,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That the earth did e'er suck in,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Since the first man died for sin."</span><br /> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">INTERMENTS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES.</div> - -<p>Here lies buried Edward the Confessor, before whose tomb was kept -continually burning a silver lamp. On one side stood an image of the -Virgin, in silver, adorned with two jewels of immense value, presented -by Eleanor, Queen to Henry III; on the other side stood an image of -the Virgin, carved in ivory, presented by Thomas a-Becket. Edward I -offered the Scotch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> regalia and the antique stone on which the Kings of -Scotland were crowned at Scone; this latter relic is still preserved. -This shrine was composed of various colored stones, in Mosaic work; -but it is so dilapidated that very little idea can be formed of its -original beauty and grandeur.</p> - -<p>Queen Editha, Queen Maud, Edward I, Henry III, Elizabeth Tudor, -daughter of Henry VII, Queen Eleanor, Henry V, the victor of Agincourt, -Queen Phillippa, Edward III—with his sword, seven feet long and -weighing eighteen pounds, together with his enormous shield, hanging to -his tomb,—Margaret of York, Richard II, and a host of others, are here -buried. Their tombs are of magnificent workmanship, with full length -figures lying recumbent and their hands clasped in prayer.</p> - -<p>The Abbots and Priors of the abbey are buried in the walks of the -Cloisters, and I stood on three of these mural slabs, and looked at the -worn, full length effigies of the dead abbots, in full abbatical robes, -ring on finger, mitre on head, and crozier in hand, their Latinized -names almost worn away by the footsteps of the hundreds of thousands -of men and women who had paced the Cloisters since they were interred, -seven hundred years ago. And yet these tombs in Westminster Cloisters -are but as yesterday, when compared with the Pyramids of Egypt, or a -geological formation.</p> - -<p>It was in Westminster Abbey that all the Kings and Queens of England -have been crowned, and when a monarch had been crowned previously, as -in the case of Henry III, whose coronation took place at Gloucester, it -was thought proper to have the ceremony again performed at Westminster, -in the presence of the nobles and the chief ecclesiastical dignitaries -of the land; the Archbishop of Canterbury always officiating in the -august ceremonial.</p> - -<p>What wondrous scenes this proud old Abbey has witnessed! I can but -enumerate a few of these however. One day in the middle of Lent, 1176, -the King and his son came to London, while a Convocation of the Clergy -was being held in Westminster Abbey. The Papal Legate was present, -and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York were also present. Thomas -a-Becket had been murdered by order of the reigning King<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> Henry II. -Becket had been Archbishop of Canterbury. In the Convocation the then -Archbishop of Canterbury, as Primate of the Kingdom, sat on the right -hand of the Papal Legate. The Archbishop of York seeing this, when -he entered the Abbey, came in a rude manner and pushing between the -Primate and the Legate, as if disdaining to sit on the left hand of -anybody, thrust himself into the lap of the Primate in a swash-buckling -manner. The Primate would not move, and no sooner had the insult been -offered than the Bishops and Chaplains in the Abbey ran to the dais -and pulled my Lord of York down and threw him to the ground, and -began to beat him severely. The Archbishop of Canterbury then sought -to save him, and when he, the Archbishop of York, got on his feet, -he straightway went to the King whom he had advised to murder Thomas -a-Becket, and made complaint of the outrage which had been offered him. -The King laughed at him for his pains. As he left the Abbey the monks, -and priests, and bishops, with a loud shout cried out at him, "Go, -traitor, thou didst betray the holy man Thomas a-Becket; go get thee -hence, thy hands yet stink of blood."</p> - -<p>When the news reached the Archbishop of York (previously) that the -Archbishop of Canterbury (Becket) had been assassinated on the steps -of the Altar, he ascended his pulpit and announced the fact to his -congregation as an act of Divine vengeance, saying that Becket had -perished in his pride and guilt like Pharaoh.</p> - -<p>In 1297, Edward I offered at the shrine of Edward the Confessor, the -famous stone, crown, and sceptre of the Scottish Sovereigns, together -with the Coronation Chair, now in the Abbey, on which all English -monarchs have to sit to be crowned. This chair was taken from the Abbey -of Scone, in Scotland, by Edward, having been brought to Scotland by -King Fergus from Ireland, three centuries before the Christian Era. -Before that period, it is said to have been used for many hundred years -by the Irish Kings for a like purpose.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">CORONATION OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.</div> - -<p>The Scots were very eager to get the stone back for the reason that -a legend existed that whoever possessed the stone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> should rule -Scotland. This old stone chair, or rather oaken chair with a stone -seat,—twenty-six inches in length, sixteen inches and three quarters -in breadth, and ten and a half inches in thickness—has seen many -strange changes in dynasties, for every king since Edward I, has sat in -it on his coronation day.</p> - -<p>The ceremonies of coronation were very grand in the olden time and much -of their splendor has passed away or has become obsolete.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus27.jpg" alt="chair" /> <a id="illus27" name="illus27"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> CORONATION CHAIR.</p> - -<p>One of the grandest sights ever witnessed in the Abbey was when Aldred, -Archbishop of York, crowned William the Conqueror, King of England. -The mail clad bodies of Norman soldiery lined every part of old London -to keep down the Saxons, while William, superbly mounted, and followed -by a train of two hundred and sixty barons, lords and knights, entered -the Abbey. When the multitude reached the high altar, Geoffrey, Bishop -of Coutances, asked the Normans if they were willing to have the Duke -crowned King of England, and the nobles, knights, and priests, among -whom the English lordships and abbeys were already parceled out, cried -aloud with one voice that they were. The Norman horsemen without the -walls of the abbey hearing the shout, fancied that the Saxons within -had attacked their countrymen, and immediately they set fire to the -houses around the abbey, and in a few minutes the abbey was deserted of -friend and foe alike with the exception of William and a few priests -who stood firm, although the Duke trembled violently as the crown was -placed upon his head. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> declared that he would treat the English -people as well as the best of their kings had done, vowing by the -Splendor of God, his usual oath.</p> - -<p>The coronation of Richard I, the Lion Heart as he was called, was -attended with great pomp.</p> - -<p>On the third of September, 1189, the Archbishops of Canterbury, Rouen, -Treves in Germany, and Dublin, arrayed in silken copes, and preceded -by a body of clergy bearing the cross, holy water, censers and tapers, -met Richard at the door of his privy chamber in Westminster Palace, -and proceeded with him to the Abbey. In the midst of a numerous body -of bishops and ecclesiastics, marched four barons, each with a golden -candlestick and taper, then in succession—Geoffrey de Lacey with the -royal cap, John the Marshal with the royal spurs of gold, and William, -Earl of Striguil and Pembroke, with the golden Rod and Dove. Then -came David, brother to the King of Scotland, and present as Earl of -Huntington, and Robert, Earl of Leicester, supporting John the King's -brother, the three bearing upright swords in richly gilded scabbards.</p> - -<p>Following them came six barons bearing a chequered table, upon which -were the King's robes and regalia, and now was seen approaching the -central object of this gorgeous picture—Richard himself, under a -gorgeous canopy stretched by six lances, borne by as many nobles, -having immediately before him the Earl of Albemarle with the crown, and -a bishop on each side. The ground on which he walked was spread with -rich cloths of Tyrian dye.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE MASSACRE.</div> - -<p>At the foot of the altar, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, -administered the oath, by which Richard undertook to bear peace, honor, -and reverence to God and Holy Church, to exercise right, justice, and -law, and to abrogate all wicked laws and customs. He then put off all -his garments from the middle upwards, like a modern prize fighter, -except his shirt, which was open at the shoulders, and he was annointed -on the head, breast, and arms, with oil, signifying glory, fortitude, -and wisdom. He then covered his head with a fine linen cloth and set -the cap thereon, placed the surcoat of velvet and dalmatica<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> over his -shoulders, and took the sword of the Kingdom from the Archbishop to -subdue the enemies of the Catholic Church, and then put on the golden -sandals and the royal mantle, which last was splendidly embroidered, -and was led to the altar, where the Archbishop charged him on God's -behalf, not to presume to take this dignity upon him unless he were -resolved to keep inviolably the vows he had made; to which the king -replied:</p> - -<p>"By God, His grace, I will faithfully keep them all: Amen." The crown -was then handed to the Archbishop, by Richard himself, in token that -he held it only from God, when the Archbishop placed it on the King's -head; he also gave the sceptre into his right hand, and the royal rod -into his left.</p> - -<p>At the close of this part of the ceremony Richard was led back to the -throne, and High Mass being performed with grand pomp, Richard offered -as was usual, a mark of pure gold to the altar.</p> - -<p>While the coronation was going on inside massacre and arson reigned -outside of the Abbey. Before the ceremony, Richard, by proclamation -had forbidden all Jews to be present at Westminster, either within or -without the Abbey, but some members of that persecuted race had rashly -ventured within the walls, and a hue and cry being set up at what was -deemed a sacrilege, the populace ejected a prominent Israelite and -beat him with sticks and stones. In a few minutes a report spread that -the King had ordered the destruction of the Jews, and the furious mob -spread all over the city, burning the houses and destroying the lives -of the miserable Jews. Men, women, and children of tender age were -burned alive in their domiciles, where resistance was made to the mob, -and the cries of the murdered children blended discordantly with the -sounds of the shaums, and jongleurs, and the shouts of the rabble, who -were celebrating the coronation. The riot became so formidable that at -last Richard, who was at dinner in Westminster Hall, ordered the Chief -Justiciary of the Kingdom, Ranulf de Glanville, to go and quell it, but -this was more easy to order than to perform, and the King's officers -were driven back to the Hall.</p> - -<p>Through all that night and day the pillage, arson, and mas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>sacre -continued, and the next day the King hanged three of the rabble as an -atonement.</p> - -<p>At the coronation of Henry IV, Sir John Dymoke, the Champion of -England, rode into the Hall of Westminster Palace, where dinner was -being served to the King, on horseback in complete armor, with a knight -before him bearing his spear, and his sword and dagger by his side, and -presented a label to the king on which had been written a challenge to -any knight, squire, or gentleman, who dared declare that Henry was not -rightful King of England. He then had a trumpet blown, and cried out -that he was ready to fight in the quarrel. The label was then taken and -cried by the heralds in six places in the town of Westminster, but no -person seemed ready to fight although Richard II had been deposed by -Henry IV and was then in a neighboring dungeon.</p> - -<p>That most atrocious medieval fraud, Richard III, when about to be -crowned King, walked barefoot from Westminster Hall to the Abbey, a -distance of about six hundred feet, to let the crowds witness his -resignation and humility.</p> - -<p>When Edward VI, a boy of sixteen, was about to be crowned, he laid -himself down upon the steps of the altar on his stomach while Cranmer, -Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, opened his shirt and rubbing the oil -between his shoulder blades, anointed him.</p> - -<p>James I, who hated tobacco and witches, forbade the people to come to -Westminster to witness his Coronation, as the plague was then raging, -and James did not wish to catch the distemper.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">OMEN OF ILL LUCK.</div> - -<p>Charles I was crowned February 2, 1626, and his Queen, Henrietta, -being a Catholic, was not a sharer in the Coronation, nor was she a -spectator, and she would not accept the place fitted up for her in -the Abbey, but stood at the window of the Palace gates to look at the -crowd and procession, while her retinue of French ladies, nobles and -servants, were dancing within. When Charles walked up to the altar to -ascend the throne, Laud, who was Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Duke -of Buckingham, Lord High Constable of England, offered him their hands -on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> either side to ascend the throne, but the King smilingly refused -their hands and said:</p> - -<p>"I have as much need to help you, as you have to assist me."</p> - -<p>Then Laud presented the King to the great crowd of Nobles and people, -and said, in an audible voice, "My masters and friends, I am here come -to present unto you your King: King Charles, to whom the crown of -his ancestors and predecessors is now devolved by lineal right; and -therefore I desire you by your general acclamation, to testify your -consent and willingness thereunto."</p> - -<p>Not a voice answered, and there was a stillness as of the grave through -the vast spaces of the Abbey. It was a bad omen of a reign, which ended -so disastrously, for the listening monarch.</p> - -<p>At last the Earl-Marshal, Lord Arundel and Howard, said to the -spectators present: "Good people, I pray thee, why call ye not right -lustily, 'God save King Charles?'"</p> - -<p>Thus admonished, they with one voice exclaimed, "God save Charles, our -King." In the adjoining hall, Oliver Cromwell was inaugurated Lord -Protector of England, with a quiet ceremonial, attended by ushers, life -guards, State coaches, the Long Parliament, and several troops of horse.</p> - -<p>When James II was crowned, the Royal bauble tottered on his head, and -this was supposed to be a prophetic omen of ill luck.</p> - -<p>When George III was made King, with great pomp and circumstance, there -was present, unknown to the crowd, a young man who must have witnessed -the placing of the Golden Circlet on the brow of this fat, Hanoverian -Prince, with strange emotions. He could have said with truth, "My place -should have been by that chair; my father should have been sitting in -it," for it was the young Pretender, Charles Stuart; the last of his -royal and unfortunate race.</p> - -<p>At all the late Coronations, the magnificent pomp and ceremonial -of the Middle Ages have been omitted, and the last time that these -Ceremonies were carried out was at the Coronation of George IV, when -the Celebration was a very fine one.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> - -<p>The wood-work of the Choir was removed and boxes erected, affording -an uninterrupted view of the Nave and Chancel, showing the Peers and -Peeresses in all their magnificence of robes, of satins and silks, -and head-dresses of feathers and diamonds. To these were added the -brilliantly illuminated surcoats of the Heralds and Kings-at-arms, -while the King himself sat in the royal Chair of State, which is over -two thousand years old, and there received homage from the great -officers of State, and Peers of the Realm, the Crown on his head and -Sceptre in his hand, the Garter and George around his neck, and the -velvet robes enfolding his body, which was then scorbutic from disease -and dissipation.</p> - -<p>The challenge of the Champion of England was at this ceremony delivered -for the last time. After the banquet was over, at which seventeen -thousand pounds of meat, three thousand fowls, one thousand dozen of -wine, ten thousand plates, and seventeen thousand knives and forks, -were among the items, came the challenge to all who dared to dispute -the right of George to the throne of England.</p> - -<p>It was an imposing sight, as the Duke of Wellington, with his Ducal -Coronet ornamented with strawberry leaves, on his head, and in his -flowing Peer's robes walked down the hall, cheered by the officers of -the Life Guards, who were present. He shortly afterwards returned, -mounted, and accompanied by the Marquis of Anglesey, the one-legged -cavalry officer of Waterloo, and Howard, Duke of Norfolk, the -Hereditary Earl Marshal of England.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE BANQUET AND CHALLENGE.</div> - -<p>The three Nobles rode gracefully to the foot of the throne, paid their -homage, and then backed their horses down the lofty hall. The hall -doors of the Palace opened again, and outside, in the twilight, a man -in complete armor of Milan proof, appeared on horseback, outlined -against the shining sky. He then moved, passed into darkness, and under -the massive arch, and suddenly Howard, Wellington, and Anglesey, stood -in full view of the vast assemblage, with the palace doors closed -behind them. This was the finest sight of the day, as the Herald read -the challenge, a glove was thrown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> down by a gauntleted hand as a token -of defiance, which was taken up instantly by Wellington, and then they -all proceeded to the throne, trumpets blowing, people shouting, and -flower-girls strewing the way with baskets of flowers.</p> - -<p>The funerals of Lady Palmerston and George Peabody were the last that -have taken place in Westminster Abbey, and at the funeral of the former -a London reporter, in his eagerness to get an item, fell into the grave -of Lady Palmerston and nearly frightened a young lady mourner out of -her senses. Such is the story of this Mausoleum of Royalty and Heroism. -Westminster Abbey is only equaled for the antiquity and grandeur of -its mortal remains by the Abbey of St. Denis, in France, and those -world-old cemeteries, the Pyramids of Egypt.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail08.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail08" name="tail08"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE COSTERMONGERS AND RAG FAIR.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap09.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap09" name="icap09"></a></span>HERE is a wide, short street, or rather road, in the heart of London. -The buildings are mean, the people who cluster against their doorways -and in the alleys and courts that branch from this short, wide -street, are wretched in appearance; their garments are patched and in -piecemeal, and when untorn they are greasy and besmeared with filth.</p> - -<p>In this street, crowded at night—on Saturday night it is almost -impassable—children of a tender age may be seen begging for coppers -and soliciting assistance from those of more mature years, but to the -full as wretched as themselves. Vice is in every glance of their eyes. -Crime has already made its graven lines in their young faces, and their -language or dialect, (for it is not a language), is a combination of -uncouth sounds, obscene imagery, and slang corruptions of the English -tongue.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S GARDENS.</div> - -<p>This street, or road, is called the "New Cut," and is situated in -Lambeth on the Surrey side of the Thames. It is reached from the City -by Waterloo Bridge and the Waterloo road, and from the West End by -Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges. Thousands are born, baptized, many beget -children and die within the municipality of the Great Metropolis, and -yet have never seen the New Cut—nay, have never even heard of it, or -if they did, the word would have as much meaning to them as the plains -of El Ghizeh, or the source of the Nile to a Bow Cockney. Yet there are -thousands who are born here in this New<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> Cut who live and die in it -and make a living for themselves, after a fashion, who, if not content -with, are certainly unaware of any method of changing or bettering -their lot in this life.</p> - -<p>Narrow, dark, and mean streets run contiguous to the New Cut, and -branch from it in a winding, snaky way. A decently-dressed man is not -safe in this street, and the only sound of civilization to cheer him, -once lost in the mazes of these festering lanes and alleys, teeming -with low pot-houses, tap-rooms, and wild-looking children, bold, -bad-looking desperadoes of men, and reckless, obscene women, is the -low, rumbling sound coming like the approaching thunder to his ears -every few minutes as the loaded passenger trains dash to and fro on the -Northwestern and Southeastern Railways.</p> - -<p>The New Cut runs into the Lower Marsh and is flanked by Wootton, White -Horse, Collingwood, Eaton, Marlboro streets, and the Broad Wall. To -the west are Thomas, Isabella, and Granby streets, and from all this -misery and destitution of a quarter where the inhabitants are packed -like rabbits in a well-stocked warren, the road leads through the -Upper Marsh down to the rare pleasaunce or garden of the palace of -the Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the most sumptous ecclesiastical -retreats in England. The Archbishop's gardens, although located in the -heart of a populous city, cover as much ground, it is calculated, as -gives sleeping and eating room to 11,000 human beings in the New Cut -district.</p> - -<p>It is true that the river rolls sluggishly five or six hundred yards -below the New Cut, and those who are tired of dog's meat, rotten -vegetables, and the offal of the street markets for their common food, -and of sleeping eight in a room on straw which is not even clean, can -at any time deliver their bodies from further pain and starvation, and -their minds from a daily never-ending struggle as to how the dog's meat -and decayed offal may be procured, by a quick plunge in the river, near -by.</p> - -<p>This quarter is the principal resort of the "costermongers" of -London. The word "costermonger" has an equivalent which is better -known as "peddler." All those who vend or hawk vegetables, fruit, -carrion meat, game, fowl, ginger beer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> nuts, or, in fact, any of the -numerous articles or commodities of refuse merchandise found on the -barrows and wagons of the London peddlers, are called by the London -term "costermongers." The word is an old one used by Shakespeare, -and therefore has, if none other, the merit of antiquity of the most -genuine kind.</p> - -<p>There are in London proper, embracing its suburbs, of both -sexes—including men, women, and children—according to information -which I had procured from the police and physicians, who have means of -knowing, about 23,000 costermongers. These people are from daybreak -until midnight in the open air, I might say, for their marketing is -done as early as four or five o'clock in the morning; and then, after -an hour or so spent in marketing, comes the cheap, scanty breakfast, -consisting of a pound of bread, a "saveloy," which is a sort of a -sausage, at a penny a piece, about four inches long and two inches in -circumference, quite succulent to the costermonger's palate, or perhaps -a piece of beef or bacon of the kind that is vended from barrows in the -London streets at two pence a pound, the refuse of the butchers' shops -and pieces unfit for a ready sale.</p> - -<p>Among these refuse pieces are small portions of ham, shoulders, and -pork, fragments of bacon, "snag" pieces, and mutton, and a very -suspicious veal, which is often sold by these same hawkers in the -suburbs to old maids for cats' meat. Sometimes the "coster" will take -a pint of sloppy coffee, which he gets for three half-pence, with his -brief breakfast; at other times he prefers a quartern of gin "neat," -at two-pence; and again he will be satisfied with a mug of beer at -two-pence. As early as 7 o'clock in the morning the hideous noises, -which can only come from the throat of a costermonger, are heard in the -London streets, awakening those who wish to sleep late, and, to make -matters worse, no person, unless the costermonger himself, can by any -application ever understand the exact words of their cries. They are -only to be recognized by sound, and, therefore, it is always necessary -to appear at a window or doorway in order to discover the precise -article which the coster wishes you to buy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">SALE OF WATER CRESSES.</div> - -<p>I visited the New Cut on a Saturday night, which is the great market -night, when traffic is at its height in the neighborhood. The wide, -short street, which runs into a half circle at its end, was filled -with people. The noise was of that indefinite kind which is hardly to -be described. Stands, barrows, and wagons, having ponies and asses -attached, were placed along the gutters, with smoky lamps fed with a -disagreeable smelling oil, from which a dusky flame was shed over the -street, showing the faces of the venders as they gave tongue to many -different cries.</p> - -<p>"Whelks," a small shell-fish, like the American mussel, were heaped in -thousands on the heads of barrels and tables, and ham sandwiches, at -a penny apiece, and boiled potatoes, with sheeps' trotters, oysters, -fried fish, oranges, apples, plums, and, in fact, every kind of fruit -and vegetable were for sale. Little ragged boys and girls, their feet -bare and dirty, ran hither and thither, importuning the passers-by -to purchase their matches and water-cresses. Here water-cresses and -radishes are sold together in bunches at a penny a handful. Some of -these small children are up as early as five o'clock in the morning, -to purchase the water-cresses at Farringdon market, and from that time -until midnight, or until the theatres close, they are crying their -water-cresses, which they carry with them through the London streets in -a basket.</p> - -<p>The whelks are sold at two a penny, and are accounted a delicacy by the -poor of London, when properly seasoned with pepper, salt, and vinegar. -They are very much relished in the pot-houses of the metropolis by -hard drinkers when pickled in this fashion, and in any tap-room of a -Saturday night it is not uncommon to find men or women peddling these -shell-fish to those who have been drinking freely. The costermongers -are universally great gamblers, and earning during the week from -twelve to thirty shillings, as their luck may run with the purchasing -community, yet it is not an uncommon occurrence for them to gamble away -as much as fifty per cent. of their week's earnings in various games of -chance.</p> - -<p>These people have no religious belief whatever, and do not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> know -anything even of the rudiments of religious instruction. To them God is -some indefinite being whose attributes are unknown, and whose immutable -laws are disregarded simply from utter ignorance. They never darken -a church door, and tracts are received by them with the most supreme -disgust.</p> - -<p>A number of missionaries have labored among them in vain for any great -result, chiefly dissenting clergymen, and, although they will listen to -them patiently enough, yet they look upon them as the representatives -of wealth and intelligence, and they cannot tell the difference between -a Wesleyan minister who holds forth on a Sunday morning, with a big -banner, calling upon them to repent, in the dark alleys of Bethnal -Green and Whitechapel, and the richly beneficed divine of the Church -of England who rolls by in a carriage, totally heedless of their -condition, bodily or spiritual. All men who wear white neck-cloths are -called parsons, and are disliked by the "costers." Besides, they have -not learned to read, and tracts are useless to them, were they willing -to study their contents.</p> - -<p>The marriage relation is utterly ignored among them, and, if what -the police told me be true, not ten per cent. of the costermongers -who live with women and vend their goods in common are married. At -fifteen years of age the young costermonger leaves father and mother -to cleave to a girl of his own age, also the child of a costermonger, -bred in the gutters of the metropolis, and, having purchased a barrow -for ten shillings, and an ass for perhaps £2, the pair begin the world -practically man and wife, but without ever dreaming of calling in the -assistance of the minister to bind them together in the bonds of lawful -wedlock.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HEATHENISM OF THE COSTERS.</div> - -<p>A marriage certificate in a costermonger's den would, indeed, be a -curious and unusual relic, as would also the marriage ring, which is -looked upon in civilized society as the seal and confirmation of the -wedding ceremony. They say that they cannot afford to pay a minister's -fee, and as their code of morals is beneath mention they do not see -the necessity of the expenditure. Their children grow up in the same -way, bred, as their parents have been, to hawk and cry from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> dawn until -darkness, and thus the costermongers increase, more savage in their -usages than the American aborigines.</p> - -<p>Mind, I am now speaking of the English costermongers, for, with the -Irish costermongers, both male and female, who are still lower in the -social scale as far as the goods of this world go, it is different. -While the English coster cares not for the visits of the minister -of the Protestant faith, the Catholic priest is ever welcome among -his wretched and degraded flock in Whitechapel, in the New Cut, in -St. Giles, or Lambeth, and he is beloved by them in their own rude, -reckless way. The Irish costermonger believes most firmly in the -sanctity of the marriage ceremony. With a few exceptions, their -children, however wretched and miserable their lot may be in the future -life, are born in wedlock, and the slur of illegitimacy cannot be -thrown up at them. They will always have a few coppers to give their -priests to help those more miserable than themselves, and, though these -children but rarely receive the benefits of a common English schooling, -they are more eager to learn and more ready to seek instruction than -the children of their English neighbors.</p> - -<p>I inquired of one of these costermongers, who had a fried-fish stand -in the New Cut, and sold sprats all cooked and ready for eating, if he -could read. He seemed rather an intelligent fellow, in his way, and had -by no means the uncouth, ruffianly look that I noticed in many of the -men's faces who were engaged in selling vegetables, fish, whelks, and -periwinkles in the street. He had a little smoky lamp depending from a -sort of gallows over his cart, and he spoke cheerfully:</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm not much of a reader, like you gentlefolks be; but I picked -up a little book schoolin' at the Ragged schools by night, when I had -four puns saved, last winter. The letters wor a cruel bother to me at -first, and I most guv it hup at the beginning, sort o' faint-hearted; -but the teacher, as wos a Miss Spencer, she wos a good gal, and she -says to me (about Christmas it wor), 'Jimmy, you'll never learn to read -hif you don't persewere, and I know, Jimmy, you <i>can</i> persewere hif -you want to.' Ye see, sir, I had just gived the blessed book a kick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> -into a corner of the room, like mad; cos vy, the blessed letters wor so -cranky and they wor all so mixed hup together that I lost my 'ead as it -wor, and I couldn't make nothink hout of their shapes. But that gal, -Miss Spencer, she wor a topper and no mistake. She guv me a kind of a -smile, and bless me hif she didn't go to the corner of the room and she -takes hup the book as I had flung down, with 'er pretty little fingers, -and vith that she puts hit into my 'and, hand then I 'adn't the 'art -to refuse the gal; and that wos the way as I larned to read; and now I -reads <i>Reynold's Weekly</i> hevery Sunday mornin' to my maty, the boiled -potato man, which is 'ere to speak for 'isself, sir."</p> - -<p>The boiled potato man was advanced in years—a hardy, rugged-looking -fellow, who seemed as if he would like to read like his "maty," but -could not muster up courage to begin so late in life. I mentioned -casually to him that a great Latin grammarian had, at an early stage -of the world's history, made the attempt to learn Greek, being then -seventy years of age. His characteristic reply made me see that my -remark had struck him in the wrong place.</p> - -<p>"Well," said he, "hif that blessed hold Latting, as ye calls 'im, had -to 'awk biled pertaters from mornin' till night in the New Cut, and go -'ome to three kids vith, maybe, honly sevenpence for 'is day's vork, -I'm blessed hif 'ee'd a-bother'd 'is precious hold soul a-learnin' -Greek, or hany other lingo. I finds henuff to do vith the mealys, -vithout a-troublin' myself habout the books as I see heverywhere I -goes. N-i-c-e 'ot pertaties—hall smokin' 'ot—a-penny apiece!"</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus28.jpg" alt="theatre" /> <a id="illus28" name="illus28"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> VICTORIA THEATRE—NEW CUT.</p> - -<p>I bought a hot potato and a sprat, and left the two wondering if -I had been "gaffing" or "larkin'" on 'em; and passing through the -crowded street, past butchers standing at their doors in dirty aprons, -sharpening their knives in a business like manner; past water-cress -and match girls, who seemed to spring out of the gutters, so thick -were they; past drunken, noisy women, staggering home to their -miasmatic dens, with bunches of vegetables or chunks of meat in -their arms, wrapped in coarse brown papers, dirty children following -their foot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>steps, gaunt and shadowy-like; past reeking, greasy -coffee-shops, the very sign-boards of which were redolent of eel pies, -kidney stews, and all the abominations which are devoured in this -neighborhood daily and nightly, by the poor people who are forced to -eat this food, the refuse of the slaughter-houses of mighty, populous -London, from that stern, blind necessity which knows no law, and I -came upon a crowd of the working people—costermongers, peddlers, -match-women, and young lads and girls—who find habitations in the -dusky lanes and frightful courts of the neighborhood. I stood before a -large, dark-looking building, which seemed like a prison, its frowning, -dirty facade being no evidence that it was a place of amusement. But it -was a place of amusement, or, rather, a place of torture. This was the -"Royal Victoria Theatre," New Cut, Lambeth.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE NEW CUT.</div> - -<p>The Victoria Theatre, or the "Vick," as it is called by its patrons, -is one of the most democratic places of amusement, if not the most -democratic in London. In another place I will attempt to describe -the strange sights which I saw inside of its walls, but at present I -shall confine myself to giving my readers a view of the "Old Clothes" -district, which is chiefly inhabited by the lower class of the London -Jew peddlers or hawkers.</p> - -<p>Dick Ralph was a patrolman bold, who did duty in the "H," or Smithfield -Division of the City of London police, and was rewarded for his -vigilance and attention to duty by being promoted to the office of -"special," under probation, in the old Jewry squad of detectives.</p> - -<p>Dick had lately married and was the proprietor of a fine chubby boy of -fifteen months old, who resembled his father in every respect, having -the same red flush in the cheeks, the same black eyes, which sparkled -like diamonds, and the same little chubby nose. The family lived back -of St. Paul's towering pile, in a little lane or court which ran around -the old sheds that formed a part of the Old Market or Newgate shambles, -and was the principal fresh meat mart before the New Smithfield Market -had been built.</p> - -<p>Ralph had been detailed by Inspector Bailey to visit Petticoat lane, -Houndsditch, Bevis Marks, and the Minories with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> me, and we were to -go together to the Sunday market in this district, which is almost -entirely inhabited by Jews, although a greater part of the out-door -trade and costermongering is done by Christian Cockneys.</p> - -<p>I found Ralph living up a two-pair back, in one of the queerest, -old-fashioned wooden houses in the Newgate shambles. Directly over my -head was the dome of St. Paul's, with the morning fog clearing away -from its peak, and the sun was gradually appearing to gild the tall -cross on the apex, and the tower of St. Faith's, under St. Paul's. The -stairs were ricketty and dark, and the wainscotting quite fanciful. A -woman of twenty-five or six years of age, rather tidy in appearance, -I saw holding the big chubby baby, the pride of the Ralph family. The -family were at breakfast, and had been busy discussing fresh plaice and -soles from Billingsgate. The baby was allowed to tumble all over the -floor and bite its fingers.</p> - -<p>"How are you this morning, sir," said patrolman Ralph; "it promises to -be a pertickelerly fine Sunday does this, and a nice one for stroll to -see the sights."</p> - -<p>Ralph took down his hat and overcoat from a nail, and bidding his wife -good-bye affectionately, we strolled out into the streets.</p> - -<p>We took a walk up Newgate street to Cheapside, through the Poultry, -through Cornhill, passing the Bank and Mansion House on our way, -and finally opposite the Aldgate Church, with its curious old Sir -Christopher Wren spire, we found ourselves standing against the railing -which encloses a little green square of grass belting the church.</p> - -<p>"Now, sir," said Dick Ralph, "we are just going into one of the worst -places in London. There's a regular mob here all the time, and hits -just as much as a man can do to pass the peddlers without having his -'at and coat taken hoff him by the Sheenies who are selling of hall -sorts of things on the Sunday market. You can buy hanything from a -gimlet here in Petticoat lane to a suit of clothes in Rag Fair."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">PETTICOAT LANE.</div> - -<p>Houndsditch is a wide street which runs down from the Aldgate High -street to Bishopsgate street. At the other end is the street called -the Minories, going in the direction of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> Tower, which frowns upon -the river. Here, also, is the district called "Petticoat lane," which -embraces a number of short streets, courts, lanes, and filthy alleys, -with such characteristic names as "Sandy's Row," "Frying Pan alley," -"Little Love court," "Catharine Wheel alley," "Hebrew Place," "Fisher's -alley," "Tripe yard," "Gravel lane," "Harper's alley," "Boar's Head -yard," "Stoney lane," "Swan court," and "Borer's lane."</p> - -<p>These are only a few of the choice thoroughfares in this locality, -and all of them are dirty and swarming with a class who obtain their -living in the streets. There are, it is calculated, living and doing -business in Petticoat lane and its lesser tributaries of streets and -alleys, about six thousand men, women, and children who profess the -Jewish faith, and are in humble circumstances, who have to struggle and -compete with the Irish of the poorer class in the street trades, though -the Jews have a monopoly of the old clothes' trade.</p> - -<p>Houndsditch is in every way superior to the other streets which -surround it. It is wider, the shops are of a better order, and it is -noticeable that very few of their doors are open on a Sunday morning. -As the detective and I passed through the street I noticed such names -as "Abrams & Son," "L. Benjamin," "Isaacs & Co.," "Moses & Son," "Hyams -& Co.," and other like names over the doors of fruit shops, jeweller -shops, mercer shops, clothiers, and in one or two instances, over the -doors of small publics. It is, however, not a common thing to find a -Jewish name over a liquor shop door in London.</p> - -<p>"We are in the very nick of time to see the show," said Ralph to me—it -was nearly nine o'clock of the Sunday morning, and we had gone down -Houndsditch about three of our New York blocks.</p> - -<p>"The market is from eight o'clock Sunday morning until about two in the -hafternoon, and the business is as brisk as can be all that time," said -Ralph.</p> - -<p>The houses were all old, and all of them had a slouching, mean look, -with funny gables, grimy windows in the upper stories, and queerly -peaked and stunted roofs, overhung by tubular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> red chimneys, which -stood up like rows of corn in a field when seen from a distance.</p> - -<p>The people whom we met in the streets had an Eastern look, with -peculiarly brilliant, almond-shaped eyes, and prominent noses. Some -others had the Celtic features and spoke to each other with the -unmistakable brogue. The policemen that we met, too, seemed to partake -of the characteristics of the place, and I fancied that I could trace a -resemblance in their faces to those by whom they were surrounded.</p> - -<p>Crossing the street, we went through a court about a hundred feet wide, -that seemed to lead into a covered shed, from which came a din and -clamor of voices that was almost deafening.</p> - -<p>There was a wooden building like a market covered over, to to which we -ascended by a flight of three steps.</p> - -<p>"This is the Rag Fair, sir; I suppose you heard on't before. It's a -werry strange place, Rag Fair. But don't stop to look at anythink, or -them as keeps the stands will tear you to pieces to make you buy."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A CONGRESS OF RAGS.</div> - -<p>Although I took as much heed as possible of the injunction, it was -impossible not to look. It was a very queer place in more senses than -one. To get an idea of it take a section of Washington Market, New -York, with its stalls and blocks, and buyers and sellers; and on the -walls where the pork, mutton, and beef are hung to be inspected and -sold, and, instead of the flesh of the cow, pig, and peaceful sheep, -hang hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of trousers—trousers that have -been worn by young men of fashion, trousers without a wrinkle or just -newly scoured, trousers taken from the reeking hot limbs of navies -and pot boys, trousers from lumbering men-of-war's men, from spruce -young shop boys, trousers that have been worn by criminals executed -at Newgate, by patients in fever hospitals; waistcoats that were the -pride of fast young brokers in the city, waistcoats flashy enough to -have been worn by the Marquis of Hastings at a race-course, or the -Count D'Orsay at a literary assemblage; take thousands of spencers, -highlows, fustian jackets, some greasy, some unsoiled, shooting-coats, -short-coats, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> cutaways; coats for the jockey and the dog-fighter, -for the peer and the pugilist, pilot-jackets and sou-westers, drawers -and stockings, the latter washed and hung up in all their appealing -innocence, there being thousands of these garments that I have -enumerated, and thousands of others that none but a master cutter could -think of without a softening of the brain, take two hundred men, women, -and children, mostly of the Jewish race, with here and there a burly -Irishman sitting placidly smoking a pipe amid the infernal din; and -shake all these ingredients up well, and you have a faint idea of what -I saw in Rag Fair.</p> - -<p>Take five thousand pair of shoes, boots, gaiters, bootees, brogans, -watermen's boots, shoes of criminals, and suspicious-looking boots, -taken from the feet of thieves, flashy-looking women's gaiters and -cordovans purchased from prostitutes and wretched women in garrets, who -had sold them to buy food or a drink of gin.</p> - -<p>Take all these articles, scatter them around, hang them on nails and -hooks depending from greasy stalls ascending to the old tumble down -roof, and then the reader will have a dose offered to him such as I got -when I fell on Rag Fair, Petticoat lane.</p> - -<p>It was by far the strangest scene I had ever looked upon. London has -nothing like it elsewhere, and New York, which is really destitute -of any specially salient characteristic, could not in fifty years' -time organize and bring together such a mass of old clothes, grease, -patches, tatters, and remnants of decayed prosperity and splendor. -In every old tattered trousers there was an unwritten epic; in every -gaudily fashioned waistcoat there was a tale perhaps of sorrow and -sadness and want, if any one could but point it out.</p> - -<p>The patches and rents that were botched up and mended, showed the -hasty repairs in the old coats that hung in platoons and files from -the niches; the jagged sewing and frayed edges in each of these old -garments, could they speak, would tell an astonishing tale, or furnish -the groundwork of a plot for a popular drama.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> - -<p>The stalls were in rows, and the men and women and boys who did -business there kept running about all the time I remained in the fair, -shouting and screaming like possessed beings. Their great aim and -object was to catch some unfortunate visitor by the lappel of his coat -or snatch his elbow, his coat-tail, or any other available part of his -clothing, hold on to him, shake an old waistcoat in his face, and if -he didn't want a waistcoat, shake a dirty old pair of trousers in his -face, talking all the time in an imploring, or may be a trembling tone, -until the man would be compelled to break away by sheer force or call -the police, who seemed to have enough to do in this place.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus29.jpg" alt="fair" /> <a id="illus29" name="illus29"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> RAG FAIR.</p> - -<p>I stopped for a moment to look at a stall where about a hundred -pairs of boots and shoes were displayed in rows, the thick-soled -heavy-looking brogans of the laborer ranged next to the -nicely-fashioned gaiter of the elegant, with their well-turned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> toes -and arching insteps, and the man, a sharp-featured Hebrew, who was -proprietor, seized me and thrust a second-hand pair of boots in my -face, saying at the same time:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">MODUS OPERANDI OF SELLING.</div> - -<p>"You wan'sh a nish pair o' bootsh? S'help, I shells you thish pair for -two shillings, and they wash never made lesh than a guinea and a half! -Don't you want to buy these sphlendid bootsh; s'help me, I only makes'h -two pensh?"</p> - -<p>I tried to get away, but he held to my arm and kept shaking the boots, -while his sharp, black eyes glittered like sword points at the prospect -of losing a sale. At last the detective, losing patience, jerked him -away, and we passed on to the next slop stand.</p> - -<p>This was kept by an old Irish woman. The Jew was all mercantile -acerbity and sharpness. This old humbug of a female Celt was all -treacle and honey.</p> - -<p>"Ah, then, it's the foine gentleman that ye are. It's easy to see -the good dhrop is in ye. May be it's a likin' ye'd be taking to this -sphlindid waistcoat; that's all the fashion now, and it's well it 'id -look on yer fine figger. And don't ye want nothing at all to wear? -And shure ye wouldn't be afther goin' naked like an omaudhaun in the -streets and havin' the people shoutin' after ye?"</p> - -<p>"How much rent d'ye pay for this stall," said I to her, to get her off -a topic by which she made her living.</p> - -<p>"Is't the durty rint ye mane? Well, it's enouff for the ould hole. I -pay sixpence a day in advance, and the devil resave the penny I've -turned yet, this blessed mornin."</p> - -<p>"Have you any one to support beside yourself?"</p> - -<p>"Well, indade, I have two childher, and its small comfort they are to -me. One of thim, the eldest, is down wud scarlet favir, and the docthor -says it tin to one if she'll ever recover."</p> - -<p>"You see sir," said the detective, "the people who rent stands from -the men as own this place, they have to pay sixpence a day to 'old the -stand. But those fellows as you see running around like lunatics, and a -borin of every one, they pays two pence a day rents—cos why they 'ave -no stands and honly walk habout with the clothes hon their harms."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yis, and I wish you'd sind them to the divil, the haythens—they niver -give an honest woman a chance to make a penny be hook or be crook, wud -thim runnin all over the fair."</p> - -<p>"Halso, we never allows the 'awker as has no stands to stay in one -place," said Dick Ralph, "cos hif we did, that would ruin the business -of the people as pays rent for the stands. So we keeps them a movin' -hon, and they doesn't like it, but we have got to do it, or else they -would have rows hall the Sunday through with the nobs as keeps the -stands. You see, the wery minute one of the 'awkers gets hopposite -a stand, he collects a crowd and—now, there goes one now;" and he -pointed to a fellow with a pair of trousers, who was bawling his goods -out while a policeman had him by the neck shoving him along by main -force.</p> - -<p>"Oh, some of these lads are precious 'ard coves, I tell you, to manage. -Some of them will fight and curse at you like as hif they wor made of -brass. But we never talks long to them, 'cos hif we did Rag Fair would -be too much for the force."</p> - -<p>"How much a day do the hawkers make on an average?" I asked Ralph.</p> - -<p>"Well, I can't tell, because they are sich werry 'ardened liars. I axed -one the werry last Sunday as I wos 'ere. Says I, 'old Benjamin, how -much do you take in on a day's work on a haverage?'"</p> - -<p>"Oh! blesh your 'art," sez he, "some days I hash two pounds profit, and -some days I makes a shillin' by 'ard vork."</p> - -<p>"Now ye see," said Ralph, "I knew he was of gaffin me, for he was not -worth two pounds, body and soul, and I don't suppose he never made more -than half a crown in a day and do his best. Then Old Benjamin spends it -hall in fish. The Jew peddlers here are wery fond of fish on Saturdays. -They would go without a meal in three days to have a fresh mackerel on -Sunday. And they are werry pertikler as to who kills the meat before -they buys it."</p> - -<p>Determining to make another attempt to see Petticoat Lane on a week -day, I bade the polite policeman and the highly odorous quarter of the -Old Clothes sellers, a very good day.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></p> - -<p class="center">FROM NEWGATE TO TYBURN.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap10.jpg" alt="L" /> <a id="icap10" name="icap10"></a></span>ET us look at Newgate. This stern old pile of stones heaped upon -stones, grey and grim, the burden of whose sighs afflict the weary -skies above.</p> - -<p>The strangest kind of a fascination hung over me as I looked at its -Gate, cut in the deep wall like the entrance to a rocky cave. The -spiked sill spoke of gibbets, the bars and locks and bolts of a felon -gang, who dragged their blind life away, day following day, for them -without hope, the outside world vacant, dumb and blank as the Ages, to -their crime begotten souls, whose only music was the clank of fetters -and the hoarse grating of iron hinges.</p> - -<p>The building itself, covering half an acre, seemed sealed like a -sepulchre. There was nothing to be gotten out of it, one way or the -other. No one can have even looked at this terrible prison of Newgate -without a shudder of despair for his kind.</p> - -<p>Only on certain recurring Black Mondays did it yawn like a grave in -the face of a great swearing mob, to put forth something into the -open in the shadow of St. Sepulchre's, that was half dead; to take -it back after an hour quite dead; and then it relapsed into its old, -inscrutable dumbness.</p> - -<p>Now Gate of Ivory, now Gate of Horn—now a porch above which might be -inscribed the despairing legend of the Inferno, now a wicket at which -the charitable might tap gently, fraught<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> with messages of mercy to the -fallen creatures within—the portal of Newgate could assume chameleon -hues, not always hopeless.</p> - -<p>Next to the spikes of Newgate, the visitor must always mark for lasting -remembrance, the stones of Newgate doorsteps. They are not perhaps -more than eighty years old, but they look more worn than the jambs of -Temple bar—more decayed than the wheel windows of the Cloisters of -Westminster Abbey. They are ancient through use, and not through time.</p> - -<p>The Hall of the Lost Footsteps at Versailles is but an empty name, but -the millions of footsteps that have worn Newgate stones, must make it -an abiding reality. Here have united all the crooked roads. Here have -fallen the last steps on the stones of the ford of the Black River. -Beyond the steps has loomed the City of Dis.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">How many footsteps! how many!</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Lord George Gordon, after the riots and burnings of 1780, wrecked and -crazy, totters feebly up Newgate steps to die in the prison which his -murderous associates had attempted to burn. Desperate Thistlewood, -fresh from the loft in Cato street, where his fellow conspirators were -dragged—reeking from the murder of Smithers, whose ghost followed him -to the gallows, is brought here heavily chained from the Tower Dungeon, -in which the ministry with frantic fear had at first immured him.</p> - -<p>He and his gang will leave Newgate no more save by the Debtor's Door, -where the Man in the Mask—one of the few unsolved mysteries of the -Nineteenth century—will do his horrible office upon them and hold up -to the populace five severed heads, who at first shudder, but growing -hardened by the dripping sight of blood, will cry as the clumsy butcher -lets the last head fall—</p> - -<p>"Hallo, butter-fingers!"</p> - -<p>Down Newgate steps at dead of night, how many corpses of uncoffined -wretches have been borne in sacks, to be dissected at Old Surgeon's -Hall, over the narrow causeway which skirts the prison.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">EXECUTION OF BARRETT.</div> - -<p>The dread gaol keeps its secret better now. No grapnel hauls forth the -dishonored carcass of the dead criminal for exposition at the Gemonian -steps.</p> - -<p>The place is doubly a Golgotha, and murder is buried on the spot where -it has been slain.</p> - -<p>Here died brave hearted Michael Barrett, the victim of the last public -execution which will ever take place in Newgate, just three short years -ago. How the huge metropolis seethed and boiled like a world-cauldron -that day of days!</p> - -<p>Condemned to die as a Fenian conspirator, he gave his life gallantly -for his native land, and in his last hour frightened England more than -a hundred living Barretts could have done.</p> - -<p>I stood before Newgate with a member of the Old Jewry force who had -seen the execution of Barrett. From the fact that the government, after -that day, has prohibited any more public executions, his description of -the scene will be worthy of recounting to my readers. The detective was -a young man, and intelligent beyond his class. We were standing outside -of the prison gate.</p> - -<p>The lane or street of the Old Bailey, which begins at Ludgate Hill, -one block below St. Paul's Cathedral, runs toward Newgate street, -parallel with Giltspur street which it enters, and forms before ending -a triangular space of about two acres square measurement. At the angle, -formed by the Holborn Viaduct, which ends here, (Giltspur street and -Newgate street,) is the old Church of St. Sepulchre. To the right and -behind us, we could just trace the ornamented and beautiful facade -of Christ Church Hospital. To our left and below us was the Sessions -Court in the Old Bailey, a place in some respects like the Tombs Court -and the Court of General Sessions in New York, were both courts to be -combined. I am thus particular in order to show my readers where and -how Michael Barrett, the last Newgate victim, died.</p> - -<p>"Well, you see, Sir," said my Old Jewry friend to me, "the week as -Barrett wos hung wos a busy week with us. Up all night sometimes and -all day, searching the holes and corners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> and dark places of the city -for Fenians. We got information that they wos going to blow up St. -Pauls, one day—another day we hears that they had a plot to bust -hup the Bank of Hingland—then they were to burn down the Tower and -the 'Oss Guards, and then somebody told us that they meant to send -Westminster Habbey and Buckingham Palace sky high—and this way and -that way we wos worrited to death with hinformation. One night I -was detailed to St. Paul's to watch the crypts or vaults under the -Cathedral, where the Fenians intended to put a lot of gunpowder to blow -it hup. I staid there all night with some more of the men detailed, -and a precious cold job it wos, we hiding among the vaults snapping -our fingers and shivering like geese in a pond, and not a Fenian -within three miles of us. That wos a lark, and the newspapers laughed -at us, and had comic picters of us standing in the cold, for their -hedification."</p> - -<p>"Another night we hexpected them to set fire to the 'Ouses of -Parlyment, and a blessed shame it would have been to have destroyed -sich a fine hedifice, and there I wos night after night, a-playing hide -and seek among the galleries and Towers of the 'Ouse, watching for -Fenians and hexpecting to get a stab in the back, and all the time I -wos wishing as how I could get relief, so as to get a pot o' beer in -the King's Arms in Parlyment street."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DYING FOR AN IDEA.</div> - -<p>"Well, Sir, at last came the busting and blowing up of Clerkenwell -Prison, and a nice row that made all through England—and while the -fellows as did it walked off quite cooly—Barrett and a few more who -wos suspected, and who wos as I believe really hinnocent—of the -Clerkenwell affair—wos taken and tried right over here in the Sessions -Court (pointing with his hand over the wall of the Old Bailey Court), -and he stood up in the dock that day as he wos found guilty, and I must -say he was as brave a man as I ever saw—and defied the big wigs and -all on them, and said he was not afraid to die, and then he told them -that if it was twenty lives he would give it for "dear Ireland,"—thems -just the words he said, and although I don't like Fenians or Fenianism, -I must say for him that he was no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> more afraid than I was, that is if -you can judge from a man's face at such a hawful minute.</p> - -<p>"The night afore his execution I was in his cell; I was let in by a -friend of mine the turnkey, and I spoke to him kindly, cos you see I -didn't feel exactly like as if he wos a man who had committed a common -murder or robbed for a living, cos why, you see, a lawyer told me as -how he was dying for an idea, like Russell or Hampden or some others of -them Big Guns.</p> - -<p>"I sez to him:</p> - -<p>"How do you feel Mr. Barrett?"</p> - -<p>"I feel well, thank you said he;" one of the turnkeys wos watching him, -sitting up with him, and he had a light in his cell—he was ironed.</p> - -<p>"They are putting up the scaffold," said he to me without a bit of fear.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and I'm sorry for it," said I, "Mr. Barrett—is there anything I -can do for you."</p> - -<p>"Nothing," says he, standing up and turning down the book which he was -reading, his chains clanking around his legs—"Nothing—but you see -me the night before I die—tell those who employed you that Michael -Barrett has made his peace with God—and is not afraid to die. Tell -them," and he commenced reciting poetry like, with his eyes on the -ceiling of his cell:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Whither on the scaffold high</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or in the battle's van;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The fittest place for man to die</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is where he dies for man."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Them's the lines as near as I can remember, for I saw them in a book -after, and that made me recollect them.</p> - -<p>"During the night they were busy in putting up the scaffold, and three -or four thousand special constables were sworn in by the magistrates, -cos why, they were afraid that the Fenians would rescue Barrett, and I, -as well as every other man, wos armed with a six-barrelled revolver. -When the morning came there must have been a hundred thousand people -in the streets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> and all around here. Hundreds staid up all night to -get a chance for a good place to look at him, and there was more than -three thousand women, and as many children in the crowd around the -scaffold. The top of the scaffold, I mean the frame, was about twelve -feet above the street, and the platform was about six feet high, so -that hevery one was able to see him. Fifteen hundred police in uniform -were drawn hup around Newgate, and to prevent the crowds from pushing -or rescuing the prisoner, a barricade of trees was built at a distance -of two hundred feet from the scaffold hevery way. Five hundred police -in plain clothes were among the crowds armed with revolvers, and troops -were stationed at all the barracks in the city so as to be ready for -any attempt to save his life. The crowd Sir, was for all the world -like a surging sea, and people were buying and selling of histers, and -liquors, ginger beer, whelks, fruit and cigars, just the same as if -they were at a fair, and men and boys were crying ballads and singing, -and some of them were peddling Barrett's printed confession. Now you -see, Sir, that was a humbug, becos Barrett never made no confession, -but they sold just as well as if he had made one, at a penny a piece.</p> - -<p>"Well, when St. Sepulchre's bell struck eight, which is always the -signal, they brought him ought, and although the air was cold and some -of us were shivering from standing up so long without anything to eat -or drink, he never trembled at all, but looked at every man and woman -of all that wos there with a smile, and a steady look.</p> - -<p>"'He's a game un,' I heard many a man say, and our fellows who had -such hard work watching the Fenians by night and by day, had no hard -feelings agin the brave fellow then. The women around the scaffold -waved their handkerchiefs to him, you see, Sir, the women, bless them, -are always up to such blessed games, and there was some man in the -crowd when the rope was put around his neck, who wore a fur coat, and -seemed like an American, who cried out as loud as he could—</p> - -<p>"Good heart—Michael Barrett—this day. All is not lost while one drop -of Irish blood remains."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE PESTIFEROUS PRISON.</div> - -<p>"I saw the man, and I made a jump for him with two of my pals, but the -crowd opened and let him pass through,—it seemed a purpose like, and -just then I heard a roar and a great convulsive sob, and the crowd -pushed this way and crushed that way, almost smothering me, and I -nearly fainted from the awful squeezing I got, and I picked up a little -girl from atween my feet, and when I looked up Barrett's body was a -swinging to and fro from a rope, and all was over, and believe me, Sir, -I was glad of it when it was over."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus30.jpg" alt="" /> <a id="illus30" name="illus30"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE LAST EXECUTION AT NEWGATE.</p> - -<p>It was high noon when I arrived at Newgate, and my visit was paid -chiefly to that part of the prison devoted to the subsistence of the -prisoners. I passed through the corridors and passages, and door after -door, and hinge after hinge grated as I advanced with a companion. All -around the prison are the high walls of the neighboring buildings, -and attached to them are precipitous sheds with spikes to prevent the -escape of pris<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>oners who may succeed in getting as far as the yard. -On top of the prison is a huge circular fan which revolves and gives -ventilation to the interior of the jail. This improvement was the -result of the labors of the great philanthropist John Howard.</p> - -<p>In the old days Newgate was a hell upon earth. During the Eighteenth -century prisoners endured the tortures of the damned here. Jail birds -were shackled to the floor to prevent their escape, and mouldy bread -and stinking water was given them to drink until their stomachs loathed -the appearance of food. Their beds were of stinking straw, the rain -from the heavens dripped through the roof upon them, the frost and cold -eat into their bones; they festered in dirt, disease, and destitution, -till their limbs broke out in horrible blains, and ulcers and all kinds -of agues and dysenteries swept down upon them. Then in this terrible -state, after rotting for months awaiting a trial, they came into the -dock at the Old Bailey with the jail fevers upon them to slay with the -pestiferous miasma which exhaled from their bodies, judge, jury, and -pettifogging attorneys.</p> - -<p>The prisoners were so crowded together in dark dungeons, that the air -becoming corrupted by the stench, occasioned a disease called the -"goal distemper," of which they died by dozens every day. Cartloads -of dead bodies were carried out of the prison and thrown in a pit in -the burying-ground of Christ's Church without ceremony. The effluvia -in the year 1750 was so horrible that it made a pestilence in the -whole district. Four judges who sat in the Session, a Lord Mayor, -several aldermen, and other civic dignitaries were carried off by the -distemper, together with a number of lawyers and jurors present at the -trials of Newgate criminals.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">GETTING WEAK IN THE BACK.</div> - -<p>Then at last the prison was cleansed, and a system of ventilation -introduced, which made some improvement in the condition of the -prisoners. Still, Newgate was a disgrace to Christendom, and -just one hundred years ago Parliament made a grant of £50,000 to -construct a prison. Beckford, author of Vathek, and then Lord Mayor -of London, laid the first stone. In 1780, Lord George Gordon, with -his No-Popery rioters, burned down that part of the prison which had -been constructed, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> set at liberty three hundred of the prisoners -confined there. £40,000 in addition had to be granted before the -building was completed.</p> - -<p>On an average there are between two and three hundred prisoners held in -durance in Newgate, and twelve sessions are held during the year at the -adjoining Old Bailey Court for their trial. This is called the Central -Criminal Court, and it is here, in this very court, that Jack Sheppard, -Dick Turpin, Claude Duval, Sixteen String Jack, Tom King, and all the -other heroes of the yellow covered literature, were tried, condemned, -taken in fetters to Newgate, and from thence to Tyburn Tree to hang by -the neck until they were dead.</p> - -<p>The Judges of the Old Bailey Court are the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, -Recorder, and Common Sergeant of London, and the Judges of the Courts -at Westminster Hall, who sit here by rotation to assist, by their -superior legal knowledge, the inferior local magistrates.</p> - -<p>The prison is divided into a male and female side, but beyond this -there is little classification; the pickpocket, the swindler, the -embezzler, the murderer, are all associated together; while the -hardened offender and the one who is merely suspected of crime, but too -often share the same cell, and feed at the same board.</p> - -<p>There are separate cells, so that every one averse to society may dwell -alone if he or she chooses, but in conversation with the turnkeys, I -learned that the privilege was rarely claimed.</p> - -<p>"Why, Lord bless your heart, Sir," said a turnkey to me, "there isn't -one of the birds in this ere cage that wouldn't go down on his blessed -knees and beg hoff if he was to be locked up alone for forty-eight -hours. Ye see, sir, it sickens them, it does, to be alone and hear -no one's voice but their own. There's a few of the high 'uns at -first, when they come here, are werry hoffish and have a sort of a -"how-dare-you-look-or-speak-to-me-air," but before three days they gets -weak in the back and then they'll give a guinea a minute to look at a -face if it only wor a monkey's dirty mug."</p> - -<p>When prisoners become refractory, solitary confinement, for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> -few days, is the punishment, and it never fails to tame the most -intractable. The beds of the prisoners are in tiers one above the -other, like the berths on an emigrant ship, only that they are clean -almost to painfulness. The beds consist of a hard mattress and coarse -coverings, sufficient in all seasons to keep them comfortably warm. -A plain deal table and bench constitute the only furniture of the -place, and these, with the floor, are daily scrubbed into a state of -scrupulous cleanliness by the inmates of the cells. There are paved -court yards in which the prisoners may walk and breathe the small -quantity of pure air that can circulate between those high and gloomy -walls, surmounted by formidable spikes to impede the climber.</p> - -<p>I went into the kitchen of Newgate and found it to be a commodious and -well-fitted apartment, very like the kitchen of the Reform Club, only -not so luxurious, from its want of French dishes, and I found here -boilers, stoves, ranges, saucepans, kettles, and all that a chef could -need for his cuisine. This was not the kitchen of the Old Newgate of -which Ainsworth delights to tell, where the hangman used to seethe in a -cauldron of molten pitch the heads and quarters of victims executed for -treason, whose several members were afterwards affixed to the spikes of -Temple Bar or London Bridge.</p> - -<p>I saw the rations of each prisoner served out in tin panikins and -platters, and the bread served was as white as any I ever ate. There -were three large and beautiful potatoes allotted to each one, and three -ounces of boiled beef, good and tender and free from bone, just of the -same quality which I had seen served a few days before in the barracks -of the Grenadier Guards down in Westminster. The meat might not have -all the accessories and sauces which a Delmonico or a Blanchard could -provide, but it was palatable and tender to the taste.</p> - -<p>On "off" days they have soup and thick gruel for breakfast, and sixteen -ounces of bread per day. They never get beer, butter, milk, cheese, -cabbage, tea, coffee, or eggs.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HOTEL REGULATIONS.</div> - -<p>So, after I had seen all this "bee bread," the hunks of meat duly -weighed out, the potatoes and lumps of bread packed in their panniers -and delivered out from door to door—the chief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> warder and I began to -ascend a very Mont Blanc of iron staircases, and visited, one after the -other, the cells of the wicked hive; in which, God knows, there was -no honey making, but only wax, bitter as the book which the Apostle -swallowed.</p> - -<p>The original "comb," many stories high, had been built in one of the -former yards of the gaol. The space between the different tiers of -cells was quite sufficient for ventilation; but the architects had of -necessity trusted more to height than to breadth, and this increased -the hive-like appearance of the place. But when I came down again, the -remembrance of what I had seen fresh upon me, all these iron staircases -and galleries, all these shining locks, bars, numbers, plates, and -"inspection holes," all these recrossing and crossing pillars, trusses, -and girders, made me think that I had just left some great, bad -exhibition of products of the devil's industry. One cell was, in all -save its occupant, twin brother to its neighbor on either side; and so -on, tier above tier, until the whole nest had been explored. I forgot -to ask how many feet broad, by how many feet long, was each dungeon.</p> - -<p>But here is one—the type of all the rest. It is as large say, as a -<i>cabinet particulier</i>, to hold four, at Vachett's or the Moulin Rouge; -but it is given up to the occupancy of one man. It is a hundred times -cleaner than ever was <i>cabinet</i> in Paris restaurant; and here the -lodger eats, reads, and sleeps. His bedding lies on a shelf on the -right corner as you enter the cell. It is a pile of rugs, matting, -mattress, or some other kind of bedding, packed and folded up with -mathematical accuracy, with an assortment of straps and hooks disposed -in corresponding order. These hooks will, by and bye, at eight o'clock, -be inserted in rings in the whitewashed cell, when the prisoner will -make his bed and sleep athwart his cell.</p> - -<p>There are his gas-pipe, his basin, and mug; there is a little -desk-formed table, which he can prop up with a wooden support, to eat -his meals upon; there are his tin panikin and wooden spoon, his Bible, -prayer-book, and hymn-book, his comb, his salt-cellar, with a neat -cover of blue paper. Everything shines, glistens, sparkles, almost -as bravely as the gew-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>gaws in Mr. Benson's shop outside. The floor -is of shining asphalte. The covered ceiling is without a flaw. The -walls are unsmirched. A neat copy of the regulations enforced in this -"hotel"—the code of discipline framed by the Sheriffs—are hung up -for the prisoner's guidance. He has a ventilator, by means of which he -can regulate the temperature of his cell; and I noticed that the chief -warder had to tell almost every prisoner that he was keeping his cell -too warm.</p> - -<p>Among the many afflicting scenes that have taken place in the vicinity -of Newgate, was that of February 23, 1807, when two men, named Haggerty -and Holloway, were hanged for the murder of Mr. Steele, on Hounslow -Heath. The greatest interest had been excited by the trial of these two -men, and an immense crowd assembled to witness their execution.</p> - -<p>By five o'clock in the morning every avenue was blocked up; every -window that communicated a view of the place was crammed, and wagons, -arranged in rows, groaned under the weight of the eager multitude. The -pressure of the assemblage was tremendous; and when the criminals had -been turned off—when they had given their last death struggle—the -mass of the people began to move. But there was no room for them to -move in.</p> - -<p>Immediately rose the shrieks of affrighted women in the crowd, which -but increased the alarm, and made each individual struggle to get out -of the multitude. Hundreds were trodden under foot, and the furious and -frightened crowd passed over them.</p> - -<p>At last the confusion ceased a little, and the ground became -comparatively clear.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DRINKING FROM ST. GILES' BOWL.</div> - -<p>Some who had been thrown down arose but with little damage, and went -home, but forty-two were found insensible, of this number twenty-seven -were quite dead, of whom three were women. Of the other fifteen many -had their legs or arms broken, and some of them afterward died. Since -that occurrence barriers have been erected and executions have taken -place without loss of life. The system of hanging in chains has also -been abolished, and Newgate may one day hope, like its brother of the -Bastille, for the light of freedom to break in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> upon its hell-holes, -and show to humanity how like devils are men clad with a little brief -authority.</p> - -<p>Eighty-three years ago, the last victim, taken from Newgate to Tyburn -Tree, was hung there upon the gallows in chains. The name of the -criminal was John Austin. Tyburn was anciently a manor and village -some miles west of London, and on this fated spot, in 1330, Roger de -Mortimer was hanged, drawn, disemboweled, and quartered, for high -treason. The gallows was a triangle upon three legs. Long years ago, -when Dan Chaucer wrote his lays, criminals were taken to Tyburn, and -hung from a lofty elm tree, which overshadowed a brook or "burn," hence -the term of "Tyburn Tree." The gallows, in after years, stood on a -small eminence at the corner of the Edgeware Road, where a tool-house -was subsequently erected.</p> - -<p>Beneath this spot, where the gallows formerly stood, the bones of -Bradshaw, Ireton, and others, who had voted for the death of Charles -I, repose, their remains, having been taken from their graves, after -the Restoration, and thrown here. Around the gibbet were erected -open galleries, like those at a modern race-course, from whence many -thousand people, of both sexes, were wont to feast their eyes on the -dying struggles of the condemned. "Mamma Douglas," an old toothless -woman, held the keys of these seats, and she was, facetiously, called -the Tyburn "pew opener." Prices of seats to witness the sport, varied -from one and sixpence to three shillings, and in one instance, a -reprieve having arrived for the prisoner in time to save his life, the -mob became enraged at their disappointment, and tore up the benches. -The criminal was conveyed in a cart to Tyburn, the parson chanting -prayer and hymn on the route, and in passing through the quarter of St. -Giles, a bowl of ale was always offered to the condemned to drink, the -procession of Sheriffs, Stavesmen, and Constables, halting on the way -for the purpose. Among the famous criminals executed here were Perkin -Warbeck, for plotting his escape from the Tower, 1534; the Holy Maid of -Kent, and her associates, 1535; the last Prior of the Charter House, -same year; Southwell, the poet, 1615; Mrs. Turner, hanged in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> yellow -starched ruff, for the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, 1628; John -Felton, assassin of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, 1600; and in 1662 -five persons who had signed the death warrant of Charles I; 1684, Sir -Thomas Armstrong (Rye House Plot); 1705, John Smith, a burglar, having -been hung for fifteen minutes, a reprieve arrived, and he was cut and -bled, which saved his life. Jack Sheppard was hung in 1724; Jonathan -Wild, the thief taker, in 1725, and Catharine Hayes was burnt alive -here in 1726, for the murder of her husband, as the indignant mob would -not suffer the hangman to strangle her, as was usual, before the fire -was kindled. In 1760, Earl Ferrars, who had murdered his steward, rode -from the Tower to Tyburn, in his open landau, drawn by six horses, and -was hanged with a silken rope, the hangman and the mob fighting for -the rope, while the latter tore the black cloth on the scaffold to -pieces. Oliver Cromwell's body was taken up and here, long years after -he had died, hung from the tree, while his head was set on a spike of -Westminster Hall. The other famous hangings were as follows: 1767, -Mrs. Browning, for murder; 1774, John Rann (Sixteen-Stringed Jack), -highwayman; 1775, the two Perraus, for forgery; 1777, Rev. Dr. Dodd, -forgery; 1779, Rev. James Hackman, assassination of Miss Reay: he was -taken from Newgate in a mourning coach. 1783, Ryland, the engraver, for -forgery. 1783, John Austin, the last person executed at Tyburn.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail10.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail10" name="tail10"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">DOCTOR'S COMMONS.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap11.jpg" alt="O" /> <a id="icap11" name="icap11"></a></span>NE of the queerest old rookeries in London is the little old edifice -in Great Knight-Rider street, just back of St. Paul's Churchyard, with -its nest of courts and its ancient quadrangle, where people go to get -licenses to marry—or to have divorces granted them, or to examine -or prove wills—or perhaps to have a suite entered for salvage or -flotsam, or jetsam,—where David Copperfield paid a thousand pounds to -receive his matriculation as a proctor. This curious old relic of Roman -Catholic England, where the wills of the British nation are preserved, -is known as Doctors' Commons.</p> - -<p>It is a college of civil, canon, and maritime law, and here all cases -that belong to these three divisions of English law, as also divorce -suits, are entered, argued, and decided.</p> - -<p>The lawyers who practice here are all well to do, snug, aristocratic -old fellows, and enjoy good living and nothing to do as no other -disciples of the legal profession can.</p> - -<p>It is called Doctor's Commons because the doctors or students at law -used to eat in common, or dine together in a hall in the old days when -the Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledged the supremacy of the See of -St. Peter.</p> - -<p>In the Doctors' Commons are—the Court of Arches, named from having -been formerly kept in Bow Church, Cheapside, originally built upon -arches, and the Supreme Ecclesiastical Court of the Province of -Canterbury—the other English Eccle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>siastical Province being that of -York; the Prerogative Court, where all contentions arising out of -testamentary causes, are tried; the Consistory Court of the Bishop of -London; and the High Court of Admiralty; all these courts hold their -sittings in the college hall, the walls of which are covered with the -richly-emblazoned coats of arms of all the doctors who have practiced -here for two hundred years past.</p> - -<p>The Court of Arches has a jurisdiction over thirteen parishes, or -"peculiars," which form a "Deanery," exempt from the authority of the -Bishop of London, and attached to the Province of the Archbishop of -Canterbury, who is Primate of England. This court decides, as in the -days of Wolsey, in all cases of usury, simony, heresy, sacrilege, -blasphemy, apostacy from Christianity, adultery, fornication, bastardy, -partial and entire divorce, and many exploded offenses, which in the -Nineteenth century become farcical when tried in an ecclesiastical -court. Fighting or brawling in church or vestry are also offenses under -the jurisdiction of this absurd old court, but they are seldom or ever -brought up in these days, as the newspapers are sure to seize upon such -trials as subjects for derision and satire. Still the statutes are in -existence and will probably never be repealed until the Established -Church of England is abolished.</p> - -<p>There are several Registries in Doctors' Commons, under the -jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops. Some of -the very old documents connected with them are deposited for security -in St. Paul's Cathedral and Lambeth Palace. At the Bishop of London's -Registry, and the Registry for the Commission of Surrey, wills are -proved for the respective dioceses, and marriage licences are granted. -At the Vicar-General's Office and the Faculty Office, marriage licences -are granted for any part of England. The Faculty Office also grants -Faculties to notaries public, and dispensations to the clergy; and -formerly granted privilege to eat flesh on prohibited days. At the -Vicar-General's Office, records are kept of the confirmation and -consecration of bishops.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">MARRIAGE LICENSES.</div> - -<p>Marriage licences, when required by persons who profess the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> faith of -the Established Church of England, are always procured in Doctors' -Commons upon personal application to one of these old fogy Proctors, -whom I saw running around the quaint quadrangle, like a hen on a hot -griddle, with a roll of papers in his fleshy, fat hands. A residence of -fifteen days is necessary to either bride or bridegroom, in the parish -in which the marriage is to be solemnized, or not much longer than it -takes a repeater to become a useful if not a legal voter in New York -City. This little antique court of Doctors' Commons is in fine one of -the pious swindles that the English people delight in perpetuating -and groaning under, while the sinecurists make pots of money, and -laugh and grow fat on the pious plunder. There are all kinds of little -dodges in Doctors Commons, so that when a suitor enters here it is like -a dip into chancery litigation; the victim being plucked before he -leaves. Even to get married is very expensive in Doctors' Commons. The -expense of an ordinary license is £2 12<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i>; but if either party -is a minor, there is 10<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> further charge; and if the party -appearing swears that he has obtained the consent of the proper person -having authority in law to give it, there is no necessity for either -parents or minor to attend. A special license for marriage is issued -after a fiat or consent has been obtained from the Archbishop, and is -granted only to persons of rank, judges, and members of parliament, the -Archbishop having a right to exercise his own discretion.</p> - -<p>The expense of a Special License is usually twenty-eight guineas. This -gives privilege to marry at any time or place, in private residence, or -at any church or chapel situate in England; but the ceremony must be -performed by a priest in holy orders, and of the Established Church. -With the marriages of Dissenters, including Roman Catholics, Jews, -and Quakers, the Commons has nothing to do, their licenses being -obtainable of the Superintendent-Registrar. A Divorce when sought is -carried through one of the courts in this profession (according to the -diocese), and is conducted by a proctor; the evidence of witnesses -is taken privately before an examiner of the court, and neither the -husband, wife, nor any of the witnesses, need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> appear personally in -court. A suit is seldom conducted at an expense less than £200.</p> - -<p>Then there is the High Court of Admiralty, a "precious old swindle," as -a seafaring man told me it had proved to him. He was a seaman before -the mast, and to get a sum of eight pounds six and four-pence, he was -compelled to pay eleven pounds of costs and fees. It comprises the -"Instance Court," and the "Prize Court," where the famous Lord Stowell, -in one year, adjudicated upon 2,206 cases connected with the high seas.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus31.jpg" alt="" /> <a id="illus31" name="illus31"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> DOCTOR'S COMMONS.</p> - -<p>The Instance Court has a criminal and civil jurisdiction; to the former -belong piracy and other indictable offences on the high seas, which are -now tried at the Old Bailey; to the latter, suits arising from ships -running foul of each other, disputes about seamen's wages, bottomry, -and salvage. The Prize Court applies to naval captures in war, proceeds -of captured slave-vessels, &c. A silver oar is carried before the -Judge as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> an emblem of his office. The business is very onerous, as in -embargoes and the provisional detention of vessels, when incautious -decision might involve the country in war; the right of search is -another weighty question.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">PAYING THE PIPER.</div> - -<p>The practitioners in this court are advocates (D.D.C.L.) or counsel, -and proctors or solicitors. The judge and advocates wear in court, -if of Oxford, scarlet robes and hoods lined with taffety; and if of -Cambridge, white minever and round black velvet caps. The proctors wear -black robes and hoods lined with fur.</p> - -<p>The College has a good library in civil law and history, bequeathed by -an ancestor of Sir John Gibson, judge of the Prerogative Court; and -every bishop at his consecration makes a present of books.</p> - -<p>After a case has been worked slowly through one of these ecclesiastical -courts, it is then transferred to another, and after bowling the cause -about for years it is just possible that it will be lost for the -suitor. Suits are brought in Doctors' Commons for the most ridiculous -and trivial causes, and once a man gets into the Commons, he is made -to pay the piper while the sleek, fat proctors, dance right merrily to -the music paid for by their unhappy victims. A case in point I will -mention. The cause had just been tried in the Archdeacon's Court, at -Totness, and from thence an appeal had been sought in the Court at -Exeter, thence it went to the Court of Arches, and from there to the -Court of Delegates, and after all this fuss and expense, the question -in discussion was to know which of two persons had the legal right to -hang a hat on a certain peg! This is sober truth, and no exaggeration.</p> - -<p>But the great perfection of legal scoundrelism was, in a case where -a man, named Russell, whose wife's character had been impugned by a -person named Bentham, at Yarmouth, was tried. This gentleman could -find no remedy in Common Law for the defamation, so he must needs go -to Doctors' Commons and the Ecclesiastical Courts. The Proctor's bill -amounted to £700 after the case had gone through several courts, and -finally each party had to pay his own costs after the case had been -contin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>ued six or seven years; the special beauty of Ecclesiastical -Courts being, that once a victim brings a suit, he is never allowed to -withdraw it until it has gone the rounds of every court, thus giving -fees to a score of persons, one-half of whom never hear of the case -until they make up their minds to send in a bill for money. Finally, -after seven years of this pious warfare, Mr. Russell, being a poor man, -was ruined, and his wife's character was not half as good as when he -began the suit.</p> - -<p>The Prerogative Will Office is, however, the busiest and most -interesting place in Doctor's Commons. Wills are always to be found -here at half an hour's notice, and generally in a few minutes. They are -kept in a fire-proof, strong room. The original wills begin with the -year 1483, and the copies date from 1383. The latter are on parchment, -strongly bound, with brass clasps. Here I saw the will of Shakespeare, -on three folios of paper, each with his signature, and with the -inter-lineation in his own handwriting: "I give unto my wife my brown, -best bed, with the furniture." There is kept, also, the will of Milton, -which was written when the poet was blind, and set aside by a decree -of Sir Leoline Jenkins. And I saw alongside of Milton's will, the last -testament of the soldier of democracy, Napoleon Bonaparte, made at St. -Helena, April, 1821.</p> - -<p>In one year 40,000 searches were made here for wills, and 7,000 -extracts were made from testaments. There were, also, 5,000 commissions -issued for the country. Some of the entries of wills made by the early -Monks are beautiful specimens of illumination, the colors remaining -fresh to this day.</p> - -<p>Let us take a look into the Will Office, and give a glance to one of -the most interesting phases of the drama of human life.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE FORGOTTEN SAILOR.</div> - -<p>People are passing rapidly in and out of the narrow court, their bustle -alone disturbing the marked quiet of the neighborhood. At the end -of the court, we ascend a few steps and open a door, when the scene -exhibited in the sketch is before us. All seems hurry and confusion, -the solicitors turning over the leaves of bulky volumes and folios at -the desks, long practice having taught them to discover at a glance the -object of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> search; rapidly to and fro move those who are bringing -the tomes and taking them back to the shelves where they belong, and as -rapidly glide the pens of the numerous copyists who are transcribing or -making extracts from wills, in all their little boxes, along both sides -of the room.</p> - -<p>But as we begin to look a little more closely into the densely packed -occupants' faces, we see persons who are certainly not solicitors' -clerks, nor officials of Doctor's Commons, but parties whose interests -in a worldly point of view may be materially benefited or damaged by -the investigations they are ordering to be made.</p> - -<p>Even the weather-beaten sailor, whose rugged face one would take to be -proof against any fortune, betrays a good deal of sensibility. He has -just returned probably from some long voyage, and one can fancy him to -have come to Doctor's Commons to see whether the relative, whom the -newspapers have informed him is dead, has left him, as he expected, the -means to settle down quietly in a little box at Deptford, Greenwich, or -Camberwell, or some other sailor's paradise.</p> - -<p>He steps up to the box on the right hand as directed, pays his -shilling, and gets a ticket, with a direction to the calendar, in -which he is to search for the name of his deceased relative. He must -surely be spelling every name in that page he has turned over—ah, -there it is at last; and now he hurries off, as directed to, with the -calendar, to the person pointed out to him as the Clerk of Searches. A -volume from one of the shelves is laid before him, the place is found, -and there lies the object of his hopes and fears—the great hopeful -or threatening will. Line by line his face begins to grow darker—a -ghastly grin at last appears—he has not been forgotten—there is -a ring perhaps, or five pounds to buy one, or some such trifle; he -closes the book with a bang and a curse, and the sailor hurries back -to his ship and to storm and danger on the deep, deprived of all the -contentment that had so long made him satisfied with his hard lot.</p> - -<p>But here is another picture. A lady dressed in a style of the most -gorgeous splendor, whose business is of a more im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>portant kind than -a mere search—she is probably an executrix of a will—and is just -leaving the office, when she meets at the door another lady, to whom -she makes a low courtesy, with an expression of decided malice on her -showy countenance. The successful legatee can be seen in her face, -while blank and startled disappointment appears in the other woman's -features.</p> - -<p>Such is Doctors' Commons—and Such is Life.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail11.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail11" name="tail11"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE BOHEMIANS OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap12.jpg" alt="G" /> <a id="icap12" name="icap12"></a></span>OING east through Oxford street, when you get near High Holborn, there -is a narrow thoroughfare called Dean street. Turn down this and it will -bring you to Carlisle street, a short and dark lane, a street only -in name. This short street brings you to Soho Square, famous for its -sauces and pickles all over the world from Calcutta to New York.</p> - -<p>The neighborhood is a very quiet one, as by its peculiar exits and -passages it is cut off from the busiest part of London on either side -of it, and leaving the Holborn or Oxford street, with their crowded -traffic, shops, busses, and cabs, in a moment you are in this quiet -square, with its little dot of green, fresh grass; that seems a relief -after the arid business waste which you have just left. Just opposite -is Greek street, which leads to St. Martin's lane, where a nest of -small dealers in milk, butter, eggs, and groceries herd together, and -where the poor, mean chop-houses form a perfect rookery, from which -comes the fumes of hot coffee, muffins, mutton chops, and kidneys -all the long day. Little dirty, rosy-cheeked children play here in -the gutters right merrily all the day through, and the noises of the -peddlers' cries, and the joyous mirth of the children "glorious at -their games," are the only sounds that break the remarkable stillness -of the noonday hour.</p> - -<p>When the gray in the sky begins to deepen, and the shades of night fall -over and around this quiet square, then the scene<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> changes, and life -and bustle and noisy interchange of voices fill the solitary place, -which the shabby gentility of the neighborhood cannot repress or keep -down. Then the coffee-shops become vocal, the pot-houses are once -more vivacious, and streams of thirsty and hungry men and women pour -into these places, and come out refreshed with beer and replete with -cheap but plenteous food. This neighborhood is savory with macaroni -and oils, betokening the presence of the Italian element, who flock -to Soho Square in great numbers when they arrive in London. There are -"albergos" and wine-shops where you may obtain a quarter of a fowl -for ninepence, and a bottle of Marsala, which is only a darker and -stronger sherry under another name, and you can get olives and brandied -cherries, at dessert, for a few pence. The women who attend in these -places are fat, jolly-looking persons, with rounded forms, finely -shaped faces, and magnificent black hair, done up in massive bands, -and they sit many hours of the day knitting on low stools at the doors -of these foreign-looking inns. The customers who frequent these places -are wealthy organ-grinders, men who cast figures from potters' clay and -plaster of Paris, musicians and porters in the Italian warehouses along -the docks, medical students, Bohemians, and the riff raff in general. -One of the clay figure men wanted to sell me a well executed full -length figure of Thackeray, with his spectacled, kindly face, at 7<i>s</i>. -6<i>d</i>., for which I was asked a guinea in Drury Lane, the workmanship -and material being fully as good in every essential.</p> - -<p>In the heart of Soho Square is this little dark Carlisle street, and in -the centre of Carlisle street is a small, dingy public-house, called -the "Carlisle Arms," which is one of the resorts of the Bohemians of -London.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">COCKERELL'S LODGINGS.</div> - -<p>This old place has been from time immemorial frequented by them, -and here I was brought one cool September evening by the head clerk -of one of the leading publishing houses of London. This clerk was -still a young man, but he had the best knowledge of books and general -literature that I have ever found in a man of his position. He knew -at a glance how much a book would bring, who wrote it, when it was -published, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> how many copies were to be got, were they to be dug out -of the mustiest book-stall in London. He had a familiar acquaintance -with all the members of that strange tribe of litterateurs who -contribute to the magazines and weekly and daily press of this the -greatest newspaper city in the world. He knew who it was who wrote the -last flash novel, how much he got for it, and whether he had drunk the -proceeds or not. Every first and fourth class reporter in London, all -the dramatic witlings and punsters, the great short-hand guns of the -House of Commons, the book reviewers, and the dramatic and musical -critics, were to him everyday acquaintances, and they all in turn paid -him a cordial respect for his universal knowledge. I shall call him -Cockerell, this marvel of booksellers' clerks.</p> - -<p>At 8 o'clock I called at Cockerell's lodgings, which were in Rupert -street, near Holborn. He lived quietly in a nice, cosy room, filled -with rare and curious editions of the works of which he was most fond, -and everything around the place, from the brass andirons to the quaint -clock in the chimney place, betokened a steady-going, well-informed -man. The "Newgate Calendar," "Cruikshank's Almanacs," for twenty -years, finely illustrated, "The Slang Dictionary," "The Streets and -Antiquities of London," "A History of Signboards," "Hansard's Debates," -a folio "Shakespeare," "The Heads of the People," illustrated by Kenny -Meadows, "Debrett's Peerage," "The Lords and Commons," several volumes -of Balzac, a volume with the wills and autographs of the Doges of -Venice, "Macaulay's Lays," some of "Sala's Sketches," a bound series -of the <i>Saturday Review</i>, and some volumes of "Punch," were among his -collection, besides a complete collection of the British plays, and -a number of Gilray's sketches, framed, hung from the walls. "Show me -a man's library, and I will tell you what he is," somebody has said, -and I believe the above works, picked out of a large library, best -explain the character of the head clerk who was to be my companion -for the night's adventure. Putting on his collar, gloves, and an old -slouch-hat, Cockerell and I reached the hall, where the maid-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>servant, -looking suspiciously at the writer, inquired from her master what time -he would be home.</p> - -<p>"I don't know, Jenny, exactly," said he, "but it will be some time -before the cocks crow."</p> - -<p>Having arrived at the "Carlisle Arms," we walked in, passing the bar, -and found our way through a low passage into a back room about twelve -feet wide by fifteen in length. The ceiling was low, and there was -no ornament to be seen with the exception of a steel engraving of -the Duke of Wellington on horseback, surrounded by a mounted staff, -and surveying through a field-glass the broken columns of the first -Bonaparte from an elevation on the plain of Waterloo. There were but -three persons in the room, which had a round oaken table in the centre, -and a quadrangle of wooden benches,—when I entered. My well-informed -friend was saluted with hearty greetings by all present, and was asked -what he would have to drink. This is an anachronism in English customs, -for the people of this tight little island generally allow a friend to -pay for his own drink, as a custom which has long ago been endorsed by -the best authorities. There is no such folly known here as may be seen -in every American public house, where the free and independent electors -stand at a bar each hour in every day, treating one and the other with -a promiscuous and reckless generosity. But among Bohemians all over -the world it is different. If they cannot pay for a drink, they will -call for it and treat each other with a liberality which is, to say the -least, a most praiseworthy trait.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A PINT OF COOPER.</div> - -<p>I forgot to mention that there were two vases, with faded artificial -flowers, on the rusty old chimney-piece, and these flowers seemed to -the Bohemians like the waters of an oasis in the desert to a party of -Bedouins. All else was a blighted, sandy waste of small talk, tobacco -smoke, and weak gin and water. The principal spokesman of the party, -who was quite bald-headed and had but two or three teeth, rang the bell -behind the door, and presently the pot-boy appeared. In the lowest of -London publics the pot-boy waits upon the customers, washes the pewter -pots, and cleans the tables with a dish-cloth, for a stipend of ten -shillings a week in British coin. The pot-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>boy had not more than made -his appearance when in came the bar-maid, with natural light hair, one -of the first bar-maids I had seen in London whose hair was not dyed.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus32.jpg" alt="carouse" /> <a id="illus32" name="illus32"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> A BOHEMIAN CAROUSE.</p> - -<p>The bar-maid surveyed the room and its occupants calmly, then asked -for the orders. The pot-boy, feeling that he was only a subordinate, -retired in disgust, with his dish-cloth on his left arm. One man called -for "sherry weak," another for "gin and water," and a third for a "pint -of cooper." The cooper was brought in a metal mug, with hoops girding -it, and for this reason, I believe, the mug is called a "cooper." -Pretty soon the room began to fill with stray Bohemians, who dropped in -one by one and took their seats as if they feared no eviction.</p> - -<p>In half an hour there were a dozen present, and the room was so -crowded that two of them had to stand up. One or two were dandies, -and wore heavy scarfs and pins, and talked French because, forsooth, -they had been on the Continent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> Some of them were artists on the half -score of comic weeklies which are to be seen in the windows of every -news-shop in London. Some were wood-engravers, some were painters -in a small way, and there were correspondents of the Birmingham, -Manchester, and Liverpool papers also present. All were in the literary -or artistic line, and a few had been in the gallery of the House of -Commons as reporters, doing short-hand work, and there was one really -clever artist, who had illustrated books by some of the best authors -in England. This man was a little scant of hair on the top of the -forehead, and had a light moustache. He had been to many prize-fights, -and had gloated over many a frightful murder, through his sketches in -the weekly illustrated newspapers. He was a merry, good-natured fellow, -with a genuine fund of pleasant anecdote and a liking for Burton ale.</p> - -<p>There was another man very quiet in appearance, and wearing a gray -mixed sack coat, with his bosom open in the style of Walt Whitman. -He puzzled me when I first looked at him, but after a while I found -that he was a German by birth, very recondite,—from Lower Prussia, -domiciled in London for many years, who had written a work with the -mystical title of "Entities of God." None of his intimates had ever -even read this book; with the exception of one man, (a dear friend,) -who was in his debt, and had honored his friendship so far as to read -the preface, but could not get any farther for a different reason from -that assigned by the Heidelberg student, who, after reading a work of -John Stuart Mill, threw down the book in disgust, saying that "it was -too clear;" yet he was respected in this mixed assemblage of topers -and clever fellows, because he had written a book that no one could -understand. Such is the force of intellect.</p> - -<p>There were two Irishmen present who sat in a corner together, drank -together, gave each other a light for the pipes which they smoked, and -quarreled with a fraternal regard.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE RADICAL AND CONSERVATIVE.</div> - -<p>One was an old man with a grey moustache, an Orangeman, who had been -in America in the old days when Virginia and South Carolina ruled the -Senate of the republic, and since then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> he had been a correspondent by -turns for some of the London newspapers abroad, and again a literary -hack for the shabby sheets that are read in the obscure holes of the -city. His friend was a much younger man, full blooded, and a thorough -Irish Nationalist, although he disclaimed Fenianism. He was a reporter, -and had an extensive knowledge of his professional associates on the -London press. His name was Fitzgerald, and his venerable friend was -known as Dawson. The German of the profound intellect was called Meyer, -or Herr Meyer. The names of the French dandies I have forgotten; they -were but poor specimens, and did not furnish any entertainment during -the evening.</p> - -<p>There were two reporters of the morning press at this feast of reason -and flow of beer, but they did not contribute much amusement to the -party, as they were discussing the respective rates of salaries on the -<i>Daily Bludgeon</i> and the <i>Morning Budget</i> during the entire evening's -conversation. The two Irishmen were perpetually at loggerheads about -politics, "Fitz" being a Radical, Dawson a Conservative Churchman of -the old school. Occasionally they gave each other the lie, and then I -expected to see them striking out at each other; but in three minutes -after they would vow eternal friendship, and shake each other's hand -with great warmth. The name of the artist was Sullivan. Sullivan hailed -the head clerk with great feeling, and as he sat down there was a drink -all around.</p> - -<p>"Well, old Cockerell," said the vivacious Fitz, "how is Slogger's book -getting on with yeer people?"</p> - -<p>"It 'ill soon be published. We have it on hand now, and expect to sell -twenty thousand copies. The pictures will sell it alone, although, I -must say, Slogger's text is very good for his subject. We are getting -all the trade now. Every fellow that thinks he can scribble comes to -us, and the big fish are also in our net. Murray must have been cut -up pretty bad to find Gladstone leaving him and going to McMillan. It -all comes of having a magazine. A publishing house that can command -the columns of a well circulated magazine can print as many books as -they like, and, what is better, they can sell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> them. Our house does the -heavy flash business, and it pays well. Old 'Swoslam' is a keen blade, -and is always on the lookout for a novelty. McMillan has sold, I'm -told, four editions of their magazines having the Byron article. Well, -old fellow, how are you (to Sullivan), and what are you doing?"</p> - -<p>"I'm fhoine, me dharling, and me appetite is just as good as ever, but -me powers of dhrinking are failing fast. As for what I'm doing, Miss -Sthabber has got me to make pictures for her new novel, which she got a -hundred and fifty pounds for in the 'Thames Mag.,' and now she is going -to publish it in book form. It's a nice title she has for it, 'The Red -Divil of the Yallow Mountin; or, the Ghost of the Place de Greve.' I -sometimes think the woman is going crazy whin she sinds for me in the -mornin' to talk to her about her new books down Brompton way, where -she lives. I generally find her in bed with a decanther of brandy, -a pot of coffee, and a square box of cigarettes by her bedside on a -table. 'Soolivan,' said she, 'I want two Convent scenes in the sixth -chapter; a rocky pass, with a skeleton standing in the middle of the -gap, his grisly arms outstretched, for the ninth chapter; and in the -fifteenth chapter you must give me a powerful tableoo where the chief -butler is discovered in the room off the banquetting hall poisoning his -misthresses's wine.</p> - -<p>"'For the details I'll trust to your powerful Irish imagination; and -now, Soolivan, you low blackguard, turn your back and help yourself to -the brandy while I'm putting on me wrapper, as I don't wan't you to be -making fancy pictures of 'Vanus going to the Bath,' or any such gammon -as that, for pot-houses, with the great female London novelist—I -believe that's what they call me, isn't it, Soolivan?—as an original.' -Indade, I think that Miss Sthabber is more nor half mad, but I must say -that she is the divil at plots and incidents, and she drinks excellent -brandy."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SHORT-HAND REPORTER.</div> - -<p>"Stabber is a clever woman," said Cockerell, the head clerk. "Whackem & -Co., Paternoster Row, sold thirty-two thousand copies of her 'Blue-Eyed -Demon' in three months, and she refused £950 for it from an Edinburgh -house, so Whackem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> must have given her more. By the way, do any of -your fellows know the name of this man who has written the last new -novel 'Girded with Steel?' I fancy he must be one of your newspaper -fellows, because he has a lot of stuff in it about 'leader writing,' -'my note-book,' 'two columns is more than earthquake should be allowed -in a newspaper,' and there are, besides, the details of editorial life -which an outsider could not know. Who is he?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, he's a young reporter on the <i>Omniverous Clam</i>, but I could -not give his name on a pint of honor," said Fitz. "He's a clever -chap, though, and will make his way. He's only been two years in the -professhion, and he's the best short-hand man on the <i>Clam</i> now, so -maybe you know who I mean now."</p> - -<p>"It's Billingsgate," said one.</p> - -<p>"No, it's Gravelly," said another.</p> - -<p>"Boys, ye are not right; it's Goby, and he's five hundred and fifty -pounds the betther of it, which is a nice little lump for a reporther -who gets five guineas a week, and has to work like a horse for that in -the session," said Fitzgerald.</p> - -<p>"Reporthers have harder work now then they had whin I first went in -the Gallery," said old Dawson. "Me father, as yez know, boys, was a -reporther before me; and I might say it runs in the family. Ah! thim -were good times, boys, when the ould man did his short-hand wurruk. He -knew all the great reporthers of the day; and fine fellows they were, -too. There was William Radcliffe, the husband of the woman who wrote -all the bloodthirsty novels. Radcliffe was a mimry reporther, and he'd -go to the House and sit the debates out, and nivir take a note at all, -at all. Then he'd go to the office and dictate two different articles -at a time to the juniors who took it all down, and out it came, -sphick-and-sphan, in the morning, without a flaw.</p> - -<p>"Then there was another grate fellow, ould Billy Woodfall, who had a -paper of his own called the <i>Diary</i>; and that was before the House -allowed the reporthers to take notes during the debates. They used -to call him "Mimory Woodfall," because he'd never forget anything -that he had heard; and when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> strangers would come from the country to -visit the House the first questions they would ask would be, 'Which -is Woodfall?' 'Which is the Sphaker?' Me fawther told me many a story -about him. He had a fashion of bringing hard-boiled eggs with him, -which he carried in his hat, and whin he came to the House he'd take -off his hat carefully, put it between his knees, take the eggs out, -keeping his head well down for fear the Sargint-at-Arrums would see him -eating, and then he'd brake the shells and eat the eggs with as great -relish as if they were game pies. A reporther on an opposition paper -wanted to play a joke on Billy one night, and when he laid his hat down -he took the two hard-boiled eggs out and put two in the hat that had -nivir been boiled at all, and when Billy wint to crack the shells the -yoke sphattered all over his breeches, bedad, so it did. Billy nivir -forgave the joke until the day of his death. Woodfall did all his own -reporthin', and the <i>Diary</i> did well for a time, until the <i>Morning -Chronicle</i> started in opposition, with Perry at the head of it. Perry -hired a lot of reporthers to take notes of the debates and write them -out, and by the time that Woodfall had his notes written out, the -<i>Chronicle</i> was selling in every sthreet in London; and that was what -took all the wind out of poor Billy's sails."</p> - -<p>"Perry was a foine reporther himself, and when the House was thrying -Admiral Palliser and Admiral Keppel for their loives, Perry'd send in -eight or ten colyums every week of the debates, without any assistance; -but, bedad, we wouldn't think much of that now. Woodfall used to say, -in a joking way, that 'he had been fined by the House of Commons, -confined by the House of Lords, fined and confined by the Coort of -King's Binch, and indicted in the Ould Bailey,' for his offinces. Oh, -them were foine times, bedad, whin you could go in and get yer nice -chop and yer glass of sherry, or a sweet little sthake fresh from the -rump, and maybe have the Juke of Wellington and George Canning sitting -at the same table wid ye; and they'd be at the chops and sthakes too."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A SONG FROM THE SPEAKER.</div> - -<p>"Dawson, me boy, tell us about Mark Supple and the Quaker, and take -another jugfull of beer to wet yer whistle," said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> the artist, who had -just withdrawn his nose from the pewter pot which he was now sadly -contemplating in its mournful emptiness.</p> - -<p>"Oh! is it Supple ye mane, Jimmy. I'll tell ye all about him, yer -riverence, and I'll take a pint of sthout to strinthin' me nerves afore -I begin. Ye see," said Dawson, after he had taken a long pull at the -mug, "Mark was fondher of a joke than he was of his breakfast. He was a -good reporther, too, and liked a little dhrop now and thin, like more -of his counthrymin, God forgive thim. One night Mark was in the gallery -reporthing for the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, when Mr. Addington was the -Sphaker. Mark was a big, raw-boned native of sweet Tipperary, and was -fond of hearing a song at all times. He used to take a glass of wine -or two in Bellamy's, and thin go up in the gallery and take out his -note-book and whack away with the pot-hooks and colophons. Mark was a -foine scholar and a janius. They say he'd dhress up a mimbir's speech, -and put retterick and flowers and poethry into a dull six-mile oration, -and it used to puzzle the mimbirs so that they would hardly know their -own words again. Of course, they all liked Mark, and he sometimes took -a good dale of freedom with thim.</p> - -<p>"He had a mighthy quare style intirely with him, and an English mimbir -who was fond of a joke, like Mark's self, said that Mark's style -of reporthin' was 'a mixture of the hyperbolical, with a vane of -Orientalism and a dash of the bog-throtter.' They are quick enough, God -knows, to sneer about the poor bog-throtters. Well, this night was a -quiet one in the House. A number of the mimbirs were asleep, some were -nodding, some were at their dinners; and when Mark looked down from the -gallery the Sphaker, Mr. Addington, had nothing to do, and there was a -silence in the House so that you might have heard a pin dhrop. All at -once Mark called out in a reckless loud voice:</p> - -<p>"'A song from Mr. Sphaker.'</p> - -<p>"You can imagine the horror of Mr. Addington as he stood up, his tall, -thin figure stretched to its full linth, and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> peevish eyes scanning -the House from top to bottom. Every one roared out laughing, and -William Pitt had the tears sthraming down his ould, withered cheeks. -After a while the House recovered its gravity, or rather its stupidity, -and the Sarjint-at-Arrums began his search for the man who had hallooed -in the sacred place. He went up among the reporthers, who all knew the -offindhir; but none of the boys would tell on Mark, who was well liked; -and, bedad, the Sarjint-at-Arrums was bursting his skin with rage. -Seeing that he could not get any information, he turned to Mark, who -was looking as solemn as a toomstone, and asked him if he knew who had -called for a song.</p> - -<p>"Mark purtended that he was very busy with his pencils, and, nivir -sayin' a wurd, pointed his finger to a fat Quaker who sat asleep, two -or three seats off, with his hands clasped quietly over the pit of -his stomach. The Quaker was seized in a minute, and given into the -custody of the House, vainly declaring his innocence, and was kept -in confinement two hours, until Mark, in a manly way, acknowledged -his crime, and was put in the Quaker's place, to meditate on his -foolishness. He was brought to the Bar of the House thin, and let off, -whin he promised to do betther in the future, and nivir call upon the -Sphaker for another song."</p> - -<p>"Tell us about Supple and Wilberforce, Dawson," said Fitzgerald to the -veteran.</p> - -<p>"Oh, that wasn't Supple that played the thrick on Wilberforce: that was -Pether Finnerty," said Dawson. "Pether was on the <i>Chronicle</i>; and one -night, when the House was full of business, Pether sat drinking too -long in Bellamy's and lost his turn. When he got into the House, he -asked some of the boys, who had been sphakin'? One of them who had been -present told Pether that Wilberforce had been sphakin' for an hour.</p> - -<p>"'What did he say?' says Pether.</p> - -<p>"'Take out yer book, and I'll give it to ye, me boy, in a jiffy,' says -the other. Pether was so far gone that he would have made Wilberforce -say anything, however ridiculous, and when the other reporther began as -follows, he did not see the joke:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>"'Potatoes make men healthy, vigorous, and active; but, what is still -more in their favor, they make men tall'—</p> - -<p>"Did he say that, the jewel?" said Pether, who was touched with this -tribute to the esculent of his native isle.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE BEAUTIFUL POTATO.</div> - -<p>"I'll give you my word, he said it,—'and when I look around this -house, and see before me such fine, vigorous specimens of Irish -manhood, all reared on the potato, and think of my own stunted, weak -figure and attenuated frame, I must always regret and lament that my -parents did not foster me on that fragrant and genial vegetable, the -beautiful potato.'"</p> - -<p>"'Oh! murther!' said Pether; 'but Wilberforce is the fine fellow to use -such poetical language;' and off he wint to the <i>Chronicle</i> office to -write out his notes. And the next morning there it was—the thribute -to the potato and all the rest of it—and all London was laughing at -Wilberforce, and every one believed that he was drunk when he spoke the -words. The next day Pether was brought before the bar of the House to -stand his trial, and Wilberforce rose and said:</p> - -<p>"'Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen: Were I capable of using such language -as was attributed to me in a morning journal, in its reports of -yesterday's debates, I would be unworthy of the attention which I now -claim from this House and unfit to occupy a seat in this honorable -body. Rather would I be worthy of a straight-jacket in a lunatic -asylum, where I might learn better sense of the dignity of this House.' -Pether was let off, like Mark Supple, and he was ever afterwards very -careful in his reports. But the joke stuck to Wilberforce's coat for -many a long day afther."</p> - -<p>By this time the greater part of the Bohemians had left for their -homes, and after a song and a few more stories from Fitz and Sullivan, -the erratic band broke up, and the tap-room was deserted. Such was -the scene—a singular one—which occurs in the old dingy Public House -night after night among the wandering journalists and penny-a-liners -of the London press and their associates of kindred professions. The -old, haunted Public could tell many a ludicrous story of a like kind -had it a tongue to speak—of the amusing, wandering, never-do-well Free -Lances,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> of the Press, who find food and clothing, and a good deal to -drink, by their ephemeral contributions to the journalistic and light -literature of England's metropolis.</p> - -<p>In addition to the "Carlisle Arms" there is another resort of the -higher class of writers, authors, and artists, in the neighborhood -of the theatres, and this place is known to those who frequent it as -the "Albion." At the Albion, there is an excellent restaurant, and -well-cooked viands, and wines of the best quality, may be obtained -there at reasonable prices. Choice little dinners, illuminated by wit -and humor, are given here by journalists to each other.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail12.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail12" name="tail12"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">TOWER, PALACE, AND PRISON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap13.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap13" name="icap13"></a></span>HE sun has risen and set for a thousand years on its gray walls; the -grime and verdure of a thousand years have cemented its hoary stones; -nations have grown and decayed; dynasties have been founded and wrecked -irretrievably; a New World has been discovered, and inventive genius -has almost changed the face of the earth and yet the Tower of London, -(cemented by the blood of beasts, as the fable has it,) which saw the -beginning and progress of these changes, still endures, and will no -doubt endure to the end of time.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus33.jpg" alt="tower" /> <a id="illus33" name="illus33"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> TOWER OF LONDON.</p> - -<p>It seems a long, long time ago, that bleak Christmas day of the year -800, when the Pope of Rome placed the Iron Crown of Lombardy upon the -annointed head of Charlemagne under the dome of St. Peter's, amid the -huzzas of the multitude of Frankish warriors and barons who witnessed -the sacred ceremony, and yet far back in that nearly barbarous age, the -chroniclers tell us in their scholastic volumes of the monasteries, -that a Tower existed in London and on the same spot where now the -wardens patrol in their red tunics and explain historical conundrums to -dull Cockneys.</p> - -<p>And some of the chroniclers go farther back and profess to believe that -the Tower is as old as the Roman occupation of Britain, and do not -hesitate to say that Julius Cæsar, who has been accused of so many good -and bad deeds, was the founder of the old forbidding pile of masonry.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> - -<p>Be that as it may, it is old enough to have earned a lasting infamy, -only once deserved in history by another grim fortress,—its twin -brother and accomplice in blood and oppression, the Bastile Of Paris. -That foul excresence on the fair face of the Earth has been swept away -by the stormy sea of a people's vengeance, while the Tower of London -still remains as a lesson of tradition, to tell of the crimes that God -has permitted kings and dwellers in high places to perpetrate against -the people, who have suffered and died and made no sign.</p> - -<p>The charge to see the Tower of London is only sixpence in these days, -and for a sixpence a visitor may see everything; dungeon and trap door, -axe and scaffold, crown jewels and prison bars, the cages and the -dungeons and graves of those who suffered and died here during the long -night of centuries,—and all this for a paltry sixpence.</p> - -<p>Amid the tramp and thunder of a hundred battles it has stood unshaken; -it is too strong for the destroying hand of man; and time, as if in -reverence, has trod lightly as he has stepped over its massive walls.</p> - -<p>I saw its towers; four of them, standing up against the sky, bellshaped -and surmounted by weather vanes, one day from London Bridge, and having -a curiosity to see a structure, which even more than Westminster Abbey -is coeval with authentic history, I walked slowly to Tower Hill, passed -along the firm drawbridge, paid a sixpence and entering under the -spiked portcullis, I found myself in the Lion Tower which stands at the -corner of the moat or Tower ditch facing the Thames.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DELIVERING THE KEYS.</div> - -<p>The extent of the Tower within the walls is twelve acres and five -roods. The exterior circuit of the ditch—now a garden, or rather an -apology for a garden—surrounding it, is three thousand one hundred -and fifty-six feet. On the river side is a broad and handsome wharf or -graveled terrace, separated by the ditch from the fortress and mounted -with sixty pieces of ordnance, which are fired on the royal birthdays, -or in celebration of any remarkable event. From the wharf into the -Tower is an entrance by a drawbridge. Near it is a cut or short canal -connecting the river with the ditch, having a water entrance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> called -the "Traitor's Gate,"—State Prisoners having been formerly conveyed -by this passage to Westminster, where the two Houses of Parliament now -sit, for trial. Over the Traitor's Gate is a building containing the -waterworks which supply the interior with water.</p> - -<p>Within the walls of the fortress are several streets. The principal -buildings which it contains are the White or principal Tower, the -ancient Chapel of St. Peter-ad-Vincula, the Ordnance-Office, the Record -Office, the Jewel's House, the Stone Armory, the Grand Storehouse, -and the Small Armory, besides the house belonging to the Constable -of the Tower and other officers, the barracks of the garrison, and -the sutler's shops, commonly used by the soldiers. It is generally a -regiment of the line which serves as a garrison for the tower.</p> - -<p>The principal entrance to the Tower is to the west. It consists of two -gates on the outside of the ditch, a stone bridge built over the ditch, -and a gate at the end of the bridge.</p> - -<p>These gates are opened every morning with a strange, and for the -Nineteenth century, a very fantastical ceremony.</p> - -<p>The Yeoman-Porter with a sergeant and six men march to the Governor's -house for the keys.</p> - -<p>Having received them, he proceeds to the innermost gate, and passing -that, it is again shut. He then opens the three outermost gates at -each of which the guards rest their firelocks while the keys pass and -repass. The gravity with which the guards perform this ceremony, and -the nice precision with which they manoeuvre, is calculated to make -everybody but an Englishman laugh.</p> - -<p>On the return of the Yeoman-Porter to the innermost gate, he calls to -the warden on duty to take the Queen's keys, when they open the gates, -and the keys are placed in the warden's hall.</p> - -<p>At night the same formality is used in shutting the gates; and as the -Yeoman-Porter and the guard, return with the keys to the Governor's -house the main guard which, with its officers, is under arms, -challenges him saying:</p> - -<p>"Who comes there?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> - -<p>He answers:</p> - -<p>"The Keys."</p> - -<p>The challenger replies:</p> - -<p>"Pass Keys."</p> - -<p>The guards by order rest their firelocks and the Yeoman-Porter says:</p> - -<p>"God save the Queen."</p> - -<p>The soldiers then answer back:</p> - -<p>"Amen."</p> - -<p>The bearer of the keys then proceeds to the Governor's house and there -leaves them.</p> - -<p>After they are deposited with the Governor no person can enter or leave -the Tower without the watchword for the night. If any person obtains -permission to pass, the Yeoman-Porter attends him and the same ceremony -is repeated.</p> - -<p>The Tower is governed by its constable, called the Constable of the -Tower, and the Chief Nobleman or principal person next to the blood -royal, not including the Archbishop of Canterbury, is chosen to hold -this office by the Queen. At coronations and other state ceremonies -this officer has the custody of and is responsible for the regalia. -Under him is a lieutenant, deputy-lieutenant, commonly called governor, -a fort-major, gentleman porter, yeoman porter, gentleman gaoler, four -quarter-gunners, and forty warders. The warder's uniform is the same as -that of the Queen's Guards, or Beef Eaters.</p> - -<p>It is rarely that the Tower is used as a State Prison, in these days. -When prisoners are detained here, by application to the Privy Council -they are usually permitted to walk on the inner platform during part of -the day, accompanied by a warder.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">IN THE LION'S MOUTH.</div> - -<p>The fire which took place toward the winter of 1841 destroyed a great -portion of the grand armory, and materially altered the features of -the Tower. The armory, said to have been the largest in Europe, was -three hundred and forty-five feet in length, and was formerly used as -a storehouse for the artillery train, until the stores were removed -to Woolwich. A very large number of chests with arms ready for any -emergency<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> were in a part of the room which had been partitioned off; -and in the other part a variety of arms were arranged in elegant and -fanciful devices.</p> - -<p>A fearful destruction of property, at once curious and valuable, took -place in this department; but one beautiful piece of workmanship being -preserved.</p> - -<p>This was the famous brass gun taken from Malta by the French in 1798, -and sent with eight banners which hung over the gun, to the French -Directory by General Bonaparte, in <i>La Sensible</i>, from which vessel it -was captured by the English man-of-war, <i>Seahorse</i>.</p> - -<p>In the Lion Tower, at the entrance, were kept the wild beasts in the -olden times, for the amusement of such monarchs as James I, who was too -cowardly to look upon any strife but that of chained or caged animals. -Here were kept lions, tigers, bears and bulls, wild boars, dogs and -fighting cocks. About one hundred and fifty years ago a young girl who -was employed as servant by one of the keepers, being of a rather bold -and courageous temper, she took pleasure now and then in feeding the -lions, and with great imprudence one day ventured to be a little more -familiar than usual with the king of beasts, relying upon his gratitude -because she was in the habit of feeding the animals. This time she went -too close to the cage of the lion, who caught hold of her arm and tore -it from the shoulder like a shred of rotten cloth, and before any one -could come to her assistance, he gave her a terrible gripe and killed -her instantly.</p> - -<p>Another individual who had charge of the lions and fed them had a very -narrow escape from their claws, and he has related his story as follows:</p> - -<p>"'Twas our custom," he says, "when we cleansed the lion's den to drive -them down over night into a lower place in order to rise early in the -morning and refresh their day apartments by cleaning them out; and -having through a mistake, and not forgetfulness, left one of the trap -doors unbolted which I thought I had carefully secured, I came down -in the morning before daylight, with my candle and lantern fastened -before me to my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> button, with my implements in my hands to despatch -my business, as was usual, and going carelessly into one of the dens, -a lion had returned through the trap door, and lay couchant in the -corner of the den, with his head toward me. The sudden surprise of -this terrible sight brought me under such dreadful apprehension of the -danger I was in, that I stood fixed like a statue, without the power -of motion, with my eyes steadfast upon the lion and his likewise fixed -upon mine.</p> - -<p>"I expected nothing but to be torn to pieces every moment, and was -fearful to attempt one step back, lest my endeavor to shun him might -have made him the more eager to hasten my destruction. At last he -roused himself, as though to have a breakfast off me; yet, by the -assistance of Providence, I had the presence of mind to keep steady in -my posture, for the reasons before mentioned.</p> - -<p>"He moved toward me, but without expressing in his countenance either -greediness or anger; but, on the contrary, wagged his tail, signifying -nothing but friendship in his fawning behavior; and after he had stared -me a little in the face, he raises himself up on his two hindmost feet, -and laying his two fore paws upon my shoulders, without hurting me, -fell to licking my face, as a further instance of his gratitude for -my feeding him, as I afterwards conjectured; though then I expected -every moment that he would have stripped my skin, as a poulterer does a -rabbit, and have cracked my head between his teeth, as a monkey does a -walnut.</p> - -<p>"His tongue was so very rough, that with the few favorite kisses he -gave me, it made my cheeks almost as rough as a pork griskin, which -I was very glad to take in good part without a bit of grumbling, and -when he had thus saluted me and given me his sort of welcome to his -den, he returned to his place and laid him down, doing me no further -damage; which unexpected deliverance occasioned me to take courage, -that I shrunk back by degrees till I recovered the trap door, through -which I jumped and pulled it after me, thus happily through an especial -Providence, I escaped the fury of so dangerous a creature."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE BISHOP OF DURHAM A PRISONER.</div> - -<p>The Tower was for many hundreds of years an object of suspicion to the -good citizens of London, who deemed the massive fortress a standing -threat against their rights and privileges. Whenever a monarch wished -to wrest concessions from the Londoners, to wring a large sum of -money from their fears, or commit some other act of despotism, it -was customary, just previous to the attempt against the people, to -strengthen the Tower in its weakest part, and a ditch, or a wall, or -a bastion was constructed, to enable the Governor or Constable of the -Tower to hold the fortress for his Lord the King, in case the citizens -should resist the attempt on their purses or their liberties.</p> - -<p>How little the gaping Cockneys and bulbous-eyed rustics, who stroll -around through the different apartments of this mighty castle, know or -even dream of the great deeds, terrible crimes, and high resolves of -those who have inhabited this Tower of London during a thousand years -of its most eventful and troubled history.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus34.jpg" alt="gate" /> <a id="illus34" name="illus34"></a></p> -<p class="caption">TRAITOR'S GATE.</p> - -<p>One dark night during the first years of the reign of Henry I, before -the Traitor's Gate had attained such a terrible fame as it afterward -obtained from the number of the victims who have passed under its grimy -arch, never to pass out except to the block on Tower Hill, a shallop -with two men whose arms lie between their feet at the bottom of the -boat, and a third whose arms are bound, stops at the wall where the -Water Gate is now shown, and in reply to the sum<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>mons of one of the -armed men, the portcullis is hoisted, and Ralph Flambard, the fighting, -choleric, and rebellious Bishop of Durham, passes under the arch a -prisoner to the King, and the massive iron gates, rusty even then, are -shut firmly ere the sound of the boat's oars have been heard by the -wardens in the Inner Tower.</p> - -<p>In a few days he makes a number of friends among the officials of the -Tower by his merry temperament, and as state prisoners were always -allowed to furnish their own tables in the fortress, the jolly bishop -has many a heavy carouse. Tun after tun of hippocras, canary, and sack -is conveyed to him, and he dispenses those medieval beverages to the -knights and men-at-arms—pages and guards, with no stinted measure. -One evening the Bishop receives a long and strong coil of rope in a -puncheon of Malmsley, and that very night, after he had drank all the -knights, men-at-arms and wardens under the oaken tables, the jolly -bishop flies to the ramparts, lowers himself down into the ditch, and -like the plucky prelate that he was, escapes from Henry's wrath.</p> - -<p>One fine summer day when Henry III is King of England, Cardinal -Pandulph, the Legate of the Pope, presents himself and a long train of -attendants, with sumpter and service mules, at the land postern of the -Tower, and after a loud flourish of trumpets to announce his arrival, -the Cardinal is admitted to the presence of the King; and throws a bag -of Rose nobles on the table before the young monarch, for in those -days the Majesty of Britain did not scorn to borrow 200 marks of -Cardinal Pandulph, and one hundred marks of Henry, Abbot of St. Albans. -The money market was very tight in those days, and Kings often held -dealings with pawn-brokers, for we find Henry VIII pledging or melting -down nearly all the crown regalia to satisfy his creditors.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE TOWER.</div> - -<p>There is an apartment of very large and fine proportions in the third -story of the White or Main Tower, supported by two rows of beams. The -timber ceiling is flat, and the walls are pierced with windows on one -side and heavy arches appear on the other side; the whole structure -being of the rudest con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>struction, yet grand looking withal; and this -is the great Council Chamber of the Tower, in which some of the most -startling and memorable scenes in English history have occurred.</p> - -<p>It is Monday, September 29, 1399. The day, which was overcast in the -early morning, has turned out fair and bright, and the Council Chamber -and all the approaches to it are crowded with the highest nobles, -temporal and spiritual, in the land; steel clad knights, mitred abbots, -proud bishops, grave judges in cap and ermine, peers and lackeys, stand -on the stairs and in the ante-rooms, to catch a word or get a look at -the coming grand historical farce which is to end at last in a terrible -tragedy.</p> - -<p>It is the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, and as the sun streams -through the stained glass of the oriel windows, and the shouts of the -London prentices at their games of ball, are wafted to the warder on -the battlements, who carries his partisan to and fro; a deputation -from each house of Parliament, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, -Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and other great Nobles, enters the -Council Chamber to hold a conference with the reigning Monarch Richard -II, now about to resign his Crown to the Protector Bolingbroke, who -afterward as Henry IV, will encounter more vicissitudes and suffering -than the monarch he is about so cruelly to depose.</p> - -<p>The nobles seat themselves, the Protector enthrones himself, and a -ghastly figure, that of Richard II, stalks moodily into the Chamber, -clad in kingly robes, his sceptre in his hand, the Crown upon his head, -and there is silence for a moment among all present. Then Richard -says in a broken voice, but distinctly, "I have been King of England, -Duke of Aquitaine, and Lord of Ireland about twenty-one years, which -Seigneury, Royalty, Sceptre, Crown and Heritage, I now clearly resign -here to my cousin, Henry of Lancaster, and I desire him here, in -this open presence, in entering of the same possession, to take the -sceptre;" "and so," says Froissart, "he delivered it to the Duke, who -took it," and kept it, also, he might have added.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> - -<p>Before a year had elapsed the unfortunate monarch was put to death in -Pontefract Castle by order of his successor, Henry IV.</p> - -<p>On a May day, in 1471, the streets of London resound with music, and -the populace are all in holiday attire to welcome Edward IV, who -returns victorious from the battle of Barnet, where he has slain, in -cold blood, Prince Edward, son to Henry VI, who is a prisoner in the -Tower. Next day Henry dies in a suspicious manner, and Edward has -leisure for a little while to found the Order of the Garter.</p> - -<p>Edward dies, and he is not cold in his tomb before Richard III ascends, -or rather usurps the throne.</p> - -<p>Edward has left two boys, the eldest of whom is lawful heir to the -Crown, by Elizabeth Wydville, his wife.</p> - -<p>One dark night, the wind soughs in the trees and moans around the -battlements of the fortress, as two men, Miles Forest and John Dighton, -hired assassins, enter the sleeping chamber of the two young princes. -They steal to the bed, and having covered the mouths of the lads with -the bed-clothes and pillows, they throw their heavy bodies across the -couch. There are some faint, stifled moans, for a few minutes, and -then all is still but the mournful music of the storm without, for the -murderers have done their work but too well.</p> - -<p>Sir James Tyrrell, who has been in waiting outside to see that the -bloody deed is accomplished, walks in, looks at the distorted features -of the children, gives an order in a whisper, and the still warm bodies -are carried out, and down a dark stone staircase, and are buried there -beneath a heap of stones to moulder till the Resurrection.</p> - -<p>Here comes William Wallace, patriot and hero, to the Traitor's Gate, in -the year 1305, and after languishing in prison for months he is tied -to horses' tails and dragged forth, through Cheapside, and thence to -Smithfield, to die the death of a dog, his mutilated body being torn to -pieces in the presence of a noisy and hostile rabble.</p> - - - -<p>From this place, Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, is also dragged forth -to St. Giles, in the Fields, and having been hung<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> up over a slow fire -by a chain from the middle of his body for two hours he is slowly -roasted to death. He was a follower of Wickliffe.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV, is hurried to his death -in the Tower by Richard III, who orders him to be drowned in a huge -hogshead of sweet wine! A mode of death chosen, it is said, by the -victim himself in preference to any other.</p> - -<p>The good and pious Sir Thomas Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, eighty years -of age, is imprisoned here, and is left to starve and rot in a dungeon -of this place of infamy. His misery is such that the man of God has -to write Secretary Cromwell, minister of Henry VIII: "Furthermore I -beseech you to be good, Master, in my necessity, for I have neither -shirt, nor yet other clothes, that are necessary for me to wear, but -that be ragged and rent too shamefully. Notwithstanding, I might easily -suffer that if they would keep my body warm. But God knoweth, also, how -slender my diet is at many times. And now, in mine old age, my stomach -may rot away but with a few kinds of meat, which if I want, I decay -forthwith."</p> - -<p>When this God-fearing man was taken out to be beheaded, his bones -showed through his skin, and women wept and fell fainting at the cruel -sight.</p> - -<p>In the Beauchamp Tower, at the very bottom or foundation, is a -subterraneous cell known as the "Rats' Dungeon," a hideous hell-hole, -below low-water mark, and dark as the despair of the human souls who -were confined there in the days when men were fond of cutting each -others' throats for conscience sake. At high water, thousands of rats -sought shelter in this dungeon until the floods subsided. Woe be to the -poor wretches there confined when the rats swarmed in, screaming like -human beings in agony.</p> - -<p>In this den, prisoners were starved when the rack had failed to wring a -confession from them. Here all their shrieks and struggles were drowned -deep in this infernal hole with only the eye of the Almighty to look -upon the maddening hor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>rors which the wretched prisoners had to endure -before Death came to relieve them.</p> - -<p>One night with the rats was enough,—at break of day only a heap of -gnawed bones remained to tell the tale.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">IMPRISONMENT OF ANNE BOLEYN.</div> -<p>In one of the upper stories of the Tower there is an apartment with one -grated window and a rough oaken planked floor, where Anne Boleyn was -confined when her royal paramour had determined to send her neck to the -axe. The unhappy woman, as she passed through the Traitor's Gate, read -her fate in its dread aspect, and as she passed beneath its arch she -rose in the barge, fell on her knees and prayed God to have mercy on -her, and defend her from her Royal lover's rage. When she was shown her -apartment, its naked and forbidding aspect terrified her sore, and she -cried out in a maniacal frenzy, "It's too good for me, Jesu have mercy -upon me." Then she knelt down weeping and laughing like a mad woman. -When her head lay on the block the executioner was afraid to strike off -her head, as she refused to have her eyes bandaged, and at last he had -to take off his shoes, and cause another person to approach her while -he came from behind and clumsily hacked off her head.</p> - -<p>When the Marchioness of Salisbury, an aged and venerable lady, was led -to execution, she stoutly declared she was not a traitor, and refused -to lay her head on the block, and the headsman was compelled to follow -her all around the scaffold, striking at her as if she was a bullock, -until finally her gray head was hacked off.</p> - -<p>The Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen of that name, having been -suspected of complicity in the hasty insurrection of Sir Thomas Wyatt, -she was committed to the Tower by order of her sister, Queen Mary.</p> - -<p>As she passed under the Traitor's Gate, through which her mother, Anne -Boleyn, and Wyatt (who had fought for her) had preceded her, the proud -heart of Elizabeth failed her and she burst into tears. At first she -refused to get out of the boat, but seeing that force would be used, -she cried out to the rowers—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Here landeth as true a subject, being a prisoner, as ever landed at -these stairs; and before Thee, oh God, I speak it, having no other -friend than Thee."</p> - -<p>Proceeding up the stairs she seated herself, and being pressed by the -Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir Thomas Brydges, to rise, she answered:</p> - -<p>"Better sit here than on a worse place: for God knoweth and not I, -whither you will bring me."</p> - -<p>She lived to be Queen of England, and the mercy which was shown to her -she refused to many a poor wretch, whose bones Elizabeth allowed to be -gnawed clean and bare in the "Rat's Dungeon."</p> - -<p>One more scene of horror.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LADY JANE GREY ON THE SCAFFOLD.</div> - -<p>As Lady Jane Gray passed out of the Tower by the postern gate to Tower -Hill, she beheld the headless corpse of her husband (who had just been -decapitated) carried out on a cart to be buried in the Tower chapel of -St. Peter-ad-Vincula.</p> - -<p>"All, Guilford, Guilford," said she, "the ante-past is not so bitter -that thou hast tasted, and which I soon shall taste, as to make my -flesh tremble; it is nothing compared to the feast of which we shall -this day partake in Heaven."</p> - -<p>Then she passed on to the scaffold.</p> - -<p>When on the scaffold she turned to the crowd and said:</p> - -<p>"And now good people all, while I am yet alive, I pray of you to assist -me with your prayers."</p> - -<p>Then she knelt, and turning to Father Feckenham, the Queen's chaplain, -asked him:</p> - -<p>"Shall I say this psalm?"</p> - -<p>And Father Feckenham, who was afterwards Lord Abbot of Westminster, -answered:</p> - -<p>"Yea."</p> - -<p>Then she said the psalm <i>Miserere Mei Deus</i> and stood up and gave her -book, gloves, and handkerchief to her two attendant ladies; and she -commenced to untie her gown.</p> - -<p>The executioner said:</p> - -<p>"Shall I assist you to disrobe, Lady Jane?"</p> - -<p>She answered him quickly:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Nay, leave me in peace," and her two ladies advanced and disrobed her.</p> - -<p>The headsman then desired her to stand on the straw, after her ladies -had tied a kerchief about her eyes, and as she complied with his -request, she asked him:</p> - -<p>"Will you dispatch me quickly? Will you take it off before I lay me -down?"</p> - -<p>"No, Madam," said he to the last question.</p> - -<p>Then Lady Jane felt for the block, her eyes being bandaged, and -groping, she said:</p> - -<p>"Where is it? Where is it?"</p> - -<p>Laying her head on the block, she said slowly:</p> - -<p>"Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit," and at that instant, her -neck being bared, there was a glitter of steel, a dull thud, and her -head rolled in the sawdust.</p> - -<p>The Jewels and Royal Regalia are kept in a glass case, well guarded by -a warden, who is never allowed to leave the apartment for an instant, -unless when relieved. There is a charge of sixpence extra to see the -Jewel House, and a constant stream of visitors may be found in this -part of the Tower, the ladies particularly taking a great interest in -the splendor of the royal treasures.</p> - -<p>St. Edward's Crown, first worn by Charles II, has since his time been -worn by all the monarchs who have ascended the throne of Great Britain. -This is the identical crown stolen by the daring Col. Blood, and the -one which was placed on the head of Queen Victoria when she was crowned -in Westminster Abbey, nearly two hundred years after it was stolen. It -is a very magnificent one, surmounted with a cross of diamonds. The new -crown, made purposely for her Majesty, is also here, and is made of -purple velvet, hooped with silver, and richly adorned with diamonds. -The ruby in it is said to have been worn by Edward, the Black Prince, -five hundred years ago, and the sapphire in it is considered to be of -great value; the crown altogether is estimated to be worth £100,000. -King Edward's Crown is supposed to be worth at least £200,000.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE CROWN JEWELS.</div> - -<p>The Prince of Wales' Crown is formed of pure gold, without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> many -jewels, while that of the Queen's Consort, formerly worn by Prince -Albert, is enriched with pearls, diamonds and other precious stones, -and is worth about £80,000.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus35.jpg" alt="jewels" /> <a id="illus35" name="illus35"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> 1. Queen's Diadem. 2. Prince of Wales' Crown. 3. Old -Imperial Crown. 4. Queen's Crown. 5. Queen's Coronation Bracelets. 6. -Temporal Sceptre. 7. Spiritual Sceptre.</p> - -<p>The Queen's Diadem, valued at £75,000, was made for Maria d'Este, the -unfortunate Queen of James II, who stood cowering in the rain and -sleet, under the walls of Lambeth Church, that awful night when her -husband abdicated, and William, Prince of Orange, landed at Torbay. -Before James crossed the river at Westminster, to join his wife in -their flight from England, he threw the Great Seal of Britain into the -Thames.</p> - -<p>St. Edward's Staff, a part of the regalia, is four feet seven inches -long, bearing at the top an Orb and Cross, the orb containing, it is -said, a portion of the Cross on which our Saviour died.</p> - -<p>The Staff is made of beaten gold, to the bottom of which is fixed a -steel spike, no doubt intended for defence, as a strong arm would be -able to drive it through any assailant. Nothing is known authentically -of the history of this Staff, but it is supposed to date back as far as -the time of the Crusades, on account of the portion of the cross which -it is said to contain.</p> - -<p>The Royal Sceptre is of gold, ornamented with precious stones; also -with the rose, shamrock, and thistle, emblematical of England, -Scotland, and Ireland, all in gold; the cross is richly jewelled, and -contains a large diamond in the centre; the length of the Sceptre is -two feet nine inches, and it is valued at £40,000.</p> - -<p>The other jewelled articles of the regalia are valued at £300,000, and -are as follows:</p> - -<p>The Rod of Equity is three feet seven inches in length, and is made -of gold set with diamonds. The Orb at the top is encircled with rose -diamonds, and in the cross, which surmounts it, stands the figure of -a dove with wings expanded. This is sometimes called the Sceptre with -the Dove. Another sceptre called the Queen's Sceptre with the Cross, -though much smaller, is very beautiful in design, and thickly set with -precious stones.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">IVORY SCEPTRE AND SWORDS OF JUSTICE.</div> - -<p>The Ivory Sceptre was made for Maria d' Este, and another sceptre, -found behind the wainscotting in the apartment in which the regalia was -kept, is said to have been made for the Queen of William III.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus36.jpg" alt="jewels" /> <a id="illus36" name="illus36"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> 1. Imperial Orb. 2. Golden Salt Cellar of State. 3. -Anointing Spoon. 4. Ampulla.</p> - -<p>There are also two other Orbs, well worthy of observation, as are also -the Swords of Justice, the Ecclesiastical and Temporal; and the Sword -of Mercy or the Curtana, as it is called. This is pointless, as so is -its title, which could have no point when the sword was wielded by an -English monarch.</p> - -<p>Then there is the Ampulla, to hold the Holy Oil for anointing the -foreheads and palms of the hands and necks of sover<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>eigns. It is said -that Queen Victoria dispensed with the anointing of her royal neck, -fearing that it might soil a very costly lace chemisette which she -wore at her coronation. The Ampulla is made in the shape of an eagle, -and the base holds the oil. Besides the jewels already mentioned, -there are several others, among which are the Armillae, or Coronation -Bracelets, made of gold and rimmed with pearls; the Coronation Spoon, -for pouring out the oil, which is very ancient; and the Golden Salt -Cellar, shaped like a castle, with Norman turrets, windows and doors. -Then there are other salt cellars, a baptismal font, where the royal -children are baptised, a silver wine fountain, and many other valuables -which I have not room or desire to enumerate. Altogether, the crowns, -diadems, sceptres and other articles of the regalia, are worth about -seven millions of dollars, and they are of no use whatever, excepting -for show.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus37.jpg" alt="cellars" /> <a id="illus37" name="illus37"></a></p> -<p class="caption">STATE SALT CELLARS.</p> - -<p>It must be remembered that hundreds of people die annually of -starvation in London, while these jewels, valued at seven millions of -dollars, are growing rusty, and every shilling which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> bought these -jewels was wrung from the blood, labor, and misery of the ancestors of -the radical voters who compose the English Trade Unions, and follow the -standard of John Bright. A just and honest Parliament would order the -sale of these Crown jewels, and the sum realized might find many happy -homes in the New World for those who now starve in the rookeries and -lanes of London.</p> - - - -<p>There is only one attempt to steal the English Crown Jewels, mentioned -in history, and that was a most audacious one, and planned with a skill -worthy of the man who made the attempt.</p> - -<p>The robbery was committed by Col. Thomas Blood, in 1673.</p> - -<p>He was a native of Ireland, born in 1628.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A DESPERATE ADVENTURE.</div> -<p>In his twentieth year he married the daughter of a gentleman of -Lancashire; then returned to his native country, and having served -there as a Lieutenant in the Parliamentary forces, received a grant of -land instead of pay, and was, by Henry Cromwell, son to Oliver, made -a Justice of the Peace. On the Restoration of Charles II, the Act of -Settlement, which deprived Blood of his possessions, made him at once -discontented and desperate. He first signalized himself by his conduct -during an insurrection set on foot to surprise Dublin Castle and seize -the Duke of Ormond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This insurrection he -joined and became its leader; but it was discovered on the very eve of -execution, and was rendered futile.</p> - -<p>Blood, who was neither afraid of man or devil, escaped the gallows, the -fate of some of his associates, and concealing himself among the native -Irish patriots in the mountains, and ultimately he escaped to Holland, -where he was favorably received by Admiral de Ruyter, the Dutch Nelson.</p> - -<p>Always ready for battle and spoil, we next find him engaged with -the Covenanters in their rebellion in Scotland in 1666, when being -once more on the side of the losing party, he saved his life only by -stratagem.</p> - -<p>Thenceforward Col. Blood appears only in the light of a mere -adventurer, bold and capable enough to do anything his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> passions might -instigate, and prepared to seize fortune where-ever he might find her, -without the slightest scruple as to the means employed. The death of -his friends in the Irish insurrection, seems to have left in Blood's -mind a great thirst for personal vengeance on the Duke of Ormond, whom -accordingly he seized on the night of December 6th, 1676, tied him on -horseback to one of his associates, and but for the timely aid of the -Duke's servant, would have hanged the astonished and paralyzed noble on -Tyburn Tree, where he attempted to convey him. The plan failed, but so -admirably had it been contrived that Blood remained totally unsuspected -as its author, although a reward of one thousand pounds was offered by -King Charles for the discovery of the attempted assassins.</p> - -<p>He now opened to the same associates an equally daring but much more -profitable scheme, had it been successful: to carry off the Crown -Jewels. It was thus carried out—Blood one day came to see the Regalia, -dressed as a parson, and accompanied by a woman whom he called his -wife; the latter professing to be suddenly taken ill, was invited by -the keeper's wife into the adjoining apartment. Thus an intimacy was -formed which was so well improved by Blood, that he arranged a match -between a nephew of his and the keeper's daughter, and a day was -appointed for the young people to meet. At the appointed hour came -the pretended parson, the pretended nephew, and two others, armed -with rapier blades in their canes, daggers and pocket pistols—a nice -wedding party indeed.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">FAILURE TO GET A CROWN.</div> - -<p>One of the number made some pretence for staying at the door as a -watch, while the others passed into the Jewel house, the parson having -expressed a desire that the Regalia should be shown to his friends, -while they were waiting for the approach of Mrs. Edwards, the keeper's -wife, and her daughter. No sooner was the door closed than a cloak was -thrown over the old man and a gag was forced into his mouth; and thus -secured they told him their object, telling him at the same time that -he was safe if he kept quiet. The poor old man, however, faithful to -the trust imposed in him, exerted himself to the utmost in spite of the -blows they dealt him, till he was stabbed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> and became senseless. Blood -now slipped the Crown under his cloak, another secreted the Orb, and a -third, with great industry, was engaged in filing the Sceptre into two -parts, when one of those coincidences, which a novelist would hardly -dare to use, much less to invent, gave a new turn to the proceedings.</p> - -<p>The keeper's son, who had been in Flanders, returned at this critical -moment. At the door he was met by an accomplice, stationed there as -a sentinel, who asked him with whom he would speak. Young Edwards -replied, "I belong to the house," and hurried upstairs; and the -sentinel, I suppose, not knowing how to prevent the catastrophe he must -have feared otherwise than by a warning to his friends, gave the alarm.</p> - -<p>A general flight ensued, amidst which the robbers heard the voice of -the old keeper once more loudly shouting, "Treason! murder," which, -being heard by the young lady, who was waiting anxiously to see her -lover, she ran out into the open air, reiterating the same cry. The -alarm became general and outstripped the conspirators.</p> - -<p>A warder first attempted to stop them, but being very fat, at the -charge of a pistol which was fired, he fell down without waiting to -know if he was hurt, and so they passed his post. At the next door, -Sill, a sentinel, not to be outdone in prudence, offered no opposition, -and they passed the drawbridge.</p> - -<p>At St. Katharine's Gate their horses were waiting for them; and as they -ran along the Tower wharf they joined in the cry of "Stop the rogues," -and so passed on unsuspected till Captain Beckman, a brother-in-law of -young Edwards, overtook the party.</p> - -<p>Blood fired a pistol but missed the Captain, and was immediately made -prisoner.</p> - -<p>The Crown was found under his cloak, which, prisoner as he was, he -would not yield without a struggle.</p> - -<p>"It was a gallant attempt, however unsuccessful," were the witty and -ambitious fellow's first words; "it was for a Crown!"</p> - -<p>Not the least extraordinary part of this affair was the subsequent -treatment of Col. Blood. Whether it was that Blood had frightened -Charles II, by his audacious threats of being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> revenged by his numerous -associates, in case of his death on the scaffold, or else captivated -him by his brilliant audacity and flattery combined, it is certain that -Blood, instead of being punished as he should have been, was rewarded -with place, power, and influence, at court. Instead of being sent to -the gallows, he was taken into especial favor, and all applications -through him to the King, for favors, were successful.</p> - -<p>It is said that Blood had told the King that he had been engaged to -kill his Majesty, from among the reeds by the Thames' side, above where -Battersea Bridge now spans the river, but was deterred from the crime -by the air of Majesty which shone in the King's countenance.</p> - -<p>What more delicate flattery could be administered to a King than this?</p> - -<p>Blood died peaceably in his bed in the year 1680.</p> - -<p>It was not to be expected that the notorious favoritism of the -King toward Blood should escape satirical comment, and the Earl of -Rochester, a shameless scoundrel himself, wrote, on the attempt to -steal the Crown:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Blood, that wears treason in his face,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Villian complete in parson's gown,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">How much he is at Court in grace</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For stealing Ormond and the Crown!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Since loyalty does no man good</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Let's steal the King, and outdo Blood."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Edwards and his son were awarded £300 by a not over generous -Parliament, but the delay in payment of the sum was such that Mr. -Edwards was compelled to sell his claim for £120 to a Jew. In this case -virtue had its own reward, but no other.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BIRTH-PLACE OF WILLIAM PENN.</div> - -<p>On the neighboring Tower Hill, which is now covered by fine mansions, -and where the shaft has just been sunk, giving admission to the -Thames Subway under the River, in the old days of violence and blood, -many a noble head was brought to be hewed off by the executioner's -shining axe. Lady Raleigh lived here on Tower Hill after she had been -forbidden to visit her husband in the Tower. William Penn was born in -a little old house in a little old dusty court on Tower Hill, and it -was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> here that he first imbibed his horror of bloodshed and capital -punishment. At the "Bull," a public house on Tower Hill, on April 14, -1685, died Otway the poet, of starvation, and around the corner in a -cutler's shop, which is numbered with the things that were, Felton -bought a large jack-knife for ten-pence, with which he assassinated -the magnificent Duke of Buckingham. At No. 48 Great Tower street, is -situated the Tavern called the "Czar's Head," built on the site of -an old pot-house, in which the Emperor Peter the Great, and some low -companions, used to meet to drink fiery potations of brandy and smoke -clay pipes.</p> - -<p>In the very same spot, where the scaffold was formerly erected, and -where the gouts of blood fell dripping from the severed necks of -victims of the axe, marine stores are now sold, and sea-biscuits, -pea-jackets, hour-glasses, and quadrants are offered for sale.</p> - -<p>The scaffold was generally built on four strong posts with a platform, -five feet high, and in the centre of the platform was placed the block. -The victim was generally bound, unless by desire the binding was -omitted.</p> - -<p>For the gratification of those curious in such matters, it may be -as well to give the bloody head roll of the most illustrious of the -victims executed on Tower Hill, and the date of their decapitation.</p> - -<p>June 22, 1535, Bishop Fisher; July 6, 1535, Sir Thomas Moore; July 28, -1540, Cromwell, Earl of Essex; May 27, 1541, Margaret Pole, Countess of -Shrewsbury; Jan. 20, 1547, Earl of Surrey, the poet; March 20, 1549, -Thomas Lord Seymour, of Sudeley, by order of his brother, the Protector -Somerset, who was beheaded Jan. 22, 1552; Feb. 12, 1553-4, Lord -Guildford Dudley; April 11, 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt; May 12, 1641, Earl -of Strafford; Jan. 10, 1644-5, Archbishop Laud; Dec. 29, 1680, William -Viscount Stafford, "insisting on his innocence to the very last;" -Dec. 7, 1683, Algernon Sydney; July 15, 1685, the Duke of Monmouth; -Feb. 24, 1716, Earl of Derwentwater and Lord Kenmuir; Aug. 18, 1746, -Lords Kilmarnock and Balmerino; Dec. 8, 1746, Mr. Radcliffe, who had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> -been, with his brother, Lord Derwentwater, convicted of treason in -the Rebellion of 1715, when Derwentwater was executed; but Radcliffe -escaped, and was identified by the barber who, thirty-one years before, -had shaved him in the Tower. Mr. Chamberlain Clark, who died in 1831, -aged 92, well remembered (his father then residing in the Minories) -seeing the glittering of the executioner's axe in the sun as it fell -upon Mr. Radcliffe's neck. April 9, 1747, Simon Lord Lovat, the last -beheading in England, and the last execution upon Tower Hill, when a -scaffolding, built near Barking-alley, fell with nearly 1,000 persons -on it, and twelve were killed.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail13.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail13" name="tail13"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE CADGERS OF LONDON BRIDGE.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap14.jpg" alt="A" /> <a id="icap14" name="icap14"></a></span>FTER leaving the Old Jewry Lane and passing up Cheapside, we came into -the Poultry just as the rain had ceased, and as great rifts in the -masses of fog were breaking through the opaque atmosphere. The Poultry -is a short street which runs up to the Mansion House, and during the -noon of the day is nearly impassable from the amount of traffic done -there. Now the shops were all closed, and the bell of St. Paul's rang -out for midnight, the echoes stealing over the city and the river in -a ghostly way that thrilled through the hearts of the pedestrians who -were darkness-bound in the streets. We passed through the Poultry into -King William street, and on past Cannon street, with its warehouses and -retail stores, by East Cheap, until we could see London Bridge, in all -its vastness, looming up like a sleeping giant, the dark arches girding -the river in seemingly everlasting bands.</p> - -<p>The detective said: "Let's go down the stairs of the bridge and see -some of the characters that find board and lodging down the steps. -They're a hawful set, some on 'em."</p> - -<p>The Thames lay at our feet, spread out like a map. The sky was -clearing, and the river was very quiet. Now and then the sullen waters, -driven in an eddy against the huge piers, could be heard plashing in -a secret, stealthy manner, and anon they would recede and come back -again, plash! plash! plash! All about us was so still; not a sound to -be heard as we leaned over one of the alcoves in the bridge. Below us, -to the left,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> the Catharine Docks, full of shipping; the London Docks, -full of shipping; Shadwell lined with lighter craft—all so still, and -the million of masts looking ghostly in the holy light of the midnight. -Over on the right, Bermondsey-way, more shipping—countless spars -pointing up to the midnight skies; the Pool choked with shipping—coal -barges, eel-boats, East India vessels, brigs and schooners, barks and -black-hulled packets, lying high in the water; flat-bottomed barges -for carrying sand and for dredging; the gray coping stones of the -Tower hanging over the water, and the stillness of death on noisy -Rotherhithe, and a pall over the immense West India docks.</p> - -<p>This great river, this river of all the nations of the world, with -their tributes laid at her docks and their gifts on her broad -bosom—how quiet it is just now. A matchless stream for its congregated -wealth. Miles of warehouses, miles of stone docks, miles of shipping, -and thousands of seamen. And yet a dirty and turbid and ungrateful -river at times, when it overflows the fish-stalls, when it overflows -the high street in Wapping and drowns myriads of rats in Upper and -Lower Thames street.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">VAGRANCY AND PAUPERISM.</div> - -<p>We went down the "London Stairs." Every bridge that spans the Thames -has four stairs or flights of stone-steps running down to the water's -edge. These stone stairs are generally twenty or twenty-five feet -wide, and they run down, for a hundred broad, massive and capacious -steps, to where the tide comes in. There are turns in the stairs, and -stone platforms—where the magnificent stone embankment has not been -completed, as it is at Westminster Bridge down the river—under whose -vast arches hundreds of human beings find shelter from the inclemency -of the weather. I may say here that there is not such a city in the -world as London for vagrancy and vagabondism of the worst kind despite -the fact that there are 7,000 police in the metropolitan district; -and besides this force for prevention, the work-houses in the West -District, composing Kensington, Fulham, Paddington, Chelsea, St. -George's, Hanover Square, St. Margaret, and St. John, and Westminster, -furnish in and out door relief to 18,000 persons. Marylebone,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> -Hampstead, St. Pancras, Islington, and Hackney, in the North District, -provide for 24,820 persons. St. Giles, St. George, Bloomsbury, the -Strand, Holborn, and City of London, in the Central District, provide -for 19,127 persons. Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, St. George -in the East, Stepney, Mile End Town, and Poplar, provide for 28,713 -persons, in the East District. In the Southern District, St. Saviour, -Southwark, Rotherhithe, and Bermondsey; in St. Olave's, Lambeth, -Wandsworth, and Clapham, Camberwell, Greenwich, Woolwich, and Lewisham, -there is provision for 38,487 persons. Here we have a total of 128,880 -men, women, and children, occupants of the union work-houses of the -metropolis of London, with a population of less than three and a half -millions. Besides this number, there are thousands of casuals who -receive lodgings in the work-houses; and outside this fearful aggregate -there are roaming in and about London at least 15,000 vagrants—or, as -they would be called in America, "bummers"—who do not frequent the -work-houses from various reasons, and consequently have to "bunk out," -as we would call it in New York.</p> - -<p>At the bottom of some of the bridges there are heaps of rubbish and old -rotting planking, some of which rubbish is carried off when the tide -leaves the stones of the bridges. Then there are old boat-houses, and -rows of long, stout-built boats for hire; but at night there are no -persons to watch these boats, and they are used as berths to sleep in -by the vagrant vagabonds who haunt the recesses of the bridges. When -the tide recedes in the Thames, it generally leaves a space of twenty -to two hundred feet of the inshore bottom of the river bare on the -Surrey side, and this is generally a soft, drab-looking mud, with a -treacherous look, where man or beast might be swallowed up without any -warning. When the detective and I went down into the dark recesses of -London Bridge, that night, the river was at the flood, and the rubbish -was being carried away by the incoming tide. This was on the Surrey -side of the river. There were about a dozen persons beneath the first -archway, making, in fact, a perfect gypsy encampment. Eight of these -persons were of the male sex, and beside these there were two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> old -haggard-looking women and a grown girl of twenty years or thereabouts, -and a child of ten years, in all the glory of rags and destitution. -The oldest man in the party might have been fifty years of age, and -the others were younger, one of them being a stout, able-bodied young -fellow of eighteen or nineteen. Some of the party were asleep, and were -snoring most comfortably, as the rain did not penetrate to their place -of sleeping; but every few minutes a gust of wind came howling down the -river and burst through the arches with a mad fury, making the sleepers -turn uneasily on the stone steps.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus38.jpg" alt="meal" /> <a id="illus38" name="illus38"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE CADGER'S MEAL.</p> - -<p>The old fellow, who seemed to be a confirmed vagrant, from his slouchy -look and greasy, unpatched clothes, had built a small fire of the -refuse which abounded in the arches, and he was drying pieces of -driftwood that had floated from the scaffolding on the new Blackfriar's -Bridge down the river. He was warming his hands and slapping them, and -the little girl<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> of ten years was stooped over the fire, toasting an -enormous potato on the end of a splinter of wood.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE LOST GIRL.</div> - -<p>"What are you herding here for, Prindle," said the detective to the old -fellow, who looked up in a morose way and muttered something under his -teeth which sounded like "D—n the bobbies."</p> - -<p>"I'm a trying to get somethink to heat. Vy vill yer foller a cove -everywheres as wants to get a mouthful to heat. I haint done nothink as -should bring you here arter me. I'm not hon the pad now hany more."</p> - -<p>"I don't want yer pertikler, I don't; but stop yer jaw and keep a civil -tongue in yer head, will ye," said the sergeant. "Whose gal is that ere -a toasting the taty with the skiver?"</p> - -<p>"I'm blessed hif I knows whose gal it his. Ye don't suppose that I'm -the man as makes the Post-hoffice Di-rek-te-ree. She haint mine, I -know, cos I'm not a fool, nor never vos, to have any children. I must -say she is werry 'andy at the taties when a feller wants to get some -winks. But, I say, you got nothink aginst me from the Beak, 'ave you?"</p> - -<p>"No, I have nothing against you just at this partickler moment, but -I dunno how soon I'll have," said the sergeant. "But I have brought -a gentleman here who wants to get some information about this 'ere -precious family of yours, and how you contrive to live, and I want you -to answer him civilly, or I may find something against you that would -hurt your tender feelings, you know."</p> - -<p>"He wants some hinformation habout me and my family, does he? That's -a precious lark, that is. Why doesn't he stay in his bleeding bed and -cover his nose hup in the sheets. I never asked 'im about his familee, -as I knows on. Wot a werry pecoolier taste he has, to be sure. Maybe -he's one of them rummaging Paper chaps as is halways a torkin about -the rights and dooties of the vorkin' classes, and is a-ruinin' of the -country's blessed prosperity?"</p> - -<p>"Father, answer the man civilly, will ye. Yer halways a-making trouble -for yourself by yer bad tongue, and it does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> other people harm as well -as yourself. Tell him wot you have got to tell, and he'll go away."</p> - -<p>This was said by the young girl, who now came forward and stood looking -at the old man eagerly. She was robed in an old calico gown, rather -tattered at the bottom, and quite besmirched with the washings of the -Thames mud which had clung to the stone stairs of the bridge. The girl -was well formed and tall, and her dress hung from a good figure. Her -eyes were black and glittering, and her bold, coarse, handsome face -was seared with the traces of evil passions, hardship, and reckless -despair. The girl's face told her story before she had spoken. -Childhood and girlhood reeking with the foulness of the gutters, and -then the matured woman a castaway in the deadly miasma of the London -slums.</p> - -<p>"There, aint that a precious daughter for a loving father like me. Oh, -she's a comfort to me in me hold hage, so she is. And she talks of -wirtue and gets on the 'igh 'orse with her poor old father sometimes, -and makes him veep. Oh, vot an ungrateful family I've got, to be sure. -She's no better than she ought to be, anyhow."</p> - -<p>"Oh, stop that bloody talk, old man," said the stout, able-bodied -young fellow, who seemed to be a person of influence in the out-door -establishment. "W'ats the use of throwin' sich things in the gal's -face. Molly's a gal jest like any one else's gal when she can't get -anything to eat. I don't blame her a bit."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE YOUNG CADGER'S STORY.</div> - -<p>"If I am bad, Jem," burst out the girl, raging with passion, and her -eyes filled with tears, "who made me so? Who kept chiming into my ears -that I had a pretty face and that I ought to sell it? Who, I say? Who -was it," continued the girl, clenching her hands, and her face blazing -with excitement, "that struck me last Christmas night, come two years, -and pitched me out of the hole that we lived in on Saffron Hill? And -then I had to seek a livin' in the streets, and when I was hungry I -took money and sold myself to perdition; and then I had a father who -used to steal it from me when I'd come home to sleep, and he'd take the -few shillings that I earned by my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> shame, to go and drink it, and none -of ye were ashamed to live on the money that lost my poor soul. Not one -of ye." Here the girl, utterly exhausted, sat down on the stones and -wept as if her heart was going to break, while the ragged child, who -had by this time succeeded in burning her fingers a number of times, -looked on in wonder at the sudden turmoil of vagabondism. The son, a -powerfully built fellow, looked up and said:</p> - -<p>"Molly, I wish your devilish trap ud shut. Wot good does this do any -of ye, I'd like to know. Here I've been hon the aggrawatin' tramp for -two weeks, and I hexpected to see yes all comfortable like, when I kum -home, in Saffron Hill, down St. Giles way, and here I finds yes hall -a-living hunder London Bridge by night, and a-beggin, or doin' wuss, in -the day time. Hits enuff to make a saint swear at his blessed liver."</p> - -<p>"Wuss luck, Jem; wuss luck, Jem; I halways knew as how it would come -to this, a-sooner or a-later," said an old crone in the corner of the -archway, who was smoking a pipe and whom I believed to be fast asleep.</p> - -<p>"Well, sir, if ye'v got no hobjection," said the stout young man, "I'll -tell you our story. It isn't much of a story to tell, after all. The -old man there went to be a navvy and got two shillings a day until he -took to drink; when he had work on the Great Western. They used to -swindle him in the Tommy shops. Them's the shops, you see, where a -contractor who 'as the job to bulk it, keeps the groceries and grub for -the navvies. They skin the navvies so terribly, do these Tommy shops, -and when his week is up, a man has nothing left out of his vages, cos', -you see, they halways manages to run up the bill as high as the week's -vages. Oh! they are precious scoundrels!"</p> - -<p>"Don't call them scoundrels, Jem. Hit's too good a name for them -haltogether," said the old man, who was beginning to doze.</p> - -<p>"Will you shut up?" savagely said the hopeful son; and then he -continued, when he had taken a whiff at the pipe: "Well, by and by the -old man got to drinking so much beer that the whole of the wages was -drawn for lush, and he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> nothing to eat during the week excepting -what the other men gave him for charity."</p> - -<p>"Hevery word of that's a lie, Jem. Wot a precious talent you have, to -be sure, for habusin of your poor old fayther."</p> - -<p>"Will you shut up, d—n you?" said the dutiful son, who was fast losing -his temper at being interrupted so often by his fond parent. "I wos -away at sea down on a Cardiff coaster, when the old man came home, and -the gal, there, Molly, was a lace-maker, and wos making eight shillings -a week, and the old woman used to make penny baskets to carry fish home -from the markets, and she got, I suppose, as much as—how much did you -make on them ere baskets, mother?"</p> - -<p>"Two and sevenpence ha'penny a week, Jem, and some of the stuff wos -rotten has an egg, Jem, and I halways had bad hies, Jem—you know I -had—a-crying for you when you wos a blessed baby."</p> - -<p>"There, stop that bell-clapper of yours, will ye? Yez are all crazy, I -think. Well, the short and the long of it wos, that the old man came -home and began to drink everything that he could put his hands on, and -Molly lost her place because the old un <i>would</i> come haround her place -of business, in Tottenham Court road, and her hemployer as was said as -'ow he's blessed if he'd stand hit hany longer, 'aving such a drunken -old bloke a-comin around his shop; and then the gal took to the street, -and she got two months in the Bridewell for wagrancy, and when she came -hout she was wuss nor ever, and then the family got put hout cos' they -could not pay the rent in Saffron Hill, four bob and a tanner a week; -and it all comes of that hold man a-drinking like a swine that we are -here to-night hunder London Bridge."</p> - -<p>"How <i>can</i> you tell sich voppers, Jem, about yer poor old fayther? Ven -you was about two hinches 'igh I used to dandle ye hon me knee, and now -look at yer hingratitude to the hauthor of your beink."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED CADGERS.</div> - -<p>"Guv us a taty, Jenny," said the son to the little girl, who was now -engaged in pulling three or four from the dying embers of the fire; -and he snatched one and tore a piece out of it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> eagerly, hot ashes -and all. Just then a low steamer went past, with her red signal light -shining like a huge glow-worm out upon the surface of the dark river, -and as she went under the bridge her whistle shrieked out on the night -air like a demon, and at the same moment the bell of St. Saviour's in -Southwark, on the Surrey side of the river, tolled in a brazen tone the -hour of one o'clock, and Sergeant Scott suggested to me that we might -as well go about our business and leave the Cadgers to themselves. -"Cadger" is a Cockney term for people who will not work and have no -habitation, but go from one place to another, roaming loosely, picking -up anything they can get, honestly if they can get it that way, and -if not they will not hesitate to steal for a living, or beg when they -find people charitable enough and willing to commiserate their supposed -sufferings.</p> - -<p>There are about 2,500 of this class in and around London, continually -changing their places of residence, and to this class the hopeful -family under London Bridge belonged.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail14.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail14" name="tail14"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE LUNGS OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap15.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap15" name="icap15"></a></span>HE Lungs of London, through which her large masses of population find -respiration and ventilation, are her parks, gardens, and pleasure -grounds.</p> - -<p>The city is admirably provided with these oases, which occur frequently -in the great desert of brick and mortar.</p> - -<p>Nothing can be more grateful to the eye of the stranger sojourning in -the English metropolis, than the frequent views which he encounters -of smooth bits of lawn, upon which large numbers of sheep browse -peacefully; acres of flower beds, in the care of the most celebrated -florists; sheets of water in which nude bathers are disporting -with perfect freedom; or long and wide expanses of green trees and -shrubbery, enclosed by high iron railings, but free to all the citizens -to enjoy and to hold forever.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">REGENT'S AND HYDE PARKS.</div> - -<p>Beside the parks and gardens, London has an infinity of squares, -commons, and crescents, which are surrounded by private residences and -inclosed by railings and walls—such as Trafalgar Square (public), -Bedford, Cavendish, St. George's, Grosvenor, Leicester, Soho, Belgrave, -Euston, Finsbury, Fitzroy, Portman, Russell, Wellclose, Hanover, -Brunswick, Eaton, Berkeley, Golden, Mecklenburg, Red Lion, Tavistock, -and a great number of other squares which I do not now call to mind. -The majority of these places have plots of grass and trees, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> -fountains and flower-beds, varying in size from a quarter of an acre -to three acres in extent. Then again others have not a blade of grass -or a single shrub to dignify their lonely aridness, and the hum of -cartwheels and the noise of brawling men and women, are heard all day -and into the night ascending from them. Half a dozen of them, like -Belgrave, Grosvenor, and Berkeley Squares, are hemmed in on all sides -by the gloomy and palatial dwellings of the governing class of England, -who seek to absorb even a stray blade of grass, or the leaves of a -scantily clothed tree, sooner than allow the poor and degraded to enjoy -them.</p> - -<p>And so we have green spots, like Golden and Soho, and Wellclose -Squares, exhibiting the various gradations from squalid poverty to -shabby gentility; and in Belgrave and Grosvenor Squares we have all -the indications of refinement, wealth, perfumery, silks, and satins, -combined with a resolve which says to Golden and Wellclose Squares,</p> - -<p>"You are of a different nature from us. We belong to a class which -knows you not, and with whom you can never mingle—never. You are -polluted and degraded. We are the salt of the earth. We lock the iron -gates of our private squares, and you must not enter them; and yet we -have parks and preserves, and Swiss Chalets, and villas at Mentone and -Rome, and spas at Hombourg and Baden."</p> - -<p>And accordingly and most dutifully misery shrinks by high iron walls in -the heart of London, or at most will only peer furtively through the -iron grating of Grosvenor and Belgrave Squares.</p> - -<p>But the public parks belong to the people, and by the people they -are enjoyed most thoroughly. Children, old and young, gray-beard and -adolescent, all flock to these parks; and Regent's Park or Hyde Park, -on a summer Sunday afternoon is a splendid sight, and a similar one -cannot be obtained anywhere else but in Paris pleasure grounds, on a -Sunday, and it was Paris that first taught London to respire through -these public lungs of hers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> - -<p>The dimensions of the public parks and gardens of London are as follows:</p> - -<table summary="parks" width="60%"> -<tr> -<td>Battersea Park, -</td> -<td> 200 acres. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Kensington Gardens, -</td> -<td> 380 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Finsbury Park (in progress), -</td> -<td> 300 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Green Park, -</td> -<td> 71 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Regent's Park, -</td> -<td> 450 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Victoria Park, -</td> -<td> 290 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Primrose Hill Park (Cricket Grounds), -</td> -<td> 50 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>St. James Park, -</td> -<td> 83 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Hyde Park, -</td> -<td> 395 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Southwark Park (not completed), -</td> -<td> 120 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Kensington Oval, (for Cricket Ground), -</td> -<td> 12 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Cremorne Garden, -</td> -<td> 10 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Botanic Garden, Chelsea, -</td> -<td> 12 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Royal Botanic Garden (Regent's Park), -</td> -<td> 20 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Horticultural Gardens (Cheswick), -</td> -<td> 35 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Kew Gardens, -</td> -<td> 60 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Buckingham Palace Gardens, -</td> -<td> 40 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Temple Gardens, -</td> -<td> 7 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Zoological Gardens, -</td> -<td> 18 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Greenwich Park, -</td> -<td> 200 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Richmond Park, -</td> -<td>2,253 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>—— -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>5,006 " -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - - -<p>Here are five thousand acres of parks, pleasure grounds, gardens, and -cricket fields, all in fine order, and under careful and economical -supervision. Surely London is well provided for in the way of open -air amusement. Besides, bands play in the different parks and squares -almost daily. In St. James Park, Regent's Park, and Hyde Park, bands -play every afternoon in inclosures set apart for that purpose. Some of -these bands are formed of old musicians and veterans who have served in -the Crimean and Indian wars. There is a body of men distributed over -London, who wear a uniform of semi-military fashion, and are called -the "Corps of Commissionaires," who can be sent on errands, with or -for packages or letters, and from this body two full bands have been -formed, who earn a decent subsistence by playing in St. James Park and -Regent's Park, every pleasant afternoon during summer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">WHAT THE PARKS CONTAIN.</div> - -<p>In the inclosures, where these bands furnish music, chairs are -arranged, and all persons who enter and take seats are expected to -contribute two-pence toward the musicians for the pleasure of hearing -the music.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus39.jpg" alt="park" /> <a id="illus39" name="illus39"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> BATHING IN HYDE PARK.</p> - -<p>There are also sheets of water in Regent's Park, Victoria Park, -Battersea Park, St. James' Park, and Kensington Gardens. The sheet of -water, or stream, in Hyde Park, is known as the "Serpentine River," -from its sinuous course. This is quite a large sheet of water, and is -much frequented for free bathing, on warm days in the heated term. -Here, thousands of people may be seen on a sultry afternoon, plunging -to and fro in the cool waters, and in case of any accident—for the -water is deep—the boats, ropes and drags of the Royal Humane Society's -Life Saving Apparatus, are always ready for immediate use, and numbers -of people are rescued and taken from the Serpentine, and resuscitated.</p> - -<p>When the winter months come, and the Serpentine becomes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> frozen over, -the Londoners congregate there in great numbers to skate, or play at -golf or curling.</p> - -<p>There is a large lake in the Regent's Park ornamented with small, -well-wooded islands, and in Kensington Gardens there is one of the -finest museums of art, science, and curiosities, in the world. There -are rocky dells, and grounds for sham fights, in Hyde Park, there are -the rarest exotics in the Palm House at Kew, and every known species of -bird, beast, reptile, and fowl, may be found in the Zoological Gardens, -which comprises eighteen acres of space in the Regent's Park.</p> - -<p>In Richmond Park, which is ten miles distant from the London Post -Office Centre, there are two thousand three hundred acres of hill, -dale, plain, and forest, and here are to be found deer-parks, rabbit -warrens, romantic foot-paths, ancient oaks, horse-chestnuts, and thorny -ridges, with a variety of sequestered spots for pic-nics and pleasure -parties. This noble park can be reached by a sail of fifteen miles on -the River Thames, which is skirted by Richmond Park for some distance.</p> - -<p>There is a grand Observatory for scientific purposes in Greenwich Park, -which is noted all the world over for its correct calculations, and all -the watches and clocks in Great Britain are set by Greenwich time.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE WORLD'S FAIR.</div> - -<p>Bushy Park, at Hampton Court, where there is a splendid gallery -of ancient and foreign paintings and sculpture, the property of -the nation, and free to the people, was formerly the residence of -Cardinal Wolsey. This royal palace and park is to London what St. -Cloud is to Paris. The palace stands on the banks of the Thames, and -when completed, in 1526, for the great Cardinal, it contained 282 -apartments, and as many beds. The Great Hall is inferior to none in -England, and is ornamented with stained-glass windows, stags' heads, -spears, flags, trophies, figures of men-at-arms, and other medieval -ornaments, and the walls are hung with tapestry, depicting the story of -the Patriarch Abraham's life. The largest grape-vine in the world grows -in the park, and extends over a space of 3,000 feet. This vine was -planted one hundred years ago, and produces, every year, about 2,000 -bunches of black, sweet grapes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> which are reserved for the Queen's -private table. An attendent, showing the royal vine to me, informed -the writer that it was high treason to steal the grapes, and I have no -doubt that he believed what he said. The Queen has, also, a bed-room -here, which she wisely refrains from sleeping in, as, I have no doubt, -she would catch influenza from the draughts.</p> - -<p>But the great curiosity of Hampton Court Park, is the "Maze," an -intricate complication of pathways, that wind in and out, and which -have served as a standing conundrum and riddle from time immemorial, -for the amusement of the Cockneys. Any one who enters this maze without -a guide cannot leave it again, so intricate and puzzling are the -foot-paths, which are overshadowed, embowered, and interlaced with -young trees and umbrageous shrubbery. By fastidious Londoners this maze -is called the "Labyrinth."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus40.jpg" alt="labyrinth" /> <a id="illus40" name="illus40"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE LABYRINTH.</p> - -<p>One of the most popular places of rural resort in the vicinity of -London, is the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, a suburb of the metropolis, -and about ten miles from the city.</p> - -<p>It is no exaggeration to say, that next to St. Peter's, at Rome, this -is the most wonderful structure in the world, and equals in point of -magnificence, some of the creations of the Arabian Nights.</p> - -<p>When the great World's Fair of 1851 ended, there was a general desire -among all Englishmen, that this magnificent structure, which had held -the great cosmopolitan show, should not be destroyed. A committee of -some nine gentlemen was formed, by whose direction it was taken to -pieces for the pur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>pose of reconstruction. This committee had purchased -the building, and a company was chartered with a capital of £500,000, -in shares of £5, and so confident were the Londoners of the success of -the new scheme, that the shares were quickly taken up and the operation -of removing the vast building to Sydenham, its present site, was -commenced.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE CRYSTAL PALACE.</div> - -<p>The new structure was begun, and the first column raised, on the 5th of -August, 1852; and, immediately after, several gentlemen were despatched -to the principal cities on the Continent for the purpose of bringing -to England casts of the finest pieces of sculpture in existence, and -other specimens of the fine arts. The splendid Park, Winter Garden, -and Conservatories were committed to the management of the late Sir -Joseph Paxton, who invented the architectural part of the Palace of -1851. The arrangements of the various other departments were assigned -to men of eminence and skill, in whose hands the structure grew, until -it quickly attained its present splendor, and the New Crystal Palace -was at length opened to the public on the 10th of June, 1854. Some -idea of the magnitude and extent of the operations carried on in the -fitting up of this enormous house of glass may be gathered from the -fact, that at one time there were no fewer than 6,400 men employed in -carrying out the designs of the directors. The edifice is completely -transparent, being composed entirely, roof and walls, of clear glass, -supported by an iron framework; and it is said that these materials -are more durable than either marble or granite, and, if properly cared -for, will utterly defy the ravages of time. The extreme length of the -Palace, including the wings, is 2,756 feet; which, with the colonnade -leading from the railway-station to the wings, gives a total length -of 3,476 feet, or nearly three-quarters of a mile. The width of the -great central transept is 120 feet; and its height, from the garden -front to the top of the louvre, is 208 feet, or six feet higher than -the Monument on Fish Hill. It consists of a basement floor, above which -rise a magnificent central nave, two side-aisles, two main galleries, -three transepts, and two wings. In order to avoid sameness and monotony -in such an immense surface of glass, pairs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> of columns and girders -are advanced eight feet into the nave at every seventy-two feet. An -arched roof covers the nave, and the centre transept towers into the -air in fairy-like lightness and brilliancy. There are also recesses -twenty-four feet deep in the garden fronts of all the transepts, which -throw fine shadows, and relieve the continuous surface of the plain -glass walls; and the whole building is otherwise agreeably broken -into parts by the low square towers at the junction of the nave and -transepts, the open galleries toward the garden front, and the long -wings on either side. The building is heated to the genial temperature -of Madeira, by an elaborate system of hot-water pipes, and the supply -of water is drawn from an Artesian well. The Tropical Department, -once a great feature of the Palace, has ceased to exist; having been -destroyed by fire about three years ago.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus41.jpg" alt="palace" /> <a id="illus41" name="illus41"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE CRYSTAL PALACE.</p> - -<p>There are large and beautiful pleasure grounds all around the Crystal -Palace, and all the great national fetes, concerts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> and open air -demonstrations, take place here. Patti, Nillson, and Sims Reeves, sing -here in benefits for charitable associations, and for a shilling, a -person may listen to ballads on Saturday afternoons, at these concerts, -sung by the greatest living English tenor. Then there are acres of -restaurants and dining saloons inside and outside of the Crystal -Palace, and apparatus and cooking utensils are on the premises, whereby -ten thousand people may find dinner, all at one time, and sit down to -tables in five minutes after dinner has been ordered. During the long -summer evenings, promenade concerts are held at the Crystal Palace, and -fireworks are let off in the presence of great crowds, who enjoy the -sports and junketings much as a New York crowd may do on a Fourth of -July night, in the City Hall, or Madison Park.</p> - -<p>The contents of the Palace itself are calculated to puzzle the brains -of a philosopher. Everything wonderful, curious, precious, or difficult -to find at any other place, may be found at the Crystal Palace.</p> - -<p>Specimens of architecture, sculpture of all ages, tombs, temples, -busts, statues, capitals, hieroglyphs, from Greece, Rome, Egypt, and -Italy, portions and entire courts from the glorious Alhambra, gigantic -relics and ruins from the Palaces of Babylon, Susa, and Nineveh; -fragments of the Christian temples of Italy, the castles and churches -of Germany, the Chateaux of Belgium and France, and the Cathedrals and -Mansions of England, from the earliest ages to the present time, all of -which are arranged in "courts" in the most systematic order.</p> - -<p>Beside these there are many Industrial "Courts" containing the most -wonderful and useful inventions of the genius and scholar. Then there -are gigantic models of the tremendous animals who existed before the -flood, with models of huge and hideous reptiles, and saurians, who did -their level best in the same period.</p> - - - -<p>Some sunny Saturdays as many as fifty thousand people pay visits to -the Crystal Palace, and to see and enjoy all these won<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>ders, the -charge is only one shilling, including concerts, music, fireworks, and -flirtations.</p> - -<p>The last time I was there it was on the occasion of the Royal Dramatic -Fete, for the benefit of the profession, and fully a hundred thousand -persons were present, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, and -many of the nobility.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">COST OF GROUNDS AND BUILDING.</div> -<p>The entire cost of grounds and building, with works of art and -curiosities, was seven million dollars. There were 15,000,000 of -bricks, 6,000 tons of iron, 20,000 loads of timber, 300,000 superficial -feet of glass, 1,200 iron columns, one mile and a half of clerstory -windows, and other materials in proportion, used in the construction -of the edifice, and the space of ground enclosed under the transparent -roof is twenty-five acres, being one-fifth greater than the area of the -base of the Great Pyramid.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail15.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail15" name="tail15"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE RAKES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap16.jpg" alt="E" /> <a id="icap16" name="icap16"></a></span>NGLAND has been singularly unfortunate in her Royal Families.</p> - -<p>York and Lancaster, Plantagenet and Tudor, Stuarts or Hanoverians, -they have been, with here and there an odd exception, a very bad lot, -morally speaking.</p> - -<p>It is a curious history of crime and bloodshed, of dishonor, perjury, -and harlotry, this history of the Monarchs of England, since the -days of William the Norman, who had three illegitimate children, and -massacred thousands of his Saxon subjects every year, down to the days -of George IV, the most gentlemanly blackguard of his time and of Europe.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">VAGABONDS IN KINGLY ROBES.</div> - -<p>Roll back the hoary gates of the past, and look at Richard Crookback, -who reveled in blood, and died in Bosworth Ditch, a death only a little -better than that of Edward IV, whose children Richard basely murdered, -and we find succeeding him a scoundrel like the Eighth Henry, a brutal -fiend, with his six successive wives, all of whom perished miserably, -but the first and last wives, Catharine of Arragon and Catharine Parr; -and then we find his two children—Mary, an honest fanatic, burning -human beings for the honor of God; and next comes Elizabeth, who has -been facetiously styled the Virgin Queen—with her paramours and -favorites. Follow this hideous old spinster to the yawning verge of -the tomb, and she is still to be seen with her parchment visage and -grey hairs, seeking new<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> lovers, or butchering the unfortunate Queen -of Scots, until at last the dread moment of all approaches, when she -tells her horrified chaplain that she will give millions of money for -a moment of time. Then we have a pusillanimous monarch, James I, who -spends his best years discovering witches and writing fantastical -and forgotten treatises against tobacco, or permitting a man like -Bacon—whose life was worth that of a thousand Kings, to be degraded -and made miserable, till at last his great, far seeing eyes are closed -in a final sleep—his heart having broken to pieces in the meridian of -his genius.</p> - -<p>Then comes Charles I, a good man in his mild way, a patron of the arts, -a good husband and father, but withal he is doomed to the block.</p> - -<p>Vainly he endeavors, in battle and statecraft, to stem the onward march -of the people who are determined to hurl all obstacles from their path -which stand in the way of their new ideas.</p> - -<p>And now comes up the Brewer, Oliver Cromwell, one of Carlyle's heroes, -(and by the way, all of Carlyle's heroes are dripping with blood,) a -most accomplished and unrelenting butcher, one who thanks God for his -"precious mercies" when a thousand men, women, and children are driven -over a bridge into a deep river beneath, impelled by the pikes of his -ruffianly soldiery. Then he dies, and Charles II, a dissolute royal -scamp succeeds, and he of course has to dig up the crumbling skeleton -of Cromwell to hang it on Tyburn tree, that all men may see what manner -of divinity it is that should hedge around a King.</p> - -<p>Think of this royal vagabond, who has for his mistress a Stewart, -a Duchess of Cleveland, a Louise de Queroailles, who also becomes -a Duchess of Portsmouth, and last but not least, poor simple, soft -hearted Mistress Nelly Gwynne, who left to the nation Greenwich -Hospital to atone for her lost soul.</p> - -<p>It might be expected that in these days of the daily newspapers and -telegraph wires, of railroads, female suffrage and personal journalism, -that royalty, and notably, English royalty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> would improve, from a -slight sense of decency and a proper regard for public opinion, if for -no other cause. Let us see.</p> - -<p>Ten years ago I vainly endeavored to penetrate the dense masses who -lined Broadway, New York, and filled the air with their shouts, as an -open barouche, containing the then Mayor of the chief city of America, -sitting on the back seat, and a fair faced youth with flabby skin and -retreating chin, clad in a scarlet uniform and having an Order of the -Garter pendant from his breast, passed up the thronged thoroughfare -between two lines of citizen soldiery, whose bayonets, bright as -silver, reflected back the many hues of the excited and surging masses.</p> - -<p>Five hundred thousand people of both sexes had turned out in holiday -attire, that ever memorable day, to do honor to a foreign prince, -whose government, since that thoughtless hour, sought during the -terrible confusion of a civil war, by every means in its power, by -money, influence, by Alabama pirates, by unceasing and bitterly hostile -journalistic attacks, by speeches in and out of Parliament—through the -pulpit and the rostrum, to destroy the Republic of the West. In fact -that government moved Heaven and Earth to annihilate and obliterate the -liberty, union, and might of the American people.</p> - -<p>Such a reception had not been given, twenty-five years before, to -the gallant, noble-minded, and chivalric Lafayette, the companion of -George Washington, one of the finest characters in all history, or the -unwritten records of mankind.</p> - -<p>This fair-faced, flabby-skinned youth, in the lobster colored and laced -coat, who stood up in the open carriage, (hired from the New York -Corporation hack-driver-in-chief, and charged for in the bill afterward -rendered, at five times the real price,) was no less a personage than -Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Fellow of Trinity -House, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, a General in the British Army, -(like Captain Jinks,) Baron Renfrew, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Dublin, -and eldest son of Queen Victoria that is, and in the future to be King -of England and Defender of the Faith, by the Grace of God and the -permission of the Radical English Trades Unions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">A CHANGE FOR THE WORSE.</div> - -<p>He was not a very bad looking lad of nineteen or twenty, that -sunny afternoon, as he bowed repeatedly and raised his Generals' -chapeau, with its plume of feathers, and doffed it to the radiant -republican female faces, and curtesied like a backward school boy, -in acknowledgement of the wild shouts which pealed upward in the -clear atmosphere, although no spectator there could have accused -him of having an intellectual or cultured face. How well we can all -now remember, to our shame, the manner in which he was petted, and -caressed, and toadied, and dined, and wined, until in the estimation -of his toadies he had almost attained the stature of a God, this boy -with the retreating chin and imbecile face—this hope and pride of the -Guelph family.</p> - -<p>Still with all the marked and inherent imbecility of a descendant of -George III in his features, the young scion of royalty had not, at that -time when I first saw him, developed the seeds of immorality, want of -honor, meanness, and utter sottishness which have since made his name -infamous among his subjects, and despised by the princes of Europe.</p> - -<p>The young lad for whom America could not do too much honor in feteing -and feasting, has since surrounded himself with pimps, panders, -parasites, and blackguards, of the lowest kind.</p> - -<p>His name is a bye word of scorn in the British metropolis, and for a -lady of rank or position to be seen three times in his neighborhood, is -certain dishonor to her and her relatives.</p> - -<p>It was nearly ten years after that bright sunny day, in Broadway, with -its shouting multitudes and noisy cheers, before I again saw His Royal -Highness Albert-Edward Prince of Wales.</p> - -<p>One night, in going through High Holborn, and being without any settled -purpose as to where and how I should spend the evening, I accidentally -noticed the blazing gas lamps of the "Casino," a well-known dancing -hall, frequented by the loose livers and aristocratic idlers of the -English Capital.</p> - -<p>After a moment's hesitation I entered and found the place—as is -usual on summer evenings at all the London dancing halls—pretty well -crowded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> - -<p>Scores of couples, of both sexes, were whirling frantically in the -Old-World Teutonic waltz, and in the flushed faces and excited gestures -of the gyrating dancers I could notice a total forgetfulness of modesty -and decorum.</p> - -<p>From the alcoves came the sounds of the clinking of wine-glasses, the -rattle of Moselle bottles, the pop, pop, of champagne corks, and songs, -choruses, and loud shouts of laughter, together with a Babel-jabber of -many confused tongues.</p> - -<p>My attention was attracted while listening to the music from the fine -band, to a group that occupied a position which partially screened them -from the glances of the larger portion of the audience and dancers, -sitting and standing back as they did in an alcove.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus42.jpg" alt="prince" /> <a id="illus42" name="illus42"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> PRINCE OF WALES.</p> - -<p>There were a dozen persons, perhaps, in the party, of both sexes, five -or six men fashionably attired, and as many women, in all the grandeur -and magnificence of harlotry—open and defiant—but well-bred harlotry.</p> - -<p>There were two central figures conversing in this group, and I could -see that they were listened to with attention while speaking, one of -them, particularly, a slightly bald-headed man, having secured the ears -of his audience.</p> - -<p>The other central figure was a woman, beautiful, but of that beauty -which is leprous to the sight, and fatal to those who encounter it as -the shade of the Upas Tree.</p> - -<p>"Who is that man?" said I to an usher, nodding in the direction of the -bald-headed person.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>"That <i>man</i>" said the flunkey, "why, that's not a <i>man</i>, that's His -Royal 'Ighness the Prince of Wales,—and long may he reign over us."</p> - -<p>And this worn, blase, sottish and almost brutally stupid-looking person -in the Scotch tweed suit, with drooping eye-lids and sore eyes,—as if -he seldom went to bed, and then did not stay long in it, looking to be -forty-five years of age; prematurely bald, and without a particle of -that apparent divinity which, it is said, doth hedge a monarch, was the -self-same young lad of twenty, whom I had seen environed by bayonets in -Broadway, ten years before.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE PRINCE AND HIS FRIENDS.</div> -<p>But how changed he was! Long nights of dissipation and debauchery -had seamed the once youthful and unwrinkled features, and the under -part of the face hung in heavy, adipose folds, like the dewlaps of a -bullock. His figure was stout and without grace, and to me he seemed -like a beer-drinking bagman or commercial peddler, half John Bull, half -Hanoverian. The tweed suit, a material which he affects very much, was -not at all calculated to set off or adorn his figure, and the great -grandson of George III looked very undignified indeed as he leaned over -the painted harlot resplendent in silks, and glistening with jewels, -who is known to all wild London scapegraces, and young men about town, -by the name of Mabel Gray, a name assumed for a purpose—to hide her -identity with the gutters from which she has sprung.</p> - -<p>The Prince of Wales, despite all the counsels and admonitions of the -Queen (of whom whatever may be said, the merit cannot be denied her of -being a good mother), has, I regret to say, the reputation of being a -very sorry scamp.</p> - -<p>His intimates are, generally, the worst and most abandoned roues of the -Clubs, the lowest turf blackguards and swindlers, and when he chooses -a companion who is not a swindler or a blackguard, a debauchee, or a -decoy, he is sure to be a fool.</p> - -<p>The young man standing by the side of the Prince of Wales when I -entered the dancing hall, was Charles, Lord Carington, whose mother was -of the great family of d'Eresby, the head of which is Lord Willoughby -d'Eresby, Lord High Cham<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>berlain of England, to whom is entrusted the -duty of looking after the morals of the English people and the sanctity -of the British drama. It is he who gives passes to the House of Lords -on Saturdays, on slips of blue paper which the unwashed are very eager -to obtain; and it is also the duty of the Lord High Chamberlain to -watch every new burlesque when produced, in order that the skirts of -the ballet girls and blondes may be of the proper length, and not too -short for the proprieties.</p> - -<p>Lord Carington's grandfather was a rich man named Smith, who was -ennobled for some reason or another, and his large fortune and title -has descended to the present possessor, who is known to be one of the -wildest and most rakehelly young noblemen in London. He is a lieutenant -in the Guards of the Queen's Household Brigade, and one of the boon -companions of the Prince of Wales. The latter is constantly to be found -in company with this "Charley Carington," as he is called, who was the -perpetrator of a most cowardly outrage upon the person of Mr. Grenville -Murray, an aged gentleman who was supposed to be proprietor and editor -of the "Queen's Messenger," a satirical weekly journal, in which Mr. -Murray was said to have written several scathing articles upon the -"Hereditary Legislators" of England. In one of these articles a sketch -was given of Lord Carington, under the title of "Bob Coachington, Lord -Jarvey," in which the practice of driving a mail coach and four horses -to and fro between London and its environs and taking up passengers for -money, a favorite pastime of Lord Carington, was referred to in no very -flattering terms. For this supposed affront, without any positive proof -to warrant the outrage, the gallant Lord Carington, aged 25 years, -set upon Mr. Murray, as he was coming out of the Conservative Club, -of which he was a member, and beat him badly. Mr. Murray is about 60 -years of age, and was of course not able to defend himself, and when -he sought justice in the usual way at the Marlborough Street Police -Station, of the magistrate, Mr. Knox, he found the Prince of Wales and -a number of titled ruffians sitting on the bench along side of the -dispenser of justice!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">TWO IMBECILES.</div> - -<p>Of course Mr. Murray received no justice in that Court, and not only -was he refused satisfaction, but in addition an attack was made upon -the person of his counsel, when a libel suit had been preferred against -the "Queen's Messenger," by the aristocratic friends of Lord Carington -and the Prince of Wales, who did this to intimidate him from writing -farther in his journal of the scandalous conduct of the Queen's -relations and the rottenness of the higher nobility.</p> - -<p>In addition to this Mr. Murray was expelled from the Conservative Club -by a ballot of one hundred and ninety votes, only ten members of the -Club having the personal courage to withstand the influence and threats -brought to bear against them by the Prince of Wales, Lord Carington, -and their minor satellites.</p> - -<p>Lord Carington is fond of driving his coach and four and taking up -passengers in the outskirts of London, charging them a nominal fare. -While sitting on the box or seat of the coach he usually holds to his -lips a huge horn, which he toots like a raving maniac, much to his own -satisfaction and the edification of the floating community, who with -the fondness of all Englishmen for a live Lord, smile benignantly if -not affectionately upon this imbecile young nobleman.</p> - -<p>In the words of the song, the "Prince of Wales goes everywhere to see -the sights of town" with Carington, and at the Dramatic fete at the -Crystal Palace in 1869, while his beautiful, good, and neglected wife -sat on a dais and received the donations for the Dramatic College, the -Prince manifested in public his intimacy with Carington by laughing -and conversing with him, arm-in-arm, much to the horror of all the -pious old dowagers who were present and had heard wild stories of Lord -Carington.</p> - -<p>Mabel Grey, who has ruined scores of young aristocrats and brought -them to beggary, is the reputed mistress of Lord Carington, and has -made several visits with him to Paris, Baden, and other places on the -Continent. It is said that he has already squandered twenty thousand -pounds upon this well-bred harlot, and it is the current talk in London -that the Prince of Wales has also been on terms of an improper intimacy -with Mabel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> Grey. At all events he is not ashamed to be seen speaking -to her in Casinos or addressing her in public places, and the dear -Prince has on several occasions been seen drinking champagne with her -in the music halls and dancing rooms of the English capital. This is a -very bad business for a bald-headed father of five children.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus43.jpg" alt="prince" /> <a id="illus43" name="illus43"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> PRINCE AND CABMAN.</p> - -<p>The Prince of Wales, with all his immense riches, is mean and very -penurious in money matters. He will argue for fifteen minutes with a -cabman in the street about an over-charge of a sixpence, and has been -known to get into an altercation with ticket sellers in the box offices -of places of amusement for the sake of a shilling or half a crown, in a -most undignified way. One night when getting out of a cab at Cremorne -the driver attempted to charge the Prince four shillings for a ride -when he should have charged him but two-and-sixpence. The Prince, who -was a little intoxicated, refused to pay the over-charge. The London -cabbies are the most impudent,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> brassy set of fellows I ever saw, and -this cabman was more than usually pugnacious. The Prince attempted to -go into the Garden, and had presented his ticket, when the cabman with -a yell clutched his coat, and tore away the skirt in the struggle to -get more fare. The Prince was recognized by some of the attendants of -the place, and the horrified cabman was handed over to the police for -assault on the blood royal. Fearing the ridicule of the London press, -the Prince told the policeman to release poor Cabby, who was only too -happy to escape transportation for life.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">INFAMY OF THE PRINCE.</div> - -<p>For the past seven years the Prince of Wales has been a prominent -actor in almost every scene of aristocratic dissipation and debauchery -which has been enacted in the English metropolis. He is well known -in the coulisses of the Opera, and has openly maintained scandalous -relations with ballet dancers and chorus singers. Even the shame of -the thing would not restrain him from loudly and familiarly applauding -and clapping his hands, whenever any of these female favorites of his -came on the stage, while the strains of Beethoven or Rossini could not -elicit from him as much as a smile of gratified approbation. The taste -of the Prince for music may be imagined from the fact that "Champagne -Charley," and "Not for Joseph," are his two most cherished melodies.</p> - -<p>His relations with Mademoiselle Helena Schneider, the opera bouffe -singer, were most notorious, and he has been known to leave the bed -side of his wife in her illness to hasten to Paris at the summons of -this notorious woman of Darkness, and Sin, and Shame.</p> - -<p>Among his special female favorites, are many of the better known -soubrettes of the London and Parisian theatres, and notably he was an -admirer of Finette, the famous Can-can danseuse of the Alhambra.</p> - -<p>He is flippant, shallow, and heartless, and the record of his life thus -far has caused many a scalding tear to fall from the eyes of his royal -mother.</p> - -<p>The London <i>Lancet</i>, the highest medical authority in England, found -it necessary, some eighteen months ago, to deny the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> charge that was -made openly against the Prince, which if true, would stamp him with -infamy. The Princess of Wales, who is a good and noble lady in every -sense—and a long suffering one in some respects—during the summer of -1869, visited the baths of Wildbad, in Germany, for the benefit of her -health, which had been sadly impaired. I dare not in these pages insult -my readers by giving the cause of her ill-health, which is more than -whispered about in English society.</p> - -<p>The Prince has, I believe, five handsome children—their good looks -coming to them from their vigorous Norse mother, but it will not be -from any precaution taken by their father, if they do not hereafter -suffer from the results of his early indiscretions and follies, in the -Haymarket and the purlieus of Paris.</p> - -<p>In a good many respects the Prince of Wales resembles another Prince -of Wales—one who succeeded his father as King. I mean George IV. Like -him, Albert Edward is already a broken debauchee, and like George IV -Albert Edward has a vicious way of making his wife suffer through his -follies and disgraceful behaviour. Unless the Prince is predestined to -experience a sudden and speedy conversion, it is more than probable -that the next King of England will excel and put to shame the open acts -of profligacy which made George IV so notorious.</p> - -<p>One thing could be said for George IV which cannot be said for the -Prince of Wales. The former was a gentleman in manner if not one at -heart—but this Prince, while being thoroughly heartless and "stingy," -has the breeding of a waiter in a lager beer saloon. He is heavy, slow, -unready, hesitating, and flabby, without a spark of culture or a trace -of the refinement which belongs to his station.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">PRINCE AND BREWER AS FIREMEN.</div> - -<p>His Royal Highness has a great passion for running with the "masheen," -as a New York rowdy would term it, and Captain Shaw, of the London Fire -Brigade, is greatly admired by the Prince for his gallant management -of that very efficient Corps. The latter has often taken a ride on a -fire engine through the London streets. The Prince, while on a visit -to Brighton some years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> ago, made the acquaintance of a rich young -London brewer, who had more money than brains. This was just the sort -of a man to suit the Prince, being very fond of rich young men, who in -many cases are only too happy to have the honor of paying the bills -contracted by his Royal Highness. This eminent young brewer had, with -the Prince, a similar taste for fire engines, and it was suggested by -the future King of England that the brewer, who had a fund of good -nature, should send to London for a fire engine, at his own expense, -and have it transported to Brighton, where in course of time the -Prince hoped it might afford them much amusement. The brewer of course -complied with the Prince's request, and before long one of those -grotesque looking fire machines, that are every now and then to be seen -darting through the London streets, made its appearance at Brighton. -Night after night the Prince and the brewer made the quiet villas and -the Parade of Brighton resound with their shrieks and howls, as they -drove at headlong speed through the watering place, the two maniacs -sitting astride of the apparatus which was drawn by two horses; and -finally the thing became such a nuisance to the residents of Brighton, -and so many complaints reached the Queen's ears of the Prince's riotous -conduct, that at last he was sent for and severely reprimanded by her -Majesty, and for a few days he kept on his good behavior, to relapse -again like a fever patient.</p> - -<p>It is useless to conjecture as to the probability of the Prince -succeeding to the throne, but if ever he does, he will no doubt revive -the days of Charles II and his dissolute court. His beautiful and -virtuous wife will perhaps fall into the place which Catharine, of -Braganza, was compelled to accept as the consort of that rakehelly -monarch, and Albert Edward will, no doubt, find in Lord Carington -material for a successor to Sir Charles Sedley, and in the Duke of -Hamilton a scamp, worthy of the reputation borne by the Earl of -Rochester.</p> - -<p>It is a mistake to think, moreover, that the Prince of Wales is alone -among his family, in his vicious course, or that he has not numerous -imitators among the nobles bearing some of the proudest names in -England. Although he is yet but a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> young man of thirty years of age, he -has those around him who ape his immorality and copy his disregard for -the usages of society.</p> - -<p>Still, the Prince cannot be blamed for the follies of his relations. -The Duke of Cambridge, cousin to the Queen, and old enough to be the -father of the Prince, has as bad if not a worse reputation, than the -Prince of Wales.</p> - -<p>George Frederick William Charles, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary, -and Baron of Culloden, is a first cousin of Queen Victoria, a Field -Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the English Army.</p> - -<p>This Prince is about fifty years of age, and lives in an unlawful -way with a Miss Fairbrother, by whom he has had several children, I -believe. It might be expected, of a prince so closely related to the -Queen, and occupying such a high position as chief of the British Army, -that he would set a good example to the younger branches of the royal -family. On the contrary, the Duke is well known, everywhere, as a royal -rake, and his shameless amours are beyond number. The old prince is -slightly bald from his course of early piety, and suffers so dreadfully -from the gout, the result of early dissipation, that he is nothing but -a wreck, being compelled annually to pay a visit to the mineral baths -of Germany, and American travelers upon the continent at Baden, Ems, -and Hombourg, will occasionally encounter an old, broken, and bloated -personage, limping on a stick, who will quarrel with a waiter, in -Hanoverian Deutsch, for the sake of a kreutzer, and when once excited -it is very difficult to calm his rage, which, sometimes, degenerates -into a helpless imbecility. This is the Duke of Cambridge.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A MAD KING.</div> - -<p>From his illicit connection with the lady to whom I have referred, the -mock-title of "Duke of Fairbrother," has been given to this illustrious -Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Fancy such a Duke of Cambridge holding -the baton of Wellington, and leading such soldiers as Havelock, Outram, -Colin Campbell, and Napier of Magdala. And this very same imbecile Duke -has had command of the English Army, and notably at the Alma, in the -Crimean campaign, his conduct was such as to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> the spectators doubt -whether he was a madman or a coward. In the heat of the fight, the Duke -lost all management of him self, and began to make strange noises, -and to act in a strange manner, until he was carried from the field, -kicking and biting in a maniacal fashion.</p> - -<p>For the taint is in the blood of the English Royal Family, and may -never be eradicated. The Duke of Cambridge is a lineal descendant of -George III, who, by his inherent madness, lost half of the British -Empire, and who was in the habit of answering reasonable questions, -with such replies as,—</p> - -<p>"What, what, who, who, where, where, why, why—BLIM!" Should the Prince -of Wales hereafter behave himself in an unseemly fashion, his tainted -blood may, to a certain extent, be blamed for the outbreak.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail16.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail16" name="tail16"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">FAST YOUNG ENGLAND.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap17.jpg" alt="W" /> <a id="icap17" name="icap17"></a></span>HY Londoners should presume to sneer at the morality of the volatile -Parisians, has always been a sore puzzle to me. During the past -fifteen years, sharp observers of society in the English Capital have -been appalled by the visible and marked progress of moral and social -deterioration among the people who affect to give tone, and breeding, -and refinement, to all that they do or say, as leaders of society.</p> - -<p>Polite London Society has always plumed itself upon being superior, in -a moral sense, to the corresponding class in the French Capital, but -it must strike those who have held such views, that there is no basis -for the belief any longer, when the notorious fact is offered to them, -that two of the highest personages in England are men who lead lives of -immorality—I refer to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge. -I have however said enough of those two loose gentlemen, and I shall -proceed to consider the subject in its larger bearings.</p> - -<p>I boldly assert, that English Society, of the highest class, is to-day -as rotten in every sense, as were the French nobility, with their -mistresses and their "little establishments," before the whirlwind of -the Revolution of 1793 swept away all that was of hideous corruption -and infamy, never to rise again.</p> - -<p>The proudest names among the English nobility are those which have some -moral or dishonorable taint affixed to their titles, by their conduct -in life.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">MISS HARRIET MONCRIEFFE.</div> - -<p>Many of my readers must recollect the termination of the famous -Mordaunt case, in which the Prince of Wales was implicated, and it -will also be remembered that the few facts which were developed on the -trial, despite the attempt of Lord Penzance, (acting under pressure of -the Throne,) to hush them up, had the effect of shaking England to the -centre, socially speaking.</p> - -<p>Miss Harriet Sarah Moncrieffe, now Lady Mordaunt, is a daughter of Sir -Thomas Moncrieffe, a baronet of one of the oldest families in Scotland. -The family seat is at Earn, in Perthshire, and the mansion and grounds -are among the finest in North Britain. The family was a large one, -four sons and six daughters being born to Sir Thomas and his wife, who -was a daughter of the Earl of Kinnoul. Lady Harriet's eldest sister is -married to the Duke of Athole, one of the richest and most powerful -of the Scotch nobles. Then she has a sister married to the Earl of -Dudley, and another to a Mr. Forbes, of a wealthy Scotch family, -into which, if I be not mistaken, Lady Douglas-Hamilton, a sister of -the Duke of Hamilton, is married. One of the sisters—the Duchess of -Athole, has for her mother-in-law the Dowager-Duchess of Athole—who -is a tried and trusted friend of Queen Victoria, being, as I believe, -a Lady-in-waiting, or a Lady-of-the-bed-chamber to the Queen, or -something of that sort. Altogether the family and its connections are -among the very thickest cream of English aristocratic society.</p> - -<p>In December, 1866, Lady Harriet Sarah Moncrieffe, then eighteen years -of age, and surpassingly beautiful in person, and most graceful -in manner, was married to Sir Charles Mordaunt, of Walton Hall, -Warwickshire, who was then twenty-nine years of age, and a very wealthy -bachelor, possessing one of the finest country seats, with mansion and -grounds, in all England. The main buildings alone were erected at an -expense of over $350,000 of American money, and to this most delightful -and picturesque spot the young bride was taken to spend the honeymoon. -Everything that the heart of a fashionably bred woman could desire was -hers, she had troops of servants, a fine old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> baronial mansion, a large -stable full of horses, a yacht, a gallery of paintings, a villa on the -Continent, equippages, diamonds, ladies'-maids, and a town house in -London. And beside her lightest word was law to her loving husband. -She had been presented to the Queen, and in her life-pathway sunshine -fell and gladdened her young spirit. But there was a canker in the -bud—a skeleton in the closet—as there always is. Lady Mordaunt had -loved below her station before she married Sir Charles, and had sought -to marry the object of her affection, but her mother, who was a very -worldly minded woman, was determined that she should marry the rich Sir -Charles Mordaunt, who had houses and lands, while "poor Robin Adair" -had to go about his business.</p> - -<p>Of course the natural consequences had to come. Sir Charles had a -yacht, and now and then went on cruises to Norway and up the Baltic, -and ran his craft from Erith to the Nore, and on many a sunny day the -snowy jib-sail of his boat was seen from afar by those nautical minded -people who frequent the breakwater at Cherbourg. When he was at home he -was either hunting with the Warwickshire hounds, or looking for plover -and grouse on Scotch moors. Any other spare time he had was taken up -in his parliamentary duties, for he had the ineffable honor of signing -"M.P." after his name.</p> - -<p>And the young, gay, beautiful, and high spirited Lady Mordaunt—how -was it with her? Being left very much alone, she developed herself. -She delighted in balls, the Italian—yes, and the Bouffe Opera, she -liked Croquet parties, garden parties, Crystal Palace concerts, and -flirtations, and one evening, in company with Captain Farquhar, an -officer of the Guards, she visited the "Alhambra," a celebrated dancing -hall, which is supported by the London demi-monde.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">IN BAD COMPANY.</div> - -<p>She was young, thoughtless, and very beautiful, and to be brief, she -fell among wolves, as many a woman has before. She had for escort -to different places, the Prince of Wales, Sir Frederick Johnstone, -Viscount Cole (eldest son of the Earl of Enniskillen), Lord Newport, -Captain Farquhar, the Marquis of Blandford, and among her acquaintances -were the Duke of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> Hamilton, the Earl of Jersey, the Marquis of -Waterford, and other young gentlemen, whose company or friendship alone -would be enough to destroy the character of the most spotless married -woman. And by the by, all these fast young noblemen are friends and -boon companions of the Prince of Wales. Lady Mordaunt also knew Lord -Carington, although his name did not appear in the trial for divorce.</p> - -<p>All of these titled gentlemen whom I have mentioned, are of that class -which is denominated "fast young men"—in England. They are all of -good families, and are of the salt of the earth, being hereditary -legislators for the English people. They gamble, own fast horses, -make tremendous bets, keep mistresses, and yachts, and among this -set to dishonor a young and unsuspecting married woman, and cover -with disgrace an old family name, is indeed an achievement of which -they feel very proud, a woman's weakness and folly being a subject -for joking in their clubs, and affording much amusement to the -young blackguards at covert side and in many a yacht cruise in the -Mediteranean and the Baltic Seas.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus44.jpg" alt="lady" /> <a id="illus44" name="illus44"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> LADY MORDAUNT.</p> - -<p>Lady Mordaunt had fallen among a pack of masculine wolves. Her two -sisters, the Duchess of Athole and the Countess of Dudley, vainly -endeavored to save their foolish sister, and her mother, Lady Louisa -Moncrieffe, and her young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> sister, who was engaged privately to -Viscount Cole—(Miss Frances Moncrieffe), and Miss Blanche Moncrieffe, -used all their powers of persuasion, but Lady Mordaunt had met already -with the fate of all those who frequent bad company. She was corrupted, -and her only desire was now to become deserving of the title of "fast." -Lady Mordaunt soon became the leader of the "fast" feminine set in -London. No lady could drive such "fast" ponies as she. None could equal -her for "fast" or "slangy" talk. Her highly colored attire was voted -the "fastest" in London. Her male companions who were in her company -and who escorted her, were all "fast," particularly the Prince of -Wales, who enjoys the proud distinction of being "fast." Lady Mordaunt -never accompanied her husband anywhere—he being very often absent, and -besides, he was not "fast."</p> - -<p>And Lady Mordaunt is not alone among her aristocratic sisters of -London. She has a number of imitators, who talk "fast," ride "fast" -horses, frequent the company of "fast" men, and visit with these last, -"fast" places of amusement. This "fast" woman has now become typical in -England. She dyes her hair, she paints her face, she wears flaunting -and unbecoming costumes after the style of the loose living blondes -who appear in burlesque; in short, she apes the manners and the attire -of that hapless class of women of whom she once spoke, when she spoke -of them at all—with a shuddering thrill of mingled horror and pity. -A famous female English novelist—whose heroines, by the way, are -all of the light-hair-dye and "fast" type—speaking of these "fast" -society-women, pertinently asks:—</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SLANG WOMEN AND "MRS. JOHNSON."</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Who taught the girls of England this hateful slang? who showed -them—nay, obtruded upon and paraded before them these odious women? -who, indeed, but the men, who recoil from their own work of their -own hands, and cry out upon the consequences of their own conduct? -It was not till the young Englishman learned to ridicule everything -virtuous as "spoony," and everything domestic as "slow," that the -women took pains to master the slang of the race-course, and to -model their dress upon the costumes of the women whom they saw from -their carriage windows dimly athwart the mists of midnight flitting -across the Haymarket, as they were driven away from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> Opera-house. -Be sure society decayed, like the tree to which poor Swift pointed -with sad prophetic certainty, "<i>first at top</i>." It was not till the -moral deterioration of the modern young man had become a fact but -too obvious, that any fatal change was perceived in the modern young -woman; it was not until a contemptuous and disrespectful demeanor to -parents, newly denominated governors, relieving-officers, paters, -maters, maternals; a scornful avoidance of sisters as muffs and -dowdies; an utter irreverence for age, and a disdainful treatment -of all woman kind,—had become distinguishing characteristics of -young Mr. Bull, that poor, giddy, mistaken Miss Bull, too anxious -to please the young cub, whose moral being and real interests had -best been served by a judicious course of cat-o'-nine-tails, began -to dye her pretty hair and paint her fresh young cheeks; it was not -till the British lords flocked to the sale of a bankrupt courtesan's -effects, and gave unheard-of sums for the tawdry crockery-ware of a -courtesan's bedchamber, that British ladies began to slide downwards -upon that fatal incline which their masters had smoothed for them."</p> - -<p>"In the early days of the music-halls, before the nameless Captain -had begun to cultivate his too famous whiskers, or the insatiable -thirst of the convivial Charley had become a fact so painfully -notorious,—when the prudent Joseph was yet unknown, and the Strand -not yet renowned as the dweling-place of Nancy,—there was sung -a song called "Mrs. Johnson," in which the singer, in a tipsy -solemnity, bewailed the fact that the tastes and manners of his -amiable wife were but too identical with his own. "And so does Mrs. -Johnson,"—that was the ever recurring refrain. "I drink, I smoke, -I swear, I stop out to unholy hours of the night," sings this Mr. -Johnson of the music-halls, "and so, unhappily, does Mrs. Johnson. -I am altogether a fast and disreputable individual, and I consider -it very delightful to be fast and disreputable; but—and here, I -confess, the shoe pinches—so does Mrs. Johnson. This midnight -rioting, this hunting up of dancing-gardens and quaffing of perennial -champagne, is my very ideal of man's existence; but I recoil aghast -with horror before the idea of the same predilections in Mrs. -Johnson." It is only a vulgar music-hall ditty; but I think there is -a moral hanging to it, which our modern Juvenals would do well to -consider."</p> - -<p>"It is the story of Adam and Eve over again—"the woman tempted me, -and I did eat." The historian of the future, studying the social -aspects of this century from a file of <i>Saturday Reviews</i>, would -have fair ground for believing it was because of modest women that -outraged Englishmen fled to the denizens of St. John's-wood; that -it was the slang and fastness of our girls that drove our men to -the race-course and the betting-ring; the women tempted them. What -cowards and hypocrites men must be, when they can turn upon and -assail the helpless woman who has meekly and dutifully copied the -model they have set up before her eyes, and at whose shrine she has -seen them prostrate and worshipping!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The modern young man, with a selfishness as short-sighted -as—selfishness, which is always short-sighted, has desired <i>all</i> the -delights of life. He likes the society of the venal Cynthia of the -minute, as his forefathers have done before him, but it has seemed -too him too much trouble to disguise that liking, in deference to the -feelings of purer Cynthias, as his forefathers did before him. When -Junius wished to brand the Duke of Grafton with ineffable shame, he -charged him with having flaunted Miss Parsons before the offended -eyes of royalty; now-a-days such a reproach would seem the emptiest -oratorical truism. The royalty of virtuous womanhood is offended -every day by a procession of Miss Parsonses. Everywhere Miss Parsons -is followed and worshipped. At covert-side, on parade of Brighton, or -in lamplit gardens of Scarborough, in opera-house and on race-course, -abroad or at home—the Parsonian worship is still going on. Miss -Parsons has her matins and her vespers, her choral services at five -o'clock, her gatherings at all hours and all places. The bells are -always pealing that call the faithful of the Parsonian creed. And -woman's poor little stock of logic only enables her to frame one -fatal syllogism:</p> - -<p>Miss Parsons is admired;</p> - -<p>Miss Parsons is beloved;</p> - -<p>Therefore to be like Miss Parsons is to be admirable and loveable."</p></blockquote> - -<p>When the season ended it was customary for Sir Charles Mordaunt to -rejoin his wife at Walton Hall, and it might have been believed that -after the gaieties of the winter revels, the mistress of the mansion -would seek a little rest and the quiet of the country. But no. The -country seat was always full of "fast" ladies and "fast" gentlemen. -Sporting men and people of loose characters, whom no sensible man -would admit to the presence of his wife, became the intimates of Lady -Mordaunt. In fine, the Coles, Farquhars, Johnstones, Waterfords, -Hamiltons, and the like, were "doing Lady Mordaunt's business for her," -as I heard a London barrister express it. People began to talk about -her, and she lost the respect of her friends, who dropped off one by -one. Her poor old father, Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, while sitting in -White's Club (the only club of which the Prince of Wales is an active -member), hears his daughter's name mentioned in a very odious manner, -and that of the Prince of Wales occurs in the connection. The "Pwince," -says one of these small wits, "is very devoted—ah—Lady Mowdaant—I -heah," and so the scandal flies. Sir Thomas is enraged, threatens the -puppy, and tells Sir Charles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> of the thunder in the air. Poor old man! -It is openly stated in the club that Viscount Cole and Sir Frederick -Johnstone,—the former twenty-two, and the latter thirty-two years of -age, are constant visitors to her boudoir,—as often as three times -in a day—so says Madame Scandal. Sir Frederick Johnstone is known to -be the greatest libertine in England. He is rich, of a good family, -and yet no woman will marry him, for it is whispered in society,—even -among ladies—that he has become so enervated and palsied from his long -course of debauchery, as to be unfit for the marriage bed—and Lord -Cole is a fit rival to Lord Carington for wildness and blackguardism. I -saw this same Sir Frederick Johnstone slapped in the face a dozen times -at the Cremorne Gardens one night, by a fashionably attired Cyprian -who had been his mistress, and who had been deserted by him, but not a -blush warmed his cheek under the stinging slaps of her hand. Luxury and -debauchery had emasculated him. He was no longer a man—he was a frame -covered over by a handsome evening dress.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A GIDDY WOMAN.</div> - -<p>During all this time, while Lady Mordaunt was sowing the wind to -eventually reap the whirlwind, her husband was ignorant of these -most damnatory facts against her reputation,—which afterward became -known to him. At last the scandal was bruited about so much that -Sir Charles Mordaunt found it necessary to enter proceedings in the -Divorce Court, at Westminster, for a separation from his wife. All -England was, socially, turned upside down with amazement, when it was -ascertained that the Prince of Wales was implicated. The Queen sent for -Sir Charles, and begged of him to withdraw from the case, in order to -secure her son's reputation from the contempt which was sure to fall -upon his Royal Highness when the developments were made public. The -entreaties of the Queen did not avail, however, with Sir Charles, who, -with a dogged English pluck, was resolved to have justice. Then an -attempt was made to bribe him, and a peerage was offered him to keep -him quiet, but this did not serve, as Sir Charles refused to compromise -with dishonor and shame.</p> - -<p>Lady Mordaunt's husband had ordered her not to receive the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> Prince of -Wales at his house while he was absent, or at any other time, but the -unfortunate woman had disobeyed him. She also refused to accompany Sir -Charles on a fishing excursion to Norway, as she preferred to stay at -home and associate with disreputable characters. He also ordered her -not to receive Viscount Cole, or Sir Frederick Johnstone, but, as in -the other case, the husband was disobeyed, and his house was used by -them against his will during his absence. On the 27th of February, -1868, Lady Mordaunt was prematurely confined of a child which was -afflicted in the eyes with a hideous disease. The first question asked -by Lady Mordaunt immediately after her confinement, was of the nurse. -She asked, "Is the child diseased?" The nurse answered, "My Lady, you -mean deformed;" and Lady Mordaunt answered, "No, you know what I mean." -This question was repeated five or six times, and, during the night, -she said to her sister, Mrs. Forbes, "If you do not let me talk I will -go mad," meaning thereby that she desired to make a confession. The -nurse asked if she should fetch Sir Charles to her, and she said "no," -but added, "This child is not Sir Charles's at all—but Lord Cole's." -She then stated that she had behaved improperly with Lord Cole in June, -1867, at her husband's house. This was testified to by the nurse, and -the occurrence took place at Walton Hall. She was afraid that the baby -would be blind—the disease being an incurable one.</p> - -<p>The suit for divorce was opened in the Westminster Divorce Court -February 16th, 1869, and some of the most eminent and aristocratic -personages in England attended. The Prince of Wales was ashamed to be -present until sent for, but as he was very anxious about the result -he sent his private Secretary, Sir W. Knollys, to watch the case. -That gentleman was present every day, and manifested great interest -in the testimony, which was very filthy, but not so filthy but that -the Pall Mall Gazette and London Times, with other leading journals, -should print every line of it, day by day, as it transpired in the -Court. The trial continued seven days, Lord Penzance presiding, and it -created as great an interest in London as the McFarland and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> Richardson -case did in New York. No ladies were admitted to the Court, but two -thousand, the majority of whom were of the cultivated and respectable -class, sought admission during the first three days of the trial. -All the relatives, of both parties, who could attend were present. -The Dowager-Lady Mordaunt, mother of Sir Charles, testified strongly -against her daughter-in-law, whom she accused of shamming insanity to -hide her crime and dishonor. The plea of insanity was the defence set -up by Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, father of Lady Mordaunt. The testimony was -very contradictory. Some of the physicians swore that Lady Mordaunt was -perfectly sane, but that she feigned insanity to screen herself, while -others testified that she was not in a sound condition of mind.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A TREACHEROUS WIFE.</div> - -<p>But the evidence was very clear against Lady Mordaunt despite of all -endeavors to save her, or rather to save the Prince of Wales, through -the unfortunate lady. Testimony was adduced, that, one evening in -November, 1868, Lady Mordaunt absented herself from Walton Hall and -went to London in company with Captain Farquhar, one of her "fast" -young male friends, and that while there she stopped a whole night with -him at the Palace Hotel. To blind her husband she wrote the following -note to him:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<span class="smcap">Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate</span>, Nov. 8.<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My Darling Charlie</span>—One line to say I shall not be able to -reach home by twelve o'clock train, but will come by the one which -reaches at 3.50. Send carriage to meet me. I felt horribly dull by -myself all yesterday evening. I have not had much time as yet to-day. -I have seen Priestly and will tell you all about it when I come home.</p> - -<p> -Your affectionate wife,<br /> -HARRIET MORDAUNT.<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Frederick Johnson, a footman of Lady Mordaunt, testified as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Frederick Johnson testified:—I was formerly footman to Sir C. -Mordaunt. While Captain Farquhar was staying at Walton, in the autumn -of 1867, I took a note, I believe, from Mrs. Cadogan, into Lady -Mordaunt's sitting-room. The captain was there. They had carving -tools before them. The rest of the party were out shooting. I did not -knock before entering. Lady Mordaunt told me I ought not to come in -without knocking. She had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> not told me so before. I went with Lady -Mordaunt, in the spring of 1868, to the Alhambra. Captain Farquhar -was there. Lady Kinnoul (with whom Lady Mordaunt was staying) went, -too, in her own carriage, and Lady Mordaunt in a hired one. Lady -Mordaunt left about twelve. The Captain rode part of the way home -with her. I have posted three or four letters from Lady Mordaunt to -him, and have also delivered a letter to him. The Prince of Wales -called once in 1867; I did not see him at the house again. He also -called on Lady Mordaunt while she was staying with Lady Kinnoul. I -have taken letters from her Ladyship addressed to the Prince; some I -took to Marlborough House, and others I posted.</p> - -<p>Cross-examined.—Letters were given me by her Ladyship, her maid, -and the butler. I posted a great many. The Prince called at Lady -Kinnoul's to see Lady Mordaunt just after she had got better. She had -been confined to her room.</p> - -<p>Re-examined.—I took two or three letters to Marlborough House; two I -am positive, and I think I posted three to the Prince of Wales within -three days.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The strongest testimony against Lady Mordaunt was given by Miss -Jessie Clark, lady's maid to the wretched woman. It was full and -comprehensive, and I give it here from the official report, cooked up -by the Prince of Wales' friends, with extenuating notes, which I omit.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE PRINCE OF WALES CALLS OFTEN.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Jessie Clarke was then called, and deposed,—I was lady's-maid to -Lady Mordaunt from her marriage till she left Walton. In the autumn -of 1867 Captain Farquhar came on a visit, and stayed about a week. He -and Lady Mordaunt were very much together.</p> - -<p>In November, 1867, Lady Mordaunt went up to London, and I accompanied -her. We stayed at the Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate, and remained two -nights. We arrived at the hotel about 5 p.m., and about half-past -ten I saw Captain Farquhar on the landing outside the sitting-room -with Lady Mordaunt. The bed-room was a short distance off. I did not -see him come or leave. Her ladyship went to bed about a quarter to -eleven, and I called her the next morning at half-past eight. I had -arranged the bed-room for her. In the morning I noticed that the -books had been moved, though her ladyship never used to move anything -that I arranged. The next day she was out the greater part of the -day, and went out again about six. She had not returned about ten, -when I went to bed, and she told me not to sit up, as she would not -want me.</p> - -<p>After returning to Walton she was taken suddenly ill in the night, -and was confined to her room for a week. She then got into her -sitting-room. In arranging her toilet-table I found a letter, not -in an envelope, under a pincushion. I read it. [Notice to produce -the letter was here proved, Dr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> Deane stating that he knew nothing -of it.] I replaced it, and a few days afterwards showed it to the -butler, then putting it back again. I afterwards saw her ladyship -take it and put it into the fire. It was dated from "The Tower, -Saturday," and said, "Darling, I arrived here this morning about a -quarter to nine, very tired and sleepy, as you may suppose." It added -that he had seen his name inserted in the <i>Post</i> as Farmer instead -of Farquhar, and said, "So it's all right, darling, as I was afraid -Charles would be suspicious if he saw my name in the arrivals at the -hotel with yours." The letter was signed "Yours, Arthur." I found it -the day after she left the bed-room. She seemed surprised when she -found it, and said she did not think there were any letters about, -and then burnt it.</p> - -<p>In September, 1868, I had occasion one evening to go into her -ladyship's bed-room, and Captain Farquhar came in. Her ladyship was -not there, and the Captain did not know I was there. He walked to -the table, took some flowers up, and left. During the season in 1867 -and 1868, Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt were in town. Sir Charles -usually went out in the afternoon to his Parliamentary duties. The -Prince of Wales called two or three times in 1867 at that time of -the day, and in 1868 more frequently. In 1868 he usually came about -four in the afternoon, and stayed from one to one and a half or two -hours. Her ladyship was always at home and saw him. No one was in -the drawing-room at the time. The Prince did not come in his private -carriage. I do not remember that Sir Charles was ever at home when -the Prince called in 1868.</p> - -<p>Lord <i>Penzance</i>.—Sir Charles himself has told us that he was at home -on one occasion, three weeks before he left for Norway.</p> - -<p>Examination continued.—The Prince came about once a week. In March, -1868, I attended Lady Mordaunt while on a visit to Lady Kinnoul, in -Belgrave-square, Sir Charles being then at Walton. The Prince came -there one Sunday, for I met him leaving as I was coming in. Lady -Mordaunt showed me a letter from the Prince before she was married, -and I have delivered letters to her in the same hand writing; six or -seven times, perhaps, in 1868. I also received two or three letters -from her addressed to the Prince, which I gave the footman (Johnson) -to post. During the summer of 1868, Lord Cole used to call twice or -thrice a week in the afternoon, more frequently when Sir Charles was -out. Lady Mordaunt was then at home. She told me we were to go home -in a week after Sir Charles went to Norway [15th of June], but we did -not go till the 7th of July. During that interval Lord Cole used to -call, and on the 27th of June he dined there with another gentleman -and lady, whom I do not know. They had not left at half-past twelve, -when I went to bed. Her ladyship invariably told me not to sit up for -her after twelve. We went to Paddington to take the train, Lord Cole -met her there, and took the tickets, giving me mine, and handing Lady -Mordaunt into a first-class empty compartment. He stood by the door -till the train was starting, and then got in. He left at Reading, the -first stopping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> station. The other servants came down on the 10th, -and Lord Cole also; he remained till the 14th, and the next day Sir -Charles returned.</p> - -<p>In December, 1868, I was staying with Lady Mordaunt at the Alexandra -Hotel, Knightsbridge. The Duke and Duchess of Athole stayed there -with her. The day after they left Sir F. Johnstone came, and left her -ladyship's sitting-room about midnight. I was at Walton during her -confinement, and until she left. After the nurse left, on the 27th of -March, I attended on her. The note produced I found soon after the -10th of April in one of her ladyship's pockets in a dress which she -had recently worn. [This was the letter read yesterday addressed to -the nurse, and bidding her say nothing more about the nonsense the -writer had uttered.] About the 25th of April I noticed in the paper -the death of the Countess of Bradford. I showed it to Lady Mordaunt, -who said, "Poor thing, I'm so sorry," and said she would have to -go into mourning. I provided temporary mourning, and her ladyship -directed me to get two mourning dresses, as she would not be going -about much. She also selected mourning jewelry. On the 6th of May -I saw her before the physicians came. She was conversing with Mrs. -Forbes, who asked for some brandy and soda water, and while she was -drinking it Lady Mordaunt laughed, and said, "Helen, if you drink all -that I'm sure you'll be tipsy." The same evening Mrs. Cadogan called, -and I took a photograph in. They were talking very comfortably. On -the 12th of May, while dressing her ladyship, she remarked on the -dress Lady Kinnoul wore, and said, "What a larky old thing she is." I -told her Mrs. Forbes admired a certain dress of hers, and she replied -that she wore it a long time at Yowle [Mrs. Forbes' residence]. Her -ladyship looked at the newspapers until the time of her leaving, the -15th of May. Down to that day I constantly attended on her. I have -never seen her since. I never saw anything indicative of unsound -mind. She was perfectly rational and sensible, and appeared to -understand everything.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Henry Bird, an old servant of the family, and butler, testified in a -candid, frank way, to what he knew, as follows:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">FARQUHAR AND JOHNSTONE.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Henry Bird.—I am butler to Sir C. Mordaunt, and have been in the -service of the family thirty years. Lord Cole, Captain Farquhar, -and Sir F. Johnstone visited Walton Hall. In the autumn of 1867 -I accompanied Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt to Scotland. Captain -Farquhar was staying at the same place, and I noticed that he and -her ladyship were often together. Lady Mordaunt was more frequently -with him than with other people. A few days after we returned to -Walton he came to visit. He was often in her sitting room, generally -alone with her. Sir Charles was frequently out shooting at the time. -Jessie Clarke made a communication to me, and showed me a letter. -That was about ten days after Lady Mordaunt's return to London. -It was in Captain Farquhar's writing. I read it and returned it -to Clarke. It was dated at the Tower, and said, "Darling,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> I got -home here, tired and weary, as you may suppose. I have read the -<i>Morning Post</i>, and have seen that they have inserted my name as -Farmer. If they had inserted it Farquhar, Sir Charles would have -been suspicious." There was also an allusion to having attended a -play, and the persons they had seen there. Clarke did not tell me -where she had found it. I referred to the <i>Post</i> of November 7 and -9, 1867; Sir Charles took it in. I referred to it before I saw the -letter, on account of what Clarke told me, and I put aside the two -papers in my cupboard. On the 7th, among the arrivals at the Palace -Hotel, Buckingham-gate, Lady Mordaunt's name is given, and on the 9th -Captain Farmer's. In January, 1868, Captain Farquhar visited Walton, -and staid about a week. There were other visitors, and there was not -so much opportunity for him and Lady Mordaunt to be together. I once -found them together in the billiard-room, standing close together -near the billiard-table; they seemed startled, and I apologised and -left. In 1867 and 1868 the Prince of Wales called at Sir Charles's -London house—in 1868 about once a week; but one week twice. He came -about four p.m., and stayed from one to two hours. I received him. -Sir Charles was then at the House of Commons, or out pigeon-shooting. -Lady Mordaunt gave me directions that when the Prince called no -one else was to be admitted. After Sir Charles left for Norway the -Prince took luncheon there once, with a sister of Lady Mordaunt and a -gentleman. The last two went away together, but the Prince remained -about twenty minutes alone with Lady Mordaunt. Lord Cole visited the -house two or three times a week—more frequently when Sir Charles was -out and after he had left for Norway. Sir Charles was seldom at home -in the afternoon. Lord Cole and two others dined with Lady Mordaunt -after Sir Charles's departure. The two others left about eleven, but -Lord Cole stayed in the drawing-room till about a quarter to one. I -knew this by hearing the front door bang, and by observing that his -hat and coat were gone. I went down to Walton on the 10th of July; -Lord Cole arrived the same day, and left the day before Sir Charles's -return. Sir F. Johnstone, when he stayed at Walton, was often in her -ladyship's sitting-room while the rest of the party were shooting or -hunting. I left Walton with Sir Charles on the 5th of April, 1869. -After her confinement Lady Mordaunt used to take the papers from me, -and once proposed to go fishing, as she had done before; but I said -it was too cold. She seemed quite rational. I went on the 20th of -August to Worthington in order to accompany her to Bickley. She shook -hands with me. I told her Sir Charles had gone to Scotland, and that -Taylor, the gamekeeper, had gone with him. She laughed and said, -"Only think of Taylor's going." She referred to the death of the -Dowager-Lady Mordaunt's son, Mr. Arthur Smith, and said how sorry his -father must be to lose his only son. I remained five or seven minutes.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> - -<p>A package of letters, a love valentine, and some flowers, which the -Prince of Wales had sent Lady Mordaunt, were found by Miss Jessie -Clarke, and were given to Sir Charles Mordaunt by her. It has been -stated there were other letters from the Prince of Wales to Lady -Mordaunt, which were destroyed in time to save the Prince from the -reputation of a dastard. The letters which were found were produced in -court, but were not read in the early stage of the proceedings, until -the leading newspapers had by some stratagem succeeded in getting -copies, which they published, to the great indignation of Lord Penzance -and other toadies of the Prince. These letters I give as specimens of -the style of writing, amusement, and companions, which the dear Prince -affects. They are ungrammatical, silly, and slangy, and show a vivid -dearth of ideas in the heir to a great kingdom.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I.—<span class="smcap">She Sends Him Muffetees.</span></p> - -<p> -"Sandringham, King's Lynn, January 13, 1867.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—I am quite shocked never to have -answered your kind letter, written some time ago, and for the very -pretty muffetees, which are very useful this cold weather. I had no -idea where you had been staying since your marriage, but Francis -Knollys told me that you are in Warwickshire. I suppose you will be -up in London for the opening of Parliament, when I hope I may perhaps -have the pleasure of seeing you and making the acquaintance of Sir -Charles. I was in London for only two nights, and returned here -Saturday. The rails were so slippery that we thought we should never -arrive here. There has been a heavy fall of snow here, and we are -able to use our sledges, which is capital fun.</p> - -<p> -"Believe me, yours ever sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p> - -<p>II.—<span class="smcap">Would Like to See Her Again.</span></p> - -<p> -"Monday.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—I am sure you will be glad to hear -that the Princess was safely delivered of a little girl this morning -and that both are doing very well. I hope you will come to the Oswald -and St. James's Hall this week. There would, I am sure, be no harm -your remaining till Saturday in town. I shall like to see you again.</p> - -<p> -"Ever yours most sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>III.—<span class="smcap">She Brings Him an Umbrella.</span></p> - -<p> -"Marlborough House, May 7, 1867.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—Many thanks for your letter, and I -am very sorry that I should have given you so much trouble looking -for the ladies' <i>umbrella</i> for me at Paris. I am very glad to hear -that you enjoyed your stay there. I shall be going there on Friday -next, and as the Princess is so much better, shall hope to remain a -week there. If there is any commission I can do for you there it will -give me the greatest pleasure to carry it out. I regret very much not -to have been able to call upon you since your return, but hope to do -so when I come back from Paris, and have an opportunity of making the -acquaintance of your husband.</p> - -<p> -"Believe me yours very sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p> - -<p>IV.—<span class="smcap">Hamilton's Wife is Good Looking.</span></p> - -<p> -"Marlborough House, Oct. 13.<br /> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SAM BUCKLEY IN HIS KILT.</div> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—Many thanks for your kind letter, -which I received just before we left Dunrobin, and I have been so -busy here that I have been unable to answer it before. I am glad -to hear that you are flourishing at Walton, and hope your husband -has had good sport with the partridges. We had a charming stay at -Dunrobin—from the 19th of September to the 7th of this month. Our -party consisted of the Sandwiches, Grosvenors (only for a few days), -Sumners, Bakers, F. Marshall, Albert, Ronald Gower, Sir H. Pelly, -Oliver, who did not look so bad in a kilt as you heard; Lacelles, -Falkner, and Sam Buckley, who looked first-rate in his kilt. I was -also three or four days in the Reay Forest with the Grosvenors. I -shot four stags. My total was twenty-one. P. John thanks you very -much for your photo; and I received two very good ones, accompanied -by a charming epistle, from your sister. We are all delighted with -Hamilton's marriage, and I think you are rather hard on the young -lady, as, although not exactly pretty, she is very nice looking, has -charming manners, and is very popular with every one. From his letter -he seems to be very much in love—a rare occurrence now-a-days. I -will see what I can do in getting a presentation for the son of Mrs. -Bradshaw for the Royal Asylum of London, St. Ann's Society. Francis -will tell you result. London is very empty, but I have plenty to do, -so time does not go slowly, and I go down shooting to Windsor and -Richmond occasionally. On the 26th I shall shoot with General Hall at -Newmarket, the following week at Knowlsley, and then at Windsor and -Sandringham before we go abroad. This will be probably on the 18th -or 19th of next month. You told me when I last saw you that you were -probably going to Paris in November, but I suppose you have given it -up. I saw in the papers that you were in London on Saturday. I wish -you had let me know, as I would have made a point of calling. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> -are some good plays going on, and we are going the rounds of them. My -brother is here, but at the end of the month he starts for Plymouth -on his long cruise of nearly two years. Now I shall say good-by, and -hoping that probably we may have a chance of seeing you before we -leave,</p> - -<p> -"I remain, yours most sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p> - -<p>V.—<span class="smcap">Don't Know the Height of the Ponies.</span></p> - -<p> -"White's, Nov. 1.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—Many thanks for your letter, which -I received this morning. I cannot tell you at this moment the exact -height of the ponies in question, but I think they are just under -fourteen hands, but as soon as I know for certain I shall not fail -to let you know. I would be only too happy if they would suit you, -and have the pleasure of seeing them in your hands. It is quite an -age since I have seen or heard anything of you, but I trust you had a -pleasant trip abroad, and I suppose you have been in Scotland since. -Lord Dudley has kindly asked me to shoot with him at Buckenham on the -9th of next mouth, and I hope I may, perhaps, have the pleasure of -seeing you there.</p> - -<p> -"Believe me, yours ever sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p> - -<p>VI.—<span class="smcap">The "Great" Oliver is Coming.</span></p> - -<p> -"Sandringham, King's Lynn, Nov. 30.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—I was very glad to hear from -Colonel Kingscote the other day that you had bought my two ponies. I -also trust that they will suit you, and that you will drive them for -many a year. I have never driven them myself, so I don't know whether -they are easy to drive or not. I hope you have had some hunting, -although the ground is so hard that in some parts of the country it -is quite stopped. We had our first shooting party this week, and got -809 head one day, and twenty-nine woodcocks. Next week the great -Oliver is coming. He and Blandford had thought of going to Algiers; -but they have now given it up, and I don't know to what foreign clime -they are going to betake themselves. I saw Lady Dudley at Onwallis, -and I thought her looking very well. I am sorry to hear that you -won't be at Buckenham when I go there, as it is such an age since I -have seen you. If there is anything else (besides horses) that I can -do for you, please let me know, and</p> - -<p> -"I remain, yours ever sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p> - -<p>VII.—<span class="smcap">Sorry to Hear That She Has Been Seedy.</span></p> - -<p> -"Sandringham, King's Lynn, Dec. 5.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—Many thanks for your letter, which -I received this evening, and am very glad to hear that you like the -ponies,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> but I hope they will be well driven before you attempt -to drive them, as I know they are fresh. They belonged originally -to the Princess Mary, who drove them for some years, and when she -married, not wanting them just then, I bought them from her. I am -not surprised that you have had no hunting lately, as the frost has -made the ground as hard as iron. We hope, however, to be able to hunt -to-morrow, as a thaw has set in. We killed over a thousand head on -Tuesday, and killed forty woodcocks to-day. Oliver has been in great -force, and as bumptious as ever. Blandford is also here, so you can -imagine what a row goes on. On Monday next I go to Buckenham, and I -am indeed very sorry that we shall not meet there. I am very sorry to -hear that you have been seedy, but hope that you are now all right -again.</p> - -<p> -"Ever yours very sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward.</span>"<br /> -</p> - -<p>VIII.—<span class="smcap">He is Anxious.</span></p> - -<p> -"Thursday.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—I am sorry to find by the letter -that I received from you this morning that you are unwell, and that -I shall not be able to pay you a visit to-day, to which I had been -looking forward with so much pleasure. To-morrow and Saturday I shall -be hunting in Nottinghamshire, but if you are still in town, may I -come to see you about five on Sunday afternoon? And hoping you will -soon be yourself again,</p> - -<p> -"Believe me, yours ever sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p> - -<p>IX.—<span class="smcap">He Had the Measles.</span></p> - -<p> -"Sunday.<br /> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE PRINCE HAS THE MEASLES.</div> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—I cannot tell you how distressed I -am to hear from your letter that you have got the measles, and that -I shall in consequence not have the pleasure of seeing you. I have -had the measles myself a long time ago, and I know what a tiresome -complaint it is. I trust you will take great care of yourself, and -have a good doctor with you. Above all, I should not read at all, as -it is very bad for the eyes, and I suppose you will be forced to lay -up for a time. The weather is very favorable for your illness, and -wishing you a very speedy recovery,</p> - -<p> -"Believe me, yours most sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p> - -<p>X.—<span class="smcap">Anxious Again.</span></p> - -<p> -"Sunday.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—Many thanks for your kind letter. -I am so glad to hear that you have made so good a recovery, and to -be able soon to go to Hastings, which is sure to do you a great deal -of good. I hope that perhaps on your return to London I may have the -pleasure of seeing you.</p> - -<p> -"Believe me, yours very sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - - -<p>XI.—<span class="smcap">The "Great" Francis is to Arrive.</span></p> - -<p> -Sandringham, King's Lynn, Nov. 16.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Lady Mordaunt</span>,—I must apologise for not having -answered your last kind letter, but accept my best thanks for it -now. Since the 10th I have been here at Sir William Knollys' house, -as I am building a totally new one. I am here <i>en garcon</i>, and we -have had very good shooting. The Duke of Cambridge, Lord Suffield, -Lord Alfred Paget, Lord de Grey, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Chaplin, -General Hall, Captain (Sam) Buckley, Major Grey, and myself, composed -the party; and the great Francis arrived on Saturday, but he is by -no means a distinguished shot. Sir Frederick Johnstone tells me he -is going to stay with you to-morrow for the Warwick races, so he can -give you the best account of us. This afternoon, after shooting, I -return to London, and to-morrow night the Princess, our three eldest -children, and myself, start for Paris, where we shall remain a week, -and then go straight to Copenhagen, where we spend Christmas, and -the beginning of January we start on a longer trip. We shall go to -Venice, and then by sea to Alexandria, and up the Nile as far as we -can get; and later to Constantinople, Athens, and home by Italy, -and I don't expect we shall be back again before April. I fear, -therefore, I shall not see you for a long time, but trust to find -you, perhaps, in London on our return. If you should have time, it -will be very kind to write me sometimes. Letters to Marlborough -House, to be forwarded, will always reach me. I hope you will remain -strong and well, and wishing you a very pleasant winter,</p> - -<p> -"I remain, yours most sincerely,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Albert Edward</span>."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>On the afternoon of the fifth day of the trial, the Prince of Wales, -who had been driven by his royal mother to take the step, much against -his will, appeared in court to testify, nominally at his own request, -but really from a fear of public opinion. The presiding judge of the -Divorce Court, Lord Penzance, when he heard that the Prince desired -to testify in his own behalf, exerted himself in such an extreme -fashion, as to call down the ridicule and scorn of the London press -for his servile proceedings. Having been informed that the Prince was -about to appear in court, this flunkey judge, who had been created -a peer for something that he had done as a lawyer, was most eager, -painfully eager, in fact, to accommodate his Royal Highness. The latter -was treated by the judge with a respect which was a combination of -profundity, enthusiasm, and excitement. One journal suggested to the -learned judge, that while the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> Prince was in attendance on the trial, -it was the duty of the magistrate to have a smoking room fitted up for -the special use of the Prince, while another claimed that a billiard -table should be provided for the amusement of the Prince between the -intervals of the evidence, and asked Lord Penzance to be careful -and open court daily at an hour to suit the convenience of the Heir -Apparent, who is I believe, a late riser. It is a rule of British law, -that the members of the Royal family cannot be called upon to testify -in any case, unless of their own free will, and then they are not -asked to swear to the evidence which they may give, as their simple -affirmation is deemed to be sufficient. The Prince of Wales on this -occasion, however, thought it necessary to be sworn, and he testified -that he knew Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt, and that Lady Mordaunt had -been an acquaintance of his before his marriage to the Princess of -Wales. He also testified that he was fond of riding in hansom cabs, and -lastly, he swore that there never had been any improper familiarity or -criminal act between himself and Lady Mordaunt. This statement, in open -court, was a great relief to the Queen, who it is said, at once upon -hearing of it sent for the Prince to come to Buckingham Palace, and on -his arrival he was welcomed warmly by his mother.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SIR FREDERICK JOHNSTONE TESTIFIES.</div> - -<p>The next witness examined was Sir Frederick Johnstone, who testified -that he had gone to dine with Lady Mordaunt at the Alexandra Hotel, -in obedience to a request which she made by letter, to that effect. -The dinner was a tete-a-tete one, (no one being present but Sir -Frederick and Lady Mordaunt) in a private room, and it lasted from four -o'clock in the afternoon until twelve o'clock at night. Sir Frederick -acknowledged that the dinner took place without the knowledge of Sir -Charles Mordaunt, and that he never told the latter of the circumstance -afterward, although a visitor at Walton Hall. This closed the case -on evidence. A paper had been found in Lady Mordaunt's handwriting, -with the memoranda "280 days from June 29—April 3d," referring, -as it was supposed, to her first meeting with Viscount Cole. Sir -Charles Mordaunt, in his affidavit, alleged the marriage on the 6th of -December, 1866, at St.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> John's Episcopal Church, Perth; cohabitation -at Walton Hall, and at 6 Belgrave-square; and adultery with Viscount -Cole in May, June, and July, 1868, at Chesham-place, and in July, 1868, -and January, 1869, at Walton Hall; and adultery with Sir Frederick -Johnstone, in November and December, 1868, at Walton Hall, and in -December, 1868, at the Alexandra Hotel, Knightsbridge; and adultery -also with some person between the 15th of June, 1868, and the 28th of -February, 1869.</p> - -<p>The English aristocracy never have had such a blow dealt at their -corrupt social system, as the developments of this suit impelled -against them. "Reynolds' Newspaper," a London journal with a -circulation of 280,000 copies weekly, spoke in thunder tones as -follows, to its readers, the workingmen of London:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">THE PRINCE OF WALES IN THE DIVORCE COURT.</span></p> - -<p>The great social scandal to which we have frequently alluded, has -now become blazoned to the world through the instrumentality of the -Divorce Court. Nothing was left undone that might hush it up, so -that the Prince of Wales' name should not figure in so discreditable -a business. Every effort was made to silence Sir Charles Mordaunt. -A peerage was, we believe, offered him. Any place of emolument he -asked for would willingly have been given him. All the honors and -dignities the crown and government have it in their power to bestow -would readily have been prostituted to insure his silence. Lord -Penzance, at the last moment, earnestly strove to keep the name of -the Prince from coming before the public. Sir Charles Mordaunt, -however, was deaf to every persuasion, and, like a noble minded -man and high spirited gentleman, scouted all attempts to shut his -mouth; and, with contemptuous indifference to the entreaties of the -judge, and disregarding the course adopted by his own counsel, at -once told the whole story of his supposed dishonor, without blinking -facts or concealing names. He told the court that he forbade his -wife continuing her acquaintance with the Prince of Wales on account -of his character. He intimated to the Prince that his visits should -cease. He, however, alleges that, despite this intimation, they were -surreptitiously continued; that letters of a compromising character -were found; and that other circumstances occurred leading him to -suppose that an improper intimacy existed between, the Prince and -his wife. It should be borne in mind that when all this is said to -have occurred the Prince of Wales was a married man himself, and the -father of a family. The question, therefore, remains to be solved, -is he an adulterer or not? Can he disprove the apparently damnatory -allegations of Sir C. Mordaunt? Of course we do not wish to prejudge -the case. We hope, for his own and for his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> wife's sake, that he can -completely refute the heavy accusation laid to his charge, and that -he will do so at the earliest opportunity. But we have no hesitation -in declaring that if the Prince of Wales is an accomplice in bringing -dishonor to the homestead of an English gentleman; if he has -deliberately debauched the wife of an Englishman; if he has assisted -in rendering an honorable man miserable for life; if unbridled -sensuality and lust have led him to violate the laws of honor and of -hospitality—then such a man, placed in the position he is, should -not only be expelled from decent society, but is utterly unfit and -unworthy to rule over this country or even sit in its legislature."</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">THE FASTEST MAN IN ENGLAND.</div> - -<p>I don't see how any writer could make a stronger case against Royalty, -(however hostile his spirit,) than this fearless exposition by the -English journal of wide circulation, to which I have referred. The -evidence of Sir Frederick Johnstone, which I have omitted, was too -disgraceful to appear in this work, although the English papers printed -every line of it. Well, the case went to the jury at last, after Lord -Penzance had properly and carefully manipulated them, and a verdict was -brought by them "that Lady Mordaunt being of unsound mind, was totally -unfit to instruct her attorneys," and thus Sir Charles Mordaunt, having -been dishonored and his domestic happiness destroyed by a conspiracy -of titled persons, had to be satisfied with the verdict. In these days -the plea of insanity is always a convenient one, and is very useful in -a desperate case. Sir Charles was not daunted, however, and appealed -his case, but met with defeat again, and thus the matter rests, and -will rest. It is the intention of the injured husband to visit America, -as he is an admirer of our institutions. I do not wish to offer any -comment whatever on the state of society in which such corruption -exists. The facts must speak for themselves.</p> - -<p>The "fastest" young man in England is undoubtedly, William Alexander, -Louis, Stephen, Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, Marquis of -Hamilton, Marquis of Douglas, Earl of Angus, Earl of Arran, Earl -of Lanark, Baron Hamilton, Aven, Polmont, Macanshire, Innerdale, -Abernethey and Jedburgh Forest, and premier Duke and Peer in the -Peerage of Scotland, Duke of Brandon (Suffolk), and Baron Dutton in the -Peerage of Great Britain, Duke of Chatherault in France, Hereditary,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> -Keeper of the Holyrood House, and Deputy Lieutenant of some county with -an unpronounceable name in Scotland.</p> - -<p>Possibly some of my readers, in going over this long line of titles, -will recall the days of Bruce and Douglas, of "proud Angus," whom -Marmion bearded in his hall, and of that Douglas who carried the heart -of Bruce, like a Paladin, amid the lances of Spain; or perhaps the -picture of Chevy Chase, and Douglas, and Percy, in armed fight, will -be evoked with thoughts of the greatest historical House in Europe. -Nobler descent, or more genuine historical honor, cannot be claimed by -the holder of any lordly or royal title, than that which belongs to the -present Duke of Hamilton, who is as yet only twenty-seven years of age. -He is a first cousin of the Emperor of France by his mother, Stephanie, -Duchess of Baden, a noble, beautiful, and good woman,—who married the -old Duke of Hamilton; and one of his sisters is married to the Prince -of Monaco, a sovereign in his own right. Two other sisters of the -present Duke are nuns, having been educated in the Roman Catholic faith -by their mother. The fourth sister is married to a private gentleman of -large fortune.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus45.jpg" alt="duke" /> <a id="illus45" name="illus45"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE DUKE OF HAMILTON.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">INSULTS THE EMPEROR.</div> - -<p>The old Duke was in every sense a gentleman and a man of honor, but his -two male descendants, the present Duke of Hamilton, and his brother, -Lord Churchill Hamilton, are sad scapegraces—indeed I doubt if a -rougher name would not be more appropriate. The young Duke, as soon as -he came of age, fell heir to an income of £300,000 a year, and eight -or nine country seats and residen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>ces. He had no sooner entered into -possession of his estate, than he was surrounded by betting men, turf -blackguards, spendthrifts, abandoned women, and dissolute noblemen of -his own age. Every shilling of his gigantic fortune was squandered in -three or four years, and his proud old name became a by-word of scorn -and reproach when it was found that his debts amounted to £130,000. He -had for his associates the Earl of Jersey, the Marquis of Waterford, -the Prince of Wales, Lord Carington, the Duke of Newcastle, the Earl of -Winchelsea, the Earl of Westmoreland, and other bankrupt and dissolute -nobles. For a long time polite society tolerated the Duke of Hamilton, -because of his family, birth, and fortune, but when he lost the latter, -those who formerly laughed at his wild actions and peccadilloes, now -began to frown upon him as an <i>enfant perdu</i>. He was sowing too much -wild oats, and his friends began to desert him in disgust. A bad set -of men who had control of the Duke, did not hesitate to drag his proud -name and title through the gutters. At last his fellow noblemen, -thoroughly ashamed of him, determined to give him a lesson. His name -was put up for membership in the Jockey Club, and he was black-balled -with great unanimity. The Duke of an almost royal family was treated -in this ignominious way by the fathers of families, and brothers of -girls of stainless birth, as a caution to him. The Duke being both -bankrupt and disgraced, left England for the Continent, to avoid his -thousand and one creditors, who cursed him bitterly when he departed. -Passing through Paris, his cousin, the Emperor, invited him to dine at -the Tuilleries. The Duke returned a curt verbal answer to his imperial -relative, that he could not accept the invitation, "for he had neither -clothes nor manners in which to appear at the Emperor's table." That -same evening he appeared in a private box at the opera, dressed in a -short double-breasted shooting jacket, in company with two or three of -the turfites (broken down betting men, who hung on to him for what they -could get), and afterwards presided at a supper of which the less that -is said the better, concerning the "ladies," who composed one-half of -the twenty-four persons who sat down to table.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> - -<p>After the Duke left England for the Continent, a sale of his effects -was had. Hundreds of purchasers attended the sale out of curiosity, -as they had attended the sale of "Skittle's" furniture, or as the -Parisian dandies and lorettes attended the sale of the household gods -of Marguerite Gautier, afterwards known as the "Dame aux Camelias." -Every article belonging to the Duke realized a value of more than two -or three hundred per cent. over its original value. Crowds of "snobs" -and "cads" bought whips and pipes, riding jackets, cigar cases, canes, -gloves, and boots, pictures of French dancers and German soubrettes, -as well as articles of crockery, at the most extravagant prices, -simply because they had once been in the possession of a real live -Duke, although he was a scamp. One miserable little tea-broker gave -twenty-five pounds for a worn, poorly bound copy of the "Kisses of -Johannes Secundus," with the idea that he was getting something very -immoral—but he was disappointed of course.</p> - -<p>I saw him twice, this Duke of Hamilton, once in a low cabaret in Paris, -which had for a name the strange and I thought very inappropriate title -of the "Groves of the Evangelists."</p> - -<p>It was in a little street, or rather lane, called the Rue Belle-Cuisse, -which is in the Quartier Breda.</p> - -<p>It was a low dingy little hole, this "Groves of the Evangelist," and -the people present were chiefly infantry privates of some of the line -regiments, who serve as a part of the garrison of Paris. They were a -hard-drinking, ruffianly lot, and the women who sat on their laps were -of all the obscene birds of night that I encountered in Paris, the very -worst and most abandoned.</p> - -<p>A little girl, with a bold face and wearing a slatternly, torn dress, -with a brazen pair of steely blue eyes, acted as bar-girl in this -place, and measured out to the customers, petit verres of fiery Nantes -brandy.</p> - -<p>Two men, young, and fashionably dressed, sat at a table, who appeared -to be strangers in Paris, although they conversed fluently enough, in -French, with each other.</p> - -<p>One of these was a fair, girlish-faced, young gentleman, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> hair -which is always termed auburn by the poets, while, as a contradiction -it is generally denominated, in police returns—"red hair." This was -the Duke of Hamilton.</p> - - - -<p>The second person at the table was a tall, athletic, and -handsome-looking fellow, of twenty-four or five years of age, with a -smooth face, daring, black eyes, and a massive head well set upon a -pair of broad shoulders.</p> - -<p>This individual was John De La Poer Beresford, Marquis of Waterford, -Earl of Tyrone, Viscount Tyrone, and a Baron five times over in England -and Ireland, a relation of the Archbishop of Armagh, Protestant Primate -of Ireland, and having an income of about half a million dollars, -annually, in his own right.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus46.jpg" alt="marquis" /> <a id="illus46" name="illus46"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> MARQUIS OF WATERFORD.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">VILLAINY OF THE MARQUIS OF WATERFORD.</div> -<p>This young Marquis of Waterford, did a most dastardly thing when he -seduced the wife of his bosom friend, the Hon. J.C.P. Vivian, M.P., a -Junior Lord of the Treasury, who had placed the utmost confidence in -the Marquis. He took Mrs. Vivian with him to Paris, and there lived -with her in open adultery for some time until he became tired of his -victim and then he ordered her with great coolness to return to her -dishonored husband. To make the matter worse she was the mother of two -lovely children. Her married sister, the Honorable Mrs. Somebody, went -to Paris to attempt to reclaim her, held an interview with her, and -begged of her to return to her husband. She blankly re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>fused to do so, -giving as her reason that she loved "John" too much,—"John," I need -not say, being the Marquis of Waterford.</p> - -<p>Mr. Vivian having commenced a suit for divorce, the utter villainy of -the Marquis appeared when the letters of that nobleman to his quondam -friend Vivian were read, in which the great trust reposed by Mr. Vivian -in Waterford was most publicly made manifest.</p> - -<p>This young nobleman is a grandson of the second Marquis of Waterford, -who was distinguished as a companion to the Prince Regent, and as well -for breaking off door-knockers and bell-handles—a complaint that was -chronic with him, and that seems to run in the family.</p> - -<p>The Marquis of Waterford is not quite so impoverished through his -excesses as some of his friends, but I understand that his debts at one -time amounted to £60,000.</p> - -<p>My readers may recollect that, during the visit of the Prince of Wales -to America, he had in the suite which accompanied him, a certain Duke -of Newcastle, a young nobleman, who married, some years ago, a daughter -of the great banker, Hope, who brought her husband an immense fortune. -Beside these advantages there were few noblemen in England as highly -connected, or as wealthy, as the Duke of Newcastle. Well, Miss Hope -only served to stay the waning fortunes of this spendthrift for a short -time, as he is now a bankrupt, and has to reside out of England to -avoid the Sheriff's officers. While the execution was being levied in -the magnificent mansion of the Duke, and before his wife could leave -the premises, the Duke had gambled away thirteen thousand pounds, the -last remnant of his once princely fortune. This hopeful Duke has always -been very intimate with the Prince of Wales.</p> - -<p>Another of the same reckless unprincipled set is the young Earl of -Jersey, who was left an income of £50,000 a year, every shilling of -which is gone. This young fool, who is endowed with the manners of a -cabman, and who has a pot-house air in everything that he says or does, -was deeply in debt at sixteen years of age, and before he left school -he had borrowed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> £25,000 from the Jews, who now own him body and soul. -His grand-mother, the Countess of Jersey, was, I believe, a mistress of -George IV.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.</div> - -<p>The Marquis of Hastings, who died about two years ago, was also one of -this same set of spendthrift, young harum-scarum, unprincipled scions -of the Bluest Blood of which England can boast. All his magnificent -fortune went in horses, and women, and yachts, and at last, when -he died, at the age of 26, he had squandered some three or four -millions of dollars, and, I believe, the title created as far back as -1389, became in the direct line, extinct. The Marquis lost one day -at the Derby race on Lady Elizabeth, a favorite horse of his, the -enormous sum of $150,000 in gold. He married a beautiful and wealthy -girl, and her fortune went in the general crash after his death. He -owned a magnificent yacht, and was in the habit of cruising in the -Mediterranean with a coterie of dissolute young aristocrats like -himself, and on board of this yacht scenes took place that might have -made the cheek of Sardanapalus to blush—that is, provided that that -bloated Assyrian ever blushed.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus47.jpg" alt="marquis" /> <a id="illus47" name="illus47"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.</p> - -<p>Prince Christian of Schleswig, a beggarly little German kinglet, who -was allowed to marry the Princess Helena, a daughter of Queen Victoria, -and a very good girl, is said to be rather wild in his ways, but his -allowance, £10,000 a year from Parliament, has to satisfy him whether -he likes it or not. But in 1869 Prince Christian and the Duchess of -Mecklenburg-Strelitz had occasion to journey from Dover to Calais, and -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> little German had the impudence to send a bill of sixty eight -pounds expenses to Parliament, despite the fact that he received his -allowance regularly. Professor Fawcett, a liberal member of Parliament, -who brought in bills to abolish religious distinctions in Dublin -University, and in favor of woman suffrage, demanded the items of -the bill, and failing to get them, moved that the Prince Christian's -bill be struck out of the estimates. To show what is thought of such -unbridled extravagance—the fare being only about two pounds from Dover -to Calais—I give the satire and comments of the <i>Queen's Messenger</i> -of August 5, 1869, upon the matter. This paper is a weekly organ, -published in London.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Happily there are always two ways of looking at a question, else the -following bill, which was presented last week to Parliament, might -have suggested puzzling reflections:</p> - - -<table summary="costs" width="85%"> -<tr> -<td colspan="2">DUE FROM BRITISH TAXPAYER TO BRITISH GOVERNMENT: -</td> -<td> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>For cost of presents made by Duke of Edinburgh during voyage -to Cape and Australia, -</td> -<td class="tdr">£3,374 14 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>For conveyance of Prince Christian and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz<br /> -from Dover to Calais, -</td> -<td class="tdr">68 0 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>For royal present to Peter, king of Congo, as reward for act -of Christian charity, -</td> -<td class="tdr">0 12 6 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>For luncheon to Prince William of Hesse, -</td> -<td class="tdr">13 0 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>For providing food for inhabitants of Cephalonia after the -island had been injured by earthquake, -</td> -<td class="tdr">10 9 6 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>For rigging-out a pier at Antwerp for reception of Prince of -Wales, -</td> -<td class="tdr">2 1 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>For robes, collars, and badges for certain persons who had received -honor of knighthood, -</td> -<td class="tdr">1,000 0 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>For maintenance of Congo, pirate chief, at Ascension, -</td> -<td class="tdr">38 3 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Cost of presents to King of Masaba, by Captain of H.M. ship -Investigator, -</td> -<td class="tdr">2 0 4 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td class="tdr">——— -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td class="tdr">£4,509 0 4 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - - -<p>Thus it costs 13<i>l.</i> to give a luncheon to Prince William of Hesse, -and only 10<i>l.</i> to relieve an island full of people who are dying -of famine. It requires 2<i>l.</i> to lay down red cloth for the Prince -of Wales to walk on, and only 12<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> to reward King Peter -for an act of Christian charity. These are facts worth knowing. -The only thing we regret is that Government should have withheld -information as to the precise nature of the gift with which King -Peter was gratified. Did this mighty Empire present him with six -pairs of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> cotton socks, or request him to accept a gingham umbrella -second-hand? And the King of Masaba, who figures anonymously, what -did he get for 2<i>l.</i> 0<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i>? Was it a pair of boots and some -pocket-handkerchiefs, or a few pots of Scotch marmalade and a dozen -pints of Bass? As to the other items of the bill, it is so obviously -right that the country should be made to pay 68<i>l.</i> every time Prince -Christian crosses the Channel, that we can only wonder anybody should -ever have thought otherwise, and moved, as Mr. Fawcett did, that -the sum be struck out of the estimates. We live in strange times, -forsooth, when a prince cannot charge the cost of his railway-tickets -on to the national purse without being made the subject of unmannered -comments!"</p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">LORD ARTHUR CLINTON.</div> - -<p>And now having given as brief a resume as I possibly could of the -salient characteristics of the "fast" young English aristocracy—having -shown how extravagant, useless, dishonorable and unprincipled many -of them are, I will close by mentioning that it is not long since -the English journals were filled with the evidence on the trial of -two young men who were arrested in London for dressing and appearing -in public as females. They were frequently seen at the Opera, the -race course, and in other public places, in company with Lord -Arthur Clinton, a well-known young nobleman. Their apartments were -searched, and waterfalls, chignons, puffs, and all the articles of -the female toilet and female wearing apparel, were found in their -possession. Brought before a magistrate, they manifested a strange and -unmanly behavior, and bore without shame the details of the medical -examination. Lord Clinton, in company with some other friends, had been -paying their addresses to these hybrid creatures, and following in the -footsteps of some of the disgusting court favorites, of which Juvenal -and the Satirists of the Lower Empire speak, he was jealous of another -young Lord, the cause being a rivalry for the affections of one of -these hybrid things in a woman's clothes!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">LORDS AND COMMONS.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap18.jpg" alt="W" /> <a id="icap18" name="icap18"></a></span>HY, Sir, I do think the times 'ave changed a great deal, but I -am afeered they will change wuss nor ever agin. They do say as how -Gladstone has, wen he likes, a will of his own to overturn the Crown -itself. And I know 'is son—'a past eight-and-twenty years the young -one is. He is just a bit of a curate in yon church of St. Mary's, -Lambith; and I can say for 'im as he is a hard-working man—it's no -bed of ease, the parish—and 'is father, who is now more than the -Queen herself, might have given young Gladstone the richest living in -Ingland, and nobody to say boo to him for the favor. Yisar, I'm sixty -past, last Miklemas, and man and boy I've lived in Lambeth; and now I'm -broke down with the parlyatics—but I once was a good man on the river, -and could pull a wherry or waterman's tub with the best on 'em."</p> - -<p>The murky beams of an August sun were falling slantingly on the muddy -waters beneath my feet as I leaned over the stone balustrades of -Westminster Bridge, which connects the ancient borough of Westminster -with the Surrey side of the River Thames. Far down the river, I could -see craft of every description lying in the stone docks, the pride and -boast of all Englishmen. Bridge after bridge loomed up in the sun's -hazy beams. Waterloo, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Vauxhall, and Lambeth -Bridges, crowded with traffic and swarming with the wild, heedless, -ever-bustling life of the greatest city of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> modern world. Under -the piers of this grand bridge, nearly a thousand feet long, swept coal -barges, wherries bearing noisy cockney watermen, who halloed to each -other from roast-beef stomachs and brown-stout lungs, and every minute -the paddling, roaring steamboats, peculiar to the Thames,—each boat -about sixty feet long, their clean black hulls set off to advantage by -the narrow streaks of red paint that served as an ornament to their -keels, dashed to and fro, in and out of the bridge, conveying homeward -clerks, shop boys, barristers, solicitors, M. P.'s, business men from -the city, physicians, and here and there a stray white neck-clothed -curate of the Established Church, disgusted with the latest work -of Parliament, while, within a few feet of him, scarcely conscious -of the visible triumph that shone over his face, sat a Dissenting -preacher reading Bright's last effort in the Commons on behalf of -Disestablishment.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus48.jpg" alt="parliament" /> <a id="illus48" name="illus48"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.</p> - -<p>On either side of the Thames, beginning at one end and ceasing at the -other end of the Houses of Parliament, the magnificent embankment of -hewn granite stone stretches, thirty or forty feet in width, for a mile -each way, thousands of foot passengers traversing its massive blocks, -each man and woman busy with his or her thoughts, or preoccupied with -the passing vagaries of the hour.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">VIEW FROM WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.</div> - -<p>On my right is Westminster Palace and the Houses of Parliament, the -finest modern gothic buildings in the world. The dozen towers and -belfries of this truly glorious edifice, gilded over with brass, -glisten with the refulgent hues of the dying sunset,—for nine hundred -and forty feet on the river, these massive, brown buildings, (that, on -the first view, bring up memories of some grand, old Gothic Cathedral,) -stretch away with tower, buttress, and pinnacle, presenting a river -facade which cannot be equaled by any other edifice for legislative -purposes in the world.</p> - -<p>Beyond, to the left, on the Surrey side, I can see Lambeth Palace, with -its faded reddish-brown brick piled up to the clouds, where resides -his Grace, the high and puissant spiritual prince, the Archbishop of -Canterbury and Primate of England. The feverish broil and confusion -of the great city are all round<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> me, and are present in, and to an -extent pervade, the air above me. The whistling and puffing of the -locomotives may be heard night and day as they sweep to and fro, -conveying passengers and freight to and from all parts of England and -the Continent, over Charing Cross Bridge. The old man by my side on -the bridge, with whom I have been conversing for half an hour, is an -intelligent artisan of the conservative class, benumbed and enfeebled -by illness, and his poor old watery, dazed utterances confess to his -astonishment at the marvelous rapidity with which one of the great -strongholds of every Englishman's belief,—the Established Church, has -been over-turned by the now foremost man in Britain—William Ewart -Gladstone. The old man has relations in America, somewhere,—he thinks, -near Cincinnati, and he asks after their health and well-being with the -most implicit trust that I should know all about them, believing that -the Queen City is only a few miles distant by rail from New York. Yet -the relatives of his youth and manhood have been absent over twenty -years, and are possibly all dead and dust by this time.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus49.jpg" alt="gladstone" /> <a id="illus49" name="illus49"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.</p> - -<p>As I have a desire to pay a visit to the House of Commons, and be a -witness of the proceedings of that dignified body of legislators, I bid -the Old Man of Lambeth a very good day, which he acknowledges in his -own fashion, and I stroll across the Bridge and down Bridges street -toward the Commons. As I pass the huge and massive Clock Tower, said -to be four hund<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>red feet in height, and of most beautiful design, I am -warned by what I see all around me, that I am in the close vicinity -of that edifice which contains within its walls annually the chosen -wisdom and supposed best talent of England. Directly before me is the -magnificent fane of Westminster Abbey, holding within its thousand -storied urns, the ashes of the bravest, most intellectual, and most -renowned, as well as the most wretched and unfortunate of Britain's -dead. I can see, as I cross the bridge, the back portion of the -Chapel of Henry the Seventh, with its superb and intricate net-work -of tower, cornice, buttress, groined and fillagree stone-work. Cabs, -four-wheelers, and open carriages, with coachmen and footmen attired in -gorgeous liveries, their wigs powdered and frizzed, are driving hither -and thither, the occupants of some in full dress going to dinner, or to -listen to the debates which are to take place to-night in the Lords or -Commons.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"BOBBIES" AND "CABBIES."</div> - -<p>These magnificent flunkies wear a contemptuous look of ennui -on their faces, and they survey all foot-passengers with blase -glances of indifferent serenity, which I find almost impossible to -describe justly. The court-yard directly opposite St. Margaret's, of -Westminster, is in a hollow below the grading of the approach to the -bridge, and is surrounded by a very handsome gilded iron railing, -which is in turn surmounted by a row of lamps which encircle the House -of Commons at night like a belt of fire. Within this enclosure are -continually stationed fifty or sixty hansom cabs for the convenience of -the members who may need them in the intervals of debate, and on top of -these cabs are to be found the cabbies who delight to bark and bite at -the unsophisticated and verdant stranger.</p> - -<p>There are half a dozen of policemen, or "bobbies," as the cockney, in -his refined slang, chooses to term them, wearing dark blue uniforms -with silver gilt buttons, and the letter and number of their division -on their close coat collars. The thick cloth-board hats, of a helmeted -shape, that these poor fellows are compelled to wear, even in hot -weather, are heavy enough to excite the compassion of the most -hard-hearted person, An inspector of hacks, always on duty in the -Palace Yard, may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> seen moving to and fro, giving instructions to the -malicious cabbies, who are listening to his scoldings with the most -provoking indifference, real or assumed, as the case may be.</p> - -<p>Not being aware of the regulations, which do not permit a stranger or -visitor to enter the House of Commons without being possessed of the -written order of a member, I find myself notified at the splendidly -arched gothic doorway that I cannot pass. Here is a difficulty I had -not counted on. A friend from America, however, shows an order, which -I afterwards discover only admitted one person. We pass in under the -groined roof of one of the finest halls, architecturally considered, in -Europe. In this hall, over six hundred years ago on a New Year's day, a -monarch of the Plantagenet line fed six thousand poor people, and one -may well believe the legend of old prosy Abbot Ingulph, of Croyland, as -he looks around and above him at the grand dimensions of the stately -hall. On either side as one enters are marble statues, life-size, of -Hampden, Falkland, Walpole, Fox, Pitt, Burke, Grattan, and others,—the -work of England's greatest sculptors, placed on pedestals of stone.</p> - -<p>We are told by the policeman who attends at one of the inner doorways -to seat ourselves on a stone bench in an alcove, and wait our turn as -is the custom here. The Stranger's Gallery will not hold more than a -hundred persons when crowded; and when a heavy debate is in progress, -on a great public measure, the gallery is sure to be full. Five persons -are admitted to the gallery at a time as soon as a gap is made in the -benches by the departure of an equal number of spectators. Should a man -leave his seat in the alcove for an instant he is certain to lose his -turn, and he will be compelled to go to the bottom place and begin over -again. As soon as there is room, the policeman makes a sign to those -in waiting, and he marshals the five persons who have tickets, and -they follow him through several passages and halls to the Lobby of the -Commons—a large, square hall, beautifully decorated, and, turning to -the left, they all ascend a winding stair to the ante-room, where the -tickets are examined by an old, white-haired gentle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>man who sits in a -chair in evening dress, and, if correct, the batch are admitted to the -Stranger's Gallery, which is on the same floor, at the end of another -dark passage.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BILL OF FARE.</div> - -<p>Before I leave the Lobby of the Commons, let me describe it briefly -together with the Lunch Counter of the house, which even the greatest -public men find it necessary to visit occasionally. It is a large -square hall of lofty proportions, almost every inch of the walls and -ceiling being ornamented in relief with the insignia of the Kingdom of -Great Britain and Ireland.</p> - -<p>A score of the members are in the Lobby talking with one another, in -an animated but not loud tone, or mayhap to some of their favored -constituents who have admission. To the right is a counter running -across an angle of the Lobby, at which ices, sandwiches, a glass of -sherry, a glass of port, or a glass of brandy—all of a good quality, -can be obtained by those of the members who do not wish to spoil a -dinner by a hearty luncheon, or who do not wish to spend the time in -going down stairs into a cosy suite of rooms, which I almost fancied -were carved out of the beautiful oak paneling, and where a dinner -nearly as good as may be found in England can be obtained at the prices -and at the hours which I give in the Bill of Fare: One o'clock—Soups: -Jardiniere, 1<i>s.</i>; Calf's Tail, 1<i>s.</i> Joints: Shoulder of Mutton, -2<i>s.</i>; Steak, stewed, 2<i>s.</i> Entrees: Hashed Venison, 3<i>s.</i>; Filet -B[oe]uf au Vin, 2<i>s.</i>; Mutton Cutlets piquante, 2<i>s.</i>; Lamb Chop, 1<i>s.</i> -3<i>d.</i> Five o'clock to 6.30—Salmon, I<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i>; Sole, 1<i>s.</i>; White -Bait, 1<i>s.</i>; Saddle of Mutton, 2<i>s.</i>; Cold Roast Beef, 1<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i>; -Cold Boiled Beef, 1<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i>; Cold Lamb, 2<i>s.</i>; Cold Ham, 1<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i>; -Lobster, 1<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i>; Ribs of Beef, 2<i>s.</i> At 7 o'clock, same prices. -Puddings, 6<i>d.</i>; Tarts, 6<i>d.</i>; Wine Jelly, 6<i>d.</i>; French Beans, 6<i>d.</i>; -Green Peas, 6<i>d.</i>; Salad, 6<i>d.</i>; Cheese, 4<i>d.</i> This is the bill of -fare, for one day only, of the steward, Mr. Nicoll, who purveys for the -Lords and Commons of England in both Houses.</p> - -<p>I give the prices as a curiosity, showing on what nutriment heroes, -statesmen, and orators are fed while attending St. Stephens, and -how much they are taxed for their food. This may be trivial to some -persons, but I contend the sum of hu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>man existence is made up of -trifles, and in England, particularly, of such substantial trifles as I -have given above. Wellington gained the battle of Waterloo because his -troops were well fed, while the raw levies, and even the Old Guard of -Napoleon, had been fighting for three days at Ligny and Quatre Bras, -and had to lie the night before Waterloo in a wet morass, hungry and -exhausted. The articles of food that I have named are to be procured -here at a cheaper rate and of better quality than anywhere else in -London, only that to enjoy the luxuries which I have enumerated at -moderate prices, it is first necessary to gain admittance to the Houses -of Parliament, which can only be done through a member's order. The -chops and steaks here are truly magnificent, and on a scale of grandeur -commensurate with the architectural pretensions of Westminster Palace.</p> - -<p>Besides all this, away down below the bustle and eloquence of the -Commons, in those dark, quaint oak passages enclosed by marvelous -paneling, the visitor is certain to find one of the most beautiful -bar-maids in London to wait upon him—and hand him cold sherry at -sixpence a glass.</p> - -<p>This comely damsel had some tickets to sell. Her uncle—I think it was -her uncle—it was who had broken his leg. He belonged to the Noble -Order of Foresters, and it was necessary that the public should be -called upon to make up a purse to have the uncle's leg set. I had a -benevolent American along with me who knew not what to do with his -newly cashed sovereigns, and he listened with a compassionate ear to -the tale of distress. The result was a small contribution of a half -sovereign to the uncle.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">MR. BRUCE AND HIS STEAKS.</div> - -<p>The bar-maid said, in presence of two of her country friends—they came -from Ilfracombe, down in the country: "I am so much obliged to you, -sir. My uncle is very bad. Will you have soda and brandy, sir, or will -you have a little bitter beer? The bitter beer is very good after a -mutton-chop and potatoes. Mr. Bright always prefers a glass of sherry -when he comes down here, but Mr. Disraeli takes brandy and soda. The -Hirish members, they are so jolly, and they do carry on so, and they -make such jokes with us girls. I likes Lord Stanley, the mem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>ber for -Lynn, least of them all. Somehow, you can't joke with him. He looks -awfully sewere, and whenever he speaks it's just like a father for all -the world. You know, sir, he's got the hold Darby blood hintoo 'im, and -he is a great man."</p> - -<p>"Who do you like best in the House of Commons, sissy?" said my -frolicsome American friend to the joyous bar-maid.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus50.jpg" alt="barmaid" /> <a id="illus50" name="illus50"></a></p> -<p class="caption">THE LEGISLATIVE BAR-MAID.</p> - -<p>"Well, sir, I likes Mr. Bruce, the 'Ome Sekretary, the best of hall -of them. He has sich a hinfluence. When he comes down here he always -takes a steak, and he is hawful pertikler habout it as how it is to be -cooked. He halways likes to have one side raw and the other side burnt. -Oh, I have been so worrited about Mr. Bruce and 'is steaks—the waiters -always comes to me and says, 'I say, wot kind of a man is this 'ere -'Ome Sekretary, he ought to get some silk binding on to his steaks, he -is so werry pertikler.' But he always drops 'em a sixpence and that -makes it hup."</p> - -<p>The door of the members' entrance to the Commons is guarded by two -persons in evening dress, who are dignified enough in presence and -feature to sit in the Senate of the United States. At each side is -a handsomely carved, oaken box, shaped like a sentry's hut in camp, -and in the sides of these boxes are placed notches or racks where all -messages and letters for the members are left in the charge of the -doorkeepers, as no outsiders whatever are permitted to penetrate this -entrance except<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>ing the Lords or distinguished foreigners, and the -latter only by invitation of the House itself.</p> - -<p>There are also telegraph offices in the corners of the lobby, with -stained glass windows, from whence telegrams can be sent without -delay to the Mediterranean, to Paris, St. Petersburg, New York, -Washington, San Francisco, Madrid, Pekin, or any place in the bounds of -civilization. As I turn from the contemplation of these offices, and -from the benches where a number of messengers and smart-looking and -handsomely-uniformed pages are in readiness to rush to the clubs in -Pall Mall, to the Opera, or to the private residences of the members -of the House, in obedience to the beck or nod of the "whip" of the -government, (Sir Henry Brand,) in case of a division, I see before -me in the doorway a magnificently attired gentleman, in black silk -stockings, buckled shoes, and powdered hair and ruffles, wearing a -bright sword at his hip. He looks like a picture stepped out of a frame -of the period which Thackeray loved to dwell upon—when George the -Third was king.</p> - -<p>This gentleman is none other than the Sergeant-At-Arms of the House of -Commons, Lord Charles James Fox Russell, a scion of the great house of -Bedford, of which Earl Russell is a member. How different he looks from -the sergeant-at-arms of some of our State Legislatures, or even of the -National Houses of Congress. Here is no promoted bar-keeper or reformed -rowdy, but a gentleman bearing one of the proudest names in England, -and befitting by position and character the elevated office which he -holds. It is more than easy to believe that a slung-shot or revolver -could not be pulled upon this gorgeous and venerated being while in the -performance of his august duties. The most malicious derringer would be -silent in his awful presence, and no slung-shot, however moulded, could -ever impinge that hereditary forehead.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE GREAT COMMONER.</div> - -<p>A story is told of a man who once penetrated even to the floor of -the House itself, and sat there on the benches, being taken for some -new member by his colleagues who was yet to be sworn in. But before -the morning broke, the House having sat all night, the horror of his -position had so paralyzed him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> that his jetty hair had turned white. -Stay, as I have no ticket I will throw myself upon the country and -abide the issue. I sent in to the Hon. John Francis Maguire, M.P., my -card, with the written desire that I should be admitted to the gallery, -and then I awaited the issue, whether for the Tower or the House.</p> - -<p>While I waited, strolling about the gallery, a gentleman came out of -the door of the Commons, upon whom every eye was turned, and walked -in an upright, John Bull fashion towards the refreshment counter. A -whisper went round the lobby, "That is John Bright," and then I knew -that for the first time I stood in the presence of England's greatest -Commoner, the apostle of the Manchester school and Tribune of the -people. I who had seen so many caricatures of the great orator in -Punch, which has always depicted him as a fat, pursy, vulgar-looking -person, sans breeding, sans ceremonie, failed at the first glance -to identify the noble-looking old man in evening dress, with an -irreproachable white neck-tie, and a decidedly polished exterior, who -halted at the refreshment bar to slowly sip a strawberry ice after the -heat of the debate.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus51.jpg" alt="john" /> <a id="illus51" name="illus51"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> JOHN BRIGHT.</p> - -<p>Every inch this was a man, as I looked at him, and a king among men, -if the outward shell can serve at all to indicate what is concealed -within. And he has a princely following too. For around him I can see -a number of men whose names are known wherever the English language is -spoken, and wherever English newspapers are printed and read,—eager -to get a word or a look from him, plain John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> Bright, once the best -hated man in England, and now, by sheer force of will and dogged -pluck, enshrined forever in the admiration, if not the love, of his -countrymen. I have as yet only been waiting a few minutes when I see -approaching me a messenger of the House, who points the writer out to -a stout, compact-looking man in evening dress, of advanced years, fair -complexion, and with a keen look in his face which serves as a front -to a large, solid head, well set on strong shoulders. This is the Hon. -John Francis Maguire, M.P. for Cork, author of "Rome and its Rulers," -"The Life of Father Matthew," "The Irish in America," and editor of the -Cork <i>Examiner</i>, a man well known in Ireland and America, and one of -the Irish leaders of the Liberal side in the House.</p> - -<p>Mr. Maguire has taken the trouble to leave his seat in the House -during debate to oblige the writer of this book, and I must here make -my acknowledgment for the courtesy done. Mr. Maguire hands me a slip -of paper which he has procured for me from the Right Honorable John -Evelyn Denison, Bart., Speaker of the House, and this order entitles -me to a reserved seat on the front bench of the Gallery. I now pass -the dignitary in the black stockings and buckles, who smiles most -graciously at me out of the respect to the Speaker's order, and, after -traversing a narrow stair, emerge into the Speaker's Gallery, and find -myself at last inside the English House of Commons, of which I have -heard so much and so often.</p> - -<p>It is now after dusk, and I can hear the silvery chime of "Big Ben" in -the huge clock tower of St. Stephen's, as it peals the hour of eight -through the corridors and galleries. There is just now a recess among -the members for consultation, and but few are on the floor of the -House, the majority being in the lobby button-holing each other, and -the rest, with the exception of fifteen or twenty on the seats behind -the Treasury Bench, are at dinner.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HALL OF THE COMMONS.</div> - -<p>There are fifty or sixty persons in the Gallery, behind and above -me, the place where I sit being reserved for those whose names have -been inscribed on the list of the Speaker. The Commons' Galleries run -lengthwise on either side of the House,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> for nearly a hundred feet, -having an upper and lower bench, covered with green leather. The House -is about forty-five feet wide, and one hundred feet long, and the -ceiling is over forty feet from the ground floor, where the debates -are held. It is impossible for me to convey an idea of the richness -and splendor of this Hall of the Commons. Suffice to say that there -is nothing to compare with it in America for architectural effect and -compactness.</p> - -<p>From above in the ceiling a flood of mellow light pours through -sixty-four stained glass windows, and on either side of the House the -windows are gorgeous in their designs of shields and coats of arms, -indicating the living presence of the monarchy of Great Britain and -Ireland. The numerous gas jets are concealed at the top of the glass -panelling of the ceiling, throwing a brilliant but subdued light -upon the Speaker as he sits in his high, over-hanging oak chair; on -the members; on the spectators, and on the ladies who are assembled -behind the glass screen at the back of and above the Speaker's chair. -Beneath the Ladies' Gallery, and also behind the Speaker's chair, is -the Reporters' Gallery, so arranged that each member, as he faces -the Speaker, shall also face the numerous corps of reporters who are -in attendance to note down whatever wheat may develop itself in the -wilderness of chaff spoken in this House.</p> - -<p>The lowest bench on the right hand of the Speaker is devoted to the -Ministry, and on this side, immediately above, the supporters of the -government congregate within hearing distance of the Premier, night -after night, during the sessions. Whenever the Ministerial side is -thin of speakers, Mr. Gladstone simply turns around, and a nod or look -will bring upon his feet whatever member he thinks will best fill the -gap. Underneath the Strangers' gallery is placed a special seat for -the august Sergeant-at-Arms or his deputy, who is, if I mistake not, -a baronet. The walls and ceiling all round are of stone of a peculiar -color, which is neither brown, white, grey, nor yellow, but is a -combination of all four; and I can best describe the tone of color by -likening it to the hue of the bronchial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> troches or lozenges that are -sold in the druggists' shops in America. Otherwise I might call it a -brownish-grey, of which John Ruskin has examples enough and to spare in -his "Stones of Venice."</p> - -<p>It is certainly a very rich color, and admirably adapted to the damp -and foggy atmosphere of London. Wherever the eye may choose to rest -in the Houses of Parliament, it is sure to be confronted with the -emblazoning of royal and princely cognizances. On both sides of the -House are the Division lobbies, where the members go to be counted by -the tellers, when a division is called for. That on the west side is -for the "ayes," and on the opposite side is the lobby for the "noes." -There are also libraries, residences for all the officers of the House, -on a scale of the most princely magnificence, and more than a score -of committee-rooms abutting off the longest corridors of any public -building in the world, not excepting the Escurial in Spain. Everywhere -you may see acres of polished oak above and around you.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail18.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail18" name="tail18"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></p> - -<p class="center">LORDS AND COMMONS.—CONTINUED.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap19.jpg" alt="D" /> <a id="icap19" name="icap19"></a></span>IRECTLY in front of the gallery where I am sitting, is the Reporter's -Gallery. There are fifteen boxes for their use to take notes in, each -reporter sitting separately from his comrade, and writing characters -for dear life. These boxes resemble private boxes in our New York Opera -House, with the difference that they have no roofs above them, and -are open to the public gaze. Behind these fifteen boxes are seats for -twenty more reporters, to take the place of those in the boxes in turn. -Each reporter takes short-hand notes for a space of ten to fifteen -minutes time, and is then relieved by his colleague, waiting above him, -who steps into his place as the other retires to the Reporter's Room, -in the corridor, to write out his notes, and thence to take them to -the newspaper office, or else, if he chooses, he may send them by the -small boys waiting in the gallery, who are employed by the newspapers -at a salary of from eight to twelve British shillings a week to act -as messengers. Late at night, it is customary for the reporter who -has notes of a very important speech—which he desires to get to the -composing-rooms of his journal, to take a cab from the Palace Yard, -where there are dozens of them always waiting, and thus dash off to be -in time for the press. The <i>Times</i> keeps thirteen reporters constantly -in the gallery during the session, and the <i>Standard</i> as many more, -if I am not mistaken. These men are all expert short-hand reporters, -and receive from five to eight guineas per week, according to their -capability. There is also a man who re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>mains late to get the gist of -what is said and done in debate, and from his notes he makes up a -clear and comprehensive summary for the morning edition. Then there is -the "leader-writer," "the editor" proper, and a "special reporter," -who receive cards of admission to that part of the house under the -Reporter's Gallery, and consequently on the floor of the House behind -the Speaker's chair. This is a high favor, and only granted most -sparingly, and with discretion.</p> - -<p>There are generally to be found about twenty reporters in the gallery, -but this number is greatly increased on a "field night," when it is -usual to find as many as thirty-five or forty journalists in the -gallery. From what I have seen of these parliamentary reporters they -seem to be very deliberate in their movements, and they do not allow -anything to hurry them. They are nearly all, however, very pleasant -gentlemen, and with few exceptions, men of experience and scholarly -attainments, two-thirds of them being men who have taken honors at -the universities, or at Harrow, Eton, or Rugby, and in not a few -instances they have begun life by taking minor orders in the church, -and having toyed with journalism for some time they were unable at -last to resist its feverish fascination. Some few of them are in the -Inns of Court—embryo barristers during the day, and at night they -practise short-hand, earn a respectable living, and gain experience -from England's chosen representatives up in their secluded nooks in -the gallery of the House. It was not always that the press and its -reporters had such privileges as they now possess in the House of -Commons.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DR. JOHNSON TAKING NOTES.</div> - -<p>Before the administration of Sir Robert Walpole, there were no -satisfactory records of the debates in the House. The fierce contests -between Walpole, Windham, Pulteney, and others had, indeed, for some -time before 1740, attracted attention to the proceedings of the House, -and they had been regularly reported in a confused long-hand sort of -fashion every month in the <i>Gentleman's</i> and <i>London Magazine</i>, the -former publication commencing the debates in January, 1731, the latter -in April, 1732, but no attempt can be said to have been made to convey -more than the substance of the speeches until that department<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> of the -<i>Gentleman's Magazine</i> was intrusted to gruff old Samuel Johnson, in -November, 1740. This is the commencement of the era of parliamentary -reporting in England. Short-hand, before that time is involved in -chaos, and it is doubtful if Johnson knew anything more than the -rudiments of the then crude system of stenography.</p> - -<p>Indeed, Johnson appears to have given more of his own eloquence than of -what had actually been uttered in Parliament; but still, what he did -was, in all probability, only to substitute one kind of eloquence for -another—a better for a worse; or, it might be, sometimes, a worse for -a better—and therefore, on the whole, the speeches written by him, -though less true to the letter than those given by his predecessors, -may be received as a more living, and, as such, a truer representation -of the real debates than had ever before been produced.</p> - -<p>He would not take the trouble to or be guilty of the absurdity of -expending his lofty rhetoric upon the version of a debate or speech -which had not really attracted attention by that quality, but I -suppose he reserved his strength for occasions on which those who had -heard, or heard of, the original oration, would look for something -more brilliant than usual. It was not, however, until after a long -and severe struggle, with a desperate fight at the close, that the -right of reporting the debates of Parliament was gained by the English -press of that day. It is only about one hundred and thirty years ago, -(in the old days of the Hanoverian and Pretender's troubles), since -anything spoken in the House was allowed to be printed until after the -session was dissolved. The House, in its wisdom, denounced any earlier -publication of the eloquence of the honorable members as a daring act -of illegality.</p> - -<p>On the 13th of April, 1738, the House resolved "that it is an high -indignity to, and a notorious breach of the privilege of this House, -for any news matter or letters, or other papers, as minutes, or under -any other denomination, or for any printer or publisher of any printed -newspaper of any denomination to presume to insert in the said letters -or papers, or to give therein any account of, the debates or other -proceedings of this House, or any committee thereof, <i>as well during -the recess as the sitting of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> Parliament</i>, and that this House will -proceed with the utmost severity against such offenders." The House of -Commons, it is needless to say, has progressed somewhat since that day.</p> - -<p>The monthly magazines, notwithstanding the resolution of the House, -still continued to print the debates, although for some time they took -the necessary precaution of indicating the speakers by fictitious -names, to which they furnished their readers with a key when the House -became dissolved. But it was not until the year 1771, nearly a century -ago, that the debates began to be given to the public day by day as -they occurred, and then the attempt gave rise to a contest between the -House and the newspapers, which occupied the House, to the exclusion of -all other business, for three weeks, when a committee was appointed, -whose report, when it was read two months after, suggested whether it -might not be expedient to order that the offending parties should be -taken into the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Edmund Burke compared -the decision, in his own brilliant manner, to the resolution of the -bewildered convocation of mice,—that the cat, to prevent her doing -future destruction, should have a bell hung to her neck, but forgot to -say how the rash act was to be performed. Well, that is all past and -gone now, and the only complaint made in these busy days by members of -Parliament against the score of daily newspapers, published in London, -is that they err in not printing enough of the speeches to satisfy each -individual representative.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE.</div> - -<p>I noticed that the majority of the parliamentary reporters in the -Gallery were considerably advanced in age, many of them wearing gray -hairs, and fully sixty per cent. of the whole number that I saw were -above forty years of age. Some of these gentlemen, by careful saving -and strict attention to their arduous professional duties, have amassed -comfortable competencies, and some of them own, in the environs of -the city, snug little houses, with snug little libraries, and in some -of them, I can certainly say, are to be found pleasant tables and -home-comforts rarely possessed by their brethren of the note-book and -pencil in America. There are, to be sure, many improvident ones in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> -London, as elsewhere, and here Bohemianism has a lower depth than it -ever was known to have in America, for it is here that the really -depraved and abandoned Bohemian confines himself exclusively to the -consumption of gin—raw and simple gin. A low London Bohemian is a -mere animal, and will beg a copper from you in the same breath that he -professes his willingness to translate a Greek tragedy—to oblige the -giver of the copper, or else he will favor you with an account of his -days at Oxford or Trinity, when he was a "first honor" man or a B.A. -But one thing I have not found as yet in London on the press, and that -is an illiterate or badly taught man, such as can be met with by the -score on the American press.</p> - -<p>The House to-night is in a Committee of the Whole on the Scottish -Education bill. The Ministerial benches are pretty well filled, while -the Opposition benches, to the left of the Speaker's chair, are but -thinly populated. Fronting the Speaker's chair of state is a table -of polished mahogany, the surface of which is about ten feet wide by -fifteen feet long. Directly before the chair of the Right Honorable -Speaker are two low-seated chairs of less pretension, occupied by -the Clerk of the House of Commons, Sir Denis Le Marchant, and his -assistant, Sir Thomas Erskine May, K.C.B. The former is a smooth-faced -man, having the inevitable wig upon his head, which gives him a much -older appearance than his years would warrant. His shoulders are -enveloped in an ample black silk gown, and a blank book of large -dimensions is open before him upon whose leaves he is supposed to -enter the minutes of the House. This person has a magnificent suite -of apartments in a wing of the Parliament House, beside a very large -salary, and is as comfortably housed as if he belonged to the royal -blood of Britain. Sir Thomas Erskine May, K.C.B., seated upon his -left, is a clean-shaved gentleman in evening dress, who also has -apartments in the palace, and a good salary. He has nothing remarkable -about his person or manner, with the exception of a very drawling -voice and a hesitancy in announcing motions made by the members, or -in calling a division when the House so wills it. He is the author -of the continua<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>tion of Hallam's Constitutional History of England. -Beside these high officials there are four "Principal Clerks," one -of whom, like Sir Thomas May, enjoys the high dignity of a Knight -Companion of the Bath, &c. Then there are twelve "Assistant Clerks" -and twelve "Junior Clerks," with an "Accountant," an "Assistant -Accountant," a "Private Secretary to the Chairman of Ways and Means;" a -"Sergeant-at-Arms," who is a Lord; two "Deputy Sergeants;" a "Chaplain," -no less a man than Canon Merivale, the accomplished Roman historian, -who has the good sense to make his prayers at the commencement of the -proceedings very short; a "Secretary to the Speaker;" a "Librarian," a -poor cadet of the great overshadowing family of Howard; an "Assistant -Librarian," with an Irish name; two "Examiners of Petitions for -Private Bills," one of whom is Mr. R.D.F. Palgrave, of whom Americans -have heard, and finally a "Taxing Officer," beside innumerable -servants, of superfine bearing, correct evening dress, and consummate -self-possession. I asked one of these ponderous servants, whom at -first sight I took to be the "Juke of Linsther," as an Irish reporter -pronounced it, if he was not awed by the dignity of the house.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus52.jpg" alt="tanner" /> <a id="illus52" name="illus52"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> COULD YOU MAKE IT A TANNER?</p> - -<p>"Aw," said he, in a gracious manner, "you er, I preeszhume, en -Eemireken. This sawt of thing boaws me 'orrid; it does. I hev dun -hit for heit yeers. I wish they wud adjoan, and I wud go to my -<span class="smcap">CLUB</span>."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SPEAKER AND HIS WIG.</div> - -<p>Timidly I offered this gorgeous being four-pence, expecting to be -rebuked in a dignified manner for my presumption by the personage who -talked so fluently of "'is club." He never turned around, but, gazing -steadily at the Speaker's chair, as if he was desirous of catching the -Right Honorable Gentleman's eye, thrust his hand behind him, counted -the pennies with his fingers, and said to the writer in a stage whisper:</p> - -<p>"Would your 'onor pleese to make it a 'tanner'? We 'ave no perkisites -in the Commons, pleese." Let me here state that a "tanner" is the slang -term for sixpence, and a "bob" is a shilling among the London cockneys, -servants, bar-boys, and wild children of the thousand streets and lanes -of London.</p> - -<p>When the House is in committee it is not the custom for the Speaker -to be present. When the House is in open session, then the Speaker is -arrayed in wig and gown, and he sits far back in the recesses of his -chair, like some dried-up mummy, so closely is he swathed and covered. -It is pretty hard work for a member to actually catch his eye, being -so muffled up as to defy recognition by a casual observer. Yet it is a -part and parcel of the British Constitution, that this Right Honorable -John Evelyn Dennison should be smothered in this huge box and gown and -wig on a warm August night like this. During committee proceedings the -Speaker may walk out, doff his wig and gown, and dine as he has done -to-night, and then come back, and finding the House still in committee, -he will seat himself in his chair without his legal vesture. I have -been in this House four nights, and this is the first time that I have -seen the Speaker's legs—palpably. He lolls back without any of that -reverence that I have heard so much of, as belonging to the Commons, -and he has at last gone to sleep, like Mr. Greeley under Dr. Chapin's -sermons. In the meantime, the bill, which has twenty-five clauses or -sections, is being canvassed and considered by the members who stream -in, now that the dinner hour has passed.</p> - -<p>While the Speaker slumbers in a quiet way, the chief and assistant -clerks of the House conduct the business, the assistant taking up the -bill, and repeating as he reads each clause<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> in detail: "It is moved," -or "it is proposed that a substitute," or that the "word —— instead -of ——," and so on, in soporific tones, for two long hours. A number -of people in the gallery are gently dozing, and visibly many of the -messengers are relapsing into a blissful repose.</p> - -<p>The Speaker's table is covered with reports, large bound and gilt -volumes, books of reference, pamphlets, newspapers, costly ink-horns, -and other clerical paraphernalia of the state service. The huge gilded -mace of the Speaker, which lies on the further end of the table below -his chair, when the House is not in committee, is now pendant under -the table on a rack, to show that it is not an open session for the -introduction of new measures or for the making of set speeches.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus53.jpg" alt="speaker" /> <a id="illus53" name="illus53"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.</p> - -<p>Out of six hundred and seventy or eighty members of the House, there -are not present to-night more than one hundred and fifty. Many of the -remaining members are scattered all over the Continent in nooks and -corners. A large number may be found on the Parisian boulevards; some -are at Fontainebleau; some in the Pyrenees, swallowing chalybeate -waters; many are yachting in the Mediterranean, or wasting their time -with the peasant girls in Isles of the Greek Archipelago; not a few are -off at the races at Goodwood or Brighton; some are at Rome, burning, -fuming, and cursing the garlic and salads; dozens of them are at -Constantinople, at St. Petersburg, or climbing the Alps out of a sheer -love of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> danger and the reckless fondness of physical excitement inborn -in the Englishman; and probably as many as could be numbered on the -fingers of the hand are scattered over the American Continent in search -of novelty. There are also a number of City members absent, in their -out-of-town residences, compelled to forego forensic honors, at the -command of wife and daughters who are packing and poking preparatory to -a flight to the Rhine and Germany. The ministerial benches show a good -front for the late season; first, because the government has a great -deal of unfinished business on its hands, which must be transacted -before Parliament is closed; and secondly, because the exertions of the -government whip have been most arduous in hunting up Mr. Gladstone's -supporters, and compelling them to remain in their seats, while there -is work to be done by them.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DIGNITY OF THE HOUSE.</div> - -<p>With a great number of Americans, that have not visited England, -there is in some way or another an abiding impression that the House -of Commons is the most stately and dignified legislative body in the -world. To be disabused of this notion it is only necessary for an -American to sit during a night session in the gallery of the House, -with a proviso that he has been a visitor at some time or another to -the Senate Chamber or the House of Representatives at Washington. When -a member of this House rises to claim the attention of the Speaker, it -is common to find half a dozen of his fellow members rising also with -him for the same purpose. A member of the government gets on his -honorable legs with his face turned toward the Speaker. If on the -lower bench, he will walk a little forward to the table, and if he is -accustomed to speak from notes, it is more than possible that he will -lay one hand on the table and with the other turn the leaves of his -manuscript. If he speaks extemporaneously, he will probably lean in a -lounging position forward, his two hands resting on the Speaker's table.</p> - -<p>Many of the members who are best known to the public have this fashion, -and it is most unpleasant to hear them drawl forth sentence after -sentence as if they were dragged from their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> honorable throats by sheer -force. It has often been reported by English writers that American -legislators have a bad fashion of elevating their legs and laying back -in an irreverent attitude while listening to a debate. Also, that they -expectorate freely. Well, I have seen the most distinguished statesman -at present in England—I mean Mr. Gladstone—lounge and disperse his -limbs, while within ten feet of the Speaker, in a fashion that would -bring shouts of laughter from a crowded theatre, were the same thing -done in a farce or low comedy.</p> - -<p>Each member of the Commons, as he walks into the House, to-night, has -his hat on his head. As he passes the Speaker's chair, he doffs it -for an instant, but when he takes his seat the hat is replaced upon -his head as before. As a general thing, a member who speaks without -notes, addresses the Speaker, with his hat in one hand. They all seem -to conclude whatever remarks they have to make with a jerk, and as -soon as they sit down the hat is again replaced, or rather slapped on -the head, with a vehement motion that seems impelled by some hidden -mechanical power. Then they have a fashion of lounging in and out in -a free-and-easy way during debate, that is highly suggestive of a -bar-room in a frontier town.</p> - -<p>There is rarely, or never—in the House of Commons—an exhibition of -the nervous, impassioned speaking which may be heard all over America -or in the Corps Legislatif. When there is a clear or telling speech -made, (as far as the manner of delivery goes,)—mind, I do not speak of -its effect practically—or if the eloquence is of a florid description, -it will be surely spoken by one of the one hundred and five Irish -members. Certainly, when Whalley or Newdegate get on their legs, to -smash the Pope or to recount horrible but dramatic stories about -the mysteries and child massacres of convents, there is no lack of -vehemence and buncombe. But this style of oratory is confined to a few -of the members who have hobbies to ride, and who cannot be driven from -them even at the point of the bayonet.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">AMBASSADOR LAYARD.</div> - -<p>Physically speaking, a majority of the members are gallant-looking -fellows, and they are all dressed simply, but with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> taste always -observed by a gentleman in the selection of articles of clothing. A -small number of them wear white beaver hats, and their trowsers are cut -widely at the bottom in the now prevailing fashion. With the exception -of a few of the younger and more fashionable members, who frequent -the race-courses, the Opera,—go to hear Schneider, lounge into the -Cremorne after eleven o'clock at night, or frequent the society of such -famous demi-reps as "Mabel Grey," "Baby Hamilton," "Baby Thornell," or -other women who have beggared and ruined hundreds of those young men -about town who have a disposition to be fast, there is a total absence -of showy or loud colors in their apparel. A great many of the "fast" -young men attend the session—occasionally—for the sake of common -decency, or because their constituencies compel it, as in the case of -a City borough the other day, where a member was rebuked by a public -resolution of condemnation and asked to resign, for absence from his -seat. Younger sons of noble lords look upon the House of Commons as -a necessary evil, which must be "done," like an occasional visit to -church, or to Richmond, or Greenwich, to eat fish.</p> - -<p>As the members come in one by one and take their places on the benches, -I find opportunities to observe and note their peculiarities and looks. -That gentleman who comes in so slowly and so quietly, dressed in dark -clothes, and having a head, whiskers, and general resemblance to our -Longfellow, is the Right Honorable Austin H. Layard, Commissioner of -Public Works, one of the Ministers, but not a member of the Cabinet, -and lately appointed English Ambassador to Spain. You would take him -for a literary man or a thinker, anywhere, by reason of his long, -flowing, white hair and thoughtful look. Mr. Layard is the author of -the celebrated book on Nineveh. He receives attention in the House -always when he rises to speak of Eastern affairs. He was at one time an -attache of the English embassy to the Porte, and was Under Secretary -for Foreign Affairs in the administration of Earl Granville. Mr. Layard -has the reputation of being rather hot tempered in debate, and at one -time he earned the ill-will of the aristocratic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> faction in the House -by his persevering liberalism, but at present he is popular enough, and -no one can look at his bright dark-blue eye and general appearance, -without feeling that he is in the presence of a man who possesses a -considerate and calmly philosophical spirit, broken at times by a -sudden flash of the scholar's enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>That gentleman with the exquisitely carved face and very red hair, with -a slight dimple in his chin, and clear, frank eyes, is the Secretary -of State for War, the Right Honorable Edward Cardwell, M.P. for Oxford -City, and an old follower of Sir Robert Peel. He has in his time held -various offices of trust under different administrations, and in June, -1866, when the forces of Col. William R. Roberts, President of the -Fenian Brotherhood, invaded the Canadas, Mr. Cardwell, as Secretary -for the Colonies, had his hands full of a rather difficult business, -which he managed as well as the very annoying circumstances—for a -British Crown Minister—would permit. I like to hear Mr. Cardwell -speak. He is always ready, yet deliberate, and with these qualities he -possesses a happy and easy manner in argument. The most difficult job -of Mr. Cardwell's life was the management of the Governor Eyre-Jamaica -business, which at its crisis covered the English administration with -shame and ignominy. Mr. Cardwell had, while at Oxford, a very good -reputation, which he has not as yet contradicted by his course in -Parliament, of which body he was returned as a member as early as 1842. -Thackeray once ran against him and was defeated.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LORNE AND CHILDERS.</div> - -<p>That really handsome young gentleman, who is said to have the -best-shaped leg in the House, as well as the friendship of the -most charming female members of the aristocracy, as he certainly -is the owner of a most beautiful head of hair, of the hue of a new -guinea, such as is seen in Carlo Dolce's Virgins—is the member for -Argyllshire, the Marquis of Lorne, heir presumptive to George Douglas -Campbell, eighth Duke of Argyll, the Liberal Secretary of State for -India in the Gladstone Cabinet, a Privy Counsellor, and a Knight of the -Thistle. The young marquis, at twenty-five, has the face and skin of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> -maiden of twenty, and I could not but observe that his trowsers were of -a fashion superior to any other known trowsers in the House of Commons. -I do not know whether the handsome Marquis inherits the Covenanting -piety of the Argyll-Campbells, his ancestors; but he bears a wonderful -resemblance to his father, the Duke, and among the frescoes in the -corridors of the House there is one by Copely, entitled the "Sleep of -Argyll," and I was astonished to notice the strong likeness of the -young Marquis—who passed the fresco at the moment—to the face of his -illustrious ancestor of two hundred years ago, as it was depicted by -the artist—lying on a prison pallet. The Marquis of Lorne, while I -was in the gallery, sat behind Mr. Gladstone, on an upper bench, as a -Liberal, like his father who sits in the Lords. When the hereditary -Campbell got up on his well-shaped legs to speak as a Scotch member on -the Parochial Schools bill, he did it quietly, and in a clear, musical -voice, that seemed to attract attention.</p> - -<p>The Marquis of Lorne has a very ready delivery, though he is not as yet -of great account in debate, and he is I believe, from all reports, a -marvelously proper young man, compelled to exist upon about £25,000 a -year, which amount will be largely augmented when the present Duke is -committed to the family vaults.</p> - -<p>That big, bulky six-footer, of great shoulders and massive limb, -wearing tightly fitting clothes, his forehead overshadowed with dark, -reddish-brown hair, and his whole manner indicative of pluck and a -contest against life-long odds, is the Right Honorable H.C.E. Childers, -member for Pontefract, and First Lord of the Admiralty, an office that -in England somewhat resembles the position of Secretary of the Navy of -the United States, having this difference only—that the First Lord, -while in his place on the Treasury or Cabinet benches in the House of -Commons, is compelled to reply to all attacks on the management of the -Navy, and to defend the expenditure and estimates of that department. -He is now giving facts from a pamphlet which he holds in one hand, -while he rests his body on his other hand across the table in a -negligent manner, as if he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> were more used to roughing it in the bush -than supporting a minister by a recapitulation of dreary statistics in -the House.</p> - -<p>Mr. Childers was at one time, I believe, a fellow-member with Mr. -Robert Lowe, of the Parliament of Victoria, after both of them had -exiled themselves voluntarily to the antipodes. Mr. Childers only -became a member of the House in 1860, and his rise to eminence was -achieved with more than American rapidity, in a country where it is a -cardinal principle that a man should not receive emolument, honor, or -position, until he has grown the gray hair of sixty years.</p> - -<p>Mr. Childers is the chairman and director also of at least threescore -of corporations and foundations of charity of one kind or another, and -is said to be very good in figures—a necessary gift in a Lord of the -Admiralty. If his mind is half as big as his whiskers, he is certainly -a genius. The hard work of defending the Gladstone administration in -detail is usually given to Mr. Childers, to W.E. Foster, M.P. for -Bradford, or to Mr. Bruce, the Home Secretary. In all Irish matters, -Mr. Chichester Fortescue, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, is expected -to stand by his leader, Mr. Gladstone, and he has been of great service -to him in the Irish Land Bill legislative measures. Mr. Childers, like -the young Marquis of Lorne, is a Trinity College, Cambridge, man, but -not an Eton boy like the former.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus54.jpg" alt="lord" /> <a id="illus54" name="illus54"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY.</p> - -<p>The next noticeable person on the ministerial bench, and by all -acknowledged to be one of the ablest men in Parliament,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> is the Right -Honorable Robert Lowe, member for London University, an Oxford man, and -son of a Church of England clergyman. London University, which Mr. Lowe -represents, is the most liberal educational institution in England, and -grants University degrees to students, irrespective of their religious -belief. A short time ago the Queen opened the new London University -buildings, which are, I believe, unequaled in the metropolis for beauty -of design and commodious comfort. Mr. Lowe is now in his fiftieth -year, and is a member of the Gladstone Cabinet, and Chancellor of the -Exchequer—the office formerly held by his illustrious chief, and one -of the greatest trust and responsibility in England.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SATIRICAL LOWE.</div> - -<p>As an orator Lowe has few equals, and stands in the following order -of precedence: Gladstone,—Bright,—Disraeli,—Lowe,—according to -the best judges. By many he is said to be superior to Disraeli in -satirical power, although not his equal in vehement philippic, and -not a few consider him equal in logical force to Bright. Yet, with -all his ability and power, he is one of the best-hated public men in -all England, and this is said to be the result of his unfortunate -proclivity for satire, and for a certain unpleasant gruffness, that, -spite of his education and inward natural courtesy, will break out, and -in a minute demolish the labor of a year of statesmanship. I might call -Mr. Lowe a pure-blooded Albino, as he is first noticeable by his bushy -white eyebrows, white hair of great length, and rather pinkish eye-lids.</p> - -<p>He has a positive, firm chin, a clear eye, and, from the abutment -of his nostril to the corner of his lower lip on either side deep -ridges extend, giving him in that part of the face the look of a <i>bon -vivant</i>. The eye is very steady, and looks at a stranger of doubtful -appearance with a sneering way that seems to say: "I have to be -polite; but if I choose to think you an idiot, it is my own business." -The ears are large, and seem to be buttoned back, as if ready for a -row on the slightest provocation. Mr. Lowe is quite near-sighted, -and it is said that to this defect he owed his release from holy -orders, having studied for the Church at University College, Oxford. -He certainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> would have made a very unpleasant sort of a clergyman -for some of the lax and rather immoral public men who illuminate the -House occasionally. He is a man of many edges, bristling all over -with sharp and hard angles, and is in every way an aggressive person. -Lord Palmerston, who was with every other member of the House—on the -footing of a jolly good fellow, could never be brought to like Robert -Lowe. Lowe never laughed at the veteran Premier's jokes.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lowe owes his first important advancement from an ordinary station -in life to the fact that when he returned to England from Sydney, he -had the good fortune to contribute a smashing article to the <i>Times</i>, -and since that time Mr. Lowe, it is understood, has been a regular -outside contributor of that journal, with great good luck to back him. -Mr. Lowe has also the reputation of being a very quick and facile -"leader" writer upon the topics with which he is best acquainted.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus55.jpg" alt="lowe" /> <a id="illus55" name="illus55"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> ROBERT E. LOWE.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lowe once had his head well smashed by the roughs at an election -row, and it is said that the memory of it has stuck to him ever since, -like the caning of Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks, and, like that -episode, it has served to keep old fires burning. In the memorable -debates of 1866, upon the suffrage question, Mr. Lowe shone with his -greatest force. With such rivals as Bright, Disraeli, Gladstone, Hardy, -and Milner Gibson, it was no joke to keep on the top of the tide, -but Lowe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> never faltered in his career. The more pitiless were his -adversaries in argument, the more pitiless became Robert Lowe.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON.</div> - -<p>The fancy, the vigor, the antithesis, the irony, wit, force, energetic -subtlety, and strength of his speeches during that stormy session of -1866, are not likely to be forgotten soon, by friend or adversary, in -the House of Commons. Lowe is, I believe, the only instance of a man -who has at one and the same time a dimpled chin and a bad temper.</p> - -<p>That mild-looking, dark-faced man, with neat attire and jeweled -fingers, who comes in almost stealthily from behind the Speaker's -chair, and takes his seat upon the Ministerial Bench, is Goschen, -who represents London, and is a member of the Cabinet, President -of the Poor Law Board, and son of a Leipsic bookseller of moderate -circumstances.</p> - -<p>Mr. Goschen is evidently of Jewish origin, and his rise to power has -been speedy. He is still a young man—of polished manners, and more -than any other member in Parliament represents the moneyed interests -of the great city for which he sits. He is a Rugby and Oriel College -man, and was at one time Vice-President of the Board of Trade, and -afterwards Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Yet he is scarcely -developing the statesmanlike power which was predicted for him by -his friends who had watched his career as a Director in the Bank of -England, and as the author of essays and treatises on some topics of -political economy.</p> - -<p>The middle-sized gentleman, inclined to baldness, wearing a brown -coat and a mixed trousers, with straps at the bottom of the latter, -and who has a slight fringe of whiskers and a round bright eye, is no -less a personage than the Marquis of Hartington, Postmaster-General, a -member of the Cabinet, heir presumptive to the Dukedom of Devonshire, -the Earldom of Burlington, Baron Cavendish in Derbyshire and Baron -Cavendish in York, chiefly celebrated for his advocacy of the -Confederacy in Parliament, and a man of not exceedingly great calibre -as a debater or thinker; but from the possessions which he will one -day inherit in this broad and merry England, a man of most decided -influence and power. He has for his family mot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>to, "Secure in Caution," -and generally sticks to it in the House.</p> - -<p>In his young days, it is hinted that the Marquis of Hartington was in -the habit of going home very late with his night key in his coat-tail -pocket, and at one time it is said that the notorious "Skittles," -(since dead,) had emblazoned on her handsome brougham—presented her -by the Marquis—the crest of the now steady and religiously inclined -Postmaster-General of Great Britain. He is just now conversing with a -tall, black-whiskered man, of sharp features and equally sharp accent, -in drab clothing. This is George Armistead, M.P. for Dundee, formerly a -Russia merchant, and said to be a good man on committees.</p> - -<p>A medium-sized, dark-faced, and portly person in black clothes walks -in slowly by the Speaker and seats himself, with his hat bent forward -over his eyes, and having a book, whose leaves he is cutting, in his -hand. This is Alexander James Beresford-Hope, one of the two M.P.'s for -Cambridge University—the other being the Right Hon. Spencer Horatio -Walpole, whose mother was Countess of Egmont.</p> - -<p>Mr. Beresford-Hope is part proprietor of that well known weekly -and satirical journal, the <i>Saturday Review</i>, and is or has been -a writer for the same sheet. During the Civil War in America, Mr. -Beresford-Hope spoke early and often in support of the Confederacy -while in Parliament, and also wrote a book favoring Jefferson Davis -and his cause. In this course he had no more ardent colleague than the -gentleman who now approaches him with his head moving from right to -left, in a nervous fashion—I mean William Henry Gregory, member for -Galway.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">PEERS IN THE GALLERY.</div> - -<p>Mr. Hope is no doubt a good liver, and is a member of the Carlton, -Athenæum, University, Oxford and Cambridge, and New University Clubs, -where, possibly, he has a great opportunity to study cookery as a fine -art. His fellow member from Cambridge, who stands toying with his watch -chain and drumming on the floor, bears the imposing name of Spencer -Walpole, and has no decided individuality in the House. Both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> Hope -and Walpole are Conservatives, and are sadly shocked at the continued -majorities of Mr. Gladstone.</p> - -<p>The man just now speaking from notes is Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert -Anstruther, of the Grenadier Guards, member for Fifeshire, a Harrow -man, and an earnest liberal of the Scotch stamp.</p> - -<p>The little old man in evening dress, pale face, and having a circle -of white beard around his throat, who is playing with his fingers -nervously, is The O'Conor Don, member for Roscommon, who is looked up -to by all the Irish members.</p> - -<p>The slender young gentleman, not yet in his twenty-fifth year, and -very fashionably dressed, leaning up against the back of the Speaker's -chair in conversation, is Henry George, Earl Percy, son of the Duke of -Northumberland, who married the eldest daughter of the Duke of Argyll, -and will one day be the proprietor of the second proudest title in -England as well as of half a dozen castles, a score of manors, and -three or four baronies. This young man was sent to the House of Commons -by his father, the Duke of Northumberland, as a Conservative, but it -is rarely that he takes the trouble to open his lips in debate. He has -a very great reputation for driving tandem, and is known to be a judge -of boquets and claret—young as he is as a legislator in the House of -Commons—but he bears a good reputation, and has not done anything to -dishonor the proud name of Percy as yet.</p> - -<p>That young gentleman with the pointed yellow moustache and goatee of -the Vandyke type, is Sir David Wedderburn, of an old Scotch family, -and quite an active working young member of the opposition when led -by Disraeli. Very often the peers of the Upper House may be found in -the Commons, from motives of curiosity or to get intelligence of the -birth of new bills before they are sent to the Upper House. They have a -gallery of their own, these peers, and hardly ever trouble the floor of -the House.</p> - -<p>Occasionally a prelate of the English Established Church may be found -in the Peers' Gallery of the House of Commons, listening to the -debates, and to-night there are two bishops in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> the gallery, one of -whom is Dr. Fraser, Bishop of Manchester, who is said to be the most -practical minded prelate in England. Dr. Fraser has a well outlined -face and a very compact head, with a clear, firm eye. He is big with a -scheme for the education of the working classes, and looks to be deeply -interested in the debate. His companion is the Bishop of Peterborough, -who is acknowledged to be the ablest speaker and clearest thinker in -the English Episcopate. Viscount Bury is now on his legs. The Viscount -is of all the speakers I have heard, the very dullest. He reads from -notes which he takes page for page from his hat, and I am certain -that I never listened to such a dreadful monotone as his voice. The -Viscount dresses plainly, and yet he has a Dundreary look, the light -side whiskers which he wears giving him an affected appearance. The -Viscountess Bury is a daughter of Sir Allan McNab, and in her younger -days was a celebrated beauty, and was a toast in fashionable society.</p> - -<p>That young gentleman with the slight, downy moustache and gloriously -handsome face, leaning over the side of the Peers' Gallery, is the -Marquis of Huntley, a member of the House of Lords, and is the first -Marquis in rank of the Scottish peerage. He is only twenty-three years -of age, and was married a short time since in Westminster Abbey, the -Prince of Wales acting as his best man, and all the notabilities of the -court attending. The old, soldierly-looking man who is conversing with -him and having a white rose in his button-hole, whose hair is cropped -quite close, is the Earl of Fingall, who was formerly an officer in the -8th Hussars, and a hero of the Crimean war.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LORD STANLEY AND THE O'DONOGHUE.</div> - -<p>The medium sized gentleman with the thoroughly English face, wavy hair, -and plain and unostentatious attire, who passes behind the Speaker's -Chair for a moment, and then whispers to that awful dignitary, is the -Duke of Richmond, the leader of the Conservative party in the House -of Lords. The Duke is quite popular in England, and has a magnificent -park and castle at Goodwood, where a race takes place every year, for -a prize called the "Goodwood Cup." Under the administration<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> of Mr. -Disraeli the Duke held the position now occupied by John Bright, who is -President of the Board of Trade.</p> - -<p>There was for some time a warm rivalry between the Duke of Richmond, -Lord Cairns, and the Marquis of Salisbury, as to which of the three -should lead in the House of Lords, and at one time, I believe after the -death of the lion-like Earl of Derby, Lord Cairns, who used to be an -Irish lawyer before he was ennobled, had the best chance from his great -ability, but the high position and family of the Duke carried the day.</p> - -<p>That plain looking man who with a slight inclination to the Speaker -and doffing his hat, passes out to the Division Lobby, is Lord -Stanley—now Earl Derby, since the death of his father. Lord Stanley, -who is now in the House of Lords, was one of the ablest members of -the House of Commons, a forcible debater, a logical reasoner, and a -thorough gentleman in all respects. Lord Stanley entered political -life very early, and has filled various offices of trust, being -successively—Under Secretary of Foreign affairs in 1852; Secretary -for the Colonies in 1858; Secretary of State for India in 1858-9, and -Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1866-8.</p> - -<p>The tall, dark-haired and handsome looking member who has followed -Viscount Bury in debate, and who speaks so fluently without notes, -and whose language and gestures are not without a certain grace and -elegance, is The O'Donoghue member from Tralee, who was going to -marry an Earl's daughter in order to pay his debts—but didn't. The -O'Donoghue challenged Sir Robert Peel to fight a duel a few years ago, -having been offended by some unparliamentary language of Peel's in -the House, but the latter backed out of the row in a very undignified -manner.</p> - -<p>Lord Stanley having forgot something, comes back to find it, and -searches the bench behind the spot where The O'Donoghue is speaking -from, which rather confuses the Irish orator a little—but Lord Stanley -apologises at once. By the way, Earl Derby is said to be engaged to -the Marchioness of Salisbury, whose husband died a year ago. This -will be a late marriage for both parties, the intended bride being -forty-six years of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> age with five children, the youngest of whom is a -daughter twenty-two years of age, while Earl Derby is forty-four years -of age, and very common-place and prosaic in his domestic habits. The -Marchioness is, I believe, a daughter of Earl De La Warr.</p> - -<p>Three men now enter the House and take seats—two in the galleries, -who are soon joined by a third. This last man is the richest noble -in England. He is an old man on the brink of the grave, and yet he -could buy up a dozen of the members of Parliament who are fuming and -fidgeting below in the freshness of good health. It is the Marquis -of Westminster, who owns half of the borough from which he takes his -title, and his income I have been told is something like four hundred -thousand pounds a year. The Marquis is very charitable, and has -spent over £100,000 in erecting model tenements for poor people in -London. Beside the title of Marquis, he also bears that of Sir Richard -Grosvenor, which is supposed to be derived from the French of Gros -Veneur—"Great Huntsman,"—some of the ancestors of the family having -acted in that capacity to the Norman Dukes at a remote period.</p> - -<p>The other gentlemen are Earl Spencer, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, -a big man with a big head, a big whisker and a big look in the face, -wearing a big tweed coat; and the Hon. Robert Wellesley Grosvenor, one -of the members for Westminster, a Captain in the 1st Life Guards, and -belonging to the family of the old Marquis of Westminster. He has for -his colleague who now takes his seat, William Henry Smith, the other -member for Westminster, who owns the largest news agency in the world, -at No. 186 Strand.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus56.jpg" alt="commons" /> <a id="illus56" name="illus56"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> GLADSTONE SPEAKING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.</p> - -<p>And now the Premier is on his legs at last. I had heard of Gladstone -so often that I was curious to hear his voice and look upon his face. -Imagine a tall man, six feet in his stockings, with a massive head, a -good strong body, sparse side whiskers just whitening with years, a -pair of dark eyes, deep as an abyss, with the thoughts and struggles of -a mighty spirit welling up—firm lips and cavernous eyebrows, a massive -and persistent under jaw, the lines of the face strongly marked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> -and indicating by their rigidness the conflict that has been going -on inwardly for years, and dress that figure up in deep black upper -garments and mixed trousers, and you have something like the Premier -of Great Britain as I saw him in his seat on the end of the Treasury -benches in Parliament. One leg is thrown over another in a negligent -and thoughtful attitude, the head being bowed forward on the breast, -while every few minutes he raises his eyes with a wonderful mystery -glittering in them, to the face of the member who has the floor, as -if he were taking the mental measurement of the speaker. The face -represents a fierce enthusiasm which can kindle into great deeds, or -express with a glance great thoughts.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">MR. GLADSTONE'S EARLY LIFE.</div> - -<p>This wonderful man started in life as a High Churchman and Tory, -believing that all bishops should know Greek and acknowledge the -Apostolic Succession, and now he is an advanced Liberal, but opposes -woman's suffrage as a dangerous measure. In religion Gladstone sticks -to his Oxford teachings, and this is best proved by his Episcopal -appointments, nearly all of whom are High Churchmen.</p> - -<p>How grandly the sentences roll from the lips of the scholarly Premier, -as he stands up to reply to some attack on the administration. Every -sentence is rounded, full, concise, and flowing, and every phrase -seems chosen with elegance. He is a marvelously brilliant speaker, -but it is better to hear him than to read his speeches, which though -perfect literary compositions, are yet, in type, brilliant and dry -abstractions, while the contrary may be said of Bright's speeches, -whose productions sound better in a report than they do when they are -delivered.</p> - -<p>And now he has done, and sits down, slamming his hat on his head, and -reclining back, with his eyes glued on his shirt bosom; and from the -Opposition benches at the other side of the House, a tall, massive -figure, which is radiant with jewelry and surmounted by a poll of black -curly hair, rises to answer Mr. Gladstone. The face is corrugated, -the nose like an eagle's beak—curved—like those on Roman coins, or -just such a nose as Titus encountered by the thousand, under piercing, -almond-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>shaped black eyes, in the Court of the Holy of Holies, when the -Chosen People fell in heaps behind their shields, only glad to die for -Jerusalem.</p> - -<p>Yes, here is one of that same wonderful, plucky race, which has -survived hundreds of years' of war, pestilence, famine, persecution, -and contumely, and now finds its best representative in Benjamin -Disraeli, the author of "Tancred," "Coningsby," "Henrietta Temple," -and "Lothair," that book of books. This is the same Jew whom -O'Connell thundered at thirty years ago, and whom he denounced as the -lineal descendant of the impenitent thief who died upon the Cross. -Thirty-three years ago this man entered Parliament and made his maiden -speech, or attempted to make it,—as a member from Maidstone. The -crowded House laughed at him that night,—men who were used to Canning, -and Henry Brougham; to that consummate orator, Daniel O'Connell, and to -the brilliant fireworks of Richard Lalor Sheil,—laughed at the young -member with the Jewish beak and profile, and he sat down discomfited, -but not beaten, crying out to the House, which was indulging in -cock-crowing and geese-cackling at his expense, "You will not hear me -now, but you shall hear me yet."</p> - -<p>He is an older man now, and success in everything he has attempted, -such as has never been given to any living man but Louis Napoleon, -has rewarded his efforts. Hear how he dashes into Gladstone's -eloquent sentences with his biting, withering words of sarcasm,—how -he overthrows the airy edifice which the Liberals were just now -contemplating,—listen to the fiery words of this master of wit and -trenchant, cutting invective—invective that spares no feeling or -cherished opinion, but bares the breast of the Minister like the -surgeon's hand to plunge still deeper the scalpel in the roots of the -wound.</p> - -<p>Now he has done, and he sits down, and members crowd around him and -congratulate him, but he receives their incense with a wearied, -indifferent air, that seems to say, "I have been Premier myself, and I -think it to be a small place for a man of ability."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DANIEL O'CONNELL.</div> - -<p>And so the night passes on in the House, member after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> member getting -upon his honorable legs, and the small hours come on apace, and the -small talk continues, and the Speaker comes in and goes out, yet still -the House remains in Committee—a very wearisome night it is, and hot -and close in the galleries, and many sleep the sleep of exhaustion in -the legislative arena—while off in green fields and on grassy meads, -by lakes and rivers, the dew falls heavily, and the English Moon shines -with a soft light all over the broad land.</p> - -<p>It is amusing to see the Speaker of the House settle a point of order -when members become obstreperous, with his little cocked hat in his -hand, or to see him reprimand a member who crosses the horizon of a -member who is addressing the House. This last offence is considered -a great breach of etiquette, and the Speaker always instructs the -offender that he should have made a tour around the House to avoid -giving offence to the orator. Sometimes a tired member will notice that -there is not a sufficient number of members in the House to transact -business, and if he wishes to escape a threatened monstrous debate, he -must notify the Speaker that there is not a quorum present. Perhaps the -Speaker may desire to rush some business through, and he will therefore -have to be notified several times before he will take warning to count -the members, which he does at last with slow reluctance.</p> - -<p>It has been the privilege of any member (from time immemorial,) to -inform the Speaker that there are strangers in the gallery, meaning -ladies, reporters, or any one who is not a member of Parliament. When -so notified, the Speaker, by this musty old rule, is compelled to order -the strangers to leave the House. Thirty years ago Daniel O'Connell -quarreled with the London <i>Times</i>, and that paper in revenge would not -print his speeches. O'Connell determined to be even with the journal, -and whenever he saw a <i>Times'</i> reporter in the gallery, he would cry -out, "Mr. Speaker, I beg to call your attention to the fact that -there are strangers in the gallery." Then the Speaker would order the -galleries cleared, and the <i>Times'</i> reporters had to take their note -books and march off disgusted. It was not long before the <i>Times</i> gave -in and stopped the fight, and O'Connell's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> speeches were reported with -fidelity. This has always been regarded as a joke of O'Connell's, but I -see that lately a Scotch member named Craufurd, who represents the town -of Ayr, and is also editor of the <i>Legal Examiner</i>, has been putting -O'Connell's joke in practice.</p> - -<p>Miss Florence Nightingale, Miss Lydia Beckett, and Miss Harriett -Martineau, as well as many other well known ladies, have been for -some time working with great zeal for the repeal of the act which -licenses prostitution in garrison towns. Many members of the House are -opposed to the repeal of the act, and consequently when the question -of repealing it came up in the House, and just as the debate had -opened, the member for Ayr, Mr. Craufurd, rose and said, "Mr. Speaker, -I beg to call your attention to the fact that there are strangers in -the gallery," pointing to the gallery where a few ladies had placed -themselves, for the purpose of hearing a question of so much moment to -their sex, discussed. The Speaker and many members urged Mr. Craufurd -not to look that way, and to permit the obnoxious persons to stay where -they were; but with Scotch obstinacy he insisted, and Mr. Bouverie -upheld him in it, saying, "I believe it is an undoubted rule of the -House, sir, that if an honorable member does notice the presence of -strangers, the galleries are cleared." Accordingly they were cleared; -the reporters, as well as the ladies, were put out, and then the debate -went on for several hours. At the close of this, the Prime minister, -Mr. Gladstone, got up and lectured Mr. Craufurd for his ill-timed -modesty, telling him that the feeling of the whole House was against -him. The debate was therefore adjourned, by a strong vote of 229 to 88, -to come up again in the presence of reporters, and most likely, of such -strangers of either sex as may choose to come in.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DUCAL HOUSES.</div> - -<p>The House of Lords is the Upper House of Parliament; in England all -bills that are born in the Commons have to be confirmed by the Lords -and signed by the Queen, before they become part of the statutory law -of the land. There are about four hundred of these legislators in the -House of Peers, for it must be understood that every nobleman does not -sit by right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> in the House of Lords. In many families the privilege is -hereditary, and generation after generation a family is represented by -the oldest son, who, on the death of his father, takes the seat made -vacant in the Lords. The highest rank of nobility in England is that of -Duke. There are eighteen nobles who enjoy the Ducal dignity in England, -two in Ireland, and six in Scotland. They are as follows:</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">English Dukes.</span>—Norfolk, Somerset, Richmond and Lennox, -Grafton, Beaufort, St. Albans, Leeds, Bedford, Devonshire, Marlborough, -Rutland, Manchester, Newcastle, Northumberland, Wellington, Buckingham -and Chandos, Sutherland, and Cleveland.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Irish Dukes.</span>—Leinster, Abercorn.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Scotch Dukes.</span>—Hamilton and Brandon, Buccleuch, Argyll, -Athole, Montrose, and Roxburghe.</p> - -<p>There is only one Duchess in her own right—the Duchess of Inverness, -which is a Scotch title. On state occasions Dukes wear velvet robes and -ducal caps of state, with strawberry leaves in gold.</p> - -<p>A stranger addressing one of these Dukes, has to begin his letter as -follows:</p> - -<p>"My Lord Duke, may it please your Grace." And in state proceedings a -Duke is styled "High, Puissant, and Noble Prince." There are Dukes -and Dukes. Dukes of the royal blood are still higher in rank than the -noble Dukes. The eldest son of the reigning monarch always bears the -title of "Prince of Wales." The eldest daughter is called the "Princess -Royal." This princess is married to the Crown Prince of Prussia. These -two dignitaries, according to court etiquette, are served by the -attendants, when at table, on bended knees with uncovered heads. Those -admitted to kiss their hands must also kneel. In the House of Lords, -when the Queen is present, the Prince of Wales, as heir apparent, sits -on the right hand of Her Majesty, while Prince Albert always sat on her -left hand. The younger sons of the Queen, when they are Peers, sit on -the left hand of the throne, but after the father dies, they sit below -the Wool Sack, (a huge fiery red bed-tick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> full of wool, on which the -Lord Chancellor takes it easy when the Lords are in session,) on the -bench assigned to the other Dukes.</p> - -<p>The Prince of Wales, when on his throne, wears a robe of ermine, a -cape of ermine, and a red velvet cap, with a gold tassel over a gold -crown, ornamented with pearls. The younger sons and daughters have no -diamonds, pearls, or crosses surmounting their diadems—unlike the -Prince of Wales.</p> - -<p>The three highest subjects after the Queen and the Royal Family in -England, are: First, The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. Second, The -Lord High Chancellor of England. Third, The Lord Archbishop of York. -The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is Primate of England, is styled in -public documents, and he also writes himself, "The most Reverend Father -in God, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, by Divine Providence." The -Archbishop of York signs himself, "By Divine Permission," as do all the -other Bishops. There are only two Ecclesiastical Provinces in England, -those of York and Canterbury, and two Archbishops. In the House of -Lords the Archbishops and Bishops, (excepting the Irish Bishops now -disfranchised,) sit as Spiritual Peers, and the two Archbishops wear -Ducal Coronets—the Bishops wearing fillets of gold on their heads, -with pearls and jewels. The Bishop of Sodor and Man, and the junior -Bishops have no seats in the House of Lords. A Bishop ranks next to a -Viscount. The nobility of Great Britain own three-fifths of the landed -property of the Kingdom, while starvation and want run riot in the land.</p> - -<p>England is studded with parks, villas, castles, game preserves, rabbit -warrens, trout streams and deer parks, all of which are held by right -of primogeniture. No poor man can enter these beautiful ancestral -domains, and the severest penal punishments are meted out to those poor -wretches who dare to infringe on the game laws.</p> - -<p>The English nobility are not cowardly or treacherous, but many of the -younger members are very corrupt, extravagant, and reckless, and no -doubt in time their order will pass away, for they are out of place in -this century.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">PRIVILEGES OF THE PEERS.</div> - -<p>England has nineteen Dukes, seventeen Marquises, one hundred and -three Earls, one Countess (widow of an Earl), nineteen Viscounts, one -Viscountess, and one hundred and fifty-two Barons.</p> - -<p>Ireland has two Dukes, twelve Marquises, sixty-four Earls, and sixty -Barons, besides twelve Viscounts. When three Irish Peers die in -succession without issue, one other Irish Peer is created to fill the -gap.</p> - -<p>Scotland has seven Dukes, four Marquises, forty-four Earls, five -Viscounts, and twenty-five Barons. The wife of a Duke is entitled -"Duchess," the wife of a Marquis "Marchioness," the wife of an Earl is -a "Countess," the wife of a Viscount is called a "Viscountess," and -the wife of a Baron enjoys the title of "Baroness." The better-half -of a Baronet, which is a title bestowed upon fat aldermen and rich -manufacturers—being a cheap order of knighthood, conferred by the -Queen, is called "My Lady This," or "My Lady That," as the case may be.</p> - -<p>The people of England are heartily tired of their nobility, and the -success of American principles upon this continent has a tendency -to cause the destruction of this social outrage upon the Nineteenth -Century.</p> - -<p>Peers, or members of the House of Lords, have many privileges which -others of noble blood do not enjoy. A Peer can only be tried for High -Treason or murder by his Peers, who compose the House of Lords, and the -trial takes place in a session of that body specially convened for that -purpose, after the fashion here described.</p> - -<p>The Peers having taken their seats in full, flowing robes, the Lord -Chancellor seats himself on the Woolsack in the middle of the House of -Lords, the Garter-King-at-Arms, in his gorgeous surcoat and tabard, -makes proclamation of the offences against the culprit Peer. The Lord -High Steward puts the question to each peer in his seat, after the -evidence has been heard;</p> - -<p>"Is the prisoner at the Bar Guilty or Not Guilty?"</p> - -<p>Then each Peer, rising, says, "Guilty," or, "Not Guilty upon my Honor," -as the case may be. A Peer cannot be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> taken into custody unless for -an indictable offence. This is also a parliamentary privilege of the -members of the House of Commons, who cannot be arrested for debt while -the House is in session, or while attending the proceedings, or going -to or from Parliament. An old custom of England allows a Peer, going to -or from Parliament, the privilege of killing one or two deer belonging -to the Sovereign, after he has blown a horn. This is very seldom done -now-a-days. A Peer cannot be bound over to keep the peace, excepting -in the Court of Queen's Bench. Slander against a Peer is known in the -courts as <i>scan. mag.</i> and is severely punishable.</p> - -<p>A Peer cannot lose his title of nobility excepting by death, or when -he has been attainted for High Treason. He is allowed to answer to a -bill in Chancery upon his word, and is not required to take an oath. -The Sovereign may degrade a Peer from his rank for wasting his estate, -as in the case of George Neville, Duke of Bedford, who had led a -dissolute life and had squandered all his fortune. He was deprived of -his title, honors, and possessions, by Edward IV, the latter being -forfeited to the Crown. If that precedent was followed in these times, -a great number of scampish young nobles would lose their titles and the -remnants of princely estates.</p> - -<p>Lately, I believe, Parliament has ordered it so that a Peer may be -proceeded against for debt, as in the case of the bankrupt Duke of -Newcastle. Besides all these manifold privileges, which exist for -the benefit of the nobility, the Diplomatic Service is chiefly for -their support, and here, as in the Foreign Office, fat sinecures are -available at all times, for the improvident and spendthrift nobles. -Some idea of the rich prizes of the Diplomatic Service may be got from -the following list of salaries of the different Ambassadors, Ministers, -and Charges d'Affaires, at the principal countries with which Great -Britain holds intercourse. The salaries I give are those of the -Ministers alone, not including the salaries of attaches, and they are -thus enumerated:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SALARIES OF AMBASSADORS.</div> - -<p>France, £10,000; Turkey, £8,000; Russia, £7,800; Austria, £8,000; -Prussia, £7,000; Spain, £5,000; United States,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> £5,000; Portugal, -£4,000; Brazil, £4,000; Netherlands, £3,600; Belgium, £3,480; Italy, -£5,000; Bavaria, £3,600; Denmark, £3,600; Sweden, £3,000; Greece, -£3,500; Switzerland, £2,500; Wirtemberg, £2,000; Argentine Republic, -£3,000; Central American Republics, £2,000; Chili, £2,000; Peru, -£2,000; Columbia, £2,000; Venezuela, £2,000; Ecuador, £1,400; Coburg, -£400; Dresden, £500; Darmstadt, £500; Rome, £800; Persia, £5,000; -China, £6,000; and Japan, £4,000.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail19.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail19" name="tail19"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE LONDON POLICE AND DETECTIVES.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap20.jpg" alt="A" /> <a id="icap20" name="icap20"></a></span>BOUT ten o'clock in the evening, the rain, which had been gathering -all day, came down in bucketfuls. The gutters ran like little rivers, -and on Lothbury and the Poultry, and on all the buildings behind the -Bank and over London Bridge there came down a hot steaming fog that -almost blinded, as the rain poured against the faces of those who had -to encounter the storm. The rain was hot, and the fog had a fetid, -sticky odor, that seemed like the breath of a graveyard, or a festering -corpse in an old vault on a hot July day.</p> - -<p>Down below, on the river, all was quiet among the noisy Wapping -boatmen, and the river below London Bridge looked gloomy and vast and -dangerous as the entrance to the shades of the Inferno. Now and then, -through the dense darkness and gloom which hung like a tissue over the -river, came a whistle, eldritch-like, from the funnel of some Greenwich -or Chelsea steamer, as she grated against the fishermen's barges, that -lay like huge floating carcasses out on the bosom of the dark river; -and anon came the hoarse, drunken shout of some intoxicated oyster -or herring navigator, who lay in the shadow of Billingsgate Market, -returned from some Flemish or Scotch port with a precious cargo of eels -or sprats. London, or the City, seemed deserted and lonely. The portal -of the Bank was as solemn as a churchyard.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE OLD JEWRY.</div> - -<p>The insurance offices in Bishopsgate and Broad streets, the -money-changers' and money-brokers' haunts in Leadenhall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> street, and -the merchants' desks in Cornhill and Gracechurch street, were forsaken. -A footfall seemed like an echo of past years, and while the water ran -in torrents in the gutters, and while misery haunted doorsteps and dark -passages, seeking shelter with dripping rags to hide its shame, the -stolid policemen walked their rounds and looked sharply through the -thick fog as cabs dashed by, for the West End, and the noise of the -horses' feet died away under the arch of Temple Bar.</p> - -<p>Where the Poultry, Bucklersbury, and Cheapside, form a junction, just -below the Mansion House, there is a little, narrow, and short street. -This street is called the "Old Jewry," and it has its outlet in Coleman -street and Moorgate street, which run in the direction of Finsbury -square. Behind the Old Jewry is Basinghall street, the Aldermanbury, -and Finsbury square. Then there are Milk street, Wood street, Botolph -street, Pudding lane, Fish street, Mark lane, Lime street, and Love -lane. In all these narrow causeways, dark passages, and crooked -sinuosities of brick, stone, and mortar, untold and uncounted wealth is -hidden away, safely behind bolts and bars.</p> - -<p>These tall, lowering warehouses, with their treasures of spices and -silks, ingots and bars of yellow metal, where guineas are shoveled -about all day as if they were plentiful as cherry-pits—have a dismal -effect this sloppy, stormy night. Then the Old Jewry has its memories, -some sorrowful and sad enough. Its very name a synonym for persecution -and torture, a relic of steel-clad days and roystering and merciless -nights, when the tribes of Israel were the playthings of the Gentiles -and unbelievers.</p> - -<p>Here, in this narrow lane, stood the proudest synagogue in all England -until the year of grace 1291, when the Jews were, by edict, expelled -the kingdom; and here came the Brothers of the Sack, a mendicant -order of friars, to take possession of the deserted temple, one sunny -May afternoon, when the orchards were blooming, and the linnets were -singing in Cheapside—now a mart of all the nations of mankind. And -then, in the natural order of things, came Sir Robert Fitzwalter on -another sunny afternoon, to dispossess the Brothers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> of the Sack; and -this doughty knight, having the ear of the then King, turned the monks -out, and they, invoking the displeasure of the Maker of all things -upon Knight Fitzwalter, banner-bearer to the city and the Lord Mayor -of London, left the convent and dispersed themselves severally and -sorrowfully, all over the by-paths and sequestered roads and nooks of -merry Old England.</p> - -<p>The Old Jewry is about two hundred and fifty feet long. Short passages, -that cannot be dignified by the title of lanes, jut off this narrow -street. High buildings loom up to the sky above the heads of the -passers-by, and the dome of mighty St. Paul's is hid away from the -vision.</p> - -<p>In this Old Jewry is a court-yard hidden away. There are jewelers' -shops, silk-mercers' shops, and chop-houses of the better class on -either side, and a man, in a blue cloth uniform of heavy fabric, walks -up and down, day and night, with a pasteboard helmet on his head. His -wrists are trimmed with bands of crimson and white flannel, and one row -of gilt brass buttons bifurcate his blue, close-fitting coat, and meet -to part no more at his throat and waist. The face of the man is homely, -and his black eyes burn under his helmet of a hat, and in the glare of -the street lamp. Not a soul stirring in the Old Jewry to-night but this -silent patrolman, who looks up and down the lane, now to Cheapside, -now over the roofs as if he would like to get a glimpse of St. Paul's, -whose bell booms with an affrighting suddenness and energy on the air, -through the beating rain and blinding fog.</p> - -<p>"Is this the Central Detectives' Office?" I ask of the helmeted patrol.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir. This 'ere is the Central Hoffis of the City of Lunnun; the -hother hoffis is down Scotland-yard way in Parliament street, hopposite -the Hadmiralty and the 'Oss Gy-a-ads."</p> - -<p>I find my way past the patrol, and around me I can see a court-yard -fifty by a hundred feet in size, and at either side a gas-lamp burns -dimly, and the wind whistles down from above, and the rain patters -unceasingly.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">RELICS OF CRIME.</div> - -<p>It is like a play-ground or school-yard, but there is in it the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> -quietness of a deserted church. Turning to the right, I ascend two -steps and enter a hall, where another morose-looking patrolman demands -my business.</p> - -<p>"Who do you want to see, sir? Oh, Hinspector Bailey. Well, sir, he is -werry busy just now; got a precious 'ard case to desect; but I'll take -your card and I'll try wot I can do."</p> - -<p>In a few minutes I am ushered into the presence of the chief detective -officer of the chief city of England. He sits in a room secluded from -the main rooms, and as I pass through a number of these chambers a -squad of men, who are sitting on chairs and lounges, look up at me -quietly for a second, and, not recognizing any one whom they "want," -drop their eyes immediately. The room in which Inspector Bailey sits -is not a large one, and there is no superfluity of furniture, but the -walls are covered with placards offering rewards for the apprehension -and conviction of criminals, murderers, forgers, and other runaways -from justice. Some of these are so curious that I must give a few of -them:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>RING STOLEN—£1 REWARD.</p> - -<p>A reward of £1 will be paid for information that shall lead to -the discovery of a gold ring, the setting in which was originally -arranged for a round stone, with about five small teeth or holders to -fix the same; the original stone having been lost it was replaced by -an oval or pear-shaped rose diamond, which was loose in the setting.</p> - -<p>The said ring was stolen from a warehouse in the city, on the 14th -inst.; and it is requested that any person hereafter offering it, for -pledge or sale, may be detained until the police are informed.</p> - -<p>Information to Inspector Bailey, City of London Police, Detective -Office, 26 Old Jewry: or to the officers on duty at any of the city -or metropolitan stations.</p> - - -<p>£1 10s. REWARD.</p> - -<p>TO CAB-DRIVERS, ATTENDANTS, AND OTHERS.</p> - -<p>INFORMATION WANTED.</p> - -<p>On Saturday, the 17th of April, 1869, about 4.45 in the afternoon, a -four-wheeled cab, took up at Messrs. Smith, Payne & Co.'s Bank, at -the end of King William street, near the Mansion House, a gentleman, -48 years of age, 5 feet 8½ inches high, dark brown hair, fresh -complexion, scanty whiskers, square build, and moderately stout; with -a dark-brown portmanteau, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> was put inside. He told the driver -to take him to Finsbury square and he would tell him the number -afterwards. £1 10<i>s.</i> reward will be paid on the required information -(as to his destination) being given to Inspector Bailey, City of -London Police, Detective Department, Old Jewry, E.C.</p> - -<p>London, 8th May, 1869.</p> - - -<p>£200 Reward.</p> - -<p>EMBEZZLEMENT.</p> - -<p>Absconded, on Friday, the 5th inst., from the employment of the Great -Central Gas Company, 28 Coleman street, London, Benjamin Higgs, -late of Tide-End House, Teddington, Middlesex. Description.—About -35 years of age, 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, black hair, mustache, -whiskers, and beard, pale complexion, slender build, gentleman-like -appearance. Generally dressed in black or dark clothes and brown -overcoat. Had a large-sized dark green-colored leather bag and a -small black bag.</p> - -<p>The said Benjamin Higgs is charged on a warrant with embezzling -a large sum of money belonging to the above company: and notice -is hereby given, that a reward of £100 will be paid to any person -who will give such information as shall lead to his apprehension; -and a further reward of £100 on recovery of the monies embezzled. -A photograph of Benjamin Higgs may be seen on application at the -principal police stations.</p> - -<p>Information to be given to Messrs. Davidson, Carr, and Bannister, -Solicitors, 22 Basinghall street, E.C., or to Inspector Bailey, City -of London Police, Detective Department, 26 Old Jewry, E.C.</p> - -<p>London, 18th March, 1869.</p></blockquote> - -<p>"So you would like to see London under its most unfavorable aspects. -You would like to scour it by day and night, Sir. Well, you have a big -job on hand, let me tell you, Sir," said a cheery voice which came from -behind a low desk. This was Inspector Bailey, a very English-looking -gentleman, with a ruddy oval face, reddish whiskers,—thick and neatly -trimmed, and wearing a dark-mixed suit of clothes. He had clear blue -eyes, this cheery-voiced inspector, and did not in any way give the -idea of a detective, he looked so jolly and well-fed, and there was -such a humorous, good-natured, twinkle in his eyes.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">MR. FUNNELL'S SECRET.</div> - -<p>"Well," said he, "let us see what's best to do for you, sir. I'll give -you the best men I have, and I can do no more. I suppose you want -to see St. Giles? Well, St. Giles is not what it once was. You see -they have been rooting up the worst holes, and the parish authorities -are quite active, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> three new streets have been opened, and a -great change has come over the place. But there's a terrible lot of -destitution and crime and misery in the City of London still, and you -can see it all if you have the heart for it. Send up Sergeant Moss," -said the Inspector to a messenger.</p> - -<p>Sergeant Moss came up from below stairs, a dark-eyed, thick-whiskered, -good-looking fellow of thirty-five years, dressed like a dissenting -minister, and trying to look very meek. Butter would not have melted in -Sergeant Moss's mouth. He wasn't "fly" to what was going on neither. -Oh, no!</p> - -<p>"Sergeant Moss, you will take this gentleman through Ratcliffe Highway -and Wapping, and show him the sailors' dens and the thieves who haunt -Lower Thames street. Give him the best chances you can, and look out -for Bill Blokey. He's down that way to-night, more nor likely, and if -you brought him in it would be no particular harm to him or you. We got -the trunk that he broke open and left behind. That will be your detail. -Send me Funnell up stairs."</p> - -<p>Mr. Funnell came. Mr. Funnell had a very huge beard, which hung down -on his chest like a door-mat, and a sharp eye for business. In fact, -he was all business, this cheerful Mr. Funnell. He was a first-class -detective in London. But he had hard feelings against New York. It was -no place for Mr. Funnell. Mr. Funnell confided to me a secret which I -will now give to my readers.</p> - -<p>"I wos wonst over in New York. That's a good many years ago. <i>That</i> was -a long time ago. Yes, a very long time ago, in Bob Bowyer's time, when -Bob was the topper, as we say. He wos the 'Awkshaw of the period, wos -Bob. I wos awfully innocent then, and Bob didn't take the right care of -me, and I fell into the hands of the Philistines. I went down one day -to Fulton Market; I think it's just opposite some ferry where you go -across, just like Southwark, and you can get very big oysters there. -Well, as I wos saying, I wos werry innocent, and as I wos walking -along, thinking of a good many things, when one of these fellows I -believe you call the gentry on your side 'heelers'—dropped a big fat -pocket-book at my feet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Now, mind you, I did not see him drop it, and that's where I was taken -in. That made the trouble for me. I had never seen anything of that -kind done in England, and of course the 'heeler' naturally insisted -that the pocket-book wos mine. I tried to argue with him that the -pocket-book wos not mine, but the more I argued that way the more he -persewered the other way. Well, I wos perswaded against my own ideas -that, perhaps, I might have lost a pocket-book, and the fellow wos -so blessed positive about it too. So I fell a wictim to the infernal -scoundrel, and gave him some money for the pocket-book, and, of course, -the money wos worth nothink, and Bob Bowyer could do nothing for me. -Ah, New York is a precious bad place.—So it is."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus57.jpg" alt="game" /> <a id="illus57" name="illus57"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE POCKET-BOOK GAME.</p> - -<p>"Well, now, Mr. Funnell, as you have done relating your sad -experiences, you will please do as I tell you. You will report to -our American friend, or, rather, he will report to you early in the -morning, and you will take him and show him Bil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>lingsgate Market before -daybreak. You are the best man for Billingsgate, I think, and you had -better attend to that detail."</p> - - - -<p>"I will meet him there or at the Fish Hill monument, at 5 o'clock in -the morning, if that will do, Sir."</p> -<div class="sidenote">"PIPING OFF."</div> -<p>"That will do very well," said the Inspector. "And now we want a man -for Smithfield. Who is a good man for Smithfield? Let me see," and the -Inspector tapped his forehead. "I think Ralfe will do for that. He -knows the Smithfield Market best, and he will show you everything, with -a knowledge of what he is doing. Let Ralfe come up, and Sergeant Scott -and Webb. I want to speak to them."</p> - -<p>Ralfe, or Dick Ralfe, as he was called, was a good-looking young -Englishman, who had not been long on the force, and who was in capital -health and spirits, having lately been detailed, for his quickness, to -special duty from the patrol to the Old Jewry.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Ralfe, you are good on Smithfield Market. Take this gentleman -there at 4 o'clock to-morrow morning. Meet him at the Smithfield -Police Station at 4 o'clock in the morning, and time your inspection -so that you will be able to catch Funnell at the Fish Hill Monument at -5 o'clock in the morning, so as to have him see the fish come in at -Billingsgate. And now, Sergeant Scott, you will show this gentleman -the Minories, Petticoat Lane, Bevis Marks, Houndsditch, and the Jews' -Quarters, but those you will have to take on another day, as you have -already a hard day's work before you. You had better see the market on -Sunday morning, one of the greatest sights in the world, sir, I assure -you, and the Rag Fair is also a grand show of the kind, I also assure -you; and now, Sergeant Webb, I will give our friend in your charge -when he has got through with the rest of them, and you and he can work -the City, I think. You will do the Bank and the Mansion House and -Newgate; and, let me see,—Funnell can take him to the Sessions and the -Old Bailey Courts; and he will have to go to Scotland-yard to do the -Borough of Westminster, as that is not in our jurisdiction. And now, -Sir, good morning, and don't carry a watch with you in the places where -you are going,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> for some of the people are not very moral or very pious -to get a look at. Good morning, Sir. Smithfield at 4 o'clock, Ralfe."</p> - -<p>Sergeant Webb was a tall, well-built man, in the prime of life, with -ruddy cheeks, and a look that resembled the expression usually worn by -Mr. Seward before he lost all chances for the presidency. His face was -smoothly shaved, and he looked as if he could assist with great dignity -at a banquet.</p> - -<p>Sergeant Scott was a man just above the middle height, with light brown -whiskers, and an easy, good-natured manner, who had a memory well -stored with anecdotes of "blokes," and "wires," and "dummies." He had, -also, choice stories of distinguished people who had, during their -lives, been known in the "faking" line, and could have pointed me out a -number of pals who were celebrated in the "kinchin lay" for snatching -"wipes" and "grabbing tanners" and "browns" from little children when -they were sent to the shops for bread or milk.</p> - -<p>At the back of the apartment in which the detectives were assembled -to receive orders, stood a short, thick-set looking young man, with -an amber moustache and goatee. His eyes were blue and his complexion -very fair. He was dressed in a quiet manner, and nodded to each of the -detectives as they passed out into the court of the Old Jewry. This -was Jim Irving, the celebrated American detective, who had apprehended -Clement Harwood, the great forger, just as he was about to land in New -York, and he was now waiting the trial of the accused which was to take -place at the Mansion House.</p> - -<p>"Jim" was already quite familiar with the City of London, although he -had been in it but a few days. He was, of course, rather astonished, -at the quiet, old-fashioned way, that the English detectives had with -them of waiting for a thief until he came and gave himself up. But he -was very much charmed with a gorgeous seal-skin vest, for which he gave -five guineas.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">POLICE DIVISIONS.</div> - -<p>Seventy-five years ago, London had not more than sixty-eight policemen -or constables, and the present admirable system of Police is all owing -to the clear head and sagacious mind of Sir Robert Peel, who first -organized it about thirty-five years ago. The old local watch of the -city consisted of the Bow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> street force of sixty-eight men, and the -parish beadles, constables, headboroughs, street keepers, and watchmen, -in the several wards of the City, and in many cases these so-called -officers of the peace were rascals of the worst description, in league -with thieves and prostitutes.</p> - -<p>It is said that a Mr. George Vincent Dowling, (who was editor of -"Bell's Life" at the time,) gave Sir Robert Peel the first idea of -the present organization, which consists of a Board of three Police -Commissioners, a chief Superintendent, 25 Sub-Superintendents, 136 -Inspectors, 700 sergeants, and over 7,000 policemen. 4,000 men are on -duty in the day-time and 3,000 in the night time. During the day they -are never allowed to cease patrolling, being forbidden even to sit -down. They wear dark-blue pilot woven short frock coats, buttoned up to -the neck, trousers of the same material, with brass buttons on the coat -and a pasteboard helmet covered with black rough felt.</p> - -<p>The Police Districts are mapped out into divisions, the divisions -into sub-divisions, the sub-divisions into sections, and the sections -into beats, all being numbered and carefully defined. To every beat, -certain policemen are detailed, specifically, and they are provided -with little slips of pasteboard, on which are printed the routes they -are to take. So thoroughly has this management been perfected, that -every street, lane, road, alley, and court, within the Metropolitan -District—that is, the whole of the metropolis—(excepting that part in -a radius of three-quarters of a mile from St. Paul's, which is called -the City of London Proper)—including the County of Middlesex, and all -the parishes, 220 in number, in the Counties of Surrey, Kent, Essex, -and Hertfordshire, which are not more than 15 miles from Charing Cross -in any direction, comprising an area of about 700 square miles, and 90 -miles in circumference, and with a population of 3,500,000,—is visited -constantly, day and night, by some of the police. Within a circle -of six miles from St. Paul's, the beats are traversed in periods of -time varying from twenty to fifty minutes, and there are some points, -such as the Bank, the Mint, the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Abbey of -Westminster, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Horse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> -Guards, and the Inns of Court, which are never free from inspection for -a single moment.</p> - -<p>There are 130 police stations in the metropolis, and by a telegraph -signal a Police Commissioner at White Hall, in Parliament street, which -is contiguous to Scotland Yard,—the headquarters of the Metropolitan -Detective force, who are separated in their duties from the Old Jewry -or City of London Detective force,—can concentrate in an hour and a -half as many as 6,000 men for instant duty. This vast force, each man -receiving but three shillings to three and sixpence a day, is really -under a wonderful control. Each officer has to walk twenty miles a day -in his rounds beside attending the police courts, which is equal to -five miles in addition. 98,000 persons were arrested in one year—1869, -of which number 40,000 were discharged. The cost of the Metropolitan -Police for one year was about £525,000, and the City Police, for the -same term, £60,000—the City Police numbering 700, the Metropolitan -force nearly 7,000.</p> - -<p>The expenses of the Police Courts, for 1869, was £88,240, including the -salary of one Magistrate at £1,500 a year, and thirty other Magistrates -at £1,200 a year, each. Sixty pounds and six shillings were expended -for rattles, swords, and clubs, in the same time. The City Corporation -are allowed, by act of Parliament, to have their own Police and -Commissioners in the heart of the metropolis, or City proper. There -is, besides, a "Horse Patrol" for public occasions; eight hundred -of which were on duty on the day of the Oxford and Harvard race; a -"Thames River" Police, the "Westminster Constabulary," and a "Police -Office Agency," for recovery of stolen goods. Before the establishment -of the Thames Police, in 1797, the annual loss by robberies alone -on the river, was £750,000 a year, the depredators having various, -curious names, such as "River Pirates," "Light" and "Heavy Horsemen," -"Mud-larks," "Capemen," and "Scuffle-hunters."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">RIVER THIEVES.</div> - -<p>They were frequently known to weigh a ship's anchor, hoist it with -the cable into a boat, and when discovered, to hail the captain, tell -him of his loss, and row away cheerily. They also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> would cut shipping -and lighters adrift, run them ashore and then clean them out. Many of -the "Light Horsemen" cleared as much as thirty pounds a night, and -an apprentice to a "mock-waterman" often kept his saddle horse and -country seat. During the first year of the Thames Police, the saving to -the West India merchants alone amounted to £150,000, and 2,200 river -thieves were convicted during that time, of misdemeanor.</p> - -<p>In those days, the magnificent docks which are now the chief ornament -of London, had not been built with their high walls to keep out the -swarming thieves who haunted the shipping.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail20.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail20" name="tail20"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">HUNTING THE SEWERS.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap21.jpg" alt="H" /> <a id="icap21" name="icap21"></a></span>IDDEN in the bosoms of the sewers of every Great City lies a world of -romance. The secrets of thousands of human beings, with their hopes -and aspirations, their defeats and disappointments, are garnered, in -the relics of myriad households, whose rubbish is shot through drains, -to be imbedded in the accumulated masses at the bottom of the soggy -sewerage.</p> - -<p>London has two thousand miles of bricked sewers, and the entire -metropolis is honey-combed by these effluvious passages.</p> - -<p>These sewers are, of course, choked with refuse and swarming with rats -and other pestiferous vermin, by night and day, and are pervaded with -noxious gases, which, when inhaled, cause almost instantaneous death. -The rats grow as big as kittens in the sewers, and will face strong, -healthy men, and give them combat—in legions. The rats feed on offal -from the butchers' slaughter houses, which is poured into the sewers, -and they also subsist on the grain which comes from the breweries, in -different parts of the city.</p> - -<p>Twenty years ago, the main sewers of London, having their outlets on -the river side, were completely open, and it was lawful to enter them -to search for valuables, but since then so many people have died of -the gases, or have lost themselves in their noxious recesses, that -a law was at last passed, by which persons entering the sewers to -explore them, unless they were employed as workmen, became amenable to -imprisonment, and at present the law is strictly enforced.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">SEWER HUNTERS.</div> - -<p>Formerly, when the spring tides in the Thames began, it was of common -occurrence for the waters to dash into the sewers, sweeping everything -in their way, and very often engulfing the workmen, or others engaged -illegally in searching the sewers; and days after one of these tidal -floods had occurred bodies of drowned and disfigured men would be -vomited from the mouths of the sewers.</p> - -<p>Now, however, this is changed, and hanging iron doors, with hinges, are -affixed to the mouths of the sewers, and are so arranged that when the -tides are low the iron doors are forced open by the rubbish and wet -refuse which is emptied into the Thames, and when the tides rise the -volume of water forces the doors back, and the river cannot enter the -sewers.</p> - -<p>There are two or three hundred men in London, who earn a living by -working in the sewers. These men, though there is a law against the -practice, search the sewers, night and day, for old iron, rope, -metal, money, or whatever is of value to the finder. They are called -"Toshers," or "Shore-men," and are, in some things, very like the -"mud-larks," who frequent the river sides.</p> - -<p>Some of these men are very fortunate at times, and succeed in obtaining -good prizes from the black, stinking mud of the sewers. Gold watches, -silver milk-jugs, breast-pins, bracelets, and gold rings, are obtained -by them. These sewer hunters, however, do not trouble themselves to -collect coal, wood, or chips, as is the case with the mud-larks. There -are better prizes for them, and accordingly, they do not waste their -time on such trifles.</p> - -<p>The Sewer-Hunter, before penetrating a sewer, provides himself with -a pair of canvas trousers, very thick and coarse, and a pair of old -shoes, or high-topped boots—the higher the legs the better. The coat -may be of any material, only it must be of heavy fabric, and there are -large pockets in the sides, where articles may be crammed at will.</p> - -<p>They carry a bag on their backs, these sewer-hunters, and in their hand -a pole, seven or eight feet long, on one end of which is fastened a -large iron hoe to rake up rubbish.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p> - -<p>Whenever they think the ground is unsafe, or treacherous, they test it -with the rake, and steady their steps with the staff.</p> - -<p>Should a Sewer-Hunter find himself sinking in a quag-mire, he -immediately throws out the long pole, armed with the hoe, and seizes -the first object in the sewer, to hold himself up. In some places, had -the searcher no pole, he would sink, and the more he tried to extricate -his person, the deeper he would imbed his body.</p> - -<p>Use is made of the pole to rake the mud for iron, copper, or bones, and -occasionally the rake turns up the remains of a human being, who may -have perished in those fetid cells. Great skill is necessary in the -hunter, to know always when the tide leaves and comes, so as to enable -him to find articles at certain points.</p> - -<p>The brick work in many parts is rotten, especially in old sewers, and -there is great risk in traversing the channels, as sometimes, when the -sewers are being flooded from the dams erected at stated intervals, -the passage is flooded to a height of three feet, very suddenly, and -if the Sewer-Hunter be not notified the first intimation of his danger -is given by a thundering, rushing sound, and before he can escape the -waters are upon him, and he is enveloped by them or hurled down with -tremendous force, and swept along for miles in darkness, and filth, and -despair, cut off from all human aid, no ear to hear his shouts, and no -hand stretched forth to save.</p> - -<p>In some places where the arches are unsafe, he will not dare to touch -any part of the roof of the sewers, or the sides, fearing that he may -be buried beneath the ruins. The main sewers are generally five feet -high from floor to ceiling, but the branch sewers are much lower, and -it is necessary to crawl on hands and knees to proceed. In the main -sewers, there are niches built in the brick walls of some depth, with a -raised platform, and the hunters always step into one of those when the -sewers are being flooded, to clean them.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">AN UNLAWFUL BUSINESS.</div> - -<p>Rats, unless in great numbers, will not attack a man if he passes them -quietly, but if driven to a corner they will fly at the intruder's -face and legs in hundreds. A bite from one of these rats will swell a -man's face or arms to an enormous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> size. The men who are employed as -"flushers" to clean the sewers wear leather boots, the legs of which -come up to the hips, and of thick leather, and when the rats make -an attack on these men, they always flash their lanterns, which are -fastened to leather belts around their waists, and this frightens the -vermin away, as they are not accustomed to light, and will flee from -it if not molested. The big leather boots of the "flushers" cannot be -bitten through by the rats.</p> - -<p>The trenches or water-tanks for the cleansing of the sewers, are -chiefly on the south side of the Thames, and as a proof of the great -danger incurred by sewer-hunters from these floods of water suddenly -let in on them, I am told that when a ladder was put down a sewer from -the street some years ago, on which a hod-carrier was descending with a -hod of brick, the rush of water from the sluice struck the ladder, and -instantly, ladder, hod-carrier, and all, were swept away, and afterward -the poor man was found at the mouth of the sewer, all battered, torn, -bruised, and dead.</p> - -<p>Whenever a Sewer-Hunter passes through a sewer under a street grating, -he is compelled to close his lantern, else the reflection of the -light through the grating would call the attention of the police, and -he would be taken before a magistrate. Dogs are never taken through -the sewers, for the same reason, as their barking would be noticed, -although they would be an excellent defense against the rats.</p> - -<p>Occasionally skeletons of unfortunate cats have been found in the -sewers, their bones completely cleared of flesh, and nothing but a -little fur remaining. I should pity the cat that strayed into a sewer, -as they do occasionally from house-drains and cesspools.</p> - -<p>As the Sewer-Hunters go along in the sewers, they often pick money from -between the crevices of the brick-work, and now and then a handful of -sovereigns have been taken from these crevices. Sometimes a small pick -is needed to recover metals or money from the crevices where they are -wedged.</p> - -<p>One man told me that he found a small leather bag with two hundred -sovereigns and some shillings in it, that had no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> doubt been washed out -from a drain. He said that he had often found money, and that he was -well satisfied with his luck in general. He had been for twenty years -searching the sewers, and had amassed considerable property. He told me -his story as follows:</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus58.jpg" alt="sewer" /> <a id="illus58" name="illus58"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE SEWER-HUNTER.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">A RAT STORY.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"The first night, ye know, that I went into a sewer, I had a pal -with me, as is dead now. Steve Williams was his name—God rest -his soul. I felt afeered when I went in and got lost two or three -times, but Steve allers found me agin by hollering at me. I got the -greatest fright that night I ever got in my life. We were somewhere -in a sewer in old Smithfield, and there must have been a distillery -somewhere there, for when I turned out of the main sewer into a -branch one, I saw by the light of the lantern a thick steam beyond -me. I was a little ahead of Steve, who had just got a haul of two -silver table-knives and a watch chain of goold, and he was looking at -the haul he made when I saw the steam a fillin of the sewer. I went -along, when I got near it my head begun to get dizzy, and I fell back -on my shoulders into the sewer. I got drunk in the steam from the -distillery,—that's what ailed me—and it was so sudden like, that I -would have lost my life if Steve hadn't been there.</p> - -<p>"Well, Steve saved my life agin the same night. We were pretty near -the mouth of the sewer on the Thames, near Wapping, where we had a -boat to take us off, for in those times the peelers never meddled -with us like they does now.</p> - -<p>"Well, there was one place very ticklish in the sewer, that Steve had -cautioned me about, and this place was all broken and in holes, and -it was chuck full of rats. When we came by I was foolish enough to -turn the light of my lantern on the broken place in the sewer, and -sure enough, there was a reglar colony o' rats in a room—keeping -house,—about two thousand of them—with a hall-way and a room gnawed -out of the bricks, as large as the room I live in at home. There -they were, all stuck together, with their eyes a glarin at me like -winkin, and they all in a heap as big as a horse and cart. I never -seed such a sight in my life. Steve told me to come on, and I was -going, for the rats never said a word all the time, but looked at me -and squealed—but just as I was turning around after Steve my foot -slipped and I fell, and the lantern dropped into a pool and went out.</p> - -<p>"I must have frightened the rats, for there was an awful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> squealing -and scampering—but they didn't all run away, for I found a hundred -of them fastened on my hands, legs, face, and body, when I fell. You -may be sure I hollowed and yelled, for I wasn't used to these vermin -then, and the more I hollowed and beat them, the more they squealed -and bit me.</p> - -<p>"In a few minutes Steve came running back with his lantern, and -seeing I was down and couldn't get up, he drove at them with his pole -and killed half a dozen of them, and then they left me and jumped at -him. Then we went at it for a couple of minutes, battling for our -lives, and when we did beat them off we were bitten all over our -bodies. I am sure if it warnt for Steve and his lantern that time, -I should have been eaten up by the rats. You see, Sir, they thought -when I stumbled and fell that I attacked them, for I found out since -that they never begin first if they can help it."</p></blockquote> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail21.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail21" name="tail21"></a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">BACCHUS AND BEER.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap22.jpg" alt="I" /> <a id="icap22" name="icap22"></a></span>T is an undeniable fact, that the English are the greatest -beer-drinking people in the world. The assertion may be disputed in -favor of the Germans (and their beverage, lager bier,) but who can -compare the thin resinous beer of Munich and Vienna with the heavy -bodied, soporific, and sinewy London pale ale, Edinburgh ale, or -Guiness Brown Stout, that has ever drank the latter malt liquors.</p> - -<p>To believe in his native beer is a necessary part of the Englishman's -religion, and it is with the proverbial Briton a trite saying, when an -exile at Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Madrid, Constantinople, St. -Petersburg, or Calcutta,</p> - -<p>"You cawnt get a glass of hale in this blessed country—you knaw. You -hawvent got the 'ops you knaw, and ye cawnt make it ye knaw."</p> - -<p>English literature and English poetry are full of beer and redolent of -malt and hops, from Chaucer and Shakespeare down to the present day. -Tom Jones, Roderick Random, the Spectator, the Tatler, the Guardian, -Fielding, Hume, Smollett, Pope, Addison, Dryden, Goldsmith, and Samuel -Johnson, never let slip a chance to prove the virtues and efficacy of -beer, and 'Alf and 'Alf.</p> - -<p>It was in a room in Barclay & Perkins' brewery in Southwark, then owned -by Mr. Thrale, that Samuel Johnson, (who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> if he was an obstinate, -dogged, and overbearing old rascal,—yet was the father of modern -English,) wrote the famous English Dictionary, and when Mr. Thrale -died, Johnson being one of his executors, the property was sold to the -Barclay & Perkins of that day for the sum of £135,000. The present -brewery encloses fifteen acres of buildings and vats, and is the -largest in the world but one.</p> - -<p>The tribes that came from India and settled in Germany, to which -Tacitus refers, were the first to introduce beer into Europe. The -descendants of these long haired, fair skinned tribes, were long after, -(in the sixteenth century,) the first to teach the English brewers the -use of hops, for the people of England, of that day, made their beer -after the manner of the ancient Egyptians, by the admixture of herbs, -broom, and berries of the bay and ivy.</p> - -<p>In 1585, there were twenty-six brewers in London and Westminster, who -brewed in that year 648,960 barrels of beer, and, six years after, they -exported 24,000 barrels of beer to the Low Countries and Dieppe. In -1643, the first excise duty was imposed on beer. In 1722, the brewers -stored their beer to keep it mellow, for the first time, and sold it -to all house-keepers to be retailed at three-pence a pot—holding over -a pint. In 1869, 500,000 barrels of beer, valued at £1,800,000, were -exported from London to foreign places, being one-fourth of the total -amount that was exported during the same time from other ports in -England.</p> - -<p>British India took 201,000 barrels, Australia and New Zealand, 148,000 -barrels, China, 35,000 barrels, Cape of Good Hope, 15,000, British West -Indies, 30,000 barrels, Spain took 209 barrels, Brazil, 15,000 barrels, -Russia, 6,000, and France 7,000 barrels.</p> - -<p>Barclay and Perkins employ a capital of £2,000,000 annually in their -trade, and 300 huge horses, brought from Flanders, at a cost of from -£60 to £100 each. These horses consume 9,000 quarter hundreds of oats, -beans, or other grain, 900 tons of clover, and 290 tons of straw for -litter. The manure hops that are spent, and other refuse, are taken -by a Railway Company.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> There are five partners in the house; the firm -being worth £8,000,000, and the head brewer receives a salary of £2,000 -a year.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">CATS ON GUARD.</div> - -<p>The water used for brewing purposes is that of the Thames, pumped by -a steam engine, on the same ground where Shakespeare's Globe Theatre -stood three hundred years ago. One hundred and fifty thousand gallons -of beer can be brewed from this water, daily. There are two engines -of 100 horse power each, which are nearly a hundred years old. The -furnace shaft is 19 feet below the surface and 110 above it. The malt -is carried from barges at the river-side, by porters, and deposited in -enormous bins, each of the height and depth of a three-story house. -Rats are fond of malt, but to keep them off a staff of sixty large cats -are constantly employed on the premises, and all these cats are under -the supervision of a big-headed or chief cat, with a long moustache and -Angola blood.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus59.jpg" alt="cats" /> <a id="illus59" name="illus59"></a></p> -<p class="caption">CATS RECEIVING RATIONS.</p> - -<p>It is quite a sight to witness the anxious solicitude of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> Chief -Cat for the honor of the house of Barclay & Perkins, and for the -discipline of his subordinate cats, the chief being a Thomas of the -purest breed.</p> - -<p>Thirty-six tons of coal per day are used here for brewing purposes, and -the malt is stored in a huge room, with light windows, called the Great -Brewhouse, built entirely of iron and brick. There is no continuous -floor, but looking upwards, whenever the steaming vapor rises, there -may be seen, at various heights, stages, platforms, and flights of -stairs, all occupied by the Cyclopean piles of brewing vessels.</p> - -<p>There are also huge buildings next to the brewhouse, with cooling -floors, into which is pumped the "hot Wort," as it is called, or beer. -The surface of the floor in one of these buildings is 10,000 feet -square, and I saw men with gigantic wooden shoes swimming about in this -beer, which looked like a vast lake. The beer is sometimes cooled by -passing it through a refrigerator which has contact with a stream of -cold spring water. The cold beer is then allowed to ferment in vast -rooms or squares, as large as an ordinary block of houses,—which are -made to hold 2,000 barrels. It is a strange sight to look at one of -these lakes of beer, the yeast rising in masses like coral reefs in -a southern sea,—upon the surface of the water, and these rock-like -elevations yield, after the force of the yeast is spent, to the -slightest wind, giving it the appearance of a vast ocean of beer in a -storm. There is one huge vat for porter that will hold 5,000 gallons, -which at selling price is worth £12,000. The Great Tun of Heidelberg -holds but half of this quantity. One thousand quarter-hundreds of malt -are brewed daily by Barclay & Perkins.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE GREAT PORTER TUN.</div> - -<p>The great rival house to that of Barclay & Perkins, is that of Hanbury, -Buxton & Co., in Brick-Lane, Spitalfields, covering eight acres; in -which 275,000 gallons of water are used daily, obtained from a well 530 -feet deep;—600,000 barrels of beer are brewed here annually. There are -150 vats, the largest of which contains 3,000 barrels, or about 100,000 -gallons of beer. There are eight brewing coppers, three of which are -capable of containing 800 barrels each. 700 quarters of malt can be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> -mashed at one time in six mash tubs;—10,000 tons of coal are used -annually, and there are 200 huge horses, each horse consuming 42 pounds -of food per day, or about 2,500,000 pounds per annum.</p> - -<p>There is a library with 5,000 volumes, a billiard-room, reading-room, -and savings-bank, on the premises, with a benefit Club for the workmen, -each member paying sixpence a week, and receiving fourteen shillings -a week in case of sickness; and on the death of his wife, £8, and in -the event of his own death the family receives £18. Two companies of -volunteers were raised from the 800 employees of the firm, and the men -are allowed one holiday in a fortnight.</p> - -<p>The brewery of Mr. Salt, at Burton-on-Trent, has been established for -eighty years, and brews annually 25,000 barrels of that peculiarly -strong and bitter ale.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus60.jpg" alt="tun" /> <a id="illus60" name="illus60"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE GREAT PORTER TUN.</p> - -<p>In London it is calculated that about 6,500,000 barrels of ale, beer, -and porter, are brewed annually, valued at about £20,000,000, and I -think I am therefore correct in calling the English a beer-drinking -people.</p> - -<p>Everybody drinks beer in London. You can see laborers and dockmen -sitting on benches outside of public houses, swilling what they call -swipes, at two pence a pot. So if you drink at a Club you will see men -as eminent as Mr. Bright, or Mr. Disraeli, calling for a "pint of Bass' -East India Ale," or "a bottle of Stout." Even in work-houses beer is -kept on tap,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> and were the paupers to be deprived of their beer, they -would, I believe, rise and annihilate their masters. A quart bottle of -good beer or porter can be got anywhere in London for sixpence, and -of all the beverages that I have ever tasted, I never found anything -to equal in fragrance a drink of good London "Brown Stout" on a warm -summer day. A man may procure as much good beer as he can drink at a -draught, for three pence, in London, at any public house or restaurant, -and it is the common custom with the Cockneys to have it at every meal, -and also between meals.</p> - -<p>They have also a fashion in large parties among the working and middle -classes, of ordering what is called a "Queen Ann," which is simply -three pints of beer in a large, brightly burnished metal pot with a -handle, and the man who calls for it having paid, takes a drink, then -wipes the edge of the pot with the cuff of his coat-sleeve, to remove -the foam from his lips,—then passes it to his wife, sweetheart or -his eldest child, who each in turn drink and wipe the edge of the -measure; then it is passed to the stranger, and all around the board, -each person being careful to wipe the "pewter" in the same fashion. -This custom seems rather strange and savage at the first sight to an -American, but it is the custom of the country, and therefore cannot be -quarreled with.</p> - -<p>Benjamin Franklin, as we learn by his diary, was disgusted by the -beer-swilling Londoners. When a journeyman printer in London before -1776, he says—"I drank only water; the other workmen, near fifty in -number, were drinkers of beer. We had an alehouse boy who attended -always in the house to supply workmen. My companion at the press drank -every day, a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread -and cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint at dinner, a -pint in the afternoon about six o'clock, and another pint when he had -done his work. I thought it a detestable custom, but it was necessary, -he supposed, to drink <i>strong</i> beer, that he might be <i>strong</i> himself. -He had four or five shillings to pay out of his wages every week for -the detestable liquor."</p> - -<p>This is pretty strong testimony from Franklin, and I find<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> that -although he frequented alehouses in London, where all the men of wit -and learning of the time were to be found, yet he never indulged in -beer.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">QUANTITY DRANK IN LONDON.</div> - -<p>Any foreigner passing through a London street which is inhabited by -working men and their families, or in the neighborhood of factories or -other industrial establishments, if the period of the day be between -twelve and one o'clock, or just after twelve, cannot fail to notice -a sudden commotion and rush of men, women, and half naked children, -with jugs, pewter measures, tin cans, and earthen vessels, to the -neighboring tap-room or beer-house. All this large multitude are in -quest of beer for the noonday meal.</p> - -<p>At noon and night the pot boys of the innumerable beer-shops may be -seen carrying out the quarts and pints daily received by those families -who do not choose to lay in a stock or store of their own beer, or the -mothers and children of the same families, to whom the half-penny given -to the pot boy is a matter of consequence, may be seen journeying to -the beer-conduits themselves, and the drinking goes on from morning -until night, among truckmen, coal heavers, street pavers, mechanics in -the "skittle grounds," medical students in the hospitals, law students -in the Inns of Court, and "swells" in taverns.</p> - -<p>From the gray of the morning until the hour of dark, you may see in -the London streets those large drays, larger horses, huge draymen, and -large casks of beer, ever present and never absent from the Londoner's -eyes. Go down to the Strand, that street which borders the river, and -you will see the same drays and Flemish horses emerging from the huge -brewery gates, preparatory to carrying barrels of beer to tap-houses, -and nine-gallon casks, the weekly allowance of a private London family, -to dwelling-houses.</p> - -<p>A competent authority has estimated that each and every inhabitant of -London will drink, averaging young and old—80 gallons of beer in the -year. The population is 3,500,000.</p> - -<p>Therefore, Great is Beer, and Barclay and Perkins are its prophets.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">HARVARD AGAINST OXFORD.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap23.jpg" alt="S" /> <a id="icap23" name="icap23"></a></span>ELDOM—perhaps not twice in a hundred years, had such a night of -excitement been known in London as that which ushered in the morning -of the Twenty-Seventh of August, 1869, the ever-memorable day on which -a million of half-crazy people were to witness the Great University -Boat Race between Oxford and Harvard. This race, it was universally -declared, would forever settle the mooted question of British pluck -and American endurance, by twenty-five minutes hard pulling in two -four-oared boats on the River Thames, between Putney and Mortlake.</p> - -<p>The boasted phlegm of the English race had, as it were, disappeared -before the touchstone of national rivalry, and prince, peer, peasant, -and cabman alike felt that the honor of England was in the hands of Mr. -Darbishire's Oxford crew.</p> - -<p>For weeks before the race came off, the London shopkeepers, mercers, -haberdashers, and drapers, had illuminated windows and doorways with -neck-ties, scarfs, shoe-buckles, ribbons, silks, and hosiery, and with -the greatest commercial impartiality, these articles that I have named, -with a hundred others that I cannot recollect, had been made to assume -the modest hues of the Oxford Dark Blue, and the blazing brilliancy of -the Harvard Magenta. The merits of the men of both Universities had -undergone the severest mental and conversational scrutiny in every part -of the metropolis.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">POLICE ARRANGEMENTS.</div> - -<p>In a great city with a population of over three millions of Englishmen, -it was but natural and just that Oxford should hold high ascendancy, -and that Oxford favors should be worn almost exclusively, and that the -superiority of Oxford rowing, should be with high and low a question of -orthodoxy. Night settled down on the myriad roofs and church steeples -of London, and ten young lads, down at the little village of Putney, -with its narrow streets and old-fashioned church, braced themselves, -before going to sleep, for the greatest athletic conflict that the -Nineteenth century has known.</p> - -<p>The sun broke over the London housetops on that eventful Friday -morning, the Twenty-Seventh of August, with unusual brilliancy for an -English sun. The weather had not been of the most promising kind for -some days previous, and it was feared that the day might turn out a -foggy or a rainy nuisance, and thus interfere with the pleasure which -so many countless thousands had promised themselves in witnessing the -race. London was astir at an early hour, and great crowds filled the -streets in the direction of the railroad stations on the Surrey side -of the river, and in the vicinity of the numerous steamboat wharves, -for the purpose of securing an early transportation to the scene of the -conflict.</p> - -<p>At 9 o'clock the stations of the Northwestern, the Metropolitan, -and the London and Northwestern Railways—at Waterloo, Vauxhall, -Clapham Junction, Wadsworth, Putney, Ludgate Hill, London and -Blackfriars Bridges, Euston, Chalk Farm, Hammersmith, Paddington, and -Westminster—were swarming with masses of men, women, and children, -vainly endeavoring, struggling, pushing, and trying to obtain -precedence of each other, in order to get tickets to be carried to -the boat race. The different railway companies of London, in order to -accommodate the tremendous number of spectators, had suspended their -regular traffic and agreed to run excursion trains all day steadily -until an hour before the race.</p> - -<p>The Thames Conservancy Board, which has the power to clear the river -and prevent obstructions from delaying the race, had worked manfully, -and by great exertions had succeeded in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> making every steamboat captain -and owner on the river know that he would be compelled by force to -remain above Putney Bridge, where the race was to begin, on penalty of -£20 fine; and if rash enough to run the risk of fine, the police were -to seize the offending steamer and quench her fires, and thus prevent -further locomotion.</p> - -<p>One steamboat speculator had been selling tickets at two guineas a head -for the steamer Venus, and had declared openly that he would pay the -fine of £20 and run the boat anyhow, despite the authorities of the -river and the police who swarmed, in hundreds of small boats and tiny -steam launches, all over the broad surface of the Thames.</p> - -<p>When the steamer Venus came down to Putney Bridge, however, she was -stopped very quickly, and her cheated passengers were forced to remain -on board and witness the start, but the steamer was fastened at anchor -and could no farther go. Passengers by this unlucky boat, who were -unable to stand the broiling sun for four or five hours, debarked at -Putney, and consoled themselves with mutton chops and bitter beer at -the Star and Garter. Formerly, at the University races between Oxford -and Cambridge, there was not only danger that the race itself would be -interrupted, or perhaps lost, by the reckless rushing to and fro of the -innumerable steamers that were sure to follow the progress of the boats -towards Mortlake, but it was also very unsafe for passengers in small -boats, wherries, or launches, to venture on the river, owing to the -manner in which the steamers dashed to and fro at the bidding of the -eager captains.</p> - -<p>But the assertions in some of the American newspapers, that the Harvard -crew would meet with foul-play from some scoundrel or other who might -employ money to influence a master of one of those vessels, had aroused -a determined energy among the members of the Thames Conservancy -Board, and the result was a clear river, in one sense, from Putney to -Mortlake, for the two crews.</p> - -<p>When I say in one sense, I mean that the channel of the river was -kept clear of steamboats and skiffs alike; but, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> the steamers -were not allowed inside of the chains stretched across at Putney and -Mortlake, thousands of every description of small craft lined the river -for a space of five miles on both sides, on the Surrey and Middlesex -shores,—but out of the path where the race-boats were to make the -essay for superiority.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THOMAS HUGHES, M.P.</div> - -<p>But two steamboats were allowed to follow the crews, and one of these -was the steamer Lotus, engaged to carry the referee, Mr. Thomas Hughes, -M.P., author of "Tom Brown at Oxford," "School Days at Rugby," and -other well-known and popular books—Besides the umpire for each crew, -the judge of the race, Sir Aubrey Paul, and a number of ladies and -gentlemen specially invited. Besides this boat there was also the -steamboat Sunflower, chartered for the use of the press of London and -for the benefit of American correspondents in London, by one of the -editors of <i>Bell's Life</i>. These two boats were never more than fifty -yards to the rear of the Oxford and Harvard shells during the progress -of the race.</p> - -<p>At half past 1 o'clock the press boat had been advertised to leave -the Temple Pier for the scene of the race. Taking a cab at the head -of Regent street, I had a good opportunity to observe the streets and -shops and numerous vehicles. Of the six or seven thousand cabs which -are to be found at the different stands all over London, hardly one -this morning but is in some way decorated for the festival. These -sharp-eyed, cunning-looking cabbies, in their careless attire, each -with a brass medal depending from his breast, giving his number and -license, have an eye to the main chance. Their long whips are tipped -with short bows of blue ribbon in the greater number, while a few have -magenta ties. Out of respect for the Yankees, they will charge them -to-day a shilling a head more than they dare ask from an Englishman.</p> - -<p>The great clumsy busses, that look more like advertising vans than -vehicles for the purpose of carrying passengers, are splendid this day -with decoration. They are made, as the sign above each tells you, to -carry twelve inside and sixteen outside. The drivers of the busses have -a more respectable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> look and are more profound in their wit than the -cabbies. They have a solid British look that tells plainly of roast -beef and careful usage. The cabbies are to the buss drivers a sort of -gypsies, and are looked upon by them with suspicion. Every omnibus is -crowded with passengers this cheerful, sunny day.</p> - -<p>All London seems going to the race. Dry goods clerks, licensed -victualers, "cads," grocers, public-house keepers, bar-boys, -stable-boys, bar-maids, servant-maids, well-to-do tradesmen and their -wives and children, apothecaries' assistants, golden-haired milliners -nicely gloved, dressmakers' apprentices, pickpockets, peers of the -United Kingdom, University men in cap and gown, Charter House boys -with yellow stockings on their legs, and dark-blue frocks fastened -at their waists with leather straps, wandering Americans displaying -large diamonds and shocking bad hats, Westminster schoolboys on the -foundation of Elizabeth, the Dean of St. Paul's in his shovel hat, -city men, brokers and bankers, watermen from the Thames, professional -oarsmen, Jew and Gentile;—they are all interested and will all see the -race or a part of it.</p> - -<p>I never saw anything like this great crowd before. It is believed that -two hundred and fifty thousand people is the average number that are in -the habit of witnessing a Cambridge and Oxford boat-race, but Cambridge -has been beaten so often that the interest does not compare at one of -these races with the tumultuous, all-pervading feeling that is borne in -every man's bosom as he hurries along to-day. It is not so very certain -that Harvard will be beaten, although it is rumored here and there that -Loring, the stroke of the crew, is unwell, which rumor only tends to -increase the odds on Oxford.</p> - -<p>The Temple Pier is reached at last. We pass through an arched gateway -at the bottom of a narrow street opening on the Thames. This spot is -more historic even than Westminster Abbey. There before us is the -Church of the Temple, seven hundred years old and black with time. All -the ground around us belonged, in the old bygone days, to the Knights -of the Order of the Temple. Now the place is the resort of attorneys -and barristers, and in it legal people have chambers. Right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> in the -shadows of the old Norman towers and battlements of the ancient church, -Jack Cade's followers rose from a swinish, drunken sleep to turn their -weapons against each other, hundreds falling in the conflict.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DARK BLUE AND MAGENTA.</div> - -<p>Here in these chambers resided Chaucer, Gower, Spenser, Clarendon, -Coke, Plowden, Selden, Beaumont, Congreve, Wycherley, Edmund Burke, -Cowper, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Pope, Eldon, Erskine, and -others equally famous. Here they slept, joked, read, ate, and drank. -Surely, if this ground be not hallowed, none other is. In company -with a well-known American journalist, Mr. George Wilkes, I find my -way to the Press boat, which is lying at the foot of the Temple Pier, -off the Embankment. She is a long, double-ender, with a red streak -on the upper part of her keel, and a black hull. Her steam funnel is -made to be lowered at the base, working on hinges, when going under a -bridge. Like all Thames boats to-day, there are two flags hoisted on -her twin flag-staffs—the American and English. There is no awning, no -upper-deck, to shade us from the August sun, which is now beginning to -burn with an intensity peculiarly un-English.</p> - -<p>There are, perhaps, about fifty persons on the boat, of whom two-thirds -are English; the remainder Americans. They are not all newspaper men, -though it was understood, before the tickets were sold, that none but -newspaper men would be allowed on board.</p> - -<p>The Englishmen wear blue scarfs and bows; the Americans sport the -magenta all over their clothes. The sun falls on the broad, muddy river -in slanting beams of kindling gold, making the old warehouses on both -banks of the stream, with their yellow brick gables, to stand out in -bold relief.</p> - -<p>Above us is London Bridge, lowering in its immensity, and to the -right is Billingsgate Market and Paul's wharf. Close upon our stern -is Blackfriars Bridge, the Temple Gardens, Kings College—a massive, -dirty gray structure, running along the river bank; Somerset House, the -government building where all the clerical work of the administration -is done, and where well-fed and well-paid clerks enjoy sinecures of the -kind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> which the Barnacle family were so fond of. Before us is Waterloo -Bridge, Cecil, Duke, Salisbury, Surrey, Buckingham, Villiers, and other -streets called after the mansions once inhabited by the favorites of -Charles, James, and William of Blessed Memory.</p> - -<p>At a little before two o'clock the Sunflower steams off on her journey -up the river. The course of the steamer is impeded at almost every foot -by small craft of all descriptions, en route to Putney and the race.</p> - -<p>We pass, on our way down, Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge, with -its huge railroad trains thundering over our heads, bound to Dover, -with passengers for the Continent; Westminster Bridge and the Houses of -Parliament, with their gilt vanes, towers, and battlements glistening -in the sun; Lambeth Bridge and Lambeth Palace, the residence of the -Primate of England, with its gardens and red brick towers; St. Thomas -Hospitals, in process of construction; Millbank Penitentiary, a gloomy, -six-sided fortress of crime; Vauxhall Bridge; Pimlico Pier, where -we stop a moment; the Nine Elms Road, Chelsea Bridge, and Chelsea -Hospital, where a number of frisky, one-legged and one-armed veterans -are disporting themselves on its smooth, grassy lawn; the Botanic -Garden on the right, and the green fields and trees and silvery lake of -Battersea Park on the left; Albert Bridge, Cadogan Pier, Chelsea Pier, -Battersea Bridge, and the Cremorne Gardens, with its kiosks, captive -balloon, statues, shady walks, fountains, and flower beds; and now we -are opposite Fulham and Brompton, where the splendid and extravagant -Formosas of the metropolis enjoy their ill-gotten gains in pleasant -villas and cozy little houses.</p> - -<p>We are now getting away from the thickly populated districts of London, -and the bridges that cross the river are fewer and farther between, -and, being generally of wood, are more rickety.</p> - -<p>During the entire passage we are continually stopped by small craft of -all kinds. The river is alive with them.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ON THE TOWING PATH.</div> - -<p>There are huge yawls, of broad bottom and clumsy construc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>tion, -containing family parties, with their provender—bread, cheese, and -beer, ham pies, and beef pies, kidneys and tongues—spread out in the -bottom of the boats on white cloths or in open baskets; there are long -shells with crews of eight and four, carrying coxswains; single sculls, -double sculls, wherries, watermen's boats, small steam launches, -lighters, watermen's barges, small sloops and schooners with dirty -sails and unseemly rudders, pleasure yachts, and craft of such queer -shape and rig as are never seen on our American rivers.</p> - -<p>All are bent on pleasure, and in many of the boats they are singing -the slang songs of the London streets; and now and then are warbled -the cheering chants of the boatmen immortalized by Dibdin and Taylor, -the water poets. A couple of miles more and we are in sight of Putney -Bridge, which towers aloft, rickety, worn, and decayed, thousands -crossing to and fro on its frail planks to get positions for the race.</p> - -<p>And now the full grandeur of a sight such as is seldom or ever seen -bursts upon every one on board the Press boat, and even the Londoners -admit, in an easy way, that the Derby Day is eclipsed by the great -number of people who line the banks of the river for miles on the -Surrey and Middlesex shores.</p> - -<p>To the left, above the old bridge, is the village of Putney, with its -narrow streets and noisome lanes, its green fields, festering pools, -eccentric-looking mansions and houses of an humbler kind, the steeples -of St. John's and St. Mary's, with their quaint clock-towers; and to -the left, on the Middlesex bank, are Fulham and the Bishop of London's -palace, the long grass on the Bishop's lawn waving in the breeze, and -upon whose surface were stretched pic-nickers eating and drinking.</p> - -<p>The Star and Garter at Putney, a famous hostelry, where the crew -of Harvard had lodged when they first came to England, was covered -all over its surface toward the river with the flags of America and -England. The old wooden balconies were crowded with ladies wearing -favors in their bosoms; the passages and lanes leading to the -towing-path on the river swarmed with foot passengers, all having one -determination and one sole object. The "Bell Inn," a rival to the Star -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> Garter, was also glorious with colors, and all the house-owners -for miles along the river had let their windows and seats on their -roofs for various sums, varying from five shillings to five guineas per -head.</p> - -<p>One generous American "lady" had advertised in the <i>Times</i> that she -would let seats in her windows to her countrymen at the modest price of -two guineas per head, and she found that she had not half room enough -for her compatriots. An innkeeper on the towing-path had let the front -of his house for £40 to a speculator, who realized a profit of £25 on -the venture. The Leander Boat-house, belonging to a well-known boating -club, had a scaffolding erected fronting the river for the members and -their ladies, which was covered with Union Jack bunting, the structure -being the place where the Oxford crew had housed their race-boat.</p> - -<p>Close to it was the boat-house of the London Rowing Club, an -association of four hundred gentlemen, who had proved themselves -warm and steady friends of the Harvard crew since their arrival -here. The Harvard boat was housed here, and the staging and platform -were decorated with American colors. A number of ladies, wearing red -rosettes, were seated upon this balcony.</p> - -<p>A few yards below was the modest stone house where the Harvard crew -were sleeping two hours before the race. This place was enclosed by -a stone wall, breast high, and shaded by green trees. Platforms were -erected behind this wall, and on them I noticed seated the American -Minister, Mr. Motley, the Hon. S.S. Cox, "Tom Hughes," Charles Reade, -the novelist—a bluff-looking, hearty Englishman, in gray clothes—and -a number of ladies, just before the race began.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A FRIGHTFUL JAM.</div> - -<p>Back from this house ran the High street, and, I believe, the only -street of Putney, and in this street was located the unpretending -place of residence of the Oxford men. The towing-path on the Surrey -side of the river runs along for miles away beyond Mortlake, and on -the Middlesex bank there is also a path, and on both of these paths it -is customary on a race day for thousands of harmless maniacs to run -along, hats and coats<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> in hand, vainly endeavoring to keep up with -race-boats going at a speed greater than a mile every five minutes.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus61.jpg" alt="crew" /> <a id="illus61" name="illus61"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE HARVARD CREW.</p> - -<p>Of course, they soon lose sight of the boats after the start; yet they -will still run, hallooing, cheering, and shouting like madmen. To -furnish sport and amusement for the myriads of Cockneys who come by -rail, steamboat, or on foot, from London and its environs, there are -not wanting sharpers, players, peddlers, fighting-men, showmen, venders -of all kinds of fruit, vegetables, meats, pies, drinks, ices, and all -kinds of knick-knacks—things useful and useless; and these people and -their wares combined make up a kind of a Bartholomew's fair on a grand -scale.</p> - -<p>The fair and its accessories covered the towing-path for three miles, -and rendered the passage most difficult on this occasion for the many -pedestrians. Dresses were torn, buttons pulled off, hats smashed, -bonnets rumpled, hoops irretrievably wrecked, children trod on, women -half suffocated and rendered faint and sick; yet, back from the river, -for fifty or sixty feet, for a distance of three miles, the uproar and -sale of questionable merchandise and doubtful provender never ceased -for an instant.</p> - -<p>It was a scene such as is displayed once in a man's life-time, to -remain indelibly engraved on his mind ever after. One thousand -policemen lined both banks of the river to keep order, but most of them -were on the Surrey, or most thronged bank of the stream. A large number -of those were mounted on huge black horses, and but for them many lives -would have been lost on this most eventful day of days.</p> - -<p>At the boat-houses, where the shells of the rival crews were concealed -from the gaze of the crowds, outside, the jam was frightful, and very -dangerous, as the police every few moments had to back their horses -into the crowd to keep a passage-way clear, and on several occasions -were compelled to charge the dense masses of men, women, and children.</p> - -<p>Some time before the race came off, I made my way along the towing-path -as well as I could through the swaying, surging crowds, for the purpose -of taking a look at the amusements they were enjoying.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was a large crowd around a man who stood before a circular -table, the top of which revolved on a pivot. The surface was painted -and divided into four triangles by colored lines. In each angle was -painted the name of some famous horse, such as "Formosa," "Pretender," -"Blue Gown," and "Lady Elizabeth." An indicator, like the hand of an -eight-day clock, swung on a pivot in the centre of the circle.</p> - -<p>A spectator being invited to place sixpence on the name of some -favorite horse, the proprietor of the show gave the circular board -a spin, and if the indicator stopped opposite the name of the horse -where he had placed his money, he gained a shilling. The fellow who had -this machine in operation was a hard-looking case, in a greasy cutaway -velvet coat. His oratory was to the point and business-like.</p> - -<p>"Down vith yer sixpence; and make yer bets, gentlemen. My hindicator is -sure as the clock of St. Paul's and twice as waluable ha hacquisition. -I don't care vether it is Formosy or Purtendir that yer bets yer bob -hon. Yer take Hoxford or ye take 'Avard—</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 25%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hi gives 'er a spin</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Han lets yer vin;</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>vich is poetry, and if ye dosn't vin, I gits the tin; vich is po-e-try -agin, and is halso a favrite hexpression of the Chanselur of the -Hexcheckever ven he piles hon the blessed taxis has 'as made me sell -hall my property to havoid a bust hup. Try yer luck agin; thank ye sir. -Formosy, sir, sure to vin or lose."</p> - -<p>Close by this amusing blackguard is the stand of the root-beer, -ginger-beer, and bitter-beer seller, who is crying out from behind his -little cart:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BOOTHS AND SHOWS.</div> - -<p>"Valk hup and try this ere de-lee-shus bewerage, honly tuppence a -bottle. If ye don't like it I gives ye yer money back, and no 'arm -done. The Prinse of Vales alvays buys 'is beer hof me ven 'e isnt -travelin, for the good of 'is 'ealth. Valk hup and don't be ashamed; -the no-bil-e-tee and gen-te-ree hall patronizes me. Ginger-beer, -ginger-beer, and may the best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> man win, as my vife says, ven she sees -two pickpockets a fightin' for a shillin'."</p> - -<p>"Trick-hat-the-loop, ring the nail, and ye gets three h'apens. Ring the -nail and ye gets three h'apens. And 'ow much does ye hinvest. Vy honly -ha'apenny. A man von two hundred pun hof me last veek, and there 'e -his just now agoin to bet hit all on the Hoxford crew, and ef ye don't -believe me just hax 'im 'isself," said a seedy looking wretch, with a -handful of small iron rings in his hand, directing his index finger -to some indistinct personage in the crowd, whom no one present could -recognize.</p> - -<p>The number of apple, pear, goosberry, plum, pie, and ice-cream stands -that line the path are almost incalculable to think of. Pies square, -round, and triangular of shape, in all the varied stages of decay, are -for sale at a penny a piece. Tarts, cheese cakes, mutton pot-pies, -ham pies, suet puddings, whelks, a sort of odorous shell-fish, at -half-penny apiece, green gages, and "sandviches" are shouted on every -side of us.</p> - -<p>There are all kinds of games in progress. There is the ancient and -honorable game of "cockshie," and "cocoa-nut." The latter is curious. -Three cocoa-nuts, hollowed out, are placed on the top of as many -sticks, which are stuck upright in the ground, and the game, costing -a penny, is to knock off those cocoa-nuts at three strokes, when you -can claim three pence—providing, of course, that you knock off all -three cocoa-nuts; which, of course, can only be done by the princely -proprietor himself after hard training.</p> - -<p>There is one noisy fellow on a little hillock, pockmarked and -ferret-eyed, in a greasy woolen duster, who has drawn a large crowd -around him by his peculiar and quack-like oratory. This fellow is a -gem, in his way, of purest ray serene. He is a merchant of penny scarf -and finger rings.</p> - -<p>"Now," says he, elevating a scarf ring on one finger and a wedding ring -on another, in sight of the wondering crowd, "hif hi was to tell you -good people that these beuty-<i>fool</i> rings wor pure goold, vot vould -you say? Vy, you vould say, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> most hexitibel and hunmistakabel -langvidge has could come from your blessed traps, 'ee his a harrant -himposter.</p> - -<p>"Could hi blame yer for hexpressing yer feelinks in sich langvidge? No. -Hi vould say to my disturbed conscience, has was at that very moment -a tearing my hinsides to pieces, 'you, Villiam Bowsley, have forsaken -the good karraktir has was 'anded down to yer by hancestors who 'ad -their hown hestates, 'osses, and kerridges; Villiam Bowsley, you 'ave -been han harrant himpostor, and deserves to be 'ung.' Vell, does I tell -ye that these ere rings is goold? No; on the contreery, I says they -are brass. Vell, may be ye don't care so much for brass harticles. Ham -hi a friend of brass? No, agin. But I ham a friend of Hart. I asks ye -to look at this ere image of Mr. Glads<i>tun</i>, as is now hour blessed -Pri-<i>meer</i>. Wos hever anything so beau-ty-fool? Look at the insinivatin -smile on 'is sveet feetyures. Ven I last dined vith Mr. Glads<i>tun</i>—ye -needn't laff, cos ye knows, perhaps, the story in the Good Book of the -bad children 'oo chaffed the old Profits and wus heat hup by bares—ven -I last dined vith Glads<i>tun</i>, hour blessed Pri-<i>meer</i>, he says, -'Bill'—he calls me 'Bill' ven 'ee his friendly—'Bill, them pictures -on them ere kam-e-o-s as you sells is my likeness just like twins. Cos, -vy,' said he, 'my maiden haunt reckignized them, and fainted avay ven -she seed vun.'"</p> - -<p>Passing along a few feet I am attracted by the noise of a loud, rough -voice, that is shouting over the thickly packed heads of another crowd:</p> - -<p>"Step hup gentlemen and take a look hat the noble hart of Self-Defence -has his practised in the Royal Tent. This vay gentlemen, honly tuppens. -Brisket Bill and the 'Ackney Vick Cove is a goin' to set-too. Step hup."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE BOXING TENT.</div> - -<p>There is a large tent back from the path covered all over with -representations of half-naked boxers in the act of defending -themselves, or mauling or beating each other to pieces, and the master -pugilist stands on a high bench to attract the crowd, while at the -same time he can look inside of the tent and direct the ceremonies by -calling time and announcing the names of the combatants. Two wretched, -miserable looking women,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> their features furrowed with want, their -eyes bleared with gin, and their general appearance indicative of hard -luck, cruel treatment and filth, hold each a sheet of the tent in their -hands, and one of them puts out her hand to take the two pence which is -the price of admission.</p> - -<p>I pass in to the tent and find twenty or thirty hard-looking cases -circling around "Brisket Bill" and the "Hackney Wick Cove," who are -stripped to their waists, their features inflamed with passion, their -hair cropped short, and boxing gloves on their hands. There are half a -dozen burly, big soldiers in the tent belonging to different arms of -the Queen's service, and two of them wear the red shell jackets and -army fatigue caps of the Life Guards. Brisket Bill is a low-sized, -compact, thick witted brute in corduroys and heavy hob-nailed shoes, -who has been probably "starring" in the provinces, and the Hackney -Cove is a tall, well-made, fresh-faced-looking young fellow, who is -quite lively on his feet, and seems to rather like the punishment which -Brisket gives him every now and then in the chest and face.</p> - -<p>A ruffianly-faced scoundrel offers me a ticket to go to his boxing -benefit on the next Monday night, which is declined, and at the next -moment the Hackney Cove knocks Brisket Bill, with a tremendous blow, -kicking at my feet, while cheers greet the feat from the Life Guards, -roughs, thieves, and clodhoppers in the tent, and the Master Pugilist -cries from the top of the tent outside:</p> - -<p>"Vind hup, Brisket; 'it 'im 'ard and be done vith your larking. Give -these gentlemen the vorth of their tupence. Vind hup, I say, and stop -'im."</p> - -<p>Going down the towing path I found the crowd increasing every moment, -and all streaming from the direction of London. A great number of -soldiers were present all in bright uniform, without side-arms, -and all carrying jaunty canes—lancers, foot guards, riflemen, -artillery drivers, men of the siege train, heavy cavalry, dragoons, -and light-infantry men. The majority of these warriors bold were -accompanied by their sweethearts, pretty, clear-skinned English girls -in their best bibs and tuckers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> and of course they all wore the Oxford -blue on their persons. Hundreds of small dirty-faced and ragged boys -swarmed in and out of the numerous tents, and many grown men were -endeavoring by bawling loudly, to dispose of badges and rosettes. Some -of them had pieces of wide dark blue ribbon with the words cribbed from -the famous ballad of Tommy Dodd a little altered, inscribed in gilt -type on them:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 25%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Now boys, let's all go in;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oxford—Oxford sure to win,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Tommy Dodd."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Others sold small rosettes with the words "Oxford Laurels" engraved, -and Harvard badges made of red, white, and blue lutestring, bearing the -arms of the United States, the eagle rampant, and screaming fiercely, -while one costermonger's cart had elevated on canvas in bold letters, -the words of Nelson at Trafalgar, forever classic in the English tongue:</p> - - -<p class="center">"ENGLAND EXPECTS THIS DAY THAT EVERY MAN SHALL DO HIS DUTY."</p> - -<p>Almost every person who passed this costermonger cart cheered or -approved of the legend in some way, while as a counter irritant a party -of Americans who had hired a whole house, had the Star Spangled Banner -displayed with the following couplet underneath, in glaring type, and -which attracted very considerable attention:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 25%;" > -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And this be our motto: In God be our trust!"</span><br /> -</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE DEAR OLD FLAG.</div> -<p>I saw numbers of Americans, during the great excitement of that -memorable day, pass and repass the sacred symbol of their country -just for the sake of lifting their hats to the dear old flag. Blood -<i>is</i> thicker than water—even if it was only a boat race. One young -fellow who had been for four years studying his profession at Halle, in -Germany, and had not seen the Gridiron during that time, doffed his hat -twice and was cheered from the balcony in return; and when he came to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> -me and spoke, his eyelashes were humid, and, when I asked him what was -the matter, he answered in a polyglot of Deutsch and English:</p> - - - -<p>"Ach Gott! I've been having a blamed good cry at the sight of the Stars -and Stripes."</p> - -<p>And thus the day passed, and the sun declined in force and fell in -strips of silver and gold and purple on Putney church and steeple, -and on all that mad, roaring, shouting, gambling, eating, and -drinking multitude, that lined both banks of the river from Putney to -Mortlake—a million human beings in all—to witness ten lads struggle -for less than half an hour in two frail boats.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail23.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail23" name="tail23"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">STRUGGLE AND VICTORY.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap24.jpg" alt="A" /> <a id="icap24" name="icap24"></a></span>S I passed down the towing path toward the stone house where the -Harvard crew were resting, I saw the blue blades of four slender oars -elevated above the crowd, and passing through the closely wedged -ranks. The men who carried them, the Oxford Four, appeared on the -river's bank—four fine looking young fellows, with the coxswain, a -mere lad, in their rowing suits. They were going to take a paddle -preparatory to the race, for half a mile up the Thames toward the Duke -of Devonshire's. They looked well, and were loudly cheered as they got -into their boat. They paddled up the river.</p> - -<p>As I passed the gate of the stone house I saw the Chevalier Wykoff and -George Wilkes standing together and spoke to them both. Just at this -moment the face of Loring, the stroke of the Harvard crew, appeared -looking out toward the river, which was packed with boats full of -people. There was something in the man's face that I did not like. I -had not seen him for a few days previous. He had a huge boil under his -right chin in his neck, with a white crust on the top of it; his eyes -seemed wild, his manner anxious and hurried, and altogether he seemed -very unsteady. I shook hands with him and asked him how he felt.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ON BOARD THE PRESS BOAT.</div> - -<p>He said slowly, "Pretty well," and after we talked a few minutes he -went in to prepare for the struggle. I stepped back to the towing path -and spoke to Mr. Wilkes, who asked of me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> "Who is that? Is not that Mr. -Loring, the Stroke of Harvard?" I -answered in the affirmative. Mr. Wilkes then asked me, "What did he -say? Does he feel well?" I answered, "He says he feels pretty well?" -Wilkes burst out, "Pretty well! He doesn't look like it. That man's -sick." and in an instant he dashed into the crowd to find some one and -I lost him for the time being.</p> - -<p>I walked down to the "Star and Garter" inn slowly, thinking of the last -look I had at Loring, and I felt astonished that he should be ready -to pull a race in his condition. The man was evidently in a state of -exhaustion; he looked overworked, overstrained, and out of condition -for a four mile and three furlong race—he who had, when at his best, -only been used to pull a three mile race, turning at a stake of a mile -and a half distance.</p> - -<p>Warned by the noise and rapid movements of the crowd that something -was astir, I made my way by the Star and and Garter, out of whose -windows men were handing porter bottles to their friends beneath, and, -walking to the river's bank, I hailed a boat with two Thames watermen -in it, who pulled me through the line of Police boats to the Press boat -Sunflower, which had her steam up and was getting ready.</p> - -<p>Getting on the deck I took a look around me. Above and at our back was -the old Putney Bridge, thick with human beings of both sexes. Beneath -were countless steamboats and small craft, wedged together in a dense -mass, covering the river behind the bridge for acres, and at our stern -a huge iron chain of Vulcanic links stretched from the Star and Garter -to a point off Fulham on the Middlesex shore. The chain in the middle -of the river was under water, but near both shores it was visible to -all the passengers on the steamboats behind Putney Bridge, but also -impassable to them, however they might rage, fume, and curse at their -ill-luck and guineas thrown away.</p> - -<p>By the side of the Press boat, the Umpire's boat—a craft similar in -build and appearance—was anchored, many of the passengers wearing -the rival colors; the Americans drinking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> brandy and soda to refresh -themselves, and the Englishmen giving odds on Oxford with great good -will and humor.</p> - -<p>The picture on the river was a most striking one, and worthy of a -master's brush, with its vivid color, the striking dresses of the -crowds, the flags and bunting from housetops and steam funnels; the -green-leaved trees, their branches covered with human fruit, and the -hot August sun, just losing its intensity, as a cool breeze came down -from the direction of Mortlake to ruffle the surface of the river, its -eddies and wavelets sparkling and dancing like diamonds of price.</p> - -<p>It was now within a few minutes of five o'clock. There was a sudden -hum above on the river, at a place called the Crab Tree, as the Oxford -crew got into their boat, and the hum became distinct and swelled into -a pronounced noise, and the noise became a great solid, full cheer from -a hundred thousand throats, as the bright blue blades of the Oxford -Four were dipped in the water, and they came paddling down the stream -in their narrow shell to take position by the Umpire's boat near the -bridge. They paddled easily, and took position with a quiet look in -their fair English faces that impressed every American favorably.</p> - -<p>Then there was another hum as before, when the Harvard crew came down -from the boat-house of the London Rowing Club, and a tremendous cheer -as their boat came up to the Middlesex shore—in among the seedy long -grass.</p> - -<p>And now let us look for a moment at the two crews as they sit there -passively awaiting the order to "go." The Harvard boat is long, narrow, -and the frail cedar wood timbers that compose it are polished like a -steel mirror. Its nose and bow are sharp as a lancet, and amidships it -is but a few inches out of the water. So frail, and yet to carry the -good or bad fortune of a mighty nation's hope.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LORING'S CONDITION.</div> - -<p>The Harvard crew wore white flannel shirts, the sleeves cut away at -the shoulders, with white drawers shortened above the ankles, and -white fillets bound around their temples to save their heads from -the sun's rays. To a spectator they looked magnificent—all of them -bronzed as they sat well forward in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> the boat, their skins like a new -guinea. Burnham, the coxswain, had his back to the steamer and faced -the stroke, Mr. Loring. Burnham looked stout, massive, and in good -condition. His broad back, rather too broad for a coxswain, gave an -idea of endurance and "staying" more useful in a stroke than a "cox." -His face was tanned, and his quick, restless eyes scanned the broad -Thames with a short, momentary glance, and then they rested on Simmons, -the hope of the American boat.</p> - -<p>Burnham wore a Vandyke tuft at his chin, and a stiff, bristling -mustache of sandy hue. He looked old enough to be father to the Oxford -coxswain. Loring sat with both hands grasping the stroke-oar on the -right side of the boat. His face was turned also, and his dark eyes had -something nervous and flitting in them that I did not like. His body -was as lean as a greyhound's—in fact, he was too lean for a long race. -But the muscles and sinews stood out in bold relief, and the cords of -flesh between the shoulder-blades were hard, and, Loring being slightly -round in the shoulders, it gave him a look of great strength, more -fictitious than real.</p> - -<p>He wore a mustache and goatee—not quite so artistic in shape as -Burnham's—and the hair was cropped close to his ears. His face, -however, did not satisfy the Americans, who watched him closely. There -was something that was indefinite, something unstrung, in the lines -that should have been set and hardened like steel bars. He had a -feverish look as he sat forward, with his long, massive arms, grasping -the oars.</p> - -<p>Simmons, the pride of the crew, sat behind Loring, his perfect physical -form astounding the Englishmen by its massive and beautiful outline. -The face was gravely handsome, the chin round yet firm, the shoulders -grand in their proportions, and the loins like the waist of an oak -trunk. His naked arms were marble for their shape and purity of skin, -and the neck, proudly resting upon his shoulders, could not have -disgraced the Sun God.</p> - -<p>Take him altogether, I never saw such a perfect specimen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> of manhood -and physical beauty as he looked that day in the Harvard boat. And yet -his eyes, usually intense and piercing, and bluish gray, which always -looked a man in the face, were to-day yellowish and overcast. That -lion heart, which could hardly think of defeat, was torn in a struggle -to maintain composure. He and Loring for four days had been gradually -weakening almost to the point of exhaustion, and these two men, upon -whom the race principally depended, were perfectly aware that their -form was not good, and they were well aware, also, that without their -strength and health the race was lost before it began.</p> - -<p>Simmonds towered above all his companions, and he held the wrist of his -oar calmly as he could, while behind him sat Lyman, a grave, austere -looking young gentleman, with a well cut face, mouth, and chin, dark -hair, a resolute look, and a well shaped body; of modest, but athletic -look and determination.</p> - -<p>Lyman seemed in very good shape, though a little anxious—as was -no more than natural—about Loring and Simmonds, while the most -insouciant, daring looking man in the boat to-day, is that haughty, -imperious looking fellow who sits in the bow, Joseph Story Fay, a man -of proud will, self confidence, and great endurance. He sits seeming -a careless observer of the preparatory and technical part of the -programme, but those keen, watchful eyes, that seem to stab like a -knife, are bent with no little solicitude on the Oxford boat, which is -almost stationary a few yards distant.</p> - -<p>The Harvard crew had a manly, bold look, taking them in a mass, and a -sombre, matured appearance, their bodies and faces stained deep yellow, -like a crew of Indians, and they also sat, if I may use the word, -taller in their boat than the Oxford crew did in theirs.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">CONDITION OF THE MEN.</div> - -<p>The Oxford crew were boyish, fresh-faced fellows, compared with -them, their light skins and hair making them look more juvenile in -appearance, and beside, they had not such an ascetic look as the -Harvards, who had lived more like monks than athletes, without any -amusement or even beer—for weeks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> training themselves to death, and -working body and mind too much. The Harvard crew seemed anxious and -careworn, when their faces were studied, and they were certainly not in -good training condition for the race.</p> - -<p>Loring had worked like a horse, pulling long distances in broiling -suns; and the crew when together had a bad fashion of rowing the whole -course, while the Oxford men contented themselves with a pull of a -couple of miles at a time, being careful not to overdo the business. -Then, on Sunday the Oxford men always went down to the sea-shore at -Brighton, and drank beer moderately and ate fruit in a jolly sort of -a way, and plenty of roast meats, while the Harvard men lived to some -extent on farinaceous food and porridge and figs and mutton, a favorite -dish of theirs when roasted—and to be brief, they were too anxious to -win, and the consequence came in the shape of a fidgetty, nervous, and -overtrained condition.</p> - -<p>Besides, the stroke of the Harvard crew was too labored and fiery and -energetic to last, for the amount of powder belonging to them. The arms -were with them the great impelling power, and the recover was too high -up in the chest, while the Oxford men recovered a little above the pit -of the stomach, which is less wearisome and distressing. In catching -the oar forward they expended too much force, and spent a great deal of -strength in dropping it, while their strength would have been better -used in holding the water just before the recovery.</p> - -<p>The coxswain, too, was naturally uncertain of his Stroke and Simmonds, -both men being in poor condition; and Loring told him before the race, -in case that he flagged to sprinkle his face and that of Simmonds, with -water. This alone was enough to make Burnham rather shaky, and not a -little doubtful of his crew. A few lengths lost by wild steering or -nervousness, and it would be of course impossible to win in the case of -two crews so very closely matched otherwise. I say all this advisedly, -and I am sure the conclusion will bear out my premises. In addition, -they had tried half a dozen boats while in training, and displaced two -of their crew. Whether it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> wise to make this change or not, I have -no means of knowing, and cannot say.</p> - -<p>The Oxford crew having paddled their boat a little nearer the Press -steamer, I now had a good look at them. They all had a fresh, fair, -English look, and were not, as far as I could see, at all fagged before -going into the race. Darbishire, the Stroke, was the first man who -caught my eye. He did not look at all burly in frame, and his figure -was lower in the thwarts of the boat by a head, than that of the -gigantic-framed Cornwall Celt, Mr. Tinne.</p> - -<p>Darbishire had a merry blue eye and a turn-up nose, indicating good -humor. His body was well set, his shoulders compact, and his hair, -though short, had a proclivity to curl and kink. He had a broad -forehead, a mouth a little turned down at the corners and arching, and -his chin was moderately firm.</p> - -<p>Yarborough was far more determined in his look, and sported a pair of -thin, mutton-chop whiskers. He was the darkest-skinned and darkest-eyed -man in the Oxford boat, besides being a fine oarsman and a victor -of many college matches. His nose was of the snub order, and the -chin dimpled, the forehead being broad and white, and the hair, like -Darbishire's, inclined to curl. He was what would be a "big small" man, -and was as compact and tough as a hickory nut.</p> - -<p>Tinne was, however, the giant of the crew. I never saw a more glorious -looking fellow than this clear-skinned, handsome Cornwall lad, with his -splendid clearly cut profile, frank, merry face, laughing eyes, and -thoroughbred look.</p> - -<p>It was worth a day's walk to see Tinne pull. He was a man a good deal -after the style of our own Simmonds, but not so gravely reserved. He -was not as tall as Simmonds, but a great deal heavier, and looked as if -he could pull a man-of-war's gig in a race, with those grand shoulders -and hips broad as a barrel of beer. Yet, with all his great physique, -his gait was as light as a girl's, and the feather of his oar when -taken from the water was artistic in itself.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HALL, THE COXSWAIN.</div> - -<p>This huge fellow, weighing 192 pounds on the day of the race, was -formidable enough to intimidate the boldest betting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> American of us -all. Tinne, like his friend Willan, the bow oar, had been president of -the Oxford University Boat Club, and had never known defeat. Willan, -the Bow, looked as if the matter was mere play, while he amused himself -with the oar and watched Walter Brown, who held the nose of the Harvard -boat from a launch, with a keen alert look. His white Guernsey shirt -was open at the neck, and it showed a wonderfully muscular but white -throat. His shoulders were broad across, and his fingers grasped the -oar as if they were riveted with steel nails to the frail shaft.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus62.jpg" alt="crew" /> <a id="illus62" name="illus62"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE OXFORD CREW.</p> - -<p>The most innocent looking boy I ever saw in a boat was Hall, a slight, -frail, girlish looking lad, and coxswain of the Oxford crew. Weighing -one hundred pounds on the day of the race, and being about seventeen -years of age, he was the last person that a man would choose for a -coxswain, who knew nothing of the mysteries and science of the art -of rowing as practiced in England. His skin was light and almost -transparent, the blue veins in his face being very prominent. His hair -was very light, and his eyes blue as the sky. A handsomer lad could not -be found, but he seemed delicate enough to be blown away with a breath. -The face was weak, and the mouth of a curious shape, the corners being -drawn down, and giving him a soft, credulous look.</p> - -<p>Looking at him there in his dark-blue jacket of thin flannel—all the -rest of the crew were in white shirts cut away at the elbows, and white -drawers shortened at the ankles—he looked so innocent and lady-like, -that it needed but a crinoline and silk skirt to transform him into a -pretty English girl of the period.</p> - -<p>And yet that delicate boy had a great trust, and "Little Corpus," as -he was called from his college at Oxford, well deserved it all, for -his knowledge of the river was unrivaled, and his steering was simply -perfection. Nothing could be finer. A New York betting-man, who lost -heavily, declared that he was a "young weasel" for sagacity and cool -nerve.</p> - -<p>By the time I had taken a good look at both crews, the arrangements had -all been made, and the two boats had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> brought by their coxswains -up to a line stretched across the river, and the crews now lay in their -boats, with bodies bent forward, their faces set, their oars grasped -with energy, the coxswains with the ropes in both hands, and the stroke -of each boat having his oar blade poised a few feet above the water.</p> - -<p>Walter Brown held the nose of the Harvard boat, and John Phelps, a -rugged looking Thames waterman, had his grip fastened on the Oxford -boat, waiting for the word to go. Loring's eyes are blazing with -unwonted fire; Darbishire seems confident and easy, with his ears -dilated like a pointer, and a death-like silence reigns all over that -swarming river—just now the noise was deafening; the Americans have -ceased to drink any more brandy and soda; Tom Hughes looks up the river -to see if all is clear; Mr. Lord, of the Thames Conservancy, reports -all clear—and the bulky figure of Blakey, the starter of the race, is -seen to ascend the paddle-box of the Lotus steamer, and his voice rings -over the water, and is heard with a thrill, for the decisive moment has -come at last.</p> - -<p>"I shall ask," says Blakey, "are you <i>Ready</i>—are you <i>Ready</i>, and if -you do not stop me I shall give the word Go, after which God speed you -both."</p> - -<p>"Are you ready?"</p> - -<p>"No!" shouts Darbishire.</p> - -<p>"Are you ready?"</p> - -<p>"No!" again, distinct and clear, from Darbishire.</p> - -<p>"Are you <i>Ready</i>?" No answer this time from either crew.</p> - -<p>"GO!"</p> - -<p>A hundred thousand throats, as if made of cast-iron, bellow forth: a -hundred thousand eyes are dazzled for a moment as the diamond drops -fall from the upraised blue blades of Oxford and the white blades of -Harvard. Walter Brown executes a war dance in an instant after he has -sent the Harvard shell a full length on its way. The 'Rah, 'Rah, 'Rah, -of Harvard pierces the air; the masses on the banks of the river begin -to show incipient symptoms of madness. Both boats are off, Harvard -pulling like demons, and Oxford has just got into her careless, easy -swing, pumping away like machines. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> two steamers start on a -helter-skelter race, and the greatest boat race the world ever saw has -just begun for better or for worse.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HARVARD'S LIGHTNING STROKE.</div> - -<p>No man that day who witnessed the start of the two boats—the terrific -spring of the Harvard crew, and the cool, rythmical measure of the -Oxford stroke—can ever forget that moment of moments, unless, indeed, -his blood be thinner than water and his pulse of ice. The Harvard crew -caught the water first, and were well on their way before the crowds -were recovered from the shock. Loring swept away like a tiger after his -prey, and Burnham—who had won the toss for choice of position, steered -in on the Middlesex shore, the Oxford crew having won a blank, and -having to keep in, consequently, on the Surrey side—showing very good -judgment at first, and keeping his boat well under way. It was but a -minute, and Harvard was a full length clear in the water of the Oxford -boat, Loring pulling forty-two strokes a minute, and Simmond's elbows -going backward and forward like a steam engine.</p> - -<p>The Oxford crew, after a pause, recovered from their slight surprise, -and fell into stroke as if a piece of mechanism were propelling their -narrow shell. Darbishire is now rowing beautifully, and has settled -down to hard work, while Tinne's great shoulders, bob up and down with -superhuman energy, his glorious chest expanded to its full power, -and he pulls with the magnificence of incarnate force, while "Little -Corpus," the coxswain, is as quiet as a mouse, watching every stroke of -the Harvard crew, as he sets in the stern sheets of the Oxford shell.</p> - -<p>Oxford has started with thirty-eight strokes, and now, when Mr. -Darbishire sees Loring putting on the steam at forty-four, he quickens -his stroke to thirty-nine, and Hall gets the boat headed a little -toward the Middlesex shore.</p> - -<p>The Star and Garter is fast disappearing from the stern of the Press -boat, and the Umpire's boat follows closely, neck and neck almost. -The crowds at a place called the "Creek," where a little stream runs -tributary to the Thames, are shouting "Oxford" all their might and -main. Fay, in the bow of the Harvard boat, seems to hear the taunt, -and begins to show<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> evidence of his strength, by pulling the bow-side -around slightly, which compels Burnham to put his rudder down and keep -off from the Oxford boat.</p> - -<p>At Simmond's boat-house the jam is tremendous, and the crowd cheers -Harvard as she sweeps by a length ahead; and Oxford going a few -feet wild at this point, the Harvard men on the two steamers shout -themselves hoarse, and one man with a Magenta-ribbon takes off a new -hat, carefully inspects it for a moment, and then in a delirium of -frenzy kicks the crown of it in, and presents it skyward as a peace -offering.</p> - -<p>The people on the Surrey towing-path seem all mad, Oxford is not -showing speed enough for them, and the stands and shows and booths are -deserted as if they had never been in existence, the crowds pressing -forward to the bank of the river wildly. Passing the "Willows," a -pleasant little grove of trees, with a quaint stone house nestled in -their bosom, a loud cheer is given as the Oxonians spurt a little, -while at the same time the water falls, or rather dashes from Loring's -oar with increased vehemence, for Harvard is now pulling at the -tremendous pace of 45 strokes a minute, a thing unheard of before in an -English boat race.</p> - -<p>At "Craven Cottage" Oxford gains slightly, but the fact is hardly -noticed by the Harvard men, who can see but one thing, and that is -the Harvard boat, now ahead by a length and a half. I never imagined -that Loring could do the work he is now doing, which is superhuman, -and therefore cannot last. At the "Soap Works," a crazy old place, -Darbishire seems to be creeping up, and his stroke is most assuredly -telling on the Harvard energy and fire. Oxford is now pulling 40, and -the cheers are deafening from the shore, while cries and exclamations -and yells of encouragement come from the countless wherries, stationary -barges, and craft of all kinds that line the Surrey side.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus63.jpg" alt="race" /> <a id="illus63" name="illus63"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE UNIVERSITY RACE.</p> - -<p>"Well pulled, Willan. Nobly done for Exeter," shouts an excited Oxford -University man from a small boat. "You are sure to win."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>"Oh, <i>go</i> it Harvard; <i>go</i> it Harvard. 'Rah—'Rah—'Rah—'Rah. Hit her -up, Loring."</p> - -<p>"Keep your steam on, Burnham. Don't get frightened."</p> - -<p>"What's the matter with Harvard, now," says a Harvard man to a -dignified English gentleman on the Press boat.</p> - -<p>"Wonderful stroke, sir; 'fraid it can't last. Great power, sir, in the -Oxford crew," says the old gentleman rather curtly.</p> - -<p>"Well done, Simmonds, you are the man for my money," cries a Western -man who has a bottle of soda water in his hand, and has been betting -heavily all the way down the river on the boat.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BURNHAM'S BAD STEERING.</div> -<p>Opposite the "Doves," Harvard goes away splendidly from Oxford; but -now the Harvard men on the steamboats begin to notice something queer -in the steering of Burnham. Briefly, he is steering wide of his race, -and very badly, and his nerve seems to be going, for the boat looks -quite unsteady and veers in the water more than she ought to. Now -we are rounding a bend in the river, and the great, single span of -Hammersmith Bridge looms up before us. Every coigne of vantage on this -immense pile, from one side of the river to the other, is covered -with vehicles, broughams, carriages, 'busses, and at least thirty -thousand people are clustered and hanging on to the structure in a most -astonishing manner. It was a mad sight, that bridge, with the great -swaying masses, pushing, shouting, and fighting to get a look at the -boats.</p> - -<p>Cries of "Hoxford," "Hoxford," come down from above our heads as we -near the bridge, and the excitement is perfectly terrific. We have -already passed a quarter of a million of people, to estimate them in -the rough, and still they line the banks above us in impenetrable -masses. The waving of handkerchiefs and shouting is enough to make a -man lose his senses, if the race did not claim so much attention from -the spectators.</p> - -<p>Harvard prepares to shoot under the bridge, being still a length and a -half ahead, but Loring is not doing his work so stoutly now, although -the Harvard boat glides through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> water at 46 strokes a minute. The -pace is too hard and it will not and cannot last five minutes longer.</p> - -<p>Oxford steers out from the Surrey bank to shoot the bridge, and -"Little Corpus" makes a circuit to avoid an eddy where the tide is -bad, while Burnham is mad enough to go away from the race by giving -room to Darbishire's boat, whose coxswain never loses an inch by weak -or ill-judged steering, Burnham going out of his way too much to -accommodate Oxford, instead of keeping on and taking Oxford's water in -a direct line. It was at this place that Harvard lost the race, wholly -by Burnham's bad steering and Loring's nervousness.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my God! what are you doing Burnham, why do you steer so?" shouts -an excited Yale man in the Press boat thinking vainly that Burnham -will hear him; but Harvard is too far on our bow to hear the warning -voice, and here she loses a full half length. The excitement is now -beyond description. From all the vast stagings that are erected on the -Surrey side, decorated with English bunting and covered with thousands -of people, comes a glad swell of triumph, borne on the breeze, and -striking despair to every American heart.</p> - -<p>Now, at this moment, after shooting Hammersmith bridge, Loring's oar -seems to hang loosely from the gunwale of the boat, and his head is -bent forward as if he were about to faint. In an instant the coxswain, -Burnham, dashes water into his face and chest, and repeats the ablution -five or six times, throwing the water also on Simmonds, who is weakened -from the pace he has been pulling.</p> - -<p>The Harvard stroke now goes down to 42, to 41, and to 40; for Loring is -knocked up, and the pulling is being done by Fay, on the bow side, in -despair. Elliott, the boat-builder, standing on the paddle-box of the -Lotus, is black in the face from shouting, "Harvard! Harvard!" "Pull up -Harvard!"</p> - -<div class="sidenote">OXFORD'S VENGEANCE STROKE.</div> - -<p>There goes that same steady, wonderful, glorious stroke of Oxford, -like the knell of doom, not to be stopped until victory perches on her -gallant crew. At Chiswick Island Loring spurted and made a despairing -effort; but the man is sick and gone for the race, and it is no use -hallooing now, for Oxford<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> forges past the Harvard boat with a will -and power that calls forth a shout from the assembled multitude, which -rings in the ears of Loring's crew like a sentence of death.</p> - -<p>Still the gallant fellows struggle on, inspired by an agony which none -may describe in such a race, and they never falter for an instant, but -pull as if they were determined to win. During the first mile and a -half of the race, Burnham received the back wash of the Oxford boat, by -keeping all the time in a line behind Darbishire's crew with a seeming -blunder that actually called tears of rage to the eyes of Americans on -the steamboats. Getting along by Chiswick Church, which was crowded -with people, the Oxford crew pulling 40, their boat was a length ahead -of the Harvard bow oar, and Hall, the coxswain, took care that no -ground should be lost by his steering. Then Darbishire spoke the word -to his crew, and throwing all the powder they could into their backs, -they gave Harvard only the alternative of pulling to Barnes's Bridge -for an honorable defeat.</p> - -<p>Never for a moment did Oxford flag, but kept the stroke as if grim -death was at their heels, yet all the time throughout the race they -seemed easy in their style, and regular as the pendulum of an eight-day -clock.</p> - -<p>The want of time and catch in the Harvard stroke was very noticeable at -Barnes's Bridge, and here the same immense crowds were gathered as at -the bridge at Hammersmith, and now the Oxford boat being positively a -length and a half ahead, and no mistake, the cries and shouts were most -appalling. Past the green fields in the Duke of Devonshire's meadows a -large crowd was gathered, who hailed the appearance of the Oxford crew -with great and significant pleasure.</p> - -<p>The race was now lost, virtually. Harvard was out of time—knocked -up—and the men in her boat were laboring like oxen in chains. The -morale of the Harvard crew was gone a mile below Barnes's Bridge, when -Loring's oar hung loose for the first time, and nothing human could now -give old Massachusetts a victory. It was a gallant struggle, too, and -nobly waged. Passing the "White Cottage" and the "White Hart" in the -race for the Ship Tavern at Mortlake, the Harvard crew,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> in the last -quarter of a mile, put on a desperate spurt and rowing for a minute and -a half at 44 strokes, they gained ground on Oxford, whose crew seemed -as fresh as when they began.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BEATEN BY EIGHT SECONDS.</div> -<p>Now is the last desperate struggle. Pull, Harvard; you cannot hope to -win. Pull, Harvard, and pluck the sting from defeat! Both crews go at -it for a minute, and Loring's last spark of fire is given to drive his -boat through the water. There is a shout from the Ship Tavern, where -the American flag is displayed. Oxford comes by with that terrible -vengeance stroke, the terror of many a gallant Cantab oarsman. There is -a shout which splits the clouds almost, a report of a gun, and Oxford -has struck the tow line, a boat and a half's length ahead, (not three -lengths ahead as was reported,) the race is lost and won, by about 65 -feet, and the most gallant display ever seen on the Thames is over, and -the dark blue swarms go home triumphant at heart. Bridges, river bank, -and church steeple are deserted, as the Oxford crew paddle their boat -along side of the Harvard crew, and, raising their hands in air, give -the defeated oarsmen a hearty English cheer and shake hands with them, -and the Harvard boys cheer back, and Charles Reade, who stands on the -deck of the steamer Lotus, lifts his straw hat in respect to Loring, -who smiles back sadly at him, and all is over. The children's children -of those two crews will yet tell of that day's struggle, which for one -hour served to call back the Homeric days of Greece.</p> - - -<p>The distance pulled by the Harvard and Oxford crews was four miles and -three furlongs, without any turning at a stake boat. The day was a very -warm one, the thermometer being at 87° Fahrenheit—in the shade.</p> - -<p>The names and weight of the crews were as follows:</p> - -<table summary="crews" width="80%"> - -<tr> -<td colspan="3">OXFORD UNIVERSITY. -</td> -<td colspan="3">HARVARD UNIVERSITY. -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td align="left"> -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>1. -</td> -<td>Darbishire, (stroke) -</td> -<td>160 lbs. -</td> -<td align="right">1. -</td> -<td >Loring, (stroke) -</td> -<td>154 lbs. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>2. -</td> -<td>Yarborough, -</td> -<td>170 " -</td> -<td align="right">2. -</td> -<td>Simmonds, -</td> -<td>170 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>3. -</td> -<td>Tinne, -</td> -<td>192 " -</td> -<td align="right">3. -</td> -<td >Lyman, -</td> -<td>155 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>4. -</td> -<td>Willan, (bow) -</td> -<td>166 " -</td> -<td align="right">4. -</td> -<td>Fay, (bow) -</td> -<td>155 " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td colspan="2">Hall, coxswain, -</td> -<td>100 " -</td> -<td colspan="2"> Burnham, coxswain, -</td> -<td >112 " -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td>——— -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td>——— -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td>788 -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td>746 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>The time occupied by both crews in pulling the race was as follows:</p> - -<table summary="time" width="40%"> -<tr> -<td>Oxford, -</td> -<td>22 minutes -</td> -<td>20 seconds. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Harvard, -</td> -<td>22 " -</td> -<td>26 " -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p>Both crews did their best, but the Oxford style of rowing, and their -form, was superior to that of Harvard. Rowing with a coxswain will -one day supersede the Harvard bow-steering. The Harvard crew received -perfect fair-play and courtesy, and all the stories to the contrary -which have been circulated are untrue.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail24.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail24" name="tail24"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap25.jpg" alt="" /> <a id="icap25" name="icap25"></a></span> MOST venerable relic—none more so in London—is the Domesday Book, -which I was allowed to inspect one day while sauntering through the -Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. This hoary volume is called the -"Domesday Book," or, "Register of the Lands of England," and was made -in the year 1086, almost in the morning of English history.</p> - -<p>There are two volumes of the "Domesday Book," one being a folio and the -other a quarto. A fee of a shilling is charged strangers, to inspect -the musty old tomes, with their illuminated characters, which detail -the various "messuages," "folkmotes," "carucates," and "hydes," of -land, which were divided among Norman William's mail clad barons, by -right of conquest, nearly a thousand years ago.</p> - -<p>These volumes are the oldest in England, although I have been informed -that there are, in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, two books, in Greek -characters, which were saved from the destruction of the Alexandrian -Library in the Ninth Century.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE DREADNOUGHT.</div> - -<p>One of the Domesday volumes is a very large folio, the other is a -quarto. The quarto is written on 382 double pages of vellum, in one -and the same hand, in small but plain characters, each page having -double columns. Some of the capital letters and principal pages are -touched with black ink, and others are crossed with lines of red ink. -The second volume,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> in folio, is written in 450 pages of vellum, but in -single columns, occupying each page, and in a large, fair character. -At the end of the second volume is the following memorial, in capital -letters, of the time of its completion:</p> - -<p>"Anno Millesimo Octogesimo Sexto ab Incarnatione Domini, vigesimo vero -regni Willielmi, facta est ista Descriptio, non solum per hos tres -Comitatus, sed etiam per alios."</p> - -<p>These books, until the year 1696, or for over six hundred years, were -carried innumerable times from place to place, through England, under -strong guards, within the jurisdiction of the various Lord Chancellors, -and Courts, to settle disputes and verify local records and documents, -in regard to the transmission of real estate, for every acre of land -owned to-day in England is held by the original tenure, given in -Domesday Book.</p> - -<p>Since 1696 the book has been kept with the King's Seal, at Westminster, -in the Exchequer, under three locks and keys in the charge of the -Auditor, the Chamberlain, and Deputy Chamberlains of the Exchequer. -It is kept in a vaulted porch never warmed by fire. For eight hundred -years it has never felt or seen a fire, and yet the pages are bright, -sound, and perfect as ever. In making searches, or transcripts from the -volume, the text must not be touched, and this has always been the rule -from forgotten days. All the cities, towns, and villages of England -are recorded in this book, with their value, location, and boundaries, -their castles, fortresses, marches, and the religious houses of the -Kingdom, as they stood twenty years after Duke William, of Normandy, -reined in his war horse from the slaughter of Hastings' dread field.</p> - -<p>The Hospital Ship "Dreadnought," (soon to be broken up and sold,) which -lies moored off Greenwich, in the dirty Thames, is another of the -curious sights of London. An hospital for the sick and diseased seamen -of all nations arriving in the port of London, was established on board -of the "Grampus," a 50 gun frigate, in 1821, but the "Grampus" did not -prove large enough for the purpose, and the next vessel chosen was the -104 gun three-decker "Dreadnought," which was fitted up in 1831, as an -Hospital Ship. This old hulk has glorious memories for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> all Englishmen, -who, as they look at her rotting timbers, can imagine that they see her -coming out of the smoke of Trafalgar fight, after capturing the Spanish -three-decker, "San Juan," which had, two hours before, beaten off the -English frigates, "Bellerophon" and "Defiance."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus64.jpg" alt="ship" /> <a id="illus64" name="illus64"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> HOSPITAL SHIP, DREADNOUGHT.</p> - -<p>The establishment on board of the "Dreadnought" consists of a -Superintendent, two Surgeons, an Apothecary, Visiting Physicians, and -a Chaplain. The ship is moored contiguous to the bulk of the shipping -in the docks, and in the river, and is the only place in London for the -reception of sick seamen arriving from abroad, or to whom accidents may -happen between the mouth of the river and London Bridge. Sick seamen of -every nation, on presenting themselves alongside, are immediately and -kindly received without any recommendatory letters, and ship-wrecked -sailors, and vagrant seamen, are admitted, if deserving. In 1869, 2,463 -patients were received on board, and 1,836 seamen were attended to as -out patients.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A GAUDY SHOW.</div> - -<p>The Emperor of Russia subscribes annually £150, the Queen of Spain -£100, the King of Italy £100, the Emperor of France<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> £200, the Sultan -of Turkey £100, the King of Denmark £50, and the King of Prussia £100. -I heard nothing of a contribution from the American Government, but it -is probable that the American Consul may, in some way, provide for the -destitute seamen of his country.</p> - -<p>The patients are ranged upon the lower decks, the portholes affording -a sort of ventilation, such as it is—the breeze coming in from the -putrid Thames' river, and in the cabin are all the implements of -surgery, so that a leg or arm can be whipped off at a moment's notice, -or an abscess, or ulcer, may be punctured equally quick.</p> - -<p>Visitors can inspect the "Dreadnought" on any day of the week, -excepting Sunday—between the hours of eleven and three.</p> - -<p>The number of seamen cared for in this floating hospital, for the past -thirty years, with their different places of nativity, is as follows:</p> - -<p>Englishmen, 84,600; Scotchmen, 18,960; Irishmen, 17,325; Frenchmen, -3,911; Germans, 2,800; Russians, 2,230; Prussians, 1,840; Hollanders, -480; Danes, 1,600; Swedes, 2,117; Norwegians, 1,604; Italians, 1,208; -Portuguese, 706; Spaniards, 801; East Indians, 2,014; West Indians, -3,212; British Americans, 1,582; United States, 3,316; South Americans, -712; Africans, 1,200; Turks, 174; Greeks, 295; New Zealanders, 98; -Australians, 307; South Sea Islanders, 80; Chinese, 347; born at sea, -206.</p> - -<p>Generally there are about two hundred patients in the floating Hospital -at a time, and it is kept pretty full, from the fact that a poor sailor -will perish afloat sooner than enter a land hospital, and seamen often -travel from the most distant parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, -to be received in the Dreadnought.</p> - -<p>One day, while standing on Cheapside looking at the busy thoroughfare, -which much resembles Broadway, New York, in its main features, I saw a -queerly-shaped, but magnificent vehicle dash by, embellished in gold -and silver, and hung with crimson velvet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span></p> - -<p>I asked a bystander what it was, and he answered with proper British -pride:</p> - -<p>"Why, don't you know? That's the Queen's State Kerridge a-goin to the -Tower to be repaired."</p> - -<p>I afterward saw this vehicle in all its glory and detail, and for the -benefit of Americans who may desire to get up a gorgeous equipage, I -will do my best to describe it.</p> - -<p>The carriage is composed of four Sea Tritons, who support the body -by cables; the two placed on the front, as it were, bear the driver, -(a most magnificent flunkey in powder and velvet,) and are sounding -shells, and those on the back part carry the bundles of Lictors rods -which are seen on Roman monuments and medals. The foot board on which -the driver rests his noble feet, is a large scallop shell, supported -by marine plants of different kinds. The pole resembles a bundle of -lances, and the wheels are made in imitation of the war chariots which -once rolled around classic arenas in the Games. The body of the coach -is composed of eight palm trees, which, branching out at the top, -sustain the roof, and at each angle are trophies of English battles by -land and sea.</p> - -<p>On the top of the roof are three little figures of fairies representing -England, Ireland, and Scotland, supporting a golden crown, and holding -the sceptre, the sword of state, and insignia of knighthood, and from -their bodies fall festoons of laurel to the four corners of the roof.</p> - -<p>On the right and left doors, and on the back and front pannels, are -painted allegorical designs in splendid style, representing Britannia -on a Throne, Religion, Wisdom, Justice, Valor, Fortitude, Commerce, -Plenty, Victory, and all the other virtues and acquisitions which all -Englishmen flatter themselves can only be found in "Britain ye knaw."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE QUEEN'S STATE COACH.</div> - -<p>Inside the State Coach it is simply magnificent. The body is lined with -scarlet embossed velvet, superbly laced and embroidered with the Star, -enameled by the Collar of the Order of the Garter, and surmounted by -the crown with the George and Dragon pendant. St. George, St. Michael, -and even St. Pat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span>rick, get a show here, although the latter has very -little show from the Queen in his own country.</p> - -<p>The hammer cloth is of scarlet velvet, with gold badges, ropes, and -tassels. The length of the carriage and body is 24 feet, width 8 -feet 3 inches, height 12 feet, length of pole 12 feet, weight four -tons. So that the Queen, when she desires a state airing, is carted -around for the amusement of her subjects, in a four-ton vehicle. The -painting of the panels cost £800, or about $4,000 greenbacks. The -eight horses which are employed to draw this magnificent carriage on -state occasions, are valued at £2,000, and the expense for grooms, -drivers, coachmen, and boys, of this equipage, which is not used more -than once in five years, (and when not used being chiefly of service -in showing off the manly proportions of John Brown,) is for every year -over $25,000, or as much as the salary of the President of the United -States. The Queen's coach is one hundred and eight years old, and is -kept in the Royal Mews or Stables at Pimlico.</p> - -<p>The bill which a loyal people had to pay when it was sent in for this -coach, was as follows:</p> - -<table summary="carriage" width="60%"> -<tr> -<td>Coachmaker (including Wheelwright and Smith), -</td> -<td align="right">£1637 -</td> -<td>15 -</td> -<td> 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Carver, -</td> -<td align="right">2500 -</td> -<td> 0 -</td> -<td> 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Gilder, -</td> -<td align="right">935 -</td> -<td>14 -</td> -<td> 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Painter, -</td> -<td align="right">315 -</td> -<td> 0 -</td> -<td> 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Laceman, -</td> -<td align="right">737 -</td> -<td>10 -</td> -<td> 7 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Chaser, -</td> -<td align="right">665 -</td> -<td> 4 -</td> -<td> 6 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Harnessmaker, -</td> -<td align="right">385 -</td> -<td>15 -</td> -<td> 0 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Mercer, -</td> -<td align="right">202 -</td> -<td> 5 -</td> -<td>10½ -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Beltmaker, -</td> -<td align="right">99 -</td> -<td> 6 -</td> -<td> 6 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Milliner, -</td> -<td align="right">31 -</td> -<td> 3 -</td> -<td> 4 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Saddler, -</td> -<td align="right">10 -</td> -<td> 16 -</td> -<td> 6 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Woollendraper, -</td> -<td align="right">4 -</td> -<td> 3 -</td> -<td> 6 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Covermaker, -</td> -<td align="right">3 -</td> -<td> 9 -</td> -<td> 6 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">— -</td> -<td align="right">— -</td> -<td>—— -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">£7528 -</td> -<td> 4 -</td> -<td> 3½ -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p>There was an awful row about the size of the bill, which was at first -£8,000, but after a great argument it was cut down to the amount paid, -£7,528 4 3½. The maker refused to take off the three-half pence, -and declared that he had been "skinned and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> robbed," but I imagine it -was the poor miserable wretches who died of starvation and cold and -exposure in the London streets that had the best right to complain.</p> - -<p>The Lord Mayor's State Coach, which was built in 1757, is almost as -magnificent as the Queen's, and is designed in fully as good or bad -taste, I do not know which to call it.</p> - -<p>To show how the people of England tolerate the most outrageous humbugs -on the face of the earth, I will give some of the items in regard to -the cost of the Lord Mayor's coach. When the coach was built, one -hundred and thirteen years ago, each alderman in the city subscribed -£60 towards its construction; then each alderman who was afterward -sworn into office, was forced to contribute £60 on taking the oath. -And each Lord Mayor also gave £100 on entering his office, to keep the -coach in order. In 1768 the entire expense of keeping the coach fell -on the Lord Mayor, who had to pay £300 during that year, and twenty -years after its construction, the coach cost in 1787, £355 to keep it -in order for that twelve months. During seven years of this present -century, the cost for repairs was per annum—£115, and in 1812 it was -newly lined and gilt for the benefit of the gaping London crowds, at -an expense of £600, and a new seat cloth was furnished for £90; and -again in 1821, this costly vehicle devoured the bread which ought to -have been eaten by the starving poor, to the tune of £206 for another -relining. In 1812 a carriage-making firm agreed to keep the coach in -order for ten years at an expense to the city of £48 a year, which -offer was accepted. The real amount of money swallowed up in this old -lumbering vehicle is incalculable. Six horses are required to draw -it, valued at £200 a piece, and the coach weighs 7,600 pounds. A Lord -Mayor, when well fed and taken care of, weighs, I believe, about 312 -pounds. The harnesses for each of the six horses weighs 106 pounds, or -636 pounds in all.</p> - -<p>The State Coach belonging to the Speaker of the House of Commons, was -built for Oliver Cromwell, and is drawn by two horses.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">JONATHAN WILD'S SKELETON.</div> - -<p>The two sheriffs of London have also State Coaches, burnished and -blazoned with gold, and hung with silks and vel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span>vets, and although they -only receive £1,000 for their year's services, the expense of state -coaches, horses, liveries, and drivers, never falls below 2,500 guineas -for their term. They are not allowed to serve if they swear themselves -to be worth over £15,000, or $75,000.</p> - -<p>The ceremony of installing a London sheriff I am afraid would make a -New York Sheriff howl, and much profanity would result were the ancient -ceremonies to become necessary at the City Hall of New York. I give the -curious form of installation of a Sheriff of London.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus65.jpg" alt="wild" /> <a id="illus65" name="illus65"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> JONATHAN WILD'S SKELETON.</p> - -<p>The sheriffs are chosen by the Livery Companies or Trade Associations -of London, on the morning of the Feast of St. Michael, and are -presented in the Court of Exchequer, accompanied by the Lord Mayor -and all the Aldermen, when the Recorder of London introduces the -two sheriffs, one for London proper, and the other for Middlesex -County, and the Chief Judge in his red robes, signifies the Queen's -assent, handing the sheriff's "roll"—a sheet of paper which has had -the names of the sheriffs pricked in by the Queen's own hand, the -writs and appliances are read and filed, and the sheriffs and senior -under-sheriffs take the oaths; when the late sheriffs present their -accounts. The crier of the court then makes proclamation for one who -does homage for the sheriffs of London to "stand forth and do his -duty;" when the senior alderman below the chair rises, the usher of the -court hands him a bill-hook, and holds in both hands a small bundle of -sticks, which the alderman cuts asunder, and then cuts another bundle -with a hatchet. Similar procla<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span>mation is then made for the sheriff of -Middlesex, when the alderman counts six horse-shoes lying upon the -table, and sixty-one hob-nails handed in a tray; and the numbers are -declared twice.</p> - -<p>The sticks are thin peeled twigs tied in a bundle at each end with red -tape; the horse-shoes are of large size, and very old; the hob-nails -are supplied fresh every year. By the first ceremony the alderman does -suit and service for the tenants of a manor in Shropshire, the chopping -of sticks betokening the custom of the tenants supplying their lord -with fuel. The counting of the horse-shoes and nails is another suit -and service of the owners of a forge in St. Clement Danes, Strand, -which formerly belonged to the city, but no longer exists. Sheriff -Hoare, in his MS. journal of his shrievalty, 1740-41, says, "where -the tenements and lands are situated no one knows, nor doth the city -receive any rents or profits thereby."</p> - -<p>In the Town Hall or Guildhall of London, some very strange relics are -preserved, but none can be more strange than the yellow faded parchment -shown me on which was written the humble petition of that notorious -rascal and thief-taker, Jonathan Wild, who had first trained Jack -Sheppard to thievery, after which he entrapped and hung him. Well, this -very virtuous old gentleman had the audacity to send a petition to the -Court of Aldermen in the year 1724, praying for the freedom of the City -in view of the benefit he had conferred on it by the apprehension of so -many thieves who had returned from transportation.</p> - -<p>One day while paying a visit to a celebrated surgeon, whose residence -is at Windsor, I was invited to look into his closets, in which were -stored a number of curiosities. Suddenly a door in a recess of the -chamber flew open, and out popped a skeleton on wires, with a ghastly, -grinning jaw, and its ribs all open like the timbers of a wrecked ship.</p> - -<p>"That's the skeleton of Jonathan Wild," said the surgeon, "It has been -in our family for a hundred years, I believe."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">STREET SIGHTS OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap26.jpg" alt="V" /> <a id="icap26" name="icap26"></a></span>ERY strange sights are seen in London. No city that I have ever -visited will compare with London for the number of its street peddlers, -hawkers, booth proprietors, open-air performers, ballad singers, -mountebanks, and other street itinerants.</p> - -<p>From daybreak until dark, and long into the night, in the ramification -of Streets and Lanes, Squares, Mews, and Ovals, the ear of the stranger -is saluted with the harshest and most discordant sounds which emanate -from the throats of a street-selling population of both sexes, large -enough alone to make the population of a fifth-rate city.</p> - -<p>The London Cockney who has heard the same grating sounds from the days -of his earliest childhood, never stops in his walk to listen to the -cries, but the stranger in London is compelled by the very want of -melody or intelligibility in the hawker's cries to listen, yet it is -useless for him to attempt to solve the meaning of their uncouth and -barbarous gibberage.</p> - -<p>For these seventy-five thousand men, women, and boys, as well as -girls, many of a tender age—have their several dialects, and signals, -and patois, which it would be madness to try to understand without -a thorough schooling in the rudiments of their language and several -occupations.</p> - -<p>In another part of this work I have taken a glance at the London -Costermongers and their habits and amusements, such as they are.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span></p> - -<p>Beside this, the largest and most hard-working class of street hawkers, -there are a hundred other branches of street merchandise, and all these -different branches have their followers, who navigate every quarter of -the metropolis, trying to pick up a shilling here and there from the -sale of their commodities, as luck or energy may chance to send the -shilling their way.</p> - -<p>It is calculated that the gross receipts of the street peddlers of -London amount to as much as £5,000,000 a year. This would make an -average of £70 a year, or nearly $500 for each person engaged in street -peddling. Of course in this aggregate I must include all those who keep -stands or booths of a greater or lesser magnitude.</p> - -<p>Some of these poor wretches may earn in good weeks about fifteen to -twenty shillings, while at other seasons when green stuff is scarce, it -is rarely that they exceed more than eight shillings on an average for -the same amount of labor and hawking.</p> - -<p>Ten shillings, however, is a fair week's earning if that amount be -realized during the current year. It may be calculated that the profits -will average as high as £1,500,000 where the gross receipts for sales -are as high as £5,000,000.</p> - -<p>A bitter hostility exists between the tradesmen who occupy shops and -pay what they consider to be exorbitant rents, and the street sellers. -No sooner has a street seller made a round of custom for himself and -advertised his wares sufficiently, than the blue-coated policeman is -sure to appear, armed with the authority which cannot be disobeyed, and -he is compelled to move his stand or barrow.</p> - -<p>The hawker or peddler is forced to pay four or five pounds a year for -a license to sell in this precarious way, and yet in London he has no -legal right to occupy a stand or booth. He has always to move on, like -the boy Joe in Bleak House.</p> - -<p>It is more than wonderful to think of the shifts made by the poor -classes of London to make a living.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SECOND-HAND BOOTS AND SHOES.</div> - -<p>The rich man passes by objects in the crowded streets every day with -scorn or loathing, which serve to yield a sustenance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> to the indigent -population, and even the offal of the streets will bring a price when -offered for sale. The work of the class who gather this material is -generally done before daybreak, and in some cases their earnings are -considerable.</p> - -<p>The second-hand metal and tool sellers are to be found chiefly as -proprietors of booths or barrows in the vicinity of Petticoat and -Rosemary Lanes. The street trade of the city is, to a great extent, -done by those who have barrows, and as it is convenient for them to -move their barrows from place to place, the costermongers are found all -over the metropolis.</p> - -<p>I made it my business to go almost incessantly among those street -hawkers, and I got from them a vast amount of useful information, and a -great many statistics.</p> - -<p>Some of them tell curious stories, and have considerable wit of -a coarse kind, but to the wandering American they are, with few -exceptions, very civil, and will relate their checkered life-histories -with great eagerness.</p> - -<p>There are hundreds of old boot and shoe shops and stands, where a great -business is carried on in the mending, patching, and vending of old -shoes and boots.</p> - -<p>In one branch of the street trade alone, it will be interesting to give -some statistics which may be deemed reliable, as having been collected -by Mr. Henry Mayhew. There are shops and stands included in this trade -alone—</p> -<table summary="shops" width ="60%"> -<tr> -<td>In Drury Lane and streets adjacent, -</td> -<td align="right"> 50 -</td> -<td>shops. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Seven Dials, " " -</td> -<td align="right">100 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Monmouth Street, " " -</td> -<td align="right"> 40 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Hanway Court, Oxford Street, -</td> -<td align="right"> 4 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Lisson-grove, " " -</td> -<td align="right">100 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Paddington, " " -</td> -<td align="right">30 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Petticoat Lane, " " -</td> -<td align="right">200 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Somerstown, -</td> -<td align="right">50 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Field Lane, Saffron Hill, -</td> -<td align="right">40 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Clerkenwell, -</td> -<td align="right">50 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, -</td> -<td align="right">100 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Rosemary Lane and vicinity, -</td> -<td align="right">30 -</td> -<td> " -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">—— -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">744 -</td> -<td>shops. -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span></p> - -<p>About two thousand five hundred men are employed mending and patching -shoes. Then there are hundreds of poor men and women who gain -subsistence, but barely subsistence, by collecting the old material of -all articles that are made of leather, and selling it to those who keep -shops or stands.</p> - -<p>I visited the lodgings of a man, in Cutler street, who paid his -landlord a weekly rent of 1<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i> for the use of one bare room, -which had no furniture with the exception of a three-legged chair upon -which he sat—and a heap of straw and dirty rags, which served him as a -bed. On the bare mantel-piece was a broken loaf of brown-bread, and a -cooked kidney, with a broken mustard-pot.</p> - -<p>The man was named Ferguson, and had only one eye, the other having -been obliterated by the small pox. He was a cheerful old fellow, this -peddler of second-hand boots and shoes, and seemed to take the world as -it came without thought of the morrow. I told him that I was in search -of information, and statistics in regard to the working people of -London, and he offered me very politely his only stool. I declined the -courtesy and sat on the heap of rags while he told his story.</p> - -<p>"Ye need not be afeered of the bugs, yer honor, in the bed. The place -is not warm enough for them to stay here.</p> - -<p>"Stistiks ye want is it? Well, I don't know how I can give ye stistiks, -but I can tell you my own story.</p> - -<p>"I began life a shoemaker's apprentice, in Edinburgh, although I am by -birth an Englishman. My master's name was Mac Donald, and when he drank -whiskey his temper generally ruz, and the divil couldn't stand him or -get the better of him. So I listed for a soldier and went to furrin -parts, and after I sarved my time I came back a good deal wiser but not -a penny richer of it all.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE DOG FANCIER.</div> - -<p>"I had my ups and downs when I came back, but I didn't marry, as it -was too bad to bring another person into poverty besides myself. I've -smoked a pipe when I was troubled in mind and could not get a bite to -eat, or a drop of gin to drink, but how would it be if I had a young -daughter? What good would it do to smoke if she wos hungry and I had -nothing to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> eat for her. I used to sell cherries and strawberries, and -then I gave that up and went into the old shoe trade. It paid better, -but sometimes I hadn't a penny-piece for two days at a time, and I -would have to sell my stock to get my grub.</p> - -<p>"The regular sort of men's shoes are not a werry good sale. I gets from -ten-pence to five shillings a pair, but the high priced ones is always -soled or heeled and covered with mud. I gets from one shilling to -two-and-sixpence for cloth in the shoes, when they are in decent trim. -Blucher's brings two shillings and upwards, and Wellington's about the -same. I have sold children's shoes as low as three-pence and as high -as one and sixpence. I carry a wooden seat with me so that a man who -wants to buy from me can sit down and try on a pair anywhere. People -who havn't got any money to throw away generally likes to get their -second-hand boots or shoes as big as you have them, cos wy, when they -take them in the rain if they are a tight fit they can't put them on."</p> - -<p>On an average the one-eyed boot and shoe seller informed me that he -made about four to seven shillings a week, and he called it a very good -week when he managed to make ten shillings profit.</p> - -<p>Dog-sellers, of whom there are about two hundred in London, always -choose the most public places for their stations.</p> - -<p>Down in Parliament street, opposite the Horse Guards, in Trafalgar -square, at the base of Nelson's Monument, in Upper Regent street by the -Coliseum, on the steps of the Bank and the Royal Exchange, on Waterloo -Bridge and along the Thames Embankment, and in fact wherever a large -open space may be found, or a well known public building located, the -dog-fancier may be noticed with a poodle between his legs, a black and -tan under one arm and a spaniel under the other, and by his side, it is -more than probable that a basket will be placed full of live, kicking, -and sagacious pups, of different colors and of as many breeds.</p> - -<p>These dog-sellers are the keenest street traders to be found in London, -and dramatists and playwrights are never weary of making sketches and -amusing characters of dog fanciers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span></p> - -<p>Some years ago, two rascals, bearing the names of "Ginger" and -"Carrots," made themselves famous for the number of dogs stolen by -them. At last it was impossible for any canine to escape these fellows, -and so industrious did they become in the pursuit of them that they -were arrested by the police and sent to the House of Correction for -six months, which is the penalty for stealing one dog, yet "Ginger" -and "Carrots" had, in their career, stolen thousands of unsuspecting -yelpers from their owners.</p> - -<p>In one year 60 dogs were reported lost, 606 stolen, 38 persons were -charged with dog stealing, 18 of whom were convicted, and 20 discharged.</p> - -<p>It is a fact worth noting, that, excepting in rare cases, the -dog stealers do not affiliate with or frequent the company of -house-breakers, or thieves of any other class. Dog stealing among -professionals is looked upon as a noble science, and deserving of long -and arduous practice.</p> - -<p>On wet days, when pedestrians may be forced by the suddenness of the -rain gusts to seek refuge in some arcade or colonade, like those in -Piccadilly or the Regents' Quadrant, it is then that the dog fancier -suddenly emerges from his hibernation, and knowing that he will have -the attention of a group of people who are without occupation while in -shelter, he may be certain to dispose of his dogs to advantage. It is -upon old and timid ladies that these dog venders are sure to practice -their tricks.</p> - -<p>Let an old maid but look longingly at some hairy poodle or woolly King -Charles,—then woe be to her if she attempt to escape without buying.</p> - -<p>"Wot," said one heartless villain of a dog fancier to a spinster -wearing gold spectacles, who was trying to make her escape from his -alarming language, as he stood in the Strand with a pet poodle in his -arms, "does ye keep me 'ere a torkin for three blessed hours and then -ye goes hoff without buying this beutifool dorg as is dirt cheap at -twenty pounds and I hoffers it to ye for five sovs. I say, do take it -with ye and make a muff of hit, the precious dear. All ye have to do -is to get its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> legs and tail cut off, and get its insides scooped out, -and ye'll have a splendid muff. Wot, ye won't buy, hey? Pir-leece, -Pir-leece," and the fellow began to scream for the police as if the -poor frightened old maid had intended to rob him.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">WHO KEEP BIRDS.</div> - -<p>Bird-Sellers frequent the New Cut, Lambeth, Bermondsey, Whitechapel, -Billingsgate, and Smithfield, as well as the different streets of -Southwark and Blackfriars.</p> - -<p>There are hundreds of these bird-sellers to be found hawking their -birds all over the city. They are shrewd, speculative men, and can tell -a bird's age and power of singing almost at a glance.</p> - -<p>The smallest cage costs sixpence, and a thrush and cage of a common -kind is valued at 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> A canary that sings well may fetch about -3<i>s.</i> The hens or female birds do not have a large sale, and the trade -in pigeons is decreasing, owing to the emigration of many of the -Spitalfield weavers, who had a great love for pigeons and were the -principal breeders of that bird in England.</p> - -<p>The poorer the family, the more likely that a bird will be found in the -house; and stable boys, laborers, and the humbler class of artisans, -are in the habit of keeping birds in their dwellings.</p> - -<p>It is also curious to notice the love formed by women who lead an -abandoned life, for all kinds of birds, chiefly, however, for those -that will sing. I noticed, in making a tour of inspection with the -police among the Slums of the Haymarket, that nearly every woman of -foreign extraction and of dissolute life had a linnet, canary, or -blackbird, in her room. Frenchwomen of this class are very fond of -canaries. Poor, lonely, forsaken wretches, it is the instinct of -deprived maternity which demands that they should have something to -love and make a pet of.</p> - -<p>Sailors, who have returned from long voyages, will stop in the street -when they see a bird-seller's stand, look at it for a moment with open -mouth, and taking out a handful of silver, will give the bird-fancier -any price he chooses to ask for a sweet singing bird. The bird will -serve as a gift to some female<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> relative, a wife, or as, in many cases, -some woman of the town will receive the cage and its occupant as a gift -from the drunken Jack-Tar.</p> - -<p>About five thousand parrots are imported and sold annually in London. -They are chiefly brought from Africa, and a fine parrot will bring as -high as a pound. Quite a number of these birds die on the homeward -voyage, and this makes the price of parrots very high. Birds' nests are -also sold in the streets by Italian and Savoyard boys in great numbers.</p> - -<p>Squirrels, rabbits, and gold and silver fish may be also found for sale -in the streets, the latter being bought to keep in glass globes as -ornaments.</p> - -<p>At every railroad station, in and outside of London, a person can be -weighed for a penny. A man named Read has at least one hundred weighing -chairs, which he rents out to men and boys at a certain rate of the -gross receipts. On the different bridges cripples and retired soldiers -may be found with brass instruments for testing the lungs and power of -a man's arms, and also machines are to be found in front of well-known -public houses, and in the parks and squares, for measuring the height -of pedestrians.</p> - -<p>There was one old fellow with whom I became acquainted, who kept a -measuring and a weighing machine.</p> - -<p>His station was on the Middlesex side of the Waterloo Bridge. He told -me that he had been a pot-boy in a cheap eating house for five years, -and then was a helper in a gentleman's stable for six years. One of his -arms was rendered useless from an attack of paralysis, and finding that -he could not any longer work as a helper, he borrowed enough money to -purchase the weighing and measuring machines.</p> - -<p>Having some curiosity to know the average weight and height of his many -customers, I made a bargain with him, as he could read and write, to -keep a record of his experience for three days of the physique of those -who patronized his machines.</p> - -<p>His patrons were chiefly laboring men on the new Thames Embankment, -boatmen plying on the river, clerks going and coming to their business -over Waterloo Bridge, and soldiers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">COKE SELLERS.</div> - -<p>His largest income was on Saturday nights, when the laboring people -were flush of copper pennies, and as nearly every third man was sure -to be drunk going over the bridge on Saturday night, he was certain to -reap a good harvest from their generous pockets.</p> - -<p>In three days he had weighed one hundred and thirty-two persons of the -male sex, and eight women. The average weight of each person I found -was, including the women, one hundred and fifty-five pounds. The number -of persons measured for their height was sixty-four, and the average -tallness of each person, among which number was only one female, was -five feet eight inches. The soldiers were of course the tallest. These -figures speak well for the London Cockneys. One of the women, a cook, -measured six feet, and weighed one hundred and ninety-eight lbs. I gave -the venerable statistician a shilling and bade him good-bye, but not -before I had received his blessing in fervent tones.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus66.jpg" alt="coke" /> <a id="illus66" name="illus66"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> COKE PEDDLER.</p> - -<p>The consumption of coke purchased from the various gas houses of the -city by peddlers and hawkers is enormous.</p> - -<p>There are about two thousand persons concerned in this street trade, -one hundred of whom are women, and the aggregate includes boys. The -various gas companies realize a yearly sum equal to six million of -dollars from the sale of the coke. The peddlers distribute the coke to -their customers in large vans, wheel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span>barrows, donkey carts, hand carts, -and some of these strong limbed, broad chested fellows, carry the -coke from door to door in large sacks. A few of the women own routes, -and hire boys or men to sell the coke, giving them eight to twelve -shillings a week, according to their merits and enterprise as hawkers. -Coke is bought by these hawkers at the gas houses at from three to four -pence per bushel, and is sold by them again at eight pence per bushel.</p> - -<p>In giving the rates which I will have occasion to quote from time to -time in this work, I shall generally give the prices in British money.</p> - -<p>Salt is also vended in carts and wheelbarrows like coke, and some of -the peddlers of that much desired article for seasoning and preserving -food, sell in one day as much as five hundred pounds. The wholesale -price to the hawkers is about 2<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. per hundred pounds, and it is -sold by them to the poor people in thickly populated districts, at a -penny a pound, or sometimes cheaper.</p> - -<p>Sand is sold in large quantities to the keepers of publics and small -shops, and to those keeping stalls in the old markets, at twenty -shillings a load, and the sand peddlers pay a license of two pounds per -annum. In fact all the London peddlers pay a tax or license of some -kind or another.</p> - -<p>One of the strangest sights in London is the "Bum Boat" of a "Purl," -or warm beer seller, who may be found now and then of a dark foggy day -plying his vocation on the Thames.</p> - -<p>Formerly there were hundreds of these beer peddlers upon the river, but -I believe that there are but a few, perhaps not more than five or six, -who still follow this occupation.</p> - -<p>One day while pulling around the shipping below London bridge in a -small boat, I came across one of the "Bum Boat" men, who might, I -believe, be taken as a very fair specimen of his class, or calling, -once numerous, but now only a scattered remnant of their former numbers.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">STOCK IN TRADE.</div> - -<p>This fellow, a sun-browned-looking man of thirty years of age or -thereabout, was impelling a craft, a strongly constructed, broad -bottomed barge or yawl, in and out among the smoky<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> looking coal -barges, fish and oyster craft and coasting steamers. He wore a dark -blue guernsey shirt and a yellow oil-skin jacket, with heavy water -boots which encased his large legs from the knees downward. An immense -"Sou'-wester" shaded his broad face, and he was trying to drive the fog -away by smoking a dreadful black clay pipe.</p> - -<p>At the stern of the boat was a rough canvas awning, and under this the -"Purl" man told me that he slept for weeks and months, while his boat -lay at anchorage in some of the nooks of the busy river.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus67.jpg" alt="boatman" /> <a id="illus67" name="illus67"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> BUM BOAT MAN.</p> - -<p>He seldom or ever went ashore, excepting when necessity compelled him -to debark for the purpose of laying in beer and other stock for his -customers.</p> - -<p>In the bottom of the boat were heaps of fresh onions, a bag of -potatoes, a couple of bushels of Swedish turnips, parsnips, carrots, -some packages of tea and coffee in small square brown parcels, tied -with white string, a tin box full of mutton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span> chops and beef steaks, cut -ready for sale, and other articles of food that would be most relished -by seafaring men on their return from a voyage.</p> - -<p>There were also in the boat a small patent sheet-iron furnace, two -little casks of beer, each containing about four gallons of that -beverage, a can with a gallon of gin of the cheap and fiery brand, -and two tin pannikins in which he warmed the beer, or "Purl," as it -is called, upon the small sheet-iron stove. This he sold hot to the -sailors, oystermen, and coal bargees, at four pence a pint. It was -most wonderful to see the dexterous manner in which this Bum Boat man -passed in and out between the numerous craft, paddling and ringing a -hand bell the while, without any collision or trouble, and then to hear -through the fog, the answering cries from the sailors who recognized -his welcome bell:</p> - -<p>"Boat ahoy!"</p> - -<p>"Bell ah-o-o-y!"</p> - -<p>"P-i-n-t o' P-u-r-l a-h-o-o-y!"</p> - -<p>Then for an instant the bell would cease, and the dark shapes of the -"Bum Boat" and its proprietor would be seen, as the latter stood up -to reach a noggin of gin to a bargee, or a pewter pint of foaming hot -"Purl" to some thirsty soul of a tar just arrived from Greenwich, -Glasgow, or Cork.</p> - -<p>The "Bum Boat" man is one of the most picturesque sights of that most -picturesque of cities, London. The few who still ply their avocation -on the river, are in pretty comfortable circumstances, and their lives -are as happy as can be imagined, much more so, I have no doubt, than -they were when there were hundreds of them paddling about the river and -impoverishing themselves by a ruinous competition.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HOW DICK GETS HIS PORRIDGE.</div> - -<p>I have often noticed miserable, wan, and half naked looking little -children, in and around the Regent's Circus, and in the neighborhood of -the Cafés and Pall Mall, with small bags made from the material used in -potato sacks, collecting cigar ends and crusts of bread from ash heaps -and dust bins. Wondering what use could be made of these disgusting -fragments, I one day accosted a lad of twelve years or thereabouts, -who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span> was busily engaged in searching a dust bin near Simpson's Tavern -in the Strand, which is a resort for fashionable diners out.</p> - -<p>I said to him, after giving him a penny, which will always unclose the -lips of the sauciest London street boy:</p> - -<p>"Child, why do you collect these fragments of crusts and cigar ends?"</p> - -<p>"Mister," said the half frightened child, who took me at the first -glance for a detective in plain clothes—and by the way, it seems as if -every poorly clad and hungry man and woman in London were suspicious -of the police, for the reason that they are poorly clad, and for that -reason alone—</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus68.jpg" alt="cigar" /> <a id="illus68" name="illus68"></a></p> -<p class="caption">"I GETS IT FOR CIGAR STUMPS."</p> - -<p>"Mister," said the hungry child, whose face was prematurely aged, "I -aint doing nothink; I was only grabbing the crusts for porridge."</p> - -<p>"For porridge,—how do you make the porridge, my lad?"</p> - -<p>"My mother—she is down in Milbank street, and has got the small pox, -but before she was sick she used to bile the crusts in hot water and -put a pennorth o' oat meal in the pot. She borrowed the pot from Mrs. -Clarke, she did."</p> - -<p>"Who makes the porridge now, boy," said I to him.</p> - -<p>"A gal—me big sister Mag—she makes ladies' shoes for a shop, and -wacks me when she's mad and I aint got no money for gin. I likes -porridge, and Mag she makes it so preshis 'ot. My name's Dick."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, Dick, how do you get the 'pennorth' of oat meal for the -porridge?"</p> - -<p>"I gets it for cigar stumps. I finds a lot on 'em and sells 'em, and -I gets ten browns for a pound on 'em. The tibbaccy man buys 'em, but -he wont buy the short ones, cause he says they are all wet and the -tibbaccy is all gone from them. I makes tuppence a day sometimes."</p> - -<p>There are, I am told, fifty or sixty persons, men and boys, some of -whom are Irish, engaged in this branch of the Street Finders' vocation.</p> - -<p>It would be tedious to give an account of all the different branches -of street selling and buying in London. Their number is legion, and -it would be the work of weeks to merely recapitulate all the strange -ways and means whereby wretchedness exists in the heart of surrounding -splendor, and what would seem to be, but is not—an all-pervading -charity.</p> - -<p>But I cannot close this chapter without glancing at the street -performers—street "Peep" Shows, Reciters, Showmen, Strong Men, Dancing -boys and men, Tom Tom players, Street Clowns and Acrobats, Bagpipe -players, Negro Serenaders, Street Bands, Punch and Judy shows, and -other street folk, who are almost if not as numerous as the hawkers and -collectors.</p> - -<p>There is to be seen on Saturday nights, in the vicinity of Farringdon -and the old London markets, now and then a stray Peep Show man, who -frequents the most crowded districts, where the poorer people have -money to spend. These Peep Shows are conveyed through the streets on -a low four wheeled wagon, sometimes by the performer or proprietor -in person, at other times by a donkey. Donkeys cost from two to five -pounds in London, according to their breed and tractability.</p> - -<p>On the wagon a square box is generally placed, having a large glass -front, which is covered with green baize or a dirty velvet curtain.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus69.jpg" alt="street" /> <a id="illus69" name="illus69"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> STREET ACROBATS.</p> - -<p>This screen conceals the automaton figures that are set in motion -by the man in charge. Sometimes there is a hurdy gurdy, or hand -organ, attached, and while the exhibitor turns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span> a crank to allow the -spectators to look at the revolving pictures of the "Capture of the -Malakoff," the "Death of Nelson," "Napoleon at Waterloo," or some -other historic picture, the hurdy gurdy will play "Old Dog Tray," "The -Lancashire Lass," or some other popular ditty. Representations of the -most horrible murders, or executions of well known criminals, are much -relished by the London mobs, and are well patronized. One of these men -told me that he was accustomed to take three and four shillings on -Saturday nights in Farringdon market or the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> New Cut, while during the -week he might not make four shillings altogether.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">STREET ACROBATS.</div> - -<p>Street acrobats, or posturers, are often met with in London. They are -to be found usually in streets which have one end closed, or near -the river. Thus the traffic is not impeded, owing to the absence of -vehicles; and a street like those which run off the Strand toward the -river will be quiet as the grave all day long until near the dusk, -when all at once, as if by magic, a curious crowd of men, women, and -children will collect around a man and boy or boys, who will in the -most business like fashion proceed to divest themselves of their -outward clothing, which of course is of a rather shabby kind, and -in a few moments they will appear in all the glory of flesh-colored -tights, just as they may be seen standing in the sawdust of a circus -arena. Their foreheads are glorious with silver tinsel or silk ribbon -fillets, their loins girt with strips of velvet, and their whole rig -of a theatrical character. Some of the children are really handsome, -and most exquisitely shaped, the results of athletic exercise and free -fresh air. But the men, poor devils, have all of them a haggard, worn, -fretful look, with hollowed cheek and straggling gray hair.</p> - -<p>Having placed a piece of carpet, rather threadbare in appearance, in -the middle of the street, after selecting the cleanest spot for it, -these fellows (who are soon in the centre of a ring of people, from -whom coppers are collected while the acrobats are bounding in air), go -to work, and for half an hour will amaze, delight, edify, and instruct -the grown children, larking street boys, and nursery maids of the -neighborhood, and having collected perhaps ten pence or a shilling, -they will gather up the carpet, don their sober, shabby garments, and -find another quarter to do their trapeze, pyramid, and dancing feats.</p> - -<p>Nearly all these street acrobats are bruised, or are in some way -injured, and many die young from falls.</p> - -<p>Occasionally they will disappear from the crowded London streets, in -search of a scanty existence in some miserable provincial barn of -a theatre or music hall, and years may perhaps elapse before their -pinched cheeks and hungry eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> will again be encountered in the shabby -chop houses and dark, lanes of London. Six shillings a week is as much -as these poor wanderers, soiled by the glare of tallow candles in -crazy barns and sheds, can expect to make in the provincial towns and -villages. Therefore London, with all its misery, is very dear to them, -for with much less toil and labor they can realize twelve to fifteen -shillings per week in the Capital.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">PUNCH AND JUDY SHOW.</div> - -<p>But the great and lasting attraction among the multifarious street -scenes of London, is the Punch and Judy show, the delight of joyous -children, of the rich and poor, whether in Belgravia or St. Giles. And -indeed, Punch and Judy shows reap more profit in a poor and squalid -district than they will in the aristocratic quarters.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus70.jpg" alt="judy" /> <a id="illus70" name="illus70"></a></p> -<p class="caption">PUNCH AND JUDY.</p> - -<p>It is rarely that the police will disturb these street shows, unless -that householders should prefer a complaint that they were annoyed, -and then of course they are driven away. I have myself looked and -listened for many an hour to these absurdly humorous shows, to Punch -and Judy, the Dog, the Clown, and some negro characters selected for -the exhibition. Usually there is a man, his wife, and a boy to collect -the pennies thrown from windows or given by the crowd which assembles -to witness the performance.</p> - -<p>The man plays the pipes, fastened at his breast, and the drum with his -elbow; and the woman keeps the figures in mo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span>tion on the miniature -stage, the back of which is hidden by a green curtain or tent, placed -in the cart. Behind this screen the woman conceals herself and talks -for the little automaton figures. There is a set dialogue in which the -figures are supposed to converse, and as it is seldom changed, I give -the following portion of a comedy of conversation, as that chiefly used -for many years by the London Punch and Judy shows:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Enter Judy.</span></p> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> What a sweet creature! what a handsome nose and chin! (He -pats Judy on the face lovingly.)</p> - -<p><i>Judy.</i> Keep quiet, do! (Slapping him wickedly.)</p> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> Don't be cross, my ducky, but give me a kiss.</p> - -<p><i>Judy.</i> Oh, to be sure, my love. (They embrace and kiss.)</p> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> Bless your sweet lips. (Hugging her.) These are melting -moments. I'm very fond of my wife, I must have a dance.</p> - -<p><i>Judy.</i> Agreed. (Dancing.)</p> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> Get out of the way, you don't dance well enough for me. -(Hits her on the nose.) Go and fetch the baby, and mind and take care -of it and not hurt it. (Judy goes off.)</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Judy.</span> (Coming back with the baby.)</p> - -<p>Take care of the baby while I go and cook the dumplings.</p> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> (Striking Judy with his hand.) Get out of the way! I'll take -care of the baby (and Judy goes out).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Punch.</span> (Sits down and sings to the baby.)</p> - -<p> -"Hush a-bye baby on the tree top,<br /> -When the wind blows the cradle will rock;<br /> -When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,<br /> -Down comes the baby, cradle and all."<br /> -</p> - -<p>(The baby cries and Punch throws it up and down violently.)</p> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> What a cross child! I can't abear cross children. (Shakes -the baby and pretends that he is about to kill it, and finally throws -it out of the window.)</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Enter Judy.</span></p> - -<p><i>Judy.</i> Where is the baby?</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">PUNCH IS EXECUTED.</div> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> (In a lemoncholy tone.) I have had a misfortune; the -child was so terrible cross I throwed it out of the window, I did. -(Lamentation of Judy for her dear child. She goes into asterisks, and -then excites and fetches a cudgel, and commences beating Punch over -the head.)</p> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> Don't be cross, my dear, I didn't go to do it.</p> - -<p><i>Judy.</i> I'll pay yer for a throwin' the child out of the winder. (She -keeps a beatin him on the blessed head with the stick, but Punch -snatches the stick away, and commences a smashin of her blessed head.)</p> - -<p><i>Judy.</i> (Screaming like hanythink.) I'll go to the Constable and have -you locked up.</p> - -<p><i>Punch.</i> Go to the devil. I don't care where you go. Get out of the -way. (Judy goes hoff, and Punch sings, "Par Excellence," or, "Ten -Little Indians." N.B. All before is sentimental, but this here's -comic. Punch goes through his roo-too-to-rooey, and in comes the -Beadle hall in red.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>Then the "Clown" and "Jim Crow," the "Doctor," "Jack Ketch," the -hangman, with various characters, follow each other in quick succession -and enact their absurdities to the intense delight of the "juveniles," -as the showman, in his printed book of the play calls the children. -Punch is tried and convicted of murder, and being sentenced to death, -is finally hung by Jack Ketch, at Newgate, as a punishment for his -crimes, and is then placed in a coffin and given to be dissected.</p> - -<p>All through these performances I have frequently noticed that the child -spectators sympathized with Punch,—who is certainly a most notorious -criminal if we are to judge by his actions on the stage of the Punch -and Judy show,—and they always applauded when the Beadle got the worst -of the fight.</p> - -<p>It is a strange instinct, that which rises and glows in the breast of a -child,—this resistance to the spirit or personification of authority.</p> - -<p>The same instinct in the full-grown man, draws a mob of ragged blouses -after a Rochefort, in the streets of Paris, and builds barricades from -which they fire upon the hireling soldiery of a Bonaparte.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND NATIONAL GALLERY.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap27.jpg" alt="" /> <a id="icap27" name="icap27"></a></span>N Great Russell street, Bloomsbury square, is the British Museum, one -of the chief glories of the English metropolis, and an institution of -which every Londoner is deservedly proud. There is, perhaps, no finer -collection of curiosities and antiquities, and the nation has been -for a century gathering the tributes of Science, Art, and Antiquity -together in this vast building, which covers, with grounds and -outbuildings, an area of seven acres.</p> - -<p>The first purchase for the collection was made in 1750, when Sir Hans -Sloane, a great collector and scientific man, died, leaving a will, in -which he suggested that his collection which cost him £50,000 should be -bought by Parliament for £20,000. This offer was accepted, and an act -was passed purchasing Sir Hans Sloane's "library of books, drawings, -manuscripts, prints, medals, seals, cameos, and intaglios, precious -stones, agates, jaspers, vessels of agate, crystals, mathematical -instruments, pictures, &c." Thus was laid the first foundation of the -now world famous British Museum. By the same act a purchase was made of -the Harleian Library of about 7,000 rare volumes of rolls, charters, -and manuscripts, to which were added the Cottonian Library, and the -library of Major Arthur Edwards. A lottery was devised, from which -£100,000 was realized, and the collections were paid for from this -fund, as well as the sum of £10,250 which was paid to Lord Halifax for -Montague House, in which the museum was then located, and on which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span> -site the present building has been erected. The additional sum of -£12,873 was paid for the repairs of Montague House, and a fund was also -set apart for its taxes, salaries of officers, and Trustees, who were -chosen from the best and noblest in the land, and in 1759 the Museum -was opened to the public.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE READING ROOM AND ITS OCCUPANTS.</div> - -<p>The present lofty and imposing building was thirty years in -construction, although the Museum was all that time open to the public, -the building being erected piecemeal. The main buildings form a -quadrangle with spacious and lofty galleries and courts. The entrances -to the buildings are by magnificent staircases of stone, and the -portico is adorned with giant figures and groups of sculpture.</p> - -<p>Even in the old Egyptian days, no greater masses of stone were ever -used than those which have been placed in the grand flight of steps -of the main facade. There are twelve stone steps, 120 feet in width, -terminating with pedestals, on which are the groups of sculpture. There -are 800 huge stones in the edifice, weighing from five to nine tons -each.</p> - -<p>In the pediment, on the main front, are typified in storied stone, -Man, Religion, Paganism, Music, the Drama, Poetry, the Patriarchs, -Civilization, Science, Mathematics, and other allegorical figures. The -entire buildings have cost upward of £1,000,000. The principal doorway -is really majestic, being twenty-four feet high and ten feet wide.</p> - -<p>The Reading-Room of the Library contains 1,250,000 cubic feet of space, -the dome being 140 feet in diameter and 106 feet high. In this vast -room an echo is heard like the sound of a trumpet, and on its shelves, -and in contiguous alcoves, are 800,000 volumes of books upon every -known subject and in every known language. This room cost £150,000. -4,200 tons of iron were used in the construction of the dome alone. -There is accommodation for 300 readers, each person having a desk and -table in a space of four feet three inches.</p> - -<p>There is a great silence in this vast room where every one seems bent -on study. The very doorkeepers who take your hat and umbrella, have a -studious look. Every visitor presents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> his ticket of admission, and is -registered for the benefit of the statistics of the Kingdom. Scores of -men who have a taste for literature and reading, and no money to buy -books, come here, and, during lunch-hours, those who are anxious to -study, and do not wish to leave their seats, may be seen taking from -under their tables light luncheons, kidney-pies, and sandwiches, of -which they partake with that peculiar shamefacedness which is always -observable in people who eat in public places.</p> - -<p>There is a member of Parliament in his natty suit, and with a heavy -watch-chain, who has gotten him down an old rusty tome, from which he -is cramming with great earnestness for the next debate. Last night he -had never heard of the subject of which he is reading, and just now he -is full of it, and so puzzled with the wealth of the material before -him that he does not know at which end to begin.</p> - -<p>There is an old gentleman, in threadbare clothes, and worn cuffs, who -has a very mild and placid face, and blue bulbous eyes. The table -before him is strewn with old, worn volumes, bound with parchment and -sheep-skin covers, and every time he turns a leaf a cloud of powdered -dust ascends to his nostrils, and he is nearly suffocated. It is easy -to see from this man's soft and fixed look that he is a monomaniac upon -some subject, and that he is now settled for the day. Ah! what a sigh -of relief from the old codger. He has, after great trouble, secured in -his mind the point in dispute, and now he is at work rapidly scratching -away at his notes. Looking over his shoulder I can see that the old -fellow has a number of works on the subject of Heraldry before him, and -he is, of course, tracing some mystic pedigree to the Flood, or further -back, perhaps for the satisfaction of a butcher or tailor who may be in -want of an escutcheon and a bar sinister in his shield.</p> - -<p>In 1827, Sir Joseph Banks presented his botanical collection, and -66,000 valuable volumes. In 1837, the Prints and Drawings, the Geology -and Zoology departments were formed, and in 1857, the Department of -Mineralogy. The Museum is divided into departments of Printed Books, -Manuscripts, An<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span>tiquities, Art, Botany, Prints, and Drawings, Zoology, -Paleontology, Mineralogy, and Sculpture, each under the charge of an -"Under-Librarian."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE MAGNIFICENT LIBRARIES.</div> - -<p>There are five Zoological galleries or saloons, embracing everything -in the schedule of serpents, monkeys, lizards, tortoises, crocodiles, -toads, antelopes, rhinoceri, elephants, and hippopotami, giraffes, -buffaloes, oxen, lions, tigers, bears, otters, kangaroos, apes, -squirrels, whales, sharks, porpoises, and all kinds of fish and -mollusca.</p> - -<p>There is also a gallery of Fossils, Zoological and Geological, and -a Gallery of Minerals. In these galleries are eight saloons. Then -follow the Departments of Botany, and the Department of Antiquities, -containing vases, terra cottas, bronzes, coins, and medals. There are -also three saloons of Anglo-Roman Antiquities, of Roman Iconography, -three Greco-Roman saloons, the Greco-Roman Basement Room, the Lyceum -Gallery, and the Elgin Rooms, in which are the splendid marbles -collected by Lord Elgin at Athens, and which were bought for £35,000 by -Parliament.</p> - -<p>There are also the Hellenic Galleries of Marbles, the second Elgin -Room, the Assyrian Galleries, 300 feet in length, and thirty other -galleries, and innumerable saloons crowded with the most wonderful and -valuable objects of art and science.</p> - -<p>There is a Newspaper Saloon with the finest collection of newspapers -in England. The catalogues of the libraries and collections of the -Museum alone amount to 620 volumes. The collections are valued at -£15,000,000. By act of Parliament, a copy of every book, pamphlet, -sheet of letter-press, sheet of music, chart, plan or map, issued in -Queen Victoria's dominions must be delivered to the British Museum. -There are three libraries in the Museum: the King's Library, presented -by George IV, consisting of 80,000 volumes; the Greenville Library, -21,000 volumes; and the General Library of 730,000 volumes, and which -is inferior only to those of Munich and Paris.</p> - -<p>Magna Charta, if not the original, a copy made when King John's seal -was affixed to it, was acquired by the British Mu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span>seum with the -Cottonian Library. It was nearly destroyed in the fire of Westminster -in 1731; the parchment is much shriveled and mutilated, and the seal is -reduced to an almost shapeless mass of wax. The MS. was carefully lined -and mounted; and in 1733 an excellent <i>fac-simile</i> of it was published -by John Pine, surrounded by inaccurate representations of the armorial -ensigns of the twenty-five barons appointed as securities for the due -performance of Magna Charta.</p> - -<p>An impression of this <i>fac-simile</i>, printed on vellum, with the -arms carved and gilded, is placed opposite the Cottonian original -of the Great Charter, which is now secured under glass. It is about -two feet square, is written in Latin, and is quite illegible. It -is traditionally stated to have been bought for four-pence, by Sir -Robert Cotton, of a tailor, who was about to cut up the parchment into -measures! But this anecdote, if true, may refer to another copy of -the Charter preserved at the British Museum, in a portfolio of royal -and ecclesiastical instruments, marked Augustus II, art. 106; and the -original Charter is believed to have been presented to Sir Robert -Cotton by Sir Edward Dering, Lieut.-Governor of Dover Castle; and to be -that referred to in a letter dated May 10, 1630, extant in the Museum -Library, in the volume of Correspondence, Julius C. III. fol. 191.</p> - -<p>In the Museum, also, is the original Bull, in Latin, of Pope Innocent -III, receiving the kingdoms of England and Ireland under his -protection, and granting them in fee to King John and his successors, -dated 1214, and reciting King John's charter of fealty to the Church -of Rome, dated 1213. Also, the original Bull, in Latin, of Pope Leo X, -conferring the title of Defender of the Faith upon Henry VIII.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ADMISSION TO THE MUSEUM.</div> - -<p>The Reading Room is open every day, except on Sundays, on Ash -Wednesdays, Good Fridays, Christmas-day, and on any Fast or -Thanksgiving days ordered by authority; except also between the 1st -and 7th of May, the 1st and 7th of September, and the 1st and 7th of -January, inclusive. The hours are from 9 till 7 during May, June, -July, and August (except on Saturdays, at 5), and from 9 till 4 during -the rest of the year. To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span> obtain admission, persons are to send their -applications in writing, specifying their Christian and surnames, rank -or profession, and places of abode, to the principal Librarian; or, -in his absence, to the Secretary; or, in his absence, to the senior -Under-Librarian; who will either immediately admit such persons, or lay -their applications before the next meeting of the Trustees.</p> - -<p>Every person applying is to produce a recommendation satisfactory to -a Trustee or an officer of the establishment. Applications defective -in this respect will not be attended to. Permission will in general -be granted for six months, and at the expiration of this term fresh -application is to be made for a renewal. The tickets given to readers -are not transferable, and no person can be admitted without a ticket. -Persons under eighteen years of age are not admissible.</p> - -<p>The Reader having ascertained from the Catalogue the book he requires, -transcribes literally into a printed form the press-mark, title of the -work wanted, size, place, and date, and signs the same. Readers, before -leaving the room, are to return the books or MSS. they have received to -an attendant, and are to obtain the corresponding ticket, the reader -being responsible for such books or MSS. so long as the ticket remains -uncanceled. Readers are allowed to make one or more extracts from any -printed book or MS.; but no whole or greater part of a MS. is to be -transcribed without a particular permission from the Trustees. The -transcribers are not to lay the papers on which they write on any part -of the book or MS. they are using, nor are any tracings allowed without -special leave of the Trustees. No person is, on any pretence whatever, -to write on any part of a printed book or MS. belonging to the Museum.</p> - -<p>The persons whose recommendations are accepted are Peers of the Realm, -Members of Parliament, Judges, Queen's Counsel, Masters in Chancery or -any of the great law-officers of the Crown, any one of the forty-eight -Trustees of the British Museum, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, -rectors of parishes in the metropolis, principals or heads of colleges, -emi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span>nent physicians and surgeons, and Royal Academicians, or any -gentleman in superior position to an ordinary clerk in any of the -public offices.</p> - -<p>Some idea of the magnitude of this great Museum may be formed when -I state that the clerical and literary force connected with the -institution is larger than that of any similar foundation in Europe but -one—the Imperial Library at Paris.</p> - -<p>There is first a Principal Librarian, a Secretary, fifteen keepers -of departments, beside a little army of attendants, messengers, -bookbinders, watchmen, and doorkeepers, numbering over one hundred -persons. Beside there are fifty or sixty persons of literary eminence -and celebrity connected with the Museum, and employed to perfect the -collection, to collate and arrange the books and to classify subjects. -In this way alone the expenses of the establishment amount to £40,000 -yearly.</p> - -<p>The average number of visitors to the Museum yearly is over one -million, and the galleries are entirely free to the public.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus71.jpg" alt="nelson" /> <a id="illus71" name="illus71"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> NELSON'S MONUMENT.</p> - -<p>Next to the British Museum, the most frequented place in London is the -National Gallery of Art, in Trafalgar Square, facing Nelson's Monument. -This lofty monument fills the eye of the spectator as it takes in the -range of one of the finest squares in Europe. The column is a circular -one, 145 feet high, and the figure of the great naval hero, Nelson, -on the top, is 17 feet high. The monument was built in 1840-43, and -is placed on an elevated pedestal of granite. The Emperor Nicholas of -Russia gave £500 toward the erection of the monument, and the rest was -raised by public subscription. The two immense lions of bronze who lie -couchant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> at the base of the monument, were modeled in iron from visits -made by Sir Edwin Landseer to the live lions at the Zoological Gardens.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE NATIONAL GALLERY.</div> - -<p>There are also statues of Sir Henry Havelock and of Sir Charles Napier, -on each side of the inclosure which fronts the Nelson column, twelve -feet high and of bronze, and just below in an angle of the square is a -bronze statue of George IV, which cost £10,000. These three statues, -which are all equestrian, were paid for by public subscription.</p> - -<p>On one side of the square is the church of St. Martin, an imposing -looking building, built by Wren, and on the lofty steps of this church -the crossing sweepers and bootblacks of the Metropolis have their daily -rendezvous, and here divide their earnings with each other.</p> - -<p>The National Gallery is, therefore, in a most commanding site, and from -its broad steps a very fine view can be obtained of the Strand, Charing -Cross, Parliament Street, and the Houses of Parliament.</p> - -<p>The edifice was finished in 1838, and is 461 feet in length, and -its greatest width across the saloons of painting is 56 feet. The -stones were taken to construct it entirely from the King's Stables or -Mews, and the building has a peculiarly sombre and solid effect. In -it are a range of spacious galleries, whose walls are covered with -the greatest works of the old masters and modern painters. It is the -chief collection of paintings in the British Islands, and the number -of subjects amount to 1,600. The number of pictures in the National -Gallery, as compared with the number in the Continental galleries, is -as follows: National Gallery, 1,600; Dresden Gallery, 2,000; Madrid, -1,833; Louvre, 2,500; Vienna, 1,500; The Vatican, 37; the Capitol, -Rome, 250; Bologna, 280; Milan, 503; Turin, 563; Venice, 688; Naples, -700; Frankfort, 380; Berlin, 1,350; Munich, 1,300; Florence, 1,200; -Pitti Palace, 500; Amsterdam, 386; Hague, 304; Brussels, 400; and -Versailles, 4,000.</p> - -<p>The pictures in the National Gallery are divided into the British and -Foreign Schools. Of the British School there are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> 795 paintings of -various artists, and of various degrees of merit, in which the names of -every English painter of consequence is included by his works.</p> - -<p>The chief collection in this division is that of Turner, the great -colorist, and here are exhibited in a saloon by themselves the finest -specimens of that great painter's works, in all numbering over one -hundred subjects, which, together with a large collection of drawings -and water colors, he bequeathed to the English people.</p> - -<p>The Foreign School is sub-divided into the Italian, Spanish, Flemish, -and French Schools, and these schools embrace 797 fine pictures, in -which the old masters chiefly predominate. Three of Corregio's pictures -in this gallery cost £15,000, and the latest acquisition is a Michael -Angelo valued at £30,000.</p> - -<p>The Gallery is open to the public on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and -Saturdays; and on Thursdays and Fridays to students only. It is open -from Ten to Five from October until April 30, inclusive; and from Ten -to Six from April until the middle of September. It is wholly closed -during the month of October.</p> - -<p>Daily this free gallery of art is thrown open to the working people -who enjoy the paintings, excepting on the days specified. There is no -charge whatever excepting for catalogues of the British and Foreign -Schools, which cost a shilling each.</p> - -<p>The question of opening the Galleries on Sunday has been much agitated -of late, but I question if the British public, particularly the -working or artisan class, care much for paintings. The lower classes -of Englishmen are not, as a rule, very esthetical in their views or -ideas, and I think the British masses are best calculated to shine at a -cattle-show. There is nothing in this world so capable of striking an -average Englishman's fancy as a huge ox or a mountain of moving beef.</p> - -<p>Corregio's master pieces, Turner's flaming colors, or Claude's -landscapes do not move him at all; but take him to a cattle-show, and -behold he is all life and animation, and give him a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> pot of beer in his -red fist, and he becomes positively witty, and capable of conversation.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">WANT OF TASTE AMONG THE ENGLISH.</div> - -<p>One thing struck me as I wandered hour after hour through these -galleries, and that was the total lack of education in the commonest -rudiments of art, and the complete ignorance manifested in the remarks -of the boors who gave the greatest works of their countrymen but a -passing glance, and walked on in stupid stolidity. At Versailles or -Florence, there was life, enthusiasm, and criticism of a very fair kind -noticeable in the remarks of delight or disapproval which came from -groups around a famous painting or a daub, but at the National Gallery -the cattle-show and the pot of beer was still uppermost in all the -looks and phrases of the spectators who used the place as a show room -to pass an hour away.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail27.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail27" name="tail27"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">NAKED AND NEEDY.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap28.jpg" alt="O" /> <a id="icap28" name="icap28"></a></span>NE hundred and thirty years ago, infanticide and desertion of -children, were twin crimes, very prevalent among English women of -the humbler and lower classes. The dull, twaddling, gossip-monging -newspapers of that day were often the vehicle through which the public -ascertained that infants were found in dust-bins and dark alleys, and -on dung-hills, there exposed by their miserable and heartless mothers -to starvation and storm. Twenty or thirty children per week were -exposed, in London, after this fashion, and the evil grew to such an -extent that it served to awaken the benevolence of God-fearing men and -women, and among those was one Capt. Coram, a seafaring man who, by his -long and repeated voyages and wanderings over many lands and in many -strange waters, had accumulated a large sum of money.</p> - -<p>I fancy I can see that brave old fellow now in his closely buttoned-up -tunic, his three-cornered mariner's hat set askew, his eyes beaming -with kindness and compassion, picking his steps through the worst -holes and quarters of Old London, the London of Queen Anne and of -Bolingbroke, of conspiracies, of Hanoverian Successions, of Highwaymen -and Newgate, and of all the faded memories of that olden time which -enthrall sense and memory, when we try to recall that which we can -only see as Macaulay saw it by the light of old newspaper scraps, -chronicles, and by the memoirs and diaries, of the then insignificant -but to-day useful people, like Evelyn and Pepys.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE FATHER OF THE FOUNDLING.</div> - -<p>Who will not bless that noble old sailor, as I did, the May<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> evening I -stood in the principal dormitory of the Foundling Hospital, in which -were comfortably housed over fifty of the devoted lambs, sleeping -with warm clothes covering their little bodies, and their infantile -chirpings seeming like a chorus of angels, whose visits are alas—few -but far between.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus72.jpg" alt="hospital" /> <a id="illus72" name="illus72"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> NURSERY IN THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.</p> - -<p>There was the row of cots, and the kind-hearted women attending -to their wants, and when I gave one of them an orange, the little -twelve-pounder seemed as glad as if it had descended from the loins of -a Tudor or a Stuart, instead of being, as it was, both fatherless and -motherless.</p> - -<p>I can see him who was to be father of the first Foundling Hospital in -England, losing his way purposely, night after night, among those dark -and badly lighted and unpaved streets and lanes that fringed the Thames -River in those days, and from which issued nightly shouts of murder -and rapine, and the boisterous but less deadly revelry of bacchanalian -seafaring men, in trunk hose and canvas tunics. I can see the link<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> -boys with their smoky torches passing to and fro as in a fevered -dream and the bearers of sedan chairs,—the porters shouting at the -brave-hearted grim seaman, who turns his kindly old eyes aside from -the flashing glance of beauty shot at him in dumb wonder by the damsel -on her way to Vauxhall, Ranelagh, or a Rout, and Captain Coram the -meanwhile chatting and bestowing pennies upon the beggar's offspring -or forsaken child. His heart was large as the seas which he had sailed -over, and his happiest moment was when he had rescued from the gutters -and death some poor foundling who had been thrown on the world to make -its way.</p> - -<p>He had first embarked in the Newfoundland trade, and after some time -spent in ploughing the waters between England and the Colonies, he -set up at Taunton, Massachusetts, as a shipwright, where he prospered -apace. Then we find him, after some years, in Boston, where, by his -enterprise, the manufacture of tar was established in the then infant -Colonies. Home to Old England again after thirty years of wandering, -and on landing at Cuxhaven the brave old man was set upon by thieves -and ruffians and plundered of all his earnings. Then the Government, -in 1732, appoints him as a trustee for the settlement of Georgia, and -subsequently he is engaged in the colonization of Nova Scotia. Finally -he came home to project and carry out the idea of his life, which was -the establishment of a Foundling Hospital in London.</p> - -<p>Never was there a more indefatigable or tireless philanthropist than -this bluff old sailor. Insult, contumely, and humiliation he cheerfully -underwent to carry out his cherished plan.</p> - -<p>One cold, stinging, December day, in the year 1737, Thomas Coram,—who -had been advised that the Princess Amelia was a charitable and well -disposed lady, and would be, perhaps, favorable to an application for -the scheme he had in view—started for St. James' Palace, the then -residence of royalty—with his three-cornered hat well planted upon -his head, and his coat buttoned up, and offered a petition for the -formation of a foundling hospital through Lady Isabella Finch, the lady -of the Bed Chamber in waiting, who turned upon Coram when he presented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> -her the paper, like a vixen, and bade him begone with cutting words and -sneers. The poor old fellow, with rage in his heart, strode from the -doors of royalty and never troubled the Princess Amelia again.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ADMISSION OF CHILDREN—HOW OBTAINED.</div> - -<p>Finally, George II became interested so far as to give a charter on -the application of John, Duke of Bedford, the Master of the Rolls, -the Chief Justice, the Chief Baron, the Speaker of the Commons, and -the Solicitor and Attorney's General. Hogarth, who also became deeply -interested in the charity, and ever afterward continued its benefactor, -painted a shield for the Hospital, and on the 26th of October, 1740, -the old house in Hatton Garden was thrown open to nameless and homeless -children.</p> - -<p>The charter was signed by twenty-one ladies, of birth and distinction, -and stated that "no expedient has been found out for preventing the -frequent murders of poor infants at their birth, or of suppressing the -custom of exposing them to perish in the streets, or putting them out -to nurses, who, undertaking to bring them up for small sums, suffered -them to starve, or, if permitted to live, either turned them out to beg -or steal, or hired them out to persons by whom they were trained up in -that way of living, and sometimes blinded or maimed, in order to move -pity, and thereby become fitter instruments of gain to their employers. -In order to redress this shameful grievance, the memorialists express -their willingness to erect and support a hospital for all helpless -children as may be brought to it, 'in order that they may be made good -servants, or, when qualified, be disposed of to the sea or land service -of His Majesty the King.'"</p> - -<p>The children who are maintained by this charity are admitted on -application of their mothers only, whose application to the governors -must take place within twelve months of the birth of the child.</p> - -<p>The petition is read to the governors assembled in committee; and -the petitioner is called in and examined as to her allegations; and -then the steward of the hospital (with the petitioner's permission) -is instructed to make secret inquiries as to the truth of the -case. If the admission be ordered, it takes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> place on the Saturday -fortnight after the order (a small weekly allowance being made in the -interim, if necessary, to the mother), when the child is examined -by the apothecary, and if found perfect in eyes, limbs, and health, -is received into the Institution. Its mother is presented with a -certificate of its reception—with a certain letter on the margin, by -which her infant pledge may be subsequently identified if necessary; -but in all probability she never sees the child again.</p> - -<p>It has a particular number assigned to it, which is sewn to its -clothes, and becomes a property and chattel of the hospital. It is at -once sent to the matron's room, and delivered to a wet-nurse previously -engaged; and on the following day, being Sunday, it is baptised in -the chapel of the institution—some common name, such as Smith or -Jones, being given to it out of a list approved by the committee. On -the same night, or following day, it is sent with its nurse into the -country, who carries it to her own residence—she being generally -the wife of some agricultural laborer—and reared there, under the -occasional supervision of inspectors, for five years, when it returns -to town for its education at the hospital. The number attached to its -clothes remains so attached thoughout that time. At fourteen, the boys, -at fifteen, the girls, are apprenticed, but still looked after by -inspectors from the hospital until they are twenty-one years of age, -when they are supposed to be able to take care of themselves. Deserving -adults, however, are not lost sight of by the governors, and in case of -incurable infirmities preventing apprenticeship, the Hospital does not -desert its children to the end.</p> - -<p>That the child be illegitimate is of course the most essential -regulation, but an exception is made if the father be a soldier or -sailor killed in the service of his country. Immediately after the -battle of Waterloo, it was enacted that fifteen children of each sex -should be forthwith admitted, the offspring of those who fell in that -action; but to the honor of the soldiers' wives, it is recorded that -only two mothers gave way to the temptation, and accepted the offer. No -legitimate child has been admitted into the hospital for the last ten -years.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">A RUSH OF BABIES.</div> - -<p>The other conditions of admission are: that the petitioner shall not -have applied for parish relief; that she shall have borne a good -character previous to her misfortune; and that the father shall have -<i>bonâ fide</i> deserted his offspring, and be not forthcoming. The child -acquires stronger claims for admission, if, First: the petitioner has -no relations able to maintain the child; Second: if her shame is known -to few persons (the express wish of the founder being that she might, -if possible, recover her lost position); and, Thirdly: that in the -event of the child's being received, the petitioner has a prospect of -obtaining an honest livelihood.</p> - -<p>The manner of admission was originally based upon that pursued "in -France, Holland, and other Christian countries," as the wording of the -quaint old charter went. The applicant came in at the outward door, -rung the bell at the inward door, and presented her child; no questions -whatever were asked of her, nor did "any servant of the hospital -presume to endeavor to discover who such person was, on pain of being -dismissed." When the narrow limit of accommodation was reached, the -notice, "The house is full," was affixed over the door.</p> - -<p>In October, 1745, the western wing of the present building was opened; -but so many more children were brought than the place could hold, that -there were frequently a hundred women with children at the door, when -only twenty could be admitted. The ballot was then resorted to: all the -women were admitted into the court-room, and drew balls out of a bag; -but it was still stipulated that if any desired to be concealed, the -bag might be carried to them, or the matron was empowered to draw for -them.</p> - -<p>In 1754, the hospital authorities had six hundred children to support, -the cost of which exceeded their income fourfold. They therefore -appealed to Parliament, who voted them ten thousand pounds on the -condition that <i>all</i> applicants under twelve months old should be -received. This wholesale scheme of charity, which was largely assisted -by more public grants, only lasted for four years. On the very first -general reception-day, 117 infants were taken in, and 1,800 before the -half-year<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> was out; while in the ensuing year 3,727 were admitted. The -consequences are described to be lamentable. Immorality was greatly -encouraged by the unlimited facility for thus disposing of its fruits, -and the children themselves—though "the Foundling" had then branch -establishments in many country places—could not be supported in such -vast numbers.</p> - -<p>Of the 15,000 children received in those four years, no less than -10,000 perished in their infancy. Parish officers, with local cunning, -sent to the Foundling the legitimate children of paupers, in order to -relieve their constituents; parents brought their own children, when -dying, in order that the hospital should pay for their interment; and -surgeons were even employed by parents to convey their children to this -Alma Mater, at so so much per head, like pigs, or other cattle.</p> - -<p>Parliament withdrew its grant from this formidable charity in 1759, -although it humanely provided for the maintenance of all whom its too -lavish charity had already admitted, and the branch country hospitals -were discontinued. There were at that time 6,000 children in the -institution under five years of age, and it was not until 1769, that -by apprenticing all who were fit to be placed out, their number was -reduced below 1,000. At the present time the yearly admissions average -32, and the total number maintained by the Hospital is 430.</p> - -<p>As years sped by the spirit of the institution changed with its -succeeding governors, and children were received without any inquiry, -with whom a hundred pounds were paid down.</p> - -<p>The Court Room of the Foundling Hospital has probably witnessed as -painful scenes as any chamber in Great Britain, and though mothers -may abandon their illicit offspring to the tender mercies of a public -company, they cannot do it without great pain, and many an after pang -of agony.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">AN AGED FOUNDLING.</div> - -<p>These scenes are renewed again when the children at five years of age -are brought up to London from the places they have been farmed out like -young goats, and they are then separated from their foster mothers. -Even the foster fathers are sometimes greatly affected by the parting, -while the grief of their wives is most excessive; and the children -themselves so pine after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> their supposed parents that they are humored -by holidays and treats, for a day or two after their arrival, in order -to mitigate the change.</p> - -<p>Though infants received into the hospital are never again seen by their -parents, save in peculiar cases, a kind of intercourse with them is -still permitted. Mothers are allowed to come every Monday and ask after -their children's health, but are allowed no further information. On an -average about eight women a week avail themselves of this privilege, -and there are some who come regularly every fortnight.</p> - -<p>I was present in one of the rooms of the Foundling Hospital while a -stout red faced matron was engaged in washing one of these dear little -babes of misfortune, and it was indeed an affecting spectacle, to hear -the little motherless waif cry and watch its infantile kickings and -splurgings in the wash tub.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus73.jpg" alt="waif" /> <a id="illus73" name="illus73"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> WASHING THE WAIF.</p> - -<p>Even when application is made by mothers for the return of their child, -it is frequently refused; when it is apprenticed, and no intercourse is -permitted between them, unless master and mistress, as well as parent -and child, approve of it; nor when it has attained maturity, unless the -child as well as the mother demand it.</p> - -<p>Thus a woman, who was married from the hospital, and had borne seven -children, once requested to know her parents, on the ground that -"there was money belonging to her," and her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> application was refused. -But in November of the same year the name of a certain Foundling was -revealed upon the application of a solicitor, and his setting forth -that money had been invested for its use by the dead mother; the -governors granting this request upon the ground that the mother herself -had disclosed the secret, which they were otherwise bound to keep -inviolable. Again, in 1833, a Foundling, seventy-six years of age, was -permitted, for certain good reasons, to become acquainted with his own -name, though, as one may imagine, not with his parent. It is a wise -child in the Foundling who even knows its own mother.</p> - -<p>Sometimes notes are found attached to the infant's garments, beseeching -the nurse to tell the mother her name and residence, that the latter -may visit her child during its stay in the country; and they have been -even known to follow the van on foot which conveys their little one -to its new home. They will also attend the baptism in the chapel, in -the hope of hearing the name conferred upon the infant; for, if they -succeed in identifying the child during its stay at nurse, they can -always preserve the identification during its subsequent abode in the -hospital, since the children appear in chapel twice on Sunday, and dine -in public on that day, which gives opportunities of seeing them from -time to time, and preserving the recollection of their features.</p> - -<p>In these attempts at discovery, mistakes, however, are often committed, -and attention lavished on the wrong child; instances have even occurred -of mothers coming in mourning attire to the hospital to return thanks -for the kindness bestowed upon their deceased offspring, only to be -informed that they are alive and well.</p> - -<p>It is stated that children who are discovered by the mother are spoiled -by indulgence—and I can imagine that efforts to make up for the past -would be lavish enough in such cases—and rarely turn out well.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HOW THEY DINE.</div> - -<p>One exception to the rule of non-intercourse is related, where a -medical attendant certified that the sanity of one unhappy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> woman might -be affected unless she was allowed to see her child.</p> - -<p>Twice or thrice in the year the boys are permitted to take an excursion -to Primrose Hill; but at other times (except when sent on errands), -and the girls at all times—are kept within the hospital walls. This -confinement so affects their growth, that few of either sex attain to -the average height of men and women.</p> - -<p>It is a curious old place, this hospital for Foundlings, and full -of memories. Here are some of Hogarth's best efforts as a portrait -painter, and it was for this hospital that Handel wrote his glorious -oratorio of the "Messiah." The organ, so magnificent in tone, which is -placed in the chapel, was also the gift of Handel.</p> - -<p>The high old-fashioned reading desk, from whence the chaplain expounds -the scriptures; the side galleries in the style of George I, and -the pillars that seem to tell of the days of Addison and Sterne and -Swift, and all the rest of that galaxy who made the Augustan age of -England—the rows of high backed benches such as are to be met with in -all the London churches, built after the architectural period of Wren -and Inigo Jones—combined with the low full toned voices of the boys -and girls, as they raise the Anthem, seem to make the place a haven of -rest and an abode of happiness for the poor world outcasts.</p> - -<p>Then there is the girls' dining-room, hung with some fine paintings and -works of art. The girls enter and take their stand, each in her proper -place, against the long row of tables that extends from end to end of -the room, the crowds forming a lane on either side.</p> - -<p>A moment's pause, and a sweet voice is heard saying grace: the utterer -being that modest looking girl at the centre of the table, who from her -superior height and appearance seems chosen as one of the oldest among -her companions. Scarcely has she finished before another girl, at the -end of the table, dispenses with the ease and rapidity of habit, from -the large dishes of baked meat and vegetables before her, the dinners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> -of the expectant children, plate following plate with marvelous -rapidity, till all are satisfied.</p> - -<p>This room occupies a great portion of one side of the edifice.</p> - -<p>In the boys' room the evolutions of the lads preparatory to taking -dinner are most interesting. The change at once, and without blunder, -hesitation, or want of concert, from a two deep to a three deep line, -then they beat time, march, turn and turn again, until the welcome -word is given for the final march to the dinner table. Thousands of -the citizens of London visit this hospital yearly, and ladies are -particularly interested in all that pertains to its welfare.</p> - -<p>It has been enriched by innumerable bequests, and has a revenue of over -£120,000 a year from rents, stock, and other sources.</p> - -<p>The charities of London are incalculable in their extent, and it is my -belief that no other city in the world—excepting Paris—possesses so -many and such various institutions where the sick, naked, and needy -are taken in and cared for. And yet with all this benevolence, there -is a pharisaical spirit of ostentation at the bottom of every pound -that is given, and the pupils of the beneficed schools, the inmates -of the almshouses, the patients in the various hospitals, and the -vagrants and lost ones in reformatories, refuges, and model lodging -houses are drilled, uniformed, preached at, exhibited to the public, -and ventilated in the newspapers, while the donations of those who -have established the charities are be-puffed and be-lauded until the -stranger is astonished at the mountains of cant which smother the work -of so many generously benevolent people.</p> - -<p>However, there is a vast amount of charity in London, and incalculable -good is done those who are in need of it.</p> - -<p>I can only give the aggregate of all these charities, hospitals and -almshouses, as I have not space for details.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">INCOME OF CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.</div> - -<p>The incomes and receipts of the various Metropolitan Charitable -Institutions amount to about twelve millions of dollars annually, much -of which is contributed voluntarily, and this vast sum does not include -contributions to police courts for the use<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span> of prisoners, amounting to -£50,000 a year, or the erection and endowment of schools, and other -similar gifts by individuals, deeds which are impossible to classify, -from their isolation. Besides the regular incomes, as below, the -proceeds of former legacies amounts to £841,373, or nearly six million -dollars of United States money.</p> - -<p>This large amount of nearly eighteen millions of dollars, double the -entire sum realized from poor rates obtained in London, is divided -among 640 institutions, of which 144 have been founded during the last -ten years, 279 during the first half of the century, 114 during the -Eighteenth Century, and 103 before that period.</p> - -<p>The classification—generally speaking—and aggregate incomes are as -follows:</p> -<table summary="institutions" width="80%"> -<tr> -<td > -</td> -<td>INSTITUTIONS. -</td> -<td align="right">ANNUAL INCOME. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">14 -</td> -<td>General Hospitals, -</td> -<td align="right">£174,858 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">66 -</td> -<td>Hospitals and Institutions for Special Medical purposes, -</td> -<td align="right">155,025 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">39 -</td> -<td>Dispensaries, -</td> -<td align="right">23,877 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">12 -</td> -<td>Institutions for the Preservation of Life, Health, and Morals, -</td> -<td align="right">46,230 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">1 -</td> -<td>Foundling Hospital, -</td> -<td align="right">20,200 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">22 -</td> -<td>Hospitals, Penitentiaries, and 16 Reformatories—total, -</td> -<td align="right">93,981 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">29 -</td> -<td>Relief Institutions, -</td> -<td align="right">64,720 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">21 -</td> -<td>Homes, for both sexes, and all ages, -</td> -<td align="right">18,200 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">9 -</td> -<td>Benevolent Pension Funds, -</td> -<td align="right">26,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">20 -</td> -<td>Poor Clergymen's Benefit Funds, -</td> -<td align="right">49,508 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">72 -</td> -<td>Professional and Trade Benevolent Funds, -</td> -<td align="right">125,051 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">24 -</td> -<td>City Company and Parochial Trust Funds, -</td> -<td align="right">40,820 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">4 -</td> -<td>Special National Funds, -</td> -<td align="right">53,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">124 -</td> -<td>Colleges, Almshouses, and Asylums, for the Aged, -</td> -<td align="right">103,063 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">1 -</td> -<td>Cripple's Charity, -</td> -<td align="right">7,215 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">16 -</td> -<td>Deaf and Dumb Institutions, -</td> -<td align="right">43,521 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">35 -</td> -<td>General Educational Funds, -</td> -<td align="right">112,600 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">16 -</td> -<td>Asylums, educating 2,400 orphans, -</td> -<td align="right">80,634 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">24 -</td> -<td>Educational Asylums for 3,700 children, -</td> -<td align="right">120,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">60 -</td> -<td>Home Missionary Societies, -</td> -<td align="right">413,171 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">30 -</td> -<td>Foreign Missionary Societies, -</td> -<td align="right">642,217 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">19 -</td> -<td>Jewish Charities, Hospitals, Schools, Almshouses, and Refuges, -</td> -<td align="right">163,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">3 -</td> -<td>Grammar Schools, on original Foundations, -</td> -<td align="right">862,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">2 -</td> -<td> Educational Establishments,8 parochial schools, libraries, -lectures, and miscellaneous societies, of a charitable or benevolent -character, -</td> -<td class="tdr" >732,000 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span></p> - -<p>Some of these hospitals are not equaled by any in the world excepting -those of Paris, and have splendid beds and the best of medical Staffs.</p> - -<p>Guy's Hospital is called after a London Alderman and Member of -Parliament, who made a fortune, in Oliver Cromwell's time, selling -Bibles, buying sailors' pawn-tickets, and in the South Sea Speculation -Bubble. It has 22 wards and 600 beds, and averages, yearly, 6,000 -in-door and 55,000 out-door beds, with 24 professors and 250 students. -The legacies left to this hospital amount to £500,000, and its annual -income is over £30,000. Kings' College Hospital has 180 beds, and about -2,000 in-door and 40,000 out-door patients, annually. Its income is -about £5,000 a year. The London Hospital has 500 beds.</p> - -<p>Bartholomew's Hospital, founded by a Catholic monk, in the hoary past, -is the oldest and largest hospital in London, as its students are the -wildest and most reckless in the metropolis. The number of in-door -patients is 7,000; out-door, 100,000, annually, and the yearly income -is £32,000. There are 700 beds, 36 professors, and 500 students.</p> - -<p>The St. Thomas' Hospitals, now in process of construction at the Surrey -Side of the Thames, in Lambeth, opposite the Houses of Parliament, -will combine a number of hospitals for Special Diseases, and will -accommodate about 2,000 patients, with as many beds, and will have an -income of £50,000 a year, or more.</p> - -<p>It is impossible to think of any disease, complaint, deformity, or -injury to any member or organ of the body, which has not its special -hospital or institution for relief or cure, in the English metropolis. -There are homes for distressed widows, for Asiatics, Africans, and -South Sea Islanders, a Benevolent Society of Female Musicians, one for -the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a Life-Boat Society, Homes for -Teaching the Blind to read, for Governesses, a Shoe-Black Society, and, -in fact, all classes of indigent and impoverished persons are provided -for.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">INTERESTING SIGHT.</div> - -<p>The Sick Children's Hospital is one of the best and most needed -institutions in London. This hospital was opened eighteen years ago, -and has among its patrons the excessively pious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span> Prince of Wales, and -the lady whom he admired so much—the wife of Sir Charles Mordaunt, as -also the highest ecclesiastical authority in England, the Archbishop of -Canterbury. This Hospital for Sick Children is situated at No. 49 Great -Ormond street, Bloomsbury, in an old-fashioned house built in the time -of Queen Anne. The annual income of this hospital is about £25,000 a -year, with 100 beds, including about a dozen at Highgate and Margate, -the latter for those children who require sea air. It has about 600 -in-door and 12,000 out-door patients, annually.</p> - -<p>A sick child among the rich has, at least, solace in its sickness, -besides every chance for its recovery that money can supply. A sick -child among the poor may have attendance or not, as the case may be, -but its father and its mother in London have but little time to bestow -upon its sufferings. It is, perhaps, uncared for and all but abandoned -to battle with disease without help. It is for the children of the -needy poor that this hospital is established and is carried on.</p> - -<p>No child suffering from small pox is admitted into the house, nor are -any cases of rickets, hip joint or scrofulous disease of the spine -or joint. They are refused for three reasons: because they are quite -incurable, because they require nothing but rest for many months, and -because good diet and fresh air, continued for months or years, are -essential to improvement.</p> - -<p>Glad children's laughter may be heard within those old walls, and -pretty little voices murmuring to each other, as the tiny sick people -chatter to their next bedside friends and neighbors. Sometimes a little -tired one, wearied from weakness, lies still watching the blue scroll -on the ceiling, or trying to make out what all the pink-cheeked and -powdered ladies are doing upon the frescoes of the old-fashioned walls.</p> - -<p>Each child has its cot to itself, and besides those in the house -myriads of children are brought each year, by their mothers, to be -seen by the doctors and nurses. In the room where mothers bring their -children is a box, affixed to the wall, with a printed solicitation -for pence, and fifty pounds a year is collected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> in this way, which -is devoted to sending children to the watering places who are getting -convalescent and need sea air.</p> - -<p>The Queen, and other members of her family, are accustomed to send -yearly donations of toys and jimcracks for the amusement of the -children; and proud ladies may be seen daily moving among the sick beds -with all kinds of gifts and childish luxuries, and who shall say that -the faces of these beautiful girls, and the toys they bring, do not -help most signally to establish convalescence, for what sick child ever -suffered without appreciating a kindly smile, a wooden horse, a cart, a -Punch, or a Noah's ark.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail28.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail28" name="tail28"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.</a></p> - -<p class="center">MARKETS AND FOOD.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap29.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap29" name="icap29"></a></span>HE aggregate of time, labor, and expenditure, necessary to provide -three millions and a half of inhabitants with food, in a city like -London, is something beyond comprehension. In getting at the food -statistics of this great City, I found more trouble than in procuring -material and detail for any other portion of this book. And yet there -cannot be anything of more interest to the public than to know how, -when, and from where, a great city derives the food which subsists its -citizens.</p> - -<p>The London markets are well built, well ventilated, well situated, and -well regulated. The markets of London are a credit to the city and -people. The markets of New York are a scandal and a shame to that great -city.</p> - -<p>Some idea may be formed of the amount of food needed to subsist London -from the figures which I will give.</p> - -<p>The Metropolitan Cattle Market, in Caledonian Road, Islington, is the -largest market in London, covering fifteen acres, and having three -acres of slaughter houses. This market cost one million four hundred -and sixty thousand pounds, and cannot be surpassed by any other market -in the world. The yearly receipts at this market was as follows: -360,000 beef cattle, 36,000 calves, 1,900,000 sheep, and 37,650 pigs. -Besides this vast amount of meat there was nearly as much more received -at the Newgate, Leadenhall, and Whitechapel meat markets.</p> - -<p>The other articles of food, brought to the London markets, are -estimated by those who profess to have nearly accurate in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span>formation, -as follows: Seven million head of game and poultry, six hundred and -fifty million pounds of fish, two hundred and fifty million barrels of -oysters, and two hundred and fifty million cubic feet of eggs. This -last item rather staggered me, but the other estimated quantities are, -I am assured, rather below than above the aggregate annual consumption.</p> - -<p>The inspections of the London markets are made very rigidly, and I do -not wonder at the necessity for a strict watchfulness, when I find -that, in 1868, 160,340 pounds of meat, and 1,963 head of game and -poultry, were seized by the officers as being unfit for human food. -This amount consisted in part of 1,200 sheep, 186 pigs, 73 calves, -1,100 quarters of beef, 762 joints of meat, 462 tame fowls, 121 wild -fowl, 300 geese, 290 ducks, 316 pigeons, 15 lambs, and only thirty -pounds of sausages. There were also 239 rabbits, 111 hares, 75 haunches -and quarters of venison, 84 partridges, and four pounds of pickled -pork. It will be seen that there was a very great deal of beef and -mutton to a very little pickled pork and sausage. All of the game, and -most of the poultry seized, was putrid, and of the meat 108,000 pounds -were diseased, while 21,000 pounds were stinking; 36,240 pounds of meat -being taken from animals that had died of natural causes. As soon as -the meat is seized it is sprinkled with creosote of coal tar, which -checks putrefaction, and at the same time prevents it from being used -as food, after which it is sent to the bone-boilers and destroyed.</p> - -<p>Besides the enormous amount of food received at the markets already -enumerated, there was also received at the Borough Market, Southwark, -Smithfield New Market, Newport Market, Cumberland, Portman, Clare, and -the Potato Markets, by railway, in the same year, 17,000 tons of meat -of all kinds, 100,000 tons of potatoes, 14,000 tons of fish, 15,000 -tons of vegetables, and 60,000 tons of grain, wherewith to feed the -Londoners.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SMITHFIELD POLICE STATION.</div> - -<p>Before daybreak is the best time to see the Markets of London in all -their bustle and brisk traffic, and one summer morning I accordingly -took a cab from the Langham Hotel and told the sleepy driver to take me -to the New Smithfield Market,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span> which is convenient to Newgate Prison. -We dashed madly in the gray of the morning (it was not yet more than -four o'clock) through Regent street, up Oxford street, over the Holborn -Viaduct, and so on to the Smithfield Police Station, which is situated -at a few rods distant from the place where the Cock Lane Ghost was -first discovered.</p> - -<p>I had been directed by Inspector Bailey, of the Old Jewry office, to -call at this police station, and he informed me that I should find a -special policeman there at my disposal to show me the markets, and -procure me any information I might desire in regard to them.</p> - -<p>The Smithfield Police Station is like most London police stations, -a very quiet and not pretentious edifice, just in the shadow of -Smithfield New Market.</p> - -<p>There was a little desk and a little railing, behind which sat a little -man in a blue uniform of pilot cloth, and behind the little man were -hung upon the plainly whitewashed walls a collection of handcuffs, -pistols, and knives, all of which were deodands to the law. There were -also placards, offering rewards for all kinds of offenders, thieves, -forgers, murderers, and embezzlers, and giving detailed descriptions -of their persons and clothing when last seen. These placards covered -the walls, but did not add much to the appearance of the apartment. -On producing my letter of introduction from Inspector Bailey to the -Sergeant in command—who treated me with much civility, a bell was -rung by the latter, and a policeman in uniform appeared, my old friend -Ralfe, whom the Sergeant addressed as follows:</p> - -<p>"Ralfe, you are to take this gentleman all through Smithfield Market, -and show him the sights, and then you can transfer him to some one -else to have him taken through Billingsgate Market, and after that he -may take a look at Covent Garden Market, if he so desires. Show him -everything that you can, then report to me back again."</p> - -<p>"Yesir," said Mr. Ralfe, touching his hat, although he was not in -uniform, and in another instant we were in the London<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span> streets, which -were very drear and damp, the gas lamps yet burning with a feeble -light, and the daybreak as yet not having revealed itself.</p> - -<p>The way was murky and dark, and the vicinity of the market was -sufficiently indicated by the peculiar raw, fresh smell, with which -newly killed meat greets the nasal organs.</p> - -<p>Smithfield Market is built on a large, open square, and being on high -ground commands a good view of the City of London proper. The site of -the New Market which was opened a year ago, was formerly covered by -the Cattle Market, which is now removed to Islington, in the suburbs. -The building is of mixed stone and brick, and the cost was about half -a million pounds. The ground on which it is built is also nearly as -valuable as the building. The market is about four hundred feet in -length and a hundred and fifty in width. The roof is of iron, and a -vast avenue, high, broad, and spacious in every way, runs through the -entire building.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE HOT COFFEE GIRL.</div> - -<p>When I reached the market with my friend, the policeman, the gas was -still burning, and the long rows of stalls situated on the wide avenues -of the market, were covered with beef and mutton, the stalls averaging -thirty to forty feet in height. There was a confused hum of many -voices, and coarse rough looking fellows in smalls and canvas smocks, -with broad, scoop-shaped hats, rushed hither and thither with immense -loins and quarters of beef on their brawny shoulders. Over each stall, -and inside of the market beneath the roof, the proprietor or lessee of -the stall has a small wooden edifice, with doors and windows and places -to sleep for two or three persons. At each corner of the market is a -lofty tower, a hundred feet high, and in these towers are board-rooms -and dining-rooms, and reading rooms for select parties, and at the base -or bottom floor of each tower is a bar where liquors and hot coffee, -bread, butter, and tea, and other refreshments are sold during the -early hours of the morning, to those who need sustainment. Two or three -pretty girls were behind each of these stalls, and were serving with -great dilligence and taste, the knots of butchers'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span> helpers, cartmen, -butchers' boys, and market officials who stood in their vicinity.</p> - -<p>There are at least half a dozen meat inspectors in each market, and -these men are paid one hundred pounds a year to examine and decide as -to the wholesomeness of each and every pound or carcass of meat brought -into the markets.</p> - -<p>To one of these I spoke and asked him if he had much trouble with the -butchers in regard to putrid meat.</p> - -<p>"Trouble—Lord bless you sir, we have no trouble here to speak on. Ye -see, sir, the class of butchers as sells meat here in Smithfield Market -allers sells on commission. All this meat that you see a hanging on -these ere hooks doesn't belong to the butchers. It is sent to them to -sell on commission by the Railway Companies, and they do not own the -stalls themselves either. They pays one pound ten shilling and sixpence -a week for five square feet of ground—that's about the rate they pays, -and the City owns the markit. Lord bless you, Sir," said the loquacious -inspector, who was dressed like a butcher, having an apron, and stood -leaning against a large quarter of beef. "I don't know where all the -blessed meat comes from, but I knows that the pigs come from Hireland, -and a goodish bit of the beef from Devonshire. It comes to the city by -the Underground Railway, and you can see the place down stairs where -all the meat comes in the mornin'."</p> - -<p>At the breakfast stalls I noticed that nearly every one called for "two -pennorth of bread and butter," and drank with it a bowl of hot tea or -a smoking cup of coffee. The girls who served the coffee were chatty -and lively, and desired information of me in regard to America. One of -them, a little black brunette, queried:</p> - -<p>"They say, sir, as how that a young leedy in Hamerica can get married -on nothink—if she's good looking and can cook. Is it so, sir?"</p> - -<p>I had no means of satisfying her as to that question, and I left her as -she was preparing a sandwich for a hungry clodhopper, whose eyes were -bulbous with hunger and expectation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span> and went below to the basement -story, which opens by arches on the depot of the Underground Railway, -and I found the entire earthen floor cut up by rails and platforms, on -to which the meat from incoming trains is shunted and delivered. All -meat delivered at Smithfield is of course dead, and no slaughtering is -carried on in this market. Millions of pounds worth of meat finds its -way here day after day, and thousands of men—porters and helpers and -butchers' assistants—find employment here, their wages ranging from -ten to thirty-five shillings a week.</p> - -<p>Each helper is paid so much for every carcass which he carries into -the market on his shoulders, and broad shoulders they have to be to -carry these huge quarters of beef from the wagons which are drawn up in -dense masses in and around the open spaces outside of the market walls. -When this market was opened by the Mayor of London and other city -dignitaries, sixteen hundred officials, connected with the market and -the municipal government, dined in the central avenue, and two hundred -barrels of ale were drank. This is a sample of a municipal British -feast.</p> - -<p>Outside of the building are little houses or market lodges, built of -stone, in which are weighing machines, where men are constantly in -attendance as weighers of beef and mutton. For this service they are -paid one hundred and twenty pounds a year. The weighing machine in the -little house connects under the middle of the street, where a platform -is constructed, level with the surface of the pavement, and when a -cart-load of beef is to be weighed, horse, cart, and beef are weighed -together, and the total is placed on a slate, and when the helpers -have carried all the meat into the stalls in the market to be sold -wholesale, (for it is not a retail market,) the horse and cart are -again weighed, and then their united weight having been deducted from -the gross weight, the actual weight of the meat is thus ascertained by -this simple and easy process. I think that the Smithfield Market is the -finest I ever saw, and its ventilation and perfect system cannot be -surpassed anywhere.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE VEGETABLE MARKET.</div> - -<p>From Smithfield Market I went to Covent Garden Market,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span> which is a -couple of miles distant, in Russell street, forming quite a spacious -area. This is the great vegetable and flower market of London. There is -a market held every morning in summer, but in winter, markets are held -only on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. The market is owned -by the Duke of Bedford, and was built at a cost of £30,000 by a former -Duke of that family, forty years ago.</p> - -<p>It has a colonade running around the entire building on the exterior, -under which are shops having apartments in the upper stories. Joined -to the back of these is another row of shops facing the inner courts, -and through the centre runs a passage with shops on either side, in -which are exposed for sale herbs and flowers, and the most magnificent -bouquets can be procured here on a fine morning in summer. Scarce -and delicate plants and flowers are here found in abundance, and -around these stands I noticed numbers of male servants and pages in -the liveries of some of the best known families among the London -aristocracy, barganing for bouquets for their mistresses' tables. The -noise and hub-bub around the open spaces in this market was perfectly -deafening. It was now about four o'clock in the morning, and all the -open areas were thronged with market-men and women and boys, carrying -baskets and flowers in their arms, to and fro, chaffing each other or -cursing and swearing with great good will.</p> - -<p>Immense vans and market-carts loaded down with cabbages, onions, peas, -cauliflowers, turnips, beans, parsley, greens, cucumbers, lettuce, -apples, pears, parsnips, and other vegetables and fruits, are moving -to and fro, some of them blocked in with the increasing traffic, the -drivers, great big hulking fellows, mopping their perspiring foreheads -and shouting at each other, as is usual among all cartmen. Women are -hurrying hither and thither, making bargains and chaffering about the -prices of vegetables, and meanwhile, it is almost impossible to hear or -understand anything that is said. The police who are scattered here and -there with their tall helmets, goodnaturedly push and shove those who -block the passage ways, and frown sternly at the impudent young rascals -who excite crowds and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span> gather small knots of boys against the breakfast -stalls outside the market.</p> - -<p>Here and there around these coffee stalls, which are generally kept -by old men or dilapidated and ancient women, you will see a couple of -drunken or half sober roysterers, who have been on the tramp all night, -and have at this early hour of the morning reached Covent Garden to get -a cup of hot coffee in the market, which will clear the fumes of the -liquor away, before they stagger home to a fond and anxious wife or an -unrelenting landlady.</p> - -<p>Wagons and carts have been arriving from a very early hour, and five -o'clock seems to be the busiest time in Covent Garden. The houses of -refreshment around the market are open at half past one in summer, and -little tables are placed against the wooden pillars of the market by -the tea and coffee venders, from which porters and carters make hearty -breakfasts. There is no need to resort to exciting liquors, as the -coffee is good and hot, and a baked potato, fresh and smoking from the -oven, costs only one penny.</p> - -<p>Every few minutes, through all the roaring and shouting, singing, -talking, whistling, and laughing, I could hear the clear voice of the -Baked Potato man, vending his smoking tubers and shouting:</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus74.jpg" alt="stall" /> <a id="illus74" name="illus74"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> BREAKFAST STALL, COVENT GARDEN MARKET.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE POTATO MAN GETS ANGRY.</div> - -<p>"Tates hot!—all 'ot, 'ot! Taters all 'ot." His can with its steam -pipe, from which issues forth a fragrant odor on the morning air, is -already surrounded by young street boys, who will run an errand for -a penny, hold your horse, catch a flying hat, steal a cabbage or a -pocket full of potatoes from the stalls with equal impartiality and -energy. These markets are the worst places in London for young lads, -as there is always some excuse for their presence in the vicinity, -under pretence of earning a penny or picking up the refuse and odds -and ends of a vegetable market. Observe this young rascal now, who is -surveying the Baked Potato man with an assumption of scorn combined -with a profound look of wisdom in his features. His hands are in his -pockets, his trousers are ragged to the knees, and his linen is nowhere -visible—a miserable London street<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</a></span> boy—and yet you would imagine, -to look at him as he steps up to negotiate for a potato, that he was -the agent of the Rothschilds about to make arrangements for a loan. -His age does not exceed fifteen years, and he has been sleeping in -the purlieus of the market all night, as his ragged and soiled coat -testify, and his hair is full of slimy straws which he has accumulated -while reclining his head on a market gardener's basket. The Baked -Potato man eyes him with distrust and timidity, for he is well aware -that there is no profit to be made from him, and that he is about to -"chaff" him. The young rascals who stand around are all wide awake, and -await the contest with solicitude in their countenances.</p> - - - -<p>"Taters all 'ot—taters all 'ot—'ot—'ot," cries the Potato Man.</p> - -<p>"Well, guv'nor, I see you're a keepin the steam up as usual. Vot's -the werry lowest figger you names for the werry best taters, takin a -lot—takin a quantity? I feels like patronizin you, I does."</p> - -<p>"Penny a-piece, all 'ot—'ot."</p> - -<p>"A penny a-piece for <i>baked taters</i>, and the Funds agoin down like -winkin! Vy, I 'ad a pine apple myself out of a Garden this mornin for -two-pence. Trade's unkimmon bad, guv'nor."</p> - -<p>"Penny apiece—all 'ot—all 'ot—I say, keep your dirty fingers away -from the can. You doesn't buy anythink, I know."</p> - -<p>"I doesn't buy hanythink, eh? There's a hopposition can, too, started -by a gentleman of my acquaintance"—here the young scamp put his -thumbs in his waistcoat armholes and inflated himself after the -supposed aristocratic fashion—"in the 'Aymarket. He calls the can the -'Gladstone,' and it's a werry spicy concern, I tell ye. Don't he give -prime taters neither? They're real nobby ones, and plenty o' butter, -and pepper, and salt. Oh! not at all! And its so werry respectable for -a cove comin from the Hopera to stop and have a bit of supper on his -road home. My heye, and haint the pro-pre-i-e-tor a makin of his fortin -neither? Of course not! Oh, no. But there 'ill be fun when he returns -to his willa with a postchay in Belgrawey in a few years."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</a></span></p> - -<p>By this time the Baked Potato man is pretty mad, between the -pertinacity of his young tormentor and the highly colored picture of -his rival's prosperity, as depicted by the boy, and he tells him in an -angry way to "move hon, hif 'e doesn't want 'is preshis neck stretched."</p> - -<p>"Wot, wiolence to one of her Majesty's subjecks, and hin the hopen day, -too? Move hon, hey? Oh, werry likely. I'm a standin 'ere on my Sovrin's -kerbstone—a Briton's 'Ouse is 'is castle, and when an Englishman -hexpresses his hopinion hon the subjeck of baked taters he's to move -hon, is he? Consekevently I'll stay here."</p> - -<p>The "Baked Tater" man is now almost foaming at the mouth with rage, -which is not lessened by the cheers of the spectators, who are, of -course, on the side of the young orator.</p> - -<p>He is about to lay down his can and pitch into his tormentor, when -all at once that young gentleman assumes a pacific attitude, after -displaying so much public spirit, and says:</p> - -<p>"I don't want money nor credit, so look sharp ole feller and pick me a -stunner from the Can."</p> - -<p>At this moment the Potato Man's countenance relaxes, as the boy -produces a penny-piece, and while he extracts a mealy potato from his -can, the boy proceeds to amuse his audience further by going through -a series of sleight of hand tricks, such as shaking the coin out of -his cap after having swallowed it, or thrusting it into his eye and -bringing it out of his ear, assuring the spectators the while that he -had spent £20,000 in learning these tricks, and now, when the potato is -handed to him, smoking hot, he expresses his indignation at the fact -that the butter is "shaved too thin," and demands that what he loses in -butter shall be made up to him by an extra shake of the pepper-box. At -last he goes off to eat the potato, as the gray dawn breaks, and the -man at the Can says:</p> - -<p>"Oh, my eye—<i>he is a</i> precious leary cove for such a young von."</p> - -<p>This market, as well as all the other London markets, is haunted with -beggars who appeal to the charity of strangers with great effect.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">FRUIT AND VEGETABLES.</div> - -<p>One of these sat up behind a pile of empty baskets, and I saw that his -trousers had rotted away at the bottom from long use and dirt. His -face was that of a prematurely aged young man, and his torn shirt and -worn features bespoke real misery. He was deaf and dumb it seemed, and -the manner in which he solicited alms was by pointing to the following -sentence, written on the flag-stone before him with a piece of chalk:</p> - -<div class="bbox"> -<p class="center"> - <span class="smcap">I am Starving. Help me.</span> -</p></div> - -<p>A rental of about £26,000 a year is derived from Covent Garden Market -by its proprietor, the Duke of Bedford, and the shops and stalls -rent at from two to four hundred pounds a year. In the immediate -neighborhood is Covent Garden Theatre, and all the little old rookeries -of chop houses in this quarter have the smell of the greenroom and the -rehearsal lingering about them. Here was, formerly, the garden of the -Convent of Westminster.</p> - -<p>Before the construction of the present market this was one of the -most dangerous places in London with its tumble-down and crazy old -structures, where abounded people of both sexes herded together like -pigs. The Convent has become a play-house, and the monks and nuns have -been transposed into actors and actresses. Where the salad was cut for -the Lady Abbess in past times, drunkards now brawl and attack each -other, and the flowers that would have been in the olden time plucked -to adorn the statues of the Virgin or St. Peter, are now chosen to -grace the marble mantel of some proud dame of Belgravia, or some gaudy -and painted courtezan of Pimlico. The foreign fruit trade of Covent -Garden is very extensive in pine apples, melons, cherries, apples, and -plums. Pine apples were first cried in the London streets at "a penny -a slice," twenty-five years ago. To supply this market with vegetables -alone, 25,000 acres are required to be cultivated, and about 10,000 -acres of trees are necessary to supply its annual demand for fruit. The -trade in water-cresses is immense and they are chiefly hawked about -the markets by little girls, although, of course, every stall has -its own stock of cresses. They supply the same want as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</a></span> relish for -the Londoners' table that the small red radishes do to an American's -appetite.</p> - -<p>A man, curious in such things, has estimated as follows the yearly -sales of this appetizing little green relish:</p> - -<p>Covent Garden Market, 2,000,000 bunches, Farringdon Market, 15,000,000 -bunches, Borough Market, (Southwark), 1,000,000 bunches, Spitalfield's -Market, 500,000 bunches, Portman Market, 260,000 bunches, and Oxford -Market, 200,000 bunches. It will be seen that Cockneys relish greens -very much.</p> - -<p>A little of everything can be procured at Covent Garden. Here are -peddlers of account books, lead pencils, watch chains, dog-collars, -whips, chains, curry-combs, pastry, money-bags, tissue-paper for the -tops of strawberry-pottles, and horse-chestnut leaves for garnishing -fruit-stalls; coffee-stalls, and stalls of pea-soup and pickled eels; -basket-makers; women making up nosegays; and girls splitting huge -bundles of water-cresses into little bunches.</p> - -<p>Here are fruits and vegetables from all parts of the world; peas, -and asparagus, and new potatoes, from the south of France, Belgium, -Holland, Portugal, and the Bermudas, are brought in steam-vessels. -Besides Deptford onions, Battersea cabbages, Mortlake asparagus, -Chelsea celery, and Charlton peas, immense quantities are brought by -railway from Cornwall and Devonshire, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and -Jersey, the Kentish and Essex banks of the Thames, the banks of the -Humber, the Mersey, the Orwell, the Trent, and the Ouse.</p> - -<p>The Scilly Isles send early articles by steamer to Southampton, and -thence to Covent Garden by railway. Strawberries are sent from gardens -about Bath. The money paid annually for fruits and vegetables sold in -this market is estimated at three millions sterling: for 6 or 700,000 -pottles of strawberries; 40,000,000 cabbages; 2,000,000 cauliflowers; -300,000 bushels of peas; 750,000 lettuces; and 500,000 bushels of -onions. In Centre-row, hot-house grapes are sold at 25<i>s.</i> per pound, -British Queen and Black Prince strawberries at 1<i>s.</i> per ounce, slender -French beans at 3<i>s.</i> per hundred, peas at a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</a></span> guinea a quart, and new -potatoes at 4<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> per pound; a moss-rose for half-a-crown, and -bouquets of flowers from one shilling to two guineas each.</p> - -<p>Green peas have been sold here at Christmas when they are deemed a -luxury, for three pounds a quart, and asparagus has brought, in the -same season, a pound, and rhubarb, a pound and five shillings a bunch.</p> - -<p>The cries of the children peddling violets are sometimes almost -heartrending, as these little waifs are very often fasting for a whole -day before they can realize a few pennies to buy their food, to say -nothing of food for those who have sent them to peddle the violets.</p> - -<p>There is an Artesian well under Covent Garden Market, 280 feet deep, -which supplies 1,600 gallons an hour, sufficient for the needs of -the market people, most of which is consumed in watering flowers -and vegetables, or in giving horses to drink. There are elegant -conservatories over the colonnades of the market fifteen feet broad and -fifteen feet high, for the preservation of the more costly and delicate -plants and flowers. From this market nearly all the button-hole flowers -which are vended at from a penny to four-pence a piece are obtained for -the use of the London "swells."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE JEWS' ORANGE MARKET.</div> - -<p>One of the most curious places in London is the Orange and Nut Market, -in Houndsditch. This market is chiefly in the hands of the lowest -kind of Jews, men in greasy garments, and having frightfully hooked -noses. The Costermongers come here for oranges, nuts, and lemons, to -sell or hawk them around the suburbs or slums of London. The market is -called Dukes'-Place Market. There is a big, massive, Synagogue, a lot -of ancient-looking houses, the oranges themselves have a cob-webbed -appearance, and the people are all dingy here. The nuts are for sale -in sacks, and the baskets have a dilapidated look. The Jews, in all -countries, are an industrious and economical people, and in London, -as elsewhere, they monopolize the most profitable and least laborious -occupations. They are represented by lawyers, members of Parliament, -great bankers, like Rothschild, merchants, like Solomons, and men of -liberal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</a></span> taste, like Sir Francis Goldsmid. The number of Jews in London -is estimated at 48,000.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus75.jpg" alt="market" /> <a id="illus75" name="illus75"></a></p> -<p class="caption">THE ORANGE MARKET.</p> - -<p>Each dwelling around this Orange Market seems as if it had been -partially consumed by fire, for not one of the shops have a window, -and they are comparatively empty, save where a crate of oranges, or a -bag of nuts, are exposed for sale. A few sickly fowls, looking as if -they were dyspeptic, wander here picking up crumbs among the orange -baskets and nut sacks, and dirty, ragged little Jewish children, play -around with great equanimity among the rubbish. The disputes among the -loud-voiced Costermongers who come here with their little wagons and -jackasses, to draw their fruit, and the Jews who have all glib-toned, -smooth voices,—at some times, when the oranges are changing hands from -sellers to buyers—are very amusing.</p> - -<p>There I saw slatternly-looking girls sorting the good from the bad -fruit, and one big, tall Jewish wench, was engaged over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</a></span> a barrel -of common black grapes, plunging her dirty arms down in the barrel -and pulling up the decayed fruit which she gave to a little child -who stood by her, and ate of them greedily from her hand. Some of -these Jewish fruit-traders take in as much as £200 in a day's sale of -oranges, from Costermongers. Most of these oranges are sent to the Jews -on commission. Years ago the Jew boys had a monopoly of the orange -peddling trade, but now the monopoly is in the hands of Irish boys, who -are more eloquent, more aggressive, and more popular, than the Jews, -and consequently sell they more fruit.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">FARRINGDON MARKET.</div> - -<p>Farringdon Market, near the Strand, on the sloping surface of the hill, -upon which the Holborn and Fleet street stand, is one of the principal -markets in London, though it covers but an acre and a half. The ground -and buildings cost about £200,000. The market building is 480 feet long -at the centre, 41 feet high, and 48 feet broad, and has a court-yard -in the centre of which the wagons, and baskets, and market lumber, are -placed. The court, or, as it is called, the quadrangle, is generally -filled with vegetables and fruit.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail29.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail29" name="tail29"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.</a></p> - -<p class="center">SECRETS OF A RIVER.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap30.jpg" alt="I" /> <a id="icap30" name="icap30"></a></span>T had been a stormy night in the London streets. In the Strand the -shopkeepers' assistants were hurriedly fastening the shutters upon the -windows of their masters' shops, eager to escape the hurricane of rain -which swept over the London housetops, and tore through the lanes of -brick and mortar like an enraged fiend. Thirsty souls who were draining -huge mugs of malt liquor in the many publics along Thames street, -looked out with scared faces on the river which was beating its sides -angrily against the shipping and lesser craft.</p> - -<p>The waters of the Thames ran high and wild, and down in the Pool and by -Limehouse Reach, huge ships bearing the colors of many nations at their -peaks, swung and rocked in the seething tides, while black night and -the angry shades of the coming storm gathered around their twinkling -red and blue signal lamps, which lazily danced from their yards over -the surface of the river, leaving faint streaks of light that were -ever and anon swallowed by the angry waters. Boatmen were anxiously -securing wherries and fastening them under bridges and by water-stairs, -and all the while the clouds above lowered, and the sweeping gusts of -rain stung the faces of those who were unfortunate enough to be in the -streets without shelter. Shutters slapped and banged in and out, and -chimney pots were whirled about by the fierce and howling winds.</p> - -<p>I had been on a tour of inspection, with a friend and a police<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</a></span> -sergeant, through London during the night, and had left the Alhambra -at midnight for Evan's Supper Rooms, in Covent Garden, where we passed -an hour listening to the music of the glee and madrigal boys, and on -leaving Evan's at one o'clock in the morning, my friend had parted with -me to go to bed, and I left him at the corner of Wellington street and -the Strand, he going westward to his residence in Westminster, while -the police Sergeant and myself called a cab, as I had a desire to see -London in the small hours, and Sergeant Scott had insinuated that a -stormy night was the best for seeing strange sights. He little thought -at the time how truly he spoke.</p> - -<p>After some discussion between this veteran of the Old Jewry office and -myself, it was decided that we should visit some of the thieves' haunts -in the Borough of Southwark, as it was about the hour when these night -birds came home to roost, and of a consequence the best time to see -their places of residence.</p> - -<p>The first place chosen for a visit was a den in the New Kent Road, and -to get there it was necessary for us to cross Waterloo Bridge.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE STRANGER AT WATERLOO BRIDGE.</div> - -<p>To cross some of the bridges in London it is necessary to pay a -trifling toll, which goes toward the repairs of the bridge. The charge -for each pedestrian on Westminster and Waterloo Bridges is half a penny -each—for a horse one penny. As the cab dashed up to the turnstile at -Waterloo Bridge, the toll keeper came out to take his dues, a gruff -looking fellow wrapped up in a big hairy coat. He took the two pence -grumblingly, and just at that moment I noticed a woman coming up to the -toll-house in a gaudy looking silk dress, and having a soiled velvet -wrapper about her shivering shoulders. The light from the toll-house -shone on her face, which was very pale, the eyes burning with a strange -light, and the garments which hung to her figure were dripping with the -rain.</p> - -<p>"Please let me pass," said she to the gruff toll keeper, with an -imploring glance, "I have not a penny in the world—please let me cross -the bridge?"</p> - -<p>"Please let yer cross the bridge—yer 'aint got a penny?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</a></span> Well wot -d'ye want ter cross the bridge for then? If yer 'aint got a h'apenny I -thinks yer as well on the one side of the bridge as the other? Well go -on with ye, I don't mind a h'apenny, and go to bed as soon as ye can," -the toll keeper shouted through the storm after the wretched woman as -she dashed through the turnstile on the bridge, and was lost in the -storm and darkness of the night.</p> - -<p>As she fled into the night, my companion caught sight of her face, and -a hasty exclamation escaped his lips.</p> - -<p>"My God, that's Mag S——, that we saw to-night at the Alhambra! D'ye -remember that pale faced girl who asked you to give her some liquor in -the Canteen?"</p> - -<p>"The woman who seemed out of her senses or crazed, and who danced and -swore?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes sir, the same—well that's her, and what she can be doing here on -this bridge at this time I don't know. She used to be a highflyer once, -did Mag, but her fancy man has left her, and I'm afraid she's dead -broke now, at times. My eye, wot a temper she has to be sure, when she -blazes hup."</p> - -<p>By this time we had reached the end of the bridge at the Southwark -side, and the cab dashed madly by a female figure cowering in an alcove -of the structure, the cabby swearing an oath as the horse shied at it -going by.</p> - -<p>As the night advanced, it blew harder and harder, and the storm raged -with great violence. The waters under the bridge rebounded against -the base of the stone arches, but the rain had ceased. We were now on -our route back to the city, having inspected the dens of thievery to -my great satisfaction. While going and coming, until we reached the -bridge again, the mind of my companion, Sergeant Scott, seemed ill at -ease in regard to the woman whom we had met upon the bridge before -we had crossed. He was anxious and uneasy, and talked of the meeting -incessantly, to my surprise.</p> - -<p>"Some'ow or anuther I don't like meeting that gal on the bridge, Sir," -said he. "She looked a little desperate, and when they looks that way I -don't like to see 'em near water. Its touch and go with 'em then."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Do you fear that the girl will attempt to commit suicide?" said I to -him.</p> - -<p>"I do, Sir. You see there's twelve hundred suicides in London every -year, and half of 'em or more drowns themselves. The gals are more -fonder of the water than the men. A man will blow his brains out or -take pison, but a gal allers takes to the water. Why, bless you, -Sir, we have as many as a hundred and twenty suicides hoff this here -Waterloo Bridge every year. And this is their favorite bridge, this -Waterloo Bridge. When they haven't got a penny in the world, and no -friends, then they leap hoff the battelmints."</p> - -<p>By this time we had reached the toll gate again, and the cab horse was -walking slowly over the stone floor of the bridge, making echoes with -his feet. The bridge was quite dark, yet I could see the buildings and -spires on the London side piercing the skies, and the railway depot -at Charing Cross Bridge, the towers of the Parliament Houses, and the -square roofs of the St. Thomas' Hospitals rising vaguely and in shadows -above the river.</p> - -<p>There are stone alcoves on all the London bridges, which bulge out in -a semi-circular form over the water on either side, and they will each -accommodate a dozen persons, should such a number wish to sit down and -look at the river. There are eight of these alcoves on Waterloo Bridge, -and a raised sidewalk runs along on each side of the road, of solid and -smooth flagging. The middle of the bridge is taken up by a causeway -fifty or sixty feet wide, and this causeway is paved with a sort of -Russ, or rather large Belgian pavement.</p> - -<p>The cabby had stopped his horse to give me an opportunity to take a -look at the river.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THREE O'CLOCK.</div> - -<p>One boom—two booms—three booms! The bell in the Clock Tower at -Westminster rolled out over the river. Three o'clock of a stormy -morning, and all London asleep. It was a grand and impressive sight, -the dark river, with bridge after bridge girdling it, and nothing to -be heard but the champing of the horse in the awful stillness of that -lone hour. Hark! There are voices on the bridge, voices passionate and -imploring, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</a></span> seem to shudder over the water and to creep through -the arches of the bridge.</p> - -<p>"Let us get out of the cab and see what it is, Sir, if you please. -There's some cadgers a bunking in this vicinity, I imagines," said the -police officer.</p> - -<p>We walked along the bridge for a hundred feet or so, but could see -nothing, although we heard the voices still.</p> - -<p>"There's something wrong a-goin' on, but I don't know wot it is," said -he again.</p> - -<p>We advanced still further, and could see a woman's figure half hidden -by the alcove which was across on the other side of the bridge from us. -The woman was in earnest conversation with a man, who spoke in a clear, -manly voice to her.</p> - -<p>"This is the woman that begged the toll-gate man to let her cross -to-night cos she hadn't a tanner," said the officer to me. "Let's watch -'em," said he; and feeling that it was an adventure of some sort, I -silently acquiesced. We concealed ourselves in an alcove or embrasure.</p> - -<p>"Keep quiet, now, and we'll see something, sure," said the Sergeant.</p> - -<p>And we kept very quiet for a few minutes. The man was talking earnestly -with the woman, who seemed half crazy with drink or excitement, -we could not tell which, as we could only hear snatches of the -conversation now and then.</p> - -<p>It was the man's voice which we now heard.</p> - -<p>"Come home, for God's sake, Margaret, and all will be well. You will be -forgiven, and nothing will ever be cast up to you. I'll pledge you my -word to that. Your mother is in the city, and your father is dead. She -has come up from Glastonbury to see you, and I've spent eight nights -walking for you, and hoping to get a sight of a face that was once -dearer to me than life, and is now even still dear to me, if it only -was to see you reformed, poor, unfortunate girl. Come home, for God's -sake. Make the attempt, and it will be all well once more."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">WEARY OF LIFE.</div> - -<p>The girl was sobbing now very hard. The man seemed to implore her by -all that had ever been sacred or dear to the lost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</a></span> girl, and she was -evidently moved by his tone and earnestness, and the recollections that -he had called forth.</p> - -<p>"He's doin' of his best, and we can't do any think more—hany of us," -said the Sergeant, who seemed a little touched.</p> - -<p>"You talk to me of my mother, Harry? Why, I have not heard that name -in three years. I thought I'd never hear it again. I have thought of -her, too. But it's too late, Harry. The girl that my mother expects to -see is the bright little Maggie, the school-girl who never had a hard -word or an unkind look from her. I had an innocent face then, and was -not afraid to meet her kind old eyes. But now, to meet her in this -garb"—and she shook her flaunting silks—"I dare not—I dare not. -Harry, I tell you it is too late. Too late. Too late."</p> - -<p>"It's never too late, poor girl," said the stranger, "come home at -once, or if you'll wait here a moment I'll go and call a cab and take -you home to your mother at once. Wait here a moment and I will get a -cab. Wait a moment, Maggie, only a moment:" and the stranger ran across -the bridge, up King William street, and in the direction of the Bank, -where he expected to find a cab.</p> - -<p>The lost girl was left alone. Alone with night and solitude. Alone -with naught but her past life, which arose from the waters like a -shadow to keep her company. Alone and miserable, with the cruel sky -darkling above her as if to shut out all hope, while the river yawned -and gaped beneath, seeking an offering. God unheeded, her bosom cold as -a stone; no prayer to conquer her anguish; with memories of promises -broken and tender words unsaid; the passionate love of a fond mother -given in vain; and at last an atonement is to be made. The old, old -story—betrayal, dishonor, and the grave.</p> - -<p>We crept nearer by some unknown impulse, to where she stood, and could -hear her talking to herself, though we could not see her features, or -anything definite, but a weird figure looming up like a shadow against -the balustrade of the bridge. Her voice, which had fallen to a murmur -almost, was like some forgotten music, the strains of which are heard -in a dream.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</a></span> Who was this lone, wretched girl, and why came she here at -this hour?</p> - -<p>"My God, why should I go back to shame my poor old mother? I never -will. I cannot do it. The sight of her would blast me. And Charley, for -whom I lost all, where is he? In India, and no one here to-night, and -I alone with my black thoughts on this spot. Why am I here? What do I -live for? My life has been wretched enough. Why prolong it any longer? -I will settle the matter now and forever. Good-by, Mother," said the -wretched girl, looking up at the sky, and before she could be stopped -in her fearful purpose, she had mounted the parapet by the embrasure, -and leaped with a shriek into the devouring river beneath.</p> - -<p>"By Heavens," said the Sergeant, darting forward and making an effort -to catch at her clothes as her figure disappeared, "she has made a hole -in the water with herself." At this moment a patrolman, hearing the -girl scream and the shouts of the policeman, appeared upon the parapet. -All three of us dashed down the stairs of the old bridge, and it was -the work of a moment only to get a boat out, which, fortunately, had -the oars inside. In a minute we were all out on the river, and the tide -running very fast in the direction of the Pool—after pulling towards -the middle arch the Sergeant cried out:</p> - -<p>"Steady your rudder, there; what's that bobbing up and down on the -water? That's a woman's head, sure; she's got hoops, too; that's lucky. -Pull away, for your lives!"</p> - -<p>In a few moments we were alongside of the dark, floating object, and -the patrolman, drawing his lantern out, threw its reflection over the -waters, while the head of the boat was kept well up to the dismal -object.</p> - -<p>The policeman leaned over the gunwale of the skiff and caught at the -dress, and dragged in what he supposed to be a woman's body, but was -only a bundle of rags and straw, the refuse of some lodging-house bed.</p> - -<p>This was a severe disappointment to all in the boat, and we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</a></span> looked at -each other without speaking, for a minute. The Sergeant had a scared -look, and said aloud:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SADLY IMPORTUNATE.</div> - -<p>"I'm afraid poor Mag's gone. She must have struck the bottom of the -arches when she went down, and if she did, all's over and settled. The -tide's running fast, too, and we will have hard work to find her."</p> - -<p>For half an hour the most diligent search was made for her body, but no -traces could be found of it but a bonnet and shawl, which were caught -in some floating wood below the bridge.</p> - -<p>We left the bridge, and the cab was driven home slowly, after the -nearest police station had been notified of the poor girl's death or -disappearance. The Sergeant of the Police District said that he would -have another search in the morning, and I remained at the station to -accompany the police in their visit.</p> - -<p>A little after daybreak we were on Waterloo bridge again, and even at -that hour a small assemblage had gathered around some object at the -Southwark end of the bridge, where we could see the tall helmets of two -policemen in the midst of the crowd of carters and market gardeners, -who were en route to Covent Garden Market, and had stopped to look upon -the body of a woman who had been fished up from the river.</p> - -<p>Yes, there lay the body of the girl whose toll to eternity had been -paid by her own rash act—stretched out on the cold stones, her -garments dripping, her fingers clinched, and her eyes stark wide open. -A young woman she was, but oh, how worn! The face was pinched, and the -long, silken lashes sunk into the eyebrows.</p> - -<p>The day was breaking in the East, but the policemen held their -lanterns, which they had not yet extinguished, over the poor, pale -features, and the grimy garments, revealing the long, matted, and -tangled hair, and the stark, cold body, which had once held an Immortal -Soul, but was now all that remained of the gay, merry-hearted, -lost girl, who had fully reaped the harvest of vice—the Wages of -Sin—called by the Evangelist, <span class="smcap">Death</span>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</a></span></p> - -<p>Last year, the number of suicides in London amounted to 1,160, and of -this number 415 committed self-destruction by drowning. The Thames -Watermen fish many a ghastly body from the River, and for each -carcass—the result of their terrible trolling, they receive three -pounds from the City authorities.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail30.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail30" name="tail30"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap31.jpg" alt="V" /> <a id="icap31" name="icap31"></a></span>ERY singular is the appearance of Leicester square, where are the -resorts and lodgings of the foreign colonists of London. It is the -dirtiest and darkest square in the city, with the exception of some of -the fields in the outer suburbs. On every side you may behold traces -of the foreign element which centres here. The people whom you meet in -Leicester square, if you ask them a question, will be sure to answer -you in a strange tongue, or else in a strange gibberish of English or -Continental patois. There is an acre or two of sickly grass in the -middle of the square which is guarded from the footsteps of pedestrians -by a rickety and worn iron railing. In the middle of this patch of -scanty grass is an equestrian statue of one of the Georges on an iron -horse, the nose of which has been broken or has rotted off, and its -appearance is in keeping with the buildings that tower all round it. -The streets leading to and from the square are filled with foreign -restaurants, and they are narrow and from them all issue forth smells -such as the olfactories of a traveler encounter in the back slums of -Paris or Vienna.</p> - -<p>The buildings are shabby, the windows are shabby, and the people -sitting at the tables, whom you may see through the dusty windows, -rattling dominoes and playing cards at little tables, are shabby. -Were it not for the statue in the middle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</a></span> of the square, it might -be taken for the Gross Platz of a Continental town. Houses with -strange names rise on every side, having signs in their windows of -"Restaurant a la Carte," "Table d'hote a cinq heures," and are passed -in quick succession, and the linen-drapers and other shopkeepers in -the neighborhood take especial pains to inform all the passers-by that -their employees can speak German, French, and Italian, and occasionally -Spanish or Portuguese.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus76.jpg" alt="cafe" /> <a id="illus76" name="illus76"></a></p> -<p class="caption">FOREIGN CAFE IN COVENTRY STREET.</p> - -<p>The loungers in the square give visible and olfactory demonstration -that they are not Cockneys; their tanned skins, long moustachios, -military coats, and brigand-like hats, their polite and impressive -bows,—all show the Frenchman, the Spaniard, the Polish exile, the -Italian revolutionist, and the Greek wine merchant. The mingled fumes -of tobacco and garlic, the peddlers who make desperate attempts to sell -you copies of the <i>Internationale</i>, <i>Patrie</i>, <i>Journal Pour Rire</i>, and -<i>Diritto</i>, all give ample evidence that you are in a strange quarter -of London. The lodging-houses here are on the Parisian plan, and are -let at five to ten shillings a week to mysterious men, who rise late, -and are away all day in the cafés or gaming-houses to come home singing -operatic airs at a late hour of the morning. Polish exiles, Italian -supernumeraries of the opera, French figurantes of the inferior grades, -German musicians, teachers and translators of languages, touters for -gambling-dens—all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</a></span> congregate here. This is their Arcadia—their place -of meeting, eating, drinking and sleeping—and for a hundred years past -it has been frequented by such parasites.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LEICESTER SQUARE.</div> - -<p>Here in this very square in one of the houses which form the "Hotel -Sabloniere," lived Peter the Great and his boon companion, the Marquis -of Carmaerthen; and in this square they have reeled home night after -night; the master of all the Russias half-crazy with his potations of -strong brandy and red pepper, of which he was passionately fond. Up -yonder stairs passed Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, in her powder, -hoops, and patches, her train glistening under the glaring lights of -the link boys who preceded her sedan chair, to the wedding of John -Spencer, first Earl Spencer, and Miss Poyntz—bearing a case of jewels -valued at £100,000, and a pair of shoe buckles valued at £30,000, for -presentation to the beautiful bride.</p> - -<p>The old-fashioned house opposite was the abode of Sir Joshua Reynolds, -and the one at the corner of Sydney's Alley was the residence of -William Hogarth, the bitterest and yet the truest caricaturist of -his day. Here nightly came Samuel Johnson with his huge bulk and big -walking-stick, to dogmatize with Reynolds, and with him came his toady, -Boswell; and here came Goldsmith to read his "Deserted Village" to -his coterie of choice spirits—and here Frederick, the "Good Prince -of Wales," as he has been called to distinguish him from all the rest -of his title, came to die of a bad cold which he caught walking in -Kew Gardens in 1751; and here resided John Hunter, in the house now -occupied by a humbug keeping a Turkish bath. It is a place of strange, -quaint memories of good and brave, base and ignoble men and women in -the past; it is now the Alcedama of licensed vice, the festering spot -of all London.</p> - -<p>It is now a place where wantons expose their shame; where social -rottenness, winked at by the authorities, eats at the heart of a people -who publish and read books condemning the depravity of Paris; who, in a -pharisaical way, talk of the Mabille and the Quartier Breda, and yet in -this very square is the "Royal Alhambra Palace," as it is called in the -huge colored<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</a></span> posters; and in the daily advertisements in all of the -morning and evening papers of the metropolis, you may read such notices -as these:</p> - -<p>"The Alhambra—This evening at 8 o'clock, 'Pierrot,' the grand ballet, -by Mr. Harry Boleno and troupe.</p> - -<p>"The Alhambra—At 9 o'clock, the Christy Minstrels, by Riviere.</p> - -<p>"The Alhambra—At 10 o'clock, the magnificent spectacular ballet, 'The -Spirit of the Deep;' 10:15, Pitteri, the graceful and world-renowned -danseuse, in a new grand pas seul; 10:30, 'The Home of the Naiads;' -11:15, grand Spanish ballet, 'Pepita.' 'God Save the Queen' at 11:45. -Prices: Promenade, 1s.; stall and balcony, 2s.; gallery, 6d.; reserved -seats, 4s.; new tier of private boxes, 2 guineas, 31s. 6d., and 21s. -Closes at 12."</p> - -<p>It was a rainy, unpleasant night—such a night as is often met with in -London—when I first paid a visit to the Alhambra. The streets were -deserted, and few persons were out of their houses, and those who were -out took to cover in the cabs, which went madly dashing by, or in the -busses, with their advertising signs, that were visible as they passed -a lamp—the horses steaming and sweating, and the passengers inside -grumbling and cursing their luck because of the bad air within and -worse weather without.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE.</div> - -<p>Nothing in the streets looked pleasant or cheerful, excepting the -windows of the gin-shops with their bright brass and metal pumps, and -the gaudy placards giving a list of the beverages for sale in the -"publics," where men and women of the humbler class were consuming -large quantities of beer and spirits. Passing through the Haymarket, -I went down Coventry street, and in a few minutes stood before the -gorgeous, gilded façade of the Alhambra. The building is about five -stories high, painted of a cream-color, with minarets and gilt vanes -and turrets in imitation of the manner of Owen Jones. The attempt to -copy the Moresco style is rather absurd in the midst of common-place -London. Indeed, it would be hard to find a Court of Lions in the -building, and those who look for that most beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[Pg 465]</a></span> feature of the -real Alhambra will go away disappointed. There is, however, a Court of -Female Tigresses in the gallery up stairs which will compensate the -curious for the absence of the Court of Lions. Though the streets were -deserted, a large number of cabs stood at the front of the building and -crowds of people were getting in and getting out of them.</p> - -<p>The moon peeped just then from a bank of cloud, its rays breaking over -the disfigured statue in the square, and threw a faint dead glare on -the flaunting women who filled the passage leading to the Alhambra; -the helmeted policemen; the porters in their black caps trimmed with -red bands; the noisy, swearing cabmen disputing about their fares; the -horses champing and biting, and the beggar boys and match-women who -solicited languid swells to purchase their wares. It is the custom -to give a penny to the men or boys who eagerly rush to open the door -of your cab, and should you neglect them, they will follow until by -wearying you they have achieved their object. There was a little hole -in the wall, and a counter or desk, behind which was a sharp-looking -young man, whose face seemed hard and cynical under the glare of the -gas-jet over his head. Handing this man a shilling, I received a huge -circular piece of tin, with a hole and letters punched in its surface. -This was the ticket of admission, which I surrendered at the door to a -big man in a red uniform, who looked like a Life Guardsman, his breast -being all covered with service medals, but for what service I could not -tell, or where performed.</p> - -<p>Passing a wooden barrier, I caught a glimpse of lights, a stage, and -legs of ballet-girls—a noise of many voices came by my ears, a number -of young ladies smoking cigarettes opened a way for me to pass, and I -stood inside of the Alhambra. I found myself in the promenade, which -encircled the ground floor of the house, leaving a large space which -was railed in for the wives and families of decent people who wanted to -hear the music and see the dancing and pantomime. To walk in and around -the promenade costs one shilling. To go inside of the railing in the -space—which corresponds with the parquette<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[Pg 466]</a></span> at Niblo's, only that the -whole floor is level and there is no descent here—will cost another -shilling.</p> - -<p>I saw a bar and a bar-maid before I got actually into the place from -whence the stage could be seen; there was a bar and three bar-maids -half-way down the promenade, and there was a bar and two bar-maids down -before me in the alcove leading to the Canteen, with a corresponding -number of bars and bar-maids in the same positions on the other side of -the house.</p> - -<p>All these bars had splendid bottles, with various fluids in them, -arranged with an eye to effect, making it look like a vast apothecary's -window, and there were bright brass beer-pumps all in a row, and pewter -and silver and metal pots and tankards, and oval glass frames with -pies, sandwiches, and all kinds of lunches to satisfy the thirst and -appetites of the audience. The promenade was choked with men and women, -walking past each other, looking at the stage, drinking at the bars, -chaffing each other in a rough way, and laughing loudly. Although the -night was stormy without, the revelry was high within.</p> - -<p>Perhaps in this audience of three thousand people, who filled the -ground floor and galleries, standing and sitting, and eating and -drinking, there might have been fifteen hundred women, all well, and -many of them fashionably, dressed and gloved. A sergeant of police with -me said:</p> - -<p>"If there are 1,500 women here to-night, as I believe there are, you -may be sure that there are 1,200 women of the town among that number, -Sir."</p> - -<p>Twelve hundred unfortunate women in one place of amusement—and half a -dozen other places like this, but of an inferior class, are open this -rainy, unpleasant night, with a like complement of wretched females -recklessly passing the hours that intervene before the dens close at -midnight. The crash of sixty pieces of fine music falls on the ear, the -glare, the gas, the tinsel on the stage, the well-dressed, fine-faced -women around cannot shut out my thoughts of the "Legion of the Lost" -who are so merry, so thoughtless, so careless of the morrow—deep in -the fallacies of sin and despair.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[Pg 467]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SOCIAL EVIL.</div> - -<p>The men who are conversing with these women seem to be of a good class, -and spend a good deal of money in refreshments and liquor upon their -fair, frail acquaintances. These last are not allowed to go inside -of the railing on the ground floor alone, but they do not care for -that privilege, as there is plenty to drink outside and more of the -company of the male gender. Whenever a woman on the stage capers more -vigorously, or flings her leg higher than the others, the applause is -loud, long, and continued, and pewter and metal pots are dented in the -surfaces of the tables that are ranged before each red-cushioned seat.</p> - -<p>The comic singers are the favorites of the audience, however, and are -always encored with vociferous enthusiasm. These singers get in a place -like the Alhambra as much as ten pounds a week, as the proprietors -know well the value of their services. The pantomimes are of the very -best kind I ever saw; the dancing is, of its kind, good; the orchestra -excellent and full in numbers, the acrobatic performances very fine, -and the picture at the close of the pantomime is really superb. -Yet with all these excellences combined, if the Alhambra and every -Music-Hall-Hell like it in London were suddenly scorched up by a fire -from Heaven, it would be the most incomparable benefit ever bestowed -upon the English metropolis, and a saving grace to thousands of young -English men and women—both in body and soul.</p> - -<p>And the reason for this is that women are allowed admission at the door -on payment of the price, without the escort of a man. Consequently it -is, with the exception of the Argyle, and Holborn Casino, the greatest -place of infamy in all London. It is convenient, in a central location, -and were women not admitted alone the business of the place would break -up. The men under twenty-five years of age, who comprise the largest -part of the male audience, would not come were these Formosas debarred -from admission. The performance—a first-class one—is not heeded. The -chief attraction is the women.</p> - -<p>And are these women calculated, by their manner, dress or appearance, -to shock or warn people by their degradation?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[Pg 468]</a></span> On the contrary they are -cheerful, pleasant-looking girls, of quite fair breeding, and of a far -better taste in their dress than the honest wives and sweethearts of -the mechanics and shopkeepers, who sit in the place of virtue, within -the painted railing. These women are satisfied with their lot, and do -not repine so long as they have male acquaintances or "friends," as -they call them, to give them champagne, moselle, and late suppers of -game and native oysters in the Café de l'Europe, or at Barnes's in the -Haymarket. Despite the arguments of those who have sought to eradicate -the evil, these women, to any great number, never forsake their calling -for the life of an honest working-woman. They laugh at such an idea, -and will tell you that they could not do without wine, rich food, and -costly dresses, even at the fearful price they have given to obtain -them.</p> - -<p>Besides, there is no field open to them, and suspicion follows every -effort for reformation made by the few who have left the life of -prostitution to go to hard work or service. They look down upon -shop-girls and bar-maids with contempt, and many of them keep servants -from the gains of their infamy. Whenever one of these girls happens to -notice a stranger who does not seem to know the place, she will not -hesitate to walk up to him, take his arm, and ask him: "Come, won't you -give me my liquor?"</p> - -<p>Many of these women have had no education whatever; still they manage -to conceal the fact as much as possible, while others will tell you -that they came originally from the workhouse, where they were sent as -children, and being thrown on the streets when grown up, had no means -of making a living but that which they were compelled to adopt. I spoke -to one lady-like girl who seemed to be rather abstracted, and asked her -if she were not tired of her present life, and anxious to leave it.</p> - -<p>"Tired of my life? You may believe it that I am; but what of that. No -one would take me by the hand after leaving this life. I am not such a -fool as to jump from the frying pan into the fire. I get tight about -twice a week, and then I come here and talk and drink more, and that -serves to pass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[Pg 469]</a></span> away the time. My friend is in Paris, and he sends me -money when I want it. My mother is dead and my father is in America. I -don't know where, and I don't care much, for he never bothered himself -about me. Are you going to treat?"</p> - -<p>I saw this girl walk up to the bar ten minutes after, pushing her way -through the crowd, and saw her toss off nearly half a pint of raw gin, -or "gin neat," as it is called here, without winking. Such is life. -The detective told me that the girl had been one of the flashiest and -best-dressed women who visited the Alhambra until a few months before, -when she began drinking, and rapidly descended, when she had to pawn -all her jewelry.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"WOTTEN WOW."</div> - -<p>The songs sung in the Alhambra are not quite as low as those heard in -some of the music-halls, and chiefly derive their short popularity from -the fact that there is a comic vein in each one. Sentimental songs are -not so popular, and do not receive so many encores as the comic ones. -A man came on the stage, dressed in the exaggerated costume of a Pall -Mall lounger, who sang a song, of which the following is a verse, with -a very affected voice and lisp, keeping his body bent in a painful -position the while:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 25%;">THE BEAU OF WOTTEN WOW.</p> -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Now evewy sumwah's day</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I always pass my time away;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Arm in arm with fwiends I go,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And stwoll awound sweet Wotten Wow;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For that's the place, none can deny,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To see blooming faces and laughing eye;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And if your hawts with love would glow,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Why, patwonize sweet Wotten Wow.</span></p> -<p style="margin-left:35%;"> -<i>Chorus</i>:</p> -<p style="margin-left:22%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">So come young gents and dont be slow,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">But stylish dwess and each day go,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And view the beauties to and fwo,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Who dwive and wide wound Wotten Wow.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The chief merit in the singing of this song to the audience—was the -affected lisp and farcical airs of the singer, who did his best to -imitate the swells who lean over the railings in Rotten Row, when that -fashionable drive is crowded with equestrians<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[Pg 470]</a></span> and foot passengers in -the regular London season. The mob liked the satire on the aristocrats -and relished all the local hits of the speech and the dress of the -ideal do-nothing. Something of a more grotesque nature, and more -broadly funny, which was cheered to the echo, was a nonsensical song -called the "Royal Beast Show," that seemed to please the men and -women in the audience. This song was sung by a man in a blood-red -scarf, a pea-green body coat, and green glass goggles. The costume was -indicative of nothing under heaven or earth that I ever saw before, -but the song was exactly suited to the comprehension of the people, as -their shouts of laughter testified:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 25%;">THE ROYAL BEAST SHOW.</p> -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Come, stand aside, good people all, and hear vot I've got to say,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But let the little dears come hup, wot's going for to pay.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">At all the coorts in Europe, we are reckoned quite the go:</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then pay yer sixpences, and see the Royal Wild Beast Show.</span></p> - -<p style="margin-left: 30%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Chorus.</i></span></p> -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The cammomiles, the crockodiles, and all that you could wish;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The mice and rats, and tabby cats, and other kinds of fish;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A dozen sphinxes hupside down and standing hin a row;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hits only sixpence heach to see the Royal Wild Beast Show.</span></p> -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The first one is the Kangaroo, you ought to see him jump;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The next one is the Ippopotymus, you ought to see 'is hump;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The third one is the Halligator, and he's such a one to crow,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He wakes hus hevery morning in the Royal Wild Beast Show.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Donkey in the corner, with the Tiger hon 'is harm,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Comes from Hass-iriya, vere once his father kept a farm;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That Billy-Goat that's dressed in Pink and valking rayther slow,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He's wery <i>Horn</i>-imental in a Royal Wild Beast show.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 10%;">The cammomiles, &c.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>After these choice ballads had been sung, there was a ballet in which -about fifty young ladies capered and pranced in a Bower of Angels, -with a lot of dolphins, just like dolphins and angels in their mutual -festivities in the other world: and then the detective who accompanied -me, said:</p> - - - -<p>"Would you like to see the Canteen? That's a werry 'igh old game is the -Canteen; sort of priveet like."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[Pg 471]</a></span></p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus77.jpg" alt="canteen" /> <a id="illus77" name="illus77"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> CANTEEN OF THE ALHAMBRA.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">IN THE CANTEEN.</div> - -<p>The Canteen of the Alhambra is situated on the lower floor of the -building, under the stage, and has a dark entrance through a door -which is supported on swinging hinges. The descent is by a spiral -flight of stone steps, and on going through this door, the stranger -receives the idea that he is going behind the scenes, which is a great -mistake. The proprietors have made the entrance as dark and mysterious -as possible, in order to throw a kind of greenroom air about it, which -captivates simple people, and induces them to spend more money than -they would otherwise. It is, in fact (this Canteen), nothing more than -a subterranean bar-room, where men treat to Champagne wine and Moselle -cup, the ballet-girls who come down, wrapped in travelling-cloaks; -and after each ballet is concluded, flirt, drink, and make eligible -acquaintances. The bar is in the form of a half circle, and two very -largely framed women were behind it this night, serving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[Pg 472]</a></span> the customers, -who sit around on wooden benches. The ceiling is supported by rude -posts, and everything is as uncouth as possible; and this gives it an -additional charm to countrymen. They feel that they are doing something -sinful, something indiscreet, which they would not like to have their -wives or relations hear of, and, with the natural perversity of human -nature, it is enjoyable to a corresponding degree. The waiters who -bring the drinks and cigars from the bar, wear black dress-coats and -red plush waist coats.</p> - -<p>When I descended to the Canteen, the ballet was still on above us, and -I could hear the tramping of the feet of the dancers as they bounded to -and fro on the stage boards over my head. There were no ballet girls in -the Canteen, but in a few minutes the strains of the dance music died -away and down came the coryphees, trooping by twos and threes, their -faces painted and chalked, and their white slippers and tights peeping -out from the bottoms of the gray waterproof cloaks which they wore. -They took their seats in the room on the wooden benches, and it was -not long until each ballet girl found her male affinity, and of course -the male affinity treated her to whatever the dear creature called -for—however expensive. In such a moment, when these angels in tissue -condescend to talk to mortals, who could think of expense.</p> - -<p>There were a number of soldiers in the room, wearing the uniforms of -different regiments, chiefly of the Household troops, with here and -there a line private in buff and blue; a rifleman in dark green, or -an artilleryman, with his gorgeous red facings and trimmings. But the -angels of the ballet never wasted their time on such low people as -common soldiers. Their game was much higher, and if they could not -get a drink from an officer holding her Majesty's commission, they -were content with stray Americans, who have a reputation for reckless -liberality. In fact, Americans rank above par in the Canteen market, -and are received with due honor.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE OLD SINNER.</div> - -<p>I saw one old gentleman, fully six feet high, with a venerable face -and white whiskers, evidently of a respectable position in society, -with his arm around the chalked neck of a girl of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[Pg 473]</a></span> fifteen, whose light -brown curls fell in masses over her shoulders, and, while he talked -with her, he supplied her quickly-emptied glass with a sparkling wine. -The detective said, in explanation of the scene, to me:</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus78.jpg" alt="sinner" /> <a id="illus78" name="illus78"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE OLD SINNER.</p> - -<p>"You see, sir, these gals as is down here in the Canteen only gets ten -to sixteen shillin' a week for their night's work, and that isn't much. -They is only the figurantys, and can't dance a bit; but they gets a bad -fashion from the swells who go behind the scenes a drinkin' champagne -and sich like, and that fashion leads them to wuss nor hannything that -you'll see 'ere. They comes down here and drinks between the balley, -and then goes hup on to the stage and dances again, and comes down -hagain after the next balley, and by the time the Alhambra closes -they are so blessed tight that they are ready for hanythink. I means, -of course, the gals as is innocent yet; but the old hands are werry -knowin' cards, so they is, bless you."</p> - -<p>"That little gal as is just now a takin' that gentleman's address is a -werry downy gal, she is. They calls her the 'Daisy,' because she has a -fondness for bokays, and she is hup to all sorts of games. She 'ad some -kind of a heddykation, when she was a little gal, and I thinks she was -a governess or sich like once, and went to the dogs through somebody's -fault; and she writes a beautiful hand, she does, and her little game -is to send letters to strangers who visit London for the first time and -don't know what to do with their money, and full of affekshun and such -gammon—and tells them, in the writin' as 'ow she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[Pg 474]</a></span> seed better days and -axes their parding for givin' so much trouble—and 'opes they won't -think the wuss of her for such freedom or liberty; and then she gets a -few pun from the spooney, and she goes on a habsolutely hawful drunk -for a few days and doesn't come to the rehearsal—and when the money is -all spent she writes more letters and 'umbugs some other spoon. Oh, she -<i>is werry</i> deep, is the 'Daisy.'"</p> - -<p>The "Tulip," the other young girl, according to the story of the -policeman, was famous for her aptitude in swearing and drinking -"Stout"; otherwise there was nothing of special interest in her -character, and her face, though a pretty one, was strongly marked -with lines of dissipation. By the time that I was ready to leave the -Canteen, having seen all that was worth seeing in the den (for it is -a den, and nothing else) which has been the cause of many a promising -youth's ruin, it was nearly eleven o'clock.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SIX PENNY GALLERY.</div> - -<p>We paid another shilling to go up in the "Gallery," where there is not -the slightest disguise in the conduct of the females who throng the -place. Back of the gallery, in the corridors, where the performance -can be seen over the heads of the men who stand in front, are ranged -a number of bars, and at each end of this place, which forms a kind -of saloon, small tables with marble tops. At these tables a number of -men and women sat and drank and laughed, and told each other anecdotes -more pointed than polished in their application. The clamor and the -smoke made the place unbearable, and the strains of music from the -orchestra, playing Weber's "Last Waltz," filled the vast building with -its circular galleries, that were heaped one upon another, to the -ceiling. Up in the highest gallery of all, where the admittance is -only sixpence, the riff-raff were collected. When a woman goes to the -six-penny gallery in the Alhambra she is indeed lost beyond all hope of -rescue.</p> - -<p>I came down disgusted, and on going below stairs to the first tier I -found there a kid glove, fan, and bouquet stand. It is the fashion for -the young men of this pious city of London, who have more money than -brains, when they visit the Alhambra,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[Pg 475]</a></span> to buy kid gloves or fans for -the unfortunates who throng the place. Quite a trade is done in this -way, as some of the swells are not satisfied, when intoxicated, unless -they can prevail upon their feminine friends to accept of a slight -trifle of their esteem in the shape of a dozen pairs of fine kids in -a gilt box. The man at the glove stand told me that business in the -season—when people came home from the Continent—was very brisk, and -he said that in one night he had sold as many as nineteen dozen kids to -be presented to the Formosas of the place.</p> - -<p>The detective said to me as we went down stairs: "Suppose we go to the -Argyle, in the 'Aymarket, and then finish with the Casino and Barnes's; -they'll be very lively just now, I warrant ye, and the fun grows -furious near midnight." I assented to this proposal, and we took a cab -and went to the Argyle Rooms. The cabby put his tongue in his cheek -when I said "Argyle Rooms," and drove us there. I gave him eighteen -pence, and he desired to know if I didn't want to borrow the price of -admission, because I refused to give him half a crown for a ride of a -thousand feet.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail31.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail31" name="tail31"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[Pg 476]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE "ARGYLE," "BARNES'S," AND "CASINO."</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap32.jpg" alt="I" /> <a id="icap32" name="icap32"></a></span>T is a quarter past eleven o'clock and the Haymarket is full of -people—men and women jostling each other, many of both sexes being -intoxicated; and beggars solicit us at every crossing, doffing their -greasy caps and thrusting their dirty paws under our noses in their -persistency. The cafes are overflowing with Gauls from across the -channel, and when the crowds become too thick to leave the sidewalks -passable, the policemen, who are in great numbers here, have to -interfere to quell rows every few minutes. They clear the streets in a -mild, civil way, very different from the manner of the New York police -in like contingencies.</p> - -<p>A stranger cannot help being astonished at the vast, almost -incalculable, number of unfortunate women who haunt the London streets -in this quarter as the hour of midnight approaches. There must be a -great rottenness in Denmark where such a state of things can exist, and -exist without any surprise on the part of those who witness such scenes -nightly. I paid a shilling to enter the Argyle Rooms, and received a -tin check, which was given up at the door, as in the Alhambra. The -Argyle has not such high architectural pretensions as the Alhambra, but -the class of visitors are better in the sense of dress and position. -I entered through a side door, and found myself in a carpeted room, -handsomely and tastefully furnished and decorated.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[Pg 477]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE "ARGYLE ROOMS."</div> - -<p>The saloon is nearly as large as Irving Hall, in New York, but lit up -in a splendid manner with handsome chandeliers, which depend from the -lofty ceiling, the gas jets burning in a deep glow through the shining -metal stalactites that ornament the chandeliers. A splendid band of -fifty instruments is stationed in the gallery at the further end of -the room, and the music is of the best kind. The leader is attired in -full evening dress, as is also every fiddler in the band, and the wave -of the chef's baton is as graceful as that of Julien, when he was in -his prime. Women, dressed in costly silks and satins and velvets, the -majority of them wearing rich jewels and gold ornaments, are lounging -on the plush sofas in a free and easy way, conversing with men whose -dress betoken that they are in respectable society. A number of these -are in full evening dress, wearing their overcoats, and a few of them -have come from the clubs, a few from dinner parties, and a greater -number from the theatres or opera.</p> - -<p>They are not ashamed to be seen here by their acquaintances—far from -it; they think this is a nice and clever thing to do, and, as no -virtuous woman ever enters this place, there is no danger of meeting -those who own a sisterly or still dearer tie, and who might cause a -blush to redden the cheeks of these charming young men. Across the -lower end of the room an iron railing is stretched, and this keeps the -vulgar herd from mingling with the elite of the abandoned women who -frequent the Argyle. Three-fourths of the ground space is devoted to -dancing, and inside this railing sets are formed at a signal from the -band above.</p> - -<p>The charge for admission below, where I stand with the detective -surveying this strange scene, is but a shilling, while the entrance fee -to the gallery is two shillings, and this admits, as I am told by a -servant, to all the privileges of the place whatever they may be. Even -in vice the "horrid spirit of caste" prevails. It is chiefly clerks and -tradesmen who are dancing in the shilling place, and at the end of each -dance, be it waltz or quadrille, the man who has danced is expected -to refresh his partner with a copious draught of beer, or a glass of -plain gin.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[Pg 478]</a></span> These women all take their gin without water, and smoke -cigarettes if some one will pay for them. Inside the railing it is -different.</p> - -<p>The bars here are furnished with great splendor, and the calls for -champagne are incessant. The women call champagne "fizz," and ale -"swill." All around the room cushioned seats or benches are placed so -that those who have done dancing may rest themselves and drink. There -are liquor counters in every corner of the room, and a good business -is done, the bar-maids being kept actively employed all the time -while the music is playing. Upstairs there is another gallery and a -fine bar, and here the really fast women congregate, to look over the -balconies, but never condescending to mix among the vulgar dancers, -excepting when their reason is gone through intoxication. These women -all carry expensive fans, and their trains are as long as the train of -a Countess in a reception at St. James's. There is a handsomely fitted -up alcove to the right of the bar, and this alcove is ornamented with -panels, on which are painted such pictures as "Europa and the Bull," -"Leda," "Bacchus and Silenus;" and here are a number of women and men -with Venetian goblets foaming full of champagne before them. Standing -at the entrance to the alcove, is a stout, florid-faced woman, vulgar -in appearance, with incipient moustachios at the corners of her lips. -She is covered with jewelry, and her fingers, fat, red, and unshapely, -glitter with diamonds.</p> - -<p>This is the famous "Kate Hamilton," who was at one time the reigning -beauty of her class, and has now degenerated into a vile pander. She -is surrounded by a cluster of girls, and they are all in an animated -discussion with her. The detective introduces me to this famous, or -rather infamous, Messalina, and her first question is, "Will you stand -some 'Sham?'" The next is to make inquiry about a number of New York -politicians and sporting men who have patronized her den, somewhere in -the Haymarket, while doing the foreign tour. She is most business-like -and brief, this fetid old wretch, and has a speaking acquaintance with -every man in the saloon.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[Pg 479]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE HAYMARKET BY NIGHT.</div> - -<p>While we are standing looking at her and her friends, the room -is darkened, the gas being almost extinguished, and a chemical, -light-colored flame irradiates the room like a twilight at sea, and -the entire female population rush below to join in the last, wild, -mad shadow-dance of the night. Around and around they go in each -other's arms, whirling in the dim, uncertain, graveyard light, these -unclean things of the darkness, shouting and shrieking, totally lost -to shame—their gestures wanton as the movements of an Egyptian Almee -and mad as the capers of a dancing dervish. Then the hall is darkened, -the band ceases playing, the waiters finish the remains of the uncorked -champagne bottles, the women dash madly down the carpeted stairs and -into the streets with their male companions, and are whirled away with -the cabs, which wait in long rows before the entrance of the Argyle, to -the purlieus of Pimlico and the sensual shades of St. John's Wood, at -Brompton.</p> - -<p>The night has closed, a full English moon floats silently in the -heavens, white snowy powder hangs over our heads like a film of -lace—the clock-tower at Westminster Palace booms out the hour of -midnight over the dark surface of the Thames, and we escape from the -bustle of that vile dancing hall with gladness.</p> - -<p>"Now," said my conductor, "let's go down in the Haymarket to Barnes's, -and look at that for a few minutes, and then we will go to the Casino, -in the Holborn, for a finish, if you please, sir."</p> - -<p>Down through Coventry street, past the cafés again, which are preparing -to close, and now we are in the Haymarket, one of the worst quarters of -London. This street is wide, beginning at Coventry street and running -down for a distance of about 1,400 feet to the "bottom," ending at the -line where Pall Mall begins. They always say the "bottom" or "top" of a -street in London, never "east" or "west." If there be a place in London -that is deserving of notice, it is the Haymarket. Hundreds of years -ago, the washerwomen of the village of Charing, just below us, and now -one of the great business centres of London, used to bring their dirty -linen here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[Pg 480]</a></span> to cleanse it, and then dry it on the green fields in the -Haymarket.</p> - -<p>The green fields of the Haymarket have long ago been covered over -with theatres, opera-houses and palatial shops, and now not all the -washerwomen in England could cleanse the immoral sewage that streams -through the Haymarket night after night—through the snows of winter, -the heated nights of July, and August, and the fragrance of May. Here, -at this chemist's door, formerly a tennis court, Charles II., his -brother, the Duke of York, Sedley, Rochester, and the rest of the wild, -reckless lot, used to come to play their favorite game; and here sat -Mistress Gwynne, Portsmouth, Mrs. Hyde, Louise de Queroailles, Frances -Stewart, and other dissolute beauties of the merry monarch's court, -applauding the feats of skill performed by their lovers. In the theatre -formerly standing on the site of the present Haymarket Theatre, and -opposite to Her Majesty's Opera House, with its long, drab colonnades -and dark shops imbedded in the arcades, Foote and glorious Garrick woke -the passions of all who were intellectual and noble in the Addisonian -age of England.</p> - -<p>Here was the public house kept by Broughton, the champion of England, -who has been forever immortalized by Hogarth—just off Cockspur street; -and here was his swinging sign-board, having a portrait of himself, -battered and bruised, in a cocked hat and wig, with the legend on the -sign-board—</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Hic Victor Cæstus artemque repono."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Think of a modern prize buffer attempting to quote from the classics. -Cibber wrote a show-bill for Broughton once, which I reproduce, as a -specimen of advertising skill:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">At The New Theatre</span></p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">In the Haymarket, on Wednesday. The 29th of This Instant -April,</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>"The Beauty of the Science of Defence will be shown in a Trial of Skill -between the following Masters, viz., Whereas, there was a battle fought -on the 18th of March last, between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[Pg 481]</a></span> Mr. Johnson, from Yorkshire, and -Mr. Sherlock, from Ireland, in which engagement they came so near as to -throw each other down. Since that rough battle the said Sherlock has -challenged Johnson to fight him, strapt down to the stage, for twenty -pounds; to which the said Johnson has agreed; and they are to meet at -the time and place above mentioned, and fight in the following manner, -viz., to have their left feet strapt down to the stage, within reach -of each other's right leg; and the most bleeding wounds to decide the -wager. N.B.—The undaunted young James, who is thought the bravest of -his age in the manly art of boxing, fights himself the stout-hearted -George Gray for ten pounds, who values himself for fighting at -Tottenham Court. Attendance to be <i>given at ten, and the Masters mount -at twelve</i>. Cudgel-playing and boxing to <i>divert</i> the <i>gentlemen</i> until -the battle begins.</p> - -<p>"N.B.—Frenchmen are requested to bring smelling bottles."</p> - -<p>Think only of these wigged nobles and their clients, the boxers, in -knee-breeches and wigs, going to a battle, and think of the Frenchmen -who were compelled to bring smelling-bottles to keep their stomachs in -order, and who will not say that even in prize-fighting the Nineteenth -century has brought progress, as in every other scientific matter?</p> - -<div class="sidenote">AT "BARNES'S."</div> - -<p>We are now at Barnes's, a famous night house, or, rather, an infamous -night house, in the Haymarket. When the dancing places and music-halls -of the metropolis close, this door remains open to catch all stray -night birds who can find no other resting place. The place is an -ordinary drinking saloon, with a confectionery and pastry counter, and -the attendants are five or six over-dressed young ladies, all of whom -have their hair dyed of a light color, and are very free and chatty in -their manner. These girls are well supplied with jewelry and lockets. -Their salary is not large enough to furnish them with the trinkets, -as they only get one pound five shillings a week; yet they manage to -dress expensively, and Champagne is so common to their palates that -they have become indifferent to it and it absolutely palls upon them. -Yet there is a percent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[Pg 482]</a></span>age on every bottle that is consumed here, and -consequently they do their best to sell Moet & Chandon at ten shillings -a bottle to the customers—and will even drink with them.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus79.jpg" alt="haymarket" /> <a id="illus79" name="illus79"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> IN THE HAYMARKET.</p> - -<p>This is a great place for rump-steaks and native oysters—late at -night, and a good business is done here in those articles of food. The -oysters are small, black, and have a bitter, copperish taste. A New -Yorker, used to Sounds and East Rivers, would leave them in disgust; -but Englishmen, whose throats are parched with the liquors they get -at the Argyle and in the Haymarket, prefer them to the most luscious -Saddle Rocks. There is a large screen in the center of the room, the -bar glitters with costly mirrors, and behind the screen are a number -of small boxes partitioned off, and having red plush seats. In these -are several noisy women, inflamed with liquor, eating and drinking and -hallooing at their male companions. One girl, in a black silk dress, -with her hair hanging down in disorder, is crying drunk at one of the -tables, and has just spilled a bottle of wine over her handsome dress. -She is cursing the waiter, who is also drunk, with much earnestness of -purpose, and as soon as she sees the detective she halloos at him in a -harsh voice:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[Pg 483]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE "HOLBORN CASINO."</div> - -<p>"I say, Bobby, you don't want me, do you?" I 'avent done nothink, -although I wos wonst in Newgate for taking a swell's watch, which he -guv to me for my wedding present, as was just four year ago, come -Micklemas Goose. I wish I could throw meself in the Thames, but I -'aven't got the 'art—</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"'Hoh, my 'art is in the 'Ighlands</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A follerin the vild roe.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My 'art is in the 'Ighlands,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Wheresomdever I—go—I go."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Ah! that's a rum customer," said the policeman; "she's fly to -heverythink. Now, hif that gal ain't watched this night, she is jest as -likely to go to London Bridge and throw her blessed body hoff into the -dirty water as not. They always goes to Lunnun Bridge when they want to -make way with themselves—it's so lively like."</p> - -<p>"Now," said the policeman, "I would hadvise you to make the finish at -the 'Casino,' in the 'Olborn, afore you go to your hotel, sir, and -then you may say you've seen the best of the bad places of Lunnun. The -Casino is hopen till one o'clock to-night, I think, and we'll just be -in time for the best dance."</p> - -<p>We took a cab again, which dashed up Coventry street, through -Cranbourne street, into Long acre, and up Drury Lane, past the old -theatre of that name, and in a few minutes we descended in the wide, -open space of the Holborn, before the entrance of the Casino, the -fashionable dance-house of London. The street was lined with cabs, and -policemen were thick in the vicinity of the entrance, ordering the men -and women just coming out to pass on, and keep the street clear, a duty -which gained for them a great deal of abuse from the intoxicated women, -who did not want to pass on by any means. The entrance to this place is -through a gaudy, gilded vestibule and down a descent of four or five -steps to a spacious marble floor, which was covered with dancers. The -whole interior was gilded, gold leaf and white predominating above all -other colors.</p> - -<p>The band, as at the other places of evil resort, was placed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[Pg 484]</a></span> the -farthest end gallery, and was an excellent one. The leader wore white -kids and the musicians white vests, and the crash of the instruments -was almost deafening, filling the large space with a wild and not -unpleasing harmony. Attendants in evening dress were on the floor, -making up sets and soliciting the habitues of the place to dance -with the female partners, which were easily found for them. A high -balcony ran all round the hall, which is 100 feet by 75 in dimension, -and in the corners of the saloon, up and down stairs, were cafés and -refreshment bars, which were crowded with customers. The entrance to -this place is only one shilling, and the class of visitors is of a -superior kind to those who go to any other dance-house in London.</p> - -<p>The saloon was really a magnificent one, rich and tasteful in its -decoration, and the women were well and neatly dressed, and very -quiet and well-behaved in their manner. Every woman wore nice gloves, -high-heeled boots, and all of them had the lace frill or ruff now -prevalent in London around their necks. They also wore charms and -lockets and gold watches, and every one was attended by a cavalier. The -men were smoking cigars and flirting, and a number of foreigners were -present and danced incessantly, just as they would at the Mabille or -any Continental garden. In fact, this is the only place in London, with -the exception of Cremorne Gardens, that in any way approaches the mad -gaiety of the Mabille.</p> - -<p>Still, there is a certain English decorum observed here, and any girl -who would get drunk or lift her skirts too high would be expelled -instantly by the master of ceremonies, assisted by the policemen who -are to be found scattered all over the place. Some of the girls will -go up and ask for partners to dance with them, and then, if the latter -wish to give them liquor,—well and good, but they will not solicit -it, because these women affect the fashionable lady as much as their -limited resources will allow.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">GOOD NIGHT.</div> - -<p>They are generally the mistresses of men of leisure, and when the -season is at its height a great number of men about town may be -seen here, as spectators, who come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[Pg 485]</a></span> from the clubs or the Houses of -Parliament, bored by the ennui of the reading rooms at one place, or -the prosy speeches of members of the other. Some of the men dance with -cigars in their mouths, and whirl around in such a wild manner as to -cause collision with the other couples. Occasionally you will see two -girls waltzing, and men who have sat too long at the dinner-table will, -once in an evening, get up together and dance a "stag dance." But this -is not encouraged by the master of ceremonies, as the dancing of a pair -of male bipeds is not calculated to help the business of the place, and -it is instantly suppressed, amid cheers and laughter.</p> - -<p>The music strikes up for the last gallop, and there is a rush -for partners; the balconies and alcoves and luxurious seats and -marble tables are deserted, and in a moment everything is in a wild -hurly-burly and a confusion and uproar; men and women galloping and -bounding and yelling to the right, and to the left, and as the last -crash of the big drum beats on the ear the passages and doorways are -thronged with the dancers, every man crying for a cab to take himself -and partner somewhere, perhaps they care not where—it is no matter; -and now the place is in darkness, and the policemen having seen the -last of the women leave the doorway, begin their patrol duty, which -will last until day breaks and the stars fall from the London sky, -telling them that they are relieved from their night's watch.</p> - -<p>The detective shakes hand with and leaves me, he to go eastward to -Temple Bar, and I to bed in a remote quarter of the great Babylon, -whose noises and turmoil are now hushed into silence, excepting where a -solitary street-walker, famishing from hunger, or a drunken pedestrian -bars the way, and makes the night resound with insane shouts.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[Pg 486]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap33.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap33" name="icap33"></a></span>HE best expression of Protestant Ecclesiastical art in England, and -perhaps in the world, is manifested in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. It -is a stupendous temple rather than a church, and the religious effect -is lost in the interior by the number of tombs erected to admirals, -generals, colonels, and other military and naval heroes.</p> - -<p>When Nelson ordered the decks of the Victory cleared for action at -Trafalgar, he cried out to his lieutenant, Hardy:</p> - -<p>"Now for a peerage or Westminster Abbey."</p> - -<p>But Nelson lies in St. Paul's, and the tomb of England's greatest -soldier—Wellington, is quite near his, under the same lofty nave. -All the great Cathedrals and Abbies of England were built before the -Reformation, and, consequently, St. Paul's is the best and truest proof -of Protestant art in England.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">WHEN ERECTED AND THE ARCHITECT.</div> - -<p>The yearly revenues of this Cathedral are £23,422. This does not -include the salaries of the Bishop of London, the Dean of St. Paul's, -four Canons, a Precentor, a Chancellor, Treasurer, Archdeacon of -London, Archdeacon of Middlesex, 29 Canons who do nothing but draw -their salaries, a Divinity Lecturer, a Sub-Dean, 12 Minor Canons, -among whom are a Succentor, Sacrist, Gospeller, Epistolar, Librarian, -Almoner, and Warden, a Commissary, a Registrar and Chapter Clerk, a -Deputy Registrar, a Receiver and Steward, six Vicars, a Choral, and an -Organist; five Bishops' Chaplains, an Examining Chaplain, a Chan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[Pg 487]</a></span>cellor -of the Diocese, a Secretary to the Bishop of London, and a Registrar -to the Bishop of London at the Cathedral. Altogether about eighty -ecclesiastics who receive salaries from the Cathedral, besides a swarm -of vergers, choristers, and servants of all kinds the salaries of whom -amount to at least £50,000 a year.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus80.jpg" alt="cathedral" /> <a id="illus80" name="illus80"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.</p> - -<p>Sir Christopher Wren was the architect of St. Paul's, and the first -stone of the new Cathedral was laid on the site of the old St. -Paul's (which had been destroyed by fire in 1666), in June 1671, and -thirty-nine years afterward, the last stone was laid at the top of the -lantern in 1710, by the son of Sir Christopher Wren, who had succeeded -his father as the architect.</p> - -<p>As St. Peter's at Rome is considered to be the chief temple of Catholic -Christendom, so is St. Paul's entitled to hold the first place in -Protestant Christendom. The whole expense of rebuild<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[Pg 488]</a></span>ing St. Paul's -was £736,752 2s. 3d. for the Cathedral, and £11,202 0s. 6d. for the -stone wall and railings around the Cathedral. The architect received -a beggarly £200 a year during its construction, for his services. The -same architect afterwards designed fifty churches to take the place of -those burnt down in the Great Fire, and they are all standing to-day, I -believe.</p> - -<p>The dimensions of St. Paul's as compared with St. Peter's at Rome, are -as follows:</p> - -<table summary="cathedrals" width="60%"> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">St. Paul's. -</td> -<td align="right">St. Peter's. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">Feet. -</td> -<td align="right">Feet. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Length within -</td> -<td align="right">500 -</td> -<td align="right">669 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Breadth at entrance -</td> -<td align="right">100 -</td> -<td align="right">226 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Front without -</td> -<td align="right">180 -</td> -<td align="right">395 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Breadth at cross -</td> -<td align="right">223 -</td> -<td align="right">442 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Cupola clear -</td> -<td align="right">108 -</td> -<td align="right">139 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Cupola and lantern high -</td> -<td align="right">330 -</td> -<td align="right">432 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Church high -</td> -<td align="right">110 -</td> -<td align="right">146 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Pillars in front -</td> -<td align="right">40 -</td> -<td align="right">91 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Superficial area -</td> -<td align="right">84,025 -</td> -<td align="right">227,069 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right"> -</td> -<td align="right"> -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - -<p>The diameter of the gilt ball is 6 feet 2 inches; the weight 5,600 -lbs., and will contain eight persons; the weight of the cross is 3,360 -lbs.</p> - -<p>The ground on which the present Cathedral stands has, from time -immemorial, been sacred to Divine Worship. There was a Christian church -here as early as the Second century, built, as it is supposed, by the -Romans, which was destroyed during the persecutions of Diocletian, and -again rebuilt, and in the Sixth century it was desecrated by the Pagan -Saxons, who celebrated their Heathenish mysteries in the church.</p> - -<p>It was afterwards richly endowed with lordships by Athelstan, Edgar, -Ethelred, Canute, and Edward the Confessor. The Norman barons, when -they came, made a raid on the property of the church as they did upon -everything they saw in England, and the Saxon priests, half frightened -to death by such violence, had their property returned them by Duke -William, who gave it a charter on his coronation day, cursing all those -who should molest the property of St. Paul's, and blessing those who -should augment its revenues.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[Pg 489]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>The enumeration of the jewels, and precious stones, and gold and silver -ornaments presented to St. Paul's by its various pious benefactors, -takes up twenty-eight pages of Dugdale's Monasticon.</p> - -<p>The dimensions of Old St. Paul's in the year 1315 were:</p> - <table summary="pauls" width="40%"> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">Feet. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Length -</td> -<td align="right">690 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Breadth -</td> -<td align="right">130 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Height of nave -</td> -<td align="right">102 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Length of nave -</td> -<td align="right">150 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>The height of the gilt ball on the top of the dome, (which was large -enough to hold ten bushels of corn inside) from the ground, was 520 -feet and it supported a cross, which made the entire height to the top -of the cross, 534 feet. The area occupied by the edifice of Old St. -Paul's was three and a half acres, one and one-half rood and 6 perches. -The walls of the present Cathedral are 1,500 feet in circuit, and -enclose five-eighths of an acre, or about one-fifth of the space of the -old St. Paul's. In fine, the present Cathedral is in every way inferior -to the old one, and in some places it is very tawdy in decoration, -while the Old St. Paul's was in many respects a finer cathedral than -St. Peter's, and twenty feet deeper.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DESTRUCTION OF OLD ST. PAUL'S.</div> - -<p>In 1561 the steeple of Old St. Paul's was burnt down, a few years after -Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, and it was subsequently decided -to rebuild the Cathedral, and Inigo Jones, a far superior architect -to Wren, was chosen for the task. In 1633, Archbishop Laud laid the -first stone of Inigo Jones's Cathedral, which was destroyed by fire in -1666. In 1643 the building was finished at an expense of £100,000. This -Cathedral was architecturally and in every way superior to that built -afterward by Wren, but was as much inferior to the old Cathedral of the -Middle Ages, which Wren sought to improve upon.</p> - -<p>It is believed that modern European Freemasonry was first founded -among the workmen who were employed in rebuilding St. Paul's, from the -fact of a number of the stone masons meeting together during the work -in a social fashion, and from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[Pg 490]</a></span> this casual association it is stated -that the Lodge of Antiquity, of which Sir Christopher Wren was Master, -originated, the occasion being the laying of the highest or lantern -stone of the Cathedral in 1710—and it is stated that from this Lodge -of Antiquity all the other Lodges of modern Europe have sprung.</p> - -<p>The Cathedral contains monuments to Nelson, who is buried in a wooden -coffin taken from the mainmast of the French Admiral's ship captured at -the battle of the Nile the very same ship in which the boy Casabianca, -the Admiral's son, "stood on the burning deck, whence all but him had -fled." Nelson lies close to Wellington, and other illustrious men. His -coffin is enclosed in a sarcophagus made by order of Cardinal Wolsey -for Henry VIII.</p> - -<p>Wellington is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral, in a sarcophagus -made of Cornish porphyry, and near him is his old subordinate, the -Irish Sir Thomas Picton, who commanded the Fighting Fifth Division at -Waterloo. Queen Anne, who used to come to St. Paul's in great state -and procession to thank God for the victories won for her by the Duke -of Marlborough, and whom she afterwards betrayed—has a bronze statue -erected in the pediment of the Cathedral.</p> - -<p>Besides these worthies, the tombs of Collingwood, Nelson's friend, -Wren, Rennie, the builder of London Bridge, and Mylne, of Waterloo -Bridge, Dr. Samuel Johnson, who expected to be buried in Westminster -Abbey, and was disappointed, like many others, Sir William Jones, Sir -Astley Cooper, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Turner, the greatest colorist -England has ever produced, Fuseli, Barry, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Opie, -West and other famous painters, John, of Gaunt, Vandyke, Dr. Donne, Sir -C. Hatton, Dean Colet, founder of St. Paul's School, and Sir Nicholas -Bacon are buried in the crypt under St. Faith's—the parish church of -St. Paul's—which is quite contiguous to the latter.</p> - -<p>There are monuments to Bishop Heber, Lord Cornwallis, Nelson, Reynolds, -Johnson, Sir John Moore, Elliott, who defended Gibraltar, Lord Howe, -Rodney, Ponsonby, Admiral Dundas, and a large number beside of their -country's defenders in the Cathedral.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[Pg 491]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">PRICES OF ADMISSION.</div> - -<p>To speak plainly the interior does not look like a church of God at -all. It is simply a huge Pantheon, with monumental effigies, and slabs -indicating the virtues, heroism, gallantry and acts in battle of -innumerable soldiers and sailors who have fought for Britain in times -gone by. The vast Rotunda and the gigantic Dome do not give the idea of -a church, and the pillars and cornices have little in their aspect to -make a spectator feel that he stands in the presence of the Almighty.</p> - -<p>Yet the monuments and the vastness of the Cathedral are worthy of -inspection, though the exterior of the Cathedral is far more imposing -than the interior, owing to the fact that the real height of the walls -of the body of the edifice is marked by a double row of pillars, which -are ranged on top of each other, giving to the spectator an impression -that the Cathedral walls to the roof, exclusive of the dome and cupola, -are twice as high as they are in reality.</p> - -<p>The following are the charges to see the different places in the -Cathedral:—to the body of the church, 2d.; to the Whispering Gallery -and the outside galleries around the dome, 6d.; to the Library, the -Model Room, the Geometrical Staircase in the south turret, and the -Great Bell, which weighs 12,000 pounds, 1s.; to the Ball at the top, -1s. 6d.; to the clock, 2d., and to the vaults 1s., in all 4s. 4d. from -each visitor; which is nothing less than a downright robbery. This is -playing Barnum with a vengeance.</p> - -<p>It was the great bell of St. Paul's which a soldier on the ramparts at -Windsor, twenty miles away, heard striking thirteen strokes one night, -instead of twelve. He was tried for sleeping on his post, found guilty, -and sentenced to death, and would have suffered had it not been for his -stout heart, and his persistent assertion that he heard the bell strike -thirteen instead of twelve strokes. It was proved that the bell did -strike thirteen on the night in question, by the mistake of the ringer, -and thus the soldier was exonerated.</p> - -<p>It was for this same bell that Henry VIII. and a dissolute nobleman -named Partridge, rattled the dice one night; and finally Henry lost the -stake. Partridge having won, died in the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[Pg 492]</a></span> year in an unfortunate -manner, just before he had made up his impious mind to have the bell -melted down. This was looked upon as a judgment of God, for in those -days judgments of God were of common occurrence.</p> - -<p>The grandest sight ever seen under the dome of St. Paul's was the -funeral of Nelson, which took place January 9, 1806. The body was -brought through the streets from Whitehall Stairs, with the King, -Lord Mayor, the Lords of the Admiralty, the Princes of the Blood, the -nobles, prelates and civic companies following, through densely packed -streets, which were almost impassable, for all England was there in -heart, if not in body. The bands played the "Dead March in Saul" during -the afternoon, and minute guns were fired from the Tower and along -the wharves as the body passed. Hardy, Nelson's post-captain, and -forty-eight sailors, who had seen the hero die, surrounded the corpse, -and when the body was taken from the hearse into the vast Cathedral, a -clear space was formed amid all that great sea of faces by the Highland -soldiers of Abercromby, who had been with Nelson in Egypt and at -Aboukir. Above was the immense dome, and from its dark and impenetrable -depths depended a huge octagonal lantern, encircled by innumerable -lamps.</p> - -<p>Then came the words from the lips of the prelate who officiated:</p> - -<p>"I am the Resurrection and the Life, and he who believeth in me -though he were dead, yet shall he rise again," the mighty organ -bursting forth—and out of all that vast multitude went forth a great, -tremendous sob as the body was lowered into the grave enshrouded by the -oak which came from the enemies' ship, and Nelson's flag, which he had -borne at his masthead in victory so often was also about to be lowered, -when suddenly the forty-eight sailors of his vessel, some of whom had -carried his lifeless body from the deck to the cockpit—as if moved by -one impulse, closed around the grave, rent the flag in pieces, each man -securing a piece of the sacred emblem upon his person, as a testament -of the greatest hero England ever saw, or ever will see again.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[Pg 493]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">GOING TO THE PLAY.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap34.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap34" name="icap34"></a></span>HERE can be no doubt but that London is a city much given to -amusement, and I question if there can be found another city which -spends more money and with a better grace, to support music and the -drama.</p> - -<p>It is very true that in a great degree the cheap amusement halls of -London are of the very lowest kind to be found anywhere, but then the -reader must understand that the greater number of theatre going and -music-loving people never enter these haunts, which have won so much -infamy among strangers. I refer, of course, to such places as the -Argyle, the Alhambra, Cremorne, the Casino, and other resorts of the -kind.</p> - -<p>I think that the Londoners as compared with the Parisians, give a great -deal more money for the amusements which they attend than the Parisians -do for theirs.</p> - -<p>Lately the French government has been compelled to build for the -delectation of the Parisians, a splendid opera house, and besides -the cost of this structure, which was two million of dollars, the -government of France pays the following annual subventions or donations -for opera alone: to the Italian Opera 120,000 francs, French Opera -900,000 francs and 250,000 francs to the Opera Comique, beside 200,000 -francs annually to the Conservatoire, where music is taught.</p> - -<p>In London, however, the support of such places is volun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[Pg 494]</a></span>tary, and no -state interference is dreamed of, save that of the Lord Chamberlain -who is a sort of censor, and whose duty is chiefly to see that the -ballet-girls do not abbreviate their skirts too much.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus81.jpg" alt="neilson" /> <a id="illus81" name="illus81"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "BEAUTIFUL MISS NEILSON."</p> - -<p>The most popular and lady-like actress in London is Miss Neilson, who -performs at the Lyceum, the Princess's and Queen's Theatres. This young -and charming actress is a favorite with all classes, owing to her -perfect skill as an artiste, and her reputation is without reproach. -She is known as "Beautiful Miss Neilson," and is of medium height, -with dark, languishing eyes, in which the fire of genius burns, with a -steady flame. Miss Kate Bateman, now Mrs. Dr. Crowe, is also a great -favorite with the Londoners, and most deservedly so, for she has not -her equal on the English stage in her distinctive line of characters. -Who that ever saw the last act of "Leah," or the "Prison Scene" in -"Mary Warner," will deny her terrible power as an actress. The English -capital is divided into two camps as to the merits of the rival -comedians—Lawrence, Toole and John Baldwin Buckstone. Alfred Wigan, -and our own "Dundreary Sothern," stand high in the ranks of their -profession, and no English comedian ever met with a more successful -triumph in his own land than that earned by John S. Clarke at the -Strand Theatre in 1869-70. French plays are very well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[Pg 495]</a></span> received at the -St. James Theatre—and I had the pleasure of listening to Schneider, in -"Barbe Bleue" and "Orphee aux Enfer," who was supported by Dupuis, the -celebrated tenor. Having visited many theatres in England, I can safely -avow that I never saw an English comedy, or a play dealing with English -characters and English homes, performed in better taste, or with more -fidelity, than I have seen like plays produced at Wallack's Theatre, in -New York City.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">FULL DRESS REQUIRED.</div> - -<p>Nearly all London theatres except the Queen's, in Long Acre, are dark -and gloomy, and in the opera houses, the old style of erecting the -private boxes or loges tier over tier and then hanging them with red -velvet, gives a peculiarly heavy look to the interiors. Besides, prices -for reserved seats are awfully high, and unless a man is the possessor -of a pretty large private fortune, he cannot think of indulging in -opera at all. As a proof of this I will here subjoin the prices at -the Haymarket Opera House or "Her Majesty's," as it is called. The -performances were Italian, German, and French, Grand Opera, and ballet:</p> - -<p>Tariff of prices for private boxes: Pit boxes, 150 guineas for -the season; grand tier, 200 guineas; one pair, 150 guineas; two -pair, 100 guineas; orchestra stalls, 25 guineas; pit tickets, 10s. -6d.; amphitheatre stalls, 5s.; gallery, 2s. 6d. Opera on Tuesdays, -Thursdays, and Saturdays, and special extra nights. No extra charge -for booking places. Evening dress to boxes, stalls and pit. Gratuities -to boxkeepers optional. Doors open at eight; performance commences at -half-past eight.</p> - -<p>These prices, it will be seen, are simply frightful. Then, unless you -go in the gallery, you must be in full dress swallowtail and white -choker, which is not relished by Americans, and particularly by those -from the back-woods, who are not very familiar with evening dress -coats. Of course the large sums are the subscriptions for a season of -perhaps thirty nights.</p> - -<p>At the Covent Garden Opera House, the tariff of prices is as follows:</p> - -<p>Private boxes: Second tier, 2½ guineas; first tier, near the stage, -3 guineas; ditto, at the side, 4 guineas; ditto, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[Pg 496]</a></span> centre, 5 -guineas; grand tier, 6 guineas; pit tier, 5 guineas; pit stalls, 21s.; -pit, 7 s.; amphitheatre, 2s. 6d.; amphitheatre stalls, front row, -10s. 6d.; second row 7s.; all other rows, 5s. No extra charge for -booking places. Evening dress to all parts except the amphitheatre and -amphitheatre stalls. No gratuities allowed to boxkeepers. Doors open at -eight; performance commences at half-past eight.</p> - -<p>In most of the theatres in London hideous old women or shabby looking -men attend in the lobbies, and wait upon the people who have need for -their services during the night, demanding a fee for every trifling -errand, and in a first-class place of amusement, a boxkeeper would be -insulted if offered less than a shilling for turning a key.</p> - -<p>And then there are terrible young blackguards who insist upon the -stranger's buying oranges, walnuts or apples from them, or else he must -take their chaff as it is given.</p> - -<p>But the biggest swindle of all is, that a man must pay two pence for -the programme of the play, or three pence or four pence, as the case -may be, and yet I have heard Englishmen tell me with audacity that they -lived in a free country.</p> - -<p>And now before I proceed to tell anything of the London theatres, I -will give a table of the prices and the time of opening doors, with the -location of each place of amusement for the benefit of those who may -visit London:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE.</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Adelphi</span>, 411 Strand; admission, seven o'clock—6s., -5s., 3s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Astley's</span>, Westminster -Road, Lambeth; seven o'clock—5s., 3s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; -<span class="smcap">Britannia</span>, Hoxton Old Town, will hold 3,400 persons; half-past -six o'clock—2s., 1s., 6d., and 3d.; <span class="smcap">City of London</span>, 36 Norton -Folgate; seven o'clock—2s., 1s., and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Covent Garden</span>, -Bow street; eight o'clock—7s., 5s., 3s., 2s. 6d., 2s., and 1s. It -was built in 1849, with Floral Hall adjoining. Its size, 240 feet by -123 feet, and 100 feet high, equals that of La Scala, the largest -in Europe. <span class="smcap">Drury Lane</span>, seven o'clock—7s., 5s., 2s., 1s., -and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Grecian</span>, City Road, seven o'clock—1s., 6d., and -3d.; <span class="smcap">Haymarket</span>, seven o'clock—7s. 5s., 3s., 2s., and 1s.; -<span class="smcap">Her Majesty's</span>, corner of Haymarket, eight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[Pg 497]</a></span> o'clock—7s., 5s., -3s., 2s. 6d., 2s., and 1s.; <span class="smcap">Holborn</span>, High Holborn, nearly -opposite Chancery Lane, seven o'clock—6s., 4s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., -and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Lyceum</span>, Strand, seven o'clock—6s., 5s., 3s., 2s., -and 1s.; <span class="smcap">Olympic</span>, Wych street, Drury Lane, half-past seven -o'clock—6s., 4s., 2s., 1s.; <span class="smcap">Marylebone</span>, Portman Market, -seven o'clock—3s., 2s., 1s., and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Pavilion</span>, Whitechapel, -half-past six o'clock—2s., 1s., and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Prince of Wales</span>, -Tottenham Court Road, seven o'clock—6s., 3s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; -<span class="smcap">Princess's</span>, Oxford street, seven o'clock—6s., 5s., 4s., 2s., -and 1s.; <span class="smcap">Queen's</span>, Long Acre, formerly St. Martin's Hall, -seven o'clock—6s., 5s., 4s., 2s. 6d., 2s., and 1s.; <span class="smcap">Royalty</span> -or <span class="smcap">Soho</span>, Dean street, Oxford street, half-past seven -o'clock—5s., 3s., 1s., and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Royal Amphitheatre</span>, High -Holborn, west of Red Lion street, seven o'clock—4s., 2s., 1s. 6d., -and 1s.; <span class="smcap">Sadler's Wells</span>, Clerkenwell, seven o'clock—3s., -2s., 1s., and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Standard</span>, Shoreditch, half-past six -o'clock—3s., 1s. 6d., 1s., 6d., and 3d., burnt down in 1866, is -rebuilding; <span class="smcap">St. James's</span>, King street, St. James's Square, -half-past seven o'clock—4s., 3s., 2s., and 6d.; <span class="smcap">Strand</span>, -Strand, seven o'clock—5s., 3s., 1s. 6d., and 6.; <span class="smcap">Surrey</span>, -Blackfriar's Road, seven o'clock—3s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; -<span class="smcap">Victoria</span>, New Cut, Lambeth, half-past six o'clock—1s. 6d., -1s., 6d., and 3d.</p> - -<p>Drury Lane, which was built in 1812, will seat 1,700 persons, and its -vestibule and saloons are as fine as any in Europe. Private boxes in -the London theatres range in price for a single seat at from one guinea -to four pounds, or from $5 to $20 a night. The Olympic seats 2,000; the -Adelphi 1,500; Astley's Circus 4,000, and the gallery of the Victoria -will seat 2,000, while the Pit of the Pavilion, a murderous hole in -Whitechapel, seats 1,500 roughs.</p> - -<p>Astley's is a sort of Hippodrome for spectacles, and is much loved -by young London for the prancing of its horses and its grand shows. -Astley's is at Lambeth, on the Surrey side of the Thames, and is in -the heart of the democratic quarter of London. The present building -is the fourth erected upon this site. The first was one of the -nineteen theatres built by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[Pg 498]</a></span> Philip Astley, and was opened in 1773, -burnt in 1794; rebuilt 1795, burnt 1803; rebuilt 1804, burnt June 8, -1841, within two hours, the house being principally constructed from -old ship-timber. It was rebuilt, and opened April 17, 1843, and has -since been enlarged. There is only one other theatre in London for -equestrianism; and the stud of trained horses numbers from fifty to -sixty.</p> - -<p>Philip Astley, originally a cavalry soldier, commenced horsemanship in -1763, in an open field at Lambeth. He built his first theatre partly -with £60, the produce of an unowned diamond ring which he found on -Westminster Bridge. Andrew Ducrow, subsequently proprietor of the -Amphitheatre, was born at the Nag's Head, Borough, in 1793, when his -father, Peter Ducrow, a native of Bruges, was "the Flemish Hercules" -at Astley's. The fire in 1841 arose from ignited wadding, such as -caused the destruction of the old Globe Theatre in 1613, and Covent -Garden Theatre in 1808. Andrew Ducrow died January 26, 1842, of mental -derangement and paralysis, produced by the above catastrophe.</p> - -<p>Covent Garden theatre is the second one built on its site,—it being -a strange fact that nearly all the theatres in London have been burnt -down from time to time. It was here that the "O.P.," or "Old Prices," -riots took place in 1804, and continued for seventy-seven nights, the -management having made an attempt to raise the prices, but at last they -had to back down before the popular storm. Incledon, Charles Kemble, -Mrs. Glover, George Frederick Cooke, Miss O'Neill, Macready, Farren, -Fanny Kemble, Adelaide Kemble and Edmund Kean have strutted their brief -hours on its stage, but now the house is entirely devoted to opera.</p> - -<p>Drury Lane Theatre, or "Old Drury," as it is sometimes known, and was -at one time called the "Wilderness" by Mrs. Siddons, is situated in -one of the lowest quarters of London, where vice, crime, poverty and -drunkenness abound, but still it is frequented by the best classes of -the play-going public. Here, one night in August, 1869, I saw "Formosa" -played to a very full house, the excitement about the Harvard and -Oxford race<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[Pg 499]</a></span> having culminated about this time. It was then under the -direction of Mr. Dion Boucicault, who has made and lost two or three -fortunes in the management of theatres. All the famous disciples of -the histrionic art who live in English dramatic history, have appeared -during the last two hundred years on the boards of Old Drury.</p> - -<p>In 1799 sixteen persons were trodden to death in an alarm which took -place at the Haymarket theatre.</p> - -<p>There is a little theatre called the Adelphi, in the Strand, near Cecil -street where I had rooms for some time, and this little dirty theatre, -which has a vestibule like the entrance to a New York lager bier -saloon, has been very much frequented by Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. -This royal lady has some queer tastes, and among them is a fondness for -broad farce or low comedy. She is also fond of the piano, which she -learned from a Mrs. Anderson, and sometimes when she plays she likes -to be accompanied by two or three of the most distinguished violinists -that can be procured. The Queen used to sing, and in the old days, -when the world was new to her and before she had been widowed, it was -the custom at the nice little private parties which she gave, to have -Prince Albert sing with her, while the Hon. Mrs. Grey, wife of her -Secretary (and a lady who had a good deal of work in helping to compose -the Queen's memoirs), performed on the piano.</p> - -<p>In every place of amusement in London, be it high or low, there is -a place set apart for the Queen's family, so that should she take a -notion to visit the most out of the way place, she may be certain of -being able to secure a secluded nook or loge where she will not be -intruded upon.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A GIN PUBLIC IN THE NEW CUT.</div> - -<p>In the vicinity of all the theatres of the lower grade in and about -London, I found nests of cheap public houses or drinking bars, and -toward nine or ten o'clock, while the performances are at the height of -dramatic agony, these resorts are crowded, with persons of both sexes, -who have slipped out of the amusement halls to get a pint of beer or -"tuppence" worth of "gin neat." Gin "neat" is gin without water or -sugar, and this drink is very popular among women of the lowest class -in London.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[Pg 500]</a></span></p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus82.jpg" alt="gin" /> <a id="illus82" name="illus82"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> A GIN PUBLIC IN THE NEW CUT.</p> - -<p>In Waterloo Road, close upon the Victoria theatre, I saw one of -these "gin publics," the doors of which were choked with customers -passing in and out from the adjoining theatre. There were negroes, -Malays and Chinamen, with an overflowing majority of Cockneys, in the -"public," all of whom were busily engaged in assuaging their thirst, -or firing up their stomach furnaces. Not a little puzzled was I, to -see women with small children in their arms, drinking alongside of -sooty coal-bargemen—negroes, and young children, who had been driven -by their miserable parents to beg coppers wherewith to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[Pg 501]</a></span> procure them -gin. It was a dreadful scene to witness, and the smiling fiend behind -the bar was positively fat and enjoying the haggardness in some of his -customers' faces.</p> - - - -<p>I had been told that there was a theatre on the Surrey side of the -river, in which, if I visited it, I might find all the unwashed -elements of the London democracy at home, and one evening I found -myself before its door, after a long journey.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">IN THE GALLERY OF THE "VIC."</div> - -<p>This was the "Royal Victoria Theatre," New Cut, Lambeth. The Bowery, in -its palmiest and most glorious days, could not hold a candle to this -histrionic temple. Its tragedies and dramas of the highway robber and -George Barnewell apprentice school are not, perhaps, to be equaled in -any theatre in the world. The Porte St. Martin, in Paris, is a mere -training-school of horror compared with this, the most bloodthirsty of -places of amusement. There were two entrances—one for the aristocracy -of Lambeth, the other for the underfed plough-holders, or, rather, -for the Costermongers. The aristocratic entrance had a dark, dirty -box-office, illumined by a pair of gas-jets that could hardly find air -to flutter in, so strong was the stench of men and filthy materialism.</p> - -<p>Over the door of the box-office was a sign, "Pit, 6d.; gallery, 3d.; -private stage boxes, 2s." The crowds pushed hard and fast to get an -entrance. They came in swarms of fustian and corduroys, with unkempt -hair, the bosoms of some of the costerwomen almost laid bare with -the shoving and crushing; the lads and men wearing heavy hob-nailed -shoes, such shoes as are never seen in America excepting on the feet -of emigrants, who stream through the gates of Castle Garden from the -waste of Atlantic waters—and these heavy hob-nailed shoes did wonders -in hurrying the progress of the front ranks, by repeated applications -to the calves and ankles of those who had the good or bad luck to stand -nearest the door of the theatre.</p> - -<p>After a severe struggle, in which some greasy corduroys are ripped and -several caps lost, and a number of babies squeezed—who are in the -arms of girls hardly old enough, one would think, to be their lawful -mothers—we get clear of the mob, shouting, screaming, and whistling, -and pass up the dirty, rickety<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[Pg 502]</a></span> stairs to the three-penny Gallery of -the "Vic," as the theatre is called by the class who frequent it; and -now a sight presents itself to the writer such as is seldom seen, and -never in any city but London.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus83.jpg" alt="vic" /> <a id="illus83" name="illus83"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE GALLERY OF THE "VIC."</p> - -<p>I lost my hat on the stairs, and in the crush I discovered it in the -hands of a mutinous boy, about a dozen steps below me, who threatened -if I did not give him a sixpence "to kick the brains hout hof hit." I -give the truly amusing boy sixpence and the hat is flung up to me much -the worse for wear, while a young girl with a dowdy bonnet and a face -swelled with gin asks me in chaff if I am fond of "periwinkles."</p> - -<p>The gallery of the Victoria is one of the largest in the world, and -will hold, on a modest computation, 2,200 people.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[Pg 503]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>Five minutes after I found myself in the gallery; it was crowded and -not a seat could be had, for these people gather at the theatre doors, -and fill the surrounding streets and lanes for an hour before the place -is advertised to be open.</p> - -<p>As I have no seat and look rather out of place, several cheerful young -ladies offer to let me sit in their laps, and facetious remarks are -made on the different articles of apparel which I have on me. Being -a very warm evening, nearly all of the males, men and boys, are in -their shirt-sleeves, and it grieves one to think that many of these -shirts are sadly in need of washing, and not a few want repairing. The -boys and men are hardly seated when they fall into something like the -Old Bowery tramp—only that here they all seem to be acquainted with -the same slang song, and it is sung by them in a loud, full, and not -unmelodious chorus, with a vehemence that shakes the old timbers of the -house.</p> - -<p>In the well-ordered pit of the Bowery theatre in other days, if I -remember right, such truly scandalous conduct would have instantly been -suppressed by the strong arm and heavy stinging cane of the brawny -fellow who stood with his back to the stage, immediately behind the -orchestra; his watchful eyes surveying every rugged face in the pit, -and ready with his powerful arm to rain blows like a storm on the -shoulders of the brawler.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE CHORUS OF "IMMENSEKOFF."</div> - -<p>I should like to see a man with a brawny arm and cane try the same -thing on the audience in the gallery of the "Vic." I am sure he -would be thrown over the rail into the lower part of the theatre, -particularly if he were to interrupt a chorus. Many of the men and -lads, who have their entire week's earnings in their pockets, are -very drunk already, though it is only half-past seven o'clock of the -Saturday night. The chorus which they are singing is that of a popular -street and music-hall song, which every one is now humming in London. -They sung it as follows:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Ha! my dear frens, pray 'ow de doo,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hi 'opes I sees yer well,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Peer'aps yer don't know 'oo I is;</span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[Pg 504]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Well, then, I'm the Heastern swell.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My chambers is in Shoreditch,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And I fancy I'm a Toff;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From top to toe I <i>really</i> think</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I looks—Immensekoff.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Immensekoff—Immensekoff,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Behold me a Shoreditch Toff—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">A toff, a toff, a Shoreditch Toff,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Hand I thinks myself—Immensekoff."</span><br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>"Come hup there, ye lazy fiddlers, and give us our thrip-pence worth," -shouts an irate lad to the orchestra, who are scraping and rosining -their instruments.</p> - -<p>"Yes, give us moosic for our money, old bald head," shouts another -young ruffian to the despised leader of the orchestra, who responds -with a wave, and then we have "God Save the Queen," done after the -style popular in the New Cut.</p> - -<p>When this is over a red-headed fellow, with his arms bare and -perspiring like the lower animal that he is, cries out loudly, "Now -for the next varse, and give us a good chorious," and then they all -commence again:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Vith the fair sec', bless 'em, need I say—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That hi am 'number Von;'</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hits <i>really</i> quite a bore to me</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The way the gals do run—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Not away from me—but hafter me.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hah—you may laugh and scoff,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But I can tell yer—that the gals</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Think me—Immensekoff.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Immensekoff—Immensekoff."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>And so on for five mortal verses the whole mad swarm of dirty, ignorant -wretches, keeping time with hands and feet until my head ached, and -I went down the narrow stairs, while a number of polite young ladies -inquired as I passed, "if I had been sea-sick." The descent to the -lower part of the theatre was about forty-feet, down a dimly lighted -stairs, and I found myself in the family circle, as it would be called -in America, the seats being of planed planks without cushions, while -the aisles were crowded with people, as above in the three-penny -gallery.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[Pg 505]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE "TERROR OF LONDON."</div> - -<p>Here the admission was, I think, a shilling, and the audience was a -little more select, yet not enough to cause remark from a stranger. -The doorkeeper told me he could get me a seat in a private box on the -stage for two shillings, and I followed him through another dirty, dark -passage, my feet crushing the shells of walnuts and filberts, which -here take the place of the old time peanuts.</p> - -<p>I was solicited to buy sandwiches of a very ancient aspect by several -men, and pigs' feet and sheep's trotters by a number of women, at a -penny and "tuppence" apiece; and a boy with a large flat basket offered -me a pint of periwinkles for "three ha'pence," "all fresh, sir;" and -finally I got into the box on the stage, which gave me a very good view -of the entire theatre and its sweltering audience. Pit, circle, and -"three-penny" gallery were packed with human heads, tier upon tier, in -a manner that seemed to defy description.</p> - -<p>The walls were rough, and in some places but poorly papered, and in -the corners of the upper gallery, flirtation, small-talk, and chaff -went on so audibly that I could hear almost what was spoken, or rather -cried out from the gallery, although I was at the other extremity of -the building. Great anxiety was manifested to have the curtain hoisted -by the unruly audience, and not a little shouting was done to make the -fiddlers hurry up their overture.</p> - -<p>The piece was called the "Terror of London," and it depicted the life -of an apprentice who had departed from the ways of honesty to take up -with bad companions in pot-houses, and was in four acts. The apprentice -was of course the hero of the drama, and the author of the piece -played the character of the abused apprentice. Whenever the apprentice -kicked a policeman or threw one of his pursuers down a dark trap-door, -there was great applause of his dexterity; but when the villain of the -piece, a snaky-looking wretch, unworthy to breathe the "a-i-r-r-r of -heving," slapped his hands after the commission of a fresh crime, he -was received with derisive shouts and yells, which he, however, took as -compliments to his histrionic skill.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[Pg 506]</a></span></p> - -<p>The heroine of the piece was in love with the unfortunate and -dissipated apprentice, and did nothing but clasp her hands and tear her -hair at his "goings on." But at last she was roused to fury when the -villain of the play followed the dishonest apprentice to his mother's -grave to give him up to the police. The apprentice was discovered lying -across a painted marble tombstone, and when the police entered, led on -by the heavy villain, the heroine threw her body between him and his -enemies, and drawing her form to its full height, she declaimed thus:</p> - -<p>"The fust m-a-n who places his polyuted touch on the form of my nobil -up-e-r-en-tis, though he were doubly armed with the king's authority, -shall find his fate on the point of this pon-yard."</p> - - - -<p>After this necessary outburst several more people were killed, and the -whole concluded with the dying scene at Tyburn, the gallows, and the -culprit, the bowl of ale, and the apprentice asking his friends if they -would not prevent him from dying a disgraceful death. Here he makes an -attempt to escape, and is pistoled admirably by the villain, who is -convenient, and who is in turn pistoled by the apprentice's sweetheart, -she being also ready at the proper moment for action. Then the curtain -went down, and a stout girl, with fat legs and a green pair of tights, -danced a hornpipe, which was loudly encored, the young lady being -encouraged by such remarks as:</p> - -<p>"Do you want some kidney pies?"</p> - -<p>"Kick up, Miss Jenny."</p> - -<p>"Don't mind the shoes; we pays for that."</p> - -<p>"Tell the fiddlers to give it to yer 'otter—vy, yer not dancing at -all!"</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"DO YOU WANT SOME KIDNEY PIES?"</div> - -<p>Every one in the theatre seemed to be on speaking terms with each -and all of the performers, and, in some instances, the latter would -answer the chaff back merrily, an incessant fire of replies and -counter-replies being kept up that was amusing, if not edifying. While -the dancing was going on an old woman made her entrance into the box -where I was sitting, and asked if "I didn't want some porter or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[Pg 507]</a></span> kidney -pies." At the "Vic" it is the custom to eat during the performance, and -drink porter or beer, which is brought by old women and boys between -the acts, and sold at four-pence a bottle. Then the dancing girl -retired gracefully amid great applause. She was succeeded by a comic -singer, who sang, in a green coat and kerseys, a song, the burden of -which was:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;" > -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Wait for the turn of the tide, boys,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For Rome wasn't built in a day:</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Whatever through life may betide, boys,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Why, wait for the turn of the tide."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>This concluded the performance, and the curtain went down, and the -lights in the dirty lamps being extinguished, the roughest audience of -the roughest play-house in London wandered right and left, up and down -the New Cut to their homes, or else they stopped to drink and drain in -the pot-houses, or choke the thoroughfare to buy in the street market, -which was now—eleven o'clock—at the height of commercial prosperity. -Eleven o'clock tolled from St. Paul's as I repassed Waterloo Bridge -back to the city, and the Thames swam and bubbled calmly against the -stone piers of the massive bridge.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail34.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail34" name="tail34"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[Pg 508]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap35.jpg" alt="W" /> <a id="icap35" name="icap35"></a></span>HEN a foot passenger crossing London Bridge looks down the river to -the left, he cannot help noticing a little cluster of masts tapering -upward from a series of small hulks and craft which lie quite near to -each other, in the shadow of a long building of part brick and stone, -the river side of which is open and crowded with people of both sexes -from an early hour of the morning.</p> - -<p>This is the famous Billingsgate Fish Market, which has given or -originated a synonym for blackguardism and low abuse all the world over.</p> - -<p>The market for many years consisted of a collection of wooden pent -houses, rude sheds, and benches, and the business formerly commenced -at three o'clock in the summer and at five in winter. In the latter -season it was a strange scene, its large, flaming lamps of oil, showing -a crowd of fish venders and fish buyers struggling amid a Babel din of -vulgar tongues, which has rendered Billingsgate a by-word for abuse -and foul-mouthed language. Addison has referred to the Billingsgate -fish-wives and to their quarrels as "the debates which frequently arise -among ladies of the British fishery."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">PROFIT ON FISH.</div> - -<p>The old style Billingsgate fish-woman wore a strong, stiff gown tucked -up, with a large quilted petticoat; her hair, cap and bonnet flattened -into a mass from carrying fish baskets upon her head; her coarse -cracked voice, her bloated face and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[Pg 509]</a></span> her large brawny limbs completing -the picture of the old Billingsgate "fish fag."</p> - -<p>This virago has disappeared and a new market building was erected in -1849. A stone river-wall was constructed where an old mud bank formerly -existed and the surface was filled in and levelled to equalize the -grade in Thames street on which the market has its frontage. Within, -the ground was excavated and formed into a lower market, which has -two subterranean openings on the river, for the sale of shell-fish, -oysters, muscles, prawns, periwinkles, and whelks. These shell-fish are -kept in large half puncheons bound with iron hoops. The market has a -superficial area of 2,700 feet, but the drainage in the lower market -is very bad as it is below the level of the river. The upper market is -open to the public through two large arched apertures, 400 feet wide, -and below it is bounded by eighteen dark arches which are used by the -salesmen as depositories for their goods. These arches are entirely -without ventilation and even the market itself, thronged as it is for -twelve hours of the day, receives no air but that which comes in a -chance way from the already vitiated atmosphere of the neighborhood. -The market is covered on the side next to London Bridge by a roof of -rough glass. The light iron columns which serve to support the roof, -also serve to divide the market into a series of narrow gangways, and -within these gangways the dealers take their stand to vend and auction -the fish every morning, book and pencil in hand, and their aprons -hanging from their chests to their knees. There is a clock tower on -the building and a bell which is rung at five o'clock every morning to -announce the opening of the market, and then is witnessed a general -rush like the retreat of an army. The railways alone carry to this -market annually, 15,000 tons of fish, besides the amount which is -brought by water.</p> - -<p>Five hundred years ago this market produced a rental of forty-six -pounds per annum; to-day there is a firm which has a small stall whose -profits on fish amount to £10,000 a year, and the good-will of one -fish merchant in the market, I believe, was purchased last year for -the large sum of £30,000. About<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[Pg 510]</a></span> the same time that the market rental -was forty-six pounds a year, the best soles sold for three pence per -dozen, the best turbot for six pence each, the best mackerel one penny -each, the best pickled herrings one penny the score; fresh oysters -two pennies a gallon, and the best eels two pennies per quarter of a -hundred. William Wallace, the Scottish hero, was then a prisoner in the -Tower, and Bannockburn had not been won by Bruce, and the ink on the -Magna Charta was hardly dry.</p> - -<p>In 1548, although the king of England was a Protestant, and the -government a Protestant one, yet an act was passed which imposed a -penalty on those who ate flesh on fish days. This was to protect the -trade in the fisheries, however, and not to interfere with the private -religious opinions of the people. The consumption of fish in the -household of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in the year 1314, was 6,800 -stock fish, consisting of ling, haberdine, &c., besides six barrels of -sturgeon, the whole valued at £60 of the money of that period.</p> - -<p>It is four o'clock of a summer morning at Billingsgate market and all -London is as yet solitary, and the streets are unpeopled by traffic -or pedestrians. The sight from London Bridge is magnificent on such a -morning. In the words of the poet who looked upon this same scene:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"This city now doth like a garment wear</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Open unto the fields and to the sky</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Never did sun more beautifully steep</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In his first splendor valley, rock, or hill;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The river glideth at its own sweet will;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dear God! The very houses seem asleep,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And all that mighty heart is still."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Riot, profligacy, want and misery have retired, and labor has scarcely -risen. As we approach Billingsgate, the profound silence of the dawn is -now and then broken by the wheels of the fishmonger's light cart, which -is proceeding to the market.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus84.jpg" alt="market" /> <a id="illus84" name="illus84"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> AN AUCTION AT BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET.</p> - -<p>The whole area of the market, brilliantly lighted with stream<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[Pg 513]</a></span>ing -flames of gas, comes into view. One might fancy that the stalls were -dressed for a feast. The tables of the salesmen, which are arranged -from one side of the covered area to the other, afford ample space -for clustering throngs of buyers around each. The stalls appear to -form one table, but the portion assigned to each is nine feet by six. -Each salesman sits with his back to another, and between them is a -wooden shelf, so that they are apparently enclosed in a recess, but -by this arrangement they escape having their pockets picked, a common -occurrence where there is a large crowd. There are about 200 fish -salesmen in London and half of that number have stalls in this market -for which a pretty good rent is paid.</p> - -<p>Proceeding to the bottom of the market, we perceive the masts of the -fishing boats rising out of the fog which envelopes the river. The -boats lie considerably below the level of the market, and the descent -is by several ladders to a floating wharf, which rises and falls with -the tide, and is therefore always on the same level with the boats. -About fifty of these craft are moored alongside of each other.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE OYSTER BOATS.</div> - -<p>The oyster boats are crowded together by themselves. The buyer goes on -board the oyster boat, as oysters are not sold in the ordinary, morning -market. The fishermen and porters are busily engaged in arranging their -cargoes for quick delivery as soon as the market begins. Two or three -minutes before five the salesmen take their seats in the enclosed -recesses, watching each other eagerly. The porters with their dirty -canvass aprons and their huge scooped hats stand ready with their -baskets on their heads, but not one of them is allowed, however, to -have the advantage of his fellows by an unfair start, or to overstep -a line marked out by the clerk of the market. The instant the clock -strikes the melee commences and then woe to the bystander who blocks up -the way—he is knocked down and trampled on, and fish of all sizes are -spilled over his prostrate body, while his eyes, hands, limbs and other -members, are blessed with great fervor by the porters.</p> - -<p>Each porter now rushes at his utmost speed to the respective salesman -to whom his basket is consigned. The largest cod<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[Pg 514]</a></span>fish are brought in -baskets which contain four; those somewhat smaller are brought in -boxes; and smaller sizes in dozens, and still larger numbers, but -always in baskets. All fish are sold by the "tail," or by number -excepting salmon, which are sold by weight, and oysters and shell-fish -by measure. The baskets are instantly emptied on the tables, and the -porters hasten for a fresh supply. It is the fisherman's interest to -bring his whole cargo into the market as soon as possible, for if the -quantity brought to market be large, prices will fall the more quickly, -and if they are high, buyers purchase less freely, and he may miss the -sale. As, for example, a boat load of mackerel from Brighton sold at -Billingsgate for forty guineas per hundred, or seven shillings each, -an extraordinary price—while the next boat load produced but thirteen -guineas per hundred.</p> - -<p>The majority of the fishing vessels are sloops and schooners under -fifty tons each, and of this number the greater part belong to ports on -the coast as follows:</p> - -<table summary="boats" width="40%"> -<tr> -<td>Yarmouth -</td> -<td align="right">630 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Faversham -</td> -<td align="right">416 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Brighton -</td> -<td align="right">60 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Dartmouth -</td> -<td align="right">357 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Southampton -</td> -<td align="right">193 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Maldon -</td> -<td align="right">218 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Rochester -</td> -<td align="right">363 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Colchester -</td> -<td align="right">318 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Dover -</td> -<td align="right">180 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Rye -</td> -<td align="right">80 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Ramsgate -</td> -<td align="right">170 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - - -<p>Salmon is conveyed by rail in large boxes, covered with pounded ice, -which preserves them fresh for six days, and sometimes in the summer -months as many as 3,000 boxes of salmon are received at Billingsgate -in a day. The salmon are sent to agents to be sold on commission at -a profit of five to ten per cent., the agent taking the risk of bad -debts, and the price varies from fivepence to a shilling a pound, -according to the supply in market.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BREAKFAST AT BILLINGSGATE.</div> - -<p>The best time to see Billingsgate is of a Friday morning be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_515" id="Page_515">[Pg 515]</a></span>tween six -and seven o'clock. The regular fish merchants come first and are served -first, and then their places are taken by the Costermongers, or street -pedlars, who buy the refuse, or what is left. Lower Thames street, -above and below London Bridge, is sure to be crammed full of fish carts -and fish porters running hither and thither with baskets of fish upon -their shoulders, and it is noticeable that the lower part of every -building is open and the spaces filled with fish of all kinds, chiefly -smoked and preserved fish, which are exposed in large baskets and boxes -for sale. The proprietors of these places, some of whom do business in -salted and smoked fish with every part of the civilized globe, stand -at the doors of their wholesale shops with large aprons upon them, -although their bank accounts may amount to scores of thousands of -pounds.</p> - -<p>Up Fish street as far as the monument are long lines of carts waiting -for fish, drawn by asses and horses, and around the monument may be -seen a perfect circle of carts guarded by ragged boys, some of whom -contract to take care of a dozen carts at a time for a penny a cart, -while the Costers are purchasing the fish.</p> - -<p>Formerly the consumption of spirits here among the buyers of fish was -very great, but now at a very early hour in the morning a hot cup of -coffee with a slice of bread and butter can be procured at any of the -numerous coffee stalls for twopence-halfpenny.</p> - -<p>The men and women are shouting and hallooing at each other as if they -were mad. Old gentlemen who have a good appetite and come here to make -a market for their families, are very often seen to enter the tavern -called the "Three Tuns," which is in the market enclosure, and at which -a fish dinner or fish breakfast of three dishes can be procured for -eighteen pence. It is very puzzling at first to understand the cries, -which come hard and fast from the mouths of salesmen and hucksters, -costers and pedlars of newspapers, frequenters of coffee stands, and -other trades people.</p> - -<p>"Now, you mussel buyers," shouts one, "come along—come along—now's -your time for fine, fat, greasy, mussels."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_516" id="Page_516">[Pg 516]</a></span></p> - -<p>"All alive! al-ive oh—alive oh! Han-some cod! best in the market. All -alive oh!"</p> - -<p>"Y-e-o—y-e-o! Y-e-o—here's your fine Yarmouth Bloaters! Who's the -buyer?"</p> - -<p>"Here you are, guv'-ner; splendid whiting! some of the right sort."</p> - -<p>"M-o-rning <i>T-e-l-e-graph</i>, one penny. <i>Standard</i> and <i>Times</i>."</p> - -<p>"Turbot! all alive—turbot."</p> - -<p>"Glass o' nice peppermint! this cold morning—ha'penny a glass!"</p> - -<p>"Here you are at yer hown price! Fine soles, Oh!"</p> - -<p>"W-oy, w-o-y! Now's your time—preguzzling sprouts—all large and no -small 'uns."</p> - -<p>"H-u-l-l-o, h-u-l-l-o, here, I say—bewteeful lobsters—good and -cheap—fine cock crabs, all alive, hoh."</p> - -<p>"Never mind 'im, guvner; he'll cheat yer; look at this 'ere -turbot—have that lot for a pound—come and see—now don't go away, -guvner—the're preshis cheap, and filling at the price."</p> - -<p>"Had-had-had-had-haddick—all fresh and good."</p> - -<p>"Here, this way—this way for splendid Skate—Skate O—Skate O."</p> - -<p>"Currant and meat puddin's, a penny each and werry 'ot." "Here's food -for the belly and clothes for the back, but I sell food for the mind" -(shouts the newspaper vender). "Here's smelt O!" "Here ye are, fine -Finney haddick!" "Hot soup! nice pea soup! a-all hot! hot! Ahoy! ahoy -here! live plaice! all alive O! Now or never! whelk! whelk! whelk! -whelk! Who'll buy brill O! brill O! Capes! waterproof capes! sure to -keep the wet out! a shilling a piece! Eels O! eels O! Alive! alive -O!" "Fine flounders, a shilling a lot! Who'll buy this prime lot of -flounders? Shrimps! shrimps! fine shrimps! Wink! wink! wink! Hi! hi-i! -here you are, just eight eels left, only eight! O ho! O ho! this -way—this way—this way! Fish alive! alive! alive O!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_517" id="Page_517">[Pg 517]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE CAPITAL INVESTED.</div> - -<p>"Fresh do you call these?" says one who finds the price of a lot of -sprats too high for him. "Look a-how they rolls hup the vites of their -heyes, as hif they vanted a little rain. I should say they hadn't a -blessed smell of water for a week past."</p> - -<p>"Think I've been a robbin' of somebody?" says another. "Vy, bless you, -all the whole bilin' of my customers hasn't got so much among 'em as -would buy the lot—no, not if they sold their veskits."</p> - -<p>As many as two thousand persons breakfast at the coffee houses in the -neighborhood of Billingsgate every morning, all of whom are engaged in -the fish business.</p> - -<p>The following estimate has been made of the gross amount of fish of -different kinds, sold at Billingsgate market in the course of the year:</p> - -<table summary="fish" width="40%"> -<tr> -<td>Salmon -</td> -<td align="right">750,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Live Codfish -</td> -<td align="right">600,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Haddock -</td> -<td align="right">3,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Flounders -</td> -<td align="right">420,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Eels -</td> -<td align="right">12,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Yarmouth Bloater -</td> -<td align="right">200,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Red Herrings -</td> -<td align="right">75,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Sprats -</td> -<td align="right">1,200,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Crabs -</td> -<td align="right">1,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Oysters -</td> -<td align="right">500,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Periwinkles -</td> -<td align="right">400,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Whiting -</td> -<td align="right">60,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Mackerel -</td> -<td align="right">30,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Shrimps -</td> -<td align="right">600,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Soles -</td> -<td align="right">120,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Lobsters -</td> -<td align="right">2,500,000 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>The capital embarked in this trade is something enormous to think of. -Salmon when scarce, have sold for twenty shillings a pound. The market -is the property of the Municipality of London associated with the -Company of Fishmongers, one of the most powerful and wealthy corporate -societies in London. Fifty per cent. of the gross amount of fish -received at Billingsgate market is purchased by the Costermongers and -sold from carts in the streets, at a small profit to the pedlars.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_518" id="Page_518">[Pg 518]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE INNS OF COURT.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap36.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap36" name="icap36"></a></span>HEREe are four Inns of Court in London and thirteen Inns of Chancery. -The Inns of Court are the Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Lincoln's Inn, -and Gray's Inn. The Inns of Chancery are Barnard's Inn, Holborn; -Clement's Inn, Strand; Clifford's Inn, Fleet street; Furnival's Inn, -between Brook street and Leather lane; Lyon's Inn, Strand; New Inn, -Wych street; Sergeant's Inn, Chancery lane; Staple Inn, Holborn; -Sergeant's Inn, Fleet street; Symond's Inn, Chancery Inn, and Thavie's -Inn, 56 and 57 Holborn Hill.</p> - -<p>These Inns of Court and Chancery are large boarding-houses or hotels; -and in the middle ages, they were called "inns" or "hostels," where -students in law and Chancery were taught the legal science and ate -their meals while living as students at a common table as in college. -This is called "dining in hall," and certain rules and regulations are -prescribed so that the aspiring student may not expect to have the -license of the American boarding-house, being in fact in a state of -pupilage as was intended by the founders of the splendid (for I cannot -use any other term) Inns of Court.</p> - -<p>In the old days of the York and Lancaster factions, the Sergeants and -"apprentices at law," as the students were called, each had their -pillars in Old St. Paul's, and at the foot of the pillar the student, -half kneeling, heard his client's case and jotted down the points on -his tablet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_519" id="Page_519">[Pg 519]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">GRAY'S INN GARDENS.</div> - -<p>The four Inns of Court were frequented by sons of wealthy commoners and -the nobility, while the Inns of Chancery had for pupils and boarders, -the sons of merchants and tradesmen, who had not the means of paying -the expenses of the Inns of Court which amounted to twenty marks, -annually, a large sum in those days.</p> - -<p>About 8,000 students attend the Inns of Court and Chancery in London, -and it is a very strange sight to see the dark chambers in some of -these ancient Inns with their old fashioned, mediæval architecture, -parapets, gate-ways, unillumined windows, courts, and passages, amidst -one of the very busiest spots in London.</p> - -<p>Go inside of one of these courts and you shall no longer hear the -sullen roar of the city, or the clatter of the omnibusses, nor the -incessant and deafening din of hawkers and street pedlars. A monastic -silence reigns, and in the grass-grown square of Lincoln's Inn, all -is silent as the grave, and in the dim passages of Clifford's and -Clement's Inns, it is very difficult to believe that the densely-packed -Strand and thronged Fleet street are so near.</p> - -<p>During Elizabeth's reign, alms were distributed twice a week at the -gate of Gray's Inn, and James I. signified that none but gentlemen of -descent and blood should be admitted to matriculate. The "Reader," a -lazy official of Gray's had a liberal allowance of wine and venison -for which sixpence and eightpence were paid per mess, and eggs and -green sauce were breakfast dishes on Lenten day. Beer was then only -six shillings a barrel. Caps were worn at supper by order, and hats -and boots and spurs, and standing with the back to the fire in the -hall were forbidden the students under penalty. Dice and cards were -only allowed at Christmas. Two students slept in a bed and Coke and -Littleton are said to have been at one time bed-fellows.</p> - -<p>Gray's Inn Gardens was one of the most pleasant places in London in -the old days long agone, and during the reign of Charles I., it was -frequented as a place of assignation. The principal entrance to Gray's -Inn is from Holborn by a gate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_520" id="Page_520">[Pg 520]</a></span>way, a fine specimen of brick-work of -1542. The hall of Lincoln's Inn has an open oak roof, divided into -seven bays by gothic arched ribs, the spandrils and pendants richly -carved; in the centre is an open louvre, which is pinnacled externally. -The interior is richly wainscoted, decorated with Tuscan columns, and -the windows are of stained glass, gorgeously emblazoned. The library 80 -feet long, 40 feet wide, and 44 feet high has an open oak roof, with -separate apartments for study, and iron balconies running around the -book-cases. There are in this apartment five stained glass windows, and -a collection of valuable law books and MSS. to the number of 25,000.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus85.jpg" alt="inn" /> <a id="illus85" name="illus85"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> LINCOLN'S INN.</p> - -<p>On either side of the dais of the dining hall beneath the lofty oriel -window in Lincoln's Inn, is a sideboard for the upper or "benchers" -table who are the high authorities of the place; the other tables are -arranged in graduation, two cross<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_521" id="Page_521">[Pg 521]</a></span>wise and five along the hall for -the barristers and students who dine here every day during term; the -average number is 200; and of those who dine on one day or another -during the term "keeping commons," there are about 500 students.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LINCOLN'S INN.</div> - -<p>The new hall of Lincoln's Inn, just completed and equal to anything in -England, is situated on the site of the old hall, between Middle Temple -Cloister and Crown Office-row. It is of the Perpendicular Gothic style, -faced externally with Portland stone and internally with Bath. The -building projects towards the gardens 14 feet more than the old hall, -which measured 70 feet by 29 feet; the new hall being 93 feet by 41 -feet. Its floor above the pavement-level, and the basement is occupied -by the various offices required for the officials. In rebuilding -their hall, the "Benchers" have availed themselves of the opportunity -to extend and improve the domestic offices; to provide commodious -robing-rooms, and lavatories for the use of members and of students and -to obtain better clerks' offices.</p> - -<p>New offices have also been built for the treasurer, and the Parliament -Chamber has been increased in size. The interior of the hall is -panelled, to the height of nine feet, with a very handsome wainscot -dado; the panels with cinquefoil cusp heads, surmounted by an embattled -cornice—a magnificent specimen of joiner's work. The Parliament -Chamber, attached to the hall eastward, has been considerably altered -and improved—this is what may be called the drawing-room attached -to the hall, where the "Benchers" retire for dessert. The kitchen -is attached at the west end, and fitted up with the latest modern -appliances. The hall is to be heated with hot water and lighted with -sun-burners, and very handsome ornamental gas-brackets have also been -introduced on the side walls.</p> - -<p>Lincoln's Inn occupied the site of the Convent of Blackfriars, which -was built by Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. Among the famous students of the -Middle Temple, were Edmund Burke, Bulstrode Whitelocke, Wycherley and -Congreve, Sir William Blackstone, Lord Chancellors Eldon and Stowell, -Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and Oliver Goldsmith.</p> - -<p>The number of students in the reign of Henry VI. were:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_522" id="Page_522">[Pg 522]</a></span> Four Inns of -Court, each 200—800; ten Inns of Chancery, each 100—1000; total 1800. -To-day there are in the four Inns of Court alone, 4500 students.</p> - -<p>In Gray's Inn lived Dr. Rawlinson, "Tom Folio" of the "Tatler," who -stuffed four chambers so full of books that he was compelled to sleep -in the passage.</p> - -<p>How to become a lawyer is the only science studied in the Inns of -Court, and the manner of doing it is as I shall describe. The four -Inns of Court, viz.: the Middle and Inner Temples, Lincoln's Inn, and -Gray's Inn, have exclusively the power of conferring the degree of -Barrister-at-Law, requsite for practising as an advocate or counsel in -the superior courts. Lincoln's Inn is generally preferred by students -who contemplate the Equity Bar; it being the locality of Equity Counsel -and Conveyancers, and of Equity Courts or Courts of Chancery. If the -student design to practise the common law, either immediately as an -advocate at Westminster, the assizes, and sessions, or as a special -pleader (a learned person who, having kept his terms, is allowed to -draw legal forms and pleadings, though not actually at the bar), his -choice lies usually between the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, and -Gray's Inn, though he may adopt Lincoln's Inn. The Inner Temple, from -its formerly insisting on a classical examination before admission, -became more exclusive than the Middle Temple or Gray's Inn. Gray's Inn -is numerously attended by Irish students, and has produced some of the -greatest luminaries at the Irish Bar, including Daniel O'Connell.</p> - -<p>To procure admission to either of these Inns, the student must obtain -the certificate of two barristers, coupled in the Middle Temple with -that of a Bencher, to the effect that the applicant is a fit person to -be received into the Inn, for the purpose of being called to the Bar. -Once admitted, the student has the use of the library, and is entitled -to a seat in the church or chapel of the Inn, and to have his name set -down for chambers.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"DINNER IN HALL"</div> - -<p>He is then required to keep "commons," by dining in the hall for -twelve terms (four terms occur each year), on commenc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_523" id="Page_523">[Pg 523]</a></span>ing which, he -must deposit with the treasurer £100, to be retained with interest -until he is "called"; but members of the Universities are exempt from -this deposit. The student must also sign a bond with sureties for the -payment of his commons and term-fees. In all the Inns no person can be -called unless he is above twenty-one years of age and of three years' -standing as a student. The "call" is made by the Benchers in council; -after which the student becomes a barrister, and takes the usual oath -at Westminster. In certain Inns, however, the student must, before his -call, attend certain lectures, which are a revival of the old readings, -without their festivities.</p> - -<p>To witness one of the "Hall Dinners" is enough to bring back the days -of chivalry to one's mind. There is the lofty, grand Gothic roof, the -long tables, the grace before meat, which is offered by the "Reader," -the magnificent windows of stained glass, which project a thousand -varied hues on the faces of the students, and the grave features of the -Benchers who sit aloft on the dais.</p> - -<p>At five or half-past five o'clock, the barristers, students and other -members, in their gowns, having assembled in the hall, the Benchers -enter in procession to the dais; the steward strikes the table three -times, grace is said by the treasurer or senior Bencher present, and -the dinner commences; the Benchers observe somewhat more style at -their table than the other members do at theirs; the general repast -is a tureen of soup, a joint of meat, a tart, and cheese, to each -mess consisting of four persons; each mess is also allowed a bottle -of port-wine. The dinner over, the Benchers, after grace, retire to -their own apartments. At the Inner Temple, on May 29, a gold cup of -"sack" is handed to each member, who drinks to the happy restoration of -Charles II. At Gray's Inn a similar custom prevails, but the toast is -the memory of Queen Elizabeth. The Inner Temple Hall waiters are called -"panniers," from "pan-arii" who attended the Knights Templars. At both -Temples the form of the dinner resembles the repasts of the military -monks; the Benchers on the dais representing the "knights;" the -barristers the "freres," or brethren; and the students, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_524" id="Page_524">[Pg 524]</a></span> "novices." -The Middle Temple still bears the arms of the Knights Templars, viz., -the figure of the Holy Lamb.</p> - -<p>The entrance expenses at the Inner Temple (the average of the costs at -other Inns), are £40 11s. 5d., of which £25 1s. 3d. is for the stamp; -on call, £82 12s., of which £52 2s. 6d. is for the stamp; total, £123 -3s. The commons bill is about £12 annually.</p> - -<p>Of Clement's Inn in the Strand which is just the same Clement's Inn as -it was when Shakspeare lived, that poet speaks as follows in the second -part of Henry IV.:</p> - -<p><i>Shallow.</i> I was once of Clement's Inn, where, I think, they will talk -of mad Shallow yet.</p> - -<p><i>Silence.</i> You were called lusty Shallow, then, cousin.</p> - -<p><i>Shallow.</i> By the mass, I was called any thing; and I would have done -any thing indeed, and roundly too. There was I, and little John Doit of -Staffordshire, and Black George Barnes of Staffordshire, and Francis -Pickbone, and Will Squele, a Cotswold man; you had not four such -swinge-bucklers in all the Inns of Court again.</p> - -<p>Then Shallow tells of Sir John Falstaff breaking "Skogan's head at the -court-gate when he was a crack not thus high; and the very same day did -I fight with one Sampson Stockfish, a fruiterer, behind Gray's Inn."</p> - -<p><i>Shallow.</i> Oh, Sir John, do you remember since we lay all night in the -Windmill in St. George's Fields?</p> - -<p><i>Falstaff.</i> We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow.</p> - -<p><i>Shallow.</i> I remember at Mile-End Green (when I lay at Clement's Inn), -I was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur's Show.</p> - -<p>Then Falstaff says of Shallow: "I do remember him at Clement's Inn, -like a man made after supper of a cheese-paring."</p> - -<p>Before a student can enter an Inn of Court and eat his first dinner, -he must deposit £100 as security that he will pay for the rest of his -dinners. No student is allowed to keep a "term" unless he has been -three days in "hall" when grace is said at dinner.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_525" id="Page_525">[Pg 525]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">IRISH STUDENTS.</div> - -<p>No person in trade or in deacon's orders, or one who has been a -conveyancer's clerk, can be admitted at all, so strict are the rules. -No gentleman can be called to the bar by any of these Inns which are -corporate and chartered bodies, before having been a member or student -of his Inn for five years, unless that he is a Bachelor of Laws, or a -Master of Arts of the Universities of Oxford, Dublin, or Cambridge, -when three years is the period required. No one can be called to the -bar until his name and description have been put up on the screen in -the hall of the Inn to which he belongs for a fortnight previous to his -call, and communicated to all the other societies.</p> - -<p>Irish students must keep eight terms in one of the English Inns, as -well as nine in the King's Inns, Dublin, before they can be called to -the Irish bar.</p> - -<p>Irish students may keep terms in London and Dublin alternately, or in -any other order they may think proper. Gray's Inn is the favorite Inn -of Irish students, for the reason that discipline is not so strict -as in the Inner or Middle Temple, or Lincoln's Inn, and, besides, no -charge is made for "absent commons," or being away from the dinners, -while in the other Inns the student is charged for his meals in any -case.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail36.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail36" name="tail36"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_526" id="Page_526">[Pg 526]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE BANK OF ENGLAND AND THE MINT.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap37.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap37" name="icap37"></a></span>HE Bank of England is the greatest moneyed institution in the world. -It is situated in the very heart of the City of London, opposite the -Royal Exchange and the Mansion House, and is composed of an insulated -mass of stone buildings and courts covering four acres of ground, -bounded by Princes's street, west; Lothbury, north; Bartholomew Lane, -east; and Threadneedle street, south. Its exterior measurements are 365 -feet south, 410 feet north, 245 feet east, and 440 feet west.</p> - -<p>Within this area are nine open courts, a magnificent Rotunda, numerous -public offices, court and committee rooms, an armory, engraving and -printing offices, a library, apartments for officers' servants, -beadles, detectives, porters, and messengers.</p> - -<p>During the No-Popery riots of 1780, the Bank was attacked by the -mob, when Wilkes rushed out of the building and seized some of -the ringleaders. The Bank was defended by the regulars, the City -Volunteers, and the Clerks of the establishment, who melted their -leaden inkstands into bullets. For ninety years since that terrible -night, the bank has been guarded by a company of foot soldiers, -detailed in regular rotation from the Horse Guards, under command of -one officer, for whom a sumptuous table is set every night, with the -privilege of inviting two friends, while servants are provided for him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_527" id="Page_527">[Pg 527]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE BANK ESTABLISHED.</div> - -<p>In the political tumult of November, 1830, provisions were made at the -Bank for a state of siege, and when the Chartists made their great -demonstrations in 1848, the roof of the Bank was fortified by a company -of sappers and miners, cannon were planted, and a strong garrison held -every court and passage in the interior.</p> - -<p>The number of clerks and porters and other employees who are retained -by the Bank, is one thousand or more, and their salaries amount to half -a million of pounds, or two and a half millions of dollars annually.</p> - -<p>In 1808 an arrangement was made by the English Government with the -Bank, by which the latter undertook the management of the English -national Debt, at a rate of £340 for each million of the debt up to 600 -millions of pounds, and £300 for every additional million.</p> - -<p>The Bank of England was established (1694) chiefly by Mr. William -Paterson, the projector of the Scotch Colony of Darien, who commenced -by founding a National Bank, 1691. To carry on the war with France -(1694) Government required a loan of £1,200,000, and imposed new taxes, -expected to yield a million and a half. The subscribers to the loan -were incorporated under the title of the Governor and Company of the -Bank of England, and empowered to buy land, to deal in gold and silver, -and in bills of exchange. The interest on the loan was 8 per cent., -besides which Government agreed to pay £4,000 a year for the cost of -management, or £100,000 in all.</p> - -<p>In the vicinity of the Bank of England there is a dense traffic, and -it is necessary that suitable provender should be found for the large -number of bankers and bankers' clerks, who, living in cosy little -villas at Brompton, Paddington, and Maida Hill, and are compelled to -eat their warm lunches in the city during business hours.</p> - -<p>The Poultry, Bucklersbury, King William, Prince and Leadenhall streets, -are lined with these comfortable, pleasant looking eating-houses and -dining-rooms, where the moneyed men and their smart looking clerks sit -back in easy little boxes, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528">[Pg 528]</a></span> turtle soup, salad, and juicy rump -steaks before them, and long necked wine bottles in ice coolers between -their feet, chatting about stocks and Change and Turkish Loans.</p> - -<p>In the parlor lobby of the Bank is a portrait of Mr. David Race, who -was in the service of the institution over fifty years, during which -time he amassed a fortune of £200,000.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus86.jpg" alt="house" /> <a id="illus86" name="illus86"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> BANKERS' EATING HOUSE.</p> - -<p>The Bullion Office, on the western side of the Bank, consists of a -public chamber and two vaults—one for the open deposit of bullion free -of charge, unless weighed, the other for the private stock of the Bank.</p> - -<p>Here are employed a Principal, Deputy Principal, Clerk, Assistant -Clerk, and porters.</p> - -<p>The gold is kept in solid bars, each bar weighing 16 pounds and valued -at £800, or $4,000, and the silver in pigs and bars, while the dollars -are kept in bags.</p> - -<p>The value of the gold in the vaults of the Bank in 1869 was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_529" id="Page_529">[Pg 529]</a></span> about -twenty millions of pounds, or one hundred millions of dollars.</p> - -<p>One day I received an order which was sent me by a friend, giving -me full authority to visit the Bank of England. I had not a little -curiosity to satisfy, and accordingly I arrived at the Bank as early as -eleven o'clock in the day.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">LEDGERS AND MONEY-BAGS.</div> - -<p>Passing through the central entrance, which is opposite the Mansion -House, I found myself in a spacious court well flagged, and here were -two boxes in which sat a brace of Old Jewry detectives, who are on duty -in this spot from one end of the year to the other. These men receive -gratuities from the Bank beside their regular pay. There were also in -the yard two big fat beadles in red coats and leggings, their garments -being covered with tinsel. These fat, logy looking fellows are the -footmen of the Bank, who are employed to watch for suspicious strangers -and to guide any visitors who may come.</p> - -<p>While an attendant was reading the order which I handed him, I could -hear the musical jingle of sovereigns and silver coins, being rattled -up and down in the interior of the building.</p> - -<p>I was taken by the guide into a large vaulted room with a cupola, in -which were a perfect army of clerks, some young and brisk, others old, -gray, and ponderous, ranged in long rows behind the desks, making up -accounts, weighing gold and paying it over the counters, or writing in -huge ledgers.</p> - -<p>Outside the circular railings, which run all around this very large -room, were stationed a vast crowd of depositors, men and women, or -persons drawing money in gold or silver. Continually from the throats -of the clerks arose the words:</p> - -<p>"How will you have it. Gold or silver? Sovereigns or halves?"</p> - -<p>Here is a lady who has traveled very far, perhaps, for her dividends. -She has taken a seat and a number of curious eyes are gazing at her as -she slowly takes a wing of a chicken and a piece of snowy white bread -from a napkin and commences to eat, in the midst of all this wealth and -confusion of the richest city in the world.</p> - -<p>The number of ledgers and account books behind these bars<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_530" id="Page_530">[Pg 530]</a></span> are enough -to frighten one. When the day's business is done all these huge books -are stowed away by the porters in the fire-proof room under ground, and -brought up again in the morning, for they are fully as valuable as the -large sums inscribed on their leaves.</p> - -<p>Machinery has been perfected so that these bulky account books may be -hoisted and lowered every day.</p> - -<p>Look at that young man with his banking case chained under his arm; the -rolls of checks and notes he holds in his hands will probably amount to -thousands of pounds; he catches the eyes of one of the clerks, calls -out the amount, hands the bulky bundle over the brass mounted railing -and quits the room, leaving the sum to be counted over at leisure.</p> - -<p>See how carelessly the cashier handles that heavy bag of gold; he has -no time to count it, but throws it into the scale as a coal heaver -would a sack of coals—so long as it is right weight, that's all he -cares about; he then shoots it into his large drawer and throws the bag -aside as if he did not mind whether a sovereign stuck in the bag or not.</p> - -<p>He counts sovereigns by twos and threes at a time; you feel confident -that he must have given you either too many or too few, he appears so -negligent; you count them, and there they are quite correct, and no -mistake whatever.</p> - -<p>The guide says to me: "Sometimes, Sir, the clerks are kept in the Bank -for hours when there's a sixpence wrong in the balance, and they have -to go over and over the books until they make the sixpence right. It's -awful work, to have to go over them long columns of figures and no -chance of getting away until everything is correct."</p> - -<p>"Was there ever any great forgery committed on the Bank?" I asked the -guide, who seemed to be a very intelligent man, having been in the Bank -forty years.</p> - -<p>"Ah, yes Sir, there was two great ones. In old times a great many men -were hanged for forging Bank of England notes. In one year, I think it -was 1820, there was over a hundred persons convicted of forgery, and -nearly nine hundred were convicted for having forged notes in their -pockets. Why, Sir,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_531" id="Page_531">[Pg 531]</a></span> when I was a boy I remember as many as twenty-four -hanged in one year for forgery on the Bank. I think the year was 1818. -In 1803 there was a great forgery, committed by Mr. Astlett, who was -one of the chief cashiers of the Bank. The amount was so large it -frightened every body. Astlett done his work so well, by re-issuing -Exchequer bills, that he defrauded the Bank out of £320,000 before they -knew it. You may imagine what a row there was when it was found out. -The old Governor nearly went mad."</p> - -<p>"Was any other great forgery ever attempted?" said I, curious to hear -those details of forgotten crime.</p> - -<p>"Oh yes Sir," said the old man, "the biggest forgery of all was -Fauntleroy's, in 1816, that was a great deal bigger than Astlett's, for -it was for £360,000, and the way of it was this: You see Mr. Fauntleroy -was the head partner of a bank in Berners street that had dealing with -the Bank of England, and the bank that he belonged to was in a bad -state, so what does Fauntleroy do to keep up its credit, but he goes to -work quite cooly and forges powers of attorney of a lot of nobs and he -sells out their funds, and all the time he was a-working in the dark -this way, he wos a payin' of the divydends to them. Then the crash -came at last, and before he was caught, when the police broke into his -house, they found a note and on the note was written:—</p> - -<p>"The Bank first began to refuse to discount our acceptances, and to -destroy the credit of our house; and by G—d the Bank shall smart for -it."</p> - -<p>"So, that's the way he did it, but he was hanged for it, and I saw him -swing. I never saw so many people in my life as was at that hanging. -All London was there, Sir, and when he got off the cart you would have -thought he was going to a party, he was so blessed cool."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE GREAT PANIC OF 1825.</div> - -<p>There was a "Great Panic" in the Bank of England in December, 1825, -caused by the redemption of interest on £215,000,000 of stock held by -the public. The Bank of England was acting as banker for the Nation, -and offered to advance money to holders of stock to pay off their -principal investment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_532" id="Page_532">[Pg 532]</a></span> This was an era of mad speculation, and no less -than £372,000,000 was invested in all kinds of bogus stock projects. In -some of these schemes shares of £100 on which only £5 had been paid, -rose to a premium of £40, yielding a profit of eight times the amount -of money paid. Everything went merry as a marriage bell for a time, and -large sums had been withdrawn from the Bank of England, reducing the -gold in its vaults from £8,750,000, in October, 1824, to £3,624,320 in -February, 1825.</p> - -<p>The panic began on the 5th of December, 1825, when a London bank -failed, at which the agency of above forty country banks was -transacted, and such a re-action was the necessary result of the -previous madness of speculation. Lombard street, and the vicinity of -the Bank, were filled with excited men and women, who were waiting -eagerly to withdraw their investments. Next day, a number of other -banks failed. The rush on the Bank of England was terrific, but the -clerks kept paying away gold in bags of twenty-five sovereigns each. -From nine until five, each day, twenty-five clerks were engaged, -counting out gold, and as it would take that number of clerks to count -out £50,000 in sovereigns, if counted by hand, a plan was made by -which the tellers counted 25 sovereigns into one scale and 25 into -another, and if the scales balanced, they continued until there were -200 sovereigns in each scale. In this way £1,000 were paid out in a few -minutes, the weight of one thousand sovereigns being 21 pounds, while -512 bank notes only weigh one pound. In this way £307,000, in gold, was -paid out in nine hours to the clamorous people.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE PANIC CEASES.</div> - -<p>Instead of contracting their issues the Directors of the Bank boldly -extended them. In one day they discounted 4,200 bills. December 8th, -the discounts at the Bank amounted to £7,500,000; on the 15th, they -were £11,500,000, and on the 29th, £15,000,000. December 3d, the -circulation of the Bank was £17,500,000, and the day before Christmas, -December 24th, it was £25,500,000, or, $127,500,000. Any kind of paper -that was not absolutely worthless, was discounted. Tremendous advances -on deposits of bills of exchange were made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_533" id="Page_533">[Pg 533]</a></span> by the Bank, stock was -entered as security, and exchequer bills were purchased. The gallant -old institution weathered the storm, and, on the 26th of December, gold -began to come in slowly. During the latter part of the panic week a -forgotten box of one-pound notes, containing £700,000, was discovered, -and these were immediately issued, and the Directors acknowledged -that the forgotten box saved the commercial credit of the Bank and -of England. There was only £601,000 in bullion and £426,000 in coin -when the rush stopped. In February, 1797, when the Bank suspended cash -payments, there was £1,086,170 in coin and bullion remaining in the -vaults.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus87.jpg" alt="bank" /> <a id="illus87" name="illus87"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE BANK OF ENGLAND.</p> - -<p>I saw, in a glass case, a bank note for one million of pounds -(canceled,) which had passed between the Bank and the government in -some transaction or another. Think of it, a piece of paper five by two -and a half inches in size, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_534" id="Page_534">[Pg 534]</a></span> good on its face any place in the -world for <span class="smcap">Five Millions of Dollars</span>. I saw also here, several -other bank bills for large amounts, such as ten, fifty, one hundred, -and two hundred and fifty thousand pounds each. These were the most -valuable strips of printed paper I ever saw.</p> - -<p>It must be recollected, that inside of the walls of the Bank of -England, which covers four acres, as I have observed, everything is -made, excepting the paper of which the bank notes are manufactured. -The gold, of course, is coined in the Mint on Tower Hill, but -everything else is done inside of the Bank walls, including paper -staining, engraving, making the steel plates from which the notes are -transferred, and other useful arts. Printer's ink is also made, the ink -having to be of a peculiar shade so as to prevent counterfeiting. Then -there are book binderies, where the ledgers and accounts are bound, and -a number of other rooms devoted to various purposes.</p> - -<p>It is a noticeable fact, that every Bank official whom we meet on our -journey through all these lofty apartments, halls and saloons, wears -full evening dress though it is not yet noonday. Swallow-tail coats, -white neck-cloths, and white vests, of the most spotless hues, seem to -be the Bank uniform.</p> - -<p>And what pleasant surprises there are in this institution. Now the -guide leading, and I following, we emerge into an open court-yard, of -very good size, which has lawns, shrubberies, and dainty little grass -plots, with the most cheering flower-beds, the colors of which are -very refreshing to the eye. Here are well-shaded and sanded paths, and -lofty, leafy trees, and all these rural delights are concentrated in -a space of one and a half acres, the dimensions of the grounds walled -in by the Bank. Here, in the heart of mighty London, is a green oasis, -like a diamond set in a pig's nose.</p> - -<p>These detached buildings, with white steps leading to their doors, and -neatly-ornamented porticoes, are the residences of the Governor and -Directors, and here they hold receptions, and levees, and the questions -and inquiries of angry stockholders are heard and answered at quarterly -meetings. The guide asks me if "I would like to see the workshops of -the Bank." I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_535" id="Page_535">[Pg 535]</a></span> agree at once to his proposition, and on ascending a -flight of narrow stone steps, we find ourselves in a large room which -is used by the Bank mechanics to prepare the steel plates upon which -the Bank notes are engraved.</p> - -<p>A very powerful steam engine, which is used for other mechanical and -artistic purposes in the Bank, is the motive power by which the work -is done in this room. I can hear the sharp steel wedge scraping and -polishing the already bright sheets of steel, and the noise is a most -disagreeable one. All the workman has to do, however, is simply to -place the plate and spindle in the exact spot, when the machine, like a -stroke of vengeance seizes it, and in a second it is bright as silver.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">MAKING INK FOR BANK NOTES.</div> - -<p>Now we are in the room in which the printer's ink is manufactured with -which the Bank notes are printed. The ink has to be of a very peculiar -black shade, as counterfeiting would be easy were the materials used to -be the same as in other inks.</p> - -<p>Masses of black matter are being ground into a fine powder by rollers, -I think that the guide told me it was nutgalls; large lumps are placed -beneath the rollers, the cylinder revolves, and the powder is crushed -to a fine paste.</p> - -<p>The guide says, "If there's a bit of sand left in the paste, why then -the grinding hasn't been done right." The rollers are of strong steel, -and the smallest substance would be ground under them. A grain of sand -will cause the two rollers as they meet to recede from each other, so -sensitive are they to the finest hard substance.</p> - -<p>Now we are out in a court again and we can see the engine room, -and the huge coal fires burning, and the big boiler sweltering and -steaming away at a great rate. The man who attends the engine is in -his shirt-sleeves, and a little blackened, and I believe that, not -excepting the Beadle, this was the only man whom I saw inside of the -Bank who was not in full dress.</p> - -<p>Here is a large room where the Bank-paper is cut to the proper size for -notes, and a thousand pound note is exactly the same size as one for -five pounds, which is the smallest denomination issued by the Bank.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_536" id="Page_536">[Pg 536]</a></span></p> - -<p>Then there is the room for the compositors and binders, and in the -latter apartment, all the account books which the vast business of the -Bank make necessary, are paged, lined, and bound. Of ledgers alone, one -thousand are used yearly, in this fountain head of finance, and check -books innumerable are also printed and bound here.</p> - -<p>Now I am again in the court-yard, which is paved very neatly—but no, I -have not been here before. This fact I recognize as I look around me. -This <i>another</i> court-yard.</p> - -<p>"This is the Library, Sir," said the guide.</p> - -<p>I began to think that the Bank officials were indeed a very literary -set of people, who could find time in business hours to read books, but -I was presently made aware of my mistake.</p> - -<p>The guide knocks quietly at a small iron door, which revolves on its -hinges with a noise, and a man in that same inevitable dress-coat, -cravat, and neck-tie, opens the door, and I gain an entrance to a place -which looks to me very like the casemate of a Monitor, or a sally-port -in a stone fortress. Iron doors, iron hinges, and iron windows, shaped -in a circular form, and embayed in the wall, are the most significant -signs around me.</p> - -<p>Although it is broad daylight outside, there is utter darkness within, -but for the single gas jet which burns as if suffering from some defect -in the pipe.</p> - -<p>I feel that some mystery is to be explained, or some strange sight -shown me—or else why this change from sunlight to this cribbed and -dungeon-like casemate.</p> - -<p>It would be impossible to break into this room; and to get out of it, -if the doors were locked, would be equally difficult, I imagine.</p> - -<p>Now the gentleman who has opened the door goes behind an iron railing, -and says:</p> - -<p>"This is the Library of the Bank, Sir, and these are the volumes -that compose the Library," he says to the writer, at the same time -taking a large package of notes from a shelf—on which there are many -hundred packages of like description—"we keep here the canceled notes -which are called in, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537">[Pg 537]</a></span> therefore they can never be used again. We -keep these old notes for twenty-five years, in case a forgery has -been committed, and when it becomes necessary to produce the notes -for evidence—why, here they are—we have notes here for millions of -pounds," said he, turning over bundle after bundle of ragged looking -papers, that had once been of incalculable value.</p> - -<p>These notes, after a certain time, are reduced to pulp, and again are -made into paper, from which in turn fresh bank notes are made, so that -these old rags have the property which Ponce de Leon's fountain gave, -of renewing their youth.</p> - -<p>Into another room now, where the notes are printed from the plates, and -to insure honesty in the printer—the machine registers the number of -each note printed—the registering being done in a distant part of the -establishment.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">IN THE VAULTS.</div> - -<p>And now we are in the Vaults, where the precious metals are kept, and -where I saw and handled riches such as would have bewildered Pizzaro, -or Cortez, even in their wildest imaginings.</p> - -<p>Here are the Bullion Vaults, in which are kept bars of gold and silver. -The gold bars weigh sixteen pounds each, while the silver bar varies.</p> - -<p>The Bank pays for gold seventy-eight shillings an ounce, while silver -is generally valued at about five shillings and two pence an ounce.</p> - -<p>It is enough to dazzle the eyes of a miser, or render him blind, to -look at the show of gold bars piled up behind the railings, in those -large glass presses. Thousands of them! And they are piled up just as I -have often seen the stacks of solder in a plumber or gas-fitter's shop -in America, without any seeming care as to how they are laid.</p> - -<p>Here a couple of men entered with kegs, and one of them, stepping up to -me, asks:</p> - -<p>"Would you like to handle a large sum of money, Sir?"</p> - -<p>"I don't care if I do," I said; and the very polite gentleman went to a -safe in the corner and opening one of the numerous black doors of iron -which ornament every portion of the room,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_538" id="Page_538">[Pg 538]</a></span> he brought forth four medium -sized packages, and laid them on the counter before me, saying:</p> - -<p>"Please to hold open your hand. Now, Sir, there are four packages of -Bank of England notes, all ready for delivery, and in each package is -<i>one million of pounds</i>."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus88.jpg" alt="perspire" /> <a id="illus88" name="illus88"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "I BEGAN TO PERSPIRE."</p> - -<p>I began to perspire and lose my sight and hearing. "Can there be," I -said, "so much money in the world?" and then I heard him say again:</p> - -<p>"Please to examine the packages—<i>one—two—three—four—millions</i>."</p> - -<p>I cried out, "stop, stop—give me breath—do you mean to say," said I, -"that there are four million of pounds in these four packages—<i>twenty -million</i> of dollars?"</p> - -<p>"That is what I mean," said the polite official, and he smiled slightly -at the excitement which he saw in my features.</p> - -<p>At that moment I did not envy C. Vanderbilt, and I despised Jim Fisk.</p> - -<p>Dim thoughts of murder flashed across my brain—and yet, no—I banished -it from my mind. Twenty million of dollars! But then, the Tower! -Ha-ha—away, fell design.</p> - -<p>In one week the issue of bank notes amount to twenty-five million of -pounds, or one hundred and twenty-five million of dollars. During the -last twelve months the Bank has purchased three million and a half -pounds' worth of gold bars, and one million eight hundred pounds' worth -of silver bars. During the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_539" id="Page_539">[Pg 539]</a></span> same period it sold six million pounds' -worth of gold bars, and a quarter of a million pounds' worth of silver' -bars.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">MAKING SOVEREIGNS.</div> - -<p>In the Weighing Office, established in 1842, to detect light gold, is -the ingenious machine invented by Mr. W. Cotton, then Deputy-Governor -of the Bank. About 80 or 100 light and heavy sovereigns are placed -indiscriminately in a round tube; as they descend on the machinery -beneath, those which are light receive a slight touch, which moves them -into their proper receptacle, and those which are of legitimate weight -pass into their appointed place. The light coins are then defaced by a -machine, 200 in a minute; and by the weighing-machinery 35,000 may be -weighed in one day. There are six of these machines, which from 1844 to -1849 weighed upwards of 48,000,000 pieces without any inaccuracy. The -average amount of gold tendered in one year is nine millions, of which -more than a quarter is light. The silver is put up into bags, each of -one hundred pounds value, and the gold into bags of a thousand; and -then these bagsful of bullion are sent through a strongly guarded door, -or rather window, into the Treasury, a dark, gloomy apartment, fitted -up with iron presses, supplied with huge locks and bolts.</p> - -<p>And now I was to behold the process. After leaving the Treasury vaults, -where I was shown the Bank notes, I was taken to a very large room on -an upper floor, in which was a small and elegant steam engine, with -other intricate machines, for weighing and defacing, or marking coins.</p> - -<p>There was a large table with a number of coin shovels, and its entire -surface was covered with sovereigns, heaped a foot high, the table -having a raised rim all around it.</p> - -<p>They were weighing these sovereigns—these officials with the finely -starched shirts and white neck-ties; and this was the manner of it:</p> - -<p>There were two open square boxes, which had connections with a number -of wheels and revolving cylinders, and from each of these boxes -projected the mouth of a scoop or highly polished funnel. A roll of -sovereigns passed into this box, sliding slowly down through the mouth, -and thence into a larger box below on the floor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_540" id="Page_540">[Pg 540]</a></span></p> - -<p>The attendants fill the tubes, and at the lower end of the scoop the -work is done. Whenever a sovereign of light weight touches this spot in -the lower part of the tube, a small brass plate jumps out and pushes -the light sovereign into the left-hand aperture, while the full-weight -pieces drop without hindrance into the right-hand box. The small brass -plate does the business very quietly.</p> - -<p>The light sovereigns are then gathered, placed in a bag, and sent back -to the Mint to be re-coined. The man who was working the machine pulled -a crank and a number, perhaps a thousand, of these marked sovereigns -fell into the box. I took some of them in my hand, and found them -almost totally defaced, and a number had been slit in two halves by the -process, but no gold dust is lost the operation is performed so cleanly.</p> - -<p>On the very same spot where once stood the Monastery of the Cistercian -Monks, or Gray Friars, the Royal Mint of England is now located, and -here all the money in use in England is coined by the "Company of -Moneyers," as they are called. The building is situated on Tower Hill, -the Mint having for a thousand years been carried on in the Tower -itself.</p> - -<p>For many hundreds of years the coinage of England had been debased -by succeeding money-makers, who were entrusted by the Kings with the -coinage, and in the reign of King Edward I, 280 Jews, of both sexes, -were charged by this monarch with having debased the silver and -gold coins, and were hung in London for the offence. King John, in -1212, ordered all the prisoners in his custody, among whom were some -ecclesiastics, to be brought before him for instant judgment, at the -same time summoning Cardinal Pandulph, the Papal Legate, to appear also -to witness the judgment. Pandulph appeared, and King John thinking to -frighten that haughty prelate who had often humbled him, ordered a -priest among the prisoners, who had counterfeited money, to be hanged.</p> - -<p>Pandulph stepped forward and said:</p> - -<p>"Lord King, who so dares lay finger on yon clerk, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_541" id="Page_541">[Pg 541]</a></span> he were of -royal blood, him shall I excommunicate, and he shall be anathema of -Holy Church."</p> - -<p>Pandulph, who was indeed a very energetic person, left the apartment -to get a candle, so that he might curse John in due form, and the King -having been thoroughly frightened, delivered the priest to Pandulph -to have that prelate do justice on him, but the legate immediately -liberated the offender.</p> - -<p>During the reign of the Saxon Edgar, the penny had become scarcely -equal to a half-penny in weight, and St. Dunstan, who was a bishop and -confessor to the King, became so outraged at the debasement of the -coinage, that on Whit-Sunday he refused to celebrate the mass before -the King until justice had been done on three officials, or as they -were called "moneyers." They were at once taken out of the Church and -had their right hands struck off by order of the King.</p> - -<p>In those days even the gold coins were of square, longitudinal, and all -sorts of irregular and uncouth shapes.</p> - -<p>One of the prophecies of the Sage Merlin was to the effect that when -the money of England should become round, the Prince of Wales would be -crowned in London. Edward I, having ascertained that such a prophecy -was believed among the Welsh people, caused the head of their last -native Prince, Llewellyn, to be cut off and sent to the Tower in -London, where it was crowned with willows in mockery of the prophecy, -and since then no native Welshman has held the title of Prince of -Wales, with England's consent.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HENRY VIII A COUNTERFEITER.</div> - -<p>Henry VIII, among his many acts of scoundrelism, was guilty of debasing -the coinage of his kingdom, and when his illegitimate daughter, Queen -Elizabeth, called in £638,000 of silver and gold money for the purpose -of re-coining it, she ascertained on going to the Mint in person, -(where she coined with her own hands several pieces of money) that -these monies, whose current value on the face had been £638,000, were -then only worth in reality £244,000.</p> - -<p>On the day that George the Third's first son and successor was -born—afterwards George IV—the captured treasure of the Spanish vessel -"Hermione," amounting to sixty-five tons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_542" id="Page_542">[Pg 542]</a></span> of silver and one bag full -of gold, was carried in triumphant procession through the streets of -London—amid the acclamation of the citizens—borne by twenty wagons. -The value of the treasure was one million of pounds. This money was -taken to the Mint to be coined.</p> - -<p>In 1804 the English Government having determined to declare war against -Spain, some private parties under the leadership of a Captain Moore, -fitted out four ships to intercept some Spanish vessels on their way -home from the Indies with treasure, and this infamous act of piracy was -performed before the capturers of the Spanish galleons had heard of the -impending declaration of war, and in fact before war was declared.</p> - -<p>Some hundreds of persons were blown up in the Spanish Admiral's vessel, -and one rich Spanish merchant who was returning on one of the vessels -with his wife and daughters—having accumulated a great fortune—lost -their lives by this act of treachery.</p> - -<p>In 1804 the ransom payable to the British Government from the Chinese -Nation, amounting to sixty-five tons of silver, or two millions of -Chinese dollars, the price which China had to pay for not taking her -opium quietly, was brought home and transferred to the Mint to be -coined.</p> - -<p>The money paid by France to Charles II of England for the town of -Dunkirk, an immense treasure, was spent by that monarch in the worst -kind of debauchery, and the face of Britannia which remains to this day -upon English coins, is the likeness of Miss Frances Stewart, afterward -Duchess of Richmond, and at one time a mistress of this dissolute King.</p> - -<p>Guineas, which are valued at twenty-one shillings, while the sovereign -is valued at a pound or twenty shillings, were first coined from the -gold brought by the African Company from Guinea, and the coins had an -elephant stamped on them.</p> - -<p>In the same reign were struck the five guinea, the two guinea piece -and the half guinea pieces. The coinage of this monarch's reign, who -was only fitted to be the keeper of a bagnio, was so much depreciated, -that in the reign of William and Mary, when 572 bags of silver coin -were called in of Charles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_543" id="Page_543">[Pg 543]</a></span> II's reign, it was found to weigh only 9,480 -pounds, although the proper weight should have been 18,450 pounds.</p> - -<p>The gold quarter guinea was coined by George I, and this coin is -remarkable for bearing for the first time the letters "F.D." (<i>Fidei -Defensor</i>,) or "Defender of the Faith." George III, an old blockhead as -the First George was an old blackguard, coined seven shilling pieces, -but these have been withdrawn, as have also the guineas and half -guineas, which are now replaced by the sovereign, half sovereign, and -crown, which latter coin is valued at five shillings.</p> - -<p>When the bad money of Henry VIII was called in, the workmen in the Mint -declared that it contained arsenic, and many of them "became sick to -death with the savor." For this sickness some venerable idiot ordered -them to drink from dead men's skulls, and a warrant was actually -obtained whereby the heads of several Catholic priests, which then -decorated London Bridge, were taken down and drinking cups were made -from them for the workmen.</p> - -<p>The present building in use by the Company of Moneyers for a Mint, -was erected in 1811 on Tower Hill, and cost with the construction -of machinery two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. If one hundred -thousand pounds worth of gold bars are sent into the Mint one morning, -on the next they will be ready for delivery in sovereigns.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">HOW TO MAKE MONEY.</div> - -<p>The gold is melted in pots made of black lead, which will not break -in annealing, and then the alloy of copper is added (to gold one -part in twelve; to silver eighteen pennyweights to a pound), and the -mixed metal cast into small bars. The bars then in a heated state -are first passed through the rollers, which are of tremendous power, -these reducing them to one fourth of their former thickness and -increasing them proportionally in length. Then the sheets of metal are -passed through the cold rollers, which laminates them to the required -thickness of coin.</p> - -<p>Now comes the work of the cutting-out machines. There are fifteen of -these elegant engines in the same basement, set apart for them.</p> - -<p>The bars having been cut into the required strips and thick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_544" id="Page_544">[Pg 544]</a></span>ness, -the protecting rim is next raised in the "Marking Room," and after -blanching and annealing, they are ready for coining.</p> - -<p>There are twelve presses for this purpose, each of which makes a -hundred strokes a minute, and at each stroke, above and below, a blank -is made into a perfect coin, stamped on both sides and milled at the -edge, each press coining about ten thousand pieces of money in one -hour. One little boy is alone needed to feed a press with blanks.</p> - -<p>The coin is tested before the Lord Chancellor or Chancellor of the -Exchequer and a jury of twelve goldsmiths, who are sworn to give a -fair judgment, once a year—this being a trial between the Company -of Coiners and the Government who own the coin. In a late trial of -two hundred pounds weight of gold coin, the bulk weighed just one -pennyweight and fifteen grains less than was correct—which is pretty -good workmanship.</p> - -<p>In a period of eighteen years the amount of money coined by the Company -was as follows:</p> -<table summary="coins" width="35%"> -<tr> -<td>Gold, -</td> -<td align="right">£55,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Silver, -</td> -<td align="right">12,000,000 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Copper, -</td> -<td align="right">250,000 -</td > -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">————— -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Total, -</td> -<td align="right">£67,250,000 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p>Profit to the Company for coinage of above amount £214,000.</p> - -<p>Amount charged for coining £67,250,000—by the Company of -Moneyers—£421,000.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail37.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail37" name="tail37"></a></p> -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus89.jpg" alt="bridge" /> <a id="illus89" name="illus89"></a></p> - -<p class="caption">LONDON BRIDGE.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_547" id="Page_547">[Pg 547]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE BRIDGES OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap38.jpg" alt="L" /> <a id="icap38" name="icap38"></a></span>ONDON may well be proud of her bridges. Fifteen of the finest -structures of their kind in the world span with mighty and enduring -arches, the surface of the Thames; in a distance of seven miles on the -river from London Bridge, to the Suspension Bridge, at Hammersmith. -Paris alone can rival London in her super-aqueous structures, but in -massiveness and grandeur there is no bridge covering the Seine, and -having such a magnificent roadway and arches as Waterloo Bridge.</p> - -<p>Of all the bridges which span the Thames, none have a history like -that of London Bridge; although the present structure dates only from -1825. The history of old London Bridge is that of London itself, for -the bridge was coeval with the overthrow of the Saxon dynasty, and the -death of Richard C[oe]ur de Lion.</p> - -<p>The first bridge erected on the site of the present London Bridge, -was a wooden one by Ethelred III., in 994, and the tolls were paid by -boats bringing fish to "Bylingsgate," which was then a water-gate of -the city. The next bridge here was constructed by the pious brothers of -St. Mary, Southwark, which house was originally a convent, established -by a young girl named Mary, daughter to a ferryman, who plied at this -point, and from the profits of the ferry the bridge was con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_548" id="Page_548">[Pg 548]</a></span>structed. -This bridge was almost totally destroyed by the Norwegian King Olave in -1008, and was rebuilt by Canute in 1016, swept away by a flood 1091, -rebuilt 1097, burnt 1136, and a new one was erected of elm timber in -1163 by Peter, a priest and chaplain of St. Mary's, Colechurch, in the -Poultry.</p> - -<p>This bridge did not satisfy the pious architect, however, and he began -with great zeal to build a stone one, the first in England, a little to -the westward of the timber bridge in 1176, when Henry II. gave toward -the construction the proceeds of a tax on wool, from which originated -the saying, "London Bridge was built on woolpacks," a phrase that has -often been taken in its literal meaning. Priest Peter died in 1205 and -the bridge was finished in 1209.</p> - -<p>This bridge consisted of a stone platform 926 feet long, and 40 -feet wide, standing about 60 feet above the level of the water, and -comprehended a draw bridge and nineteen pointed arches, with massive -piers raised upon strong oak and elm piles covered by thick planks -bolted together, so that after all, the famous stone bridge had a -wooden platform. There was a gate-house, with turrets and battlements -at either end, and toward the centre, on the east side, was built -a beautiful gothic chapel of stone to the memory of St. Thomas (à -Becket), of Canterbury. In a crypt of the chapel was placed a stone -tomb over the body of Priest Peter, the founder of the bridge. This -bridge, in the time of Elizabeth, is described as having "sumptuous -buildings, and stately and beautiful houses on either side," making -one continuous street from end to end and having an archway under -the houses and dwellings through which vehicles, sedan-chairs, and -pedestrians passed. The river could be seen at intervals in the gaps of -masonry, and, in fact, this bridge was as much of a thoroughfare and -causeway besides, having all the characteristics of a street on solid -ground, as any open space in London. Some of the buildings had shops -and beer-houses in the lower stories.</p> - -<p>The chronicles of this stone bridge during six centuries, form, -perhaps, the most interesting episodes in the history of London. -The scenes of fire, siege, insurrection, and popu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_549" id="Page_549">[Pg 549]</a></span>lar vengeance, of -national rejoicing, and of the pageant victories of man and of death, -of fame or funeral, which have transpired on and about the bridge, it -were vain for me to attempt to describe. In 1212, four years after the -completion of the structure, a terrific conflagration took place on -the bridge, and 3000 persons perished in the flames, both ends being -on fire at the same time. De Montfort repulsed Henry III., on this -bridge, and the populace attacked and stoned his Queen in her barge as -she prepared to shoot the bridge. Wat Tyler, the popular rebel entered -London by this road to be struck down by Sir William Walworth in 1381. -Richard II. was received here by the citizens in 1392. In 1415 Henry -V., fresh from Agincourt, passed the bridge, and seven years after his -corpse was carried over it to be buried at Westminster Abbey. In 1450 -Jack Cade attempted to storm London Bridge, but he was defeated and -his head placed on a pole over the gate-house. In 1477 the Bastard of -Falconbridge attacked the bridge, and fired several houses. In 1554 Sir -Thomas Wyatt crossed the bridge at the head of 2000 men, to dethrone -Queen Mary, and lost his head for it. In 1632 more than one-third of -the houses on the bridge were destroyed by fire, and in 1666 the whole -labyrinth of dwellings, shops, and edifices, were swept away by the -Great Fire; the entire street being rebuilt within twenty years after. -The houses were entirely removed and parapets and balustrades were -erected on each side in 1732, and one hundred years after, in 1832, -the venerable structure was demolished to make way for the new London -Bridge now standing. Holbein, the painter, lived on the bridge, book -publishers occupied shops on it, and the London tradesmen believed -it to be one of the Seven Wonders of the world. Hogarth lodged here, -and Swift and Pope visited Tucker, a bookseller who had a shop on the -bridge.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">GRINNING SKULLS.</div> - -<p>The most terrible reminiscence of the bridge is connected with the fact -that its gate-houses at either end were garnished for many hundreds -of years by the heads of many great and good men as well as of bad -and depraved villains, whose skulls were exposed on spikes to dry and -bleach in the sun.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_550" id="Page_550">[Pg 550]</a></span></p> - -<p>The heads of Sir William Wallace, 1305; Simon Frisel, 1306; four -traitor knights, 1397; Lord Bardolf, 1308; Bolingbroke, 1440; Jack Cade -and his rebels, 1451; the Cornish traitors of 1497, and of Fisher, -Bishop of Rochester (displaced in fourteen days after by that of Sir -Thomas More, 1335), have adorned this ghostly bridge. From 1578 to -1605, it was a common sight to see the heads of Roman Catholic priests -exposed on this bridge, their offence being that they sought to preach -their doctrines in London. Finally, in the reign of Charles II., this -display of bare, grinning skulls was transferred to Temple Bar.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus90.jpg" alt="bar" /> <a id="illus90" name="illus90"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> TEMPLE BAR, FLEET STREET.</p> - -<p>Temple Bar, as it is called, is a large, gray archway, which spans -Fleet street in its busiest traffic and jam. The archway was formerly -the limit of the City of London, and when a sovereign came westward -from Westminster, or eastward from the Tower, to make a formal entry, -the Lord Mayor and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_551" id="Page_551">[Pg 551]</a></span> City Councils, in robes of state, were present -under its historic archway to offer the keys and admit the Sovereign. -The rusty gates were then rolled back, and on such occasions the -pageants were very fine.</p> - -<p>For over a hundred years the London traders and shopkeepers, and the -students of the Temple, were regaled with the daily and ghastly sight -of a row of grinning and socketless skulls, which were ranged in lines -on cruel spikes above the architrave of Temple Bar. There is an empty -room in the upper story which has a terrible history, for here heads -were boiled in pitch before being exposed.</p> - -<p>In 1737, Eustace Budgell, a cousin of Addison and a contributor to the -Spectator, when reduced to poverty, took a boat at Somerset Stairs, and -ordering the waterman to row down the river, threw himself into the -flood as the boat shot London Bridge. He had filled his pockets with -stones, and he left behind him a slip of paper on which was written, -"What Cato did and Addison approved cannot be wrong." This was a great -puff for Addison's tragedy. Edward Osborne, an apprentice of Sir -William Hewet, afterwards Lord Mayor, jumped from the window of one of -the bridge houses, in 1536, to save his master's daughter, an infant, -and years afterwards he was rewarded with her hand in marriage, and -became Lord Mayor himself. The grandson of the apprentice became Duke -of Leeds and the founder of the present ducal house of that name. No -bridge ever constructed had such a history as that of Old London Bridge.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE TRAFFIC ON LONDON BRIDGES.</div> - -<p>The flow of traffic on some of the principal bridges by actual -computation during twelve hours, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., was: -Pedestrians, London Bridge, 96,080; Southwark Bridge, 2,500; -Blackfriars Bridge, 48,095; Waterloo Bridge, 12,000; Westminster -Bridge, 38,015. Equestrian traffic: London Bridge, 211; Southwark -Bridge, 93; Blackfriars, 91; Waterloo, 38; Westminster Bridge, 311. -Vehicular traffic: London Bridge, 26,800; Southwark Bridge, 516; -Blackfriars Bridge, 6,384; Waterloo Bridge, 2,603; Westminster Bridge, -7,300. From these figures it will be seen that the traffic on London -Bridge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_552" id="Page_552">[Pg 552]</a></span> which leads from the heart of the business portion of the city, -and is toll free, exceeded that on all of the others put together. Some -of the bridges are owned by companies and a toll of half a penny per -passenger is taken for revenue by them.</p> - -<p>London Bridge was designed by Sir John Rennie and built by his son. -The first pile was driven March 15th, 1824, government contributing -£200,000 toward the undertaking. Altogether the bridge cost £2,000,000 -before it was finished. It is built on coffer-dams, and the bridge has -five semi-elliptical arches. The centre arch has a span of 152 feet, -and a rise above high water mark of 24 feet 6 inches; the two arches -next the centre are 140 feet span, and the two abutment arches have 130 -feet of span. There is a parapet four feet high and the length between -the abutments is 782 feet, while the width between the parapets is 53 -feet. The bridge was nearly eight years in construction, and 120,000 -tons of stone were used in its erection.</p> - -<p>Southwark Bridge is constructed of iron with three colossal arches, and -was built by Rennie. The middle arch has a span of 240 feet and a rise -of 24 feet. Its height above low-water mark to the roadway is 55 feet. -The cost was £800,000 and the bridge was opened in 1819. Its length is -700 feet, and the roadway is 42 feet wide.</p> - -<p>The new Blackfriars Bridge is 1,000 feet long, 42 feet wide, and the -cost will be £300,000.</p> - -<p>Waterloo Bridge is the finest in the world. Its dimensions are: Length -between abutments 2,456 feet, water-way, 1,326 feet. The carriage-way -is 28 feet wide with a pathway on each side of seven feet. There are -nine arches, each of which are 120 feet in span with a rise of 35 feet. -Waterloo Bridge has a level grade from one end to the other. Canova, -the sculptor, said of this bridge, "It was alone worth a journey from -Rome to London to see it." The cost was £1,000,000.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">WATERLOO BRIDGE.</div> - -<p>As a set-off to what Macaulay has prophesied in regard to London Bridge -and the future New Zealander, Baron Charles Dupin, the great French -publicist, speaks of Waterloo Bridge as follows:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_553" id="Page_553">[Pg 553]</a></span></p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus91.jpg" alt="bridge" /> <a id="illus91" name="illus91"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE NEW BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE.</p> - -<p>"If from the incalculable effect of the revolutions which empires -undergo, the nations of a future age should demand one day what was -formerly the New Sidon, and what has become of the Tyre of the West, -which covered with her vessels every sea?—most of the edifices -devoured by a destructive climate will no longer exist to answer the -curiosity of man by the voice of monuments; But Waterloo Bridge, built -in the centre of the commercial world, will exist to tell the most -remote generations—'here was a rich, industrious, and powerful city.' -The traveller, on beholding this superb monument, will suppose that -some great prince wished, by many years of labor, to consecrate forever -the glory of his life by this imposing structure. But if tradition -instruct the traveller that six years sufficed for the undertaking -and finishing the work—if he learns that an association of a number -of private individuals was rich enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_554" id="Page_554">[Pg 554]</a></span> to defray the expense of this -colossal monument, worthy of Sesostris and the Cæsars—he will admire -still more the nation in which similar undertakings could be the fruit -of the efforts of a few obscure individuals, lost in the crowd of -industrious citizens."</p> - -<p>Charing Cross is the next bridge on the Thames, being built of iron and -used by a railway company. It was built by Brunel, and is a graceful -structure, but does not permit of pedestrian traffic.</p> - -<p>Westminster Bridge is nearly level in its grade, and has seven arches. -It is 1,220 feet long. The cost was £400,000.</p> - -<p>Lambeth Bridge is of iron with three arches, each of 280 feet span, and -the width is 54 feet. Cost, £100,000.</p> - -<p>Vauxhall Bridge is of iron with nine arches of equal span—each 78 feet -wide. The breadth of the roadway is 36 feet, and the total length of -the bridge is 840 feet.</p> - -<p>Pimlico Railway Bridge is built of iron, with four openings or spans of -175 feet each. The bridge is 900 feet in length, and has a width of 24 -feet.</p> - -<p>Chelsea Chain Suspension Bridge is 922 feet long and 45 feet wide. -Cost, £75,000.</p> - -<p>Hammersmith Suspension Bridge is 841 feet long and 32 feet wide. Cost, -£180,000.</p> - -<p>Scott, the American diver, lost his life while performing acrobatic -feats on Waterloo Bridge. The season he chose for diving from a -height of twenty feet above the parapet of the highest London bridge -was during an intense frost, when the river was full of ice, and the -enormous masses floating with the tide scarcely appeared to leave a -space for his reckless plunge into the river or his rise therefrom. He -watched his moment, and the feat was performed over and over again with -perfect safety. But he had been told that the Londoners wanted novelty. -It was not enough that he should do day after day what no man had ever -ventured to do before.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">DEADLY ACROBATICS.</div> - -<p>To leap off the parapets of the Southwark and Waterloo bridges into -the half-frozen river had become a common thing; and so the poor -fellow must have a scaffold put up, and he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_555" id="Page_555">[Pg 555]</a></span> must suspend himself from -its cross bars by his arm, his leg and his neck, in succession. Twice -was the last experiment repeated; but on the third attempt the body -hung motionless. The applause and laughter that death could be so -counterfeited was tumultuous; but a cry of terror went forth that the -man was dead. He perished for catering to a morbid public appetite. -Every one who saw this voluntary hanging went away degraded and -disgusted at the terrible result of the show.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail38.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail38" name="tail38"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_556" id="Page_556">[Pg 556]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX.</a></p> - -<p class="center">AT WINDSOR CASTLE.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap39.jpg" alt="F" /> <a id="icap39" name="icap39"></a></span>ROM Windsor Castle the view is one of the finest in England. A vast -panorama extending as far as the eye can reach. All flat—the faint, -bare, blue horizontal line, scarcely discernible from the clouds, so -distant is it, as straight as the boundary of a calm sea—and yet how -infinitely varied! What would such an expanse of land be in any other -country but England, which is, in itself, a huge landscape garden?</p> - -<p>A lovely river, to which the hackneyed illustration of "a stream -of molten gold" might well be applied, from the silent roll of its -glittering waters, as if impeded by their own rich weight, now flashing -like a strip of the sun's self, through broad meadows, whose green -is scarcely less dazzling—now lost in shady nooks of wondrous and -refreshing coolness.</p> - -<p>Trees of various species and growth, singly, in clumps, and in rows, -are everywhere. Little bright-looking villages, with their white -spires, or grey towers, are dotted all over the scene. Beyond where -I stand, on the ramparts of the Castle, I can see the Gothic turrets -and spires of Eton College, founded by Henry of Lancaster, flanked by -oak and birch trees, and above us, on this delightful day in autumn, -the banner of St. George is floating right saucily, denoting that this -Martial Keep is a royal fortress and a hereditary residence of the -Sovereigns of England.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_557" id="Page_557">[Pg 557]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE DEMON HUNTSMAN.</div> - -<p>Everything seems in perfect harmony around us, as the sun falls in -slanting and roseate beams on grass, tree, flower, castle, and river. -There are not many hours, in one's life, such as I enjoyed that -pleasant evening in September. The gentle hum of human life reaching me -from the distance, is no more injurious to the effect than the rustling -of the trees, or the chirping of the birds. The quiet bustle down at -the stone bridge, the shouts of the bargemen—heard several seconds -after their utterance,—the plashing of the oars of stray boats, the -cricketers over there in their play-ground, where reposes some of the -dust of Arthur's blood; all these have a charm for the drowsy senses.</p> - -<p>The sleepy-looking chimneys of the old, royal town, immediately beneath -me, fill up their place in the picture famously; even steam—that most -implacable enemy of romance—appears on the scene without injuring -it. The little toy-house-looking railway station, which I can see -from where I stand, on the battlements, is a harmless, nay a pleasing -object; and to watch the lilliputian train that has just left it, -disappearing fussily among the old trees, is a perfect delight.</p> - -<p>Windsor Castle has been the abode of royalty from the time of the -Saxon Kings. It was while King John lived at Windsor, that the barons -obtained from him Magna Charta. Cromwell has held his republican courts -in Windsor, and Charles I lies buried in its Chapel Royal.</p> - -<p>James, the Royal poet and King of Scotland, has visited here, and -David, another Scottish monarch, was a prisoner in its gloomy towers. -Here was instituted the Order of the Garter by Edward, who was "every -inch a King," and some of the most splendid pageantries and courtly -ceremonies of history have been enacted within the walls of Windsor -Castle. In its vast forests, Herne, the Diabolical Hunter, has chased -the Phantom Deer to the tally-ho of unearthly horns. This forest, or, -as it was called, "Windsor Great Forest," was of enormous extent, and -comprehended a circumference of one hundred and twenty miles. In the -time of James I, this great area had been reduced to seventy-seven and -a half miles. There were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_558" id="Page_558">[Pg 558]</a></span> then three thousand head of deer, and fifteen -walks, in the forest, each about three miles long. The next reduction -of its size left the Forest only fifty-six miles in circumference, and -in 1814 an act of Parliament was passed to enclose its boundaries. -Since then villages, and detached buildings, and private residences, -have encroached upon this once magnificent demesne, until but 6,000 -acres of wood and dell have been left of all the great medieval acreage.</p> - -<p>Edward, the Confessor, held a court here, and assigned the Manor of -Windsor to the Abbot and Monks of Westminster. William de Wykeham, the -great philanthropist and scholar, who founded Winchester School and the -New College at Oxford, was appointed Clerk of the Works at Windsor to -superintend the reconstruction of the Castle, in 1356, and his fee from -Edward III for the service was one shilling a day while he remained in -the town, and two shillings a day when he went elsewhere upon business.</p> - -<p>The Castle is divided into a great number of apartments, many of which -are memorable for their historical recollections, and among them are -St. George's Chapel, Beaufort Chapel, the Round Tower, the North -Terrace, the Audience Chamber, the Vandyck Gallery, the Queen's Drawing -Room, the State Ante-Room, the Grand Vestibule, the Waterloo Chamber, -the Grand Ball Room, St. George's Hall, the Guard Chamber, the Queen's -Presence Chamber, the King's Closet, the Queen's Private Closet, the -King's Drawing Room, the Throne Room, the State Apartments, and the -Private Apartments. The Home Park attached to the Castle is a private -garden in which the Queen walks or rides while residing at Windsor. The -Queen seldom rides on horseback of late years, as she has become so fat -and pursy that she is in constant dread that she will have to take any -such exercise as walking in the open air, or even promenading upon the -Grand Terrace of Windsor.</p> - -<p>In St. George's Chapel, a beautiful little edifice, are hung the -banners of the Knights of the Order of the Garter, and under each -banner is the carved stall, made of wood, on which each Knight of the -Chapter sits, at the installation of a new<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_559" id="Page_559">[Pg 559]</a></span> member, or when any grand -ceremony may make their presence necessary. In the groined roof above -the banners, are worked the arms of Edward the Black Prince, Henry -VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and the succeeding English Sovereigns. The -helmets, swords, and mantles of the Knights, together with the brass -plates, recording their titles, are also to be seen here. In this -Chapel is buried the crumbled dust of poor Jane Seymour, one of Henry -VIII's unfortunate wives and the mother of Edward VI, who reformed the -Prayer Book and Liturgy of the Church of England. The body of Charles -I also lies here, but he was more fortunate than Jane Seymour, whose -memory is almost forgotten.</p> - -<p>In the Beaufort Chapel is the family tomb of that perverse old idiot -of a king, George III, in which repose the ashes of his children and -Queen; the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, Princess Charlotte, -William IV, uncle to Queen Victoria, the royal blackguard and scoundrel -George IV, the Princess Augusta, who was believed to have been insane, -and Queen Adelaide.</p> - -<p>It is in the Beaufort Chapel that the Poor or Military Knights of St. -George's College, assemble to pray and beseech the Almighty for the -health and welfare of the Queen of England, and for the Most Noble -Companions of the Order of the Garter, to whom the Poor Knights cling -as a species of indigent parasites. The Order of Poor Knights was -established by act of Parliament of Edward IV, in the name of the -"Poor Knights of St. George's College," and was to consist of a Dean, -12 Secular Canons, 13 Priests, 4 Clerks, 6 Choristers, and 24 "Alms -Knights."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">PRAYING FOR CHEESE AND BEER.</div> - -<p>At divine service in the Beaufort Chapel, these old, broken-down -looking men may be seen, on every festival, and on all occasions when -services are held, praying for the reigning Sovereign of England. For -this service they receive bread, cheese, beer, and meat, ten times a -week. I saw these worn, meek-looking men, who seemed to glide rather -than walk during service, but it seemed to me that very little prayers -were uttered by them for the Sovereign, as they all had a vacant,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_560" id="Page_560">[Pg 560]</a></span> -absent look, with the exception of one or two who had the regular fixed -John Bull stare, and were evidently awaiting the hour when bread, -cheese, and beer, were to be announced.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus92.jpg" alt="castle" /> <a id="illus92" name="illus92"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> WINDSOR CASTLE.</p> - -<p>In the Round Tower, which is 295 feet high, there were confined nearly -all the State prisoners whom despotism found it necessary to secure -in its dungeons, from Edward III to Charles II, and in the "Audience -Chamber," which is hung with Gobelin Tapestry, representing the story -of Queen Esther, are paintings of Mary, Queen of Scots, and William, -Prince of Orange. This is an "Audience Chamber" only in name, for the -Queen very seldom holds levees in this big, desolate-looking room.</p> - -<p>The "Waterloo Chamber" is 47 feet in length and 45 in height, and has -a gallery of magnificent portraits, by Lawrence, all of whom were, in -some fashion, connected either in the closets of diplomacy, or the -fields of strife, with the downfall of Napoleon; hence the name of -"Waterloo Gallery." Here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_561" id="Page_561">[Pg 561]</a></span> are life-size portraits of Wellington, Lord -Castlereagh, Humboldt, Alexander I, Count Nesselrode, Capo d'Istria, -Prince Schwartzenburg, Archduke Charles, Blucher, Platoff, the Marquis -of Anglesea, Francis II, of Austria, Pope Pius VII, and others equally -famous.</p> - -<p>In the Grand Chamber is a piece of ordnance, taken from Tippo Saib, -at Seringapatam, a table made from the wreck of the Royal George, and -an elaborately worked shield of silver, inlaid with gold, made by -Benvenuto Cellini, which was presented by Francis I, of France, to -Henry VIII, of England, at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.</p> - -<p>The Throne Room has a fine ceiling, ornamented with the different -emblems of the Order of the Garter. Here the Queen sits enthroned on -occasions of State, and receives her guests habited in a scarlet velvet -mantle, trimmed with miniver. On one occasion, when her Majesty took -her seat here, her costume, including the jewels and Crown, was valued -at £150,000, a vast sum to be thrown away on such heartless vanities, -when it is recollected that myriads of people were dying of want and -starvation in her Kingdom at the time.</p> - -<p>The Throne is a very fine piece of work, and is covered with heavy -hangings of red velvet, and is ornamented with the rose, shamrock and -thistle.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">IN THE QUEEN'S CHAMBER.</div> - -<p>By special permission I had the pleasure of beholding the Queen's -bed-room, or Private Closet. This is a favor seldom shown to any -but foreign noblemen, or Embassadors, but by diligent efforts I had -succeeded in getting permission to look at this sacred place.</p> - -<p>On the day that I visited Windsor Castle, it luckily happened that -very few visitors had called, and as I had a note from a most high -personage, with permission to see the private apartments of Her -Majesty, I was glad that there was not a crowd to witness the result of -my mission. As a point of honor, I find it impossible to mention the -name of the great personage who gave me permission to visit the Queen's -Chamber, as I fear it might give him trouble, and perhaps deprive him -of his lofty position.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_562" id="Page_562">[Pg 562]</a></span></p> - -<p>Even the attendant, to whom I showed the note, was afraid to allow me -to enter the apartments, as the Queen had only left them early that -same morning to take a drive, and was expected back during the evening. -It was now two o'clock in the afternoon, and I began to fear that I -would not see the private saloons of her Majesty.</p> - -<p>The attendant said, in answer to my request:</p> - -<p>"I tell you, Sir, I'll lose my place and perkisites if I show the -hapartments to you. I dare not do it."</p> - -<p>"But," said I, "there is an order from Lord ——, will not that be -sufficient?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said he, "his Lordship is a great friend of the Queen, but -I'm afraid this order is a mistake, and only refers to the public -apartments, which I have no hobjection, Sir, to your seeing."</p> - -<p>I began to think I would fail if I did not find a weak spot in the -gorgeous flunkey.</p> - -<p>Suddenly a thought struck me. I asked myself "who has been the most -popular and best loved American in England?"</p> - -<p>Echo answered, "George Peabody."</p> - -<p>And "why," the inward monitor asked.</p> - -<p>Echo answered again, "because he gave so much money away," for I was -positive that the English (servants at least) did not care for any of -his less showy virtues, in comparison with that of bestowing millions -from his private purse! Why, the Queen herself give him her portrait. -Did she not?</p> - -<p>The flunkey seemed to read my soul the while that I communed with -myself.</p> - -<p>I felt that I must throw myself in the breach. Suddenly I slipped a -bright new sovereign into the man's hand. His fingers closed on the -shining gold coin like the teeth of a vise and his eyes glistened. I -knew then from his look that I would have to pistol the flunkey on the -spot before I could get back my sovereign. We were going toward the -private apartments of her Britannic Majesty, who is also Defender of -the Faith.</p> - -<p>A long corridor lay before us, and the flunkey stopped and said to me:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_563" id="Page_563">[Pg 563]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SECRETS OF ROYALTY.</div> - -<p>"I'll try it, Sir. You are indeed very generous, and I honor you for -it, but I don't know whether we can pass the Yeoman of the Guard. They -are always about here guarding Her Majesty's private apartments. This -is the Queen's Closet."</p> - -<p>He pointed to a lofty doorway, and I saw a big, bloated Britisher, -walking up and down with something on his shoulder that looked like a -meat-axe fastened upon a clothes-pole. He had a red tunic, and wore a -round flat hat, and his legs which were very noble and imposing, were -clad in red hose.</p> - -<p>The flunkey, who was also in tights, went up to him and spoke, and I -assumed a business-like air. He was telling the red-faced Beef-Eater, -as I afterwards ascertained, that I came to make some repairs in the -closet, but the Beef-Eater did not seem willing to admit any one; but -by some moral suasion he obviated his scruples, and I was allowed to -enter. I think he divided the sovereign with him.</p> - -<p>The flunkey beckoned to me, and I approached. The Beef-Eater—noble -fellow—looked the other way, as I entered the imposing apartment.</p> - -<p>The flunkey stood in silent awe, as I looked around on the splendors of -the lofty room.</p> - -<p>A magnificent bed stood in a corner of the apartment, hung with red -velvet and yellow silk. The arms of Great Britain were emblazoned on -the heavy red velvet, and the Lions and Unicorns, disported playfully -all over the room in their usual attitudes. There were large oil -paintings of George IV, King William IV, the Duke of Kent, father of -Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales as a Colonel of the British army, -and the Princess Louise, a marriageable daughter of Queen Victoria.</p> - -<p>The bed was large and would have held three persons of the size -of Queen Victoria. Elegant lounges were arranged around the lofty -apartment, covered with damask satin. A faint and delicious odor filled -the room, and I seemed to sink in the soft and luxuriant carpets. -Mystery, silence, and enchantment prevailed, and I trembled to think -that I stood in the presence of Royalty unbidden, and without the -permission of the Queen.</p> - -<p>There was a sideboard of most intricate carving at one end<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_564" id="Page_564">[Pg 564]</a></span> of the -room, with some green Venetian glasses on one of its shelves, but I saw -no decanters. The room was filled with a glory and power, reflected -in the possessor of three Kingdoms. From without, through the deeply -embayed windows, also hung with satin of the color of a morning sky, -I could hear the tramp of the sentinels on the battlements, and -the hoarse cry of the warders, going their rounds, demanding the -counter-sign of strangers.</p> - -<p>The charmed silence was broken by the voice of the flunkey in answer to -my enquiry as to how the aromatic odors of the chamber were procured.</p> - -<p>"Her Majesty is werry fond of perfumes, Sir," said he. "The carpets has -Cologne shook on them every morning, and if you will come here to the -bed, you will also get the smell of Patshooly."</p> - -<p>I walked to the bed and I found that there was an odor of cologne, -otter of roses, and musk, proceeding from the counterpane, which -was bordered with purple velvet and gold lace, and had the royal -arms embroidered in the centre. The pillow slips had trimmings of -Valenciennes lace, half a yard wide, hanging from their open ends. -The counterpane was of quilted blue and pink satin, and inside of the -velvet canopy that covered the bed, was a lining of blue and white -satin, from which hung down heavy folds of Mechlin lace.</p> - -<p>A little table of ivory, inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli, stood a -few feet from the bed, supported by a tripod elegantly worked in solid -silver.</p> - -<p>The flunkey explained to me the use of this table. "Sometimes Her -Majesty takes her breakfast in bed," said he, "when she is indisposed. -Her Majesty is werry fond of coffee, and often takes two cups of a -morning when she is stopping at Windsor. She is fond of veal cutlets, -well done, and sweet breads, for breakfast. Yes, Sir, I have heard -that Her Majesty, God bless her, when she had a good appetite, before -Prince Albert died, would eat a pound of veal at breakfast. The lady in -waiting places her coffee on that small table, and after handing Her -Majesty her breakfast in bed, she stands off at a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_565" id="Page_565">[Pg 565]</a></span> respectful distance, -and waits until she is called again to offer Her Majesty a favorite -dish. The Duchess of Athole, who is a relation of Lady Mordaunt, is -greatly liked by Her Majesty, and when she waits on the Queen, Her -Majesty allows her to sit down, but all the other ladies in waiting, -excepting Lady Dianna Beauclerk, has to stand up. Sometimes, when -the Prince of Wales comes here, God bless him, he is awfully screwed -(drunk), and then the Queen makes a preshis row, and she wont speak to -him for a week after.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"WOT A PEOPLE THE HAMERICANS ARE."</div> - -<p>"You are the only American ever was allowed to enter this ere room, -Sir; but I have heard that one of your countrymen once strayed in here, -and was astonished to find that there was no 'spittoons,' I think he -called them, in the Queen's bed-room. A preshis thing that would be, -to have sich things as 'spittoons' in the Queen's bed-room," said the -indignant and loyal flunkey.</p> - -<p>I informed the man that the story was incredible, and that my -countrymen were not such savages as he believed them to be. When I -informed him that in the old times in America, any free and unwashed -citizen might have inspected the President's bed-room at the White -House at Washington, he was greatly astonished, and said:</p> - -<p>"My God, what a strange people the Hamericans are! And they allowed -them to look at his bed, did they? My heyes, wot a people!"</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail39.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail39" name="tail39"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_566" id="Page_566">[Pg 566]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL.</a></p> - -<p class="center">BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap40.jpg" alt="T" /> <a id="icap40" name="icap40"></a></span>HERE are two places well worth seeing in London. One is the Central -Criminal Court or "Old Bailey" as it is usually called, situated next -door to Newgate, and the "Lord Mayor's" Court, in the Mansion House.</p> - -<p>The Old Bailey is a famous criminal Court, and has had an eventful -history. The magistrates who sit here, are the Lord Mayor, who opens -the Court, the sheriffs of Middlesex and London, the Lord Chancellor, -who is never present excepting in a State trial, the Judges, Aldermen, -and Recorder, the Common Sergeant of London, the Judge of the Sheriff's -Court, or City Commissions, and others whom the Crown may appoint to -assist them. Of these dignitaries the Recorder and Common Sergeant -of London are most generally to be found presiding, as the common -law judges only assist when knotty points are to be decided, or when -conviction may affect the life of the prisoner.</p> - -<p>At the Old Bailey are tried crimes of every kind, from treason to -petty larceny, and even offences committed upon the high seas. The -jurisdiction comprises every part of the metropolis of London, together -with the county of Middlesex; the parishes of Richmond and Mortlake in -Surrey, and the greater part of Essex county, adjoining Middlesex.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE "OLD BAILEY" COURT.</div> - -<p>The Old Bailey Court is a square hall with a gallery for visitors, -below which is a large clock, that ticks in the prison<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_567" id="Page_567">[Pg 567]</a></span>er's ears, like -a bell of doom. Below it is the dock for the culprits, with stairs -descending to the covered passage, by which they are conveyed to and -from Newgate. Opposite the dock in which the wretched prisoner stands -up to plead for mercy, is the bench for the judges, and here may be -seen day after day the Recorder of London sitting to try offenders, -in his blue cloth gown, with furred borders, and his neck encircled -with a gold chain, listening listlessly to the testimony, and now and -then making notes on a square piece of paper, while from the open -window comes the chirruping of birds; and before him are arraigned poor -wretches in rags and squalor, on trial for offences which may peril -their lives, reputation and happiness.</p> - -<p>There are three large square windows in this Court, through which -appear the ridge of the gloomy walls of Newgate, having on their left -a gallery close to the ceiling, with projecting boxes, and on the -right the Bench extending the whole length of the wall, with desks -at intervals, for the use of the judges, whilst in the body of the -Court are the witness-box and the jury-box, below the windows of the -Court, an arrangement that allows the jury to look clearly, and without -turning, on the faces of the witnesses and the prisoners. The strong -light from the windows enables the witness to identify the prisoner, -who stands shivering in the dock, at the same time that it permits the -judges on the Bench and the counsel below in the hollow space of the -Court to keep jury, witnesses and prisoners all at once within the same -perspective line.</p> - -<p>In the upper seats are the double rows of reporters, smart, -well-looking and well-dressed fellows, the majority of whom look bored -and disgusted, as well they may, when it is taken into account that -they have to sit here day after day, to look at the same horse-hair -wigs of the jabbering lawyers, the same gowns, the same blank ceiling, -the same stupid, harsh faced jurymen, and the same hard looking or -wobegone wretches who stand up in the dock to listen to sentence or -acquittal. Occasionally there is a little amusement for them when some -ass of an alderman attempts in a pompous way, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_568" id="Page_568">[Pg 568]</a></span> show the bearing -of a statute in a criminal case, and only succeeds in exposing his -turtle-fed ignorance to the merriment of the knowing ones.</p> - -<p>Look there now. A youth well-dressed and cleanly-looking is brought -into the dock and placed for trial on a charge of forgery on his -employer, for the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds. The young fellow -has a weak, pallid face, and seems rather dazed at all the preparation -and mysterious jabber on his account. A dozen of the counsel, in black -stuff gowns and with white wigs of horse-hair look around for a minute -at the dock, where the prisoner stands, merely out of curiosity, as if -he were a sheep or a calf brought in for slaughter. Their curiosity -satisfied, they turn away from him and dismiss his pale face from their -thoughts almost instantaneously. The judge on the bench—who is flanked -by a fat alderman on each side, in red robes—sits, looking at some -documents, with a far-away, abstracted look, as if the prisoner at the -bar was a thousand miles distant, and a free man.</p> - -<p>And meanwhile the case progresses, the counsel for the Crown opening -indignantly on the side of virtue and the law, and witness after -witness is called up and kisses the book, and there is much making of -affidavit and counter-affidavit, and through all this maze of swearing -and mist of statement, it appears that the young lad at the bar has -been wild and reckless, and has signed his master's name, beyond all -doubt, to a check, which he had cashed, the proceeds of which were -spent in the haunts of vice and shame. The case goes to the jury, who -pronounce him guilty without leaving their seats, and the sun streams -through the windows on the despairing face of the youth, and I am -awakened from a sort of a trance into which I have fallen, to hear the -voice of the Recorder of the good city of London, drone out at the -prisoner:</p> - -<p>"In this case I can find no extenuating circumstances. You are of age -to know better, and the sentence of the Court is, therefore, that you -suffer penal servitude, with hard labor, for the space of twelve years."</p> - -<p>Good God! twelve years! He is not yet eighteen, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_569" id="Page_569">[Pg 569]</a></span> twelve best -years of his life are erased from his span of existence, by the breath -of the man in blue cloth gown and the fur tippet, and now the latter -goes up stairs to eat his dinner, the jury are dismissed, and a young -girl falls fainting in the Court as the prisoner is led out—however it -is only his sister. There is a little stir among the horse-hair-wigged -counsel and a buzz in the audience, and in three minutes another case -comes on to excite new interest, and make us forget the convict and his -sobbing, fair-haired sister.</p> - -<p>Upon the front of the dock is placed a sprig of rue, which dissipates -any infection that may proceed from the clothes of the prisoner, should -he be suffering from illness. The origination of this custom is worthy -of note.</p> - -<p>In 1750, when the jail fever raged in Newgate, the effluvia entering -the Court, caused the death of Baron Clarke, Sir Thomas Abney, the -judge of the Common Pleas; and Pennant's "respected kinsman," Sir -Samuel Pennant, Lord Mayor; besides members of the bar and of the jury, -and other persons. This disease was also fatal to several persons in -1772. Since that time a sprig of rue has always been kept in the dock -to drive away contagion.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE JUDGES' DINNER.</div> - -<p>Above the old Court is a stately dining-room, wherein, during the Old -Bailey sittings, the dinners are given by the sheriffs to the judges -and aldermen, the Recorder, Common Sergeant, city pleaders, and a few -visitors. Marrow-puddings and rump-steaks are always provided. Two -dinners, exact duplicates, are served each day, at 3 and 5 o'clock; and -the judges relieve each other, but aldermen have eaten both dinners; -and a chaplain, who invariably presided at the lower end of the table, -thus ate two dinners a day for ten years. Theodore Hook admirably -describes a Judges' Dinner in his <i>Gilbert Gurney</i>. In 1807-8, the -dinners for three sessions, nineteen days, cost Sheriff Phillips £35 -per day—£665; 145 dozen of wine, consumed at the above dinners, £450: -total £1,115. The amount is now considerably greater, as the sessions -are held monthly.</p> - -<p>Outside in the lobbies and hall rooms, passages and corridors<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_570" id="Page_570">[Pg 570]</a></span> adjacent -to and connected with the Old Bailey Court there is always a crowd -of lawyers, policemen, hangers-on, countrymen, cadgers, and persons -anxious to become spectators, females of the poorer class, members -of the aristocratic swell mob, sneak thieves and pickpockets, all -curious to know how matters are going on inside with their friends or -associates in crime or misfortune, and among them all, rushing hither -and thither, chatting and joking, conferring with his clients, and -nodding familiarly to the police and the officers of the Court, may -be seen the sharpest legal bird in the world. I mean the regular Old -Bailey practitioner, who could take a penny from a dead man's eyes, rob -an altar, or cheat the widow and orphan, and still prove to his own -satisfaction that it was done for a good and laudable purpose.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus93.jpg" alt="van" /> <a id="illus93" name="illus93"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> LOADING THE PRISON VAN.</p> - -<p>A not uncommon sight in the vicinity of police offices and petty -Courts, in London, is the noisy, brawling discharge of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_571" id="Page_571">[Pg 571]</a></span> prisoners, -who are turned out on the streets in the morning, after having been -locked up all night for trifling offences, or disorderly conduct and -intoxication.</p> - -<p>Their unlucky companions, who have received sentences of imprisonment, -are taken from the Courts to the places of confinement in which they -are to pay the penalty of their indiscretion or crime. Every morning -there is a dreadful row and confusion at the Bow street police office, -when the prisoners are brought out to be placed in the prison wagon or -"van," in which they are transported to Holloway, Milbank or Newgate -prisons. A large crowd assembles daily to witness the embarkation of -these poor wretches for their new residences. Fighting women, squalling -children, patient policemen, and drunken blackguards are among the -details of these assemblages. There is a strong able bodied virago, -with her dress hanging to her form in shreds, who has just tossed her -soiled bonnet madly among the crowd, with a series of shrieks, and -three policemen are hardly sufficient to restrain her, while she is -being helped into the "Van." At last she is locked up with other unruly -personages inside of the iron door, in a dark box, where she may swear -away to her heart's content for a ride of five to ten miles.</p> - - - -<p>And now let us take a look at the Justice Room of the Mansion House, -which is only a few rods distant from the Old Bailey.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE MANSION HOUSE.</div> - -<p>Be it known to all my readers that the Mansion House, or Guildhall, -is to London what the City Hall is to New York—the Hotel de Ville to -Paris or Brussels—and the Stadt Haus to Amsterdam. It is here that -the Lord Mayor of London lives and here he deals out justice to his -constituents. The Guildhall or Mansion House of London is one of the -finest public buildings in the city, and has a noble gallery, dining -hall, and a service of municipal gold and silver plate, which is used -by the Lord Mayor on state occasions, besides a splendid collection of -paintings.</p> - -<p>But it is of the Justice Court, a small room in the Mansion House, that -we have to speak on this occasion, and not of the plate, or of the Lord -Mayor's annual show.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_572" id="Page_572">[Pg 572]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Mansion House is just opposite the Bank of England and the Royal -Exchange, in the very heart of moneyed London, Lombard street being -but a very short distance around the corner, with its horde of money -changers, bill discounters brokers, and bankers.</p> - -<p>This Court is not opened before noonday, as the Lord Mayor of London is -too mighty a magnate to be hurried in his daily duties for any command -or Court of Justice.</p> - -<p>Accordingly at noon, I find myself below the steps leading to the -Mansion House, and presently I begin to ascend the broad staircase -of stone, with a small crowd of policemen, officers of the Court, -witnesses, and lawyers. I am questioned as to my business by an officer -at the door, but being in company with detective Irving, of New York -City (who is about to appear before the Lord Mayor, in the case of -Clement Harwood, the celebrated forger, whom the former had captured -at New York on board of an English steamer, before she had touched her -dock, and had him brought back to London for trial), I am admitted, -and after one or two turnings, find myself in a well-lighted room of -moderate size, with a high ceiling and two windows looking out on the -Poultry and Threadneedle street.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus94.jpg" alt="detective" /> <a id="illus94" name="illus94"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> DETECTIVE IRVING.</p> - -<p>Between those two windows is a throne or dais, gorgeous enough for -a monarch, and behind the throne are emblazoned the municipal mace -and sword, and the motto of the City of London, "Domine Dirige Nos," -surmounted by the lion and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_573" id="Page_573">[Pg 573]</a></span> unicorn, the arms of Great Britain. This -is the Lord Mayor's Chair of Justice, but the awful being to whom it -appertains has not yet made his appearance, and I have leisure to look -around me.</p> - -<p>There are two rows of desks, for the reporters, and behind them sit -representatives of the <i>Times</i>, <i>Daily News</i>, <i>Daily Telegraph</i>, -<i>Standard</i>, <i>Morning Advertiser</i>, and other leading journals, the -evening papers, with the exception of the <i>Echo</i>, <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i> -and <i>Globe</i> not being represented, the others always copying their -police reports from the morning journals.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE RICH RASCAL.</div> - -<p>There are two or three high desks in the centre of the room, a square -iron railing, and a number of police waiting to make charges, but -the prisoners are kept below in the lockup and will presently appear -through a trap door in the floor when they are called to answer to the -charges on the sheet.</p> - -<p>The American detective has just finished his business regarding -Harwood's case, and saunters in carelessly with his hat in his hand to -take a look around him.</p> - -<p>Presently there is a bustle and commotion, and a man looking like a -drum major of a band, with scarlet and gold facings on his coat, whom -I am informed enjoys the dignity of Mayor's Marshal, marches into the -room like a peacock, with his big staff of office, and cries out:</p> - -<p>"Make way there, for the Right Honorable the Lud Mayor."</p> - -<p>Then enters the awful being himself, in a furred robe of heavy cloth, -like one of Rembrandt's burgomasters, a blazing gold chain depending -from his neck and covering his waistcoat, and having taken his seat, -the charge sheet is examined by him in a dignified way, and the first -case is called.</p> - -<p>This is the case of the forger Harwood, a young man, the son of the -senior partner of one of the largest banking firms in London, who has -forged his father's name for the amount of £15,000.</p> - -<p>The trap door opens and discloses a fashionably-dressed and -good-looking young fellow, with a police officer on each side. The case -had excited great interest in London, and the prisoner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_574" id="Page_574">[Pg 574]</a></span> having fled to -New York was captured before the steamer got to her dock, and brought -back to London. Harwood had been brought to justice because the junior -member of the firm, to protect its interests, had been compelled to the -unwilling task of making the charge against his partner's son.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus95.jpg" alt="mayor" /> <a id="illus95" name="illus95"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> BEFORE THE "LORD MAYOR."</p> - -<p>Harwood has the air of a languid and haughty "swell," or exquisite, -and is most fashionably dressed. There is no flinching in his blonde -and whiskered face as he is brought up for sentence, having been -previously convicted. Out of £15,000, detective Irving recovered over -£11,000 from the forger, and it seems the charge is to be hushed up. -The father of the culprit is a wealthy citizen, and the counsel for the -prisoner makes his point that the greater part of the money having been -recovered, and the prisoner having "suffered much anguish of mind" for -his crime, has offered to go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_575" id="Page_575">[Pg 575]</a></span> to America if released, and make amends -for his "fault" by leading a new and repentant life.</p> - -<p>I looked at the exquisite, who stood there as cool as a cucumber, and -it seemed to me rather doubtful that he had suffered much anguish of -mind. I also doubted if he would be willing to lead a very virtuous -life in America. As he stood there with his assured and rather -contemptuous look and insolent face, he was quite a contrast to the -pale, weak-looking lad, who stood the day before in the dock of the -Old Bailey to receive with trembling lips his sentence of twelve long -years penal servitude, and just as the thought struck me, Irving, the -detective, whispered to me:</p> - - - -<p>"He looks very sorry, don't he? Of course! Cheese things."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE POOR RASCAL.</div> -<p>Then the Lord Mayor plucked up a proper spirit, threw back his -furred sleeves, put on a look of profound wisdom, consulted with the -prisoner's counsel, and making up his judicial mind that Harwood had -"suffered enough,"—poor young man—the forger was released and set -at liberty in order to allow him to become a virtuous citizen of the -United States. Nothing was said about the deficit of two or three -thousand pounds; the young man's family was wealthy and respectable. -But who is this poor rascal at the bar now, who appears as the friends -of the wealthy forger gather in a knot to congratulate him. Why it -is a low ruffian of a pickpocket who has been caught in the act of -abstracting a lady's reticule valued at fourteen shillings. The -villain! He has no wealthy friends, so let him take eighteen months -imprisonment at Hollaway prison, and there let him repent while on the -treadmill.</p> - -<p>I left the Lord Mayor's Court with mixed feelings, and the remarks of -the detective failed to reassure me as to the honesty of the method of -administering justice by his Worship, the Lord Mayor of London.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_576" id="Page_576">[Pg 576]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">TWO RIVALS—CANTERBURY AND ROME.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap41.jpg" alt="M" /> <a id="icap41" name="icap41"></a></span>ETROPOLITAN Life has its religious phases, also. London contains about -410,000 dwelling-houses, places of business, and public buildings, and -in this vast agglomeration of brick, stone, and mortar—there are about -seven hundred edifices devoted to public worship. In this number are -comprised places of worship for all sects: Roman Catholics, Protestants -of the Established Church of England, Baptists, Presbyterians, -Independents, Jews, Greeks, Moravians, Quakers, Socinians, -Wesleyan-Methodists, and even Hindoos, who have a temple of their own.</p> - -<p>There are two hundred and eighteen parishes in the Metropolis, under -the jurisdiction of vestries and parochial bodies who, in turn, are -subject to the Bishop of London, sitting as a temporal and spiritual -peer in the House of Lords. He is Provincial Dean of Canterbury, and -Dean of the Chapels Royal at Whitehall and the Savoy.</p> - -<p>The Bishop of London ranks next to the Archbishop of York and -Canterbury, and has an income of £10,000, annually, and the free gift -of one hundred and nine livings, ranging in value from £2,000 to £30 a -year. As Dean of Canterbury his income amounts to £2,000 a year. The -clergymen of the Established Church receiving the largest salaries in -the City of London, whose livings are in the gift of the Bishop of -London, are those of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, £2,290, St. Olave's, -Hart street, Bloomsbury, £1,891, and St. Giles, Cripplegate, £1,580.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_577" id="Page_577">[Pg 577]</a></span></p> - -<p>The smallest salary is that received by the pastor of St. Bartholomew -the Less, who only gets £30 a year, although his work is far harder -than that of the Dean of Westminster, who receives £4,000 a year. The -salary of the Archbishop of Canterbury is £20,000, and he has half a -dozen palaces throughout the country. The Archbishop of York receives -about £15,000 a year, and has two Episcopal and palatial residences.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SPURGEON AND "APOCALYPSE" CUMMING.</div> - -<p>Spurgeon, the great Baptist divine, who ranks somewhat like Henry Ward -Beecher, receives a salary of $18,000 a year for his preaching, and his -congregation, in 1860, erected for him a grand tabernacle at Newington, -on the Surrey side of the Thames near the Elephant and Castle, and in -one of the roughest districts of London, at a cost of £25,000. The -design is simple; the dimensions 85 by 174 feet, and here, every Sunday -evening, nearly six thousand persons assemble to listen to the vehement -eloquence of Spurgeon, who has his congregation drilled like a company -of infantry, and can move them to tears or laughter, as he chooses.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus96.jpg" alt="spurgeon" /> <a id="illus96" name="illus96"></a></p> -<p class="caption">SPURGEON.</p> - -<p>In Crown Court, Strand, is the Free Church of Scotland, a well-built -and commodious edifice, where the Scottish Presbyterians attend. The -pastor of this church is known all over the world by his writings and -his prophetic denunciations of the coming destruction of the world, -as "Apocalypse" Cumming. Thousands of pages have been written by this -eminent divine, and hundreds of sermons have been preached by him, in -which he has identified<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_578" id="Page_578">[Pg 578]</a></span> the Pope of Rome with the "Scarlet Woman" and -the "Beast," having the mark on her forehead, yet at the call of the -Ecumenical Council, he was the first Protestant divine in England, who, -in a manner acknowledged the Pope's jurisdiction by writing to him for -admission to the Council as a Priest or "Presbyter." Dr. Cumming is a -very energetic preacher, and his services are always well attended by -the disciples of his church, as well as by strangers, in London, who -manifest a great desire to hear the illustrious Scotch divine.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus97.jpg" alt="father" /> <a id="illus97" name="illus97"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> FATHER IGNATIUS.</p> - -<p>One of the most talked-about people in London is the famous "Father -Ignatius," whose design is to bring over English Episcopalians to the -Roman Catholic Church, although he does not say so ostensibly. This -man is evidently sincere in his efforts to bring back the English -Church to the place of its departure, for the Reformation—as far as -the ceremonial goes. It is very little different, that old-fashioned -church of St. Mary-le-Strand—where I saw Father Ignatius officiating -one Sunday afternoon, in the midst of incense, ringing of silver -bells, and kneeling worshippers, who went through all the most devout -genuflections of Roman Catholicism—from the Mother Church, in its -ceremonial. Father Ignatius wore a vestment, with a huge cross down -the back, his head was shaved on the top like that of a monk, and -his face and eyes, as he descended the steps of the altar, which was -surmounted with a Gothic cross, covered with flowers, and blazing -with lights, had an ascetic aspect, which is not commonly seen in -the features or eyes of a clergyman of the State<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_579" id="Page_579">[Pg 579]</a></span> Church. At every -motion of the body he made a low reverence to the Crucifix over the -altar. This Father Ignatius does not believe in a married Clergy, or -in Lay or Congregational administration of a Church—in fact he does -everything that a Roman Catholic Priest does, including the hearing of -confessions, yet he dares not acknowledge the Supremacy of the Bishop -of Rome, excepting in a negative sense. He is an advanced soldier of a -large and growing party in the Church of England, who gravitate with -tremendous strides daily towards the Church of Rome, but do not know -that they are thus gravitating, or knowing, will not acknowledge the -fact. This puny, slab-faced, and livid-looking Priest, has suffered, -too, with steadiness, has been stoned and mobbed by angry crowds, yet -he perseveres in his work, and has many thousand followers, male and -female, among the brightest, best, bravest, and most cultivated of -England's aristocracy.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.</div> - -<p>It is a strange, old-fashioned, and conservative Church, this State -Church of Great Britain. It has lasted three hundred years, with its -feasts and fasts, its liturgy, its prelates, spiritual peers, and -Thirty-Nine Articles.</p> - -<p>Englishmen have always, until of late days, been conservative, and -this old-fashioned Church, with its grave ceremonial, its Canons, and -Deaneries, with its Westminster Abbey, its St. Paul's Cathedral, and -its Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, has, in every way, satisfied -the English people—at any rate, it has served the purposes of the -ruling classes.</p> - -<p>But the Church of England, like all other things in this world, has -received some heavy blows in the course of its existence.</p> - -<p>First came the Great Civil War, in which Charles I lost his head, -and with him the Church of England lost its revenues, and its great -prestige departed when Laud ascended the scaffold.</p> - -<p>Then came the Restoration, which brought with it a dissolute King, -a dissolute nobility, and worst of all a dissolute clergy. The -horse-riding, beer-drinking, and gambling parsons of the reigns of -Queen Anne, William, and the Georges, such as Thackeray has so well -described, in his Parson Sampson, were morally unfit to join issue, -in a spiritual encounter, with such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_580" id="Page_580">[Pg 580]</a></span> earnest, plucky, and aggressive -Christians as Wesley, Whitfield, and Bunyan, proved themselves, and -consequently the Established Church lost its hold on half of the -working men and the agricultural classes of England toward the first -decade of the Nineteenth century. In particular, the manufacturing -towns lost all respect for the faith of the King and court, and such -places as Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, and Birmingham, became -strongholds of Dissent, while the pews of the rural churches, where -the poor of the parishes had never been welcome, since the days of the -dissolution of the monasteries, by Henry VIII, were left untenanted, -and a brutal ignorance took the place of implicit faith among the -English masses.</p> - -<p>And to cap the climax, a year ago a bill was brought into Parliament -for the destruction of the Established Church of Ireland, a church -which never had been accepted by the Irish people, and though the -English Churchmen, the Ministers, and the Tory party, rallied to save -the doomed edifice, yet it was swept away in a night, despite the -maneuvers of the leaders of the House of Lords, who wisely fought the -bill as long as they could, believing it to be the first great blow -delivered at the Established Church and the English aristocracy since -Catholic Emancipation in 1829.</p> - -<p>At present there is a terrific struggle going on in the Established -Church. One half of the clergy, among whom are the best educated and -most scholarly divines, secretly lean to the Catholic Church, and -belong to the "Ritualistic" party, with its incense, flowers, banners, -and Protestant Sisters of Mercy and Nuns; and the other half are again -divided into those who doubt the inspiration of the Scriptures, and -openly denounce the entire books of the Bible as a tissue of fables, -with Colenso, and a third party, who having sprung from the people, and -having no connection with any of the great beneficed Church families, -and being incumbents of £100 livings, or less, cannot support their -families or educate their children properly. This last faction is a -growing one, and though less educated than the other two parties, they -are equally earnest, and eagerly await the day when they can join the -ranks of the Baptists,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_581" id="Page_581">[Pg 581]</a></span> Independents, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, or -Methodists, for the purpose of forming a "Liberal" or "Broad" English -Church, such as Dean Stanley is supposed to represent in his theories.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ROMAN CATHOLIC STATISTICS.</div> - -<p>In the mean time the Roman Catholic Clergy are sleepless, -indefatigable, and aggressive in their movements, and as they do not -hope to convert the middle classes of the English people, who are all -staunch Protestants, they have laid siege to the souls of the two -extreme bodies, the aristocracy and the very poor and destitute, as -well as the working classes. And they are making great progress—in -fact alarming progress, as I will show here.</p> - -<p>In 1380, when England and Wales had been Catholic countries for more -than seven hundred and fifty years, there were more than 14,000 parish -churches, and 2,000 religious houses in the kingdom; there was one -parish church to every four square miles throughout the kingdom, and -one religious house to every thirty square miles; and there were 40,000 -priests, monks, and friars. The whole of these churches and convents -were taken away or destroyed during the Reformation; and, as I have -said, when the church was at last again set free, she had to commence -her work anew. In the half century since her hands were fully untied, -she has built more than 1,000 churches and chapels, and something -like 300 monasteries and convents, and she has over 1,700 priests -ministering at her altars. If this be the work of fifty years, how much -less is it, proportionately, than the work accomplished by the same -church in the first seven hundred and fifty years of her life.</p> - -<p>Therefore, the Roman Catholics, while they held supreme sway in -England, built 14,000 churches, which is less than twenty in each year, -while during the last fifty years they have built 1,000 churches, -which is also twenty in each year; but during this period, it must -be remembered that the public sentiment of Great Britain had been -overwhelmingly Protestant, while in the previous period referred to, a -Protestant was unknown.</p> - -<p>And now for the social status and influence of the Romanists in -England.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_582" id="Page_582">[Pg 582]</a></span></p> - -<p>There are, in the first place, 33 Catholic peers, 48 Catholic baronets, -and 36 Catholic members of Parliament. There are lords and lords, -and one lord differeth from another in glory as one star differeth -from another. It is unquestionably true that the Roman Catholic peers -and baronets are the representatives of the oldest, most noble, and -most influential families in the kingdom. The reigns of Edward VI, -Elizabeth, James I, and William and Mary, were marked by the extinction -of the greater part of the Roman Catholic houses. The nobles, who clung -to the ancient faith, were slain by the axe of the executioner, driven -into exile, or beggared by the confiscation of their estates, which -passed into the hands of the comparatively mushroom aristocracy that -sprang up upon the ruins of these illustrious families. But a few of -the old nobility contrived to escape the fate of the majority.</p> - -<p>There are in the United Kingdom 27 dukes, 32 marquises, 194 earls, -55 viscounts, and 220 barons—in all, 528 noblemen. But as I have -ascertained by dint of patiently reading through Burke's peerage, 228 -of these are the holders of titles which are the "creations" of the -present century; 163 date back only to the eighteenth century; 89 -to the seventeenth century; 17 to the sixteenth century; 20 to the -fifteenth century; 3 to the fourteenth century; 4 to the thirteenth -century; and 1 to the twelfth century. This last is Baron Kingsale, -whose title dates from 1181, and who is the twenty-ninth of his name.</p> - -<p>The most ancient dukedom is that of the Duke of Norfolk, created in -1483. The Norfolks, throughout all their history, remained faithful to -the Roman Catholic church. The present Duke is the fifteenth of the -name, and is "Earl Marshal, Premier Duke, and Earl of England." Of the -three nobles whose creation dates back to the fourteenth century, two -are Roman Catholics; of the twenty who date from the fifteenth century, -six are of that religion; and of the seventeen who date from the -sixteenth century, three are of the old faith. Out of the four hundred -and eighty whose titles are less than 270 years old, only twenty-two -are Catholics. And of the forty-eight Roman Catholic baronets, about -half of the number are the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_583" id="Page_583">[Pg 583]</a></span> descendants of gentlemen to whom this -hereditary rank was given in the early part of the seventeenth century.</p> - -<p>The ancient Roman Catholic hierarchy in England ended in 1584, with -the death of Thomas Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, who died in prison in -that year. The hierarchy was not restored until Sept. 9, 1850, when the -present Pope erected it by establishing all England as the "Province -of Westminster," embracing thirteen dioceses, and presided over by -an Archbishop. During this interval of 266 years, the Roman Catholic -Clergy in England were at first under the direction of an Archpriest.</p> - -<p>In Scotland the hierarchy has not yet been restored. It ended with the -death of the last Archbishop of Glasgow, who died in exile at Paris in -1603. Since then the Catholic Church in Scotland has been under the -charge of Vicars-apostolic.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A SKETCH OF "LOTHAIR."</div> - -<p>The greatest conquest made by the Roman Catholic clergy, of late years, -is that of the young Marquis of Bute, the original of Mr. Disraeli's -"Lothair," in his social and politico-religious novel of that name. -This young and noble lord was born on the 12th of September, 1847, -and is now in his twenty-third year. His father, the second Marquis -of Bute, married Lady Maria North, eldest daughter and co-heir of -George Augustus, third Earl of Guilford. This estimable lady died -childless, in 1841, and the old Marquis married again in 1845, Lady -Sophia-Frederica-Christina Hastings, second daughter of the first -Marquis of Hastings. The young Marquis was unfortunate in losing his -mother when he was in his twelfth year. Lord Bute has been a great -traveler for a man of his age, and being an only child he has had the -best of tutors that Europe could afford.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus98.jpg" alt="bute" /> <a id="illus98" name="illus98"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "LOTHAIR," (MARQUIS OF BUTE.)</p> - -<p>Nearly every young lady of wealth and rank in England<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_584" id="Page_584">[Pg 584]</a></span> set her cap for -the young Marquis when he attained his majority; but this nobleman is -very unlike the Marquis of Waterford or the Duke of Hamilton, who by -the way are distant relatives of his. He is not fond of dissipation, -and since his boyish days he has been of a reflective turn of mind, -with deep religious yearnings—yet withal he is not guilty of cant, and -does not bore one with his religious views. He is good looking, but -is not showy in his dress, and just now he is the lion of fashionable -Europe from the fame which attends him everywhere as the hero of -Disraeli's novel. The Marquis was reared a Presbyterian with decided -Church of England leanings, and was converted one year ago, to the -Roman Catholic faith through the efforts of Monsigneur Capel, who has -also a niche in "Lothair," under the title of Monsigneur Catesby. He -is a most accomplished ecclesiastic, who unites with a fascinating -exterior the greatest ability and perseverance.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">BUTE, MANNING, AND NEWMAN.</div> - -<p>The income of the Marquis is about £380,000 annually, and he has -decided to give one year's income, which is nearly two millions of -dollars, toward the construction of a Catholic Cathedral at Oxford, in -which all the glories of the Medieval Gothic shall be renewed. The roll -of this young nobleman's titles is enough to startle an American. They -are as follows: John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, Marquis of Bute, Earl of -Windsor, Viscount Mountjoy in the Isle of Wight, Baron Mount-Stuart of -Wortley and Baron of Cardiff Castle, Wales, in the Peerage of Great -Britain. He is also Earl of Dumfries and Bute, Viscount of Ayr and -Kingarth, Baron Crichton, Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, Lord Mount-Stuart -of Cumbrae and Inchmarnock, and Hereditary Keeper of Rothesay Castle -(formerly a Royal residence). Besides, he is a Baronet of Nova Scotia -among the Blue-Noses.</p> - -<p>Through his mother he is a Crichton, which is a royal House, and by his -father he comes of the equally royal House of Stuart, and he holds the -title of "Lord of the Isles." The motto of his family is "<i>Avito viret -honore</i>." (He flourishes in an honorable ancestry.) The motto of the -Hastings family, with which Lord Bute is connected, is "Trust warrants -troth."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_585" id="Page_585">[Pg 585]</a></span></p> - -<p>The most beautiful woman of the English nobility is Lady Victoria-Maria -Louisa Hastings, who is now in her thirty-third year. This lady was -a great pet of Queen Victoria, and when a child Her Royal Highness, -the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the Queen, held the pretty baby -in her arms as sponsor at the baptismal font, for the sake of a dear -friend, Lady Victoria's mother, who was Stephanie, Duchess of Baden, -and a relation of the Emperor Napoleon. The young girl grew up, and is -now the wife of John Forbes-Stratford Kirwan, Esq., of Moyne, County -Galway, Ireland.</p> - -<p>The Marquis of Bute is a relation of the late Baron Stuart de Rothesay, -for many years English Ambassador at Paris.</p> - -<p>It has been variously hinted and rumored that the Marquis of -Bute was at one time engaged to the Lady Albertina Hamilton, a -daughter of the Duke of Abercorn, and also to a young lady of the -Sutherland-Leveson-Gower family, which has for its head the Duke of -Sutherland. It is said that the "Lady Corisande" of "Lothair," is none -other than a daughter of the Duchess of Sutherland, the former firm -friend of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe.</p> - -<p>If the Marquis of Bute was indeed a suitor for the hand of a daughter -of the Duke of Abercorn, I am quite sure that he might have succeeded -in his endeavor, for I believe that that worthy nobleman has been -blessed with ten daughters and four stalwart sons, who can all answer -to the Slogan of the Hamiltons.</p> - -<p>The young Marquis has residences and castles, and immense domains, -at Mt. Stuart; Isle of Bute, at Cardiff Castle, Glamorganshire, at -Dumfries House, and he has a town house in London; besides, his name is -inscribed on the registers of four London and three Parisian Clubs.</p> - -<p>The ablest man in the English Roman Catholic Church is Archbishop -Manning, who has been such a firm supporter of the Papal Infallibility -in the Ecumenical Council. In due time, no doubt, this prelate will -have the Cardinal's red hat conferred upon him for his services.</p> - -<p>The greatest scholar in the Roman Catholic Church, in Eng<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_586" id="Page_586">[Pg 586]</a></span>land, is Dr. -J.H. Newman, the celebrated Oxford Tractarian, or Puseyite, who became -a convert to Catholicism, with Manning, and since 1840 has devoted his -brains to the service of his new Mother Church with great learning and -zeal. His picture shows one of the most spiritual faces in England—it -is almost weird in its nature.</p> - -<p>There is a monument erected to a man named Dow, in St. Botolph's Church -(Church of England) Aldgate, who bequeathed a sum of money to the -clerk of the church, to pay him for ringing a bell at midnight, on the -occasion of the execution of a criminal at Newgate. This was to call -the attention of the condemned man to his soul.</p> - -<p>It was this same Robert Dow who left, by will, in the year 1612, -the sum of £1 6<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i>, annually, as a fee to the Sexton of St. -Sepulchres, which is just opposite Newgate Prison, for pronouncing two -solemn exhortations to condemned criminals on the night preceding and -on the morning of their execution, as they passed the church-door on -their way to Tyburn-Tree.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail41.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail41" name="tail41"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_587" id="Page_587">[Pg 587]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XLII" id="CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE LEGION OF THE LOST.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap42.jpg" alt="V" /> <a id="icap42" name="icap42"></a></span>ERY different estimates have been made as to the extent of the Social -Evil in London, but that made some fifteen months ago by the Right -Reverend Dr. Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, from facts and figures -furnished him by medical men, the police returns, and the minor clergy, -places the number of abandoned or public women in London, at the -startling aggregate of eighty thousand unfortunates.</p> - -<p>This estimate of Vice and Sin is certainly calculated to intimidate and -terrify the Christian people of England, were it not for the fact that -a hundred agencies are constantly at work, upheld and supported by good -men and women, to lessen the number of these fair and frail members of -the Legion of the Lost.</p> - -<p>The great parade ground of the abandoned women of London, is the -Haymarket, when all London is at rest—when bed-room blinds are drawn -down, and street doors locked and chained—when lights are rarely seen -but in the windows of the sick wards of hospitals—then the Haymarket -is in its glory, gay and lively as a ball-room, and swarming with -gaudily dressed women sauntering and flaunting up and down its broad -pavements, crowding them as on an illumination night. The dissolute and -idle, the debauchee and the debauched, pour into this market of sin, -this Exchange of Vice and Harlotry, like moths attracted by the glare -that must sooner or later utterly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_588" id="Page_588">[Pg 588]</a></span> destroy them. This street is always -at night full of cabs, drunken men, noisy women, jugglers, and thieves.</p> - -<p>The Haymarket is the Republic of Vice, where all who enter are hale -fellows well met, for every one knows why the other has come here, and -caution being cast off for the time, all ranks and stations mingle.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"SCOTT'S" IN THE HAYMARKET.</div> - -<p>Outside the tavern doors are gathered clusters of swells talking to the -poor souls, who, disguised by some flash dressmaker, have hidden the -figure of the servant-maid under the toilette of the mistress. The heir -to a title stands bowing to some pretty faced girl, who mixes her bad -grammar with oaths. The door of a public house swings back to let the -hope of a family enter, who is about to sip wine at the counter with -the chip bonnet at his side.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus99.jpg" alt="scotts" /> <a id="illus99" name="illus99"></a></p> -<p class="caption">"SCOTT'S" IN THE HAYMARKET.</p> - -<p>Let us enter "Scott's" in the Haymarket. "Scott's" is the great Oyster -House of London. It is a little cosy, crowded place, and not more -than fifty feet deep by half as many feet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_589" id="Page_589">[Pg 589]</a></span> in width. At any hour of -the night and until two o'clock in the morning, it is possible to get -oysters, fried, roasted or raw, at "Scott's." They are also cooked -with cracker dust, which makes them taste as if they had been broiled -in sawdust. Oysters are quite dear at "Scott's," and will cost three -shillings a dozen, raw, which is a very high rate when compared with -the price of our American oysters. They are small and bitter, and -black, and the best of the bivalves come from Ostend in Belgium.</p> - -<p>There is a counter at the front of the shop, and behind this counter -are exposed all kinds of shell-fish, lobsters, prawns, crabs, -periwinkles or "winkles," and oysters, as well as mussels. The bounding -clam is unknown in England, however, and is not found amongst the -edibles. Behind this counter the proprietor and his wife, and three -or four male assistants in white aprons, are busily engaged opening -oysters and serving up lobsters and dressed lettuce, to the customers -who prefer to eat standing. To eat standing, however, is not the -common custom in England, and the majority who wish to eat oysters -take seats in the little stalls behind in the back room, which are -exactly like our American oyster stalls, only that they are furnished -with plush cushions. In these stalls are clerks, swells, men about -town, Englishmen and foreigners, eating oysters and drinking Stout, -or supping on lobsters and champagne, and as it is now after eleven -o'clock, nearly every man in these stalls has a girl of a certain class -with him, who is of course eating supper at his expense.</p> - -<p>Upstairs there is a room somewhat similar to the one below, which -is now densely crowded; but the upper room is more select. I went -upstairs, and here I found a number of couples lounging in a free and -easy manner, and some were calling loudly upon the waiters for brandy -and water. Seated in one of these stalls is a pink-faced boy, fresh -from his country home, helping with delicate attention the painted -woman beside him to costly viands.</p> - -<p>She laughs noisily as a man, flinging her arms about, and as the -Champagne foams in her glass, she tosses her head like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_590" id="Page_590">[Pg 590]</a></span> a Bacchante. -But an action that by daylight would seem disgusting to the boy, is -charming in the blaze of the Haymarket gaslight, and the lad looks with -admiration upon the companion whom on the morrow he would pass without -a nod of recognition.</p> - -<p>The police returns for the year 1868-9, give the following figures as -to the number of public women, or prostitutes, who are known to the -police in the metropolitan district of London:</p> - -<table summary="brothels" width="80%"> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td>Brothels. -</td> -<td>Prostitutes. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Within the districts of Westminster, Brompton, and -Pimlico, there are, -</td> -<td align="right">153 -</td> -<td align="right">524 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>St. James, Regent-street, Soho, Leicester-square, -</td> -<td align="right">152 -</td> -<td align="right">318 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Marylebone, Paddington, St. John's-wood, -</td> -<td align="right">139 -</td> -<td align="right">526 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Oxford-street, Portland-place, New-road, Gray's-inn-lane, -</td> -<td align="right">194 -</td> -<td align="right">546 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Covent-garden, Drury-lane, St. Giles's, -</td> -<td align="right">45 -</td> -<td align="right">480 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Clerkenwell, Pentonwell, City-road, Shoreditch, -</td> -<td align="right">152 -</td> -<td align="right">349 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Spitalfields, Houndsditch, Whitechapel, Ratcliff, -</td> -<td align="right">471 -</td> -<td align="right">1,803 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Bethnal-green, Mile-end, Shadwell to Blackwall, -</td> -<td align="right">419 -</td> -<td align="right">965 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Lambeth, Blackfriars, Waterloo-road, -</td> -<td align="right">377 -</td> -<td align="right">802 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Southwark, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, -</td> -<td align="right">178 -</td> -<td align="right">667 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Islington, Hackney, Homerton, -</td> -<td align="right">185 -</td> -<td align="right">445 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Camberwell, Walworth, Peckham, -</td> -<td align="right">65 -</td> -<td align="right">228 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Deptford and Greenwich, -</td> -<td align="right">148 -</td> -<td align="right">401 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Kilburn, Portland, Kentish, and Camden Towns -</td> -<td align="right">88 -</td> -<td align="right">231 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Kensington, Hammersmith, Fulham, -</td> -<td align="right">12 -</td> -<td align="right">106 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Waltham-green, Chelsea, Cremorne, -</td> -<td align="right">47 -</td> -<td align="right">209 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">—— -</td> -<td align="right">—— -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">2,825 -</td> -<td align="right">8,600 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p>For the one public woman here registered there are five who do not -reside in brothels, but live alone, hiring lodgings for which they -pay from eight shillings to five guineas a week, according to the -manner in which the apartments are furnished, and the character of the -neighborhood in which they are situated, so that it is calculated that -there are seventy to eighty thousand women in London whose names do not -appear in the official list of the Lost, yet lead immoral lives, and -whose sin is as great in the sight of God, but less in the sight of -man, as their infamy is not of that nature that the law can punish them -for it.</p> - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus100.jpg" alt="mission" /> <a id="illus100" name="illus100"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE MIDNIGHT MISSION.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_593" id="Page_593">[Pg 593]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>God knows it is from no persistent desire to uncover the sores and -ulcers of the huge city, that I state these facts.</p> - -<p>Great and unceasing efforts are being made by the clergy and -philanthropic citizens of London to diminish this terrible Traffic in -Souls, which is the distinguishing mark of infamy that clings to the -Haymarket.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"MIDNIGHT MISSION."</div> - -<p>For some years past these unfortunate women have been collected -together while plying their avocation, in an apartment in the vicinity -of the Haymarket, in which some slight refreshments are prepared for -them, ices and cooling but temperate drinks being served up gratis to -all who will attend and listen to the words of repentance and hope from -the mouths of clergymen who visit this place nightly for the purpose of -reclaiming these Lost Ones. This is called the "Midnight Mission," or -"Meeting," and the girls are gathered by having circulars presented to -them in the street as the hour nears midnight. A great number attend, -and they generally listen with patience and decorum. This Mission was -founded by the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, who first preached to the -unfortunate girls.</p> - -<p>A high officer of the London police informed me that there were in -that city about seven thousand lost women who are always well dressed, -well gloved, and well shod, who live comfortably, and many of them -elegantly. These women, of course, are all Free Lances, and prey upon -the fashionable young men of London and strangers who visit the great -Babylon.</p> - -<p>Of this number, he stated that three thousand five hundred were what -is called under protection, or kept mistresses. The remainder have -hired lodgings for themselves in Pimlico, Fitzroy square, Portman -street, Howard street, Winchester street, Sutherland street, Gloucester -street, and other respectable localities of the metropolis, paying two -or three sovereigns a week for a suite of apartments, and furnishing -them at their own expense. This latter class, as a general thing, live -individually apart from each other, and keep each a servant of all -work, to do their cooking and washing.</p> - -<p>Some of these girls have furnished their apartments at a cost of -from two to five hundred pounds, ordering the most costly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_594" id="Page_594">[Pg 594]</a></span> articles -of furniture with the extravagance and profusion peculiar to their -class. Pictures, etageres, buffets, mirrors, ormolu clocks, tapestry -carpets, and the most luxurious articles of bijouterie and the -toilet are to be found in their apartments; and, unlike their frail -sisters in New York and Paris, these London girls act with complete -independence of their landladies, who in the cities mentioned, as a -rule, treat the unfortunate women placed in their power more like -dogs than human beings. In London, these girls are in the strictest -sense their own mistresses, and therefore do not come under any police -regulations; nor can they receive the designation of professionals, -as they never solicit men on the street, or live in what is called a -house of ill-fame. The persons who rent apartments to these girls in -the districts which I have thus enumerated, are not supposed to know -anything about the occupation or business of tenants, and they never, -by any possibility, attempt to interfere with them.</p> - -<p>One of the most frequented resorts of Lost Women in London is the -Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea, on the Thames river bank, and distant -about four miles from the Post Office and St. Paul's Cathedral.</p> - -<p>These Gardens comprise about four acres, which are covered with trees, -and ornamented with fountains, flower-beds, and statues. This is the -maddest place in London, after ten o'clock in the evening. Until that -hour, the middle class of London citizens, shopkeepers, tradesmen, -and clerks, and their wives and sweethearts, have possession of the -Gardens; but at that hour they leave the place, and from thence until -one and two o'clock in the morning Cremorne is in the possession of -Lost Women and their male friends and abettors.</p> - -<p>The Cremorne is in many respects very like the Mabille at Paris, but -decency is better enforced, and the women at Cremorne have not such a -debased look as their unfortunate sisters of the Mabille.</p> - -<p>At Cremorne there is a circular platform on which a band of music -is constantly stationed during the evening, and here the dancing is -principally done. Between the dances the girls<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_595" id="Page_595">[Pg 595]</a></span> promenade, or take -supper with their male friends in the numerous restaurants, which -are always crowded to excess by noisy people of both sexes, drinking -Champagne and Moselle, or eating lobster or devilled kidneys. Cold -suppers are provided for the girls in an upper saloon, for which they -are charged two shillings and sixpence a piece, without wine. Then -there are fireworks, two or three theatres and music halls, Japanese -jugglers, bowling alleys, shooting galleries, and other modes of -diversion and amusement.</p> - -<p>Swarms of young fashionables from the Opera, where they have been -listening to the enchanting strains of a Tietjens, a Nillson, or a -Patti, in evening dress with thin overcoats, may be seen here of a warm -night, or perhaps they may have come from the clubs in St. James or -Piccadilly, to kill time.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus101.jpg" alt="skittles" /> <a id="illus101" name="illus101"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "SKITTLES" AND THE PRINCESS MARY.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"SKITTLES" AND THE PRINCESS MARY.</div> - -<p>"Skittles," now dead, who was at one time the most famous woman of her -class in London, was very fond of attending Cremorne, where she was in -the habit of drinking large quantities of Champagne. "Skittles" was -at one time a great personage in London, and bore on her brougham the -crest of a Marquis. This audacious woman had the temerity to dispute -the way with the Princess Mary of Cambridge, while that member of the -Royal family was riding in Rotten Row. "Skittles" was on horseback, -being in full riding dress, and the Princess Mary was also on -horseback, when they met, and it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_596" id="Page_596">[Pg 596]</a></span> is said that "Skittles" lifted her -dainty little riding whip at the astonished Princess, and demanded that -she should give her precedence in the Ride.</p> - -<p>Cremorne is a great place for rows between the women and the fast -young men who attend the amusements there. While promenading around -the Dancing Ring one evening, I noticed a crowd gathering, and heard -a female voice uttering screams of distress. The young lady with the -unearthly voice I ascertained was a habitue of the place, known as "Mad -Rose," and the offending biped was a certain fast baronet named Sir -Frederick Johnstone, who has since figured in the Mordaunt Divorce Suit.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus102.jpg" alt="row" /> <a id="illus102" name="illus102"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> A ROW AT CREMORNE.</p> - -<p>It seems that this "Mad Rose" had been at one time under the baronet's -protection, and the afternoon before the rencontre he had met her in -the Park, and passed her without recognition, although she sought it -from him. She was determined to have her revenge for this, besides -some old scores she had to settle with him; or it was that he had not -settled some old scores with her.</p> - -<p>The girl was tall, elegantly shaped, and dressed in a tasteful and rich -manner, becoming her blonde hair and complexion. Seeing the baronet -with his friends, she stepped up to him, and singling him out, struck -him across the face with her gloved hand, which was glittering with -diamonds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_597" id="Page_597">[Pg 597]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">A ROW AT CREMORNE.</div> - -<p>Then she uttered a scream of feminine distress, and a crowd of swells -gathered around her. Then she knocked off his hat and screamed again. -The baronet uttered no remonstrance, but backed up against a railing, -his hat lying on the ground. Attempting to pick it up, she knocked -it off again and screamed. This thing went on for the space of ten -minutes, the girl, in a passion—whether fictitious or not, I cannot -tell—slapping the exquisite in the face at intervals, knocking off -his hat and screaming, but not forgetting to pour volleys of abuse -upon the baronet's head in the meanwhile. A great crowd collected and -enjoyed the fun. But I noticed that not a man in the assemblage offered -to interfere, and the baronet's friends refused to molest her, with -the exception of one, who caught hold of her wrists, and he had to let -go his hold of her in an instant, as he was attacked in a body by the -other girls, who put him to flight immediately. The baronet begged for -mercy, but got none; and, finally, a grand charge was made on the crowd -by the Cremorne police, and it was dispersed.</p> - -<p>This movement relieved the baronet from further persecution, and the -mad woman was taken away. One fact was noticeable—not a man in the -crowd even attempted to raise his hand to the girl during her repeated -assaults. Had it been in America, I am certain she would, under such -circumstances, have met with very rough, if not brutal treatment.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail42.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail42" name="tail42"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_598" id="Page_598">[Pg 598]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XLIII" id="CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">SCARLET WOMEN.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap43.jpg" alt="W" /> <a id="icap43" name="icap43"></a></span>E were standing on the smooth, grassy lawn, at Goodwood, a wandering -American and the writer, strangers in a strange land, with the bustle -and uproar which are always adjuncts to a Race Course in any country, -and the Babel exclamations of a multitudinous assemblage sounding in -our ears.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">GOODWOOD RACES.</div> - -<p>It was the first day of the annual races, which are run for three days -in every year, at Goodwood, the princely residence and grounds of the -Duke of Richmond. This is the most aristocratic race meeting held in -England, and it is always frequented by the nobles and people of high -social position, with their wives, daughters, and lady friends.</p> - -<p>The meeting is divided into three separate days running, each day -having a distinctive title, and known to those familiar with equine -sport, as the "Stakes Day," the "Cup Day," and the "Duke's Plate Day."</p> - -<p>It was a beautiful and unclouded English July noon, and the smell of -the hawthorn hedges, and the faint breath of the hollyhocks made a -perfume in the air, which banished all humors and sulkiness from the -crowds of well dressed and well bred people who had been waiting to -hear the saddling bell rung before the start. Lithe and sinewy little -jockeys, clad in parti-colored silk shirts, and wearing kaleidoscopic -caps of the same material, walked the fresh-looking, silken-maned, and -symmetrical-limbed horses, up and down the velvety green sward, to give -the high bred English girls an opportunity to inspect their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_599" id="Page_599">[Pg 599]</a></span> favorites, -whose colors predominated in the shades of their gloves, parasols, and -gracefully-hung robes, which rustled around their supple and elegant -figures.</p> - -<p>Under high, sheltering greenwood trees, cosy seats were arranged for -the ladies, who made the Lawn picturesque with their bright colored -dresses that shone with splendor as their owners gathered in brilliant -patches on the velvety turf, gossiping and chatting while Guardsmen, -and Clubmen, Heavy Swells, and noisy boys, from Eton and Harrow, -gamboled and shouted as if at cricket, and sedate gownsmen from -Cambridge, and Double Firsts, and Wranglers, from Oxford, made wagers, -and drew from their coat-pockets small betting books to record the sums -invested.</p> - -<p>The Embankment, a high, long, and well-kept mound of grass-covered -earth, was swarming with the fair sex, all of whom had their swan-like -necks encircled with white lace ruffs, which serve so well as a setting -for a well-shaped and milk-white throat.</p> - -<p>Afar off we could observe, through yawning gaps in the ancient and -stately trees, which were pierced by the ruddy beams of sunlight, the -tall towers and fair proportions of Goodwood House, the magnificent -mansion of the Duke of Richmond. Twenty to twenty-five thousand people -were gathered in the noble old Park whose vistas stretched off into -dells, copses, and woodland nooks, for thousands of acres.</p> - -<p>Here were gathered all the well-known aristocratic patrons of the turf -in England, men who would hardly be seen at Newmarket or Epsom, and -here again were the racing men, whose names are met with everywhere -in England, where the warning bell is rung to saddle, and where -thousands may be lost and won in an hour—the Westmorelands, the -Savilles, Chaplins, Anneslies, Prince Soltykoff, Count de Lagrange, -who owned "Gladiateur," Lord Vivian, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Lord -Roseberry, Sir Joseph Hawley, Admiral Rous, Captain Hall, Lord Wilton, -Lord St. Vincent, Lord Ailesbury, Sir C. Legard, Baron Rothschild, -the Duke of Beaufort, Mr. W.S. Crawfurd, Lord Poulett, Lord Falmouth, -Lord Calthorpe, Mr. E. Brayley,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_600" id="Page_600">[Pg 600]</a></span> Lord Strafford, Mr. Bromsgrove, and -many others, titled and untitled, who are leaders among the racing -aristocracy. The Marquis of Hastings, and the Duke of Newcastle, that -day, were absent—the first in his grave, the other beggared by his -extravagance, and an outcast among his peers.</p> - -<p>As the day grew apace, the swarms of people became more densely packed -until all classes of the sporting multitude were represented. There -was the "Welcher," who makes bets and does not pay when he loses, a -low-sized, stumpy fellow, in cutaway frock coat and drab beaver hat, a -huge horse's head pin sticking out of his gaudy, blue scarf, which is -dotted with small white balls, and wearing a shaggy moustache, which he -twists with the head of his cane, that has for a knob a nag's head, in -bone-work.</p> - -<p>Yonder, stopping to ask for a noggin of gin from one of the proprietors -of the numerous ginger beer and refreshment stands, is the London prize -fighter—a model, in his way—thick set, broad in the loins, and having -a murderous forehead and a battered face, from some recent encounter, -one of those dangerous-looking, suspicious fellows, whom you may meet -with any night wandering about the docks in Wapping, or lounging at the -notched doorway of a tavern in Shoreditch, or Whitechapel.</p> - -<p>Sauntering this way, where I stand in a shady spot with my American -friend, are two "heavy swells," dressed in the height of fashion, and -mincing their vowels in a feminine manner; yet effeminate as their -language sounds, they are both massive-looking fellows, and now I -recollect having seen both leaning out of the bow window of the Guard's -Club, in Pall Mall, and one of the pair I have also noticed trooping -his company at St. James' Palace, at the unusually early hour—for -him—of nine o'clock, of a summer's morning.</p> - -<p>Men are gambling, and singing, and eating, and drinking, and betting -shillings and sovereigns all around us, and my companion seems stunned -by the noise and uproar which rises and swells in an indistinct way -this hot July day, as we move<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_601" id="Page_601">[Pg 601]</a></span> from place to place seeking a quiet nook -where we may commune together.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">ENGLISH MINSTRELSY.</div> - -<p>There is suddenly a discordant hum and a party of strolling minstrels -halt before a carriage and commence to serenade the fair lady -listeners, who fling sixpences to them languidly. These minstrels have -their faces blacked, and are appareled in hideous check coats with very -small bodies, and have very large buttons sewed to the skirts, which -are ornamented with ridiculously long tails. The songs generally sung -by those wretched minstrels, are slangy, and sound senseless to an -American's ear, as witness the following stanza which they chant with -wide-mouthed refrain:—</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Button up your waistcoat, button up your shoes,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Have another liquor and throw away the blues,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Be like me and good for a spree,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From now till the day is dawning.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For I am a member of the Rollicking Rams,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Come and be a member of the Rollicking Rams,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The only boys to make a noise,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From now till the day is dawning."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The course was lined and packed with every known manner of vehicle and -equipage. There were drags, four-in-hands, dog-carts, landaus, tandem -teams, ladies' pony chaises, phætons, carryalls, clarences, broughams, -and open barouches. Many of the turn-outs were adorned with the crests -of noble families, and some few bore the princely cognizances of great -Continental houses.</p> - -<p>One of these large, roomy, and handsomely-constructed, open barouches, -drawn by four grey horses, served as a focus for many glances drawn -toward it. Some of the glances bestowed on the female occupants of the -handsome barouche were very unfriendly—and when some proud patrician -girl rode by, her eyes shot fire at the borrowed splendor of the three -Scarlet Women, who reclined lazily upon the softly-cushioned seats, and -no less hostile were the glances thrown on the graceful wavy figure of -the handsome girl who sat her thoroughbred and silken-eared and shapely -chestnut bay mare by the side of the barouche, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_602" id="Page_602">[Pg 602]</a></span> who bent over like -a reed to chat with the principal female figure leaning back on the -cushions.</p> - -<p>I looked at these four gaily dressed, handsome women, with their loud -chatty manners, their indescribably bold flashes of the eye, their -familiar and free conversation with the titled fools and giddy young -lordlings, and baronets and rich young commoners, and as I looked I -saw that these four women represented the Great Social Plague Spot of -England. While I looked, a police inspector, from London, who had come -down to this ordinarily quiet, Sussex town, to keep an eye on some -distinguished pickpockets who were to attend the races, sauntered to -where I stood with my friend, and as I had made his acquaintance in the -English capital he was not long in informing me as to the character of -the magnificently attired women.</p> - -<p>"They are the four gayest women in England, Sir," said he, "Those four -ladies—<i>we</i> call them <i>ladies</i> because we dare not call them anything -else, they have so many protectors of rank and influence—are "Mabel -Grey," "Anonyma," "Baby Hamilton," and "Alice Gordon."</p> - -<p>"Mabel Gray?" said my friend enquiringly, "I think I've heard of her -before—which is she?"</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus103.jpg" alt="mabel" /> <a id="illus103" name="illus103"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "MABEL GREY."</p> - -<p>"That's her, Sir, as is sitting back in the front seat with a plate of -chicken on her lap, with the golden butterflies in her lace bonnet, -and the splendid diamond cross hanging from her neck—that's the gal -with the blue eyes and auburn hair. The gal that's holding the long -necked green glass for that swell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_603" id="Page_603">[Pg 603]</a></span> to pour champagne into it, is "Baby -Hamilton"—ah, she is a wild one—many's the thousand pounds the young -Jook of Hamilton squandered on her, and so did the poor Marquis of -Hastings, poor fellow—wuss for him. The finest looking gal of all is -that "Anonyma" gal as some of these fellows that has book eddication -has called her—they say it means "No Name," but I know she has a -name, for it used to be Kate Bellingham when she came to London first. -Oh, she's a high blooded one—just look at how she sits that chestnut -mare—I'll warrant you that mare would bring six hundred guineas at -Tattersall's—if she'd bring a pound—ye won't ketch her drinking in -public, she's too proud of herself to do that—no, Sir, she wouldn't -be seen taking a drink from the Prince of Wales himself at a public -place like the Race Course. Now there's Alice Gordon," added the police -officer, who began to grow loquacious in his description of these fair -but frail and giddy beauties, "she's a quiet, orderly, young creature, -and as pretty as a peach, poor little thing—God help her—she never -knew a mother's care, and she was lost for want of a kind word and a -loving heart to guide her young steps."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"THEY ARE OFF."</div> - -<p>Now the saddling bell has rung amid the greatest excitement, and the -multitude who have been flirting, eating, and drinking, betting, and -playing at divers games of chance, become suddenly hushed, and a great -quiet comes over the populated fields, stands, and tents, as the -jockeys ride forth to the starting point, five famous horses held in -the leash and straining their necks with avidity and equine eagerness -for the race. The ladies of the demi-monde settled themselves well -forward in their seats. "Anonyma" swept by on her chestnut to get a -good position for a look at the horses. "Mabel Grey" allowed her knife -and fork, which she had been using on the unoffending chicken, to fall -into her plate, and the tangled curls of "Baby Hamilton" reclined on -her shoulders as a fool of a Guardsman gave her his arm to assist her -to stand up in the drag, and handed her his glass to sweep the field. -The stately looking footman who is bustling among the dishes and wine -bottles, assisting "Anonyma's" butler in preparation for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_604" id="Page_604">[Pg 604]</a></span> the coming -feast, stops in his occupation to listen to the thundering roar of the -crowd, and to look at the gallant animals as they come forward to the -stand. The butler, who is a grave and elderly personage, receives his -orders from "Anonyma," with dignity, and he is lost to sight among -the game-hampers and the champagne bottles, and Moselle flasks, for a -moment.</p> - -<p>Listen to that cheer and long-continued shout! They are off, they are -off; and the whole vast swarm of human beings is aroused. The ladies -clap their hands and utter weak sounds of joy or distress, and the -cadgers, tramps, and more polished pickpockets, are now beginning to -reap their harvest in the midst of the excitement and momentary frenzy.</p> - -<p>The race is a two-mile stretch, and only five horses are entered. The -prize is the Goodwood Cup, valued at three hundred sovereigns.</p> - -<p>Two of the horses entered are four-year-olds, and the others are -three-year-olds. The great Jewish banker and member of Parliament, -Baron Rothschild, has entered "Restitution," a four year old, who is -ridden by Daley, an Irish jockey of fame. Sir Frederick Johnstone's -entry is "Brigantine," a three year old. Mr. Saville's "Blueskin," Lord -Calthorpe's "Robespierre," and Lord Strafford's "Rupert," make up the -number of horses who have darted by the Grand Stand in the storm of -wild huzzas.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"ANONYMA."</div> - -<p>"Anonyma," whose chestnut was pawing the turf in a frisky manner, -grips the bridle of the blooded mare, and pulls hardily at her mouth. -A number of roughs around a booth salute her with not very choice -language, for she is known at the races, and the blood mantles in -her cheek and the crimson tide surges up to her temples as a coarse -blackguard repeats an opprobious epithet, and before he can draw -back she lays his cheek open with her dainty riding-whip, and giving -the mare more rope, the crowd opens wide for her with a cheer, and -she dashes across the Course on a canter, just as the Rothschild's -jockey, with his head bent down to the mane of "Restitution," and his -silken cap flying in the hot wind, sweeps by, "Blueskin" following -fast, and the great banker's jockey swerving aside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_605" id="Page_605">[Pg 605]</a></span> from his course, -wins, by a miracle; "Restitution" having been for a moment blinded by -the long skirts of "Anonyma," in her mad canter across the turf, and -now there is a huzza, and a rending, wild hurricane of applause, as -Rothschild's colors go forward to the Weighing Stand, and "Restitution" -is pronounced winner of the Goodwood Cup of 1869, "Robespierre" being a -bad fourth, and "Rupert" coming in last of the field.</p> - -<p>Now the principal race of the day is ended, and great acclaim having -been given to the victor, the crowds disintegrate and separate into -little knots for refreshments, and hard-faced fellows, in flashy -costumes, may be seen pulling from capacious pockets, greasy wallets, -to settle their debts of "honor," and much beer is drank among the -humble people, and floods of costly wines are poured out in drags and -dog-carts, and bright eyes and smiling lips meet one everywhere, and -there is a clatter of knives and forks, and a popping of corks in the -vicinity of the carriages occupied by the Scarlet Women of London, who -are here to-day in swarms, and who are caressed and welcomed as if -their position was assured and the dark shadow of a Shameful Life had -not fallen upon them.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus104.jpg" alt="anonyma" /> <a id="illus104" name="illus104"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "ANONYMA."</p> - -<p>Leaning over the side of the drag, and talking to Mabel Grey, are three -of the "fastest" young men in England, Lord Arthur Pelham Clinton -(since dead), Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and the Duke of Newcastle, -brother to Lord Arthur. All three are bankrupt in fortune as well as -in morality. Lord Arthur's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_606" id="Page_606">[Pg 606]</a></span> mother, a daughter of the former Duke of -Hamilton, dishonored her husband, and there seems to be a taint in the -blood of the young noble, who has been living on his wits for years. He -is a languid-looking fellow, and does not look as if he could fall-to -and saw a load of wood.</p> - -<p>Mabel Grey says to Lord Arthur, with a lisp: "Clinton, do take a bit of -chicken and a glass of fizz. No? Well then, take a glass of hock, like -a dear good boy. You look awfully cut. What can be the matter with the -man?"</p> - -<p>Just under the shadow of the wide-spreading beech-tree, where the drag -is stationed, an itinerant preacher is about to commence a phillipic -against Vice and Crime. He could not have chosen a better location than -this, where the ears of these Painted Women may be filled by him with -some truths that they seldom seek after.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus105.jpg" alt="alice" /> <a id="illus105" name="illus105"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "ALICE GORDON."</p> - -<p>"Alice Gordon," the fair-haired blonde, with the deep blue eyes, -condescends to bestow a glance at the preacher, who, now that he is -beginning to draw a crowd by his fiery invective, and denunciatory -language, directs a look of scorn and pity at the Lost Women in the -drag. The crowd, who naturally dislike women of the class of Lais and -Aspasia, give encouragement to the squat-figured and harshly-spoken -Boanerges. The swells around the drag, who are now joined by Sir -Frederick Johnstone, advise the Scarlet Women to tell the coachman -to whip up the horses and "dwive the dwag away from that beastly -preacher—the howid little boah."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_607" id="Page_607">[Pg 607]</a></span></p> - -<p>The preacher thunders at them, "Go, you gaudy libertines, with your -harlots and your women of Sodom, England is cursed with such as you. -But God will punish you all, and will smite you in your hour of pride. -For what says the Book, whose pages you never open:</p> - -<p>"<i>The ungodly are forward, even from their mother's womb; as soon as -they are born they go astray, and speak lies.</i></p> - -<p>"<i>They are venomous as the poison of a serpent, even like the deaf -adder, that stoppeth her ears.</i></p> - -<p>"<i>Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; smite the jaw-bones of the -Lions, O Lord; let them fall away like water that runneth apace; and -when they shoot their arrows let them be rooted out.</i>"</p> - -<p>"Baby Hamilton," one of the women in the drag, shudders at these -Inspired Words and grows pale, while "Anonyma," who canters up easily -on her chestnut, asks Sir Frederick Johnstone:</p> - -<p>"Did you pull off a pot of money on "Brigantine," Sir Frederick?"</p> - -<p>"No, the doose of it was I lost two thousand on my own horse. But I -hedged and took 'Restitution' against the field, so I am not so badly -plucked."</p> - -<p>And this is the entertainment and conversation of some of the -hereditary rulers of England. Pardon me, reader, if I have brought you -into such loose and unprincipled company. I did it to show you who are -the female companions of a majority of the young English nobility. It -is this class of young men who patronise these Social Pariahs, and look -with contempt upon the manners of a respectable girl, and vote the -conversation of virtuous women as a bore.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"MABEL GREY."</div> - -<p>That woman with the sunny smile, laying back in the drag, toying with -her fan—Mabel Grey—was, five years ago, a wretchedly-paid working -girl, who eked out an existence as a shoe-binder, in a shop in Oxford -street, London, on a pittance of seven shillings a week. Now, the -diamonds on her fingers would purchase a comfortable villa, and around -her throat, which is white as alabaster, is a necklace of pearls, that -cost the Prince of Wales five thousand pounds, it is said. She rides<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_608" id="Page_608">[Pg 608]</a></span> -every day in Rotten Row, the famous ride and fashionable drive in -Hyde Park, and her skirts often touch the garments of the Princess of -Wales as they pass each other in the crowded Row. And certainly the -Princess has no reason to look pleasantly at Mabel Grey. Mother to five -children, and daughter of the Vikings, with clear, unsullied Norse -blood in her veins, she may well question herself, when alone, "Why did -I marry a profligate and blackguard?"</p> - -<p>Mabel Grey is the original of Boucicault's "Formosa," and it was she -who gave a name to Dan Godfrey's famous "Mabel Waltz." Godfrey is the -leader of the Guard's band, and the musician thought that it would be -received as a delicate compliment by his aristocratic patrons, to call -a delicious piece of dance music by the Christian name of the chief of -England's Hetairæ.</p> - -<p>In every shop-window the features of Mabel Grey are flaunted at one -along with the portraits of Nillson, Patti, the Queen, the Princess -of Wales, and other virtuous and good women. You may meet her and -"Anonyma" at the Opera, at the Chiswick Flower Show, at Kensington -Gardens, and other fashionable resorts, mingling unrebuked among -the noblest ladies in the land. She has a sumptous villa at St. -John's Wood, Brompton, a suburb of London, and in her stables are -constantly kept twelve to fifteen blooded animals for the saddle or -for driving—these horses being the gifts of her numerous aristocratic -admirers. She dines off dishes of silver and gold, and has a host of -servants. At Ascot she induced the Prince of Wales to bet on a certain -horse, whereby he lost the nice little sum of $100,000, or £20,000.</p> - -<p>And it is this bold, brazen, and bad woman, who divides the heart of -the Prince of Wales with the Princess Alexandra, his lawful wife and -the mother of his children, the other half being owned by Mabel Grey, -together with his pocket-book, which he is most apt to keep closed to -all others.</p> - -<p>She was the cause of the ruin of Captain Milbanke, of the Guards—a -distant relation of the deceased wife of Lord Byron, I believe—and she -has destroyed dozens of young men in their fortunes, social position, -and masculine character.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_609" id="Page_609">[Pg 609]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">"MABEL GREY AT HOME."</div> - -<p>And here, I suppose, I may be pardoned for giving a pen and ink -description of the interior of her palatial residence at St. John's -Wood, Brompton, where she resides, by one who saw and conversed with -her there:</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus106.jpg" alt="home" /> <a id="illus106" name="illus106"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "MABEL GREY AT HOME."</p> - -<p>The salon was about sixty feet long by thirty wide, and the ceiling -was probably fifteen feet from the velvet carpet. Velvet decorated -the walls, hanging in crimson folds somewhat like the arras hangings -that I had seen in some of the mildewed chateaux of the French nobles. -There was, in the front of the salon, an immense mirror framed in gold, -and inside of the golden frame was a sub-frame of crimson velvet. The -lounges, chairs, ottomans, and buffets, were trimmed with velvet of the -same warm color. The carpet on the floor was a Gobelin, in which was -worked a pictured design of the port of Marseilles, at a cost of two -thousand pounds. There were richly carved statues of Parian, bronzes, -antique and richly-painted vases, shells standing on golden tripods, -caricatures of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_610" id="Page_610">[Pg 610]</a></span> dogs' heads, tigers' heads, and the bodies of serpents, -with glistening eyes—all of which articles had more or less of the -precious metals in their composition. Pictures of Diana of Poictiers, -Margaruite de Valois, Theroigne de Mericourt, Anna Boleyn, Louisa de -Valliere, and a supposed mistress of John Wilkes Booth, of whom I had -never before heard, adorned the walls of the salon.</p> - -<p>These were all done in oil, well painted, and magnificently framed. -The place of honor, however, was reserved for Ninon de l'Enclos, the -mistress of one of the Bourbon Kings. This picture was a beautiful -work of art, and represented the famous beauty of the old French -Court, reclining opposite a mirror. There was a small figure piece by -Meissonier, and a statue of Minerva of pure marble, from whose spear -head depended a small but richly chased gas-chandelier, of six burners, -that spread a flood of light all over the salon. A hundred thousand -dollars would not have purchased the furniture, carpets, statues, -paintings, and ornaments, in this gorgeous apartment, to say nothing of -the diamonds which covered the neck and arms of the beautiful but frail -mistress of the mansion.</p> - -<p>And now for Mabel herself. This distinguished personage, as she lounged -on the tiger-skin, looked to me a little above the medium height of -women; her hair, of a rich, silky brown, full and lustrous, was looped -in coils at the top of the back of her head a la Grecque, and was -trimmed with small red flowers. From her ears were pendant long, oval, -diamond ear-rings, and from her snowy neck was hung a necklace, of -pearl shells interwoven with diamonds, worth a monarch's ransom. Her -arms were bare and rounded, and her shoulders were decollete. She was -attired in a loosely flowing robe of pink velvet—the only thing pink -I saw in the apartment—and at her waist was a plain thin cincture of -gold. She wore her dress without hoops, which allowed the folds of her -costly robe to fall over her shapely limbs in studied yet artistic -confusion. On the different fingers of both hands were rings of topaz, -sapphire, ruby, emerald, amethyst, and opal, fastened by golden -keepers. She had crimson slippers, embroidered in gold, and in her -right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_611" id="Page_611">[Pg 611]</a></span> hand she waved lazily, to and fro, a fan of costly feathers. The -woman herself was a magnificent animal to look at, with a spice of the -tiger shining out of her clear, lustrous eyes.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">PERSONNEL.</div> - -<p>The neck was well poised and finely cut, as were the face and -shoulders. The mouth was large and full of good, white, regular teeth, -which she displayed often during the conversation to advantage. The -nose was irregular, pert, and snubbish, and her chin was like the cone -of a ripe peach. Something there was brazen in this woman's face, -despite the magnificence reigning in the apartment. Her voice was loud -and sharp, and her gestures were unladylike, though she endeavored to -atone for these defects by a studied ease which occasionally lapsed -into a masculine freedom. She was continually showing her rings, her -fan, and her slippers—and seemed careless of the little prudential -details that go to make up the manner of a virtuous woman.</p> - -<p>"Anonyma" is, in many respects, a different woman from Mabel Grey. This -celebrated Lorette, unlike her frail sisters, has a taste, or perhaps -affects to have a taste, for literature. Originally a clergyman's -daughter, and born and bred in Sussex, she had, when she came first to -London, all the charms of a fresh country girl, and, although exposed -for a long time to temptation in her station as a governess in the -family of a rich commoner, whose name is now often before the public, -she held on her way firmly as she could, and would have succeeded had -not she met a man who outraged her by a false or mock marriage.</p> - -<p>The poor girl, whose real name is Brandling, when she found that she -was deserted with a few pounds in her pocket, went almost mad. But she -had to starve or else become what she is now. Her father, overworked -in his curacy at £150 a year, and having a family of five children, -refused to admit her to his home, and gave as a reason that it would be -setting a bad example to his parishioners, which he, as a minister of -the Gospel could not do. Driven from her birthplace, with despair in -her heart, she fled to London, and, sinking at once into the slough of -iniquity, was not heard of for a year, when she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_612" id="Page_612">[Pg 612]</a></span> emerged in grandeur at -the opera in the company of a wealthy banker, who has since failed and -fled the country.</p> - -<p>The girl, from her reticent disposition, her lady-like manner, and -the mystery attending her appearance in the world—no one being able -to tell her exact position—received the name of "Anonyma" from the -<i>Saturday Review</i>. Unlike the other women of her sex, this girl was -never formerly seen in the company of any woman whose position was -affected by the slightest breath of reproach. In the Park she never -made acquaintances, and all notes sent to her were sent back to the -writers. To become acquainted with "Anonyma," though the seeker -after her intimacy were a prince, it was necessary to have a formal -introduction to the lady.</p> - -<p>The "Kitten" is a young lady well known at the Cremorne Gardens for -her expensive suppers, loud voice, and magnificent pony carriage, -before which she drives sometimes a brace of Shetland ponies, three in -a tandem. At the Cremorne she always puts ice-cream in her champagne, -and never drinks any light or thin wines, as she says that they do not -agree with her constitution. I saw her at the Ascot Races in company -with Mabel Grey, the "Kitten" being mounted on a splendid roan, which -she managed with the skill of an old army officer, and a dozen men -belonging to the best known clubs in London were clustering about her, -and assisting her to luncheon, looking after the wine, or doing a -hundred little errands which women of her character always find for men -to do in a public place. The "Kitten" is a blonde, with black eyes, a -pretty, babyish face, a dimpled chin, a profusion of golden hair which -is not dyed, and a capital seat in the saddle. She is always gloved -to a nicety, and her ensemble is of the best kind. She has a pert -fashion of saying sharp or impudent things, and this seems to be the -chief accomplishment of all this class of shameless women. They know -the stable-talk and the slang of the betting ring, and of the hunt, -but nothing more. The "Kitten," five years ago—she is now 22—was a -coryphee in the ballet of a London theatre, at the magnificent salary -of fifteen shillings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_613" id="Page_613">[Pg 613]</a></span> a week, and now she has an annuity of £2,000 -settled upon her by a young fool of a lord, who has no better use for -his money.</p> - -<p>The wardrobe of Alice Gordon, another of the Hetairæ, is valued at -£12,000. She is a brilliant horse woman.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus107.jpg" alt="baby" /> <a id="illus107" name="illus107"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "BABY HAMILTON."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"BABY HAMILTON."</div> - -<p>"Baby Hamilton" is another celebrity of the Half-World. Many stories -are told about the recklessness of this girl. She forced her way to -a meeting in one of the shires when the hounds were all assembled, -and followed the hunt, despite the remonstrances of the master, and -regardless of the fact that more than half the ladies who were present -left the field on her appearance in a hunting costume. She made a bet -while in Paris with a wild young duke that she would get a recognition -from the Empress Eugenie. The stake was a thoroughbred of the young -duke's which she desired to have for her own use. The bet was made, and -while the Empress was riding in the Bois, the "Baby," magnificently -dressed and mounted, placed herself in the way of the Empress, and -bowed quite reverentially. The Empress looked at her for an instant, -and, thinking that it was some English lady of rank, bowed very -graciously in return. The young duke—who is, by the way, a relative of -the Empress by marriage—saw the salutation. It was too good to keep, -and accordingly, before the next night, the "Baby" had to leave Paris, -by order of the Prefect of Police.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_614" id="Page_614">[Pg 614]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XLIV" id="CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">CHEAP LODGING HOUSES.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap44.jpg" alt="O" /> <a id="icap44" name="icap44"></a></span>NE night, having made an appointment with one of the Scotland Yard -detectives, I met him as I had promised, punctually, at the India -House, which is situated at the junction of Victoria and Dean streets, -Westminster.</p> - -<p>Be it remembered, that Westminster is a borough, and sends two Members -of Parliament, yet it is a part and a portion of the metropolis of -London.</p> - -<p>He came muffled in his coat, and, having saluted me, asked me if I -was ready to accompany him, to visit some of the low lodgings houses -that abound in a certain part of Westminster, at the back of Millbank -Prison, which fronts the river between Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridges.</p> - -<p>It was the night before the great Derby Race, at which nearly all -England is represented, peer and peasant, tradesman, beggar, burglar, -and pickpocket. On such a night all the London lodging-houses were sure -to be full of tramps.</p> - -<p>Briefly, I said I was ready to accompany him and without further -conversation we penetrated to the darkest recesses of the borough of -Westminster, going down Dean into Orchard street, through Orchard -street into New-Pye street, down Great Peter street, through Holland -street, and so into a short, dark street, called Medway street, at the -back of the Greycoats School.</p> - -<p>All these streets which I have named have low lodging houses, and -were filled this night with tramps, vagrants, ped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_615" id="Page_615">[Pg 615]</a></span>dlers, itinerant -showmen, vagabonds, and thieves. Great Peter street is so called to -distinguish it from Little Peter street, and both streets being within -a stone's throw of the Abbey of Westminster, derive their names from -the dedicatory title of the ancient and world-renowned abbey which was -called, at one time, and is yet known in official documents, as the -"Abbey Church of St. Peter's, Westminster."</p> - -<p>Medway street leads into the Horseferry Road, which is at one end a -continuation of Lambeth Bridge, and at the other end is flanked by -Holland street.</p> - -<p>My blue-coated friend said to me, after pulling out a small dark -lantern, which he used in these dark rookeries and streets by the water -side:</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE WESTMINSTER SLUMS.</div> - -<p>"The worst place I can take you to in Westminster, and perhaps in -London, Sir, barrin always 'Paddy's Goose,' in Ratcliffe Highway, is -the lodging house kept by 'Jack Scrag,' or 'Damnable Jack,' as he is -called on account of his swearin'—in Medway street. I can't guarantee -that you will bring your watch or pocket-book back, but I will save -your life if you get in a row, and that will be as much as I can do. If -there are any thieves there they will be afraid of me, but the roughs -and tramps, who are out of the law's reach, are up to anything, and -will break your leg or arms, or mine either, without talking twice -about it."</p> - -<p>On our way to the Slums of Westminster I entered a cheap lodging house, -in which the lodgers were preparing their evening meal, for which they -paid four-pence to the proprietor. A potato was given each person with -a small junk of broiled or fried meat, and a tin-skittle full of washy -tea or coffee, such as is given to steerage passengers at sea, was -handed to the tramps and beggars, who frequented the place.</p> - -<p>The room was large and lofty, with smoky rafters, and a number of men, -women, and boys, were sitting, standing, and reclining on the floor -or on chairs, but nearly all were eating like ravenous beasts from -tin-plates or earthen-ware platters.</p> - -<p>A man might purchase a herring for a half-penny at any of the refuse -sales in the markets, and bring it here and toast<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_616" id="Page_616">[Pg 616]</a></span> it over the huge -fire for an additional half-penny, and many of the occupants of this -gipsy-looking place were employed in the pleasing occupation of cooking -as we left the place on our journey after an adventure.</p> - -<p>Medway street, as I have before mentioned, is quite short, and -therefore it was not long before I saw a light of more brilliancy than -those around it, bursting from the window of the first story of a brick -building, the bricks being set off about the windows with trimmings of -dark blue stone. Above the door were painted the emblems of the Lion -and the Unicorn, which are everywhere displayed in English cities, -and a lamp of a square shape projected from the doorway, throwing a -dead and unwholsome-like light upon the street and sidewalk. In the -window a sign was painted, indicating that lodgings were to be had for -four-pence a night for single persons, and also a notification that -"boiling water" was "always ready."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">AT MR. SCRAGG'S.</div> - -<p>The house was probably a hundred years old, as near as I could tell -by its old beams, which were bare, the besmeared and notched lintels -on which names, effigies, and initials, had been carved, from time -immemorial, by lodgers, thieves, and cadgers. There was a bar, and -glistening beer-pumps, and pewter noggins, and copper measures, were -hung up behind the counter. Against the walls, which were environed by -brass railing to keep intruders from making too free or breaking the -glasses if a fight should occur, was inscribed on a tin plate of greasy -hue the words:</p> - -<div class="bbox"> -<p class="center"> -John Scragg & Co.,<br /> -Wine and Liquor Merchants.<br /> -Beds, 4<i>d.</i> a Night.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>The proprietor, a fellow with beetle brows, a furzy black beard, and a -fustian jacket well greased, sat on a worn bench near the beer pump.</p> - -<p>"Good evenin, Mr. Scragg," said the detective to the rascally-looking -fellow.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus108.jpg" alt="meal" /> <a id="illus108" name="illus108"></a></p> - -<p class="caption"> A MEAL AT A CHEAP LODGING HOUSE.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_619" id="Page_619">[Pg 619]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>"Good evenin—the same to you, Bobby—are you lookin for lodgins -to-night?" said he in reply.</p> - -<p>"Well, not exzackly—I came with a friend o' mine to take a look at the -Crib—have you many lodgers to-night, Jack?"</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus109.jpg" alt="jack" /> <a id="illus109" name="illus109"></a></p> -<p class="caption">"DAMNABLE JACK."</p> - -<p>"Mayhap a matter o' fifty or more. So you wants to look at the Crib, -do ye? Well, I ha' no hobjections so as ye don't disturb my lodgers. -They are a precious set o' lambs, and belong to the best families in -the Kingdom, so I keeps heverythink quiet, sort a like, as they have a -great deal a money bet on the races at the Darby, to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"Could you give my friend a bed, to-night, and he'll pay you well. He -doesn't want to go back to his hotel it's so far at the West End, and -he might lose hiself in this big city.</p> - -<p>"Give yer friend a bed? D—n my heyes, I should think I could! A dozen -beds if he likes—and yourself, too, me hearty."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_620" id="Page_620">[Pg 620]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But no pocket-picking, Jack—no 'plant' agin him. Keep hoff yer -'Bug-hunters,' or ye'll get in trouble for it, Jack."</p> - -<p>"Do I look like a man 'ud permit sich goings on in my 'Ouse," said -Damnable Jack, indignantly, and looking with an injured face at the -policeman, "Wot, in my 'ouse, vich is patronized by the Nobility and -Gentry? I hopes not. Ye'll not find a man or woman 'ere as would 'crack -a case', or 'break a drum,' and the 'Kidsmen' are, all on them, as -perlite as young Swells, they is, on me 'onor."</p> - -<p>I followed Mr. Scragg through an unpaved hall-way or passage, and into -a small court, from which the lodging house keeper diverged to the -right, and knocking at a door in an extension of the main building, -it was opened to us, and we entered the apartment. The apartment had -a low roof, and the stench from the place was most terrible. In a -room about fifty feet long by thirty in width, at least sixty persons -were sleeping, or sitting up on their coarse, common flock beds, some -smoking, others eating and drinking, and a few were playing cards.</p> - -<p>There was a high, old-fashioned fireplace, in the apartment, without -coals, and the walls of plaster were very dirty, and broken in many -places, showing the bare laths.</p> - -<p>Prints of highwaymen adorned the walls, among which was conspicuous -Claude Duval leaping a five-barred gate on horseback, and a posse of -constables, in bobwigs, in full chase. There was also a daub of paint -representing the execution of a wife-murderer, at Newgate, and a copy -of the murderer's last speech, framed alongside of the other print. -These, with a cheap engraving of Sir Robert Peel, completed the list of -works of art in the place.</p> - -<p>There was a murmur which grew into quite a hub-bub as I entered the -apartment, and not a few of the lodgers vented their surprise or -disgust at my appearance, jointly with that of the "Peeler," as they -called the policeman.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE DIRTY CADGER.</div> - -<p>"Wot the blazes does that Swell want in 'ere," said an old cadger, who -was reclining on a bed on the floor, trimming his toe-nails with a -jack-knife preparatory to going to bed, much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_621" id="Page_621">[Pg 621]</a></span> to the edification of a -young girl who sat by his side on the bed, and could not have been more -than fifteen years of age.</p> - -<p>"Mebbe he's a swell pickpocket, or fogle-hunter (handkerchief thief,)" -said the innocent young creature.</p> - -<p>"Hit stands to reason he can't be a fogle hunter, 'cos he's with the -blessed Peeler," said the Cadger.</p> - -<p>"Well, mebbe he's wiring for the perlice," said the young girl, "and -wants to ketch some on us for a 'dummy.'"</p> - -<p>"Never mind, Moll, he doesn't want us, and we'll go to sleep, cos we've -got to be on the tramp, early in the morning, for the Darby."</p> - -<p>This man was forty years of age, and the young girl, not more than -fifteen years old, was his mistress, as I afterward learned.</p> - -<p>The policeman signified to the proprietor, "Damnable Jack," that he -wanted to get a bed where we might sleep together for the night.</p> - -<p>"I hardly got a bed left but one and ye's are welcome to it, and for -that matter it will hold five men and women, if I wanted to put 'em in -it. Come here Phil, and give these gents a bed—they wants to taste the -blessed sweets of lodgin house life. Give them their fill of it. Put -them in the 'Lord Chancellor's' bed. Its the best in the house."</p> - -<p>Let it be understood, that all the beds in the apartment were placed -upon the bare floor, and that the mattresses were filled with dirty -straw, which bulged out of their sides, or rags, and gave the room a -close, fetid odor. For covering, there were dirty canvass quilts, made -of the same stuff from which sails or potato sacks are fashioned. There -were no sheets whatever, and the pillows and bolsters were stuffed as -were the mattresses with rags or straw.</p> - -<p>Near the fireplace was a bare space of smoothly laid brick, without -any pretence of bedding at all, which was chalked out in a number -of compartments, and each of these compartments was chalked out for -a human being to sleep upon. By reposing on the bare, cold floor, -the lodger saved a penny and got his bed for three-pence instead of -four-pence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_622" id="Page_622">[Pg 622]</a></span></p> - -<p>Among the sixty persons present, there were at least twenty-five women, -composed of female tramps, vagrants, prostitutes, coster-girls, and -peddlers of different kinds of commodities, which they had to leave -in an adjoining room that was locked up by the Deputy Lodging Master -until the time of leaving their beds early in the morning, when the -merchandise was delivered to its owners.</p> - -<p>It was by the advice of an Inspector of Police that I made this essay -to sleep in a cheap lodging house. He informed me that it was the only -method of obtaining a clear knowledge of the habits and practices of -the lodgers.</p> - -<p>The "Lord Chancellor's" bed, as Damnable Jack called it, facetiously, -was the best, from its appearance, in the room, and was at the farthest -corner. It was generally used by the Deputy Lodging Master, and had -a little chintz screen around it, and the bed itself, which had -comparatively clean sheets and bed-furniture, was elevated a few feet -from the floor on a sort of trestle work.</p> - -<p>The charge for this bed was a shilling to each of us, and the policeman -and myself laid down upon it in our clothes, the policeman having a -revolver in his side pocket, upon which he kept his right hand during -the night, whether he slept or had his eyes open.</p> - -<p>I could not sleep in the terrible hole for several hours, and, in fact, -did not think of doing so, as I was eager to watch the proceedings of -the Scum of London, of which the lodgers were composed.</p> - -<p>Many of the young girls had not retired when we came in, and a few of -them now began to divest themselves of their clothing, without shame -or compunction on their part, or surprise on the part of their fellow -lodgers, excepting that now and then some low-bred ruffian would pour -forth a torrent of obscenity when some of the female lodgers exposed -portions of their filthy bodies.</p> - -<p>The place was swarming with vermin, bed-bugs, roaches, and body -parasites, in countless numbers, and this was one reason why many -of the female lodgers stripped themselves to lie down,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_623" id="Page_623">[Pg 623]</a></span> for some -of the beds were so thickly packed that it was impossible for the -Deputy Lodging Master to pass through the room without treading upon -an exposed hand or foot, and in such a case, blasphemous and vile -execrations were heaped upon his devoted head by the lodgers. This he -bore with the greatest indifference as if he had never heard a word of -it. The lodgers hoped by stripping naked to avoid having any of the -vermin cling to their clothing—a wise precaution, as I found.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE SCUM OF LONDON.</div> - -<p>Men, women, and children, without regard to age, sex, condition, or -kindred, slept together in this room, and as the night advanced the -stench from their hot, loathsome bodies, rose like a hellish incense -and nearly smothered me with its fumes. There the breath of each lodger -was worse than the odor of a charnel house, so that I deemed it a -wonder as I sat up in bed looking through a rent in the chintz curtain -which enclosed our bed, a lamp burning faintly on a table the while, -that sixty of God's creatures could sleep this way night after night, -summer and winter, and yet be able to eat, drink, sleep, marry, beget -children, and still thrive like deadly nightshade, to poison London and -its neighborhood with their reeking effluvia.</p> - -<p>About three o'clock in the morning I heard a hammering, squashing -sound, and looking from under the chintz curtain, I was first -astonished and then disgusted to see a wan-looking, cadaverous -personage, from whom the most frightful snoring had proceeded during -the early part of the night, hammering with the heel of his shoe at -some dark moving objects, which he, every moment, scraped from his bed -and placing them on the floor smashed at them in a raging and furious -way with his shoe heel, taking care the while to keep up a steady -stream of curses from his lips. He saw me looking at him and said:</p> - -<p>"Well, neighbor, wot d'ye think of this. I pays four-pence for my -bed, and here I am a-fighting to keep off the blessed bugs, for my -life. I got myself gloriously drunk last night, to sleep, so that the -wipers might not wake me up, but all the gin in Lunnon couldn't make -a man sleep while the wermin are in the bed-clothes. I have took out -and killed a bushel, more or less, of 'em, in the last half hour, but -there's plenty more of 'em, Lord bless you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_624" id="Page_624">[Pg 624]</a></span></p> - -<p>This was the keystone of the edifice of my disgust. Too much of a good -thing is said to be of no practical benefit to any one, and there was -such a richness of bed-bugs and body parasites to be found in "Damnable -Jack's" lodging house, that I thought I would not farther trouble his -hospitality, and touching the guardian of the place upon the shoulder, -who started up in a frightened way as if he were attacked, I left Mr. -Scragg's lodgings, and took a walk in the cool morning air as far -as Westminster Bridge, where I sat until daybreak, looking at the -Parliament House, and the silent river with its numerous craft.</p> - -<p>Before I left the accursed place, the policeman pointed to a pail of -foul water standing in a corner, that had been fresh over night, and -which had now had a thick scum on its top produced by so many poisonous -lungs.</p> - -<p>It is needless to say that I took a good warm bath early that morning, -more than satisfied with my experience of the previous night.</p> - -<p>Of this class of lodging houses, there are, in London, I believe, about -seventy-five, capable of accommodating any number of lodgers that the -proprietors may see fit to stow away in their dens.</p> - -<p>Some idea may be formed of the manner in which the poorer classes of -the London artisans are herded together from the fact that in the -Inner Ward of St. George's Parish the number of families apportioned -to the dwellings are so largely in excess of the room which they ought -to occupy that all kinds of frightful distempers are common in these -hell-dens. I give a table to show how human beings are crowded in this -district:</p> - -<table summary="beds" width="80%"> -<tr> -<td>Dwellings. -</td> -<td>No. of Families. -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td>Beds. -</td> -<td>No. of Families. -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Single room to each family, -</td> -<td align="right">929 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>One bed to each family, -</td> -<td align="right">623 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Two rooms to ditto, -</td> -<td align="right">408 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>Two " " -</td> -<td align="right">638 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Three " " -</td> -<td align="right">94 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>Three " " -</td> -<td align="right">154 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Four " " -</td> -<td align="right">17 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>Four " " -</td> -<td align="right">21 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Five " " -</td> -<td align="right">8 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>Five " " -</td> -<td align="right">8 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Six " " -</td> -<td align="right">4 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>Six " " -</td> -<td align="right">3 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Seven " " -</td> -<td align="right">1 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>Seven " " -</td> -<td align="right">1 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Eight " " -</td> -<td align="right">1 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>Dwellings without a bed, -</td> -<td align="right">7 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Not ascertained, -</td> -<td align="right">3 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td>Not ascertained, -</td> -<td align="right">10 -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">—— -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">—— -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">1,465 -</td> -<td>| -</td> -<td> -</td> -<td align="right">1,465 -</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_625" id="Page_625">[Pg 625]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">TEN IN A BED.</div> - -<p>Among the most munificent philanthropists who have built model lodging -houses, for the poor and needy, I may enumerate Miss Burdett Coutts, -and George Peabody. The former has expended nearly £500,000 in erecting -model lodging houses for the poor, and the amount which was donated -for the same purpose by Mr. Peabody exceeded a million and a half of -dollars.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus110.jpg" alt="george" /> <a id="illus110" name="illus110"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> STATUE OF GEORGE PEABODY.</p> - -<p>In speaking of Mr. Peabody, I must not omit to state the fact that the -Londoners, to show their appreciation of his philanthropy, have erected -to him a magnificent bronze statue at the rear of the Royal Exchange in -their city, which was publicly uncovered by the Prince of Wales during -the life-time of the late philanthropist.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail44.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail44" name="tail44"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_626" id="Page_626">[Pg 626]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XLV" id="CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV.</a></p> - -<p class="center">A TRAMP IN THE BY-WAYS.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap45.jpg" alt="G" /> <a id="icap45" name="icap45"></a></span>REAT as London may believe itself to be in works of benevolence and -philanthropy, there are spots in that mighty city which no one should -visit without an officer of the law in his company, to warn him from -the pitfalls and dangers which will beset his pathway.</p> - -<p>One evening, feeling rather dispirited and uncomfortable, while -sitting in the coffee-room of the Langham Hotel, a thought struck me -that I might find amusement or novelty in some way by taking a tour -through the city, and accordingly I called a cabman from the stand, in -Upper Regent street, and, determining to make an effort to dissipate -the blues, I jumped into the "hansom" and told the driver, an old -weather-beaten looking fellow, with a buttoned-up coat and dirty -neck-cloth, and wearing a black silk hat, which had once been quite -respectable, but was now utterly wrecked—to "drive me anywhere in -London—I don't care where as long as I can see something to interest -me."</p> - -<p>The driver, a well known character, who bore the title of "Old Smudge" -among his brethren on the cab stand, and who was always in trouble with -the police, replied:</p> - -<p>"Where shall I take you, Sir? Would you like to take a look at the -river? Or, mayhap you might wish to see a dog fight, or a ratting -match—the Americans are partial to ratting matches—I know some on 'em -are!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_627" id="Page_627">[Pg 627]</a></span></p> - - - -<p>"Take me anywhere," said I from the recesses of the cab in which I had -ensconsced myself.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE LONDON CABBIES.</div> - -<p>These London Cabbies are, as a general thing, the most provoking and -abusive fellows in the world, but their usefulness cannot be denied by -any person who has experienced the delight of having a cab to hail when -attacked suddenly by the often recurring rain storms, which serve to -keep the atmosphere of Great Britain's capital in a state of perpetual -moisture. There are two kinds of Cabs—the "hansom," a two wheeled -vehicle, which falls back on its wheels, and is drawn by a single -horse, the cabman sitting over your head with the reins elevated in his -hands, and stretching through a metal ring in the roof to the collar of -the horse. Then there are folding doors which can be closed to keep mud -and dust from entering the cab, and a movable window fastened to the -interior of the roof that can be hoisted or let down at will, and is -most serviceable in case of rain or other inclement weather.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus111.jpg" alt="cabby" /> <a id="illus111" name="illus111"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "OLD SMUDGE"—THE CABBY.</p> - -<p>Then there is the "four wheeler," as it is called, a cab which is also -drawn by one horse, but is built something after the fashion of the -American coupe or brougham. This vehicle has four wheels, and is more -comfortable and roomy than the "Hansom." The rates for transportation -are higher, however, and the four-wheelers are used by a better -class of people. There are six thousand one-horse cabs registered in -London, of which number 2,352 are "six day" cabs, whose proprietors -do not allow of their use on Sundays; and of "seven day" cabs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_628" id="Page_628">[Pg 628]</a></span> which -are constantly traversing the streets, there are as many as 3,366. -These cabs are all licensed, and their owners pay, annually, into the -Municipal Treasury as large a sum as £10,000. The legal rate of fare in -a "hansom," is sixpence a mile, and for a "four-wheeler," one shilling -per mile, but the cabbies charge strangers any fare they can get.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus112.jpg" alt="cab" /> <a id="illus112" name="illus112"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "A HANSOM CAB."</p> - -<p>"Leave me alone, Sir, and I'll show you some of the sights of Lunnon -town," said "Old Smudge," in a hoarse voice from the top of the cab in -reply to my anxious enquiry as to where we were traveling. We were then -some distance from the West End of the City, and from the noises which -every few minutes attracted our attention, I fancied that the cab was -being driven in the direction of the Thames. I saw, dimly, the masts of -the shipping and the Docks, with their adamantine fronts frowning down -upon me.</p> - -<p>The cab was stopped suddenly, and the horse was brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_629" id="Page_629">[Pg 629]</a></span> up on its -hind legs by a jerk of the reins from "Old Smudge," who was already in -conversation at the door of a beer shop, which was illuminated, and -had a large number of rough-mannered customers standing around its -entrance. They were a sufficiently hard looking set to make a stranger -think of his safety.</p> - -<p>"This is 'Jack Barley's "Convivial Pup,"' Sir," said the cabman to -me as I climbed out of the "hansom." "This is the finest rat-pit in -Lunnon, Sir."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A SOIREE AT A RAT PIT.</div> - -<p>I had often heard of Mr. Barley before, and now I saw him face to face, -a most villainous and repulsive looking beast with a scarcely healed -cicatrice in his jaw, and a couple of bleary holes under his black -brows, miscalled eyes. Mr. Barley was famous in his way, and enjoyed -distinction among a certain class. None could tell the breed of a -dog, the age of a spaniel, the pluck of a terrier, or the gouging and -milling abilities of a middle weight bruiser, with Professor Barley. -In such matters his judgment was final and conclusive along the Thames -bank for some distance.</p> - -<p>The proprietor escorted us through a small bar, which was ornamented -with the usual sporting emblems found in low London tap rooms, and -after descending a stone stairs, I found myself in a room beneath the -ground floor, with small circular benches ranged in a cramped fashion -to the ceiling. On these seats about one hundred men, of all grades -in the sporting class, were seated. There were a few "gentlemen," -God save the mark, a brace of attorney's clerks, an officer of some -line regiment, and the rest of the audience were of a miscellaneous -character.</p> - -<p>There was a rat pit below the benches, a square enclosure with a board -fence about four feet high, enclosing it, the boards being whitewashed, -and the flooring of the pit having sawdust scattered over it.</p> - -<p>The only light in this dreary and subterraneous den came from six -greasy, unvarnished tin lanterns, in which half a dozen of cheap tallow -candles were fixed, and these flickered and sputtered with great -malevolence on the rascally faces of the men who swarmed around the -pit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_630" id="Page_630">[Pg 630]</a></span></p> - -<p>I heard a squealing noise, and I saw a lad bring in a long and huge -flat wire cage, which was swarming with gray, black, and brown rats. -Way was made for the youth to enter the pit with his cage of live -rodents. Jumping in he opened the cage, and thrusting his forearm -fearlessly through the door he drew forth, one by one, over fifty large -and ferocious rats and threw them in a heap in the pit. These animals -ran about in a confused way for a few minutes, and looked with an -almost human and beseeching look into the murderous faces which were -gathered around the pit. Then another cage was handed to the young man, -and the same ceremony was performed again until there were one hundred -and five rats in the centre of the pit.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus113.jpg" alt="rats" /> <a id="illus113" name="illus113"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "ONE HUNDRED RATS IN NINE MINUTES."</p> - -<p>There was to be a match for fifty pounds, the proprietor of the pit -having matched his dog "Skid," a wiry and ferret-eyed little terrier, -to kill one hundred rats in nine minutes. Bets were now made against -and for the dog, that he would or would not kill the rats in the time -named, and the excitement ran high as the little venomous dog was -placed in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_631" id="Page_631">[Pg 631]</a></span> pit carefully by his master amid considerable applause -from the roughs.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"SKID'S" BATTLE WITH THE RATS.</div> - -<p>It was simply disgusting to witness that dreadful little terrier run -at each rat, shake him for a second or two in the air and then drop -him quite dead on the floor of the pit, while the roughs encouraged -him to his work with shouts when the rat was destroyed quickly, but -occasionally when a big and ferocious rat was attacked and showed fight -in return, and when the terrier seemed to hang back for a moment, -a perfect storm of curses and obscene epithets were rained on the -unfortunate canine. Before five minutes had elapsed the whitewashed -board sides and flooring of the Rat Pit were daubed with splashes of -blood, and the little terrier was foaming at the lips, and his glossy -hide was flecked with dark smudgy stains. When eight minutes and forty -seconds had elapsed, "Skid" snapped the neck of the last rat, and now -there was nothing left in the pit but a large pool of blood on which -sawdust was quickly heaped, and a bleeding mass of heaving and dying -rats.</p> - -<p>Great cheering rewarded the efforts of "Skid," who was taken up -tenderly, almost lovingly by his master; and now being very sick at the -stomach from the disgusting sight I left the place and took the cab, -cogitating the while on what I had seen.</p> - -<p>Disgusting as the sight of the rat butchery had proved, I afterwards -learned that some two hundred men earn a living in London, and its -suburbs, in catching rats alive for the use of the rat-pits. Of this -number a great many, however, are paid extra by persons who wish to -drive the vermin from their dwellings, and have no means of doing so -but by calling in professional rat-catchers.</p> - -<p>Some fifteen or twenty of these professional rat-catchers pursue their -dangerous calling in the London sewers, preferring to catch those found -in drains to the house rats, who are not as ferocious as the former. -Beside, the sewer rat will fight a terrier longer and more savagely -than a house rat, and as this affords good sport, the sewer rat is at a -premium in the market.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus114.jpg" alt="catcher" /> <a id="illus114" name="illus114"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> THE RAT CATCHER.</p> - -<p>These rat-catchers traverse the sewers by night, and carry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_632" id="Page_632">[Pg 632]</a></span> lanterns -and a long wire basket with lids and a handle of the same material. -They use ointment which they rub on their hands and with this same -composition they cover their arms, which is very distasteful to the -rats, who will not bite at any human flesh that is anointed with this -preparation. These men wear large slouch hats, and pursue their calling -in all seasons, to make a living. Often they have terrible battles with -the enraged colonies of rats, and not a few of the rat-catchers have -been over-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_633" id="Page_633">[Pg 633]</a></span>powered in the sewers when attacked, and their bones whiten -many of the brick beds and slimy crevices of these dark and dismal -underground passages.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">"PADDY'S GOOSE," RATCLIFFE HIGHWAY.</div> - -<p>The cab driver now desired to know if I would like to visit "Paddy's -Goose," a den in "Ratcliffe Highway," one of the worst of the bad -districts of London. This place is frequented by sailors of all -nations, who visit the spot to dance with the abandoned women, that -are hired by the proprietors of these resorts to entice the foolish -seafaring men just discharged from their vessels, with more money than -they are able to take care of.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus115.jpg" alt="goose" /> <a id="illus115" name="illus115"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "PADDY'S GOOSE."</p> - -<p>"Paddy's Goose," or the "White Swan," as it is called by its owner, is -perhaps the most frightful hell-hole in London. The very sublimity of -vice and degradation is here attained, and the noisy scraping of wheezy -fiddles, and the brawls of intoxicated sailors are the only sounds -heard within its walls. It is an ordinary dance house, with a bar and -glasses, and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_634" id="Page_634">[Pg 634]</a></span> dirty floor on which scores of women of all countries -and shades of color may be found dancing with Danes, Americans, -Swedes, Spaniards, Russians, Negroes, Chinese, Malays, Italians, and -Portuguese, in one wild hell-medley of abomination.</p> - -<p>The proprietor of this den is undoubtedly the most desperate villain -I ever saw outside of a prison gate, a man whose face is scarred and -corrugated by the foot-prints of the Devil, whose servant he has -been for many years, and yet I was informed that this scoundrel was -tolerated, nay, encouraged by the government, from the fact that he -had great influence among English seamen. This man during the Crimean -War hired steamers, with bands of music, and served the Admiralty as a -"crimp" for enlisting sailors, or rather for trapping them by drugging -them first and then "burking" them off to the men-of-war, which needed -fresh complements of seamen.</p> - -<p>I did not stay long in this Devil's-Tavern, and I am sure my readers -will excuse me from going into particular mention of the beastliness -and orgies I saw there.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus116.jpg" alt="tide" /> <a id="illus116" name="illus116"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> "WAITING FOR THE TIDE."</p> - -<p>Dismissing "Old Smudge" with a fee that seemed to meet his approbation, -I turned my steps in the direction of the river, not doubting for a -moment but that I should find further food for reflection. I came upon -the Thames suddenly as a vision, and saw it stretching out in all its -dark and terrible beauty, just above Shadwell. I had taken my seat on -an old dismasted hulk that lay some distance off in the river, and -which I had reached with considerable difficulty by clambering from -bowsprit to bowsprit among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_635" id="Page_635">[Pg 635]</a></span> the silent shipping, on whose masts and -canvas God's silent stars shone brightly down.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">WAITING FOR THE TIDE.</div> - -<p>I had not been sitting long there when a clumsy-looking and -broad-bottomed boat passed me, directly below the hulk, one man pulling -in the boat while another leaned over and seemed to support something, -dark and bulky in shape, from the stern of the wherry.</p> - -<p>A chill came over me, and in a faint voice I asked the man what he had -in the skiff?</p> - -<p>"Oh, yer honor, we were Waiting for the Tide below Bridge. We goes out -every night, me and Tim, to look for bodies—we gets twenty shillings -a-piece for them, and all we can find, and Tim's got a dead 'un now, -and 'praps he's got a good haul, for there's a sparkling ring on Its -finger,—mayhap yer honor would like to buy it."</p> - -<p>Trailing slowly in the water was a lifeless corpse, and the boatman was -tearing a bright object from its stiff forefinger.</p> - -<p>Hastily I rose and turned my face away from the River which had given -up its dead in this startling manner.</p> - -<p>I went home thoroughly cured of the blues, and saw no more "sights" -that night.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail45.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail45" name="tail45"></a></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_636" id="Page_636">[Pg 636]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XLVI" id="CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI.</a></p> - -<p class="center">ENGLISH LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap46.jpg" alt="E" /> <a id="icap46" name="icap46"></a></span>NGLISH literature is one of the mainstays of our present civilization. -Wherever the English language is spoken or understood, or wherever -English thought predominates, English books are read, and the names of -English authors are held in reverence. And second only to the power -of English books is the power of the English press, which immediately -after French journalism, represents the most trained culture and best -talent employed in the Fourth Estate of our times.</p> - -<p>London ranks, as I have said, in the second place, as far as her -journalism is concerned. London journalists have not yet attained that -high influence, both social and political, in the State, which is -freely yielded to young and middle-aged men whose services are known to -be of value on the Parisian journals of ability and circulation.</p> - -<p>But the men who think for England, and who write its books, do not need -to fear comparison with the same class in any other land in breadth of -thought or influence on the masses of mankind. I shall make but a brief -mention of a few of England's worthies in the paths of literature, and -shall only speak of those who are best known by their works in America.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus117.jpg" alt="john" /> <a id="illus117" name="illus117"></a></p> -<p class="caption">JOHN RUSKIN—ART CRITIC.</p> - -<p>Twenty-eight years ago, articles of wonderful force, beauty, and -breadth of tone, began to appear from some unknown pen, in the -literary journals of London. These articles attracted notice from the -best minds as they advocated a new and start<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_637" id="Page_637">[Pg 637]</a></span>ling theory in art—the -theory of Pre-Raphaelitism, as it has since been called. The author of -these articles was John Ruskin—since become so famous—then in his -twenty-fourth year. Ruskin was the son of a wealthy London merchant, -and, unlike most men of genius he has never known any of the bitter -struggles of poverty. From his boyhood he has been accustomed to -elegance and plenty, the society of refined men and women, and his -mind has been enlarged by almost incessant and instructive travel. He -was very fond of the true and beautiful in Nature, and it is recorded -of him, that when a child he had one favorite spot—Friar's Crag, in -Derwentwater, which overhung a lake,—and here he was brought daily -by his fond nurse, who secretly gratified the child's taste for the -picturesque by allowing him to hang over the brow of the cliff, and -when permitted to do so he would gaze for hours with intense joy and -mingled awe into the depths of the dark waters below, hanging on by -the grassy roots which bloomed on the surface of the cliff. He had -always a feeling of awe and heart hunger in the presence of mountains, -and, at fifteen years of age, he had ascended the summits of the most -elevated hills in England. A landscape delighted him, while belle -lettres and mathematics only wearied his retrospective soul. At twenty, -his reflective and practical powers had increased by the incessant -traveling which he undertook, having visited every European city of -note, but in all these travels Venice always remained dear to his -heart. At Ox<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_638" id="Page_638">[Pg 638]</a></span>ford he was a gentleman-commoner of Christ Church, where -he carried off the Newdigate prize for a poem called "Salsette and -Elephanta," a fragment now forgotten, and was graduated double fourth -class in 1842. Among his teachers in landscape painting, which he loved -with all his great heart, he had such men as Copely Fielding, Harding -and Prout. His great admiration was for Turner, however, and this love -led him to the field of art criticism, in defence of that eminent -painter.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">RUSKIN'S LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL.</div> - -<p>In 1843, the first volume of Ruskin's "Modern Painters" appeared, -and created the greatest sensation. No art critic had yet appeared -with such a wealth of language, and such an affluence of imaginative -ideas combined with the most striking powers of observation, and -an earnestness bordering on enthusiasm. Never thinking beforehand -of the subject, his philosophy and criticism consists mostly of -brilliant invective, and he is continually involving himself by his -inconsistencies, yet, so great was his power, a new school in art -was founded by him, with such disciples as Millais, Holman Hunt, and -others, equally well known.</p> - -<p>He is sometimes diffuse and discursive, and is far behind Henri -Taine for perspicuity of style, though far more solid, concentrated, -and vigorous, in his blows. The first volumes of Ruskin's "Lamps of -Architecture" made their appearance in 1849, and were followed by the -first volume of "The Stones of Venice," in 1851, the illustrations in -the latter provoking much hostility, but displaying to great advantage -his artistic powers. Ruskin has lectured and written on Manufactures, -Gothic Architecture, and Painting, and he has said to have realized, by -his works the sum of £95,000. He has a careworn face, sloped shoulders, -and wavy silken hair. His habits are simple, and it is said that he is -Brahminical in his tastes, never touching butcher's meat. His large -private fortune enables him to extend his benevolence to struggling -students, and others who are in need of assistance. Ruskin has taken up -the cause of the workingmen of England with great zeal, and is now in -his forty-ninth year.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">FROUDE, THE HISTORIAN.</div> - -<p>Since the death of Macaulay, England has had no successor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_639" id="Page_639">[Pg 639]</a></span> to that -eminent and great man in the field of history, until of late years -James Anthony Froude has risen like a meteor to irradiate the dark -places and bloody scenes of English history. The author of the "History -of England from the Fall of Wolsey," may well claim a niche among the -loftiest names who have searched the archives of empire and statecraft. -James Anthony Froude comes of a High Church clerical family, and was -born at Dartington, Devonshire, April 23, 1818. His father, the late -Venerable R.H. Froude, was Archdeacon of Totnes, and young Froude went -to Westminster School, the most aristocratic of its kind in England, -and afterwards was graduated with high classical honors at Oriel -College, Oxford, obtaining the Chancellor's prize for an essay on -"Political Economy," and was elected Fellow of Exeter College in 1842.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus118.jpg" alt="froude" /> <a id="illus118" name="illus118"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE.</p> - -<p>For some time he was connected with the High Church party led by the -Rev. J.H. Newman, and so much was he imbued by its doctrines, that he -wrote the "Lives of the English Saints," and took deacon's orders in -1844. He has also written "The Shadows of the Clouds," 1847, and "The -Nemesis of Faith," in 1849, both of which works had to undergo the -severest condemnation of the University authorities, for the Puseyite -opinions broached in their pages.</p> - -<p>In 1850, Froude laid the foundation-stone of his fame by a series of -articles, chiefly on English History, which were contributed to the -<i>Westminster Review</i> and <i>Frazer's Magazine</i>, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_640" id="Page_640">[Pg 640]</a></span> in 1856 he published -the two first volumes of his "History of England." This is his -greatest work, in ten volumes, and for clearness of thought, powerful -intensity, and acute understanding of those stormy periods of Henry -VIII, Elizabeth and Mary, there are few passages in written history to -equal Froude's descriptions of the age, and his grand delineations of -character. He is, however, prejudicial in many things, and his view -of the characters of Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth, is -altogether different from the view which all modern historians have -taken of these two women.</p> - -<p>In 1867, a work entitled "Short Studies on Great Subjects," was -published by Mr. Froude, and the historical sketches in this volume -are of the most masterly kind in English literature. Mr. Froude is -now Editor of <i>Frazer's Magazine</i>, whose pages his powerful genius -illuminated some twenty years ago. This magazine had formerly for its -contributors some of the finest scholars and best thinkers in Britain. -<i>Frazer's Magazine</i> is issued by Longmans, Green & Co., Paternoster -Row, one of the great publishing houses, and whose business is only -rivaled by that of John Murray, McMillan, Sampson, Low & Son, and Smith -& Elder, among London booksellers.</p> - -<p>Among the contributors to <i>Frazer</i> are Max Muller, F.W. Newman, E. -Lynn Linton, Jean Ingelow, Shirley Brooks, R. A. Proctor, Moncure D. -Conway, a Massachusetts man, and a personal and intimate friend of -Carlyle,—I believe he is to write the biography of that dogmatic old -thinker, who has failed to prevent the earth from revolving on its -axis, when he is gathered to his fathers, in the little churchyard -in Dumfriesshire. William Howard Russell, James Spedding, Frederick -Denison Maurice, a liberal clergyman and a professor in London -University, and others whom I do not recollect, are contributors to -<i>Frazer</i>. This magazine contains 134 double-column pages of large -print, on fine white paper, and is sold for two shillings and sixpence. -The same matter and workmanship could not be sold in America for less -than one dollar and twenty-five cents, I am informed. Miss Ingelow, one -of its contributors, is by no means a Miss in her teens, being now in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_641" id="Page_641">[Pg 641]</a></span> -her forty-first year, but it is tolerably certain that such delightful -verse as hers could not have been written by one who had not endured -sorrow and trial. The several editions of her poems have realized -for Miss Ingelow the comfortable sum of £8,500, and I was told by a -leading London bookseller, that Mr. Froude, whose last article was on -"Salmon Fishing in Ireland," sold the copyright on four of his books -for £39,000. Miss Ingelow is a Suffolk girl, and rumor says has never -married because of a blighted affection in early life.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus119.jpg" alt="charlie" /> <a id="illus119" name="illus119"></a></p> -<p class="caption">ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE—POET.</p> - -<p>A worthy successor to Lord Byron, in my opinion, is Algernon Charles -Swinburne, the most passionate English poet who has lived for one -hundred years. Swinburne is in his twenty-eighth year, and at that -early age he has attained for himself a position among the poets of his -native land, surpassed by none. For wealth of language, beauteous and -fervent passion, and gorgeousness of imagery, Keats alone is his peer. -Swinburne is an earnest republican, and sympathizes with revolution in -every land. He is a great admirer of Italy. For a poem of one page in -an English magazine he received two hundred and fifty pounds, a larger -price than was ever paid before in England for a poetical fragment.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SWINBURNE'S BOYISH DAYS.</div> - -<p>Swinburne, though a republican in sentiment, belongs to one of the -oldest Roman Catholic families of Northumberland, and comes from -ancestors who have followed the Percy in plate armor against the fierce -barons of the House of Douglas. I am sorry to say, however, that the -poet does not look like a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_642" id="Page_642">[Pg 642]</a></span> man who would wear a steel jerkin and hang a -battle-axe at his saddle bow. He has long curling hair, a pair of weird -fascinating eyes, a loose and slender frame, and a face which does not -impress one favorably at first. Take him altogether he seems like a -man who might like to recline on a bed of roses, with an Amphora of -Falernian by his couch, and half a dozen Syrian damsels to wait on him -and hand him flowing bumpers of golden wine.</p> - -<p>His boyish days were spent at Eton, and here he was noticed only for -his utter dislike to athletic sports, including the darling amusement -of every Etonian—I mean the cricket field. He was finished at Oxford, -but did not receive his degree from Alma Mater. From the University -he went to Florence, and there he contracted a warm friendship for -that great gothic and rough-angled character, Walter Savage Landor, -which was ardently reciprocated by the latter. Returning to England -in 1861 he published the "Queen Mother," and "Rosamond," neither of -which attracted much attention. His first great and decided success -was in that classic poem "Atalanta in Calydon," published in 1864, -when Swinburne had attained his twenty-first year. This poem took the -cultivated minds of England by storm, and was followed by "Chastelard," -"Poems and Ballads," "Laus Veneris," and a biography of "William -Blake," the painter, in quick succession. Since then his copy-rights -have amounted to £27,000, so rapid has been the sale of his books. -This moneyed success does not, however, prevent the poet from being -afflicted with a very penurious spirit, and it is said that he is in -the habit of giving waiters and servants sixpences for the pleasure of -taking the gifts back.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">JOHN STUART MILL.</div> - -<p>The greatest publicist in England, at this juncture, and the man whose -views demand most attention from press and people, after Carlyle, -is John Stuart Mill, the eminent writer on Political Economy, who -was formerly a clerk in the India House, like Charles Lamb, as his -father had been before him. Mr. Mill is now sixty-six years of age, -and has lately taken up the cudgel for the Woman's Suffrage party, in -England, along with Miss Harriet Martineau, after having exhaust<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_643" id="Page_643">[Pg 643]</a></span>ed -Utilitarianism, Political Economy, Parliamentary Reform, Logical -Systems, Auguste Comte, Positivism, Philosophy, and other light and -airy subjects. Yet all his great powers of thought did not prevent -him from being badly beaten by a Mr. Smith, a news agent, for the -representation of the Borough of Westminster, in the late parliamentary -elections. Mr. Mill has a grand broad forehead, a pair of deep -steadfast eyes, a firm mouth, and is of studious habits. Like all -students his oratory in Parliament, when first elected, was more ornate -and logical than impressive or forcible. His English is vigorous and -sterling, and it must be said of this venerable old man, that his whole -life has been devoted to an idea.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus120.jpg" alt="mill" /> <a id="illus120" name="illus120"></a></p> -<p class="caption">JOHN STUART MILL—POLITICAL ECONOMIST.</p> - -<p>The very opposite of John Stuart Mill is Benjamin F. Disraeli, who -was born in Bradenham, Buckinghamshire, Dec. 21, 1805. It is more -than positive that Mr. Disraeli has never sacrificed any thing for an -idea. Mr. Isaac Disraeli, his father, was a Christian, and an author, -who had written the "Curiosities of Literature," and the "Amenities -of Literature," the latter being a book in which the misfortunes and -failings of authors occupy a large space. The grandfather of the -great politician was a Jew of the Jews, I believe, and he who is now -leader of the Conservative party in the House of Commons, and who was -Lord Chancellor of England, has ever had a deep feeling for and faith -in Judaism, although he has been for many years the Champion of the -Anglican Church. At twenty years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_644" id="Page_644">[Pg 644]</a></span> of age, Disraeli, who was then as -fond of velvet shooting jackets and jewelry as he is now in his old -age, or as Dickens was in his prime, began to write novels, and from -1825 to 1881 he had written "Vivian Grey," "The Young Duke," "Henrietta -Temple," "Contarini Fleming," "Venetia," "Alroy," and "Coningsby."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus121.jpg" alt="disraeli" /> <a id="illus121" name="illus121"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> BENJAMIN DISRAELI—POLITICIAN.</p> - -<p>In 1837, he entered Parliament, and made a miserable failure as a -speaker and was laughed down, but he was not of the stuff to be -frightened. Since then he has filled the greatest offices of trust -that it is possible for a commoner to fill in England, and at times a -radical revolutionist, and then again a most staunch monarchist, he -has had greatness of soul enough to refuse a title offered him by the -Queen, when he retired from the Cabinet in which he was Prime Minister. -The honor tendered him was politely refused with many thanks, but -he accepted the title of Viscountess Beaconsfield for his noble and -devoted wife, who enriched and has sustained him in all his severest -struggles.</p> - -<p>It is told of this brave lady, that while accompanying her husband in -a carriage to the House one night, Disraeli became lost in thought -about a great speech which he was going to make, and the carriage door -having closed on one of her fingers, she never uttered a sound of pain -until the equippage drove into the Palace yard at Westminster, when the -footman jumped down, and she fainted in her husband's arms. One hundred -and fifty thousand copies of Disraeli's "Lothair" have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_645" id="Page_645">[Pg 645]</a></span> been sold, and -it is more than probable that the sale will not stop short of 250,000 -copies. The bitterest article in review of this book was written in -<i>Blackwood's Magazine</i>, by Lawrence Oliphant, author of the "Piccadilly -Papers by a Peripatetic," in London Society. Mr. Oliphant deserted -fashionable London society to found a Communistic association on the -shores of Lake Erie, and having accumulated a secretion of gall and -wormwood there he went back to England and poured it out on the head of -Disraeli.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus122.jpg" alt="kingsley" /> <a id="illus122" name="illus122"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> CHARLES KINGSLEY—NOVELIST.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">CHARLES KINGSLEY.</div> - -<p>The Rev. Charles Kingsley, formerly rector of Eversley and Chaplain -in Ordinary to the Queen, and now Dean of Rochester, is the defender -of Muscular Christianity in English literature. He is the son of a -clergyman, and is descended from the ancient Saxon family of the -Kingsleys, of Kingsley, in the Forest of Delamere. He was educated at -Kings College, London, and Magdalen College, Cambridge, and is nearly -fifty years of age. From his advocacy of the cause of the workingmen he -has been called the "Chartist Parson." His chief works are, "Hypatia, -or New Foes with Old Faces," "Alexandria and Her Schools," "Westward, -Ho," "Two Years ago," and "Hereward, Last of the Saxons." He delivered -the "Roman and Teuton Lectures" while professor of Modern History at -Cambridge University. He has also written a series of children's books -on historical subjects, which are very popular in England. His brother, -Henry Kingsley, a novelist of considerable reputation, is eleven -years younger,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_646" id="Page_646">[Pg 646]</a></span> and is a contributor to the <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, -the oldest periodical of its kind in England, which is sold for one -shilling.</p> - -<p>Anthony Trollope, the most voluminous English novelist now living, was -born in 1815, and comes of a literary family, his mother having made -a certain sort of fame by her book of American travels which did not -redound to her credit. Many years after the issue of Mrs. Trollope's -book, her son visited America and sought to redeem the unfavorable -impression made by his parent's villification of our people, in his -"North America," published in 1861. Anthony Trollope was educated at -Winchester and Harrow, and at thirty-two years of age wrote his first -novel, "The McDermotts of Ballycloran," a picture of Irish middle class -life. Since then he has furnished to the publishers of his works enough -material to fill a small library. Many of his genial novels appeared -in the <i>Cornhill Magazine</i>, which was edited by Thackeray at one time, -and subsequently by Frederick Greenwood, who was, during the former's -management, a proof reader on the Cornhill, and is now the editor of -the <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, the establishment of which journal was the -realization of the dream of Thackeray's life.</p> - -<p>James Greenwood, the "Amateur Casual," a brother of Frederick -Greenwood, has written a number of books of adventure of the most -stirring kind, and was attached to the London <i>Morning Star</i>, a penny -morning paper, which advocated the cause of the North during the Civil -War, and local sketches every alternate day were furnished by him to -its columns, for which he received sixteen guineas a week.</p> - -<p>Mr. John Morley, whom I have to thank for much courtesy, was editor -of the <i>Star</i> during my sojourn in London. He is now editor of the -<i>Fortnightly Review</i>, with which he was formerly connected. The <i>Star</i> -suspended publication about six months ago. I believe John Bright held -a stockholding interest in the <i>Star</i> previous to its suspension, and -had, on some occasions, directed its editorial opinions.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE MAGAZINES.</div> - -<p>Mr. Trollope has an eminently literary look, and wears huge large -shaggy whiskers, and a pair of spectacles. His pictures of Irish middle -class society and English clerical characters,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_647" id="Page_647">[Pg 647]</a></span> are the best and -truest ever drawn by an British novelist, his Irish characters being -infinitely superior to those of Charles Lever, whose heroes swagger -and strut in a most atrocious manner. Anthony Trollope has a brother, -Thomas Adolphus Trollope, who is also a literary man of considerable -note, and is five years the junior of Anthony. Adolphus Trollope -resides chiefly in Florence, and has written several works of fiction -connected with the very romantic history of that city. The younger -Trollope has been twice married. His first wife was an authoress, named -Miss Garrow, who died in 1865, and eight months after her decease he -was again married to a Miss Ternan, who is now living. That was what -an unprejudiced mind might call quick work for a novelist. Anthony -Trollope is the editor, and also, I believe, the proprietor of <i>St. -Paul's Magazine</i>, which is sold for one shilling a number.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus123.jpg" alt="trollope" /> <a id="illus123" name="illus123"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> ANTHONY TROLLOPE—NOVELIST.</p> - -<p>The circulation of the numerous London magazines and periodicals is -only to be computed by millions. Of course the cheap magazines have the -largest circulation, and the cheapest are not by any means the worst -edited. The <i>Temple Bar</i> magazine, which was established by George -Augustus Sala, a well known correspondent of the <i>Morning Telegraph</i>, -sells for a shilling, and has among its contributors Mrs. Edwards, -Florence Maryatt, Miss Harriet Martineau, who is also a contributor -to the <i>Daily News</i>, H. Sutherland Edwards, John Holingshead, who was -formerly the dramatic critic of the <i>Daily News</i>, and is now manager -of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_648" id="Page_648">[Pg 648]</a></span> London Theatre. The <i>Brittania Magazine</i> is well edited and has -original stories and sketches, and sells for sixpence. <i>Bow Bells -Magazine</i> is a good local periodical, selling for eightpence, and -<i>Belgravia</i>, edited by Miss Braddon, sells for one shilling, as does -the <i>St. James</i>, which is well known for its clever Parliamentary -sketches. Cyrus Redding, the famous octogenarian writer on wine -culture, was for many years a constant contributor to <i>Colburn's -Monthly</i>, in which many of William Harrison Ainsworth's sensation -serial stories have appeared. Louisa Stuart Costello and her brother -Dudley Costello, and Mrs. Ward, for many years contributed to the pages -of <i>Colburn's Monthly</i>. <i>Blackwood's Magazine</i> is too well known to -need any enumeration of its famous writers. <i>Blackwood's</i> sells at -two-and-sixpence the number.</p> - -<p><i>McMillan's Magazine</i> is issued at one shilling a number by the -publishing house of McMillan & Co., Bedford street, Covent Garden, -having 78 double column pages of matter. Among its contributors are -Frederick W.H. Myers, Edward Nolan, S. Greg, Thomas A. Lindsay, Dr. -Boyce, Edward A. Freeman, Charles Kingsley, Jean Ingelow, Menella Bute -Smedley, Mrs. Brotherton, F. Napier Broome, Thomas Hughes, Godfrey -Turner, T.W. Robinson, and F.W. Newman. <i>Cornhill</i> is published by -Smith, Elder & Co. <i>All the Year Round</i> is edited by Chas. Dickens, -Jr., who is rated very high as a sketch writer, and is also well -known as a rowing and yachting man. <i>The London Society Magazine</i> is -published at 217 Piccadilly, and the most aristocratic of all the -London magazines, being beautifully illustrated, and having excellent -social, club, and fashionable sketches. The <i>London Society</i> is sold -for a shilling, and has a number of lady artists who make drawings for -its pages. Watson, W. Brunton, Lionel Henley, Adelaide Claxton, H. -Tuck, A. Thompson, and F. Walker, are among the best known artists on -this magazine. Walter Thornbury, author of "Haunted London," Lawrence -Oliphant, Edmund Yates, and Lascelles Wraxall, are contributors to the -<i>London Society</i>. The "<i>Graphic</i>," the finest illustrated weekly ever -published in London, is edited by Arthur Lockyer, who has succeeded -its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_649" id="Page_649">[Pg 649]</a></span> former editor—H. Sutherland Edwards. The circulation of the -different magazines is computed as follows:</p> - -<p><i>Cornhill</i>, 36,000; <i>McMillan</i>, 28,000; <i>Blackwood</i>, 39,000; <i>London -Society</i>, 24,000; <i>Frazer</i>, 17,000; <i>Colburn's Monthly</i>, 7,500; <i>Temple -Bar</i>, 19,000; <i>St. Paul's</i>, 16,000; <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, 25,000; -<i>Britannia Magazine</i>, 26,000; <i>St. James'</i>, 15,000, and <i>Belgravia</i>, -16,000.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus124.jpg" alt="times" /> <a id="illus124" name="illus124"></a></p> -<p class="caption">DELIVERING THE "TIMES."</p> - -<p>The circulation of the principal critical Weeklies is: <i>Saturday -Review</i>, sixpence, 38,000; <i>Spectator</i>, sixpence, 22,000; <i>Athenæum</i>, -sixpence, 29,600; <i>Examiner and London Review</i>, 13,000. The <i>Saturday -Review</i> has forty pages of double-column matter, large print, twelve -of which are devoted to advertisements, the remaining pages being -taken up with editorials, book reviews, notices of the drama and fine -arts. The <i>Athenæum</i> has twenty-two quarto pages of three columns -each, ten of which are taken up by advertisements, and the remainder -by book reviews, and dramatic, fine art, and scientific notes. The -editor of this journal is Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, M.P., who wrote -an excellent book of travel, entitled "Greater Britain." Ruskin and -Huxley have been contributors to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_650" id="Page_650">[Pg 650]</a></span> <i>Athenæum</i>. The <i>Spectator</i> has -twenty-eight pages folio, and is chiefly noticeable for its valuable -historical studies, and its short and spicy paragraphs on the first -four pages of the paper. Any of these weeklies will be sent abroad for -the additional cost of a penny stamp.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE LONDON TIMES.</div> - -<p>The first number of the <i>London Times</i> was printed January 1, 1788, by -John Walter, and the first newspaper printed by steam in Europe was the -<i>Times</i> of November 29, 1814. Applegarth and Cowper's four cylindered -presses, printing five to eight thousand sheets an hour, were in use by -the <i>Times</i> for many years. These were succeeded by Hoe's press with -Whithworth's improvement, and now the Bullock press modified, which -prints on an endless sheet, is used by the <i>Times</i>. The circulation -of this, the leading journal of Europe, varies from 57,000 to 65,000 -copies a day, and the owner is Mr. Walter, the son of its founder. John -Thaddeus Delane, the son of William F.A. Delane, the former financial -manager, who has been succeeded by Mowbray Morris, is the editor of -the <i>Times</i>. He is an Oxford man, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. -Since 1839 he has been connected with the <i>Times</i>, to whose editorship -he succeeded in 1841, on the decease of its then famous editor, Mr. -Thomas Barnes. The value of the <i>Times</i> newspaper property has been -estimated at three million pounds, or fifteen million dollars. As -Thackeray said, its ambassadors are everywhere; one may be seen pricing -potatoes at Covent Garden, while another is committing to paper the -Cabinet intrigues at Berlin. Among its most celebrated writers have -been Barnes, Sterling, Horace Twiss, William Howard Russell, Thackeray, -Thomas Noon Talfourd, Baron Alderson, Louis J. Jennings, the American -correspondent, now editor of the New York <i>Times</i>, and others. Southey -was offered the editorial management at a salary of £2,000 a year, and -the same offer was made to Thomas Moore, the poet, but both declined -acceptance. The <i>Times</i>, with supplement, has seventy-two columns of -matter, on sixteen pages, and 2,250 advertisements have been inserted -in one day's issue, seven tons of paper, with a surface of thirty -acres, and seven tons of type, being used.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_651" id="Page_651">[Pg 651]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">CIRCULATION OF JOURNALS.</div> - -<p>The circulation and prices of the leading London journals, are as -follows: <i>Times</i>, 65,000, four pence; <i>Daily News</i>, 48,000, one penny; -<i>Daily Telegraph</i>, 175,000, one penny; <i>Morning and Evening Standard</i>, -80,000, one penny; <i>Morning Advertiser</i> (rumseller's organ), 35,000, -one penny; <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i> (evening), 30,000, one penny; <i>Echo</i> -(evening), 75,000, one penny; <i>Globe</i> (evening), 8,000, one penny; -<i>Punch</i> (weekly), 55,000, six pence; <i>Illustrated London News</i>, 60,000, -four pence; <i>Graphic</i>, 80,000, six pence; <i>Bell's Life</i> (sporting), -Wednesday and Saturday, 66,000, one penny; <i>The Field</i> (sporting, -weekly), 18,000, six pence; <i>Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper</i> (Sunday), -140,000, one penny; <i>Weekly Times</i> (Sunday)—owned by <i>London Journal</i>, -which has a circulation of 200,000—110,000, one penny; <i>Cassell's -Weekly Magazine</i>, 90,000, <i>Weekly Dispatch</i> (Sunday), 215,000, two -pence; <i>Reynold's Newspaper</i> (Sunday), 280,000, one penny; <i>Jewish -Record</i> (weekly), one penny, 7,500; <i>Tablet</i> (Catholic weekly), four -pence, 36,000.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus125.jpg" alt="telegraph" /> <a id="illus125" name="illus125"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> SUB-EDITOR'S ROOM, "TELEGRAPH" OFFICE.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_652" id="Page_652">[Pg 652]</a></span></p> - -<p>The <i>Morning Telegraph</i> is the most popular daily newspaper in the -world. During periods of great excitement its circulation increases -to over 200,000 copies a day, and it takes four ten-cylinder, and -four six-cylinder Hoe's presses, to strike off its daily editions. -The correspondent of the <i>Telegraph</i> at Paris, Mr. Whitehurst, is -hand and glove with Napoleon, and his salary amounts to £10,000, -with a horse and brougham thrown in. The editor of the <i>Telegraph</i> -is Thornton Hunt, son of Leigh Hunt, who was for twenty years on the -staff of the <i>Spectator</i>. The sub-editor of the <i>Telegraph</i>, for -they have no managing editors in England, is Mr. Ralph Harrison, to -whom I am much indebted for courtesies received. The owner of the -<i>Telegraph</i> is a Hebrew gentleman named Levy. The <i>Daily News</i> is owned -by the Liberation Society, a Dissenters' association, and is edited I -believe, by Mr. Edward Dicey, formerly a special correspondent of the -<i>Telegraph</i>, who went to Suez for that journal. Tom Hood, son of the -poet, was editor of the <i>Tomahawk</i> formerly, and lately of the <i>Latest -News</i>, a penny Saturday paper, and Arthur A. Becket has edited <i>Fun</i>. -James Grant is now editor of the <i>Morning Advertiser</i>, at a salary of -fifty pounds a week, and Blanchard Jerrold receives £800 a year for -editing <i>Lloyds' Weekly</i>. The salaries of editors on the London press -vary from fifteen to fifty pounds a week, according to the ability -displayed, and the circumstances of the journal on which they are -employed.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail46.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail46" name="tail46"></a></p> - - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus126.jpg" alt="soup" /> <a id="illus126" name="illus126"></a></p> -<p class="caption">HALF PENNY SOUP HOUSE.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_655" id="Page_655">[Pg 655]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XLVII" id="CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII.</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE POOR OF LONDON.</p> - - -<p><span class= "figleft"><img src="images/icap47.jpg" alt="B" /> <a id="icap47" name="icap47"></a></span>EYOND comparison London exceeds all other cities of Europe for -the number of its poor, and the misery and suffering of those who -individually make up the gross totals in work-houses, back slums, and -miasmatic tenements.</p> - -<p>One of the most interesting—if not the most curious and cheerful -scenes in the metropolis—may be witnessed any day by a visit to the -East London "Half-Penny Soup House," an institution established by good -and merciful people, whereby the poor little castaways and waifs of the -city are provided with a dish of soup, a piece of meat, and a small -loaf of bread, once in each twenty-four hours.</p> - -<p>The children are gathered from the promiscuous juvenile assemblages -that may be, at any time, found in the London streets, and are taken -to the Soup House where large and steaming dishes of soup are given -them, by charitable ladies, after which they are dismissed until the -next twenty-four hours have elapsed, when again they assemble to -partake of the same plentiful and grateful food. This nourishment costs -but a half-penny per head, all the attendance and time being given -gratuitously by the good ladies who seek the little ones for their own -merciful purpose.</p> - -<p>The struggles of the London poor to keep soul and body together, -are very wonderful to understand or relate. Out of every five poor -families in London—it is known that at least three are compelled, -between Easter and Christmas, to denude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_656" id="Page_656">[Pg 656]</a></span> their households of all the -most necessary articles of clothing and furniture, to take them to the -pawnbroker's shops in order that bread and meat may be procured for -their little ones. And what terrible scenes are witnessed in these -pawnbroker's shops, on Saturday nights when the goods are reclaimed by -dint of economy and hard scraping? None but God, the police, and the -pawnbroker, ever see such struggles.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus127.jpg" alt="shop" /> <a id="illus127" name="illus127"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> A PAWNBROKER'S SHOP.</p> - -<p>One day I paid a visit to the Workhouse of St. Martin's, in the Fields, -which is not far distant from Trafalgar square. This workhouse looks -like a vast prison, stern, gloomy, and frowning, in the very busiest -quarter of the city. Opposite to its entrance was the barracks of some -regiment of infantry, and round the doors, were talking and smoking, -half-a-dozen of long-legged and slim-waisted private soldiers, in red -shell jackets, whose chief occupation seemed to be that of switching -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_657" id="Page_657">[Pg 657]</a></span> -their manly calves with slender rods which they jauntily carried in -their hands.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">THE MASTER OF THE WORKHOUSE.</div> - -<p>The workhouse door was shown to me by a squad of small boys who were at -play in the adjoining gutters, clad in a pauper's uniform of blue, and -on whose heads were dirty but comfortable caps of plaid pilot cloth.</p> - -<p>"Yes, master, there is the Workus, over yander. Will ye give us a -penny? We are all Workus," said they in chorus.</p> - -<p>I entered the low entrance and stood in a small vestibule, where stood -a shelf, or stand, upon which was placed an open blank or visitors' -book, in which each caller was to inscribe his name and residence, -together with his object for visiting the workhouse. On the opposite -page were blank spaces, on which an attendant entered the hours when a -visitor called and when he left the institution.</p> - -<p>A miserable, worm-eaten looking old man, devoid of teeth, and shambling -in his gait, a perfect wreck, shuffled up to me with a deprecating look -in his eye, as if he were asking pardon for being alive. Heavens! how -the iron of poverty, and the bitterness of dependence, must have eaten -away that poor wretch's soul before such enduring lines of degradation -could have been impressed on his features.</p> - -<p>This old pauper was detailed to wait upon the visitors, and to see that -their names were inscribed, with the warning that he should not attempt -to ask for or receive any gratuity.</p> - -<p>He faintly said in a childish voice:</p> - -<p>"What can I do for you, Sir? Do you wish to see the Workus? Ah, yes, of -course, a goodish bit of people comes to see the poor paupers, now and -then, but we are never allowed to take anything, Sir. No never, never. -Poor paupers, poor paupers," and so he mumbled away until the Master of -the workhouse was announced by his footsteps that came in echoes as I -sat in the little, poverty-stricken ante-room.</p> - -<p>To the Master, who is the supreme authority in the workhouse, under -the direction of the Board of Guardians of the parish, I explained my -motives for visiting the paupers' residence, and he welcomed me with -much politeness, offering me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_658" id="Page_658">[Pg 658]</a></span> every facility to inspect the place. -He was a medium sized man, of middle age, plainly dressed, and after -having issued orders to several of the inmates of the establishment -he prepared to accompany me through the premises. Here and there, in -the walks and corridors, and courts of the workhouse, we met with an -occasional pauper, the males in a grey, rough, shoddy uniform, and the -women in check or plaid gowns, of a coarse cotton material, and wearing -caps of a faded whiteness upon their heads.</p> - -<p>They all had a vacant, listless look, and seemed lost in astonishment -to see a stranger with the Master, to whom they made the most servile -of salutations.</p> - -<p>I had seen, in my travels on the English railways, when I sought -the not very wholesome refuge of the third class carriages to study -character—just such poor, faded-looking people, among the families -journeying wearily to their various destinations, as these poor old -relics, who were now clustering around the workhouse tea tables. Oh, -God! how lonely they looked, and distant from all human kind. The same -wan, woe-begone faces, but more quiet and reserved than those I saw in -the close railway cars devoted to poor people.</p> - -<p>Smoking is a common thing in these crowded and close carriages, and -delicate women, and puny, weak children, are forced to travel for -hundreds of miles in these cattle boxes—I cannot call them aught -else—until they are sometimes known to vomit from the bad air and -worse stenches.</p> - -<p>Making inquiries of this gentleman as I went through the buildings, -I may as well give his explanations of workhouse life, and of the -condition of the poor and destitute of London. I freely admitted to him -that I had heard very strange stories in regard to the treatment, food, -and medical attendance of the paupers in the Unions, and that I would -be obliged to him if he could clear up my reasonable doubts on many -points.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">SUGAR AND TEA.</div> - -<p>In answer to one of these doubts the Master took me into a large, long -and clean-looking room, in which were about forty female paupers. These -women were engaged in getting sup<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_659" id="Page_659">[Pg 659]</a></span>per for themselves, and were all -above middle age, and haggard-looking.</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus128.jpg" alt="carriage" /> <a id="illus128" name="illus128"></a></p> -<p class="caption"> A THIRD CLASS RAILWAY CARRIAGE.</p> - -<p>"Now, Sir," said he to me, "you, of course, can see something of which -you speak, for yourself. Here is one of the busy wards of the Union. -Each of these old women is allowed an ounce of dry tea per day, and -enough sugar to moderately sweeten four cups of tea, which they make in -their own tea-caddies, or, sometimes they mess together—three or four -in a mess—and those who do not care for sugar will trade their surplus -sugar for the surplus dry tea with some other paupers."</p> - -<p>All the women arose from their low seats or benches, some of them being -clustered around a grate in which were a moderate stock of burning -coals, and bowed to the Master, who waved his hand and told them to sit -down again, which they did with courtesies and many feeble expressions -of thanks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_660" id="Page_660">[Pg 660]</a></span></p> - -<p>"That old woman over there in the corner," said the Master, pointing -to a female of sixty years of age, who sat alone rubbing her bare -arms, and chatting to herself senselessly, "has lost her wits. She is -here forty-five years, and will die here in all probability. We have -about 400 in-door paupers in this workhouse, and perhaps twice as many -out-door poor, whom the parochial authorities assist as well as they -can. Every pauper whom we support in this house costs the rate-payers -of this parish about seventeen pounds six and ten-pence per head, which -does not include charge for rent, taking the interest of the value -of the property. For the children we have a school, and they get the -rudiments and that's all. It is an idea with some, and I am afraid, -with many poor people, "once a pauper always a pauper." The children -who are born in this place, would never become independent of the -parish if it were not that as soon as they grow up we send them to -schools of an industrial kind outside of London, where they learn a -trade, or are taught some occupation, such as gardening, blacksmithing, -carpentering, or, in fact, anything that will enable them to make a -living. The feeding and schooling of the children, with the nursing, -&c., costs more per head for them, strange to say, than it does for a -grown person's subsistence and clothing in London.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">WORKHOUSE RATIONS.</div> - -<p>"In this parish alone we have to take care of 478 children, and in some -of the London parishes in Bethnal Green, and Hackney, or Stepney, they -sometimes have to provide for from 1,500 to 2,000 children, of both -sexes. Of course, in the very large parishes they cannot afford to -educate the children, but have to content themselves with feeding and -clothing as many as they can inside the workhouse, while the majority -receive, with their parents, out-door relief, but the large and heavy -parishes could not afford to have such fine schools as we have in the -suburbs, with grounds attached, and sometimes goodish pieces of land, -where farming and gardening can be taught the children. It costs the -rate-payers of this parish twenty pounds a year to support and educate -the parish children, and, along with all the rest of the taxes, it is -no wonder that the people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_661" id="Page_661">[Pg 661]</a></span> are grumbling and asking why we do not send -the beggars to America or Australia."</p> - -<p>"And why do you not?" said I to him, "if the sustenance of a pauper, -together with his clothing, costs the parish £21 annually."</p> - -<p>"Because, the people of London have an idea somehow or other, that the -Americans will not receive paupers, and then again, if £21 was given to -a pauper to go to America, they would raise a row in Parliament that -too much money was going out of the country. Why," said he, "down at -Birkenhead, near Liverpool, schools were built for paupers at a cost of -£15,000, with bath-rooms and fine dining-rooms, and the people there -raised an awful row because the cost to the rate-payers came to ten -shillings per head per annum to every inhabitant in the place. They -didn't want to give them bath-rooms or fine dining-rooms. They turned -a man away there who was frozen, and he had to lose all of his toes on -account of their neglect. In some of the work-houses, in the North of -England, they are beginning to let the children out to board by the -week, with farmers and families who can afford to take them, the parish -authorities allowing, for each child, three shillings per week for -board, with an outfit on leaving the workhouse, and six shillings and -sixpence a quarter for mending and repairing their clothes, an offer -which has been very cheerfully accepted by many families who are in -decent circumstances."</p> - -<p>"A 'Casual,'" said the Master, "is a pauper who is house-less and -destitute in a different parish from which he has lived. When he finds -himself in a strange place, as in London, he has to apply at the Police -Station for a ticket, which is given him as a reference to ask for one -night's lodging at the workhouse in the district. The ticket is shown -to the Master, who receives him, and I will send him down here, but -before he is sent down he gets a loaf of bread, weighing a pound and a -quarter. He must apply to the House for lodgings before ten o'clock at -night, or we will not let him in. Then he takes the loaf of bread and -eats half of it for his supper, and the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_662" id="Page_662">[Pg 662]</a></span> half he saves for his -breakfast. We give him, with the remaining half loaf of bread in the -morning, a half pint of coffee or tea. But before he goes he has got to -earn the breakfast which we give him, and is compelled to pick oakum -from six o'clock in the morning until nine, when he leaves the House."</p> - -<p>Before I left the workhouse the Master allowed me to inspect the beef, -bread, butter, and beer, which are served out daily to the paupers. -Each grown man and woman receives a twelve ounce loaf of bread, a pint -of the best beer, an ounce of butter, daily, and five days in the week -they receive six ounces of fresh meat, the other days being especially -devoted to beans, and a liquid compound known to seafaring men as -"skillagelee."</p> - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/tail47.jpg" alt="tailpiece" /> <a id="tail47" name="tail47"></a></p> - - - -<p class= "center"><img src="images/illus129.jpg" alt="map" /> <a id="illus129" name="illus129"></a></p> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">MAP of the CITY of LONDON.</span></p> - - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<p class="ph2" style="margin-top: 10em;">BELKNAP & BLISS,</p> - -<p class="ph5">OF</p> - -<p class="ph3">HARTFORD, CONN.,</p> - -<p class="ph6">Are engaged in the Publication of</p> - -<p class="ph4">VALUABLE STANDARD WORKS,</p> - -<p class="ph2">SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.</p> - -<p>Old Agents, and all others who want the <span class="smcap">Best</span> and most -<span class="smcap">Popular Books</span>, and the <span class="smcap">Best Paying Agencies</span>, will -please send for their Circulars, which are sent free, and give full -particulars.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph2">THE EXPOSÉ:</p> - -<p class="ph2">OR,</p> - -<p class="ph2">MORMONS AND MORMONISM.</p> - -<p class="ph4">Giving its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition, with the Narration of</p> - -<p class="ph3">Mrs. MARY ETTIE V. SMITH,</p> - -<p>a Sister of one of the High Priests—of her residence and experience -for <i>Fifteen Years</i> among them, with a full, graphic, and authentic -account of their Social Condition, their Religious Doctrines, and -Political Government. It is a full and truthful disclosure of the -Rites, Ceremonies, and Mysteries of Polygamy, with facts and statements -truly startling; and also contains the speech recently delivered before -the Elders in Utah, by Vice-President Colfax, and the reply of John -Taylor.</p> - -<p>It is an Illustrated 12mo Volume, and sold only by subscription at the -following prices:</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bound in Fine Cloth, $2.00</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">" " Leather, Library Style, 2.50</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">" " extra Half Morocco, 3.00</span><br /> -</p> - -<p><b><i>Agents Wanted.</i></b> Apply to</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">BELKNAP & BLISS,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">HARTFORD, CONN.</span><br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - - -<p class="ph2">PICTORIAL</p> - -<p class="ph2">History of the United States.</p> - -<p class="ph5">IN</p> - -<p class="ph3">ONE ROYAL OCTAVO VOLUME OF ABOUT EIGHT HUNDRED PAGES,</p> - -<p class="ph4">AND CONTAINING</p> - -<p class="ph4">Four Hundred Engravings on Wood, besides Twelve Full Page Steel -Engravings.</p> - -<p class="ph3">By BENSON J. LOSSING.</p> - - -<p>In this single volume may be found a record of every important event, -from the discovery of the country to the present time, including short -biographical sketches of all the distinguished men who have figured in -its history. Every family should possess it. Prices as follows:</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>In Embossed Cloth,</b> <b>$5.00</b></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>In Leather, Library Style,</b> <b>5.50</b></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>In Half Turkey Morocco,</b> <b>6.00</b></span><br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p class="ph2">LIVES OF CELEBRATED AMERICANS.</p> - -<p class="ph4">COMPRISING</p> - -<p class="ph3">Biographies of Three Hundred and Forty Eminent Persons</p> - -<p class="ph4">AND</p> - -<p class="ph3">ILLUSTRATED WITH OVER ONE HUNDRED FINE PORTRAITS.</p> - -<p class="ph3">By BENSON J. LOSSING.</p> - - -<p>Sold only by subscription, at the following prices:</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>In Cloth Binding,</b> <b>$2.50</b></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>In Leather, Library Style,</b> <b>3.00</b></span><br /> -</p> - -<p><i><b>AGENTS WANTED.</b></i> Apply to</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>BELKNAP & BLISS</b>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">HARTFORD, CONN.</span><br /> -</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<p class="ph2">LOSSING'S PICTORIAL HISTORY</p> - -<p class="ph5">OF</p> - -<p class="ph2">THE GREAT CIVIL WAR.</p> - -<p class="ph4">Three Imperial Octavo Volumes,</p> - -<p class="ph4">OF OVER 600 PAGES EACH, EMBELLISHED BY</p> - -<p class="ph3">MORE THAN 1,200 ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD, and 100 PORTRAITS OF UNION -GENERALS, ENGRAVED ON STEEL.</p> - -<p class="ph3">By BENSON J. LOSSING,</p> - -<p class="ph5">Author of "Field Book of the Revolution," "Eminent Americans," "History -of the United States," etc.</p> - - -<p>The work is very valuable, being a full and perfect pen and pencil -picture of the Great Rebellion, and illustrates everything capable of -delineation by the pencil and graver.</p> - -<p>Sold only by subscription, at the following prices:</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>Embossed Cloth,</b> <b>per Vol., $5.00</b></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>Leather, Library Style,</b> " <b>6.00</b></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>Arabesque Morocco,</b> " <b>6.00</b></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>Half Calf,</b> " <b>7.50</b></span><br /> -</p> - -<p><i><b>Agents Wanted.</b></i> Apply to</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">BELKNAP & BLISS, <span class="smcap">Hartford, Conn.</span></span><br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p class="ph2">DICTIONARY</p> - -<p class="ph4">OF THE</p> - -<p class="ph4">U.S. Congress and General Government,</p> - -<p class="ph5">Compiled as a Book of Reference for the American People.</p> - -<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">By</span> CHARLES LANMAN.</p> - - -<p>This volume contains about <span class="smcap">Five Thousand Biographies</span>, as well -as a large amount of official information connected with the General -Government not to be found in any other publication. As a book of -Reference it is invaluable. Sold only by subscription at the following -prices:</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>In Cloth Binding,</b> <b>$4.00</b></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>In Library Sheep,</b> <b>4.50</b></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><b>In Half Turkey Morocco,</b> <b>5.00</b></span><br /> -</p> - -<p><i><b>Agents Wanted.</b></i> Apply to</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">BELKNAP & BLISS, Hartford, Conn.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pg" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PALACE AND HOVEL***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 55732-h.htm or 55732-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/5/7/3/55732">http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/7/3/55732</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>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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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: Palace and Hovel - Phases of London Life - - -Author: Daniel Joseph Kirwan - - - -Release Date: October 12, 2017 [eBook #55732] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PALACE AND HOVEL*** - - -E-text prepared by deaurider, Graeme Mackreth, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 55732-h.htm or 55732-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/55732/55732-h/55732-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/55732/55732-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/palacehovel00kirw - - - - - -[Illustration: ONE MORE UNFORTUNATE. (Page 459.)] - -[Illustration: GRAND STAIRCASE, BUCKINGHAM PALACE.] - - -PALACE AND HOVEL: - -Or, -Phases of London Life. - -Being - -Personal Observations of an American in London, by Day and Night; with -Graphic Descriptions of Royal and Noble Personages, Their Residences -and Relaxations; Together with Vivid Illustrations -of the Manners, Social Customs, and Modes of -Living of the Rich and the Reckless, the -Destitute and the Depraved, in the -Metropolis of Great Britain. - -With - -Valuable Statistical Information, -Collected from the Most Reliable Sources. - -by - -DANIEL JOSEPH KIRWAN. - -Beautifully Illustrated with Two Hundred Engravings, and a finely -executed Map of London. - -Published by Subscription Only. - - - - - - -Hartford, Conn.: -Belknap & Bliss. -W. E. Bliss, Toledo, Ohio.--Nettleton & Co., Cincinnati, -Ohio.--Duffield Ashmead, Philadelphia, Pa. -Union Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill. -A. L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco, Cal. -1870 - -Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by -Belknap & Bliss, -In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. - -William H. Lockwood, -Electrotyper, -Hartford, Conn. - - - - - TO - Samuel L.M. Barlow, Esq., - OF - NEW YORK CITY, - A - True Gentleman in Every Quality and Duty of Life, - THESE PAGES ARE DEDICATED, - AS A - SLIGHT TESTIMONY - TO THE - Unvarying Friendship borne by him for the author - - - - -PREFACE. - - -In offering this volume to the Public, the result of a year's -experience and labor, I must indeed feel gratified, and more than -rewarded, if any of those who may peruse its pages shall find in them -a tithe of the pleasure which I enjoyed in journeying in and about the -nooks, crannies, and curious places, of what may be justly called the -greatest and most populous City of the Modern World. - -Believing that a Metropolis of Three and a Half Millions of people -should be observed and described, if observed and described at all, in -a large and comprehensive sense, in order that a thorough knowledge -of it may be obtained by those who will do me the honor of turning -the leaves of this book, I have not hesitated to take my readers -into places which they might shrink from visiting alone, and which -are rarely or ever seen by the stranger, in London. Therefore have I -sketched its Haunts of Vice, Misery, and Crime, as well as its fairer -and brighter aspects, with no faltering in my purpose, so that the -American people might see London as I saw it, and as it exists To-Day. - -The material employed in making the book was gathered from personal -observation, while acting as a Special Correspondent of the New York -_World_, in London, and I cannot do less than make an acknowledgment of -the kindness of its Editor, Mr. Manton Marble, by whose permission I -have used some portions of the matter embodied in this work. - - DANIEL JOSEPH KIRWAN. - - Hartford, August 1st, 1870. - - - - -[Illustration: - - List of ILLUSTRATIONS - - _BY_ - Fay & Cox - 105 Nassau ST. - N.Y.] - - - 1. One More Unfortunate Frontispiece -- - - 2. Grand Staircase, Buckingham Palace--Illuminated Title-Page. -- - - 3. Bird's-Eye View of London, 17 - - 4. Initial Letter, 17 - - 5. The London Stone, 19 - - 6. "Thank you, Sir," 20 - - 7. The Rock and Chain, Tail Piece, 23 - - 8. Initial Letter, 24 - - 9. Sword, &c., Tail Piece, 27 - - 10. Entrance to Docks, 32 - - 11. "I Don't Think it Will Hurt me," 34 - - 12. Forest, Initial Letter, 42 - - 13. Buckingham Palace (Full Page,) 45 - - 14. Portrait of Queen Victoria, 50 - - 15. John Brown Exercising the Queen, 53 - - 16. Fancy Sketch, Tail Piece, 56 - - 17. Lion on Guard, Initial Letter, 57 - - 18. Purty Bill Showing us in, 61 - - 19. "Wont you Take Something?" 63 - - 20. Snake Swallowing, 67 - - 21. "Bilking Bet takes the Chair," 72 - - 22. "Teddy the Kinchin's Song," 74 - - 23. Explosive Materials, Tail Piece, 75 - - 24. Initial Letter, 76 - - 25. Cogers' Hall, Debating Club, 85 - - 26. Snake in the Grass, Tail Piece, 91 - - 27. Initial Letter, 92 - - 28. Conservative Club House, 99 - - 29. Carlton Club House, 101 - - 30. Oxford and Cambridge Club House, 102 - - 31. United Service Club House, 104 - - 32. Architectural Sketch, Tail Piece, 106 - - 33. Initial Letter, 107 - - 34. Westminster Abbey, 109 - - 35. Shakespeare's Tomb, 115 - - 36. Tomb of Milton, 117 - - 37. Tomb of Mary Queen of Scots, 118 - - 38. Coronation Chair, 121 - - 39. Gauntleted Hand and Sword, Tail Piece, 127 - - 40. Initial Letter, 128 - - 41. Victoria Theatre in the New Cut, (Full Page,) 136 - - 42. Rag Fair, 142 - - 43. A Cell Window, Initial Letter, 145 - - 44. The Last Execution at Newgate, 151 - - 45. Fetters and Chain, Tail Piece, 158 - - 46. Broken Wheel, Initial Letter, 159 - - 47. Doctors' Commons, 162 - - 48. Eagle and Snake, Tail Piece, 166 - - 49. Initial Letter, 167 - - 50. A Bohemian Carouse, 171 - - 51. A Water Scene, Tail Piece, 180 - - 52. Tower of London (Full Page,) 182 - - 53. Initial Letter, 183 - - 54. Traitors' Gate, 189 - - 55. The Crown Jewels, 197 - - 56. Imperial Orb, Ampulla and other Jewels, 199 - - 57. The State Salt-Cellars, 200 - - 58. Cannon, Tail Piece, 206 - - 59. Initial Letter, 207 - - 60. The Cadgers' Meal, 210 - - 61. Raft Timber, Tail Piece, 215 - - 62. The Old Oak, Initial Letter, 216 - - 63. Bathing in Hyde Park, 219 - - 64. The Labyrinth, 221 - - 65. The Crystal Palace, 223 - - 66. The Promenade, Tail Piece, 225 - - 67. Fort and Water Scene, Initial Letter, 226 - - 68. Portrait of the Prince of Wales, 230 - - 69. Prince and Cabman, 234 - - 70. Broken Wagon and Dead Horse, Tail Piece, 239 - - 71. Blood-Hounds in the Leash, Initial Letter, 240 - - 72. Portrait of Lady Mordaunt, 243 - - 73. Portrait of the Duke of Hamilton, 262 - - 74. Portrait of the Marquis of Waterford, 265 - - 75. Portrait of the Marquis of Hastings, 267 - - 76. Mounted Cannon, Initial Letter, 270 - - 77. Houses of Parliament (Full Page,) 272 - - 78. Portrait of William Ewart Gladstone, 274 - - 79. The Legislative Bar-Maid, 279 - - 80. Portrait of John Bright, 281 - - 81. The Student, Tail Piece, 284 - - 82. Initial Letter, 285 - - 83. "Could you Make it a Tanner?" 290 - - 84. The Speaker of the House, 292 - - 85. First Lord of the Admiralty, 298 - - 86. Portrait of Robert E. Lowe, 300 - - 87. Gladstone Speaking in the House of Commons (Full Page,) 307 - - 88. Landscape, Tail Piece, 317 - - 89. Initial Letter, 318 - - 90. The Pocket-Book Game, 324 - - 91. Steam Frigate, Tail Piece, 329 - - 92. A Broadside, Initial Letter, 330 - - 93. The Sewer Hunter, 334 - - 94. Blood-Hound, Tail Piece, 336 - - 95. Island, Initial Letter, 337 - - 96. Cats Receiving Rations, 339 - - 97. The Great Porter Tun, 341 - - 98. Initial Letter, 344 - - 99. The Harvard Crew (Full Page,) 353 - - 100. Bridge, Tail Piece, 361 - - 101. Initial Letter, 362 - - 102. The Oxford Crew, (Full Page,) 369 - - 103. The University Race, (Full Page,) 375 - - 104. Beautiful Craft, Tail Piece, 381 - - 105. Initial Letter, 382 - - 106. Hospital Ship "Dreadnought," 384 - - 107. Jonathan Wild's Skeleton, 389 - - 108. Tail Piece, 390 - - 109. Initial Letter, 391 - - 110. Coke Peddler, 399 - - 111. Bum Boatman, 401 - - 112. "I Gets it for Cigar Stumps," 403 - - 113. Street Acrobats, 405 - - 114. Punch and Judy, 407 - - 115. Initial Letter, 410 - - 116. Nelson's Monument, 416 - - 117. Damaged Tree, Tail Piece, 419 - - 118. Initial Letter, 420 - - 119. Nursery in the Foundling Hospital, 421 - - 120. Washing the Waifs, 427 - - 121. Landscape, Tail Piece, 434 - - 122. Initial Letter, 435 - - 123. Breakfast Stall, Covent Garden Market (Full Page,) 443 - - 124. The Orange Market, 450 - - 125. Going to Market, Tail Piece, 451 - - 126. Fancy Piece, Initial Letter, 452 - - 127. Wild and Desolate, Tail Piece, 460 - - 128. Initial Letter, 461 - - 129. Foreign Cafe in Coventry Street, 462 - - 130. Canteen of the Alhambra, 471 - - 131. The Old Sinner, 473 - - 132. Rough and Ready, Tail Piece, 475 - - 133. In the Haymarket, 482 - - 134. Initial Letter, 486 - - 135. St. Paul's Cathedral, 487 - - 136. Sharp-Shooter, Initial Letter, 493 - - 137. "Beautiful Miss Neilson," 494 - - 138. A Gin Public in the New Cut, 500 - - 139. A Gallery of the "Vic," 502 - - 140. Putting on Airs, Tail Piece, 507 - - 141. Initial Letter, 508 - - 142. An Auction at Billingsgate Fish Market, (Full Page,) 511 - - 143. Initial Letter, 518 - - 144. Lincoln's Inn, 520 - - 145. Fancy Sketch, Tail Piece, 525 - - 146. An English Oak, Initial Letter, 526 - - 147. Bankers' Eating-House, 528 - - 148. The Bank of England, 533 - - 149. "I Began to Perspire," 538 - - 150. Carpet-Bag, Tail Piece, 544 - - 151. London Bridge, (Full Page,) 546 - - 152. Forest Scene, Initial Letter, 547 - - 153. Temple Bar, Fleet Street, 550 - - 154. The New Blackfriars Bridge, 553 - - 155. Bridge and Water Scene, Tail Piece, 555 - - 156. Initial Letter, 556 - - 157. Windsor Castle, 560 - - 158. Tail Piece, 565 - - 159. Initial Letter, 566 - - 160. Loading the Prison Van, 570 - - 161. Detective Irving, 572 - - 162. Before the Lord Mayor, 574 - - 163. Bible and Hand, Initial Letter, 576 - - 164. Portrait of Spurgeon, 577 - - 165. Portrait of Father Ignatius, 578 - - 166. "Lothair" (Marquis of Bute,) 583 - - 167. Ruins, Tail Piece, 586 - - 168. Initial Letter, 587 - - 169. "Scott's" in the Haymarket, 588 - - 170. The Midnight Mission, (Full Page,) 592 - - 171. "Skittles" and the Princess Mary, 595 - - 172. A Row in Cremorne, 596 - - 173. Sword and Purse, Initial Letter, 598 - - 174. Portrait of "Mabel Grey," 602 - - 175. Portrait of "Anonyma," 605 - - 176. Portrait of "Baby Hamilton," 606 - - 177. Mabel Grey at Home, 609 - - 178. Portrait of "Alice Gordon," 613 - - 179. Snake and Dove, Initial Letter, 614 - - 180. A Meal at a Cheap Lodging House, (Full Page,) 617 - - 181. "Damnable Jack," 619 - - 182. Statue of George Peabody, 625 - - 183. Tail Piece, 625 - - 184. Initial Letter, 626 - - 185. Old "Smudge," the Cabby, 627 - - 186. "A Hansom Cab," 628 - - 187. "One Hundred Rats in Nine Minutes," 630 - - 188. The Rat-Catcher, 632 - - 189. "Paddy's Goose," 633 - - 190. Waiting for the Tide, 634 - - 191. Ruins, Tail Piece, 635 - - 192. "The Times" Office, 650 - - 193. The Sub-Editors' Room, "Daily Telegraph" Office, 651 - - 194. Portrait of James Anthony Froude, 639 - - 195. Portrait of Algernon Charles Swinburne, 641 - - 196. Portrait of John Stewart Mill, 643 - - 197. Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli, 644 - - 198. Portrait of John Ruskin, 637 - - 199. Portrait of Charles Kingsley, 645 - - 200. Portrait of Anthony Trollope, 647 - - 201. Tail Piece, 652 - - 202. Initial Letter, 655 - - 203. Half-Penny Soup House, (Full Page,) 653 - - 204. A Pawn-Broker's Shop, 656 - - 205. A Third Class Railway Carriage, 659 - - 206. Tail Piece, 662 - - 207. Map of London, -- - - - - -[Illustration: Contents] - - - CHAPTER I. - - THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD. - - View from the Cupola of St. Paul's Cathedral--Population of London--Its - Wealth and Poverty--Interesting Statistics, 18 - - - CHAPTER II. - - THE SILENT HIGHWAY. - - The Thames Embankment--The Tunnel--The Subway--Tunnel Thieves--Pneumatic - Railway, 24 - - - CHAPTER III. - - THE DOCKS, SHIPPING, AND COMMERCE. - - Custom-House Duties--Immense Wine Vaults under the Docks--Hoisting - and Discharging Cargoes--London and West India Docks--Opposition - to the New Dock System--Dock Laborers, 28 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - PALACES OF LONDON. - - St. James--Whitehall--Buckingham Palace--Magnificence of the Queen's - Residence--The Grand Staircase--Queen's Library--The Famous _John - Brown_, 42 - - - CHAPTER V. - - HIDDEN DEPTHS. - - Underground Life--A Friendly Visit among Thieves and Pick-Pockets--The - Midnight Feast, 58 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - DEBATING CLUBS AND COGERS' HALL. - - Society of Cogers--The Most Worthy Grand--News of the Week--Interesting - Debates--Irish Orator and Scotch Presbyterian--Liberals and - Conservatives--"Where are we now?"--Farce and Tragedy, 76 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES. - - Aristocratic Members--Entrance and Subscription Fees--How Managed - and Supported--Architectural Splendor--Choice Wines and Luxurious - Dinners--Interesting Statistics--A Model Kitchen--Heavy Swell - Club, 92 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - WESTMINSTER ABBEY. - - Its Dimensions and Architectural Construction--Its Wealth and Immense - Revenues--The Burial-Place of the Kings and Queens--Magnificence of - their Tombs--Tomb of Shakespeare--Tomb of Milton--Tomb of Mary - Queen of Scots--Coronation of William the Conqueror--The Massacre, 107 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - THE COSTERMONGERS AND RAG FAIR. - - The New Cut--Heathenism of the Costers--Marriage Relation--Old - Clothes District--Petticoat Lane--Congress of Rags--Modus - Operandi of Selling, 128 - - - CHAPTER X. - - FROM NEWGATE TO TYBURN. - - Dying for an Idea--Execution of Barrett--Man in the Mask--Famous - Criminals--Pestiferous Prison--The Old Bailey Court--Hotel - Regulations--Drinking from St. Giles' Bowl, 145 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - DOCTORS' COMMONS. - - Marriage Licenses--Divorces--Ecclesiastical Court--High Court of - Admiralty--Paying the Piper--Legal Scoundrelism--The Last Will and - Testaments of Shakespeare, Milton, and of Napoleon Bonaparte--The - Forgotten Sailor, 159 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - THE BOHEMIANS OF LONDON. - - Carlisle Arms--A Pint of Cooper--Cockerell's Lodgings--Fitz and Dawson, - or the Radical and Conservative Reporter--The Short Hand - Reporter--Dawson's Story--A Song from the Speaker--Beautiful Potato, 167 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - TOWER, PALACE, AND PRISON. - - Its History and Dimensions--Council Chamber--Jolly Bishops and Royal - Prisoners--The Traitor's Gate--Anne Boleyn--Princess Elizabeth--Heroism - of Lady Jane Grey upon the Scaffold--The Crown Jewels--What - can be seen for a Sixpence, 183 - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - CADGERS OF LONDON BRIDGE. - - Under the Arches--Vagrancy and Pauperism--The Family Gathering--The - Cadger's Meal--A Confirmed Vagrant--The Girl Molly--The -Hopeful Son--The Cadger's Story, 207 - - - CHAPTER XV. - - THE LUNGS OF LONDON. - - Regent's and Hyde Parks--Dimensions of the Public Parks and Gardens--What - they Contain--Bathing in Hyde Park--Richmond Park with its - Forests and Hunting Grounds--Hampton Court Park--Its Labyrinth--The - Crystal Palace--Veteran Musicians--Greenwich Park--Grand Observatory, 216 - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - THE RAKES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. - - Vagabonds in Kingly Robes--Prince of Wales and his Personal - Friends--The Prince and the London Brewer as Firemen--Lord Carington - as a Coachman--His Cowardly Assault upon Greenville Murray--The Prince - and Cabman--Infamy of the Prince--A Mad King, 226 - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - FAST YOUNG ENGLAND. - - Lord Carington--Lady Mordaunt, Divorce Proceedings, and Interesting - Testimony--Love Letters of the Prince--Duke of Hamilton--The Fastest - Young Man in England--The Marquis of Waterford--Marquis of Hastings--Duke - of Newcastle--Earl of Jersey--Lord Clinton and others, 240 - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - LORDS AND COMMONS. - - Westminster Palace and Houses of Parliament--Interior of the House of - Commons--Bobbies and Cabbies--Strangers' Gallery--The Legislative - Bar-Maid--William Ewart Gladstone--England's Greatest Commoner - John Bright, 272 - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - LORDS AND COMMONS CONTINUED. - - Reporters' Gallery--Dr. Johnson taking Notes--The Speaker and his - Wig--Important Personages--First Lord of the Admiralty--Peers in the - Gallery--Gladstone's Early Life--The Eloquence of the Premier--The - Sarcasm of Disraeli--Ducal Houses--Upper House of Parliament--Privileges - of the Peers, 285 - - - CHAPTER XX. - - LONDON POLICE AND DETECTIVES. - - The Old Jewry--Central Detective's Office--Relics of Crimes--Inspector - Bailey--Experience of Mr. Funnell--The Pocket-Book Game--New - York a Precious bad Place--Police Districts--Expenses Attending - them--River Thieves, 318 - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - HUNTING THE SEWERS. - - The City Honey-Combed--2,000 Miles of Sewerage--An Unlawful and - Dangerous Business--Prizes Found--The Hunter's Story--Great Battle - with the Rats--Victory at last, 330 - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - BACCHUS AND BEER. - - The English a Great Beer-Drinking People--Amount of Exports--Barclay and - Perkins--A Princely Firm--Cats on Guard--The House of Hanbury, Buxton - & Co.--Great Porter Tun--Libraries in the Establishments--Quantities - of Beer used in London, 338 - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - - HARVARD AGAINST OXFORD. - - Police Arrangements--Thomas Hughes, M.P.--Dark Blue and Magenta--On - the Tow-Path--A Frightful Jam--Booths and Shows--Badges and - Rosettes--The Dear Old Flag, 344 - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - - STRUGGLE AND VICTORY. - - On Board the Press Boat--The Harvard Crew--Loring's Condition--Simmons - the Pride of the Crew--The Oxford Crew--"Little Corpus," the - Coxswain--The Start--Harvard Leads--Burnham's bad Steering--Oxford's - Vengeance Stroke--The Last Desperate Struggle--Beaten by - Six Seconds--Fair Play and Courtesy, 362 - - - CHAPTER XXV. - - CURIOSITIES OF LONDON. - - "Domesday Book"--Oldest Books in England--Hospital Ship "Dreadnought"--A - Gaudy Show--The Queen's Stage-Coach--Jonathan Wild's - Skeleton--The Lord Mayor's State Coach--Installation of a London - Sheriff, 382 - - - CHAPTER XXVI. - - STREET SIGHTS OF LONDON. - - Street Hawkers--Venders of Old Boots and Shoes--The Dog Fancier--Bird - Sellers--Coke Peddlers--Bum Boatman--Stock in Trade--How Dick - gets his Porridge--"I Gets it for Cigar-Stumps"--Street Acrobats--Punch - and Judy Show, 391 - - - CHAPTER XXVII. - - THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND NATIONAL GALLERY. - - Its Origin--Laying the Foundation--Reading Room--Departments of the - Museum--The Galleries and Saloons--The Three Libraries--What can - be seen--Nelson's Monument--Pictures and Works of Art in the National - Gallery--The Great Masters--Free to the Working People, 410 - - - CHAPTER XXVIII. - - NAKED AND NEEDY. - - Infanticide--The Benevolent Captain--Foundling Hospital--Admission of - Children--Great Numbers Received--How they Dine--How they Sleep--Washing - the Waifs--Charitable Institutions--An Interesting Sight--Innumerable - Bequests, 420 - - - CHAPTER XXIX. - - MARKETS AND FOOD. - - Amount of Food Sold--Inspections--Metropolitan Cattle Market--New - Smithfield Market--Covent Garden Market--Hot Coffee Girl--Vegetable - Market--The Baked Potato Man--The Jews' Orange Market, 435 - - - CHAPTER XXX. - - SECRETS OF A RIVER. - - Waterloo Bridge--The Pale-Faced Girl--Three O'clock in the - Morning--Weary of Life--A Leap from the Parapet--Fruitless - Attempt to Save--A Sad Sight--The Wages of Sin is Death, 452 - - - CHAPTER XXXI. - - INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH. - - Leicester Square--Foreign Cafe in Coventry Street--The Abode of Sir - Joshua Reynolds--The Residence of William Hogarth--Royal Alhambra - Palace--The Great Social Evil--"Wotten Wow"--In the Canteen--The - Old Sinner--The Tulip and the Daisy, 461 - - - CHAPTER XXXII. - - THE "ARGYLE," "BARNES'" AND "CASINO." - - The Haymarket by Night--The Argyle Rooms--Fast Young Men--Paint - and Jewelry--Silks and Satins--Free and Easy--Barnes'--"Holborn - Casino"--A Magnificent Saloon--Good Night, 476 - - - CHAPTER XXXIII. - - ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. - - Its History and Dimensions--Destruction of Old St. Paul's--Annual - Revenues--Prices of Admission--Monuments to Nelson--Burial-Place of - Wellington--Nelson's Funeral--A Grand Sight--"I am the Resurrection - and the Life," 486 - - - CHAPTER XXXIV. - - GOING TO THE PLAY. - - Beautiful Miss Neilson--The Lord Chamberlain a Censor--Royal - Victoria Theatre--Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres--A - "Gin Public" in the New Cut--The Gallery of the "Vic"--The - Chorus of "Immensekoff," 493 - - - CHAPTER XXXV. - - BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET. - - Profit on Fish--Oyster Boats--Number of Fishing Vessels--The Fish - Woman--The Old Style of Dress--Breakfast at Billingsgate--Capital - Invested--Immense Sales, 508 - - - CHAPTER XXXVI. - - THE INNS OF COURT. - - Number of Students--Gray's Inn--The New Hall of Lincoln's - Inn--Parliament Chamber--How to become a Lawyer--Procuring - Admission--"Hall Dinners"--Cup of "Sack"--The Toast--Irish - Students, 518 - - - CHAPTER XXXVII. - - BANK OF ENGLAND AND THE MINT. - - Its History--The Riots--Ledgers and Money-Bags--A Powerful - Corporation--Bankers' Eating-House--Great Panic of 1825--In - the Vaults--Making Sovereigns--Marking Room--How the Coin is - Tested--Celebrated Counterfeiters, 526 - - - CHAPTER XXXVIII. - - BRIDGES OF LONDON. - - History of Old London Bridge--The Fire of 1632--Where Traitors' Heads - were Suspended--Temple Bar--Traffic of London Bridges--Southwark - and Waterloo Bridges--The New Blackfriars Bridge--Suspension - Bridges--Acrobatic Feats--Scott, the American Diver, 547 - - - CHAPTER XXXIX. - - WINDSOR CASTLE. - - Great number of Apartments--The Round Tower--The Audience - Chamber--Throne Room--Visit to the Queen's Bedroom--An - Elegant Apartment, 556 - - - CHAPTER XL. - - BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES. - - The "Old Bailey"--Its Jurisdiction--The Lord Mayor's Court--The - Trial of a Young Forger--The Judges' Dinner--Loading the Prison - Van--The Mansion House--Detective Irving--The Forger Harwood--How - Justice is Administered, 566 - - - CHAPTER XLI. - - CANTERBURY AND ROME. - - Churches and Sects--Bishop of London--Archbishop of - Canterbury--Spurgeon--"Apocalypse Cumming"--Church of - England--Father Ignatius--Roman Catholic Lords--Marquis of Bute, 576 - - - CHAPTER XLII. - - LEGION OF THE LOST. - - The Great Parade Ground--"Scott's" in the Haymarket--Oysters in every - Style--Prostitutes and Abandoned Women--The Midnight Mission--Rev. - Baptist Noel--Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea--A Row at Cremorne--"Skittles" - and the Princess Mary of Cambridge, 587 - - - CHAPTER XLIII. - - SCARLET WOMEN. - - Goodwood Races--Men of the Turf--Swarms of People--The Barouche and - Four--Beauty of its Occupants--"Anonyma" and the Chestnut Mare--"Mabel - Grey" and "Baby Hamilton"--The Race for the Goodwood - Cup--The Itinerant Preacher--Mabel Grey at Home--"The Kitten"--Alice - Gordon, 598 - - - CHAPTER XLIV. - - CHEAP LODGING HOUSES. - - Eve of the Great Derby Race--Visit to Westminster--Lodging House of - Jack Scrag--_Four-Penny_ Beds--Unpleasant Bed-Fellow--Attacking - the Enemy--A Lucky Escape--Crowded Buildings--Eminent - Philanthropists--Model Lodging Houses--Munificent Gifts--George - Peabody's Statue, 615 - - - CHAPTER XLV. - - A TRAMP IN THE BY-WAYS. - - "Old Smudge," the Cabby--A "Hansom" Cab--Rates of Fares--A Convivial - Pup--The Rat Pit--The Terrier "Skid"--The Match for L50--Skid - Slaughters a Hundred Rats in 8:40--Paddy's "Goose," or "The - White Swan"--Please Excuse me--Waiting for the Tide--Cured of the - Blues, 626 - - - CHAPTER XLVI. - - LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM. - - Work and Wages--Influence of London Journals--Management of the - Press--Circulation and Delivery of Papers--Celebrated Writers--James - Anthony Froude--Algernon Charles Swinburne--John Stewart - Mill--Benjamin Disraeli--John Ruskin--Charles Kingsley, Anthony - Trollope, and others, 636 - - - CHAPTER XLVII. - - THE POOR OF LONDON. - - Half-Penny Soup House--The Little Cast-aways and Waifs Provided - for--Visit to the Work-House of St Martin's--The Workers' Uniform--The - Old Pauper--Daily Rations--Schools--Trades--Struggles and Trials of - the London Poor--Pawn-Brokers' Shops--Third Class Railway Carriages, 655 - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD. - - -IN the civilized world perhaps such another sight cannot be witnessed, -as that which greets the eye from the great Cupola of St. Paul's, -when the view is taken on a bright summer morning, after daybreak has -settled on the leads and huge gilded cross of this, the most mighty of -English Cathedrals. - -I saw this vast expanse of brick, stone, and mortar, one delicious, but -hazy September morning, from the outer circle of the dome, and I shall -never forget that peopled metropolis which lay swarming below me like a -vast human hive. - -For a radius of ten miles, the roofs and spires of countless religious -edifices, dwelling-houses, banks, the tall cones of storied monuments, -the delicate tracery of a forest of slender masts, and the smoky -chimneys of innumerable breweries, manufactories, and gas-houses, met -my vision, which had already begun to weary long before any of the -individual characteristics of the British metropolis had segregated -themselves from the aggregate mass. - -Directly before me, and almost at my feet, lay the turbid Thames, -winding in and out sinuously under bridges, and heaving from the labor -which the paddles of numerous steam craft impressed in its dirty yellow -bosom. These small steamers were of a black and red, mixed, color, and -it was only through a glass that I could discern where the two colors -met and divided. Passing under the huge stone bridges, their smoke -stacks seemed to break in two parts for an instant as they shot under -an arch of the huge spans of London or Waterloo Bridges; gracefully -as a gentleman bows to his partner in a quadrille, and then the black -funnels went back to their original erect but raking position with -great deliberation. - -I had secured an eyrie in the top of St. Paul's at an early hour with -the aid of a greasy half crown, which I had slipped to an old toothless -verger with his silver-tipped wand, and he readily gratified my wish -to allow me egress from the Whispering gallery which encircles the -interior dome of the Cathedral, to a point where, giddily, I might lean -out and look all over the great city. - -"It's as good as my place is worth, sir," said he, "to let you look -out here. A man who was a little light headed from drinking tumbled -from this window some years ago, and was broken to pieces on the cobble -stones below." - -The danger did not prevent me from looking long and greedily at the -splendid coup d'oeil. - -[Illustration: THE LONDON STONE.] - -Far up the river to the left the queerly shaped toy turrets and massive -ramparts and quadrangles of the Tower broke through the morning haze -in shapely and artistic masses, and at the back of the green spot of -grass which surmounts Tower Hill, the square, solid, and substantial -looking Mint showed where Her Majesty's sworn servants were already -at work employed in making counterfeit presentments of her features -for circulation in trade and commerce. The Norman tower and flanking -buttresses of St. Saviour's, Southwark, next came in range, followed -by the long oval glass roof of the Eastern Railway Terminus, facing -Cannon street, where is erected London Stone, upon which Jack Cade sat -in triumph before the dirty, noisy, rabble, which had followed his -fortunes; and now I can see Guy's Hospital with its hundred windows, -the Corinthian Royal Exchange in Cornhill, the massive Guildhall where -many a bloated Britisher has fed on the fat of the land; the Mansion -House in which the Lord Mayor occasionally does petty offenders the -honor of sentencing them to the Bridewell; and now the view enlarges -to the southward, and the eye takes in the fine Holborn Viaduct, -lately honored by the Queen's presence; Barclay and Perkin's massive -caravanserai for the brewing of beer, and the gray stones of St. -Sepulchre's where the passing bell is always tolled for the condemned -Newgate prisoner just before execution. The square, gray blocks of -this fortress of crime gloom in an unpitying way below me, and there -now is the court yard of Christ's Hospital with the gowned and bare -headed school lads at their morning game of foot ball, and their -shouts peal upward, even up as high as the dome of St. Paul's, like -the chimes of merry music. The great piles of Somerset house and the -Custom House frown down on the busy river, and the sound of the bell -of St. Clement Dane's in the Strand, striking six o'clock, mingles -with the mighty thunder whirr of the incoming train from Dover, which -dashes like a demon over the Charing Cross bridge and into its station. -Structure after structure rises on the retina, the Treasury Buildings -and Horse Guards in Parliament street, Marlborough House, the British -Museum, Buckingham Palace, the University College, the Nelson and York -Monuments, the splendid club houses in Pall Mall and St. James; Apsley -House and Hyde Park with its lakes of silvery water, Westminster Abbey, -the Clock and Victoria Towers surmounting the Parliament Houses which -overhang the Thames, Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop -of Canterbury, Chief Dignitary of the English State Church and Milbank -Penitentiary down in dusty Westminster, and by the way this prison with -its eight towers looks like a cruet stand and its towers certainly -represent the caster bottles. With its parterre of trees in the central -square, the quadrangles of Chelsea Hospital, and the dome of the Palm -House in Kensington Garden next come under inspection, and finally I -became weary in endeavoring to pierce the haze which the sun had broken -into annoying fragments, and failing to penetrate farther than Vauxhall -bridge, I give up the task and draw in my head after a last look at the -Catherine and West India docks, bewildered and confused by the very -immensity of wealth and population which is centered and aggregated -below, under and in the shadow of St. Paul's, the Mother Church of -Great Britain. - -[Illustration: "THANK YOU, SIR."] - -The verger says with a weak and wheezy voice: - -"This is a werry great city, sir. They do say as how there's more nor -three millions of hooman beings in this 'ere metropolis, and how they -all gets a living is a blessed puzzle to me. I gets an occasional -sixpence, and Americans seem to be more generous than any other -visitors. Thank you, sir." - -London is a wonderful city in many ways. The year 1866 brought the -number of the inhabitants to the total of 3,186,000. This is a -population larger than that of Pekin, and as large and a half as that -of London's great rival, Paris. It has a greater number of edifices -devoted to religious worship than the Eternal City, Rome. Its commerce -exceeds that of New York, Glasgow, Cork, Havre, and Bremen in gross. -It sends abroad missionaries of all known sects, to convert the -heathen and blackamoor, and for them and their wives there is a larger -amount of money collected in London than could by any possibility be -subscribed in all the other great cities of the world combined for a -like purpose. It numbers among its population more prostitutes and -unfortunate females than Paris, there being according to a calculation -made by a former bishop of Oxford, 30,000 of this wretched class, -alone, who are strictly professionals. - -London has work houses to accommodate 150,000 paupers under the -parochial system, for which the residents or freeholders of every -parish in the metropolitan district are taxed at an annual rate of -fourteen pounds ten shillings per pauper, and yet men, women, and -children die of starvation, weekly, in the slums of St. Giles, Saffron -Hill, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch. - -For a penny the young thief or abandoned street girl can listen to -hoarse fiddling, obscene jests, and the lowest of low slang songs at -some penny "gaff" in Whitechapel, and on a benefit night at Covent -Garden, or the Haymarket, the man who is known in society will have to -pay twenty-five or thirty shillings or from six to ten dollars to hear -the musical warblings of a Patti or a Nillson. - -There are one hundred and three hospitals in London in which all the -complaints, frailties, and mishaps of poor human nature are supposed -to be provided for, and yet it will be much easier for a camel to -pass through the eye of a needle, or a rich man to get a free pass -into paradise, than that a poor wretch without friends or influence -should be able to find a bed in an hospital, unless he can succeed by -a miracle in dodging the sentinels which red tape has placed at every -entrance to these vaunted institutions. - -Down in the quiet and aristocratic dwellings of Pimlico, you shall find -such ladies as "Nelly Holmes," or "Skittles," and in St. John's Wood a -"Mabel Gray," and in a delicious villa at Fulham, a "Formosa," spending -in one night's Corinthian revelry the yearly salary of a bank clerk, -or hazarding at a game of cards the life-time pittance of a sewing -woman. And with these painted women shall be found night after night -the curled darlings of the Pall Mall clubs, some of them mere youths -who bear names as old as Magna Charta, and once as spotless perhaps as -those of Sidney or Hampden. - -At Blanchard's, in Regent street, you may dine for a pound upon the -choicest variety of dishes, cooked by a French _Chef_, who would scorn -a gift of the Order of the Garter were it given to him without the -proper culinary brevet to accompany it; and at a ham and beef shop in -Oxford street you may fill yourself to repletion, taking as a basis a -pork saveloy for a penny, a "penn'orth" of bread as a second layer, a -mutton-pie for "tuppence," a tart for a penny, and a pint of porter -for "tuppence," and then as a relish of a literary kind, you can look -at the great evening paper of London, the _Echo_, written in the most -scholarly English, without any fee. Or you can go down Camden Town way, -or up into Tottenham Court Road and get a kidney pie for two pence, or -an eel stew for two-pence half penny, with a dry bun for a penny, and a -good glass of Bass's ale for three half pence. And then you can go to -Morley's or the Langham Hotel and pick your teeth and no one will be -the wiser. - -For other amusements there is the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's -Park, with the amusing elephant, the comic kangaroo, the graceful -hippopotamus, the sleepy alligator, a band of music, lots of very -pretty English girls, a score of impudent waiters in the restaurant to -give you cold dishes when you call for hot ones, and all these delights -may be enjoyed on six-penny days, and when you come out from the wild -beasts, if you be thirsty it will only cost you a half-penny for a -chair in the Regent's Park with its noble avenues of stately trees, and -the little old woman at the little old house which juts off the gate -will hand you a bottle of cooling ginger beer, a popular Cockney drink, -for one penny. - -In the National Gallery, a magnificent structure which faces the -Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, one of the finest collections -of paintings in the world is hung. Here is the noble Turner Gallery, -bought for the nation and free to all for copying or inspection. Here -are Corregio's, Angelos', Titians, the masterpieces of Velasquez, -Murillo, Paul Veronese, the best things done by Etty, Landseer, -Stanfield, Wilkie, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and nearly all of that glorious -galaxy whose names have been painted too deeply in their grand -canvasses ever to efface. All this is free to the public, poor and rich -alike, but on Sunday, British piety bolts the lofty doors in their -hapless faces. - -The Londoners have the finest public parks in the world. The flower -beds in Hyde Park, Battersea Park, Victoria Park, Regent's Park, -Kensington Gardens, and the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, are wonderful -for their beauty and constant freshness, and in the Serpentine, a -clear stream in Hyde Park, there is no hindrance from bathing, though -the stream laves the margin of Piccadilly, one of the principal -thoroughfares of the city, where many of the richest and most powerful -of the nation have their mansions. - -This is London in brief. But a rapid and imperfect glance can be given -of the wonderful city in the opening chapter of this book, but it is -my purpose to give such details as I hope may instruct and amuse my -readers, in the chapters that shall follow. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE SILENT HIGHWAY. - - -THE Thames, the great river of England, which enriches London with the -cargoes of its thousand ships, weekly, rises in the southeastern slopes -of the Cotswold Hills. For about twenty miles it belongs wholly to -Gloucestershire, when for a short distance it divides that county from -Wiltshire. It then separates Berkshire first from Oxfordshire, and then -from Buckinghamshire. It afterward divides the counties of Surrey and -Middlesex, and to its mouth those of Kent and Essex. - -It falls into the sea at the Nore, which is about one hundred and ten -miles nearly due east from the source, and about twice that distance -measured along the windings of the river. - -From having no sandbar at its mouth like the Mersey outside of -Liverpool, it is navigable for sea vessels to London bridge, a distance -of forty-five miles from the Nore, or nearly a fourth of its entire -length. The area of the basin drained by the Thames is estimated at -about six thousand five hundred miles. - -The progress of half a century has made wonderful changes in the river. - -Wharves have taken the place of trim gardens, and the dirty coal scow -is now found where the nobleman's state barge formerly anchored. - -No man, it is said, can count the national debt of England, but who can -give an adequate idea of the number of millions of tons that annually -pass through this highway? - -The flow of land water through Teddington Weir is annually 800,000,000 -gallons. This is the main body of the river within the metropolitan -area, not counting the additions it receives from rain-falls and other -sources. - -Since the removal of the old London Bridge, the tide has been lower -upon an average. Shoals have been brought to light, before unknown, and -the result has been that nothing but a most constant and unremitting -dredging has enabled the Thames Conservancy Board to keep the river -navigable. - -It requires but a glance at Blackfriar's Bridge to determine how much -longer it will take to remove all the gravel from the bed of the river, -and leave the solid London clay as its bed. - -Every old bridge when removed leaves so many tons of gravel which -eventually finds its way to the mouth of the Thames, and there forms -shoals. - -The channel of the river thus deepened, becomes more and more brackish -every year, and it can be but a question of time, as to how and from -what source the inhabitants are to derive their water supply for -drinking purposes. - -At the East India Docks the tide falls fourteen inches lower than -formerly, and it is a fact that the low water at London Docks is lower -than the low water at Sheerness, sixty miles below. - -At present the tide at London Bridge has a rise of 18 feet. This river -at almost any tide can float the largest ships, being 33 feet in depth -at London Bridge. - -The river water when found at low tide near the city is much prized -for its power of self-purification, and is much in requisition for -sea voyages, for the reason that it contains so large a percentage of -organic matter. - -There are few or no fish to be found in the Thames in the neighborhood -of the city or below, owing to the impurities prevailing from drainage -and sewage. This fact is particularly to be noticed in the vicinity of -the town of Barking on the Thames, where is located the outfall for -all the sewage of dirty London. Formerly salmon were very plentiful at -the Nore, and the last one there caught sold at fifteen shillings per -pound. - -The Thames embankment, which was first proposed by Sir Christopher -Wren, the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral, is now almost completed. -This magnificent roadway, one of the finest in Europe, and which gives -the modern observer some conception of what the Appian Way or Via Sacra -were in the palmy day of ancient Rome, is fifty feet broad, and three -and a half feet above the highest high-water mark. The embankment, -which is constructed of Portland stone, and extends on the Surrey side -from Westminster to Vauxhall bridge, a distance of nearly a mile, and -on the Middlesex shore from Westminster to Blackfriar's bridge, a -distance of fully a mile. The embankment is lined on both sides with -trees which throw a pleasant shade under the summer sun, and serve to -protect the thousands of people of both sexes, who seek in the evening -a breath of fresh air always grateful to the tired and sweltering -citizen. - -At different points, on both sides of the river, the embankment has -magnificent stone terraces with stone stairs to enable wayfarers, -who seek transportation up and down the river, to get on and off the -numerous ferry boats that swarm and ply all over the Thames from -Richmond to Rotherhithe. - -A description of the Thames tunnel, now closed to the public, may -appropriately be included in this chapter. It was commenced by a -joint stock company in 1824, after designs by Sir Isambard Brunel. -Early in December, 1825, the first horizontal shaft was sunk. The -difficulties encountered in the construction of the great engineering -work can scarcely be overestimated. For a distance of five hundred and -forty-four feet all went well, but at this point the river burst into -the shaft, while the workmen were at labor, filling the excavation -entirely in fifteen minutes, but fortunately no lives were lost. With -great difficulty the water was pumped out and work resumed. - -After adding fifty-two feet to the original length of the shaft, the -turbid Thames again broke through. - -Six men by this accident were smothered in the rush of angry waters, -the remaining laborers escaping. Thrice again the river broke into the -succeeding excavations, and at length the tunnel was completed to the -Wapping side of the river. - -Here a shaft was sunk from the surface to meet it. In sinking this -shaft, three distinct lines of piles, showing the existence of wharves -below the present level of the Thames, were discovered. - -March 25, 1843, nineteen years after its commencement, this monument -of British stupidity and dogged obstinacy, the Tunnel, was opened to -the London public. As an investment it has never paid a dollar; as a -convenience it was a swindle on the general public, but for the wild -Arabs of London, and the lowest order of shameful women, it rivaled -the infamous Adelphi Arches as a rendezvous; calling into existence a -distinct class known as "Tunnel Thieves," who, conscious of the fact -that strangers would naturally visit this much lauded work, were always -waiting in secret hiding places to plunder the unsuspecting visitor of -his watch or valuables. - -To take the place of this absurd tunnel, a Thames Subway has been -devised, starting at Tower Hill, and continuing under the bed of the -river to a point near Blackfriar's Bridge. The Thames subway is in a -manner similar to the Pneumatic Railway. Shafts are sunk on either side -of the river, and vehicles constructed like a horse railway car, are -used to convey passengers to and fro under the river, for a fare of two -pence per head. These vehicles are lighted by lamps, and a conductor is -attached to each car. Powerful engines at either end furnish the force -which propels these underground vehicles. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE DOCKS, SHIPPING, AND COMMERCE OF THE PORT OF LONDON. - - -IF you leave King William Street just at the foot of London Bridge, and -turn to the left, you will find your way into a grouping of streets, -narrow and steep, a few only of which admit of carriage and horse -traffic. - -This is the region of the world-renowned London Docks, the basins which -hold the greatest commerce known to any city on the globe; a commerce -before which the ancient traffic of Tyre, Sidon, Carthage, and Sicily, -the granary of the ancient world, was as nothing. - -The lower stories of the houses in this district, which smell of tar, -resin, and other merchantable commodities, are let out as offices, and -the upper as warehouse floors; the pavement is narrow and the roads are -as bad as broken staves and long neglect can make them; dirty boys in -sailor's jackets play at leap frog over the street posts; legions of -wheelbarrows encumber the broader part of these thoroughfares; packing -cases stand at the doors of houses, and iron cranes and levers peep out -from the upper stories. - -No man, it has been said, could ever tell how much money lies hidden -away in the vaults of the Bank of England, and it is about as difficult -to count up the tons of produce which London exports and imports -annually. - -[Sidenote: CUSTOM HOUSE DUTIES OF LONDON.] - -For instance, during one year, (1865), the number of cargoes entered -and cleared coastwise, (which besides British ports includes the shores -from the Elbe to Brest,) was 30,820, and their tonnage, 5,263,565. - -As many as fifty thousand ships of all classes enter and leave the -Thames in twelve months, or about seventy vessels per day, exclusive of -all the innumerable kinds of miscellaneous small craft. - -The entire French commercial navy consists of twelve thousand vessels, -an aggregate of perhaps one million seven hundred thousand tons, -a little more than a quarter of the number of ships and the same -percentage of tonnage that enters and leaves this world metropolis of -London. - -If the ships that move to and fro on the bosom of the Thames be -supposed to average one hundred and fifty feet in length one with -another, they would reach, placed stem and stern together, upward of -thirteen hundred miles, or nearly half way across the Atlantic. - -The Custom House duties, with a very low tariff for the port of London, -during one year amounts to sixty-eight millions of dollars in gold, -and the declared real value of exports from London for the same time -amounted to one hundred and seventy millions of dollars in gold. The -declared real value of the imports registered at the huge granite -custom house on the Thames, for the port of London, for 1869, from -foreign and colonial ports, was four hundred millions of dollars in -gold, or as much as the total value of the real estate on New York -island in 1870. - -Englishmen are very fond of coffee it seems, for they imported thirty -million pounds of the fragrant berry in 1869. The choleric temper of -the people may find an explanation in the six million pounds of pepper -received in London. London also imported seven million gallons of rum, -although it is supposed to be the great beer drinking city of the -world. Eighty thousand gallons of gin, sixty million pounds of tea, -thirty-eight million pounds of tobacco, nine million six hundred and -fifty-seven thousand and thirty-four gallons of foreign wines, two -million cwts. of raw sugar, and two million seven hundred sixty-two -thousand two hundred and forty-eight gallons of brandy were imported in -1869. These articles of merchandise were all held in bond at the London -Custom House, and from these figures my readers may form some idea of -the magnitude of the commerce of this great city. - -Russia sent one thousand three hundred vessels and received three -hundred and ninety-one vessels, Sweden one thousand one hundred and -twenty-one vessels and received five hundred and twenty vessels, -France sent one thousand four hundred and sixteen vessels and received -one thousand three hundred and eighty-two vessels, Holland sent nine -hundred and twenty-four vessels and received seven hundred and fourteen -vessels, Cuba sent three hundred and twelve vessels and received -sixty-two vessels, United States sent four hundred and twelve vessels -and received three hundred and seventeen vessels, China sent two -hundred and eight vessels and received one hundred and thirty vessels -in 1869. - -I have not space here to enumerate all the petty nationalities, whose -merchants trade with London, but the above table, obtained from the -custom house authorities and therefore authentic, may serve to indicate -what the trade of London is, and the vast interests which gather there. -The United States does not figure so conspicuously as might be expected -here, the Alabamas and Floridas perhaps have something to do with the -paucity of American commerce with the commercial metropolis of England. - -The most wonderful of all the London sights are the huge artificial -basins, bound in masses of masonry and known as the London Docks. -No other city in the world can boast of such magnificent artificial -basins, where millions of tons of shipping can be accommodated. It is -enough to make an American feel humiliated to pay a visit to these -wonderful docks, and to be forced to compare them with the rotten -wooden wharves which environ the great city of New York, and which are -honored with the title of docks. - -[Sidenote: THE COMMERCIAL AND LONDON DOCKS.] - -The principal docks of London are those which I give below with their -water areas, cost, and the number of vessels which they accommodate: - - NO OF VESSELS - WATER AREA. LAND AREA. ACC. COST. - - Commercial Docks, 75 acres, 150 acres, 200 L610,000 - - London Docks, 40 " 100 " 320 900,000 - - West India Docks, 90 " 295 " 1104 1,600,000 - - East India Docks, 18 " 31 " 112 380,000 - - St. Catharine's Docks, 15 " 24 " 160 2,252,000 - - Surrey Docks and Canal, 71 " 40 " 300 423,000 - - Victoria Docks, 90 " 1/2 mile frontage, 400 1,072,871 - - Brentford Dock and Canal, 90 miles long, 16 acres, 2,000,000 - - Regent's Canal, 8-1/2 miles long, 300 - -The Commercial Dock is chiefly used by vessels in the oil, corn, -timber, and tobacco trade; and there is floating space for fifty -thousand loads of lumber, and the warehouses afford storage for one -hundred and fifty thousand quarters of corn, while the yards of the -company will hold four million pieces of deals, and staves without -number. The lock in the South Commercial Dock is two hundred and -twenty feet long by forty-eight feet wide, with a depth of twenty-two -feet, and will admit vessels of twenty-six feet draught. Five -hundred thousand tons of shipping have been received here in a year, -representing about one thousand five hundred vessels of various tonnage. - -The London Docks extend from East Smithfield to Shadwell and have -twelve thousand four hundred and forty feet of wharf frontage, and are -intended principally for the reception of vessels laden with wines, -brandy, tobacco, and rice. - -There are forty warehouses for the storage of merchandise of every -description, convenient in arrangement, and magnificent in design and -execution. The cubical capacity of the warehouses is two hundred and -forty-nine thousand four hundred and thirty tons; two hundred and -thirty-one thousand one hundred and forty-seven for dry goods, and -eighteen thousand two hundred and eighty-three for wet goods. - -The tobacco house in these docks sends its very strong odor all over -the Thames, and it is as good as the flavor of a Havana cigar almost to -smell this huge warehouse as you pass by on the river in a steamboat. -This warehouse is the largest of its kind in the world, covering five -acres of ground, and is rented by the government at fourteen thousand -pounds a year of the company, for all the London Docks are owned by -stock companies, and this perhaps explains the economy displayed in -their construction, and their useful adaptability to the commerce of -London. - -[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO DOCKS.] - -The tobacco warehouse will contain twenty-four thousand hogsheads -of tobacco, each hogshead holding one thousand two hundred pounds, -the total capacity being equal to thirty thousand tons of general -merchandise. - -[Sidenote: THE WINE VAULTS, AND "TASTING PERMITS."] - -Under the London Docks are the finest vaults in the world, vast -catacombs of the precious vintages garnered from every famous vineyard -in the globe. The vaults in the London docks cover an area of eighteen -acres, and afford accommodation for eighty thousand pipes of wine. One -of the vaults alone is seven acres in extent, and the tea warehouses -will hold one hundred and twenty thousand chests of that fragrant herb. - -To go into these vast wine vaults is indeed a treat. It is like -entering a City of the dead, only that instead of the skeletons of -human beings piled on top of each other, you find an Aceldama of casks, -pipes, barrels, hogsheads, and butts, bonded and stored tier upon tier, -until the eye becomes wearied, and a man wonders how all those costly -vintages can ever be consumed. - -There is no difference between night and day in these dim deep recesses -under the London streets. The vaults are only separated from the bed of -the Thames by a thick wall, and at noonday, gas has to be turned on to -light the way to the enormous storehouses of wine and brandy. Passes -are granted by the companies and the owners of liquors on bond, called -"tasting permits," which gives the privilege to the visitor to ask an -attendant for a sample of any wine, or wines and liquors that he may -choose to taste. - -Armed with one of these permits I visited the London docks one day with -a friend, and we penetrated the gloomy cavern's entrance, and finally -found our way to a part of the vaults where were stored thousands of -pipes of the delicious golden brown vintage of Xeres de la Frontera. - -My friend was one of those wandering Americans you are always sure to -light upon abroad, who makes your acquaintance whether you like it or -not, and who cries out frantically whenever he sees a foreign flag. - -"By Gad--Sir, that flag is all good enough in its way--but I _tell you_ -it does not come up to our flag of beauty and glory--now I'll put it to -you--does it?" - -A grimy looking cellar man who smelled like an old claret bottle that -had long remained uncorked, wearing an apron and carrying a wooden -hammer for tapping, came to us and said, politely, on presentation of -our orders: - -"The horders are werry correct, sir. Would you like to try a little old -Sherry, sir, fine as a sovrin and sparkling as the sun?" - -"Well, I don't care if I do take a little sherry--I don't think it will -hurt me--do you think it will?" said my friend. - -He then took about half a pint of fine golden sherry, and after taking -it he seemed all at once to discover a new beauty in the architecture -of the vaults, although he had condemned the place when he entered it, -as a "chilly, stinking hole, not fit for a dog, by Gad, sir." - -While he was delivering himself most eloquently on the merits of the -sherry, I had an opportunity to look about me and examine the place. - -[Illustration: "I DON'T THINK IT WILL HURT ME."] - -Different parties were going from cask to cask, from hogshead to -hogshead, like my friend, trying each vintage, and tasting brandies, -and gins, and wines to their heart's content. - -[Sidenote: HOISTING AND DISCHARGING CARGOES.] - -I thought to myself, what a splendid boon these vaults would be to a -New York corner loafer, without restriction and with full liberty to -drink till he died like a soldier, contending to the last against the -enemy which deprives a man of his brains. The attendants here never -object to the amount called for, and a tasting permit admits to all the -privileges. - -We were now standing in an arched alcove devoted exclusively to the -wines of Madeira, Teneriffe, and the Canary Islands. Some of these -huge casks held as many as seven hundred gallons, and the rich, old, -musty and fruity odors that came from them were truly revivifying to my -friend, who was loquacious under the influence of the sherry. - -"This ere sexshin is for the Madeery," said the bung starter. "Will you -try a little Madeery, sir?" said he. - -"Well I _don't_ care if I _do_ take a little Madeira--I don't think it -will hurt me. Now I put it to you this way--I don't think it will hurt -me if I am moderate?" - -He seemed to relish this heavy and fruity wine very much, and before he -left the alcove he had "tasted" a good deal of the Canary also smacking -his lips lusciously. - -There is considerable skill displayed in the building of the arches -of the range of vaults, and with the dim lights of the sperm lamps, -burning--as it is not deemed safe to have gas in the vaults where -spirits are stored--the vaults very much resemble the crypts under the -cloisters in Westminster Abbey, or the vaults under St. Paul's. - -The method for hoisting cargoes from the holds of ships to the grading, -which is level with the opening in the vaults is very perfect. The -opening in the wall of the basin or docks is eighteen feet high, and -large hogsheads can be hoisted and lowered at once into the vaults -instead of being temporarily deposited on the quay. - -In the old times before steam had been discovered and these magnificent -docks had been built, an East Indiaman of eight hundred tons took a -month to discharge her cargo, or if of one thousand two hundred tons, -six weeks were required for the labor, and their goods had to be taken -from Blackwall to London Bridge in lighters, when they were placed -on the quay exposed to dock rats and river thieves as goods are in -New York, where the private watchmen on the rotten wooden docks are -generally to be found in league with the thieves. - -At St. Katharine's Docks the time occupied on an average in discharging -a vessel of three hundred tons is eight hours, and for one of six -hundred tons two days and a half. In one instance one thousand one -hundred casks of tallow were discharged in six hours, but of course -this was unusually rapid work. One of the cranes in the St. Katharine's -Docks cost about twenty-five thousand dollars, and will raise from -forty to sixty tons at a time. - -There is a wharf attached to the St. Katharine Docks, which Parliament -compelled the company to construct at a cost of nearly a million -of dollars, and the warehouses will contain one hundred and ten -thousand tons of goods and merchandise. The depth of water in the St. -Katharine's Docks is twenty-eight feet at spring tide, at dead tide -twenty-four feet, and at low water ten feet, so that vessels of eight -hundred tons register are docked and undocked without the slightest -difficulty. There is a water frontage and quays of one thousand five -hundred feet in the St. Katharine Docks. The wharfage of the London -Docks is one thousand two hundred and sixty feet in length and nine -hundred and sixty feet in breadth. The capital of the London Docks -company is about twenty-five million dollars in gold, and as many as -three thousand laborers are employed in the London Docks in a day. - -The walls surrounding the London Docks cost sixty-five thousand pounds -in construction, and all these walls are so high (nearly thirty feet,) -that they present an impregnable barrier to thieves and depredators. - -The receipts for one year in the London Docks were over three million -dollars, currency; the salaries and wages amounted to about one million -dollars, and the revenue customs paid about eleven hundred thousand -dollars. These figures show that the company is in a prosperous state, -and gives the municipal governments of our American Atlantic cities the -best reasons, when others which I have already enumerated are combined, -why New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, Savannah and Charleston, -should have stone docks to equal those of London and Liverpool in -magnitude and solidity. - -[Sidenote: THE WEST INDIA DOCKS.] - -Having made a lengthened inspection of the London Docks I turned to -leave and could not find my friend who had accompanied me. After some -difficulty I discovered him afar off at the other end of the vaults -discussing with the cellarman what liquor he was next to taste. - -"Yer honor might just taste a little of the Hennesey Brandy of 1832--it -is very fine and runs down like hile." - -"By Gad, sir, the very thing--now that you mention it I will try a -little, just a _leetle_ Hennesey brandy. I'll put it to you in this -way--I don't think it can hurt me--and the cellarman says it's just -like oil. Now I recollect that oil never intoxicates. I will take just -the faintest tint." - -He did take the "faintest tint," perhaps a good sized glass-full, and -he became so jolly, and affectionate, and good natured, embracing me -and also the cellarman, that the latter personage had at last to call a -cab into which my friend was carried, and after being propped up he was -driven to his hotel. The cellarman said to me: - -"We've two agents as comes 'ere sober, bless 'em, and goes away drunk; -but they hurts nobody but themselves, bless them." - -I went from the London Docks to the West India Docks, about a mile and -a half distant, at the Isle of Dogs, a small islet in the Thames near -Blackwall. These numerous basins and warehouses occupy three times -the space of the London Docks, or about two hundred and ninety-five -acres, with a canal three quarters of a mile in length as a feeder. The -Import Dock is five hundred and ten feet in length, and about the same -measurement in width. The Export Dock is about the same length and is -about four hundred feet wide. The docks and warehouse are enclosed by -a wall of masonry five feet thick, that seems as if it would endure as -long as the port of London is open to commerce and merchandise, and the -value of twenty millions of pounds is here stored by its owners. - -I gave an employee of the company a shilling to take me through, and he -was not at all backward in showing me the treasures under the care of -the company. - -"These are the biggest docks in Lunnun, sir," said he: "say what they -will on the other docks. We will hold two hundred million tons of -merchandise here, sir, and we will not be crowded at all. Why, sir, -I've seen as much as two hundred thousand casks of sugar, five hundred -thousand bags of coffee, fifty thousand pipes of Jimaky rum, ten -thousand pipes of Madeery, twenty-five thousand tons of logwood, and -lots of other things here and we were not full. - -"I've seen an acre of 'ogsheads of tibaccy, eight feet high, and piles -of cinnamon, spices, pepper, indigo, salt pork, hides and leather, -Hindian corn, mahogany, and sich like, and no one of us, sir, ever -knows the walley of them, and I suppose Mr. Bright hiself would be more -nor puzzled to tell the walley, and I've heard as how he has got a -preshis head for figgers." - -Formerly when steamers employed paddle wheels as a means of locomotion, -the docks were very much crowded, but the use of the universal screw -has given much more space for berthways. There is, however, great risks -in these docks, of fire, from steam vessels, and I believe the rates -are much higher for steam craft than for sailing vessels. Small offices -and compact frame houses for the company's officers, revenue officers, -warehousemen, clerks, engineers, coopers and other petty attachees, -have been provided within the ground area of all these stone basins, -and everything connected with the docks is done in a systematic and -business like way that is truly wonderful. When I recollected that -less than fifty years ago London had no inclosed docks at all, and no -accommodation for shipping but a long and straggling line of private -quays, under the management of firms who had no public interests to -serve, (and in fact when the present system of docks was at first -proposed it met with almost universal opposition, particularly from -the interested parties,) I was amazed at the progress made in a half -century. - -There is not such a city in the world, perhaps, for the number of -corporations, guilds, societies, and titled people, who derive and did -derive emolument and income, of one kind or another, from these private -quay and wharfage receipts. - -[Sidenote: OPPOSITION TO THE NEW DOCK SYSTEM.] - -Therefore when the citizens of London became thoroughly awakened to the -possibility of substituting for these rotten old timber wharves and -tumble down old stone piers, a thorough, efficient, and lasting system -of dockage, the interested people began to clamor most hideously about -their "vested rights." These two words have always stood in England as -a safeguard to protect some oppressive or corporate interest. - -The "Tackle House" and City Porter Companies complained that if the -import and export business were removed beyond the city limits, their -right to the exclusive privilege of unloading and delivering all -merchandise imported into the city would be worthless. The carmen who -enjoyed a similar privilege and monopoly made the same complaint, and -they stated that Christ's Hospital, an institution much revered by all -Londoners, derived an income of four thousand pounds a year from the -licenses under which they held their monopoly; the watermen, who were -then numbered by thousands, foretold that the establishment of docks -would deprive one half of their number of bread; the lightermen stated -that they had a capital of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds -invested in tackle and craft, employed to transport merchandise, which -capital would be annihilated if ships were allowed to discharge their -cargoes on quays within docks; the proprietors of the "legal quays" as -they were called, and the "sufferance wharves," or wharves which held -no legal title, all prophesied that the trade of London would be ruined -at once if the new system of docks was established. - -However these people differed in some details of their grievances, they -all concurred in stating that unloading ships in closed docks would be -more expensive than discharging them into lighters in the river. - -On the other hand the advocates of the new system estimated on paper -that the unloading of five hundred hogsheads of sugar from a vessel -could be done in the new docks for about three hundred and fifty -dollars of American money less than under the old lighterage and open -quay system, to say nothing of the greater safety of the property thus -enclosed in dock walls. - -Finally, Parliament passed an act creating the new docks and granting a -compensation of four hundred and eighty-six thousand and eighty-seven -pounds to the proprietors of the legal quays in addition to the sum -of one hundred and thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-one -pounds which was paid to persons having "vested rights" in the mooring -claims on the river. Altogether the cost of the different London Docks, -including ground purchases, etc., was about thirty millions of dollars. -The West India Docks were the first opened in 1802, and the citizens of -London have, I am sure, no cause to regret the decision which gave them -the finest and safest system of wharfage in the world. - -The passenger traffic, by water, which transpires daily between London -and Continental cities and towns is incalculable. This of course does -not include the traffic almost as great between London and American and -Colonial ports. - -You can go from London to New York in a splendid stateroom with every -comfort and luxury at sea, for about one hundred and thirty dollars, or -you can take passage in a steerage, herding like a beast as best you -may for about forty dollars, by steam. - -I can safely recommend the Inman Line of Steamships which ply between -New York and Liverpool, as the best afloat, the most punctual and the -most comfortable. This line has nineteen fine steamers constantly -plying between Europe and America. - -[Sidenote: RATES OF FARES AND DOCK LABORERS.] - -From London to Cork the fare, first class, is about twenty-three -English shillings, and to Dublin twelve shillings. From London to -Edinburgh, first class, by sea, fifteen shillings. London to Calais, by -rail and sea, twenty-five shillings, to Havre, eleven shillings. London -to Ostend, Belgium, fifteen shillings; to Antwerp, twenty shillings; -to Hamburg, two pounds; to Rotterdam one pound; to Belfast, forty-five -shillings; to Dundee, twenty shillings. London to Malta twelve pounds; -to Maderia sixteen pounds sixteen shillings; to Oporto, eight pounds -eight shillings; to Marseilles, twelve pounds ten shillings; to Rio -Janeiro, thirty pounds; to St. Petersburg, six pounds six shillings; -to Glasgow, twelve shillings; to Liverpool, twenty shillings; to -Stockholm, eighty-four shillings; to Brussels, forty-eight shillings; -to Genoa, twelve pounds; Leghorn, fifteen pounds; Naples, eighteen -pounds; Christiana, Norway, eighty shillings, and Copenhagen, -sixty-three shillings. - -I give these fares as I believe it may be of some use to Americans, who -design to travel, to know the correct rates of Continental travel. It -is much pleasanter to travel to the continent by sea from London than -by rail, the accommodations are better, the views of the best. There -is no hurry, you may get your meals regularly, it is more healthful -and certainly much cheaper, as the above fares are all for first class -passages, and it is easy to obtain second or third class accommodations -for a very great deal less money. - -In concluding this chapter on the Port of London, I may say that it is -almost impossible to name a place for which passage cannot be obtained, -by sea from London, and vessels are leaving daily and hourly for their -various destinations, from the many wharves and docks that line the -Thames between London and Westminster bridges, a distance of two miles, -on the river. - -Thirty thousand men find employment, daily, as laborers, in the -London Docks. Men who have been reduced by want, misfortune, or by -drunkeness, find in these vast commercial reservoirs, a precarious -means of subsistence, earning from eighteen pence to two shillings a -day, half of which generally goes for beer, or potations of a heavier -and more spirituous kind. This kind of labor is unskilled, and has -for its propulsion mere manual strength, so that, when a man fails in -everything else, he may possibly succeed as a dock laborer. The public -houses frequented by the laborers are situated in the dark alleys and -crowded courts near the river, and all of them partake of the brutal, -low appearance which distinguishes the London coal heaver and dock -lifter. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -PALACES OF LONDON. - - -LONDON is studded with palaces some of which were constructed by -Royalty itself--some of which were confiscated by royalty, and others -again were bought by royalty from the nobles of England, or from those -persons who had amassed great wealth. - -The Court of St. James is a household word among diplomats, and is -used as a threat by ambassadors at Vienna, or perhaps as a phrase -of mediation at Washington, St. Petersburg, or Paris, but generally -this name is used by belligerent envoys with threat and menace at -Constantinople, Athens, Honduras, or Lisbon. English statecraft and -diplomacy always tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, and an English -Cabinet never fails to measure the strength of a nation before trying -conclusions with it. - -Even the Sultan himself, and he is by common consent supposed to be a -very sick man, could pass the dirty looking pile of St. James palace at -the lower end of Pall Mall, near St. James street, without a tremor, -and the only signs of royalty or power are the bear skin caps and red -coats of a couple of guardsmen, who walk up and down with their muskets -at a support, in a most melancholy and bored manner before the gates. - -[Sidenote: ST. JAMES AND WHITEHALL.] - -This is one of the chief residences of royalty in the metropolis. In -1532, his majesty by the Grace of God, King Henry the Eighth, cast his -eyes upon St. James Hospital, a place set apart for lepers, fourteen -of whom were residing there at the time, and being convinced of the -healthfulness of the situation, the inmates were driven forth, a small -pension given to each, and on the site of the hospital for physical -lepers, this moral leper erected what is now known as the palace of St. -James, for the reception of the unfortunate but giddy Anne Boleyn. - -During the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth the palace was deserted, but -with the advent of the Stuarts, St. James became a royal nursery. - -The ill-fated Charles the First had a passionate fondness for this -palace, and on the morning of his execution attended divine service in -the chapel which he had fitted up. - -After the restoration, James II furnished St. James at great expense; -and from this period St. James became with hardly an intermission the -abode of royalty. George the Second died here mumbling. George IV was -born, and passed much of his time here. As a royal residence it has -fallen away from its ancient splendor and is now only used on occasions -of state solemnity; yet it is one of the best planned palaces in Europe -for comfort, and possesses a fine gallery of paintings. - -Whitehall, or the palace that is known by that name, was formerly -called York House, and for three centuries before the time of Cardinal -Wolsey, was the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. - -After the death of Wolsey its name was changed to Whitehall, from a -large hall in the building painted entirely white. Wolsey fitted up the -palace in a style of grandeur never equaled, much less excelled by any -other subject of the English crown, and being occupied by the king on -the demise of Wolsey, it was called the King's Palace of Westminster. - -When Queen Elizabeth died it was refitted by King James, and -enlarged--but was destroyed by fire in 1619. Immediately after its -destruction James determined to rebuild it, and a portion of the -palace was completed at a cost of fifteen thousand pounds, but such -extravagance could not be allowed in those days, parliament refusing -to grant money to continue the building, and the fanatical monarch, -whose memory has survived because of his hatred of tobacco, was forced -to suspend operations for want of funds. - -The ceiling of the banqueting-room, a work of Rubens and for which he -was paid three thousand pounds, is said to be one of the finest efforts -of that most gifted artist's pencil. - -In the time of the Protector Cromwell, one of the rarest collections -of paintings ever made in the world, and of immense value--which had -been accumulated here by successive kings, was ordered to be sold -by Cromwell in accordance with the Puritan belief that to possess -paintings or statuary was conducive of image worship in the owner. -Charles the First was really a great admirer of works of art, and had -he lived he would no doubt have made Whitehall the finest palace of -Europe. - -Cromwell occupied Whitehall as a residence for his family after -the execution of King Charles I, for butcher as he was, and strict -republican as he pretended to be, he was not above enjoying the good -things of this life, and despite his cadaverous countenance he could -appreciate a soft bed and a tender piece of roast beef with the -jolliest of cavaliers. - -On the 10th of April, 1691, a fire broke out in the apartments of the -bad Duchess of Portsmouth who occupied a portion of Whitehall, (this -woman was a mistress of Charles II,) and in 1698 the entire structure -was consumed with the exception of the banqueting-hall, and nothing but -the walls were left standing. - -This hall was altered to a chapel by King George II, and since that -time has been used for that purpose, the clergyman always being a royal -chaplain. Over the door is a bust of the founder, and the brilliant -frescos of the ceiling pieces of Rubens are all that is left of the -once magnificent palace of Whitehall. - -[Sidenote: BUCKINGHAM PALACE.] - -The residence of the Queen, when in London, is generally supposed to be -Buckingham Palace, a long gloomy looking building in St. James Park, -not a stones' throw from the Marble Arch in Hyde Park or Westminster -Abbey. The same big flashy looking soldiers in red coats, and hideous -grenadier bearskins are to be seen marching up and down opposite this -palace gate just as they do about St. James Palace, or at the Horse -Guards in Parliament street. - -[Illustration: BUCKINGHAM PALACE.] - -St. James Park is a pretty place with fine shady trees, and here in -the mall or wide walk of the park was played a century ago, and still -farther back in the days of paint, powder, and patches, and garden -masquerades, the game of "pell mell." - -Buckingham Palace, though much frequented by the Queen, and situated -pleasantly as far as appearances go, is not a healthy place of -residence at all. The Queen frequently has complained of its dampness, -she having often contracted bad colds there. This I have on the -authority of her former chaplain. - -George the IV had a Dutch predeliction for low ceilings, and as he -never lived on good terms with his wife, whom he used to call a Fat -Dutch Hog, no accommodations were made for Queen Caroline his spouse, -in Buckingham Palace. - -The palace was occupied by this monarch, for whom it was built, in -1825. This king was one of the most profligate of men and a roue--and -yet had the reputation of being the finest gentleman in Europe, but he -never spared man in his rage nor woman in his lust. - -John, Duke of Buckingham, lived in a house on the site of the palace, -in 1703, from which circumstance it has derived its name. - -I had special permission to visit this palace while the Queen was -absent on her summer tour in Scotland; it being a great favor to be -admitted, and it was only by great perseverance and difficulty that I -obtained entrance to the royal abode. - -One bright morning I called about ten o'clock, and after presenting my -order of admittance was allowed to enter. - -I was bewildered by its sumptuous magnificence. Fancy a noble hall -surrounded with a double row of marble columns, every one composed of a -single piece of veined Carrara marble, with gilded bases and capitals; -the _tout ensemble_ being a splendid perspective of over one hundred -and fifty feet. The steps of the grand staircase are also of the purest -marble. The Library, Council room, and Sculpture gallery are all most -beautifully decorated. - -The Library is used for a waiting room for deputations, which as soon -as the Queen is ready to receive them pass across the Sculpture Gallery -into the hall, and thence ascend by the Grand Stairway, through the -Ante-Room and the Green Drawing-room to the Throne room. The Library -and adjoining rooms are fitted up in a most gaudy fashion, there -being a sad want of taste displayed, either by her Majesty or her -upholsterer, but by which I am not able to say. - -The Sculpture Gallery contains the busts of leading statesmen of all -countries, and chief among them I noticed one of Prince Albert, the -late husband of the Queen, mounted on a fine pedestal. Busts of all the -members of the royal family, male and female, are also here. That of -the Princess Louisa is a charming, innocent looking English face; she -is said to be deeply in love with a rich Catholic nobleman of the Duke -of Norfolk's family. - -The Picture Gallery has fine skylights so as to throw a shaded light -on the works of art below, and here are to be found the master pieces -of the Dutch and Flemish schools, gems of Reynolds, Watteau, Titian, -Albert Durer, Rembrandt, Teniers, Ostade, Cuyps, Wouvermans, and -others, formerly the collection in great part of George IV. - -The Yellow Drawing room, a superb apartment, has a series of paintings -in panels of the royal family, there being full length pictures of -Queen Victoria, looking very fat, with the crown upon her head, and -Prince Albert in his costume of Knight of the Garter, a dress which -is supremely ridiculous in these days when none but priests and -academicians wear such drapery. - -[Sidenote: QUEEN'S LIBRARY.] - -The Throne Room is a gaudy looking apartment, very large and spacious, -and like all the rooms in Buckingham palace having a very low ceiling, -the prevailing decoration being curtains of striped satin, and the -alcoves are hung in rich crimson velvet relieved or rather bedizened -with an nearly obscured gilding. William IV, the sailor king, hated -this palace for its ugliness and discomfort, and this all the more that -he was used to sleeping in a hammock aboard his own frigate. - -The Marble Arch, an immense pile of stone now at the corner of -Piccadilly and Hyde Park, formerly occupied the central position in -this building, and was erected in its present position at a cost of -thirty-one thousand pounds. - -When the present Queen had her first child the palace was found so -uncomfortable that she had to have the nursery removed to the attic, -and there, while the royal child was getting its teeth cut, the Lord -Chamberlain of England, who had charge of the improvements, was boiling -glue and making French polish in the basement, so that altogether the -queen of the greatest nation of the earth, subsequent to her honeymoon, -was no better housed than a poor family in New York, dwelling in a -respectable tenement house. - -Parliament, however, was kind enough to grant the sum of one hundred -and fifty thousand pounds to alter and repair the building, and -accordingly the palace was made habitable for her Majesty. - -The Ball Room is one hundred and thirty-nine feet in length. The -Supper Room is seventy-six by sixty feet--with a promenade gallery -one hundred and nine feet in length, and twenty-one feet wide. There -is a riding school attached, with a mews or stable for horses; here -the state carriages and coaches are kept at an expense, for flunkies, -grooms, masters of the horse, stable boys, feed for horses and labor, -of thirty-six thousand pounds, or over two hundred thousand dollars -annually. - -I was allowed as a great favor to inspect the Queen's library, which -is very handsomely fitted up, and wherever the eye rested for a moment -it was sure to find a picture or bust of Prince Albert. There were a -number of small tables of inlaid ivory, mother of pearl, and gold, -covered with handsomely bound volumes of Shakespeare and other English -poets. I also saw a finely bound copy of the Memoirs of the Queen, -which it is supposed was written by her Majesty. This is a mistake, -however, as the entire book was written by a secretary of hers from -some scanty notes provided by her, and from personal recollections. -The Queen was nine months dictating the work before its publication. -The Queen was in the habit of sitting four hours a day giving these -reminiscences of her husband, and during this time she always had a -glass of sherry and a biscuit by her side. - -Very little is known of her Majesty outside of the British Isles. -Almost every other female sovereign has publicity given to all her -secret actions, and her private life is discussed with great personal -freedom, in the cafes and clubs. A thousand stories have been set -afloat and circulated in regard to Madam Isabella, lately Queen of -Spain, and but a few of them are true. Rochefort in his papers, "The -Lantern" and the "Marsellaise," has not hesitated to pour columns of -abuse upon the head of the Empress Eugenie, a lady whose principal -fault is a fondness for low necked dresses. - -[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN.] - -Two women have hitherto escaped this kind of slander, and these two are -the Empress of Austria and Queen Victoria. The reason is palpable in -the case of the Empress of Austria; she is an imperial lady to discuss -whose private life it would be dangerous if done on Austrian territory. - -In regard to the Queen of England, the reason why silence is kept in -relation to her private life is because of a sneaking regard for the -manners, customs, and good opinions of titled individuals among most -American travelers. - -[Sidenote: QUEEN'S SECLUSION.] - -The Queen has been a good wife and mother, but in these two qualities -she is more than equaled by thousands of American women. She is no -better and no worse than the average married woman; has her faults, her -weaknesses, and her good qualities, and it is among her own people that -her failings find their loudest trumpeters. - -In honestly dealing with these stories I shall not stop to give the -gross yarns which are spun by the Jenkinses of the press, who make what -they call an honest penny by chronicling all the loose street scandal -that is poured into their ears. - -The London Times, the leading paper of England, has on several -occasions soundly berated the Queen for her continued seclusion from -the public, her exalted position being, it is said, her only excuse, -and subsequent to the death of Prince Albert this seclusion was -continued so long that the shopkeepers and tradesmen who profit by the -receptions, festivals, and gaieties of the court, were loud in their -complaints of what they deemed to be an overstrained and extravagant -grief. - -Several leading modistes or dress makers were obliged to give up -business, owing to the Queen having closed her drawing rooms; murmuring -loudly that they had been ruined by her Majesty, as their principal -business was to make dresses for the ladies of rank who have nothing -else to do but go to balls, parties, and drawing-room receptions when -invited. Indeed for the past three years there has been a growing -dissatisfaction with her Majesty, and sad stories are told of that -royal lady in the English capital--chiefly the shopkeepers were -enraged--although this class of people are usually the most loyal--then -the Fenian affair came and was added as fuel to the general discontent. - -But the worst remains to be told, and it is with no feeling of pleasure -that I am compelled to lift the veil. - -The story is everywhere prevalent that the seclusion of the Queen is -owing to her fondness for liquor; this statement has never been openly -promulgated in the papers, but is continually hinted at obscurely in -the more liberal organs. It is boldly spoken of by private individuals -that the temper of her Majesty has of late years become very irascible -and is sometimes ungovernable, and the cause is attributed to drink and -its consequent delirium which has seized upon this unfortunate lady. - -I was told by a clergyman who had it direct from the wife of a -former chaplain of her Majesty, that the Queen was in the habit of -drinking half a pint of raw liquor per day. The effects of these -liberal potations are making visible havoc in her once comely face. I -saw her thrice, and her inflamed face and swollen eyes gave her all -the appearance of an inebriate. Perhaps the trouble caused by her -scapegrace of a son, the Prince of Wales, who, without doubt, is as -reckless a scamp as ever existed, has had much to do with his mother's -present condition, and has driven her to drinking. - -It is also notorious that the Queen has chosen for her body servant one -John Brown, a raw boned, robust, and coarse Highlander, and clings to -him with more warmth and tenacity than becomes a lady who carried her -sorrow for a deceased husband previously to such an extravagant pitch. - -This John Brown whom I saw is over six feet in height, a powerful -looking fellow; but he has a face that would find favor in the eyes of -very few women. He was formerly a body servant of Prince Albert, and -was always an attendant on him in his hunting and fishing excursions. -The Queen took notice of him at Balmoral, her summer residence in -Scotland, and here she made a great pet of him. - -After the death of Prince Albert the Queen attached Brown to her -person, and ever since he has constantly attended her. - -It is the custom of the Queen to have herself pushed around the grounds -of her lodge at Balmoral in a perambulator or hand carriage when she -visits that charming spot. - -The person selected for this duty was the lucky John Brown. Day after -day he might be seen pushing around the spacious lawn, the Majesty of -England. - -[Sidenote: LUCKY JOHN BROWN.] - -During her hours of idleness Brown is always allowed to converse -with the Queen in a familiar manner, and it is said presumes on her -gracious condescension more than her noblest subject would dare to do. - -[Illustration: JOHN BROWN EXERCISING THE QUEEN.] - -When the Queen takes her seat in her perambulator it might often occur -that a servant would spring forward with a lowly reverence to assist -the royal lady, but in every instance the unfortunate flunkey would -receive a rebuking frown, and in a moment after might have to undergo -the mortification of a sneering laugh from Brown, who at this crisis -would make his appearance--strolling in a leisurely fashion toward the -perambulator, and stretching his long Celtic legs, his arms full of -warm wraps in which he proceeds to enfold the person of the Queen, with -as much seeming fondness as if he were the husband instead of the low -lackey of royalty, without polish and breeding; then in addition to the -silent rebuke of the Queen the offending servant would hear from Brown -some such remark as "I say my douce laddie, dinna ya offer yer sarvices -till her Majesty asks ya fur them. Dinna ye be sticking yer finger in -till anoother mun's haggis or ye moon be scalded." - -"That will do Brown," the Queen would say to prevent a scene which -would be sure to take place were Brown's violent temper not curbed -in time to prevent an explosion, for the tall Highland gillie is no -respecter of persons, and cares very little for royalty except in the -person of its chief representative. - -It is a current anecdote in the Pall Mall clubs, that the Queen's -cousin, the Duke of Cambridge, who is also the commander-in-chief of -the British Army, having one day desired an audience with the Queen of -a private nature, waited upon her at Buckingham Palace and presented -his card like any other private citizen. He was desired to wait, and -did so until he became tired, and finally he was admitted to the -presence, and was somewhat astonished to find the servant, John Brown, -in the room. - -The Duke being a member of the royal family did not hesitate to say to -her majesty in a respectful way: - -"Will your Majesty be so kind as to ask your footman to leave the -saloon, I desire to speak to you on a matter of importance, privately." - -"Very well, you may speak without intrusion," said the Queen, turning -her head slightly to the window where her servant stood with his back -turned coolly upon the Queen's cousin, "there is no one here but Brown, -he is very discreet." - -[Sidenote: A GOOD STORY.] - -Finding that the Highlander could not be prevailed upon to leave the -room, the Duke made a virtue of necessity and proceeded to state the -purport of his visit. The Queen engaged in conversation with her -cousin, and some minutes having elapsed the conversation turned upon -different subjects. The Duke was relating a joke about the Clubs for -the edification of the Queen, in which a noble person was made to -assume a ridiculous position, when all at once he was interrupted -with a peal of coarse and irreverent laughter, which rang through the -apartments, and the Duke turning around with a thrill of horror and -astonishment, heard Brown scream out while he held his sides to contain -his mad mirth: - -"Oh! oh! What a d----d fule that fellow must have been." - -The Duke for a moment stood petrified with horror, an unpleasant tremor -ran down the small of his back, and then being seized with a sudden -idea, he took his hat and making a low reverence left the apartment as -the Queen said in an irritable tone: - -"Oh! never mind, it's only Brown." - -The story was too good to keep, and in a few days it was known all over -London. - -On the day that the Queen opened Blackfriars bridge she rode in a state -carriage with Brown behind her, and the act was so flagrant that when -the procession passed through the Strand, the Queen was openly hissed -by the people who stood on the sidewalks and saw the burly form of the -Scotsman in the carriage, so close to her Majesty. - -I leave facts to speak for themselves, there is no need of comment. The -great rival of Punch is a paper called the Tomahawk, published in Fleet -street, and which is edited with fearless ability. The chief artist is -a Matthew Morgan who excels all others of his craft in London for the -beauty and spirit of his cartoons. Well, one day the Tomahawk appeared -with a large two paged cartoon, in which the queen was pictured in her -perambulator, and the tall form of Brown behind pushing the vehicle, -while he leaned over the back and looked with an affectionate leer into -the face of the sovereign of England. There was no inscription at the -bottom of the picture, but it was so truthful and telling, that every -person who looked, saw the whole scandalous story at a glance. Three -editions of this number of the Tomahawk were sold in a few days, and in -the corner of the picture the daring artist did not hesitate to sign -his initials, "M.M." It is sufficient to state that no proceedings were -taken, nor was a suit of libel brought against the editors who publish -the paper. - -I have here only recounted facts well known in England, and I set them -down without malice or extenuation. - -The salary or income of Queen Victoria is, I believe, about five -thousand two hundred dollars a day, including Sundays, for which she -also receives her regular stipend. Like other sovereigns, she does not -toil or spin, yet the people must pay the bills all the same. Being -of a very economical and thrifty disposition, it is supposed that -her Majesty will leave a fortune of many millions of pounds to her -scapegrace son when she dies, that is to say, if he has common decency -enough too wait for her decease, and ceases to outrage her feelings to -much. - -Queen Victoria was born May 24th, 1819, and is consequently in her -fifty-second year. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -HIDDEN DEPTHS. - - -FINDING it necessary to have a companion with me who had a perfect -knowledge of the English Metropolis, I paid a visit to the headquarters -of the police in the Old Jewry, and procured from Inspector Bailey, the -Chief of Police, the aid of a detective to accompany me in my nightly -adventures. Shortly after midnight Sergeant Moss and myself passed -through Gracechurch into Fenchurch street, by towering warehouses, and -along Aldgate into High street, Whitechapel. Until we got well up into -Whitechapel we had not met more than three or four persons, and they -were principally individuals who had taken more ale or strong liquor -than was good for their equilibrium. One person, who was evidently -out of his latitude, accosted the detective and demanded of him, in a -menacing but rather ludicrous way: - -"I s'ay ole fel', whish ish Goodman's Feelsh? I wansh to go to -Somshseet sthreeths. Goodman's Feelsh, ole boy. Show we waysh and give -shixpensh, ole fel?" - -"Go along and turn off to your left, and when you get home eat an -onion, and it will do you good p'raps," said he, as he tried to dodge -the drunken fellow, who seemed well dressed, and had some jewelry on -his person. - -"Eesh an onionsh. Sir, yer a gentlesmansh--ole boy. Blesh you. Blesh -you," and he staggered away into the darkness, rolling like a yawl-boat -in the breakers. - -We turned off the Whitechapel road into Baker street, up Charles into -Wellington street. The neighborhood was a poor desolate one, and every -building, and every stone in the street, with the offal in the gutters, -spoke of poverty and wretchedness. - -Now and then a policeman spoke to us and looked sharply at me, but -always they seemed civil and obliging. - -The district we were now traversing was a kind of debatable land -between Whitechapel and Bethnal Green. The streets, or rather lanes, -ran across and along at angles and in circles of a perfect maze tending -to confound ways that were well calculated to puzzle a stranger. - -The lanes were, with few exceptions, not more than two or three hundred -feet long, and the odor from the cellars and lodging houses was -miasmatic. Shouts and yells and curses came from drunken male brutes -who passed us, and now and then a wretched looking outcast of a woman, -hideous with filth and bloated with gin, stole like a shadow from some -of the low public houses that were, in accordance with the beer-house -act, putting up their shutters. - -A woman passed us with a stone bottle in one hand and a herring in the -other, while we stood looking up and down the narrow street. Her eyes -were bloodshot and her face seamed with dissipation and wretchedness, -while she grasped the stone bottle hard, and seemed ready to defend her -precious property with her life. - -"Wot have you got there," said my companion seizing the stone jug and -holding it to his nose. The woman was almost frenzied at this attempt, -as she believed it was, to deprive her of what was far dearer to her -than her life. "Give me back my gin!" she screamed, and dashed forward -like a tigress to claw his eyes out. The sergeant seemed satisfied, and -handed her back the stone vessel with a motion of disgust. - -"That'll do, ole lady," said he, "I'd rather you'd drink that White -Satan nor me. I pitys yer precious witles, that's hall, when you drinks -it. Where do you live?" - -[Sidenote: AN EXPLORATION.] - -"I live's in 'Purty Bill's lodgin.' I'll show it to you for a brown. -Come along." We followed her for a short distance, and now and then, -as we passed the doorways and courts, some low blackguard would vent -a little of his vile or rough humor upon our devoted heads, merely to -keep his intellect in play. - -"I say, ye pair of duffers, give us tuppence to get a pot o' beer, wont -ye; come here, and I'll cash yer check hif you 'ave no small change," -said a cut-throat looking rascal of large build who was lying across a -door that seemed to open into the earth somewhere. He half rose; fell -back on the broken cavern door stupefied with liquor, and began to -snore like a wild beast gorged with blood. - -"This is an awful district, sir," said the detective. "They doesn't -stand on ceremony with you here." - -We passed further down the dark street, and a very dark street it was. -The atmosphere was very different from that which hung over London -Bridge. The air was noisome, and the collected offal in the gutters -sent up a frightful stench to the heavens. At the end of the street -was a cul de sac, and before we came to it my conductor stopped at a -passage, dim under the midnight sky, which ran back for some distance; -I could not tell how far, owing to the darkness. - -We passed into the court, which seemed to yawn wider as one progressed, -between three-storied, tumble-down, dirty brick buildings, and finally -we found ourselves in a yard about a hundred feet square, from the -opposite side of whose buildings clothes lines depended covered with -canvass jackets, ragged highlows, aprons, and two or three sou'westers, -beside a lot of female articles of under-linen. There were barrows, -hand carts, small jackass carts and baskets, with a few empty barrels -piled up in a confused mass in the corner of the yard. Cabbage leaves, -bones of fish and animals, potato skins--the remains of carniverous -appetites--were strewed all round. - -The detective had by this time lit a lantern which he had concealed -in his breast, and thus I was enabled to look around me. He said, -"This is a rum spot; but never mind, it's safe enough. Now dy'e see -that cellar--that's where we are a goin' to spend an hour or two. Come -along." - -He pointed in the direction of the cellar, or rather an opening in the -ground, at the further corner of the yard, from whose bowels issued -slanting streaks of light, shouts of laughter, and yells indicative of -mad revelry. Groping our way carefully over the heaps of rubbish, and -around the vehicles and barrels, we arrived at the cellar, which had -for an opening an aperture about six feet wide by five feet in length. -The broken wooden stairs leading to the bottom had some fifteen steps. - -We descended and found the door at the lowest step barring the -entrance. It was fastened, and had a dirty, impenetrable pane of glass -as a watchhole for the use of those inside, so that nothing could be -seen from the outside of the door. We gave the door a kick, and then -the shouting and laughing seemed to stop very suddenly, and there was a -hustling and running about inside which betokened preparation. - -A face appeared at the pane of glass, and, after a scrutiny of a minute -or two, the door went back on its hinges with a grating sound. A big -bullet-head protruded itself, and a voice said: - -"Who is that ere? Wot does you want, and who the d----l send you at this -time o' night a disturbin' of honest people in their comfortable beds?" - -"Bill, it's 'Faking Johnny' as wants to hold a few moments conversation -with you. The queen has just sent me with a patent of nobility for -you, from Buckingham Palace. You are to be made a barronnight right -hoff when you reforms," said the detective, in a jocular way, as he -descended into the cellar and faced the proprietor of the den, who held -a half-penny candle above his head to get a look at us both. - -The master of the mansion finally recognized my companion, but did not -seem at all well pleased with his visit. - -"Well," he said, in a very gruff voice, "is hit bizness or pleasure? -Vich? Kase, hif hits bizness you must 'elp yourself." - -[Sidenote: "PURTY BILL."] - -"Oh, pleasure by all means, Purty Bill," said the sergeant, "myself -and friend here, who is a son of Henry Clay, as was President of the -United States of America, just wants to see how the fun is goin' on -to-night, and as I knew you kept a fust-class place, Bill, I thought -I would bring him around to see you. He has called on the Queen, Mr. -Bright, Mr. Gladstone, the Hemperor of the French, and he expressed a -great desire to see 'Purty Bill;' so here we are." - -[Illustration: PURTY BILL SHOWING US IN.] - -The hideous vagabond seemed touched by this piece of insidious -flattery, and said in a modified tone: - -"Oh, well, that's fair enough. I don't hask hanything better. But ye -see I thought you might ha' wanted some of my lodgers, and so many of -them have been done for lately that they are getting suspicious of my -honesty, and I have to be careful. Come this way," and he held the -half-penny candle over his head, which gave me a chance to observe him. -The man was about six feet two inches in height, and much in form of -shoulders like an ox, with loins like a prize-fighter. The face was -pitted terribly with small-pox, his entire face was seared, and even -the corners of his eyebrows seemed eaten away by the awful disease. -Hence his name of "Purty Bill." His eyes were of a greenish blue, and -his attire was that of a costermonger; a smock of canvass, and knee -breeches and huge shoes, whose heavy nails made rapid incisions in the -clay floor of the long, dark passage through which we had to pass until -we came to still another door. This door was not a door; in fact it was -only a few planks strongly nailed together, and was not more than four -feet high, so that we were all compelled, as "Purty Bill" lifted the -latch, to put our feet in first, and making half circles of our bodies, -we entered, and after descending three or four flagged steps we were -at last in the cellar and establishment proper over which "Purty Bill" -claimed a proprietary interest. - -It was one of the strangest sights I ever saw--the interior of this -Wild Beast's Den. It was a huge cellar formerly used as a brewery, of -perhaps a hundred by seventy-five feet in dimension. - -The ceiling, or, rather, the rough, unplaned beams which supported -the roof above us, gave an appearance of great strength to the place. -There was a large fireplace in the center of the cellar, around which -fifty or sixty persons sat, of all ages and of both sexes. The floor -was of damp clay, smooth and trodden by the feet of countless thieves, -vagabonds, and prostitutes. The corners of the cellar were buried in -darkness, while the center of the cavern, near the fireplace, was -bright with the flames of a fire of logs, which threw a flickering -light on the wooden beams, the broken chairs and stools, the pewter -pots in the hands of the lodgers, and on many faces stained with dirt -and ploughed up with crime and misery. There were thirty or forty -berths roughly constructed as they are in the emigrant steerage of a -Liverpool packet, and a heap of dirty straw in each indicated that -they were used as beds by the occupants of the apartments. There was -a large black pot hanging from a big hook, which depended from the -brick chimney, and from this pot came a steaming odor of soup, or stew -of some kind. The majority of the lodgers were sitting on the bare -ground, which was dry and hardened near the fire, while at a distance -from its flame the ground was rather damp and the lodgers sat on broken -stools or on ragged pieces of matting, broken pieces of willow ware, -logs of wood, bundles of rags, or any other article, or articles, that -were convertible into seats for the time being. - -[Sidenote: "WONT YOU TAKE SOMETHING?"] - -The room was lighted by four or five candles, which were stuck in glass -bottles, the bottles being fastened to the joists which supported the -berths in which the lodgers slept. The people nearest the fire had -fragments of food in their hands and were evidently preparing for a -grand midnight feast. Some of them were peeling potatoes, and one old -fellow with rheumy eyes had a piece of bacon of five or six pounds -weight between his crossed knees on a board, which he was cutting -into small square lumps, and as he hacked a piece off he threw it at -random into the large pot. A young girl was engaged in carving a huge -cabbage-head, and her assistant was scraping carrots and parsnips. -Every one seemed interested about the pot, and every one seemed to have -some contribution for the feast, which I found was a co-operative one. - -[Illustration: "WONT YOU TAKE SOMETHING?"] - -"Purty Bill" bustled about and found two broken stools for myself and -conductor, and placed them near the fire, saying in a hospitable way: - -"Gent's, this ere night is werry wet, and you might as well dry -yourselves. Sit up nearer the fire. Won't ye take somethink?" and he -put his huge paws on the detectives knee in a friendly way. "This is -agoin to be a topper of a meal to-night, and all of us will welcome ye -gents to our 'umble board. So make yerselves at 'ome, and peck a bit -when it's biled." - -"Wot's the idea of getting up this cram at this time of the morning, -Bill? It's near two o'clock. Won't it interfere with yer lodgers' -precious digestion?" - -"Hinterfere with it? Wot, vith one of my lodgers? Rayther! No. Vy -there's Kicking Billy as heats six blessed meals a day, and then he's -all the time a lookin' for sangwiches and pigs trotters a-tween meals. -Urt their digestion hindeed? Vy they 'av got stomax like them ere -hanimals wot performs at Hastleys. You knows Slap-Up Peter. You used -to be a stone swallower in the purfession," and the proprietor touched -a man who was squatted on his haunches, smoking a dirty stump of clay -pipe, with his foot. Slap-Up Peter drew the pipe out of his mouth, -shook the ashes from it, dusted the venerable relic with a greasy red -handkerchief, carefully placed it in his breeches pocket, and said: - -"Vy don't ye keep yer big feet to yerself? Wot hanimals do you mean? Do -you mean cammomiles?" - -"Yes, them hanimals vith the 'umps on their hugly backs. You see, sir, -Slap-Up Peter has had a good eddycation in his time, and he knows the -names of the hanimals, 'cos he used to travel with the circus afore he -went on the tramp to swallow stones and snakes." - -"Peter," said the detective, "you must 'ave quite an 'istry. Could you -tell us somethink about your past life, my boy?" - -Slap-Up Peter had a melancholy face. The skin was tanned, the eyes -large, black, and bulging, and the nose like a hawk's. His clothes were -worn and greasy; his face was gaunt, and when he moved his body the -bones seemed to creak and grate as if they had been joined together by -metallic hinges. There was something mournful about the man--some queer -story attached to him, I felt. - -[Sidenote: PETER AND JUDY.] - -"Tell ye me 'istry, is it? Vell, I don't mind if I do; but them as -hears my story mout give me somethink to drink first, for I ham werry -dry. I lost my woice speaking on the Histablished Church bill tother -night in Parlymint, and I've been 'oarse hever since." - -"Well, take a drop, Peter," said Kicking Billy, a one-eyed and -one-legged, and rascally looking fellow, who sat with his crutches -between his knees, toasting his shin at the fire, and he handed a -bottle to Slap-Up Peter, who took it without saying a word, and lifting -it to his mouth, took a deep, deep draught without winking. - -"Look at that fellow that they call Kicking Billy--the one-legged -fellow, I mean," said the detective to me. "He's a returned burglar, -that fellow, and has served fourteen years. This place is full of -thieves. They are nearly all thieves, and this is a thieves feast," he -whispered in my ear. - -"My name is Peter Wilson, and I've been in the show business for -sixteen years, come Christmas, man and boy. I'm thirty-eight years of -age now, and they called me Slap-Up Peter when I fust began jumpin', as -a hacrobat in the penny gaffs. Cos wy, I had a way of turnin' myself -over a chair and coming back-handed on a somerset that used to take -well, but now so many does it that the haudience don't mind it a bit. I -jumped for four years, and wos counted pretty good in my line until I -dislocated my wrist a doin' of the Pyramids of Hegypt, and then I vos -laid hup and couldn't jump for six months and hover; so I thought I'd -leave the bus'ness and happear in another character. I got married to--" - -"More fool you," said Kicking Billy, sententiously, taking a drink. - -"Well, hit didn't cost you nothing, no more than it did for the -government to support you in Botany Bay for fourteen years. So you -needn't hinterrupt me again." - -"Go hon, Peter, and never mind him, its only 'is chaff." - -"Well, as I wos saying," continued Slap-Up Peter, "I got married, and -maybe it was rayther foolish, for when we were spliced, Judy and I--she -wos an Irish gal and a good worker--we went into our cash account and -found that we had only one pun six shillings and height pence, not a -blessed brown more. I said to Judy--she wor a good gal-- - -"Judy, we can't keep 'ause on twenty-six shillings capital, that's -shure. That's all our fortune in silver and gold, and it won't last -long. So wot will we do?" - -"'Well, Peter,' said she, 'I didn't marry you for the dirty money; I -married you cos' you were sich a good jumper and hacrobat, and I'll -stick to you now when you can't jump any more;' for you see, Billy, my -wrist was two years afore it got well." - -"'Let us pad the hoof together,' said Judy, 'and we'll do the best we -can. Let us two work the southern counties and we'll get long French -or Hitalyan names, and we'll pick up a shillin here and there.' Cos -you see," said Peter, "Judy had been born and bred in Shoreditch, -and she knew all the wandering play-actors and showmen, and she wor -hup to all their affs. So I next came out as 'Signor Hokenfokos, the -fiery salamander of Naples, and my wife, the Baroness Padila, who had -to leave her country on account of the wiolent love vich the king's -son would persist in making hup to her, and she had to leave all her -property, to the amount of six millions, behind her.' This was a good -lay and we made from three to eight shillings a day down in Devonshire -and Cornwall, wherever we could get a crowd together. I used to swaller -hot iron bars, pokers, and red hot coals, and my wife used to play the -hurdy-gurdy while I was swallerin' the hot coals. I improved at this -werry much in two years, and then, after I had vorked the hot coals -out, Judy said to me one day: - -"'Peter, why don't you try and swaller snakes and swords? They are -better than coals, and not so dangerous.'" - -[Sidenote: SNAKE SWALLOWING.] - -"'Yes, but I don't know how,' I said, 'and I don't like snakes at all, -they are so precious slimy.' You see sir, even then I didn' know what -it was to get used to a thing. Well, I commenced to swallow knives at -first, and I had to oil them--that's the trick you see--with sweet oil -as good as I could find at eighteen pence a pint, and I had to rub -this on with a piece of shammy cloth. This oil lets the knife down -easily, and when I wos well drilled there wos no danger at all--only -I had to be sober. My swallow was hawful bad with the hirritation for -two months, but I got over that; for when I felt my throat sore I took -sugar and lemon juice, and gorgled my throat and that took the soreness -away." - -"Tell us about the snakes, Peter," said Purty Bill. "That's a good -story, sir," to the author. - -[Illustration: SNAKE SWALLOWING STORY.] - -"Ah! that was the most unlikely thing I hever took to. It went aginst -my stomach hawful to swaller the snakes at first, and I don't believe -I'd ever have done it if it hadn't been for Judy, who said to me, when -I kicked agin it,-- - -"'Wot difference does it make, Peter, whether you swallow red hot coals -or snakes? The snakes has their stings all taken out, and its nothing -more than swallowin' a sausage or pork saveloy.'" - -"Well, I went at it with a very bad 'art, and my old woman used to play -'Boney's March Across the Halps,' and the 'Death of Nelson,' whenever I -swallowed a snake. You see I generally took a snake about fourteen or -fifteen inches, or maybe a foot and a half long. The sting is out, you -know, and I takes the head and puts the snake in, and if he doesn't go -down why I pinches his tail, and then he rolls down the throat. It made -me sea-sick at first, and the people in Sussex thought I was the devil -out and out, and a good many hexamined my feet, which were in tights, -to see if I had cloven feet. A goodish lot of people thinks that the -snake goes entirely down the throat, but it stands to reason that the -snake is more frightened than the man, and he does not go down, and hif -he did he would be glad to come up, I can tell you." - -"Don't you put somethink in your throat," said a boy of fourteen, who -was known among the confraternity as 'Teddy the Kinchin;' "I mean, to -make the snake sick if he'd go too far." - -[Sidenote: SLAP-UP-PETER'S SONG.] - -"No, that's no use at all; you see he doesn't go hall the way down. -He is afraid, is the snake, and if you cough he'll come up and draw -himself up and coil in a bunch in your mouth. But the duffers who pay -their money think that the snake is in your stomach. It stands to -reason that he'd get sick. It makes a man retch, and the first snake I -swallowed I threw up and had awful vomits, but the next one I rather -relished it, and it did me a sight o' good, like an oyster does after -ye 'ave been drinkin at night and take's tuppence worth of natives in -the morning. Well, when I began snake-swallowing it was rather new, and -I had it all my own way for a long time, but finally, lots of men began -to swallow snakes, and coal swallowing was not as good as it used to -be; so I took to ballad singing, Judy and I. By this time we had sixty -pounds saved, and we were doing well, but I made the acquaintance of a -lot of Doncaster men, who knew I had the money, and before I could say -'Jack Robinson,' the money was all gone. Judy was in her confinement -then, and she took on so bad about it that she died in child-bed, and -the kid as well, and I've been on the tramp ever since, and now I do -an odd turn at anything that turns up, but mostly I sing ballads, and -make sometimes a shilling a day, and sometimes eightpence and ninepence -a day. Times have changed for me. Worse luck." - -Here the snake-swallower's story ended. - -"Slap-Up Peter, will you give us a song? and I'll give you a drink, me -oul wiper," said the crippled Kicking Billy to the snake-swallower. - -"Well, Billy, I don't mind if I do," said Slap-Up Peter, draining the -tin skillet to the last greasy drop. - -The thieves, loafers, and women gathered around the fire in a half -circle, and Purty Bill heaped logs very liberally, while Slap-Up Peter -chanted in a hoarse voice the song, an extract of which I give below, -as near as I remember it with my recollections of the scene, the -choking smoke, the blazing fire, and the band of outcasts and outlaws -in the den in Whitechapel: - - 'Twas down in Whitechapel that once I used to dwell, - And of all the coves that knocked about, I was the greatest swell, - My highlows were the cheese, with breeches to the knees, - Oh, my toggery was quite correct--my coat was Irish frieze, - My togs from Bond street came, it's a nobby slap-up street, - In a fashionable locality--the swells the girls there meet; - Nicol's my man for shirts, with his I cut a shine, - His shop's in far famed Regent street, he's a pal-o'-mine. - Rum too-rul-um, Happy-go-Bill, - Inyuns and greens who'll buy, - Rum too-rul-um, Happy-go-Bill, - Inyuns and greens who'll buy. - -"That's a fine melojous voice of yours," said Purty Bill to the singer. - -"He's used to it," said one of the women. - - Here's Spuds at Thrums a pound, they're prime 'uns as I've found, - Oh, I've Reds and Dukes and Flukes and Blues, I sells in going my round. - My greens are superfine, full blown and hearty are mine, - Oh, come make a deal with me, my dear; don't wait, you'll find 'em prime. - My inyuns now are new, you'll find what I says is true, - In fact, the Queen, since these she's seen has cartloads just a few; - My carrots are long and red, you'll find they're well bred, - My vegetables are the cheese, bunch for you--penny-a-head. - Rum too-rul-um, &c. - -"Now give us the last werse with all the 'armony," said Teddy the -Kinchin, in a piping voice. - -"I vill, vith moosh plesh-yar, as the Frenchman said," returned Slap-Up -Peter. - - Jerry, my moke's a bird, of him perhaps you've heard, - He knows his way about, he does, to match him's quite absurd; - Just see him cock his eye when grub time's getting nigh, - He likes his feed, he does indeed, he lives on cabbage-pie. - Now any girl that's kind, and a husband wants to find, - I'm ready made and so's my trade, that's if I'm to her mind; - So down to Whitechapel we'll trudge again to dwell, - And of all the coves that knock about I'll be the greatest swell. - Rum too-rul-um, &c. - -"That's wot I call a topper of a song. It's so werry sentimental that -it makes a gal peep. The lines are werry touchin'," said a young gal -of sixteen or seventeen years of age, who was not badly dressed nor -bad-looking, and who went by the name of "Bilking Bet." She was a -favorite, and several of them called upon her to sing. She had just the -same mock modesty, this young woman with the brassy face, as if she had -been a fashionable lady at the West End, with a jointure and a coach -and six. - -"Wot's that young gal's name, Bill," said the detective to the boss of -the thieves. - -He did not seem inclined to tell at first, but said sullenly, "you -don't want her do you? No? Well then that's 'Bilking Bet,' she used to -be a 'coster gal but now she's on the cross." - -"Oho!" said Serjeant Moss, "that's the gal as was hup before Mr. Knox -at Marlboro street the other morning for snatching a lady's purse in a -push." - -"Yes," said Purty Bill, "but there was no proof aginst the gal. She was -brought out has hinnocent as the new-born baby. She wor." - -[Sidenote: THE COSTER GAL.] - -"Of course, Bill, you had that done and cooked. One of those nice -little halybi's as you halways 'ave ready just to suit your customers. -'Bilking Bet' was down in Wales a waitin upon her poor sick mother, who -was down with the scarlet fever, and not expected to live. My Heye? Eh, -Bill, one of your old tricks? But, I say, Bill, don't you get ketched, -cos its over the water to Charly with ye hif I ketch ye." - -This conversation was carried on in the corner of the room, from which -we could see that the group around the fire were preparing to hear a -song from "Bilking Bet," who cleared her throat twice with a pull at a -gin bottle--no glasses here to annoy a person--and began, in a mellow -and not unpleasing voice, the following slang song which is common -among the London costermongers, but is seldom heard among the thieves. -The song, no doubt, she owed to her early costermonger associations, -before she became a pickpocket. She was now one of the most expert in -London, and was the kept mistress of a well known burglar, who had, two -days before I saw her, broken open a tea shop in the Old Bailey, near -Ludgate Hill. - -The song was as follows: - -"THE COSTER' GAL." - - Some chaps they talk of damsels fine, - Being angels bright and fair, - But they should only see my girl, - She is beyond compare, - She is the finest girl that's out, - Her name is Dinah Denny, - When you are out you'll hear her shout - "New Walnuts, twelve a penny!" - - Chorus.--S'help me never none so clever, - As my Dinah Denny, - Can shout about, all round about - "New Walnuts, twelve a penny." - - Her voice is like a dove, - And bright is her black eye, - I think she does me truly love, - She looks at me so sly. - She sports the smartest side spring boots, - Eclipse her cannot many, - And shows feet small, while she does call - "New Walnuts, twelve a penny." - - Chorus, &c. - - Rich noblemen may dress their wives - In silk or satin dress, - But Dinah I like quite as well - In her Manchester print, "Express," - We're going to be wed, and then - If offspring we have many, - We'll be nuts on, and christen them - "New Walnuts, twelve a penny." - - Chorus, &c. - -[Illustration: "BILKING BET TAKES THE CHAIR."] - -"Now I think that's werry neat and happropriate to the hoccasion," -said a cockney lodger who had successfully begged two-pence from the -detective to pay for his lodging, which he handed over to "Purty Bill" -as soon as he got the pennies. - -"I moves we put Bilking Bet in the cheer? Wot dye say, gentlemen and -ladies hall, to the proposition?" - -"Hall right. Bet take the cheer and give us some of yer 'Ouse of -Commons." - -"Bilking Bet" was escorted to the middle of the group, placed standing -on a three-legged stool without any visible back, and assuming as -stately an air as she was capable of, the young girl, with the most -perfect sang froid, began: - -[Sidenote: "TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG."] - -"Me lords and gentlemen, and likewise the ladies. Me noble pickpockets, -gonoffs, blokes, and pinchers. I am with you this hevening, for what -purpose, I hask? FOR WOT PURPOSE I HASK? Why, to be present at the -feast which takes place hannerally among the members of our noble -purfession--shall I say dignified purfession? No; I won't." - -"But ye have said it, Bet," said Kicking Billy. - -"Hear! hear! Shut up, will ye, and let the gal tork," said Slap-Up -Peter. - -"Well," said Bet, broken down in her attempt at a speech, "I move that -we have a song from 'Teddy the Kinchin.' Will he hoblige?" - -"He will! he will!" said a dozen voices. - -"I am sorry, me blokes, that my woice is so werry much out of tune in -singing at Her Majesty's Hopera in the Haymarket, but howsumbever, as -I have given hup my hengagement at that 'ouse, I'll fake you a few -werses to show wot I wonce wos when I wos in woice," said this cheerful -young blackguard and thief, who had a pair of eyes like a ferret, and -could not have been more than seventeen years of age, as he stood there -dressed in the height of his idea of the fashion, with a flashy velvet -coat and satin scarf, showing a huge pin. He sang, after clearing his -throat with a long drink of gin, as follows: - -"TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG." - - I am a curious comical cove - Everybody does own O, - Hey ricketty Barlow, Cock-a-doodle-do! - I was born one day when father was out, - And mother she wasn't at home O, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - I went to school and played the fool, - At learning was a shy man. - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - The boys they used to hollo out, - "There goes a Simple Simon!" - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - Oh lor! oh my! I'm a Simple Simon, - Oh lor! oh my! cock-a-doodle-do! - Where ere I go the folks they know, - And call me "Simple Simon;" - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - -"Haltogether, please," said the Kinchin. - -[Illustration: "TEDDY THE KINCHIN'S SONG."] - - I used to "kick" the cobbler out, - And rip up people's pockets, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - And I was very fond of throwing stones - And lumps of mud at coppers, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - But now I'm going to settle down, - Won't I cut a shine O, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - I'll marry a gal with lots of Tin, - And won't I spend her rhino, - Hey ricketty Barlow, &c. - Oh lor! oh my! &c. - -"Now, once more, and a good haltogether please," and the young -pickpocket sat down amid thunders of applause from every one in the -cellar belonging to the band of thieves. - -[Sidenote: TEDDY THE KINCHIN.] - -The thieves stew was now declared ready for consumption by the _chef de -cuisine_, and as I at least felt no appetite for such a rich dish, we -left this underground den of infamy just as a few faint streaks of the -coming dawn began to gild the spire of St. Boldolph's ancient church. - -"That Purty Bill is one of the greatest scoundrels in London. He is a -fence, and we've got him once or twice, but he minds himself now, and -we are after his tricks every day. His cellar used to be a brewery, -that's why he's got so much room underground, and his game is to let -out lodgings, at two pence a night, for a blind, and then they can stay -all day at this place until twelve o'clock at night, and if they cannot -pay sure for the next night's lodging in advance, unless they are in -very good circumstances, he clubs them out, and they have got to pad -the hoof until daybreak, and sleep where they can. Good night." And we -parted for that twenty-four hours. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -DEBATING CLUBS AND COGERS'S HALL. - - -SHOE lane hath a very unromantic sound for a locality. It does not -smell of the aristocracy. It hath not even a slight favor of the Landed -Gentry, and no one could possibly take the trouble to find armorial -bearings or hatchments for Shoe lane. Yet is Shoe lane a most eloquent -place, and there is a little old public house there deemed second only -in point of fame by the admirers of forensic eloquence who frequent it, -to the House of Commons. - -The way was long and dreary that Saturday night that I strolled from -Long Acre, whose carriage-shops and leather manufacturers' stalls were -all closed for the day; and the sultry London fog came down, blinding -the pedestrians, as I turned from Lincoln's-Inn-fields into the -better-lighted High Holborn, with the glare from its brassy gin-shops -and dirty-looking old houses, that seemed all of them as if a good -scouring would have done them an incalculable service in the way of a -fresher appearance. I thought that Shoe lane was in a very suspicious -neighborhood. - -Turning to the left through Farringdon Market, a huge square seemingly -devoted to the worship of highly odorous vegetables, I came into the -narrow Shoe lane, which runs down at its bottom to Fleet street, just -below where the gray stone arch of Temple bar bisects the Strand and -Fleet street. There is nothing particularly noticeable about this part -of Shoe lane. - -[Sidenote: SHOE LANE.] - -There is a ham and beef shop, with its layers of cold meat-pies piled -on top of each other in the windows; and across the way there is the -inevitable gin-shop, with its polished brass fender outside to keep off -the boys who have no money to spend in gin, and there are the enticing -signs all over the gin-shop telling of the merits of the brown-stout -there vended, and the Burton ale and somebody's "entire" malt liquors -which the proprietor assures the public are only genuine at his shop. - -The lane is narrow here and not more than three or four men could pass -abreast, although there are sidewalks to the lane, or rather apologies -for sidewalks. This narrow lane is one of the few remaining relics of -old London. Below, at the foot of Shoe lane, runs Fleet street--one of -the busiest marts in the world, which is ever jammed and blocked with -drays, cabs, and vehicles of all descriptions crowding to and fro, in -sight of the mighty dome of St. Paul's; and under the pavement of that -street, so famous for its publications and shops, the old River Fleet -once ran in a dirty, hideous current, until it emptied its garnered -filth into the Thames. - -Here, opposite Shoe lane, one of the curious old conduits that formerly -supplied old London with water might have been seen about the time -of the wars of the Roses, when the English nobles were hard at work -cutting each other's throats and making and unmaking kings for the want -of something better to do. The cistern erected at the point where Shoe -lane intersects Fleet street, was counted one of the handsomest in -London. Stow--that quaint, old, musty chronicler--says: - -"Upon it was a fair tower of stone, garnished with the image of St. -Christopher on the top, and angels lower down, round about, with -sweetly sounding bells before them, whereupon, by an engine placed in -the tower, they, divers hours of the day and night, with hammers chimed -such a hymn as was appointed." Frolicsome Anne Boleyn, the first day -that she was queened, rode through Shoe lane on her way to the sacred -Abbey of Westminster to receive the gilded toy upon her fair forehead, -and pageantry and pomp met her at every step of her palfrey, in -Cornhill, Cheapside, Fleet street, and Shoe lane. - -In those days the streets and lanes of London were narrow and -difficult, and the unfortunate queen that was to be might have touched -the over-hanging eaves and gables of the houses in her progress through -the city without leaving her saddle. The conduit in Shoe lane was -grandly gilded over to do her honor, and ran wine for the whole day. -At the base of the conduit a starvling poet sat reciting verses in her -honor as she and her newly made ruffian of a husband passed, and no -doubt this mediaeval Mormon was highly pleased with the conceit. There -were towers and turrets erected to do her honor in Shoe lane, and in -one of these towers, according to the chronicler, "was such several -solemn instruments that seemed to be an heavenly noise, and was much -regarded and praised; and, besides this, the conduit ran wine, claret -and white, all the afternoon; so she, with all her company, rode forth -to Temple Bar, which was newly painted and repaired, where stood also -divers singing men and children, till she came to Westminster Hall, -which was richly hanged with cloths of Arras." - -While Prince Hal was splitting the skulls of fractious Frenchmen at -Agincourt and fording the passage of the Somme, Sir Robert Ferras de -Chastley held eight cottages in Shoe lane from his king. Here and there -was a garden peeping forth in its floral verdure; and here was also the -town residence of the Bishops of Bangor, powerful and pious prelates in -their day, God wot and odds bodkins; and as early as 1378 they held the -tenure by virtue of the patent of the forty-eighth of Edward the Third, -which says in most barbarous Latin: "_Unum messuag; unam placeam terrae, -unam gardinum cum aliis aedificis in Shoe Lane, London_." - -Times have changed since then in Shoe lane. A bishop of Bangor now, -with his train of lances, his men-at-arms, mitre, cross-bearer, and -torches, would be a sight indeed in Shoe lane. How that bright-eyed -bar-maid at the door of the Blue Pig would stare at his lordship! How -the greasy boy in the ham and beef shop would shout at the cope and -silks and velvet housings--taking them, perhaps, in an innocent way, -for a part of the Lord Mayor's show! And as for the conduit running -Claret and Malmsley, the beer-swilling cockneys would not thank -headless Anne Boleyn for such washy foreign stuff. Their fancy could -only be fed by gin. A man-at-arms would be compelled now-a-days to wash -his throat with Bass's bitter beer or brown stout, instead of sack, -hippocras, or mead. - -[Sidenote: SOCIETY OF COGERS.] - -At last we are in the neighborhood of "Cogers Hall"--the hall of the -Ancient and Honorable Society of Cogers. There is a gin-shop at the -front, with its low doorway and flaring signs. The windows are well -lit, and by the side of the bar is a long, narrow passage conducting -the visitor for twenty or thirty feet to a back room, about forty feet -long and twenty-five feet wide. - -Off the passage are a number of small waiting-rooms, noisy and smoky, -with the voices and vile pipes of the occupants. Four rows of tables -run along the room, in which are present fifty or sixty persons all -of the male sex. They are all decently dressed, for, although the -admission is free, yet is the visitor to the Cogers Hall expected to -drink or eat something, and the place, with its tariff of prices, -though moderate enough to an American, would not suit a costermonger or -laborer. - -The roof is arched and paneled, done in a feeble imitation of the -style of Sir Christopher Wren, who is popularly supposed to have -built everything in London after the great fire of 1666. A handsome -chandelier depends from an opening in the roof, and is ornamented -with a number of glass globes, which serve to light the apartment and -dissipate the thick clouds of smoke that constantly arise in the room. - -There is a large, gaudy sign in the hall, on which are printed these -cabalistic words: "Hot joints are served in this room from one until -five." At the farther end of the room, opposite the entrance, is a -paneling hollowed back in the wall, the entire room being paneled; and -this paneling is shaped like a door, and is gilded. A step from the -floor, in the paneling, is placed a chair of honor, which is occupied -by the Most Worthy Grand, as he is styled; or, in fact, the chairman -of the meeting. Those who are familiar with him go so far in their -irreverence as to call this awful personage "Me Grand," and whispers -have been heard that his name in reality is Tompkins or Noakes. - -Directly opposite this dignitary, at the other end of the room, is a -place in the paneling and a chair like to that which I have already -described, and this is occupied by a tall, lean man, with side whiskers -of a grayish pattern, who has the title of Vice Grand. - -But the Vice, or Worthy Wice, is of greatly inferior dignity to the -Most Worthy Grand. He is, so to speak, an empty ornament of the feast, -and his duties are simple, and confined to calling out in unison with -the assemblage, "Hear, hear," or "Good." "You are Right," when the -Worthy Grand, in his oracular sentences, is most happy. At other times, -in a loud voice he will call the attention of the waiters, who heartily -detest him for his interference, to the fact that some customer has -drained his beer, or gin and hot water, and needs, therefore, to be -served afresh. - -Still this man is human, and will listen, when off his seat of duty, -to any scandal against the Most Worthy Grand with secret pleasure. -In fact, the Worthy Wice, inspired by a generous four-pence worth of -gin and hot water, told me aside, in conversation, that the Worthy -Grand was unfit for his high position. "He his han hass, sir. He -his too Hold. And he 'as no woice watsomever, sir. Bah! that, sir, -for Tompkins"--and the Worthy Wice snapped his fingers in an insane -manner at the air in which his potent imagination had conjured up the -semblance of the Worthy Grand. Sitting down at a table I followed the -custom of the place and called for something. On each table were placed -a couple of long-shanked clay pipes, and a thin-necked, big-paunched, -red-clay jar, which a man sitting near explained to my satisfaction. - -"You see," said he in a rather mysterious voice, "we 'aven't much ice -to speak of in England; leastways, it is too dear, and this 'ere red -clay 'as a peculiar wirtue--it keeps the water as cold as if it was in -the waults of Bow Church." - -[Sidenote: AT THE TABLES.] - -This man was decently dressed, and was, I believe, a drover by -profession. He was very fleshy and very red in the face. - -Tissues of fat lay around his eyebrows in layers, and his double chin -was dewlapped like one of his own beeves. He had a heavy red hand, and -was, as I found out, a true Briton in every sense. I asked him why the -place was called Cogers Hall. To this conundrum he confessed himself -unable to answer, but after scratching his head the "Beefy One," as -I shall call him, made a sign for a waiter to come to the table. "I -say," said the Beefy One, "why do you call this place Cogers 'All?" The -waiter could not satisfy him, but said that he would call the Master. -Well, the Master came, a thin-faced, side-whiskered Englishman, with -watery blue eyes and trembling lip. The counterfeit presentment of -the Master hung over the Worthy Grand's chair of state, done in oil, -and it seemed as if the artist had endeavored, in accordance with the -spirit of the Cogers Hall, to give the face an oratorical, Gladstonian -expression, and the cloak was folded around the shoulders of the -Master as the toga is folded around the shoulders of Tully, in classic -pictures. Besides the picture of the Master, several other pictures -of Past Worthy Grands were hung as tokens of their former forensic -abilities. The Master, in answer to the question why the place was -called Cogers Hall, said: - -"Well, you see, we calls it Cogers Hall from the Latin _ko-gee_-TO--to -cogitate, to think. Oh, yes, sir, we have been a long time established, -sir; since 1756, sir; a matter of a hundred years or so, sir. You are -han Hamerican, sir. Oh, yes, sir, we've 'ad George Francis Train 'ere, -sir, for many a night, sir; and 'e spoke in that chair, sir; and when -he was arrested, sir, in Ireland, the Home Secretary as wos, sir, wrote -to me to question me if he had spoken treason, sir, or spoke agin the -Queen, sir. Cos ye see, sir, the principle of an Englishman, sir, is to -allow every man liberty to say wot he likes, sir, so long as he does -not speak agin the Queen or speaks treason. That's an Englishman's -principle, sir." - -And George Francis Train had spoken in this very room! I could fancy -the feelings of poor Artemus Ward when he stood at the tomb of -Shakespeare at Stratford. These wooden chairs and benches were hallowed -in my eyes henceforward. Men had sat upon those chairs who had -listened to the fervid eloquence of a Train, and perhaps some of these -very men had survived. _Civis Americanus sum._ - -As the night came on apace, the smoky, old-fashioned, paneled room -began to fill up, and before long nothing could be seen but rows of -men lining the small tables, puffing vigorously from the long clay -pipes, and at intervals taking deep draughts from the large, brightly -burnished metal pots, holding a pint each, or perhaps sipping fourpenny -glasses of hot gin and water. Along with the little jar of hot water -which the waiter brought on demand, were little saucers of sugar--these -little saucers never containing, by any chance, more than three lumps -of sugar, and each of these lumps being equalized in size with a -mathematical nicety. Some of the visitors, more hungry than others, -satisfied their longings with "Welsh Rabbits," at sixpence apiece; or, -when the rabbits had, in addition, two eggs cooked with them, the Welsh -rabbit was called a "Golden Buck," and the waiter, in his greasy tail -coat, raised his demand to eightpence. - -In a few minutes the Worthy Vice, a gray-bearded man with a meek face -and in shabby-genteel clothes, took his seat, and all the chairs in -the apartment were turned around by those who occupied them in order -that they might hear and see better. The Worthy Vice, who is sometimes -entered on the bills of the performance as a "Patriot" when he has to -take part in a discussion, read the minutes of the last meeting of -the Ancient and Honorable Society of Cogers, which were listened to -quietly, and then the attention of the audience was turned to the Most -Worthy Grand, who occupied the chair at the other end of the apartment. -This most noble Briton, in a quavering voice, having adjusted his -vest--which had a tendency to leave exposed the lower part of the -shirt-bosom at his stomach where his trousers bisected--opened the -proceedings with much solemnity, imitating by hems and haws, as well -as he could, the manners of the dullest and most common-place orators -of the House of Commons. His business as a specialty was to review the -events of the week. - -[Sidenote: NEWS OF THE WEEK.] - -"I don't think, gentlemen," said he, "that my task will be a very long -one this hevening in reviewing the hevents of the week. There, aw, -'asn't been much a-doing in furrin parts, ah, this week. There 'as been -'a row in Turkee again, and in, ah, fact we might say there is halways -a row in Turkee, more or less. There's a man in Hegipt whom we call the -Viceroy of that, ah, country, and when he, ah, wos here we gave 'im -fireworks and sich, and made a blessed time about him, as we might say -vulgarly, so to speak. Now, he has been a invitin' of all the sovrins -of Europe on his own hook to see him and his ryal family open the Sooz -Canal. Well, he has been, ah, spendin' sich a lot of money that the -Sultan comes out in a long letter and calls him a Cadivar, which is a -word that I can't understand, being neither Latin nor yet Greek. - -"Blessed hif I knowed that ye iver understood Greek or Lating, ither, -Jimmy," said an old man who sat observant of the reviewer in a corner, -drinking beer from a pewter pot. - -"I thank ye all the same, Mr. Wilkins, but I don't _like_ to be -interrupted when I'm speaking," answered the Most Worthy Grand. - -"You're right, Me Grand. Horder! horder!" shouted several indignant -voices. - -"I wos goin' to say," continued the Grand, after taking a deep draught -of the porter which foamed in the pewter pot on the table before -him--"I wos goin' to say that the state of our neighbor, Fronse, just -hover the water, is now a spektikle for mankind. There's a great hadoo -about the Hemperor's 'elth; and I must say as how he is in a bad way -by all accounts. Nobody knows wot his disease is. It may be liver; it -may be kidneys. I might take the liberty of sayin', as a rule, kidneys -is bad. No one knows wot would be the consequences if the Hemperor was -to step out, wulgularly speakin'. It would p'r'aps be the cause of a -general war in Europe. Hengland doesn't want any more wars. We 'ave -'ad enough of them. They does no good for the workin' man. ('Hear! -hear!') We pays the piper when the dancin' is done; but we never dances -ourselves." - -"True as the gospel, Jimmy," from a beer drinker. - -"Now, there's another question which we all 'ave heard of a good deal, -and that's the Halabama claims. They are in a precious muddle, to be -sure. They may be right and they may be wrong. But I must say that I -don't see where the money is to come from to pay them." - -"We'll never pay them. We aint got the "dibs;" leastways, I won't pay -any of it," says an irreverent young man whose face was quite flushed -with strong drink. - -"Well, as far as that goes, if they are to be paid, we know it will -come from the pockets of just such people as ourselves in the way of -taxes. Its taxes halways." - -"I differ from the gentleman who preceded me altogether. Prussia must -'ave the left bank of the Rhine, and I'll put sixteen bullets in the -Pope's heart. I tell ye, gentlemen, the Ekumenikal Council will be -the downfall of the Romish religion. I'll put sixteen bullets in the -Pope's heart," cried out a tall, thin-faced man in a half-clerical suit -of black, who got on his feet, and while in the act of energetically -expressing his feeling, by a wave of his right hand carried away a -glass globe shading the gaslight above his head. The man was very drunk -apparently, but by his language seemed to be a person of education. The -"Beefy One," who sat by my side, and who had reached his third bottle -of beer, whispered to me: - -"I say, yon is a fine fellow when he's sober, and can talk poetry by -the yard, but he is very drunk, and when he's fuddled he will talk a -man blind about the Pope. Will you have some beer? Do take a pot." - -It was with some trouble that the fiery Scotch orator was induced to -sit down and defer his assault upon the Pope until a more fitting -occasion. - -At this moment the Beefy One pointed out to me a tall, martial-looking -person in black clothes, who seemed to be very restive and looked as -if he wanted to speak. He was of large frame, about sixty years of -age, and was apparently a man of considerable stamina and backbone. -His white whiskers and neat dress gave him the look of a justice of -the peace who had dropped in to take a look at the assemblage from -curiosity, and to see that the public morals and the constitution were -properly taken care of. - -[Illustration: COGERS HALL.] - -While the Worthy Grand was making a series of remarks on the health -of the Emperor Napoleon and the menacing attitude of Prussia towards -France in a gentle, slipshod way, the stranger looked up at times from -the four-penn'orth of gin which he ordered when he came in to give an -incredulous, doubting smile to a few of the coterie who sat around him -and were evident admirers of his. The Beefy One whispered to me-- - -"That ole gentlemun is the finest orator as ever was. I tell ye, -sir, he _can_ talk when he's agoing. There's no end to his beautiful -sentiments, I do say it, although he's a Hirishman. Oh, 'e is a great -horator is the Ole One." - -[Sidenote: LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES.] - -After the review of the week's public events by the Worthy Grand, -debate was in order on the topics reviewed by him. I found that the -debaters who jumped to their feet one after the other in a manner -worthy of the most dignified legislative assemblage, were divided -into two parties, liberals and conservatives. The Liberals were the -most logical, strange to say; the Tories were most dogmatic and -violent. The Liberals--one of them at least--wished to do away with -all monarchies and established churches; while the Conservatives, -principally belonging to the shopkeeping element, in the audience, were -strenuously opposed to the eight-hour law and to the trades-unions. One -liberal orator would liked to have seen, as he expressed it, all the -kings, barons, prime ministers, and other like despots, placed in one -old rotten hulk of a vessel, and then the vessel was to be scuttled -on the Goodwin Sands. "And who," said the eloquent orator, "would not -say that it would not be a benefit to the human race? Who would not -exclaim with me," and here he looked around on his eager audience in a -threatening manner, "the more of sich cattle in the rotten old hulk the -better?" There was a general grunt of acquiescence from the advanced -Liberals at this possibility and a deprecatory shake of the head from -one Conservative with a great clay pipe. - -Finally, the Irish orator got a chance, and then it was wonderful -to see how, in a sarcastic tone, he humbugged his hearers for half -an hour by allusions to the good time coming, when every man should -have a vote, and every Irish tenant should give up the graceful and -sportsmanlike habit of potting from behind the Tipperary hedges all -landlords who were in the way of a freehold system. The orator waxed -wroth and became pathetic at times as he reviewed the past glories of -the Isle of Saints and her present degraded position among nations. Yet -in that he was skilful enough, in speaking of the Fenians, to deprecate -their acts mildly, but, at the same time, he told his English audience, -in the most forcible tones, of the abuses and tyranny that had led to -the organization of Fenianism. - -"Oh, I say, O'Brien, you are a humbugging of hus with that here gammon -habout '98, ye know." - -"I give yes me word, me Worthy Grand and gentlemen, that I do not -advocate Fenianism at all, at all; but when yes dhrive min to madness -by oppression, by acts of oppression such as the world has never seen, -can yes blame the wu-r-rum if it turns on yes and bites." - -[Sidenote: THE SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN.] - -No one could reply to this with the exception of the Scotch -Presbyterian, who, again rising from his seat, denounced the Pope and -Dr. Cumming as accomplices, and declared that at the first opportunity -he would cheerfully encounter martyrdom to be able to "put sixteen -bullets into the Pope's carcass," as he politely and charitably -expressed himself. "I didn't care about your Ekumenikul Council," said -he; "it will be the downfall of popishness and prelacy, and those who -may go there are welcome; but as for me I would be burned to have him -under my pistol." - -"Oh, Mac, yer not so bad as yer purtend in yer talk. I'll engage, if -his Holiness would give ye the chance, ye'd only be too glad to kiss -his toe." - -This raised a laugh at the Scotchman's expense, but he violently -disclaimed for himself, as a true disciple of John Knox, any intention -of submitting to such a degrading act of spiritual submission. The -debate continued as the night waned, and at eleven o'clock, when I left -the hall of discussion in Shoe lane, the subjects of vaccination, land -laws, and coinage were yet to be touched upon by the speakers. - -I have given but a glance at this place, which is the oldest -established of its kind among a number of discussion halls and forums, -whose sign-boards meet the stranger's eye in different parts of the -city where most thickly populated. There is invariably a pot-house -attached to these debating places, or rather the debating halls are -attached to the pot-houses. - -The better class of artisans and shopkeepers in a small way are -principally the frequenters of the discussion halls. Mechanics with a -gift of the gab, and who have five or six shillings a week to spend out -of twenty-five or thirty, are to be found here in large numbers. The -Most Worthy Grand and the Vice Grand are paid a fixed salary for their -stated eloquence, and it is principally their duty to read all the -cheap weeklies and dailies, not forgetting the _Times_, which is very -often quoted by them as a sort of a clincher in the argument brought -up. A place like this will take in five pounds of a night, and the -wages paid to the bar-maids is about sixteen shillings a week. There -were two here, and four waiters, who receive sixteen pounds a year and -their "grub," as they call it. A small paper of rough-cut tobacco is -furnished to each customer for a penny, and the consumption of this -narcotic and Welsh Rabbits is encouraged, as they are quite certain to -make the customers dry, and this dryness, as a matter of course, leads -to the imbibition of plenteous beer and gin and water. These shops are -licensed to sell spirits under the new Beer act, and they are compelled -to shut off the debate at midnight. As a general thing the most -advanced liberalism prevails in these places, and religious sentiments -are below par with the audience. Very often it is possible to hear a -well educated or scientific man debating in these halls, but, on closer -survey, his accent will betray him to be some impoverished French or -German physician, or reduced savan, who has no occupation in the hours -of the evening, and can, therefore, afford to dispense wisdom to the -thick-headed audience, gratis. - -About a week after my visit to Cogers Hall I went, accompanied by Mr. -Marsh, a member of the Daily Morning Telegraph's staff, and another -gentleman connected with the editorial management of the Pall Mall -Gazette, to take a look at another debating hall which is situated -at No. 16 Fleet street. This place is quite famous in London for the -virulence of its debates and the high flavor of its gin. Its Brown -Stout is also above reproach. - -As usual in all such places there is a public bar here, and this is -located at the entrance, and is attended by the inevitable bar-maid, -smiling and bedizined in all the glory of a two guinea silk dress, -bought perhaps in Regent street or the Oxford Circus. - -[Sidenote: "WHERE ARE WE NOW."] - -The room here was not so large a one as that at Cogers Hall in which -the orators were in the habit of haranguing their auditors. There -were a dozen small tables, around which chairs were placed in a most -picturesque confusion. Small white placards printed in blue ink were -posted on the walls with the following announcement: - - TEMPLE - - DISCUSSION FORUM. - - ADMISSION FREE. - - STRANGERS ARE PARTICULARLY INVITED TO TAKE PART - IN THE DISCUSSION AND TO INTRODUCE SUBJECTS - FOR DEBATE. - - THE QUESTION THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING WILL BE - - "THE POPE'S MODEL LETTER," - - WHERE ARE WE NOW? - - TO BE OPENED BY "A PROTESTANT." - - CHAIR TO BE TAKEN AT NINE O'CLOCK. - - SUPPER FROM EIGHT TILL TWELVE. - - BEDS. PRIVATE SITTING-ROOMS. - -There was a venerable looking old fellow in the chair when we entered -the Discussion Forum, who lifted a pair of gold rimmed spectacles from -his nose to take a look at us. This was the chairman of the meeting, -and shortly after we sat down he cried out to a tall person with a -short grey raglan coat who was speaking and perspiring at the same time. - -"Mister Chowley I will and cannot allow you, sir, to trample on the -religious feelings of any man present in this harmonious meeting. We -are all brothers here, sir, and the individual who disturbs our peace -and quietness, should be to us all as the 'Eathen and the publican, -sir." (Hear, hear.) - -The tall man with the raglan, who did not like to be suppressed so -easily, had taken his seat for a moment much against his will, but now -he arose slowly and scornfully looking around him, spoke, with one -hand leaning on a chair behind him, and another hand in his breast, as -follows: - -"Gentlemen, this his an age of science if it is an age of hanythink. -Wot does my honorable and noble Roman Catholic friend wish to advance -has an argument. Does he mean to tell ME, with my heyes hopen in -this here blessed Nineteenth Century, which we are all so proud -of, and whose blessed light is the moving cause of so much mental -brilliancy--does he mean to tell me for a moment that the miracle of -the transposition of water into wine at the wedding of Cana wos han -hactual fact. Why gents it his altogether impossible--and no reasonable -man in this Nineteenth century can for a moment believe it possible. -Wot would Galileo, Kepler, Faraday or sich bright lights of the -Nineteenth century say to sich stories? Why gents, there is a chemical -change which would have to take place before such a translation, -and this chemical transformation could not take place without the -assistance of other substances. (Hear, hear.) And gents, as far as the -infallibility of the Pope is concerned, why I have only to say in the -words of the poet, hand I mention no names, that a piece of fat pork -might stick in his gullet as soon as it would stick in mine, and that's -all I think of infallibility and fat pork, with the blessed light of -the nineteenth century before me." (Hear, hear.) - -Mr. Chowley here sat down, thoroughly satisfied with himself and -auditory, who applauded him to the echo. Then a member of the Roman -Catholic persuasion answered him in a long and splendid oration, which -seemed to thoroughly convince every one present that the Catholic side -was right, and the Protestant one a most diabolical doctrine. After -each man had done his little speech, it was curious, nay amusing, to -hear the adherents of either party comment upon the previous argument. - -"Oh! I say," said a Presbyterian, "didn't he smash the old Pope -neither." - -"And wot a blessing he gave His Grace, Archbishop Manning, though?" - -"Well," said an ardent Irishman, "I niver heard such a lambeastin as -the heretics got to night." - -"You might well say that, Pether, and didn't he scald Martin Luther -with the holy wather, though," said an honest looking, hard working -fellow who sat smoking a pipe. - -[Sidenote: FARCE AND TRAGEDY.] - -One thing struck me in all this wilderness of argument and polemic -discussion. While the two principals nearly argued their jaws off -in the heat of discussion, they failed miserably to convert any of -the opposite party, who sat the debate out with a heroic stupidity, -understanding with much difficulty about one-third of what was said, -and perhaps caring very little for the matter in hand, but sticking -to their prejudices to the last, with a partisan fidelity not to be -convinced by all the harangues that will take place from that night -until the Day of Judgment. - -And yet I could not enter a place of this kind in all London, from -Temple Bar to Hammersmith, without hearing this same everlasting -religious warfare of controversy. - -And to add to the joke, hardly one of five of these persons who attend -such discussions, were ever in a church of either the Catholic or -Protestant persuasion. - -Such is life--part farce, part tragedy. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES OF LONDON. - - -WE cannot conceive of any greater contrast than that which exists -between the wretchedness and squalor of the lodging houses, and the -splendor and refined elegance, combined with comfort of the Club houses -of London, which are chiefly situated in Pall Mall, St. James street, -and the neighborhood of lower Regent street. - -Club life has attained its greatest perfection in London. No city upon -the Continent can compare with it for the number of its club houses, -the splendor of their architecture, their luxurious furniture, and the -standing in society of their members. - -[Sidenote: INTERESTING STATISTICS.] - -There are, I believe, upward of fifty clubs in London, in which all the -professions, and all the stations of life find representation, with a -roll of perhaps 45,000 members. The following are the principal clubs -with the cost of ground and construction: Army and Navy Club, George's -street, St. James' square, 1,450 members, L100,000; the Conservative -Club, St. James' street, 1,500 members, L81,000; Garrick Club, King -street, Convent Garden, 500 members, L25,000; Junior United Service -Club, corner of Charles and Regent streets, 1,500 members, L75,000; -Oxford and Cambridge Club, Pall Mall, 1,200 members, L100,000; Reform -Club, 1,400 members, L120,000; University Club, Pall Mall East, 500 -members, L20,000; Wyndham Club, St. James' square, 600 members, -L30,000; Westminster Club, Albemarle street, 560 members, L15,000; -Athenaeum, Pall Mall, 1,200 members, L60,000; Carlton, Pall Mall, -800 members, L100,000; Guards Club, Pall Mall, 500 members, L40,000; -Oriental, Hanover square, 800 members, L30,000; Traveler's, Pall Mall, -700 members, L30,000; Union, Cockspur street, 1,000 members, L25,000; -United Service Club, Pall Mall, 1,500 members, L70,000; White's Club, -St. James' street, 550 members, L20,000; Boodles, St. James' street, -500 members, L15,000; Cavendish Club, 307 Regent street, 500 members, -L15,000; and Civil Service Club, 86 St. James' street, 1,000 members, -L45,000. - -Besides the before-mentioned clubs there are the following, which rank -nearly but not quite as high among Club men: - - MEMBERS. COST. - - Albert Club, 15 George street, Hanover square, 500 L10,000 - Alpine Club, Trafalgar square, 600 18,000 - Arlington Club, 4 Arlington street, 400 16,000 - Arts Club, 17 Hanover square, 500 16,000 - Arundel Club, 12 Salisbury street, Strand, 600 52,000 - City of London Club, 19 old Broad street, (merchants,) 1,000 50,000 - Gresham Club, City, (bankers, &c.,) 1,000 60,000 - Junior Athenaeum Club, 29 King street, St. James, 800 30,000 - Junior Carlton Club, 14 Regent street, 800 40,000 - New Carlton Club, Albemarle street, 800 25,000 - New University Club, 57 St. James' street, 600 29,000 - Portland Club, Stratford Place, Oxford street, 400 18,000 - Smithfield Club, Half-Moon street, Piccadilly 300 12,000 - St. James' Club, 54 St. James' street, 500 23,000 - Whitehall Club, Parliament street, 500 9,000 - Whittington Club, 37 Arundel street, 1,600 40,000 - Clarendon Club, 86 St. James' street, 900 36,000 - Junior Reform Club, Albemarle street, 800 40,000 - Brooks' Club, 60 St. James' street, 575 20,000 - Arthur's Club, 69 St. James' street, 600 18,000 - Law Society, Chancery Lane, 1,000 68,000 - National, Whitehall-Gardens, 400 17,000 - Prince's Racket and Tennis Club, Hans Place, Chelsea, 300 11,000 - United University, corner Suffolk street and Pall Mall, 500 33,000 - Beefsteak Society, Lyceum Theatre, 250 5,000 - Club Chambers, Regent street, 400 31,000 - " " St. James' square, 300 17,000 - Ambassador's, 106 Piccadilly, 200 16,000 - Erectheum, St. James's square, 300 20,000 - -In these several clubs each member is elected by ballot, and pays an -entrance on admission, and afterward an annual subscription, which -varies like entrance fees in different clubs. - -Thus, in the Athenaeum, the entrance fee is L26.5s., annual -subscription, L6.6s. Arthur's, entrance L21, subscription, L10 10s. -Brooks, entrance, L9 9s., subscription, L11 11s. Carlton, entrance, -L15 15s., annual subscription, L10 10s. Conservative Club, L28 7s., -subscription, L8 8s. Garrick Club, entrance, L21, subscription, L6 -6s. Junior United Service, entrance, L30, subscription L6. Oxford and -Cambridge Club, entrance, L21 5s., subscription, L6 6s. Reform Club, -entrance, L21 5s., subscription, L10 10s. Travelers' Club, entrance, -L31 10s. Union, entrance, L38 10s., subscription, L6 6s. United Service -Club, entrance, L36, subscription, L6. Whittington, entrance, L10 10s., -subscription, ladies L1, gentlemen, L2 2s. Wyndham, entrance, L27 6s., -subscription, L8. - -When clubs were first started they were regarded with much hostility -as being most antagonistic to domestic life, and the ladies displayed -an intense spirit against them. The clubs, however, survived and -flourished under their enmity, and it was found that they discouraged -coarse drunkenness, the prevalent vice of Englishmen; encouraged social -intercourse--of which ladies partook of elsewhere; refined the manners -of the members, constituted courts of honor, and tended most materially -to the manufacture of gentlemen. - -The London clubs are private hotels on a vast and magnificent scale. -They have billiard rooms, coffee rooms, nine-pin rooms, splendid -libraries, saloons, and furniture, and plate of the costliest and -rarest description. - -[Sidenote: LUXURIOUS DINNER--LADIES EXCLUDED.] - -All the refreshment which a member has, whether breakfast, dinner, -supper, or wine, are furnished to him at the _market cost_ price, -all other expenses being defrayed from the annual subscriptions. For -a few pounds a year, advantages are to be had, which no incomes but -the most ample could procure. The Athenaeum, which consists of twelve -hundred members, can be taken as a good example of the rest. Among -the members can be reckoned a large proportion of the most eminent -persons in England--civil, military, and ecclesiastical, peers, -spiritual and temporal, commoners, men of the learned professions, -those connected with the sciences and arts, and commerce, as well as -the distinguished who do not belong to any particular class, and who -have nothing to do but live on their means, bore their tailors, and -admire their family genealogy, and their own figures. These men are -to be met with day after day at the clubs, living with more freedom -and nonchalance than they could at their own houses. For six or eight -guineas a year every member has the command of an excellent library, -with maps, the daily London papers, English and foreign periodicals, -and every material for writing, with a flock of gorgeous flunkies, in -powder and epaulettes, to attend at the nod of a member, and a host -of youthful pages in buttons and broadcloths. The club is a sort of a -palace with the comfort of a private dwelling, and every member is a -master without having the trouble of a master. He can have whatever -meat or refreshment he desires served up at all hours, with luxury -and dispatch. There is a fixed place for everything, and it is not -customary to remain long at table. You can dine alone, or you can -invite a dozen persons to dine with you, females being excluded. From -an account kept at the Athenaeum for one year, it appears that 17,323 -dinners cost on an average 2s. 9-3/4d. each, and the average quantity -of wine drank by each person at these dinners was a small fraction more -than a pint for each. The bath accommodations are the finest that can -be imagined. - -The kitchen of the London clubs cannot be equaled in the world, and -the chief cooks who have charge of the kitchens, have each an European -fame. Alexis Soyer, the greatest cook since Ude or Vatel, had, for -a long time, the charge of the kitchen of the Reform Club, and the -kitchen of this club, of which John Bright, and all the leaders of the -English liberals are members, is the finest in London. - -A description of this kitchen will in a measure answer for that of any -other London club, and I will give it here for the information of those -who are curious in such matters. - -The kitchen, properly so called, is an apartment of moderate size, -surrounded on all four sides by smaller rooms, which form the pastry, -the poultry, the butchery, the scullery, and other subordinate offices. -There are doorways but no doors, between the different rooms, all -of which are formed in such a manner that the chief cook, from one -particular spot, can command a view of the whole. In the centre of -the kitchen is a table and a hot closet, where various knicknacks are -prepared and kept to a desired heat, the closet being brought to any -required temperature by admitting steam beneath it. Around the hot -closet is a bench or table, fitted with drawers and other conveniences -for culinary operations. A passage going around the four sides of this -table separates it from the various cooking apparatus, which involve -all that modern ingenuity has brought to bear on the cuisine. - -In the first place there are two enormous fireplaces for roasting, each -of which would, in sober truth, roast a whole sheep. The screens placed -before these fires are so arranged as to reflect back almost the entire -heat which falls upon them, and effectually shields the kitchen from -the intense heat which would be otherwise thrown out. Then again, these -screens are so provided with shelves and recesses as to bring into -profitable use the radiant heat which would be otherwise wasted. - -[Sidenote: MODEL KITCHEN.] - -Along two sides of the room are ranges of charcoal fires for broiling -and stewing, and other apparatus for other varieties of cooking. These -are at a height of about three feet from the ground. The broiling fires -are a kind of open pot or pan, throwing upward a fierce but blazeless -heat; behind them is a framework by which gridirons may be fixed at any -height above the fire, according to the intensity of the heat. Other -fires open only at the top, are adapted for various kinds of pans and -vessels; and in some cases a polished tin-reflector is so placed as -to reflect back to the viands the heat. Under and behind and over and -around, are pipes, tanks, and cisterns, in abundance, containing water -to be heated, or to be used more directly in the processes of cooking. - -A boiler adjacent to the kitchen is expressly appropriated to the -supply of steam for "steaming," for heating the hot closets, the hot -iron plates and other apparatus. In another small room the meat is -kept, chopped, cut, and otherwise prepared for the kitchen. There are -also in the pastry room all the necessary appliances for preparing the -lightest and most luscious triumphs of the art. In another room there -are drawers in the bottoms of which blocks of ice are laid, and above -these are placed articles of undressed food, which must necessarily be -kept cool. - -There is a cheerful air, an air of magnificence about these superb -kitchens, which would charm a good housewife. Here all the genius that -can be brought to bear upon cookery is concentrated, and the head cook -would not deign to notice any person of less rank than a baronet, while -in superintendence. Although there are twelve hundred members or over, -yet he is not responsible to any individual one, and the only authority -in the club to which he has to bow is the eight or ten members of the -House Committee, whose decrees even to this great being are arbitrary. - -The pots and pans are of an exceeding brightness, and the entire -system is perfect. In one corner of the kitchen is a little stall or -counting-house, at a desk in which sits the "Clerk of the Kitchen." -Every day the chief cook provides, besides ordinary provisions which -are certain to be required, a selected list which he inserts in his -bill of fare--a list which is left to his judgment and skill. - -Say three or four gentlemen, members of the club, determine to dine -there at a given hour, they select from the bill of fare, or make a -separate "order" if preferred, or leave the dinner altogether to the -intellect of the _chef_, who is sure to be flattered by this dependence -on his judgment. A little slip of paper on which is written the -names of the dishes and the hour of dining, is hung on a hook in the -kitchen on a black board, where there are a number of hooks devoted to -different hours of the day or evening. The cooks proceed with their -avocations, and by the time the dinner is ready the clerk of the -kitchen has calculated and entered the exact value of every article -composing it, which entry is made out in the form of a bill--the cost -price being that by which the charge is regulated--nothing is ever -charged for the cooking. Immediately at the elbow of the clerk are -bells and speaking tubes, by which he can communicate with the servants -in the other parts of the building. - -Meanwhile a steam engine is "serving up" the dinner. In one corner -of the kitchen is a recess, on opening a door in which we see a -small platform, square-shaped, calculated to hold an ordinary sized -tray. This platform is connected with the shaft of a steam engine by -bands and wheels, so as to be elevated through a kind of vertical -trunk leading to the upper part of the building; and here are the -white-aproned servants or waiters ready to take out the hot and -luscious smelling viands from the platform, to the member or members of -the club who are anxiously awaiting dinner. - -Architecturally speaking the club houses are the finest buildings -in London, and in the west end of the town, and in the vicinity of -the parks they do much to beautify the city; these massive, richly -decorated, and pillared palaces of exclusiveness. - -The "Heavy Swell" Club of all London is the "Guards" in Pall Mall. -There are three or four regiments of the Queen's Household Brigade -stationed always in London to guard the sacred person of the Queen, -and it is from the officers of these crack regiments that the members -of the club are balloted for. These fellows are supposed to bathe -in champagne, and dine off rose water; they are afraid to carry an -umbrella thicker than a walking stick, they hate "low people," and -devote their existence to killing time, yet are withal sensitive, -honorable in many things, (except paying their grocers, wine and -haberdashing bills,) and will fight as becomes the descendants of the -men who dyed the sands at Hastings with their blood, to bequeath a rich -and fruitful kingdom to those who now inherit it. - -[Sidenote: THE CONSERVATIVE AND GARRICK CLUBS.] - -The Conservative Club is frequented by those athletic and slow going -squires and gentlemen who are always ready to applaud Mr. Disraeli in -the House of Commons, and are willing to serve as special constables -on days when the English democracy become restive and open their eyes -to the fact of their being plundered and robbed every day of their -lives. It was from the Conservative Club that Mr. Granville Murray was -expelled by the secret influence of the moral Prince of Wales, simply -because following his duty as a journalist he had told the hereditary -regulators of England that they were out of place in the nineteenth -century. - -[Illustration: CONSERVATIVE CLUB HOUSE.] - -The Garrick Club is, as its name indicates, made up of artists, -dramatists, actors, newspaper writers, and authors. It numbers among -its members Charles Reade, Tom Taylor, Charles Dickens, Bulwer, Wilkie -Collins, Anthony Trollope, Andrew Halliday, George Augustus Sala, Mr. -Delane of the Times, H. Sutherland Edwards, William Howard Russell, -Edward Dicey, Thornton Hunt, Editor of the _Telegraph_, John Ruskin, -and I believe Thomas Carlyle's name was proposed as an honorary member; -Charles Kean, Thackeray, Charles Matthews, Sr., who founded the club, -W.H. Ainsworth, the novelist, the Blanchards, the Mayhews, Samuel -Lover, Charles Lever, John Oxenford, Louis Blanc, Walter Thornbury, -Lascelles Wraxall, Edmund Yates, John Hollingshead, formerly critic of -the _Daily News_, James Greenwood, Frederick Greenwood, Brough, Dudley -Costello, Lord William Lennox, Thomas Miller, Cyrus Redding, and other -well known literary men belong to or have at some period or another -been members of this club. American authors, artists, and actors, are -always welcomed here, and among the habitues of the Garrick may be -found Lester Wallack, H.E. Bateman, and others. The Garrick is noted -for its famous gin punch which is a specialty here, and for which the -following ingredients are necessary to composition; pour half a pint of -gin on the outer peel of a lemon, then a little lemon juice, a glass of -maraschino, a pint and a quarter of water, and two bottles of iced soda -water. This is a most fragrant punch and not very intoxicating. The -collection of pictures at the Garrick is very fine, and embraces nearly -all the people, both male and female, who have made themselves famous -in English histrionic art, among whom may be noticed Elliston, Macklin, -Peg Woffington, Nell Gwynne, Colley Cibber, Mrs. Bracegirdle, Garrick -as Richard III, John Phillip and Charles Kemble, Charles Mathews, -Mrs. Siddons, Macready, Miss Inchbald, Edmund Kean, Kitty Clive, Mrs. -Billington, and various others. Some of these portraits have been -painted by the first of English artists. This gallery is only rivalled -by that in Evan's Supper House in Convent Garden, where there is a fine -and similar collection. - -The Reform Club has among its members John Bright, W. E. Gladstone, -Lord Hatherley, the present Lord Chancellor of England, the Duke of -Argyll, W.E. Forster, Lord Dufferin, and other well known liberal -nobles. About a year ago John Bright and W.E. Forster, his able -aide-camp, resigned from the membership of the Reform Club, owing to -the fact that a correspondent of an American journal, proposed by them, -had had been black-balled in the Reform Club. This correspondent was -Geo. W. Smalley of the _New York Tribune_. I believe that the club -reconsidered their decision and admitted Mr. Smalley, and Mr. Bright -and Mr. Forster are now members of the club. Sir Charles Wentworth -Dilke, editor of the _Athenaeum_, is a member of the Reform Club. - -[Sidenote: CARLTON CLUB.] - -The Carlton Club ranks high among the Tory or anti-liberal clubs of -London, has a very rich proprietary and a magnificent edifice in Pall -Mall. The Right Hon. Spencer Horatio Walpole, one of the members -for Cambridge University, and Alexander Beresford Hope, one of the -proprietors of the _Saturday Review_, who was a member of Parliament -during the American Civil War, and a bitter foe of the North, are both -members of the Carlton Club, as is also Lord John Manners, a prominent -Conservative noble, and fifth son of the Duke of Rutland. John Laird, -M.P. for Liverpool, the builder of the _Alabama_, is also a member of -the Carlton Club. - -Lord Cole, a son of the Earl of Enskillen, and a chief accomplice with -the Prince of Wales in the Lady Mordaunt scandal, is a member of the -Carlton. - -[Illustration: CARLTON CLUB HOUSE.] - -Gregory, the member for Galway, also a sympathizer with the -Slaveholder's Rebellion, belongs to the Carlton. To be brief, this -Carlton Club, essentially aristocratic and inimical to democracy -all over the world, contributed more individual moneyed and social -influence and support to Jeff. Davis than all the London Clubs put -together. - -I might state here that Bass, the great East India Pale Ale man, is a -member of the Reform Club, while Sir Arthur Guiness, the Dublin Brown -Stout man, Bass's great rival, is a member of the National Club, which -is pseudo liberal. Jonathan Pim, the rich Irish Quaker, a member for -Dublin City like Guiness, does not belong to any London club and keeps -away from the flesh pots of Egypt. John Francis Maguire, M.P. for Cork, -is a member of the Stafford Club, which numbers some of the Catholic -families in its roll of membership. Sir Patrick O'Brien, an amusing -Irishman who frequents the Cremorne a good deal, belongs to the Reform -Club. The present Earl of Derby, late Lord Stanley, who was expected to -lead the liberals in the House of Lords, but does not give much promise -of doing so while he is an active member of the Carlton Club. - -The Right Hon. George Goschen, a Jewish merchant, who is President -of the Poor Law Board, yet quite a young man and promising, has his -name inscribed on the lists of the Reform and Athenaeum Clubs, and -Robert Lowe, the witty, sarcastic, and clear-headed Chancellor of -Exchequer, are lights in the Reform Club. Edward Sullivan, the Irish -Attorney General, may be seen at the Reform, and George Henry Moore, -a countryman of his, and an apologist for the Fenians, is a habitue -of Brook's Club in St. James street. Sir John Evelyn Dennison, the -Speaker of the House of Commons, while in town during the session, when -dinner time comes, always doffs his gown and wig and toddles around -to the Reform Club for a chop or steak, and a glass of wine. Vernon -Harcourt, who signs himself in the _Times_ "Historicus," represents -Oxford Borough in the House of Commons, and is a member of the Oxford -and Cambridge University Club. A good story is told of "Historicus." -Three heavy swells of the Guards were dining at the Star and Garter at -Richmond, and all three made a wager that they each could boast of the -biggest bore in London as an acquaintance. The discussion wore high, -and they agreed to test it by bringing each his bore to dine on a set -day, and at a set hour, at the "Star and Garter." When the day came -two close carriages were drawn up to the "Star and Garter," and out of -each leaped one of the gentlemen who had made the wager. They were both -disappointed in their bores, and came without them as they had previous -engagements. A third carriage drove up, and out of it leaped the third -Swell who had made the wager, with a tall gentleman in a cloak. As soon -as the stranger uncovered and presented the smiling countenance of -"Historicus," the two swells cried out in astonishment, - -"By J-a-a-v ye knaw, that's not f-eh-ah--_he's got our bo-a-h_!" - -[Illustration: OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE CLUB HOUSE.] - -[Sidenote: BEEFSTEAK CLUB.] - -Whalley, the religious madman, belongs to the Reform Club, and so does -the Right Hon. Hugh Childers, First Lord of the Admiralty. - -Kinglake, the historian, who bribed his way into the House of Commons, -and afterwards testified to it without shame, is a member of Brooks, -the Travelers, the Athenaeum, and the Oxford and Cambridge Clubs. - -Sir Robert Peel, the member for Farnsworth, is to be found at -Brook's and Boodle's. Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, formerly ambassador -at Washington, at the Reform Club. Layard, the Nineveh discoverer -and now English ambassador at Madrid, belongs to the Athenaeum Club. -The O'Donoughue at the Stafford and Reform Clubs, while young Mr. -Gladstone, son to the Premier, modestly drinks his wine at the New -University Club. Lord Carrington, a boon companion of the Prince of -Wales, is a member of the Guards Club, and Sir Francis Crossley, the -great Yorkshire manufacturer, may be seen nightly during the session -passing his hours in the Reform and Brook's Clubs. - -Queer and strange reminiscences cling to the London Clubs like -barnacles to a packet ship. At the Alfred Club, George Canning, one of -the greatest men ever known in England, used to take a steak and onions -alongside of Lord Byron, who was always partial to Madeira negus. - -Louis Napoleon, in his cheerless and hard up days, ate his -eighteenpenny dinner at the Army and Navy Club in silence, while -aristocratic Englishmen sat around chaffing and joking and taking no -part in the sorrows of the exiled nephew of his Uncle. Since then -dynasties have changed, and now a magnificent piece of Gobelin tapestry -work, the "Sacrifice of Diana," worthy to be the gift of a sovereign, -hangs in the club house of which he was once a member. The Emperor -presented it to the Club. - -The stock of wine in the cellars of the Athenaeum is worth about -$30,000, and is never allowed to run down or deteriorate, and its -yearly revenue amounts to about $50,000. - -The Beefsteak Club is a coterie of choice spirits who meet over the -Lyceum Theatre to eat beefsteaks and drink tobys of ale, each member -bringing his own beefsteak and furnishing his own jokes. Several -noblemen belong to it, and the President wears as his emblem of office, -a golden gridiron. Peg Woffington was at one time a member of this club. - -[Illustration: UNITED SERVICE CLUB.] - -The Duke of Wellington was in the habit of dining at the United Service -Club, in Pall Mall, off the roast joint of beef or mutton, and one -day he was charged 1s. 3d. for his plate of meat instead of 1s., the -proper charge. He declared he would not pay the extra three-pence, and -denounced the swindle until the three-pence was deducted, when the old -soldier became satisfied and said that he would have paid the extra -charge, but that he did not wish to establish an unjust precedent -whereby others might suffer. - -Just one hundred years ago a man dropped down at the door of White's -Club, which is still flourishing in St. James' St., and the crowd of -loungers in the bow windows immediately began to lay wagers whether the -man was dead or not. A charitable person suggested that he be bled, but -those who had wagered refused to allow it, saying that it would affect -the fairness of the bet. In 1814, a banquet was given to the allied -sovereigns at White's, which cost over $50,000 of American money, and -the next year after a banquet was given to the Duke of Wellington -which cost L2,480 10s. 9d. George IV, and Chesterfield, the master of -politeness, were members of White's Club. - -During the hard winter of 1844, the aristocratic clubs of London -contributed to the starving poor of the metropolis, 3,104 pounds of -broken bread, 4,556 pounds of broken meat, 1,147 pints of tea-leaves, -and 1,158 pints of coffee-grounds. Otherwise these leavings might have -been given to swine to fatten them. - -[Sidenote: DEMOCRATIC CLUB.--LADIES ADMITTED.] - -Gambling was carried on to a very high pitch at one time in the London -clubs, but many have mended within twenty years. Crockford's Club -House, No. 50 St. James' street, was known all over the world, and -kings, princes, ambassadors, and statesmen, were inscribed upon its -rolls as members. It no longer exists, however. - -Crockford started in life as a fishmonger, in the old bulk-shop -next door to Temple Bar Without, which he quitted for "play" in St. -James'. He began by taking Watier's old club-house, where he set up a -hazard-bank, and won a great deal of money; he then separated from his -partner, who had a bad year, and failed. Crockford now removed to St. -James' street, had a good year, and built the magnificent club house -which bore his name; the decorations alone are said to have cost him -L94,000. The election of the club members was vested in a committee; -the house appointments were superb, and Ude was engaged as _maitre -d'hotel_. "Crockford's" now became the high fashion. Card-tables -were regularly placed, and whist was played occasionally; but the -aim, end, and final cause of the whole was the hazard-bank, at which -the proprietor took his nightly stand, prepared for all comers. His -speculation was eminently successful. During several years, everything -that anybody had to lose and cared to risk was swallowed up; and -Crockford became a _millionaire_. He retired in 1840, "much as an -Indian chief retires from a hunting-country when there is not game -enough left for his tribe;" and the Club then tottered to its fall. -After Crockford's death, the lease of the club-house (thirty-two years, -rent L1,400) was sold for L2,900. - -The Whittington Club is the only democratic club in London. It was -started twenty-four years ago by Douglas Jerrold, who became its first -president. It combines a literary society, with a club house, upon an -economical scale, and contains dining and coffee rooms, library and -reading rooms, smoking and chess rooms, and a large hall for balls, -concerts, and soirees. Lectures are given here, and classes are held -for the higher branches of education, fencing, dancing, etc. Ladies -have all the privileges of gentlemen or members in the restaurant, -and in balloting, while their dues and subscriptions is half that of -the male members. This is the largest club in London, and combines -all classes, having a roll of 1,700 members, all of whom are to be -considered active. The Whittington Club is the only one in London where -a person may be proposed without having a crest, or without belonging -to a "good family," which means to loaf or idle a life away, and live -upon the bread which is furnished by the blood and sweat of what these -dandy Club men call the "lowah closses." - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE ABBEY-CHURCH OF WESTMINSTER. - - -THIS is the Pantheon of England's Greatest Dead. As I stand here under -the groined roof of this vast and glorious Nave, with the sunbeams -streaming in through rose windows, and falling softly on sculptured -figures and tombs of Kings and Queens long mouldering in the dust, -their bodies recumbent in monumental brass, their hands clasped as in -prayer, with heroes, and poets, and statesmen, law-givers, and royal -murderers, lying silently around me on either hand, and under my feet -beneath the worn and antique stones which form the pavement, I realize -that I am in the Valhalla of the Anglo-Norman Race, a race that has -been prolific of strong wills, great minds, and heroic deeds. - -This is the most sacred spot in all Great Britain, this spot enclosed -by the four walls of Westminster Abbey. It does not seem an edifice -raised by human hands, rather would it appear, as I look to the roof, -supported by most marvelous pillars, resembling an interlaced avenue of -royal forest trees, that it had been constructed by beings of another -world. - -It was a grand faith that inspired Westminster Abbey, a faith that -believed in sacrificing all earthly aspirations for the honor and glory -of God. - -Thus musing I am interrupted by a tap on the shoulder, as I stand -leaning against a pillar in the gloom of the vast pile. - -"Would you like to see the Habbey, sir?--its sixpence to see the -Chapels--there's nine on 'em: the Hambulatory, the Nave, Transept, -Choir, Chapels, and Cloisters, are free--beautiful sights--only -sixpence, sir." - -I turned, and saw a man in a black fustian gown, bareheaded, with a -tall thin stick in his right hand; he was old, and seemed to need its -frail support. This was a prebendary's "Verger," a sort of a porter -or Abbey guide, whose main object was to collect as many sixpences -as possible, but ostensibly he was a cicerone of the monuments and -architectural beauties of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter's, -Westminster. - -Numbers of visitors were straying in and out of the Abbey, looking at -the monuments, criticising the works of art, the mural tablets, or -gossiping over the ashes of dead Kings, as if they were in a concert -room, while here and there might be seen some scholar or learned man -delving for facts, and poring over the musty Latin of the crumbling -tombs. - -In Westminster Abbey rival statesmen rest in peace, the tongue of -the orator is mute, side by side rest the Crowned head and the -Chancellor with his great seal, the Archbishop and the Play-actor, the -philanthropist and the seaman, who died by his guns on the deck of -the vessel of war, the divine and the physician, the Princess and the -Soubrette, all mingle common dust together. - -In Westminster Abbey, the powerful, spiritual, Roman Catholic prelate -has celebrated High Mass with more than Eastern magnificence, the -Introit has issued forth from his lips, and the acolytes have answered -his "Dominus Vobiscum" with their "Amen;" and here the stern Puritan -has knelt in his less formal prayer. - -Here the dread sentence of excommunication has been launched forth in -all its terrors from the lips of Papal legates, enthroned, and in Abbot -John Estney's room Caxton printed the first English Bible. - -Here the magnificence and pomps of the coronation of a King have been -followed by the solemn and beautiful burial service for the dead, and -the pealing organ, and the swelling choir, reverberating through the -lofty grey-grown aisles, have chained men's minds to the power of -Almighty God. - -[Sidenote: DIMENSIONS OF THE ABBEY.] - -Westminster Abbey is the finest and noblest specimen of Gothic -architecture in all England. - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY.] - -Its dimensions are: - - FEET. - - Exterior.--Length from east to west, including walls, but exclusive of - Henry VII's Chapel, 416 - Height of the West Tower to top of pinnacles, 225 - - Interior.--Length within the walls to the piers of Henry VII's Chapel, 383 - Breadth at the Transept, 203 - - Nave.--Length, 166 - Breadth, 38 - Height, 102 - Breadth of each Aisle, 17 - Extreme breadth of nave and its aisles, 72 - - Choir.--Length, 156 - Breadth, 31 - Height, 102 - -THE DIMENSIONS OF HENRY VII'S CHAPEL ARE-- - - Exterior.--Length from east to west, including the walls, 115 - Breadth, including the walls, 80 - Height of the Octagonal Towers, 71 - Height to the apex of the roof, 86 - Height to the top of Western Turrets, 102 - - Nave.--Length, 104 - Breadth, 36 - Height, 61 - Breadth of each Aisle, 17 - -In a fine vault, under Henry VII's Chapel, is the burying-place of the -Royal family, erected by George II, but not now used. - -The cost of Henry VII's Chapel was originally about L200,000 of the -present money, but since then L50,000 in addition have been expended -in repairs. The roof is the most beautiful piece of work of its -kind in the world, and is not excelled by any Saracenic or Moorish -ornamentation known. - -No living being has ever computed the cost of the Abbey itself, but the -sum, altogether, since the foundations were built, must be very great. - -The "Lord Abbot of Westminster" was one of the most powerful barons in -England, and sat in Parliament as a great spiritual peer. - -The Abbey Church, formerly arose a magnificent apex to a Royal palace, -surrounded on all sides by its greater and lesser sanctuaries, (where -no criminal could be arrested,) and its almonries, where a profusion of -food was daily delivered to the poor, and raiment to the naked. It had -its bell-towers, the principal one being 72 feet 6 inches square, with -walls 20 feet thick; chapel, gate towers, boundary walls, and a train -of other buildings, of which we can at the present day scarcely form an -idea. - -[Sidenote: A WEALTHY SOCIETY.] - -In addition to all the land around it, extending from the Thames -to Oxford Street, and from Vauxhall bridge to the Church of St. -Mary-le-Strand, in a demesne of three square miles, on what is now the -most valuable part of London, the Abbey of St. Peter's, Westminster, -possessed besides, _ninety-seven towns and villages, seventeen hamlets, -and two hundred and sixteen manors_. Its officers fed hundreds -of persons daily, and one of its priests, who was not an Abbot, -entertained at his Pavillion at Tothill, a King and Queen of England, -with so large a retinue that seven hundred dishes did not suffice for -the first table, and the Abbey butler, in the reign of Edward III, -rebuilt, at his own expense, the stately gate-house which gave entrance -to Tothill Street, and a portion of the wall remains to this day. - -During the long ages, while men of noble Norman birth monopolized -nearly every office of emolument and trust in the kingdom, nearly all -the Lord Abbots of Westminster were of Norman birth or extraction. To -be chosen Lord Abbot of Westminster, it was necessary for the Monks, -headed by the prior, to select the Abbot "per Viam Compromissi," -that is, the Monks met in a body and selected a chosen few, who, in -their turn, selected the Lord Abbot. Then there was the method "per -Viam Spiritus Sancti," which means by the special influence of the -Holy Ghost, or all the Monks of the Abbey concurring unanimously in -the election. After that the assent of the King had to be got, and -the assent of the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, and even then all was -not secure, for the newly elected Abbot was often forced to make -the long and tedious journey to Rome and get the investiture of the -Abbey from the Pontiff, in person, and sometimes this cost money, -and trouble, that a person would hardly credit in these days. Abbot -Richard de Kedyington, who had been prior of Sudbury, a cell subject to -Westminster Abbey, on his election made the journey to Avignon, where -the Pope was, for confirmation, and was three years there before he -obtained investiture, and then it cost him eight thousand florins,--a -large sum of money in those days--to obtain it. In 1321, when 5,500 -florins had been paid, Pope John XXII remitted the remaining 2,500 -florins of the debt. - -Abbot Richard de Crokesley, together with a number of other nobles, and -Poitevins, who had incurred the enmity of a powerful party who were -opposed to court favoritism, were poisoned by the steward of William, -Earl of Clare, and Crokesley died July 1258, of the effects of the -poison. - -Phillip de Lewisham, who was elected to succeed Crokesley, was so gross -and fat that he procured a dispensation, so that he would not have -to go to Rome to be confirmed. An able deputation of monks went in -his place, and when they returned with the Pope's confirmation, after -having to pay 800 marks to certain Cardinals, who opposed it, they -found that Abbot de Lewisham had died during their absence. - -Gislebertus Crispinus, a monk, of the abbey of Bec, in Normandy, and -belonging to one of the noblest families in that duchy, was chosen -abbot in 1082. He was a very learned man, and held a great disputation -at Mentz, in Germany, with a deeply versed Jew, on the "Faith of the -Church against the Jews." - -Gervase de Blois, an illegitimate son of King Stephen, was made -abbot in 1141. This man was not fit to be a priest, being insolent, -arbitrary, and unjust, and, instead of attending to his duties as -head of the abbey, he was often in armor, depredating, or hunting, or -hawking. He dissipated the manors, livings, tithes, vestments, and -ornaments of the abbey, and was finally admonished to behave himself by -Pope Innocent, but the abbot disregarded the admonition of the Pope and -was then deposed by King Henry II, in 1159. He died in a year after. - -The Lord Abbot Laurentius, his successor, was a wise, just, and prudent -man, much trusted by King Henry II, and the Empress Maud. It was Abbot -Laurentius who first obtained for himself and successors the privilege -of wearing the mitre, ring, and gloves, until then the symbols of -Episcopacy, and only allowed to the Bishops by the Pope. The wearing of -these symbols gave the mitred abbots of Westminster, and other abbeys, -the right to sit as peers in parliament, the same as bishops to whom -the right belonged exclusively, before Abbot Laurentius obtained the -grant. - -[Sidenote: REVENUES OF ABBEY IN 1540.] - -Simon Langham was one of the greatest abbots that ever wore the mitre -in the abbey. He was made Lord Chancellor of England, and Archbishop of -Canterbury, Bishop of Ely, and Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom by Edward -III. It was this prelate who deprived John Wickliffe of the mastership -of Canterbury Hall, Oxford, which was the first cause of Wickliffe's -investigating the scriptures. - -On the 16th of January, 1540, the Abbey of Westminster, which had been -established for more than nine hundred years, having been founded by -King Sebert, a Saxon monarch, and his wife Ethelgoda, in honor of -St. Peter who was said to have appeared to the King in a dream, was -dissolved by order of Henry VIII, and the abbey was surrendered to the -King by Abbot Benson and twenty-four monks. The annual revenue, which -included the gross receipts, amounted to L3,977, equal to twenty times -the same amount of English money of to-day. - -Westminster was made a bishopric, the abbey was advanced to the dignity -of a Cathedral, with an establishment of a bishop, (Thomas Thirleby, -dean of the King's Chapel,) a dean, twelve prebendaries, and inferior -officers. Abbot Benson, who was always on the winning side, was made -dean of the Abbey, five of the monks were chosen prebendaries, four -other monks were made minor canons, and four more were elected to be -King's students in the University. The other twelve monks who did not -approve of the change were dismissed, with pensions of from ten pounds -a year to five marks. A revenue of L586 a year, and the Abbot's house -was allotted to the Bishop. Dean Benson died in an unhappy state from -the repeated attempts made by the rapacious nobles and courtiers to -deprive him of the lands of his deanery. He was buried in the abbey, -but the inscription on his tomb was obliterated. The bishopric of -Westminster lasted only ten years, and was then suppressed and reunited -to that of London, to which it has since belonged. Numerous attempts -were made by the partisans of the See of London to rob and deprive -the abbey of its lands and revenues, and hence arose the saying of -"robbing Peter to pay Paul," which is explained by the fact that the -patron saint of the See of London was St. Paul, while St. Peter was the -guardian of the Abbey of Westminster. - -In 1556, Queen Mary being on the throne, the Church of Westminster -again became an abbey by order of the Queen, and John Feckenham was -made abbot of Westminster. He was held in general esteem for his -learning, charity, and piety, and he was continually engaged in doing -good offices for the Protestants who suffered by the laws of the realm -for their faith. Three years after, Mary having died, the monastery was -again suppressed by order of Queen Elizabeth, and the abbot and monks -were again turned out of the abbey. In 1560 the abbey, by enactment, -was made a collegiate church, which it remains to this day, and was -endowed with the lands which had belonged to the abbot and monastery. -Since that time Westminster Abbey has been governed by a dean and -chapter, and has had thirty-three deans in regular succession of the -Protestant faith. - -The Abbey has the following large clerical staff for its government: - -One Dean, eight Prebendaries, one of whom is a Lord, and another a -Bishop; a sub-Dean, an Archdeacon, a Precentor, five minor Canons, -eleven Lay Clerks, two Sacrists, a Dean's Verger, a Prebendary's -Verger, a High Steward, who is a Duke, a Deputy High Steward, a -Coroner, a High Bailiff, Searcher and Bailiff of the Sanctuary, a -High Constable, a Head Master of Westminster School, Second Master, -forty Queen's Scholars on the Foundation, a Steward of the Manorial -Court, two Joint Receiver's General, a Chapter Clerk and Registrar, -an Auditor, a Commissory and Official Principal, a Registrar of the -Consistory Court, and a Deputy Registrar, an Organist and Master of -the Choristers, twelve Almsmen, four Bell-ringers, two Organ-blowers, -an Abbey Surveyor, a Clerk of the Works, a Beadle of the Sanctuary, -and last of all a College Porter and four Probationary Choristers, in -all a staff of eighty persons, a very slight reduction upon the old -administration of the Abbots of Westminster. These different office -holders, in all, receive salaries of about one hundred thousand pounds -a year, and the cost of the school, and the repairs of the abbey, make -the sundries amount to about twenty thousand pounds a year additional. - -[Sidenote: TOMB OF SHAKESPEARE.] - -In the general plunder of monasteries and church property, which -distinguished the reign of Henry VIII, Westminster Abbey suffered -severely, but it was still worse treated by the Puritans in the great -civil war, the abbey being used as a barrack for the soldiers, by the -Parliament, who wantonly destroyed many of the tombs and monuments -that adorned the various chapels, the altars in the chapels dedicated -to the different saints being thrown down, the images broken, and the -richly stained windows shattered into fragments. The restoration of the -edifice was intrusted to Sir Christopher Wren, who built St. Paul's, -but he made a very botching piece of work in the additions which he -gave to the towers at the west end. - -The imitation of the Gothic style in Wren's additions are wretched and -out of place in such an edifice as the Abbey. The front of the Abbey -has no columns or pierced works of carving, to which the Gothic style -owes so much of its lightness and elegance, and there is a mixture of -ornamentation such as the broken scrolls, masques, and festoons over -the grand entrance, which gives it a very heavy, flat appearance. - -[Illustration: SHAKESPEARE'S TOMB.] - -The Abbey is very rich in monuments of all kinds, some of which are -very fine works of art. All along the walls, in the transepts and -aisles, in the Nave, in the chapels, in the flooring of the Abbey, and -everywhere around me I saw tablets, tombs, inscriptions, and medallions. - -Among the most noticeable are those of Ben Johnson, John Milton, -Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry and first poet buried -in the Abbey, A.D. 1400, Dryden, Thomas Campbell, William Shakespeare, -Oliver Goldsmith, Joseph Addison, Handel the musician, Richard Brinsley -Sheridan, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Sir William Davenant, and Robert Southey, -in the "Poet's Corner," which is situated in the south transept. They -are all richly ornamented with busts, effigies of the deceased, or -allegorical designs in marble, or brass, or bronze. - -The tomb of Shakespeare is of marble, with a full length figure of the -great poet leaning on his left elbow, and has the following epitaph -written by John Milton, who was best fitted to write it: - - What needs my Shakespeare for his honored bones, - The labor of an age in piled stones, - Or that his hallow'd relics should be hid - Under a star-y pointing pyramid! - Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame, - What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name, - Thou in our wonder and astonishment - Hast built thyself a live-long monument, - For whilst to the shame of slow-endeavoring art - Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart - Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book - Those Delphic lines with deep impression took; - Then thou our fancy of itself bereaving - Dost make us marble with too much conceiving; - And so sepulchred, in such pomp dost lie, - That kings for such a tomb would wish to die. - -Milton's epitaph is as follows: - - "Three great poets, in three distant ages born, - Greece, Italy and England did adorn; - The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd. - The next in majesty--in both the last. - The force of Nature could no farther go, - To make the third, she joined the former two."-- - -John Gay, the author of the "Beggar's Opera," wrote his own epitaph, -which is on his tomb; - - "Life is a jest, and all things show it; - I thought so once; but now I know it." - -[Sidenote: THE LAST CATHOLIC FUNERAL.] - -There is a sarcophagus to Major John Andre who was executed as a spy by -order of George Washington. It has a representation of a flag of truce, -and Britannia in tears. - -[Illustration: TOMB OF MILTON.] - -Mrs. Oldfield, the actress who coquetishly ordered that she should -be buried in a fine Holland chemise, with a tucker, and a double -ruffle of lace, and a pair of white kid gloves, has a monument with -an inscription by Pope. Isaac Newton has also a very fine monument, -and William Pitt's monument cost L6,000. Henry Grattan, Robert Peel, -Charles James Fox, William Wilberforce, George Canning, and Lord -Palmerston also have monuments. - -Mary Queen of Scots, and the Queen who slew her, have magnificent -monuments near each other, and similar in style. The funeral of Queen -Mary, sister of Queen Elizabeth, was the last one which was celebrated -in the Abbey with the ceremonial of the Roman Catholic Church. She died -in 1558, and her body was brought from St. James Palace with great pomp -to the Abbey, on a splendid chariot. It was met at the great entrance -of the abbey by four bishops and Lord Abbott Feckenham in mitre, robes, -and with crozier. The body lay all night under the hearse, with a guard -of nobles and pages to watch it. On the fourteenth day of December it -was interred in the vault, and a plain black tablet was erected to be -placed over it by King James I, with the inscription: - - ET MARIA SORORES - IN SPES RESVRRECTIONIS. - -James II, who sought to re-establish the Roman Catholic Faith in -England, (like Queen Mary,) died at St. Germain En-Laye, in France, -and has no tomb in the Abbey. His intestines were given to the Irish -College, in Paris, the brains to the Scotch College, and the heart to -the Convent of Chaillot. - -Admiral Kempenfeldt, who was drowned on the man-of-war Royal George, -which sunk with eight hundred men, all of whom were lost, off Spithead, -in 1782, is also buried here, with the epitaph on his tomb, written by -Cowper the poet: - - "Toll, toll, for the brave-- - Brave Kempenfeldt is gone; - His last sea-fight is fought; - His work of glory done. - His sword was in its sheath, - His fingers held the pen, - When Kempenfeldt went down, - With twice four hundred men."-- - -[Illustration: TOMB OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.] - -The Chapel of Edward the Confessor, who founded the Abbey, is full -of dead Kings and Queens, so full that a poet has written of the -commingled Royal dust that is here reposing: - - "Think how many royal bones, - Sleep within these heaps of stones. - Here they lie, had realms and lands, - Who now want strength to lift their hands. - Where, from their pulpit sealed with dust, - They preach, 'In greatness is no trust!' - Here's an acre, sown indeed, - With the richest, royalest seed, - That the earth did e'er suck in, - Since the first man died for sin." - -[Sidenote: INTERMENTS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES.] - -Here lies buried Edward the Confessor, before whose tomb was kept -continually burning a silver lamp. On one side stood an image of the -Virgin, in silver, adorned with two jewels of immense value, presented -by Eleanor, Queen to Henry III; on the other side stood an image of -the Virgin, carved in ivory, presented by Thomas a-Becket. Edward I -offered the Scotch regalia and the antique stone on which the Kings of -Scotland were crowned at Scone; this latter relic is still preserved. -This shrine was composed of various colored stones, in Mosaic work; -but it is so dilapidated that very little idea can be formed of its -original beauty and grandeur. - -Queen Editha, Queen Maud, Edward I, Henry III, Elizabeth Tudor, -daughter of Henry VII, Queen Eleanor, Henry V, the victor of Agincourt, -Queen Phillippa, Edward III--with his sword, seven feet long and -weighing eighteen pounds, together with his enormous shield, hanging to -his tomb,--Margaret of York, Richard II, and a host of others, are here -buried. Their tombs are of magnificent workmanship, with full length -figures lying recumbent and their hands clasped in prayer. - -The Abbots and Priors of the abbey are buried in the walks of the -Cloisters, and I stood on three of these mural slabs, and looked at the -worn, full length effigies of the dead abbots, in full abbatical robes, -ring on finger, mitre on head, and crozier in hand, their Latinized -names almost worn away by the footsteps of the hundreds of thousands -of men and women who had paced the Cloisters since they were interred, -seven hundred years ago. And yet these tombs in Westminster Cloisters -are but as yesterday, when compared with the Pyramids of Egypt, or a -geological formation. - -It was in Westminster Abbey that all the Kings and Queens of England -have been crowned, and when a monarch had been crowned previously, as -in the case of Henry III, whose coronation took place at Gloucester, it -was thought proper to have the ceremony again performed at Westminster, -in the presence of the nobles and the chief ecclesiastical dignitaries -of the land; the Archbishop of Canterbury always officiating in the -august ceremonial. - -What wondrous scenes this proud old Abbey has witnessed! I can but -enumerate a few of these however. One day in the middle of Lent, 1176, -the King and his son came to London, while a Convocation of the Clergy -was being held in Westminster Abbey. The Papal Legate was present, -and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York were also present. Thomas -a-Becket had been murdered by order of the reigning King Henry II. -Becket had been Archbishop of Canterbury. In the Convocation the then -Archbishop of Canterbury, as Primate of the Kingdom, sat on the right -hand of the Papal Legate. The Archbishop of York seeing this, when -he entered the Abbey, came in a rude manner and pushing between the -Primate and the Legate, as if disdaining to sit on the left hand of -anybody, thrust himself into the lap of the Primate in a swash-buckling -manner. The Primate would not move, and no sooner had the insult been -offered than the Bishops and Chaplains in the Abbey ran to the dais -and pulled my Lord of York down and threw him to the ground, and -began to beat him severely. The Archbishop of Canterbury then sought -to save him, and when he, the Archbishop of York, got on his feet, -he straightway went to the King whom he had advised to murder Thomas -a-Becket, and made complaint of the outrage which had been offered him. -The King laughed at him for his pains. As he left the Abbey the monks, -and priests, and bishops, with a loud shout cried out at him, "Go, -traitor, thou didst betray the holy man Thomas a-Becket; go get thee -hence, thy hands yet stink of blood." - -When the news reached the Archbishop of York (previously) that the -Archbishop of Canterbury (Becket) had been assassinated on the steps -of the Altar, he ascended his pulpit and announced the fact to his -congregation as an act of Divine vengeance, saying that Becket had -perished in his pride and guilt like Pharaoh. - -In 1297, Edward I offered at the shrine of Edward the Confessor, the -famous stone, crown, and sceptre of the Scottish Sovereigns, together -with the Coronation Chair, now in the Abbey, on which all English -monarchs have to sit to be crowned. This chair was taken from the Abbey -of Scone, in Scotland, by Edward, having been brought to Scotland by -King Fergus from Ireland, three centuries before the Christian Era. -Before that period, it is said to have been used for many hundred years -by the Irish Kings for a like purpose. - -[Sidenote: CORONATION OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.] - -The Scots were very eager to get the stone back for the reason that -a legend existed that whoever possessed the stone should rule -Scotland. This old stone chair, or rather oaken chair with a stone -seat,--twenty-six inches in length, sixteen inches and three quarters -in breadth, and ten and a half inches in thickness--has seen many -strange changes in dynasties, for every king since Edward I, has sat in -it on his coronation day. - -The ceremonies of coronation were very grand in the olden time and much -of their splendor has passed away or has become obsolete. - -[Illustration: CORONATION CHAIR.] - -One of the grandest sights ever witnessed in the Abbey was when Aldred, -Archbishop of York, crowned William the Conqueror, King of England. -The mail clad bodies of Norman soldiery lined every part of old London -to keep down the Saxons, while William, superbly mounted, and followed -by a train of two hundred and sixty barons, lords and knights, entered -the Abbey. When the multitude reached the high altar, Geoffrey, Bishop -of Coutances, asked the Normans if they were willing to have the Duke -crowned King of England, and the nobles, knights, and priests, among -whom the English lordships and abbeys were already parceled out, cried -aloud with one voice that they were. The Norman horsemen without the -walls of the abbey hearing the shout, fancied that the Saxons within -had attacked their countrymen, and immediately they set fire to the -houses around the abbey, and in a few minutes the abbey was deserted of -friend and foe alike with the exception of William and a few priests -who stood firm, although the Duke trembled violently as the crown was -placed upon his head. He declared that he would treat the English -people as well as the best of their kings had done, vowing by the -Splendor of God, his usual oath. - -The coronation of Richard I, the Lion Heart as he was called, was -attended with great pomp. - -On the third of September, 1189, the Archbishops of Canterbury, Rouen, -Treves in Germany, and Dublin, arrayed in silken copes, and preceded -by a body of clergy bearing the cross, holy water, censers and tapers, -met Richard at the door of his privy chamber in Westminster Palace, -and proceeded with him to the Abbey. In the midst of a numerous body -of bishops and ecclesiastics, marched four barons, each with a golden -candlestick and taper, then in succession--Geoffrey de Lacey with the -royal cap, John the Marshal with the royal spurs of gold, and William, -Earl of Striguil and Pembroke, with the golden Rod and Dove. Then -came David, brother to the King of Scotland, and present as Earl of -Huntington, and Robert, Earl of Leicester, supporting John the King's -brother, the three bearing upright swords in richly gilded scabbards. - -Following them came six barons bearing a chequered table, upon which -were the King's robes and regalia, and now was seen approaching the -central object of this gorgeous picture--Richard himself, under a -gorgeous canopy stretched by six lances, borne by as many nobles, -having immediately before him the Earl of Albemarle with the crown, and -a bishop on each side. The ground on which he walked was spread with -rich cloths of Tyrian dye. - -[Sidenote: THE MASSACRE.] - -At the foot of the altar, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, -administered the oath, by which Richard undertook to bear peace, honor, -and reverence to God and Holy Church, to exercise right, justice, and -law, and to abrogate all wicked laws and customs. He then put off all -his garments from the middle upwards, like a modern prize fighter, -except his shirt, which was open at the shoulders, and he was annointed -on the head, breast, and arms, with oil, signifying glory, fortitude, -and wisdom. He then covered his head with a fine linen cloth and set -the cap thereon, placed the surcoat of velvet and dalmatica over his -shoulders, and took the sword of the Kingdom from the Archbishop to -subdue the enemies of the Catholic Church, and then put on the golden -sandals and the royal mantle, which last was splendidly embroidered, -and was led to the altar, where the Archbishop charged him on God's -behalf, not to presume to take this dignity upon him unless he were -resolved to keep inviolably the vows he had made; to which the king -replied: - -"By God, His grace, I will faithfully keep them all: Amen." The crown -was then handed to the Archbishop, by Richard himself, in token that -he held it only from God, when the Archbishop placed it on the King's -head; he also gave the sceptre into his right hand, and the royal rod -into his left. - -At the close of this part of the ceremony Richard was led back to the -throne, and High Mass being performed with grand pomp, Richard offered -as was usual, a mark of pure gold to the altar. - -While the coronation was going on inside massacre and arson reigned -outside of the Abbey. Before the ceremony, Richard, by proclamation -had forbidden all Jews to be present at Westminster, either within or -without the Abbey, but some members of that persecuted race had rashly -ventured within the walls, and a hue and cry being set up at what was -deemed a sacrilege, the populace ejected a prominent Israelite and -beat him with sticks and stones. In a few minutes a report spread that -the King had ordered the destruction of the Jews, and the furious mob -spread all over the city, burning the houses and destroying the lives -of the miserable Jews. Men, women, and children of tender age were -burned alive in their domiciles, where resistance was made to the mob, -and the cries of the murdered children blended discordantly with the -sounds of the shaums, and jongleurs, and the shouts of the rabble, who -were celebrating the coronation. The riot became so formidable that at -last Richard, who was at dinner in Westminster Hall, ordered the Chief -Justiciary of the Kingdom, Ranulf de Glanville, to go and quell it, but -this was more easy to order than to perform, and the King's officers -were driven back to the Hall. - -Through all that night and day the pillage, arson, and massacre -continued, and the next day the King hanged three of the rabble as an -atonement. - -At the coronation of Henry IV, Sir John Dymoke, the Champion of -England, rode into the Hall of Westminster Palace, where dinner was -being served to the King, on horseback in complete armor, with a knight -before him bearing his spear, and his sword and dagger by his side, and -presented a label to the king on which had been written a challenge to -any knight, squire, or gentleman, who dared declare that Henry was not -rightful King of England. He then had a trumpet blown, and cried out -that he was ready to fight in the quarrel. The label was then taken and -cried by the heralds in six places in the town of Westminster, but no -person seemed ready to fight although Richard II had been deposed by -Henry IV and was then in a neighboring dungeon. - -That most atrocious medieval fraud, Richard III, when about to be -crowned King, walked barefoot from Westminster Hall to the Abbey, a -distance of about six hundred feet, to let the crowds witness his -resignation and humility. - -When Edward VI, a boy of sixteen, was about to be crowned, he laid -himself down upon the steps of the altar on his stomach while Cranmer, -Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, opened his shirt and rubbing the oil -between his shoulder blades, anointed him. - -James I, who hated tobacco and witches, forbade the people to come to -Westminster to witness his Coronation, as the plague was then raging, -and James did not wish to catch the distemper. - -[Sidenote: OMEN OF ILL LUCK.] - -Charles I was crowned February 2, 1626, and his Queen, Henrietta, -being a Catholic, was not a sharer in the Coronation, nor was she a -spectator, and she would not accept the place fitted up for her in -the Abbey, but stood at the window of the Palace gates to look at the -crowd and procession, while her retinue of French ladies, nobles and -servants, were dancing within. When Charles walked up to the altar to -ascend the throne, Laud, who was Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Duke -of Buckingham, Lord High Constable of England, offered him their hands -on either side to ascend the throne, but the King smilingly refused -their hands and said: - -"I have as much need to help you, as you have to assist me." - -Then Laud presented the King to the great crowd of Nobles and people, -and said, in an audible voice, "My masters and friends, I am here come -to present unto you your King: King Charles, to whom the crown of -his ancestors and predecessors is now devolved by lineal right; and -therefore I desire you by your general acclamation, to testify your -consent and willingness thereunto." - -Not a voice answered, and there was a stillness as of the grave through -the vast spaces of the Abbey. It was a bad omen of a reign, which ended -so disastrously, for the listening monarch. - -At last the Earl-Marshal, Lord Arundel and Howard, said to the -spectators present: "Good people, I pray thee, why call ye not right -lustily, 'God save King Charles?'" - -Thus admonished, they with one voice exclaimed, "God save Charles, our -King." In the adjoining hall, Oliver Cromwell was inaugurated Lord -Protector of England, with a quiet ceremonial, attended by ushers, life -guards, State coaches, the Long Parliament, and several troops of horse. - -When James II was crowned, the Royal bauble tottered on his head, and -this was supposed to be a prophetic omen of ill luck. - -When George III was made King, with great pomp and circumstance, there -was present, unknown to the crowd, a young man who must have witnessed -the placing of the Golden Circlet on the brow of this fat, Hanoverian -Prince, with strange emotions. He could have said with truth, "My place -should have been by that chair; my father should have been sitting in -it," for it was the young Pretender, Charles Stuart; the last of his -royal and unfortunate race. - -At all the late Coronations, the magnificent pomp and ceremonial -of the Middle Ages have been omitted, and the last time that these -Ceremonies were carried out was at the Coronation of George IV, when -the Celebration was a very fine one. - -The wood-work of the Choir was removed and boxes erected, affording -an uninterrupted view of the Nave and Chancel, showing the Peers and -Peeresses in all their magnificence of robes, of satins and silks, -and head-dresses of feathers and diamonds. To these were added the -brilliantly illuminated surcoats of the Heralds and Kings-at-arms, -while the King himself sat in the royal Chair of State, which is over -two thousand years old, and there received homage from the great -officers of State, and Peers of the Realm, the Crown on his head and -Sceptre in his hand, the Garter and George around his neck, and the -velvet robes enfolding his body, which was then scorbutic from disease -and dissipation. - -The challenge of the Champion of England was at this ceremony delivered -for the last time. After the banquet was over, at which seventeen -thousand pounds of meat, three thousand fowls, one thousand dozen of -wine, ten thousand plates, and seventeen thousand knives and forks, -were among the items, came the challenge to all who dared to dispute -the right of George to the throne of England. - -It was an imposing sight, as the Duke of Wellington, with his Ducal -Coronet ornamented with strawberry leaves, on his head, and in his -flowing Peer's robes walked down the hall, cheered by the officers of -the Life Guards, who were present. He shortly afterwards returned, -mounted, and accompanied by the Marquis of Anglesey, the one-legged -cavalry officer of Waterloo, and Howard, Duke of Norfolk, the -Hereditary Earl Marshal of England. - -[Sidenote: THE BANQUET AND CHALLENGE.] - -The three Nobles rode gracefully to the foot of the throne, paid their -homage, and then backed their horses down the lofty hall. The hall -doors of the Palace opened again, and outside, in the twilight, a man -in complete armor of Milan proof, appeared on horseback, outlined -against the shining sky. He then moved, passed into darkness, and under -the massive arch, and suddenly Howard, Wellington, and Anglesey, stood -in full view of the vast assemblage, with the palace doors closed -behind them. This was the finest sight of the day, as the Herald read -the challenge, a glove was thrown down by a gauntleted hand as a token -of defiance, which was taken up instantly by Wellington, and then they -all proceeded to the throne, trumpets blowing, people shouting, and -flower-girls strewing the way with baskets of flowers. - -The funerals of Lady Palmerston and George Peabody were the last that -have taken place in Westminster Abbey, and at the funeral of the former -a London reporter, in his eagerness to get an item, fell into the grave -of Lady Palmerston and nearly frightened a young lady mourner out of -her senses. Such is the story of this Mausoleum of Royalty and Heroism. -Westminster Abbey is only equaled for the antiquity and grandeur of -its mortal remains by the Abbey of St. Denis, in France, and those -world-old cemeteries, the Pyramids of Egypt. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE COSTERMONGERS AND RAG FAIR. - - -THERE is a wide, short street, or rather road, in the heart of London. -The buildings are mean, the people who cluster against their doorways -and in the alleys and courts that branch from this short, wide -street, are wretched in appearance; their garments are patched and in -piecemeal, and when untorn they are greasy and besmeared with filth. - -In this street, crowded at night--on Saturday night it is almost -impassable--children of a tender age may be seen begging for coppers -and soliciting assistance from those of more mature years, but to the -full as wretched as themselves. Vice is in every glance of their eyes. -Crime has already made its graven lines in their young faces, and their -language or dialect, (for it is not a language), is a combination of -uncouth sounds, obscene imagery, and slang corruptions of the English -tongue. - -[Sidenote: ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S GARDENS.] - -This street, or road, is called the "New Cut," and is situated in -Lambeth on the Surrey side of the Thames. It is reached from the City -by Waterloo Bridge and the Waterloo road, and from the West End by -Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges. Thousands are born, baptized, many beget -children and die within the municipality of the Great Metropolis, and -yet have never seen the New Cut--nay, have never even heard of it, or -if they did, the word would have as much meaning to them as the plains -of El Ghizeh, or the source of the Nile to a Bow Cockney. Yet there are -thousands who are born here in this New Cut who live and die in it -and make a living for themselves, after a fashion, who, if not content -with, are certainly unaware of any method of changing or bettering -their lot in this life. - -Narrow, dark, and mean streets run contiguous to the New Cut, and -branch from it in a winding, snaky way. A decently-dressed man is not -safe in this street, and the only sound of civilization to cheer him, -once lost in the mazes of these festering lanes and alleys, teeming -with low pot-houses, tap-rooms, and wild-looking children, bold, -bad-looking desperadoes of men, and reckless, obscene women, is the -low, rumbling sound coming like the approaching thunder to his ears -every few minutes as the loaded passenger trains dash to and fro on the -Northwestern and Southeastern Railways. - -The New Cut runs into the Lower Marsh and is flanked by Wootton, White -Horse, Collingwood, Eaton, Marlboro streets, and the Broad Wall. To -the west are Thomas, Isabella, and Granby streets, and from all this -misery and destitution of a quarter where the inhabitants are packed -like rabbits in a well-stocked warren, the road leads through the -Upper Marsh down to the rare pleasaunce or garden of the palace of -the Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the most sumptous ecclesiastical -retreats in England. The Archbishop's gardens, although located in the -heart of a populous city, cover as much ground, it is calculated, as -gives sleeping and eating room to 11,000 human beings in the New Cut -district. - -It is true that the river rolls sluggishly five or six hundred yards -below the New Cut, and those who are tired of dog's meat, rotten -vegetables, and the offal of the street markets for their common food, -and of sleeping eight in a room on straw which is not even clean, can -at any time deliver their bodies from further pain and starvation, and -their minds from a daily never-ending struggle as to how the dog's meat -and decayed offal may be procured, by a quick plunge in the river, near -by. - -This quarter is the principal resort of the "costermongers" of -London. The word "costermonger" has an equivalent which is better -known as "peddler." All those who vend or hawk vegetables, fruit, -carrion meat, game, fowl, ginger beer, nuts, or, in fact, any of the -numerous articles or commodities of refuse merchandise found on the -barrows and wagons of the London peddlers, are called by the London -term "costermongers." The word is an old one used by Shakespeare, -and therefore has, if none other, the merit of antiquity of the most -genuine kind. - -There are in London proper, embracing its suburbs, of both -sexes--including men, women, and children--according to information -which I had procured from the police and physicians, who have means of -knowing, about 23,000 costermongers. These people are from daybreak -until midnight in the open air, I might say, for their marketing is -done as early as four or five o'clock in the morning; and then, after -an hour or so spent in marketing, comes the cheap, scanty breakfast, -consisting of a pound of bread, a "saveloy," which is a sort of a -sausage, at a penny a piece, about four inches long and two inches in -circumference, quite succulent to the costermonger's palate, or perhaps -a piece of beef or bacon of the kind that is vended from barrows in the -London streets at two pence a pound, the refuse of the butchers' shops -and pieces unfit for a ready sale. - -Among these refuse pieces are small portions of ham, shoulders, and -pork, fragments of bacon, "snag" pieces, and mutton, and a very -suspicious veal, which is often sold by these same hawkers in the -suburbs to old maids for cats' meat. Sometimes the "coster" will take -a pint of sloppy coffee, which he gets for three half-pence, with his -brief breakfast; at other times he prefers a quartern of gin "neat," -at two-pence; and again he will be satisfied with a mug of beer at -two-pence. As early as 7 o'clock in the morning the hideous noises, -which can only come from the throat of a costermonger, are heard in the -London streets, awakening those who wish to sleep late, and, to make -matters worse, no person, unless the costermonger himself, can by any -application ever understand the exact words of their cries. They are -only to be recognized by sound, and, therefore, it is always necessary -to appear at a window or doorway in order to discover the precise -article which the coster wishes you to buy. - -[Sidenote: SALE OF WATER CRESSES.] - -I visited the New Cut on a Saturday night, which is the great market -night, when traffic is at its height in the neighborhood. The wide, -short street, which runs into a half circle at its end, was filled -with people. The noise was of that indefinite kind which is hardly to -be described. Stands, barrows, and wagons, having ponies and asses -attached, were placed along the gutters, with smoky lamps fed with a -disagreeable smelling oil, from which a dusky flame was shed over the -street, showing the faces of the venders as they gave tongue to many -different cries. - -"Whelks," a small shell-fish, like the American mussel, were heaped in -thousands on the heads of barrels and tables, and ham sandwiches, at -a penny apiece, and boiled potatoes, with sheeps' trotters, oysters, -fried fish, oranges, apples, plums, and, in fact, every kind of fruit -and vegetable were for sale. Little ragged boys and girls, their feet -bare and dirty, ran hither and thither, importuning the passers-by -to purchase their matches and water-cresses. Here water-cresses and -radishes are sold together in bunches at a penny a handful. Some of -these small children are up as early as five o'clock in the morning, -to purchase the water-cresses at Farringdon market, and from that time -until midnight, or until the theatres close, they are crying their -water-cresses, which they carry with them through the London streets in -a basket. - -The whelks are sold at two a penny, and are accounted a delicacy by the -poor of London, when properly seasoned with pepper, salt, and vinegar. -They are very much relished in the pot-houses of the metropolis by -hard drinkers when pickled in this fashion, and in any tap-room of a -Saturday night it is not uncommon to find men or women peddling these -shell-fish to those who have been drinking freely. The costermongers -are universally great gamblers, and earning during the week from -twelve to thirty shillings, as their luck may run with the purchasing -community, yet it is not an uncommon occurrence for them to gamble away -as much as fifty per cent. of their week's earnings in various games of -chance. - -These people have no religious belief whatever, and do not know -anything even of the rudiments of religious instruction. To them God is -some indefinite being whose attributes are unknown, and whose immutable -laws are disregarded simply from utter ignorance. They never darken -a church door, and tracts are received by them with the most supreme -disgust. - -A number of missionaries have labored among them in vain for any great -result, chiefly dissenting clergymen, and, although they will listen to -them patiently enough, yet they look upon them as the representatives -of wealth and intelligence, and they cannot tell the difference between -a Wesleyan minister who holds forth on a Sunday morning, with a big -banner, calling upon them to repent, in the dark alleys of Bethnal -Green and Whitechapel, and the richly beneficed divine of the Church -of England who rolls by in a carriage, totally heedless of their -condition, bodily or spiritual. All men who wear white neck-cloths are -called parsons, and are disliked by the "costers." Besides, they have -not learned to read, and tracts are useless to them, were they willing -to study their contents. - -The marriage relation is utterly ignored among them, and, if what -the police told me be true, not ten per cent. of the costermongers -who live with women and vend their goods in common are married. At -fifteen years of age the young costermonger leaves father and mother -to cleave to a girl of his own age, also the child of a costermonger, -bred in the gutters of the metropolis, and, having purchased a barrow -for ten shillings, and an ass for perhaps L2, the pair begin the world -practically man and wife, but without ever dreaming of calling in the -assistance of the minister to bind them together in the bonds of lawful -wedlock. - -[Sidenote: HEATHENISM OF THE COSTERS.] - -A marriage certificate in a costermonger's den would, indeed, be a -curious and unusual relic, as would also the marriage ring, which is -looked upon in civilized society as the seal and confirmation of the -wedding ceremony. They say that they cannot afford to pay a minister's -fee, and as their code of morals is beneath mention they do not see -the necessity of the expenditure. Their children grow up in the same -way, bred, as their parents have been, to hawk and cry from dawn until -darkness, and thus the costermongers increase, more savage in their -usages than the American aborigines. - -Mind, I am now speaking of the English costermongers, for, with the -Irish costermongers, both male and female, who are still lower in the -social scale as far as the goods of this world go, it is different. -While the English coster cares not for the visits of the minister -of the Protestant faith, the Catholic priest is ever welcome among -his wretched and degraded flock in Whitechapel, in the New Cut, in -St. Giles, or Lambeth, and he is beloved by them in their own rude, -reckless way. The Irish costermonger believes most firmly in the -sanctity of the marriage ceremony. With a few exceptions, their -children, however wretched and miserable their lot may be in the future -life, are born in wedlock, and the slur of illegitimacy cannot be -thrown up at them. They will always have a few coppers to give their -priests to help those more miserable than themselves, and, though these -children but rarely receive the benefits of a common English schooling, -they are more eager to learn and more ready to seek instruction than -the children of their English neighbors. - -I inquired of one of these costermongers, who had a fried-fish stand -in the New Cut, and sold sprats all cooked and ready for eating, if he -could read. He seemed rather an intelligent fellow, in his way, and had -by no means the uncouth, ruffianly look that I noticed in many of the -men's faces who were engaged in selling vegetables, fish, whelks, and -periwinkles in the street. He had a little smoky lamp depending from a -sort of gallows over his cart, and he spoke cheerfully: - -"Well, I'm not much of a reader, like you gentlefolks be; but I picked -up a little book schoolin' at the Ragged schools by night, when I had -four puns saved, last winter. The letters wor a cruel bother to me at -first, and I most guv it hup at the beginning, sort o' faint-hearted; -but the teacher, as wos a Miss Spencer, she wos a good gal, and she -says to me (about Christmas it wor), 'Jimmy, you'll never learn to read -hif you don't persewere, and I know, Jimmy, you _can_ persewere hif -you want to.' Ye see, sir, I had just gived the blessed book a kick -into a corner of the room, like mad; cos vy, the blessed letters wor so -cranky and they wor all so mixed hup together that I lost my 'ead as it -wor, and I couldn't make nothink hout of their shapes. But that gal, -Miss Spencer, she wor a topper and no mistake. She guv me a kind of a -smile, and bless me hif she didn't go to the corner of the room and she -takes hup the book as I had flung down, with 'er pretty little fingers, -and vith that she puts hit into my 'and, hand then I 'adn't the 'art -to refuse the gal; and that wos the way as I larned to read; and now I -reads _Reynold's Weekly_ hevery Sunday mornin' to my maty, the boiled -potato man, which is 'ere to speak for 'isself, sir." - -The boiled potato man was advanced in years--a hardy, rugged-looking -fellow, who seemed as if he would like to read like his "maty," but -could not muster up courage to begin so late in life. I mentioned -casually to him that a great Latin grammarian had, at an early stage -of the world's history, made the attempt to learn Greek, being then -seventy years of age. His characteristic reply made me see that my -remark had struck him in the wrong place. - -"Well," said he, "hif that blessed hold Latting, as ye calls 'im, had -to 'awk biled pertaters from mornin' till night in the New Cut, and go -'ome to three kids vith, maybe, honly sevenpence for 'is day's vork, -I'm blessed hif 'ee'd a-bother'd 'is precious hold soul a-learnin' -Greek, or hany other lingo. I finds henuff to do vith the mealys, -vithout a-troublin' myself habout the books as I see heverywhere I -goes. N-i-c-e 'ot pertaties--hall smokin' 'ot--a-penny apiece!" - -[Illustration: VICTORIA THEATRE--NEW CUT.] - -I bought a hot potato and a sprat, and left the two wondering if -I had been "gaffing" or "larkin'" on 'em; and passing through the -crowded street, past butchers standing at their doors in dirty aprons, -sharpening their knives in a business like manner; past water-cress -and match girls, who seemed to spring out of the gutters, so thick -were they; past drunken, noisy women, staggering home to their -miasmatic dens, with bunches of vegetables or chunks of meat in -their arms, wrapped in coarse brown papers, dirty children following -their footsteps, gaunt and shadowy-like; past reeking, greasy -coffee-shops, the very sign-boards of which were redolent of eel pies, -kidney stews, and all the abominations which are devoured in this -neighborhood daily and nightly, by the poor people who are forced to -eat this food, the refuse of the slaughter-houses of mighty, populous -London, from that stern, blind necessity which knows no law, and I -came upon a crowd of the working people--costermongers, peddlers, -match-women, and young lads and girls--who find habitations in the -dusky lanes and frightful courts of the neighborhood. I stood before a -large, dark-looking building, which seemed like a prison, its frowning, -dirty facade being no evidence that it was a place of amusement. But it -was a place of amusement, or, rather, a place of torture. This was the -"Royal Victoria Theatre," New Cut, Lambeth. - -[Sidenote: THE NEW CUT.] - -The Victoria Theatre, or the "Vick," as it is called by its patrons, -is one of the most democratic places of amusement, if not the most -democratic in London. In another place I will attempt to describe -the strange sights which I saw inside of its walls, but at present I -shall confine myself to giving my readers a view of the "Old Clothes" -district, which is chiefly inhabited by the lower class of the London -Jew peddlers or hawkers. - -Dick Ralph was a patrolman bold, who did duty in the "H," or Smithfield -Division of the City of London police, and was rewarded for his -vigilance and attention to duty by being promoted to the office of -"special," under probation, in the old Jewry squad of detectives. - -Dick had lately married and was the proprietor of a fine chubby boy of -fifteen months old, who resembled his father in every respect, having -the same red flush in the cheeks, the same black eyes, which sparkled -like diamonds, and the same little chubby nose. The family lived back -of St. Paul's towering pile, in a little lane or court which ran around -the old sheds that formed a part of the Old Market or Newgate shambles, -and was the principal fresh meat mart before the New Smithfield Market -had been built. - -Ralph had been detailed by Inspector Bailey to visit Petticoat lane, -Houndsditch, Bevis Marks, and the Minories with me, and we were to -go together to the Sunday market in this district, which is almost -entirely inhabited by Jews, although a greater part of the out-door -trade and costermongering is done by Christian Cockneys. - -I found Ralph living up a two-pair back, in one of the queerest, -old-fashioned wooden houses in the Newgate shambles. Directly over my -head was the dome of St. Paul's, with the morning fog clearing away -from its peak, and the sun was gradually appearing to gild the tall -cross on the apex, and the tower of St. Faith's, under St. Paul's. The -stairs were ricketty and dark, and the wainscotting quite fanciful. A -woman of twenty-five or six years of age, rather tidy in appearance, -I saw holding the big chubby baby, the pride of the Ralph family. The -family were at breakfast, and had been busy discussing fresh plaice and -soles from Billingsgate. The baby was allowed to tumble all over the -floor and bite its fingers. - -"How are you this morning, sir," said patrolman Ralph; "it promises to -be a pertickelerly fine Sunday does this, and a nice one for stroll to -see the sights." - -Ralph took down his hat and overcoat from a nail, and bidding his wife -good-bye affectionately, we strolled out into the streets. - -We took a walk up Newgate street to Cheapside, through the Poultry, -through Cornhill, passing the Bank and Mansion House on our way, -and finally opposite the Aldgate Church, with its curious old Sir -Christopher Wren spire, we found ourselves standing against the railing -which encloses a little green square of grass belting the church. - -"Now, sir," said Dick Ralph, "we are just going into one of the worst -places in London. There's a regular mob here all the time, and hits -just as much as a man can do to pass the peddlers without having his -'at and coat taken hoff him by the Sheenies who are selling of hall -sorts of things on the Sunday market. You can buy hanything from a -gimlet here in Petticoat lane to a suit of clothes in Rag Fair." - -[Sidenote: PETTICOAT LANE.] - -Houndsditch is a wide street which runs down from the Aldgate High -street to Bishopsgate street. At the other end is the street called -the Minories, going in the direction of the Tower, which frowns upon -the river. Here, also, is the district called "Petticoat lane," which -embraces a number of short streets, courts, lanes, and filthy alleys, -with such characteristic names as "Sandy's Row," "Frying Pan alley," -"Little Love court," "Catharine Wheel alley," "Hebrew Place," "Fisher's -alley," "Tripe yard," "Gravel lane," "Harper's alley," "Boar's Head -yard," "Stoney lane," "Swan court," and "Borer's lane." - -These are only a few of the choice thoroughfares in this locality, -and all of them are dirty and swarming with a class who obtain their -living in the streets. There are, it is calculated, living and doing -business in Petticoat lane and its lesser tributaries of streets and -alleys, about six thousand men, women, and children who profess the -Jewish faith, and are in humble circumstances, who have to struggle and -compete with the Irish of the poorer class in the street trades, though -the Jews have a monopoly of the old clothes' trade. - -Houndsditch is in every way superior to the other streets which -surround it. It is wider, the shops are of a better order, and it is -noticeable that very few of their doors are open on a Sunday morning. -As the detective and I passed through the street I noticed such names -as "Abrams & Son," "L. Benjamin," "Isaacs & Co.," "Moses & Son," "Hyams -& Co.," and other like names over the doors of fruit shops, jeweller -shops, mercer shops, clothiers, and in one or two instances, over the -doors of small publics. It is, however, not a common thing to find a -Jewish name over a liquor shop door in London. - -"We are in the very nick of time to see the show," said Ralph to me--it -was nearly nine o'clock of the Sunday morning, and we had gone down -Houndsditch about three of our New York blocks. - -"The market is from eight o'clock Sunday morning until about two in the -hafternoon, and the business is as brisk as can be all that time," said -Ralph. - -The houses were all old, and all of them had a slouching, mean look, -with funny gables, grimy windows in the upper stories, and queerly -peaked and stunted roofs, overhung by tubular red chimneys, which -stood up like rows of corn in a field when seen from a distance. - -The people whom we met in the streets had an Eastern look, with -peculiarly brilliant, almond-shaped eyes, and prominent noses. Some -others had the Celtic features and spoke to each other with the -unmistakable brogue. The policemen that we met, too, seemed to partake -of the characteristics of the place, and I fancied that I could trace a -resemblance in their faces to those by whom they were surrounded. - -Crossing the street, we went through a court about a hundred feet wide, -that seemed to lead into a covered shed, from which came a din and -clamor of voices that was almost deafening. - -There was a wooden building like a market covered over, to to which we -ascended by a flight of three steps. - -"This is the Rag Fair, sir; I suppose you heard on't before. It's a -werry strange place, Rag Fair. But don't stop to look at anythink, or -them as keeps the stands will tear you to pieces to make you buy." - -[Sidenote: A CONGRESS OF RAGS.] - -Although I took as much heed as possible of the injunction, it was -impossible not to look. It was a very queer place in more senses than -one. To get an idea of it take a section of Washington Market, New -York, with its stalls and blocks, and buyers and sellers; and on the -walls where the pork, mutton, and beef are hung to be inspected and -sold, and, instead of the flesh of the cow, pig, and peaceful sheep, -hang hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of trousers--trousers that have -been worn by young men of fashion, trousers without a wrinkle or just -newly scoured, trousers taken from the reeking hot limbs of navies -and pot boys, trousers from lumbering men-of-war's men, from spruce -young shop boys, trousers that have been worn by criminals executed -at Newgate, by patients in fever hospitals; waistcoats that were the -pride of fast young brokers in the city, waistcoats flashy enough to -have been worn by the Marquis of Hastings at a race-course, or the -Count D'Orsay at a literary assemblage; take thousands of spencers, -highlows, fustian jackets, some greasy, some unsoiled, shooting-coats, -short-coats, and cutaways; coats for the jockey and the dog-fighter, -for the peer and the pugilist, pilot-jackets and sou-westers, drawers -and stockings, the latter washed and hung up in all their appealing -innocence, there being thousands of these garments that I have -enumerated, and thousands of others that none but a master cutter could -think of without a softening of the brain, take two hundred men, women, -and children, mostly of the Jewish race, with here and there a burly -Irishman sitting placidly smoking a pipe amid the infernal din; and -shake all these ingredients up well, and you have a faint idea of what -I saw in Rag Fair. - -Take five thousand pair of shoes, boots, gaiters, bootees, brogans, -watermen's boots, shoes of criminals, and suspicious-looking boots, -taken from the feet of thieves, flashy-looking women's gaiters and -cordovans purchased from prostitutes and wretched women in garrets, who -had sold them to buy food or a drink of gin. - -Take all these articles, scatter them around, hang them on nails and -hooks depending from greasy stalls ascending to the old tumble down -roof, and then the reader will have a dose offered to him such as I got -when I fell on Rag Fair, Petticoat lane. - -It was by far the strangest scene I had ever looked upon. London has -nothing like it elsewhere, and New York, which is really destitute -of any specially salient characteristic, could not in fifty years' -time organize and bring together such a mass of old clothes, grease, -patches, tatters, and remnants of decayed prosperity and splendor. -In every old tattered trousers there was an unwritten epic; in every -gaudily fashioned waistcoat there was a tale perhaps of sorrow and -sadness and want, if any one could but point it out. - -The patches and rents that were botched up and mended, showed the -hasty repairs in the old coats that hung in platoons and files from -the niches; the jagged sewing and frayed edges in each of these old -garments, could they speak, would tell an astonishing tale, or furnish -the groundwork of a plot for a popular drama. - -The stalls were in rows, and the men and women and boys who did -business there kept running about all the time I remained in the fair, -shouting and screaming like possessed beings. Their great aim and -object was to catch some unfortunate visitor by the lappel of his coat -or snatch his elbow, his coat-tail, or any other available part of his -clothing, hold on to him, shake an old waistcoat in his face, and if -he didn't want a waistcoat, shake a dirty old pair of trousers in his -face, talking all the time in an imploring, or may be a trembling tone, -until the man would be compelled to break away by sheer force or call -the police, who seemed to have enough to do in this place. - -[Illustration: RAG FAIR.] - -I stopped for a moment to look at a stall where about a hundred -pairs of boots and shoes were displayed in rows, the thick-soled -heavy-looking brogans of the laborer ranged next to the -nicely-fashioned gaiter of the elegant, with their well-turned toes -and arching insteps, and the man, a sharp-featured Hebrew, who was -proprietor, seized me and thrust a second-hand pair of boots in my -face, saying at the same time: - -[Sidenote: MODUS OPERANDI OF SELLING.] - -"You wan'sh a nish pair o' bootsh? S'help, I shells you thish pair for -two shillings, and they wash never made lesh than a guinea and a half! -Don't you want to buy these sphlendid bootsh; s'help me, I only makes'h -two pensh?" - -I tried to get away, but he held to my arm and kept shaking the boots, -while his sharp, black eyes glittered like sword points at the prospect -of losing a sale. At last the detective, losing patience, jerked him -away, and we passed on to the next slop stand. - -This was kept by an old Irish woman. The Jew was all mercantile -acerbity and sharpness. This old humbug of a female Celt was all -treacle and honey. - -"Ah, then, it's the foine gentleman that ye are. It's easy to see -the good dhrop is in ye. May be it's a likin' ye'd be taking to this -sphlindid waistcoat; that's all the fashion now, and it's well it 'id -look on yer fine figger. And don't ye want nothing at all to wear? -And shure ye wouldn't be afther goin' naked like an omaudhaun in the -streets and havin' the people shoutin' after ye?" - -"How much rent d'ye pay for this stall," said I to her, to get her off -a topic by which she made her living. - -"Is't the durty rint ye mane? Well, it's enouff for the ould hole. I -pay sixpence a day in advance, and the devil resave the penny I've -turned yet, this blessed mornin." - -"Have you any one to support beside yourself?" - -"Well, indade, I have two childher, and its small comfort they are to -me. One of thim, the eldest, is down wud scarlet favir, and the docthor -says it tin to one if she'll ever recover." - -"You see sir," said the detective, "the people who rent stands from -the men as own this place, they have to pay sixpence a day to 'old the -stand. But those fellows as you see running around like lunatics, and a -borin of every one, they pays two pence a day rents--cos why they 'ave -no stands and honly walk habout with the clothes hon their harms." - -"Yis, and I wish you'd sind them to the divil, the haythens--they niver -give an honest woman a chance to make a penny be hook or be crook, wud -thim runnin all over the fair." - -"Halso, we never allows the 'awker as has no stands to stay in one -place," said Dick Ralph, "cos hif we did, that would ruin the business -of the people as pays rent for the stands. So we keeps them a movin' -hon, and they doesn't like it, but we have got to do it, or else they -would have rows hall the Sunday through with the nobs as keeps the -stands. You see, the wery minute one of the 'awkers gets hopposite -a stand, he collects a crowd and--now, there goes one now;" and he -pointed to a fellow with a pair of trousers, who was bawling his goods -out while a policeman had him by the neck shoving him along by main -force. - -"Oh, some of these lads are precious 'ard coves, I tell you, to manage. -Some of them will fight and curse at you like as hif they wor made of -brass. But we never talks long to them, 'cos hif we did Rag Fair would -be too much for the force." - -"How much a day do the hawkers make on an average?" I asked Ralph. - -"Well, I can't tell, because they are sich werry 'ardened liars. I axed -one the werry last Sunday as I wos 'ere. Says I, 'old Benjamin, how -much do you take in on a day's work on a haverage?'" - -"Oh! blesh your 'art," sez he, "some days I hash two pounds profit, and -some days I makes a shillin' by 'ard vork." - -"Now ye see," said Ralph, "I knew he was of gaffin me, for he was not -worth two pounds, body and soul, and I don't suppose he never made more -than half a crown in a day and do his best. Then Old Benjamin spends it -hall in fish. The Jew peddlers here are wery fond of fish on Saturdays. -They would go without a meal in three days to have a fresh mackerel on -Sunday. And they are werry pertikler as to who kills the meat before -they buys it." - -Determining to make another attempt to see Petticoat Lane on a week -day, I bade the polite policeman and the highly odorous quarter of the -Old Clothes sellers, a very good day. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -FROM NEWGATE TO TYBURN. - - -LET us look at Newgate. This stern old pile of stones heaped upon -stones, grey and grim, the burden of whose sighs afflict the weary -skies above. - -The strangest kind of a fascination hung over me as I looked at its -Gate, cut in the deep wall like the entrance to a rocky cave. The -spiked sill spoke of gibbets, the bars and locks and bolts of a felon -gang, who dragged their blind life away, day following day, for them -without hope, the outside world vacant, dumb and blank as the Ages, to -their crime begotten souls, whose only music was the clank of fetters -and the hoarse grating of iron hinges. - -The building itself, covering half an acre, seemed sealed like a -sepulchre. There was nothing to be gotten out of it, one way or the -other. No one can have even looked at this terrible prison of Newgate -without a shudder of despair for his kind. - -Only on certain recurring Black Mondays did it yawn like a grave in -the face of a great swearing mob, to put forth something into the -open in the shadow of St. Sepulchre's, that was half dead; to take -it back after an hour quite dead; and then it relapsed into its old, -inscrutable dumbness. - -Now Gate of Ivory, now Gate of Horn--now a porch above which might be -inscribed the despairing legend of the Inferno, now a wicket at which -the charitable might tap gently, fraught with messages of mercy to the -fallen creatures within--the portal of Newgate could assume chameleon -hues, not always hopeless. - -Next to the spikes of Newgate, the visitor must always mark for lasting -remembrance, the stones of Newgate doorsteps. They are not perhaps -more than eighty years old, but they look more worn than the jambs of -Temple bar--more decayed than the wheel windows of the Cloisters of -Westminster Abbey. They are ancient through use, and not through time. - -The Hall of the Lost Footsteps at Versailles is but an empty name, but -the millions of footsteps that have worn Newgate stones, must make it -an abiding reality. Here have united all the crooked roads. Here have -fallen the last steps on the stones of the ford of the Black River. -Beyond the steps has loomed the City of Dis. - - How many footsteps! how many! - -Lord George Gordon, after the riots and burnings of 1780, wrecked and -crazy, totters feebly up Newgate steps to die in the prison which his -murderous associates had attempted to burn. Desperate Thistlewood, -fresh from the loft in Cato street, where his fellow conspirators were -dragged--reeking from the murder of Smithers, whose ghost followed him -to the gallows, is brought here heavily chained from the Tower Dungeon, -in which the ministry with frantic fear had at first immured him. - -He and his gang will leave Newgate no more save by the Debtor's Door, -where the Man in the Mask--one of the few unsolved mysteries of the -Nineteenth century--will do his horrible office upon them and hold up -to the populace five severed heads, who at first shudder, but growing -hardened by the dripping sight of blood, will cry as the clumsy butcher -lets the last head fall-- - -"Hallo, butter-fingers!" - -Down Newgate steps at dead of night, how many corpses of uncoffined -wretches have been borne in sacks, to be dissected at Old Surgeon's -Hall, over the narrow causeway which skirts the prison. - -[Sidenote: EXECUTION OF BARRETT.] - -The dread gaol keeps its secret better now. No grapnel hauls forth the -dishonored carcass of the dead criminal for exposition at the Gemonian -steps. - -The place is doubly a Golgotha, and murder is buried on the spot where -it has been slain. - -Here died brave hearted Michael Barrett, the victim of the last public -execution which will ever take place in Newgate, just three short years -ago. How the huge metropolis seethed and boiled like a world-cauldron -that day of days! - -Condemned to die as a Fenian conspirator, he gave his life gallantly -for his native land, and in his last hour frightened England more than -a hundred living Barretts could have done. - -I stood before Newgate with a member of the Old Jewry force who had -seen the execution of Barrett. From the fact that the government, after -that day, has prohibited any more public executions, his description of -the scene will be worthy of recounting to my readers. The detective was -a young man, and intelligent beyond his class. We were standing outside -of the prison gate. - -The lane or street of the Old Bailey, which begins at Ludgate Hill, -one block below St. Paul's Cathedral, runs toward Newgate street, -parallel with Giltspur street which it enters, and forms before ending -a triangular space of about two acres square measurement. At the angle, -formed by the Holborn Viaduct, which ends here, (Giltspur street and -Newgate street,) is the old Church of St. Sepulchre. To the right and -behind us, we could just trace the ornamented and beautiful facade -of Christ Church Hospital. To our left and below us was the Sessions -Court in the Old Bailey, a place in some respects like the Tombs Court -and the Court of General Sessions in New York, were both courts to be -combined. I am thus particular in order to show my readers where and -how Michael Barrett, the last Newgate victim, died. - -"Well, you see, Sir," said my Old Jewry friend to me, "the week as -Barrett wos hung wos a busy week with us. Up all night sometimes and -all day, searching the holes and corners and dark places of the city -for Fenians. We got information that they wos going to blow up St. -Pauls, one day--another day we hears that they had a plot to bust -hup the Bank of Hingland--then they were to burn down the Tower and -the 'Oss Guards, and then somebody told us that they meant to send -Westminster Habbey and Buckingham Palace sky high--and this way and -that way we wos worrited to death with hinformation. One night I -was detailed to St. Paul's to watch the crypts or vaults under the -Cathedral, where the Fenians intended to put a lot of gunpowder to blow -it hup. I staid there all night with some more of the men detailed, -and a precious cold job it wos, we hiding among the vaults snapping -our fingers and shivering like geese in a pond, and not a Fenian -within three miles of us. That wos a lark, and the newspapers laughed -at us, and had comic picters of us standing in the cold, for their -hedification." - -"Another night we hexpected them to set fire to the 'Ouses of -Parlyment, and a blessed shame it would have been to have destroyed -sich a fine hedifice, and there I wos night after night, a-playing hide -and seek among the galleries and Towers of the 'Ouse, watching for -Fenians and hexpecting to get a stab in the back, and all the time I -wos wishing as how I could get relief, so as to get a pot o' beer in -the King's Arms in Parlyment street." - -[Sidenote: DYING FOR AN IDEA.] - -"Well, Sir, at last came the busting and blowing up of Clerkenwell -Prison, and a nice row that made all through England--and while the -fellows as did it walked off quite cooly--Barrett and a few more who -wos suspected, and who wos as I believe really hinnocent--of the -Clerkenwell affair--wos taken and tried right over here in the Sessions -Court (pointing with his hand over the wall of the Old Bailey Court), -and he stood up in the dock that day as he wos found guilty, and I must -say he was as brave a man as I ever saw--and defied the big wigs and -all on them, and said he was not afraid to die, and then he told them -that if it was twenty lives he would give it for "dear Ireland,"--thems -just the words he said, and although I don't like Fenians or Fenianism, -I must say for him that he was no more afraid than I was, that is if -you can judge from a man's face at such a hawful minute. - -"The night afore his execution I was in his cell; I was let in by a -friend of mine the turnkey, and I spoke to him kindly, cos you see I -didn't feel exactly like as if he wos a man who had committed a common -murder or robbed for a living, cos why, you see, a lawyer told me as -how he was dying for an idea, like Russell or Hampden or some others of -them Big Guns. - -"I sez to him: - -"How do you feel Mr. Barrett?" - -"I feel well, thank you said he;" one of the turnkeys wos watching him, -sitting up with him, and he had a light in his cell--he was ironed. - -"They are putting up the scaffold," said he to me without a bit of fear. - -"Yes, and I'm sorry for it," said I, "Mr. Barrett--is there anything I -can do for you." - -"Nothing," says he, standing up and turning down the book which he was -reading, his chains clanking around his legs--"Nothing--but you see -me the night before I die--tell those who employed you that Michael -Barrett has made his peace with God--and is not afraid to die. Tell -them," and he commenced reciting poetry like, with his eyes on the -ceiling of his cell: - - "Whither on the scaffold high - Or in the battle's van; - The fittest place for man to die - Is where he dies for man." - -"Them's the lines as near as I can remember, for I saw them in a book -after, and that made me recollect them. - -"During the night they were busy in putting up the scaffold, and three -or four thousand special constables were sworn in by the magistrates, -cos why, they were afraid that the Fenians would rescue Barrett, and I, -as well as every other man, wos armed with a six-barrelled revolver. -When the morning came there must have been a hundred thousand people -in the streets and all around here. Hundreds staid up all night to -get a chance for a good place to look at him, and there was more than -three thousand women, and as many children in the crowd around the -scaffold. The top of the scaffold, I mean the frame, was about twelve -feet above the street, and the platform was about six feet high, so -that hevery one was able to see him. Fifteen hundred police in uniform -were drawn hup around Newgate, and to prevent the crowds from pushing -or rescuing the prisoner, a barricade of trees was built at a distance -of two hundred feet from the scaffold hevery way. Five hundred police -in plain clothes were among the crowds armed with revolvers, and troops -were stationed at all the barracks in the city so as to be ready for -any attempt to save his life. The crowd Sir, was for all the world -like a surging sea, and people were buying and selling of histers, and -liquors, ginger beer, whelks, fruit and cigars, just the same as if -they were at a fair, and men and boys were crying ballads and singing, -and some of them were peddling Barrett's printed confession. Now you -see, Sir, that was a humbug, becos Barrett never made no confession, -but they sold just as well as if he had made one, at a penny a piece. - -"Well, when St. Sepulchre's bell struck eight, which is always the -signal, they brought him ought, and although the air was cold and some -of us were shivering from standing up so long without anything to eat -or drink, he never trembled at all, but looked at every man and woman -of all that wos there with a smile, and a steady look. - -"'He's a game un,' I heard many a man say, and our fellows who had -such hard work watching the Fenians by night and by day, had no hard -feelings agin the brave fellow then. The women around the scaffold -waved their handkerchiefs to him, you see, Sir, the women, bless them, -are always up to such blessed games, and there was some man in the -crowd when the rope was put around his neck, who wore a fur coat, and -seemed like an American, who cried out as loud as he could-- - -"Good heart--Michael Barrett--this day. All is not lost while one drop -of Irish blood remains." - -[Sidenote: THE PESTIFEROUS PRISON.] - -"I saw the man, and I made a jump for him with two of my pals, but the -crowd opened and let him pass through,--it seemed a purpose like, and -just then I heard a roar and a great convulsive sob, and the crowd -pushed this way and crushed that way, almost smothering me, and I -nearly fainted from the awful squeezing I got, and I picked up a little -girl from atween my feet, and when I looked up Barrett's body was a -swinging to and fro from a rope, and all was over, and believe me, Sir, -I was glad of it when it was over." - -[Illustration: THE LAST EXECUTION AT NEWGATE.] - -It was high noon when I arrived at Newgate, and my visit was paid -chiefly to that part of the prison devoted to the subsistence of the -prisoners. I passed through the corridors and passages, and door after -door, and hinge after hinge grated as I advanced with a companion. All -around the prison are the high walls of the neighboring buildings, -and attached to them are precipitous sheds with spikes to prevent the -escape of prisoners who may succeed in getting as far as the yard. -On top of the prison is a huge circular fan which revolves and gives -ventilation to the interior of the jail. This improvement was the -result of the labors of the great philanthropist John Howard. - -In the old days Newgate was a hell upon earth. During the Eighteenth -century prisoners endured the tortures of the damned here. Jail birds -were shackled to the floor to prevent their escape, and mouldy bread -and stinking water was given them to drink until their stomachs loathed -the appearance of food. Their beds were of stinking straw, the rain -from the heavens dripped through the roof upon them, the frost and cold -eat into their bones; they festered in dirt, disease, and destitution, -till their limbs broke out in horrible blains, and ulcers and all kinds -of agues and dysenteries swept down upon them. Then in this terrible -state, after rotting for months awaiting a trial, they came into the -dock at the Old Bailey with the jail fevers upon them to slay with the -pestiferous miasma which exhaled from their bodies, judge, jury, and -pettifogging attorneys. - -The prisoners were so crowded together in dark dungeons, that the air -becoming corrupted by the stench, occasioned a disease called the -"goal distemper," of which they died by dozens every day. Cartloads -of dead bodies were carried out of the prison and thrown in a pit in -the burying-ground of Christ's Church without ceremony. The effluvia -in the year 1750 was so horrible that it made a pestilence in the -whole district. Four judges who sat in the Session, a Lord Mayor, -several aldermen, and other civic dignitaries were carried off by the -distemper, together with a number of lawyers and jurors present at the -trials of Newgate criminals. - -[Sidenote: GETTING WEAK IN THE BACK.] - -Then at last the prison was cleansed, and a system of ventilation -introduced, which made some improvement in the condition of the -prisoners. Still, Newgate was a disgrace to Christendom, and -just one hundred years ago Parliament made a grant of L50,000 to -construct a prison. Beckford, author of Vathek, and then Lord Mayor -of London, laid the first stone. In 1780, Lord George Gordon, with -his No-Popery rioters, burned down that part of the prison which had -been constructed, and set at liberty three hundred of the prisoners -confined there. L40,000 in addition had to be granted before the -building was completed. - -On an average there are between two and three hundred prisoners held in -durance in Newgate, and twelve sessions are held during the year at the -adjoining Old Bailey Court for their trial. This is called the Central -Criminal Court, and it is here, in this very court, that Jack Sheppard, -Dick Turpin, Claude Duval, Sixteen String Jack, Tom King, and all the -other heroes of the yellow covered literature, were tried, condemned, -taken in fetters to Newgate, and from thence to Tyburn Tree to hang by -the neck until they were dead. - -The Judges of the Old Bailey Court are the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, -Recorder, and Common Sergeant of London, and the Judges of the Courts -at Westminster Hall, who sit here by rotation to assist, by their -superior legal knowledge, the inferior local magistrates. - -The prison is divided into a male and female side, but beyond this -there is little classification; the pickpocket, the swindler, the -embezzler, the murderer, are all associated together; while the -hardened offender and the one who is merely suspected of crime, but too -often share the same cell, and feed at the same board. - -There are separate cells, so that every one averse to society may dwell -alone if he or she chooses, but in conversation with the turnkeys, I -learned that the privilege was rarely claimed. - -"Why, Lord bless your heart, Sir," said a turnkey to me, "there isn't -one of the birds in this ere cage that wouldn't go down on his blessed -knees and beg hoff if he was to be locked up alone for forty-eight -hours. Ye see, sir, it sickens them, it does, to be alone and hear -no one's voice but their own. There's a few of the high 'uns at -first, when they come here, are werry hoffish and have a sort of a -"how-dare-you-look-or-speak-to-me-air," but before three days they gets -weak in the back and then they'll give a guinea a minute to look at a -face if it only wor a monkey's dirty mug." - -When prisoners become refractory, solitary confinement, for a -few days, is the punishment, and it never fails to tame the most -intractable. The beds of the prisoners are in tiers one above the -other, like the berths on an emigrant ship, only that they are clean -almost to painfulness. The beds consist of a hard mattress and coarse -coverings, sufficient in all seasons to keep them comfortably warm. -A plain deal table and bench constitute the only furniture of the -place, and these, with the floor, are daily scrubbed into a state of -scrupulous cleanliness by the inmates of the cells. There are paved -court yards in which the prisoners may walk and breathe the small -quantity of pure air that can circulate between those high and gloomy -walls, surmounted by formidable spikes to impede the climber. - -I went into the kitchen of Newgate and found it to be a commodious and -well-fitted apartment, very like the kitchen of the Reform Club, only -not so luxurious, from its want of French dishes, and I found here -boilers, stoves, ranges, saucepans, kettles, and all that a chef could -need for his cuisine. This was not the kitchen of the Old Newgate of -which Ainsworth delights to tell, where the hangman used to seethe in a -cauldron of molten pitch the heads and quarters of victims executed for -treason, whose several members were afterwards affixed to the spikes of -Temple Bar or London Bridge. - -I saw the rations of each prisoner served out in tin panikins and -platters, and the bread served was as white as any I ever ate. There -were three large and beautiful potatoes allotted to each one, and three -ounces of boiled beef, good and tender and free from bone, just of the -same quality which I had seen served a few days before in the barracks -of the Grenadier Guards down in Westminster. The meat might not have -all the accessories and sauces which a Delmonico or a Blanchard could -provide, but it was palatable and tender to the taste. - -On "off" days they have soup and thick gruel for breakfast, and sixteen -ounces of bread per day. They never get beer, butter, milk, cheese, -cabbage, tea, coffee, or eggs. - -[Sidenote: HOTEL REGULATIONS.] - -So, after I had seen all this "bee bread," the hunks of meat duly -weighed out, the potatoes and lumps of bread packed in their panniers -and delivered out from door to door--the chief warder and I began to -ascend a very Mont Blanc of iron staircases, and visited, one after the -other, the cells of the wicked hive; in which, God knows, there was -no honey making, but only wax, bitter as the book which the Apostle -swallowed. - -The original "comb," many stories high, had been built in one of the -former yards of the gaol. The space between the different tiers of -cells was quite sufficient for ventilation; but the architects had of -necessity trusted more to height than to breadth, and this increased -the hive-like appearance of the place. But when I came down again, the -remembrance of what I had seen fresh upon me, all these iron staircases -and galleries, all these shining locks, bars, numbers, plates, and -"inspection holes," all these recrossing and crossing pillars, trusses, -and girders, made me think that I had just left some great, bad -exhibition of products of the devil's industry. One cell was, in all -save its occupant, twin brother to its neighbor on either side; and so -on, tier above tier, until the whole nest had been explored. I forgot -to ask how many feet broad, by how many feet long, was each dungeon. - -But here is one--the type of all the rest. It is as large say, as a -_cabinet particulier_, to hold four, at Vachett's or the Moulin Rouge; -but it is given up to the occupancy of one man. It is a hundred times -cleaner than ever was _cabinet_ in Paris restaurant; and here the -lodger eats, reads, and sleeps. His bedding lies on a shelf on the -right corner as you enter the cell. It is a pile of rugs, matting, -mattress, or some other kind of bedding, packed and folded up with -mathematical accuracy, with an assortment of straps and hooks disposed -in corresponding order. These hooks will, by and bye, at eight o'clock, -be inserted in rings in the whitewashed cell, when the prisoner will -make his bed and sleep athwart his cell. - -There are his gas-pipe, his basin, and mug; there is a little -desk-formed table, which he can prop up with a wooden support, to eat -his meals upon; there are his tin panikin and wooden spoon, his Bible, -prayer-book, and hymn-book, his comb, his salt-cellar, with a neat -cover of blue paper. Everything shines, glistens, sparkles, almost -as bravely as the gew-gaws in Mr. Benson's shop outside. The floor -is of shining asphalte. The covered ceiling is without a flaw. The -walls are unsmirched. A neat copy of the regulations enforced in this -"hotel"--the code of discipline framed by the Sheriffs--are hung up -for the prisoner's guidance. He has a ventilator, by means of which he -can regulate the temperature of his cell; and I noticed that the chief -warder had to tell almost every prisoner that he was keeping his cell -too warm. - -Among the many afflicting scenes that have taken place in the vicinity -of Newgate, was that of February 23, 1807, when two men, named Haggerty -and Holloway, were hanged for the murder of Mr. Steele, on Hounslow -Heath. The greatest interest had been excited by the trial of these two -men, and an immense crowd assembled to witness their execution. - -By five o'clock in the morning every avenue was blocked up; every -window that communicated a view of the place was crammed, and wagons, -arranged in rows, groaned under the weight of the eager multitude. The -pressure of the assemblage was tremendous; and when the criminals had -been turned off--when they had given their last death struggle--the -mass of the people began to move. But there was no room for them to -move in. - -Immediately rose the shrieks of affrighted women in the crowd, which -but increased the alarm, and made each individual struggle to get out -of the multitude. Hundreds were trodden under foot, and the furious and -frightened crowd passed over them. - -At last the confusion ceased a little, and the ground became -comparatively clear. - -[Sidenote: DRINKING FROM ST. GILES' BOWL.] - -Some who had been thrown down arose but with little damage, and went -home, but forty-two were found insensible, of this number twenty-seven -were quite dead, of whom three were women. Of the other fifteen many -had their legs or arms broken, and some of them afterward died. Since -that occurrence barriers have been erected and executions have taken -place without loss of life. The system of hanging in chains has also -been abolished, and Newgate may one day hope, like its brother of the -Bastille, for the light of freedom to break in upon its hell-holes, -and show to humanity how like devils are men clad with a little brief -authority. - -Eighty-three years ago, the last victim, taken from Newgate to Tyburn -Tree, was hung there upon the gallows in chains. The name of the -criminal was John Austin. Tyburn was anciently a manor and village -some miles west of London, and on this fated spot, in 1330, Roger de -Mortimer was hanged, drawn, disemboweled, and quartered, for high -treason. The gallows was a triangle upon three legs. Long years ago, -when Dan Chaucer wrote his lays, criminals were taken to Tyburn, and -hung from a lofty elm tree, which overshadowed a brook or "burn," hence -the term of "Tyburn Tree." The gallows, in after years, stood on a -small eminence at the corner of the Edgeware Road, where a tool-house -was subsequently erected. - -Beneath this spot, where the gallows formerly stood, the bones of -Bradshaw, Ireton, and others, who had voted for the death of Charles -I, repose, their remains, having been taken from their graves, after -the Restoration, and thrown here. Around the gibbet were erected -open galleries, like those at a modern race-course, from whence many -thousand people, of both sexes, were wont to feast their eyes on the -dying struggles of the condemned. "Mamma Douglas," an old toothless -woman, held the keys of these seats, and she was, facetiously, called -the Tyburn "pew opener." Prices of seats to witness the sport, varied -from one and sixpence to three shillings, and in one instance, a -reprieve having arrived for the prisoner in time to save his life, the -mob became enraged at their disappointment, and tore up the benches. -The criminal was conveyed in a cart to Tyburn, the parson chanting -prayer and hymn on the route, and in passing through the quarter of St. -Giles, a bowl of ale was always offered to the condemned to drink, the -procession of Sheriffs, Stavesmen, and Constables, halting on the way -for the purpose. Among the famous criminals executed here were Perkin -Warbeck, for plotting his escape from the Tower, 1534; the Holy Maid of -Kent, and her associates, 1535; the last Prior of the Charter House, -same year; Southwell, the poet, 1615; Mrs. Turner, hanged in a yellow -starched ruff, for the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, 1628; John -Felton, assassin of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, 1600; and in 1662 -five persons who had signed the death warrant of Charles I; 1684, Sir -Thomas Armstrong (Rye House Plot); 1705, John Smith, a burglar, having -been hung for fifteen minutes, a reprieve arrived, and he was cut and -bled, which saved his life. Jack Sheppard was hung in 1724; Jonathan -Wild, the thief taker, in 1725, and Catharine Hayes was burnt alive -here in 1726, for the murder of her husband, as the indignant mob would -not suffer the hangman to strangle her, as was usual, before the fire -was kindled. In 1760, Earl Ferrars, who had murdered his steward, rode -from the Tower to Tyburn, in his open landau, drawn by six horses, and -was hanged with a silken rope, the hangman and the mob fighting for -the rope, while the latter tore the black cloth on the scaffold to -pieces. Oliver Cromwell's body was taken up and here, long years after -he had died, hung from the tree, while his head was set on a spike of -Westminster Hall. The other famous hangings were as follows: 1767, -Mrs. Browning, for murder; 1774, John Rann (Sixteen-Stringed Jack), -highwayman; 1775, the two Perraus, for forgery; 1777, Rev. Dr. Dodd, -forgery; 1779, Rev. James Hackman, assassination of Miss Reay: he was -taken from Newgate in a mourning coach. 1783, Ryland, the engraver, for -forgery. 1783, John Austin, the last person executed at Tyburn. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -DOCTOR'S COMMONS. - - -ONE of the queerest old rookeries in London is the little old edifice -in Great Knight-Rider street, just back of St. Paul's Churchyard, with -its nest of courts and its ancient quadrangle, where people go to get -licenses to marry--or to have divorces granted them, or to examine -or prove wills--or perhaps to have a suite entered for salvage or -flotsam, or jetsam,--where David Copperfield paid a thousand pounds to -receive his matriculation as a proctor. This curious old relic of Roman -Catholic England, where the wills of the British nation are preserved, -is known as Doctors' Commons. - -It is a college of civil, canon, and maritime law, and here all cases -that belong to these three divisions of English law, as also divorce -suits, are entered, argued, and decided. - -The lawyers who practice here are all well to do, snug, aristocratic -old fellows, and enjoy good living and nothing to do as no other -disciples of the legal profession can. - -It is called Doctor's Commons because the doctors or students at law -used to eat in common, or dine together in a hall in the old days when -the Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledged the supremacy of the See of -St. Peter. - -In the Doctors' Commons are--the Court of Arches, named from having -been formerly kept in Bow Church, Cheapside, originally built upon -arches, and the Supreme Ecclesiastical Court of the Province of -Canterbury--the other English Ecclesiastical Province being that of -York; the Prerogative Court, where all contentions arising out of -testamentary causes, are tried; the Consistory Court of the Bishop of -London; and the High Court of Admiralty; all these courts hold their -sittings in the college hall, the walls of which are covered with the -richly-emblazoned coats of arms of all the doctors who have practiced -here for two hundred years past. - -The Court of Arches has a jurisdiction over thirteen parishes, or -"peculiars," which form a "Deanery," exempt from the authority of the -Bishop of London, and attached to the Province of the Archbishop of -Canterbury, who is Primate of England. This court decides, as in the -days of Wolsey, in all cases of usury, simony, heresy, sacrilege, -blasphemy, apostacy from Christianity, adultery, fornication, bastardy, -partial and entire divorce, and many exploded offenses, which in the -Nineteenth century become farcical when tried in an ecclesiastical -court. Fighting or brawling in church or vestry are also offenses under -the jurisdiction of this absurd old court, but they are seldom or ever -brought up in these days, as the newspapers are sure to seize upon such -trials as subjects for derision and satire. Still the statutes are in -existence and will probably never be repealed until the Established -Church of England is abolished. - -There are several Registries in Doctors' Commons, under the -jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops. Some of -the very old documents connected with them are deposited for security -in St. Paul's Cathedral and Lambeth Palace. At the Bishop of London's -Registry, and the Registry for the Commission of Surrey, wills are -proved for the respective dioceses, and marriage licences are granted. -At the Vicar-General's Office and the Faculty Office, marriage licences -are granted for any part of England. The Faculty Office also grants -Faculties to notaries public, and dispensations to the clergy; and -formerly granted privilege to eat flesh on prohibited days. At the -Vicar-General's Office, records are kept of the confirmation and -consecration of bishops. - -[Sidenote: MARRIAGE LICENSES.] - -Marriage licences, when required by persons who profess the faith of -the Established Church of England, are always procured in Doctors' -Commons upon personal application to one of these old fogy Proctors, -whom I saw running around the quaint quadrangle, like a hen on a hot -griddle, with a roll of papers in his fleshy, fat hands. A residence of -fifteen days is necessary to either bride or bridegroom, in the parish -in which the marriage is to be solemnized, or not much longer than it -takes a repeater to become a useful if not a legal voter in New York -City. This little antique court of Doctors' Commons is in fine one of -the pious swindles that the English people delight in perpetuating and -groaning under, while the sinecurists make pots of money, and laugh and -grow fat on the pious plunder. There are all kinds of little dodges in -Doctors Commons, so that when a suitor enters here it is like a dip -into chancery litigation; the victim being plucked before he leaves. -Even to get married is very expensive in Doctors' Commons. The expense -of an ordinary license is L2 12s. 6d.; but if either party is a minor, -there is 10s. 6d. further charge; and if the party appearing swears -that he has obtained the consent of the proper person having authority -in law to give it, there is no necessity for either parents or minor -to attend. A special license for marriage is issued after a fiat or -consent has been obtained from the Archbishop, and is granted only to -persons of rank, judges, and members of parliament, the Archbishop -having a right to exercise his own discretion. - -The expense of a Special License is usually twenty-eight guineas. This -gives privilege to marry at any time or place, in private residence, or -at any church or chapel situate in England; but the ceremony must be -performed by a priest in holy orders, and of the Established Church. -With the marriages of Dissenters, including Roman Catholics, Jews, -and Quakers, the Commons has nothing to do, their licenses being -obtainable of the Superintendent-Registrar. A Divorce when sought is -carried through one of the courts in this profession (according to the -diocese), and is conducted by a proctor; the evidence of witnesses -is taken privately before an examiner of the court, and neither the -husband, wife, nor any of the witnesses, need appear personally in -court. A suit is seldom conducted at an expense less than L200. - -Then there is the High Court of Admiralty, a "precious old swindle," as -a seafaring man told me it had proved to him. He was a seaman before -the mast, and to get a sum of eight pounds six and four-pence, he was -compelled to pay eleven pounds of costs and fees. It comprises the -"Instance Court," and the "Prize Court," where the famous Lord Stowell, -in one year, adjudicated upon 2,206 cases connected with the high seas. - -[Illustration: DOCTOR'S COMMONS.] - -The Instance Court has a criminal and civil jurisdiction; to the former -belong piracy and other indictable offences on the high seas, which are -now tried at the Old Bailey; to the latter, suits arising from ships -running foul of each other, disputes about seamen's wages, bottomry, -and salvage. The Prize Court applies to naval captures in war, proceeds -of captured slave-vessels, &c. A silver oar is carried before the -Judge as an emblem of his office. The business is very onerous, as in -embargoes and the provisional detention of vessels, when incautious -decision might involve the country in war; the right of search is -another weighty question. - -[Sidenote: PAYING THE PIPER.] - -The practitioners in this court are advocates (D.D.C.L.) or counsel, -and proctors or solicitors. The judge and advocates wear in court, -if of Oxford, scarlet robes and hoods lined with taffety; and if of -Cambridge, white minever and round black velvet caps. The proctors wear -black robes and hoods lined with fur. - -The College has a good library in civil law and history, bequeathed by -an ancestor of Sir John Gibson, judge of the Prerogative Court; and -every bishop at his consecration makes a present of books. - -After a case has been worked slowly through one of these ecclesiastical -courts, it is then transferred to another, and after bowling the cause -about for years it is just possible that it will be lost for the -suitor. Suits are brought in Doctors' Commons for the most ridiculous -and trivial causes, and once a man gets into the Commons, he is made -to pay the piper while the sleek, fat proctors, dance right merrily to -the music paid for by their unhappy victims. A case in point I will -mention. The cause had just been tried in the Archdeacon's Court, at -Totness, and from thence an appeal had been sought in the Court at -Exeter, thence it went to the Court of Arches, and from there to the -Court of Delegates, and after all this fuss and expense, the question -in discussion was to know which of two persons had the legal right to -hang a hat on a certain peg! This is sober truth, and no exaggeration. - -But the great perfection of legal scoundrelism was, in a case where -a man, named Russell, whose wife's character had been impugned by a -person named Bentham, at Yarmouth, was tried. This gentleman could -find no remedy in Common Law for the defamation, so he must needs go -to Doctors' Commons and the Ecclesiastical Courts. The Proctor's bill -amounted to L700 after the case had gone through several courts, and -finally each party had to pay his own costs after the case had been -continued six or seven years; the special beauty of Ecclesiastical -Courts being, that once a victim brings a suit, he is never allowed to -withdraw it until it has gone the rounds of every court, thus giving -fees to a score of persons, one-half of whom never hear of the case -until they make up their minds to send in a bill for money. Finally, -after seven years of this pious warfare, Mr. Russell, being a poor man, -was ruined, and his wife's character was not half as good as when he -began the suit. - -The Prerogative Will Office is, however, the busiest and most -interesting place in Doctor's Commons. Wills are always to be found -here at half an hour's notice, and generally in a few minutes. They are -kept in a fire-proof, strong room. The original wills begin with the -year 1483, and the copies date from 1383. The latter are on parchment, -strongly bound, with brass clasps. Here I saw the will of Shakespeare, -on three folios of paper, each with his signature, and with the -inter-lineation in his own handwriting: "I give unto my wife my brown, -best bed, with the furniture." There is kept, also, the will of Milton, -which was written when the poet was blind, and set aside by a decree -of Sir Leoline Jenkins. And I saw alongside of Milton's will, the last -testament of the soldier of democracy, Napoleon Bonaparte, made at St. -Helena, April, 1821. - -In one year 40,000 searches were made here for wills, and 7,000 -extracts were made from testaments. There were, also, 5,000 commissions -issued for the country. Some of the entries of wills made by the early -Monks are beautiful specimens of illumination, the colors remaining -fresh to this day. - -Let us take a look into the Will Office, and give a glance to one of -the most interesting phases of the drama of human life. - -[Sidenote: THE FORGOTTEN SAILOR.] - -People are passing rapidly in and out of the narrow court, their bustle -alone disturbing the marked quiet of the neighborhood. At the end -of the court, we ascend a few steps and open a door, when the scene -exhibited in the sketch is before us. All seems hurry and confusion, -the solicitors turning over the leaves of bulky volumes and folios at -the desks, long practice having taught them to discover at a glance the -object of their search; rapidly to and fro move those who are bringing -the tomes and taking them back to the shelves where they belong, and as -rapidly glide the pens of the numerous copyists who are transcribing or -making extracts from wills, in all their little boxes, along both sides -of the room. - -But as we begin to look a little more closely into the densely packed -occupants' faces, we see persons who are certainly not solicitors' -clerks, nor officials of Doctor's Commons, but parties whose interests -in a worldly point of view may be materially benefited or damaged by -the investigations they are ordering to be made. - -Even the weather-beaten sailor, whose rugged face one would take to be -proof against any fortune, betrays a good deal of sensibility. He has -just returned probably from some long voyage, and one can fancy him to -have come to Doctor's Commons to see whether the relative, whom the -newspapers have informed him is dead, has left him, as he expected, the -means to settle down quietly in a little box at Deptford, Greenwich, or -Camberwell, or some other sailor's paradise. - -He steps up to the box on the right hand as directed, pays his -shilling, and gets a ticket, with a direction to the calendar, in -which he is to search for the name of his deceased relative. He must -surely be spelling every name in that page he has turned over--ah, -there it is at last; and now he hurries off, as directed to, with the -calendar, to the person pointed out to him as the Clerk of Searches. A -volume from one of the shelves is laid before him, the place is found, -and there lies the object of his hopes and fears--the great hopeful -or threatening will. Line by line his face begins to grow darker--a -ghastly grin at last appears--he has not been forgotten--there is -a ring perhaps, or five pounds to buy one, or some such trifle; he -closes the book with a bang and a curse, and the sailor hurries back -to his ship and to storm and danger on the deep, deprived of all the -contentment that had so long made him satisfied with his hard lot. - -But here is another picture. A lady dressed in a style of the most -gorgeous splendor, whose business is of a more important kind than -a mere search--she is probably an executrix of a will--and is just -leaving the office, when she meets at the door another lady, to whom -she makes a low courtesy, with an expression of decided malice on her -showy countenance. The successful legatee can be seen in her face, -while blank and startled disappointment appears in the other woman's -features. - -Such is Doctors' Commons--and Such is Life. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE BOHEMIANS OF LONDON. - - -GOING east through Oxford street, when you get near High Holborn, there -is a narrow thoroughfare called Dean street. Turn down this and it will -bring you to Carlisle street, a short and dark lane, a street only -in name. This short street brings you to Soho Square, famous for its -sauces and pickles all over the world from Calcutta to New York. - -The neighborhood is a very quiet one, as by its peculiar exits and -passages it is cut off from the busiest part of London on either side -of it, and leaving the Holborn or Oxford street, with their crowded -traffic, shops, busses, and cabs, in a moment you are in this quiet -square, with its little dot of green, fresh grass; that seems a relief -after the arid business waste which you have just left. Just opposite -is Greek street, which leads to St. Martin's lane, where a nest of -small dealers in milk, butter, eggs, and groceries herd together, and -where the poor, mean chop-houses form a perfect rookery, from which -comes the fumes of hot coffee, muffins, mutton chops, and kidneys -all the long day. Little dirty, rosy-cheeked children play here in -the gutters right merrily all the day through, and the noises of the -peddlers' cries, and the joyous mirth of the children "glorious at -their games," are the only sounds that break the remarkable stillness -of the noonday hour. - -When the gray in the sky begins to deepen, and the shades of night fall -over and around this quiet square, then the scene changes, and life -and bustle and noisy interchange of voices fill the solitary place, -which the shabby gentility of the neighborhood cannot repress or keep -down. Then the coffee-shops become vocal, the pot-houses are once -more vivacious, and streams of thirsty and hungry men and women pour -into these places, and come out refreshed with beer and replete with -cheap but plenteous food. This neighborhood is savory with macaroni -and oils, betokening the presence of the Italian element, who flock -to Soho Square in great numbers when they arrive in London. There are -"albergos" and wine-shops where you may obtain a quarter of a fowl -for ninepence, and a bottle of Marsala, which is only a darker and -stronger sherry under another name, and you can get olives and brandied -cherries, at dessert, for a few pence. The women who attend in these -places are fat, jolly-looking persons, with rounded forms, finely -shaped faces, and magnificent black hair, done up in massive bands, -and they sit many hours of the day knitting on low stools at the doors -of these foreign-looking inns. The customers who frequent these places -are wealthy organ-grinders, men who cast figures from potters' clay and -plaster of Paris, musicians and porters in the Italian warehouses along -the docks, medical students, Bohemians, and the riff raff in general. -One of the clay figure men wanted to sell me a well executed full -length figure of Thackeray, with his spectacled, kindly face, at 7s. -6d., for which I was asked a guinea in Drury Lane, the workmanship and -material being fully as good in every essential. - -In the heart of Soho Square is this little dark Carlisle street, and in -the centre of Carlisle street is a small, dingy public-house, called -the "Carlisle Arms," which is one of the resorts of the Bohemians of -London. - -[Sidenote: COCKERELL'S LODGINGS.] - -This old place has been from time immemorial frequented by them, -and here I was brought one cool September evening by the head clerk -of one of the leading publishing houses of London. This clerk was -still a young man, but he had the best knowledge of books and general -literature that I have ever found in a man of his position. He knew -at a glance how much a book would bring, who wrote it, when it was -published, and how many copies were to be got, were they to be dug out -of the mustiest book-stall in London. He had a familiar acquaintance -with all the members of that strange tribe of litterateurs who -contribute to the magazines and weekly and daily press of this the -greatest newspaper city in the world. He knew who it was who wrote the -last flash novel, how much he got for it, and whether he had drunk the -proceeds or not. Every first and fourth class reporter in London, all -the dramatic witlings and punsters, the great short-hand guns of the -House of Commons, the book reviewers, and the dramatic and musical -critics, were to him everyday acquaintances, and they all in turn paid -him a cordial respect for his universal knowledge. I shall call him -Cockerell, this marvel of booksellers' clerks. - -At 8 o'clock I called at Cockerell's lodgings, which were in Rupert -street, near Holborn. He lived quietly in a nice, cosy room, filled -with rare and curious editions of the works of which he was most fond, -and everything around the place, from the brass andirons to the quaint -clock in the chimney place, betokened a steady-going, well-informed -man. The "Newgate Calendar," "Cruikshank's Almanacs," for twenty -years, finely illustrated, "The Slang Dictionary," "The Streets and -Antiquities of London," "A History of Signboards," "Hansard's Debates," -a folio "Shakespeare," "The Heads of the People," illustrated by Kenny -Meadows, "Debrett's Peerage," "The Lords and Commons," several volumes -of Balzac, a volume with the wills and autographs of the Doges of -Venice, "Macaulay's Lays," some of "Sala's Sketches," a bound series -of the _Saturday Review_, and some volumes of "Punch," were among his -collection, besides a complete collection of the British plays, and -a number of Gilray's sketches, framed, hung from the walls. "Show me -a man's library, and I will tell you what he is," somebody has said, -and I believe the above works, picked out of a large library, best -explain the character of the head clerk who was to be my companion -for the night's adventure. Putting on his collar, gloves, and an old -slouch-hat, Cockerell and I reached the hall, where the maid-servant, -looking suspiciously at the writer, inquired from her master what time -he would be home. - -"I don't know, Jenny, exactly," said he, "but it will be some time -before the cocks crow." - -Having arrived at the "Carlisle Arms," we walked in, passing the bar, -and found our way through a low passage into a back room about twelve -feet wide by fifteen in length. The ceiling was low, and there was -no ornament to be seen with the exception of a steel engraving of -the Duke of Wellington on horseback, surrounded by a mounted staff, -and surveying through a field-glass the broken columns of the first -Bonaparte from an elevation on the plain of Waterloo. There were but -three persons in the room, which had a round oaken table in the centre, -and a quadrangle of wooden benches,--when I entered. My well-informed -friend was saluted with hearty greetings by all present, and was asked -what he would have to drink. This is an anachronism in English customs, -for the people of this tight little island generally allow a friend to -pay for his own drink, as a custom which has long ago been endorsed by -the best authorities. There is no such folly known here as may be seen -in every American public house, where the free and independent electors -stand at a bar each hour in every day, treating one and the other with -a promiscuous and reckless generosity. But among Bohemians all over -the world it is different. If they cannot pay for a drink, they will -call for it and treat each other with a liberality which is, to say the -least, a most praiseworthy trait. - -[Sidenote: A PINT OF COOPER.] - -I forgot to mention that there were two vases, with faded artificial -flowers, on the rusty old chimney-piece, and these flowers seemed to -the Bohemians like the waters of an oasis in the desert to a party of -Bedouins. All else was a blighted, sandy waste of small talk, tobacco -smoke, and weak gin and water. The principal spokesman of the party, -who was quite bald-headed and had but two or three teeth, rang the bell -behind the door, and presently the pot-boy appeared. In the lowest of -London publics the pot-boy waits upon the customers, washes the pewter -pots, and cleans the tables with a dish-cloth, for a stipend of ten -shillings a week in British coin. The pot-boy had not more than made -his appearance when in came the bar-maid, with natural light hair, one -of the first bar-maids I had seen in London whose hair was not dyed. - -[Illustration: A BOHEMIAN CAROUSE.] - -The bar-maid surveyed the room and its occupants calmly, then asked -for the orders. The pot-boy, feeling that he was only a subordinate, -retired in disgust, with his dish-cloth on his left arm. One man called -for "sherry weak," another for "gin and water," and a third for a "pint -of cooper." The cooper was brought in a metal mug, with hoops girding -it, and for this reason, I believe, the mug is called a "cooper." -Pretty soon the room began to fill with stray Bohemians, who dropped in -one by one and took their seats as if they feared no eviction. - -In half an hour there were a dozen present, and the room was so -crowded that two of them had to stand up. One or two were dandies, -and wore heavy scarfs and pins, and talked French because, forsooth, -they had been on the Continent. Some of them were artists on the half -score of comic weeklies which are to be seen in the windows of every -news-shop in London. Some were wood-engravers, some were painters -in a small way, and there were correspondents of the Birmingham, -Manchester, and Liverpool papers also present. All were in the literary -or artistic line, and a few had been in the gallery of the House of -Commons as reporters, doing short-hand work, and there was one really -clever artist, who had illustrated books by some of the best authors -in England. This man was a little scant of hair on the top of the -forehead, and had a light moustache. He had been to many prize-fights, -and had gloated over many a frightful murder, through his sketches in -the weekly illustrated newspapers. He was a merry, good-natured fellow, -with a genuine fund of pleasant anecdote and a liking for Burton ale. - -There was another man very quiet in appearance, and wearing a gray -mixed sack coat, with his bosom open in the style of Walt Whitman. -He puzzled me when I first looked at him, but after a while I found -that he was a German by birth, very recondite,--from Lower Prussia, -domiciled in London for many years, who had written a work with the -mystical title of "Entities of God." None of his intimates had ever -even read this book; with the exception of one man, (a dear friend,) -who was in his debt, and had honored his friendship so far as to read -the preface, but could not get any farther for a different reason from -that assigned by the Heidelberg student, who, after reading a work of -John Stuart Mill, threw down the book in disgust, saying that "it was -too clear;" yet he was respected in this mixed assemblage of topers -and clever fellows, because he had written a book that no one could -understand. Such is the force of intellect. - -There were two Irishmen present who sat in a corner together, drank -together, gave each other a light for the pipes which they smoked, and -quarreled with a fraternal regard. - -[Sidenote: THE RADICAL AND CONSERVATIVE.] - -One was an old man with a grey moustache, an Orangeman, who had been -in America in the old days when Virginia and South Carolina ruled the -Senate of the republic, and since then he had been a correspondent by -turns for some of the London newspapers abroad, and again a literary -hack for the shabby sheets that are read in the obscure holes of the -city. His friend was a much younger man, full blooded, and a thorough -Irish Nationalist, although he disclaimed Fenianism. He was a reporter, -and had an extensive knowledge of his professional associates on the -London press. His name was Fitzgerald, and his venerable friend was -known as Dawson. The German of the profound intellect was called Meyer, -or Herr Meyer. The names of the French dandies I have forgotten; they -were but poor specimens, and did not furnish any entertainment during -the evening. - -There were two reporters of the morning press at this feast of reason -and flow of beer, but they did not contribute much amusement to the -party, as they were discussing the respective rates of salaries on the -_Daily Bludgeon_ and the _Morning Budget_ during the entire evening's -conversation. The two Irishmen were perpetually at loggerheads about -politics, "Fitz" being a Radical, Dawson a Conservative Churchman of -the old school. Occasionally they gave each other the lie, and then I -expected to see them striking out at each other; but in three minutes -after they would vow eternal friendship, and shake each other's hand -with great warmth. The name of the artist was Sullivan. Sullivan hailed -the head clerk with great feeling, and as he sat down there was a drink -all around. - -"Well, old Cockerell," said the vivacious Fitz, "how is Slogger's book -getting on with yeer people?" - -"It 'ill soon be published. We have it on hand now, and expect to sell -twenty thousand copies. The pictures will sell it alone, although, I -must say, Slogger's text is very good for his subject. We are getting -all the trade now. Every fellow that thinks he can scribble comes to -us, and the big fish are also in our net. Murray must have been cut -up pretty bad to find Gladstone leaving him and going to McMillan. It -all comes of having a magazine. A publishing house that can command -the columns of a well circulated magazine can print as many books as -they like, and, what is better, they can sell them. Our house does the -heavy flash business, and it pays well. Old 'Swoslam' is a keen blade, -and is always on the lookout for a novelty. McMillan has sold, I'm -told, four editions of their magazines having the Byron article. Well, -old fellow, how are you (to Sullivan), and what are you doing?" - -"I'm fhoine, me dharling, and me appetite is just as good as ever, but -me powers of dhrinking are failing fast. As for what I'm doing, Miss -Sthabber has got me to make pictures for her new novel, which she got a -hundred and fifty pounds for in the 'Thames Mag.,' and now she is going -to publish it in book form. It's a nice title she has for it, 'The Red -Divil of the Yallow Mountin; or, the Ghost of the Place de Greve.' I -sometimes think the woman is going crazy whin she sinds for me in the -mornin' to talk to her about her new books down Brompton way, where -she lives. I generally find her in bed with a decanther of brandy, -a pot of coffee, and a square box of cigarettes by her bedside on a -table. 'Soolivan,' said she, 'I want two Convent scenes in the sixth -chapter; a rocky pass, with a skeleton standing in the middle of the -gap, his grisly arms outstretched, for the ninth chapter; and in the -fifteenth chapter you must give me a powerful tableoo where the chief -butler is discovered in the room off the banquetting hall poisoning his -misthresses's wine. - -"'For the details I'll trust to your powerful Irish imagination; and -now, Soolivan, you low blackguard, turn your back and help yourself to -the brandy while I'm putting on me wrapper, as I don't wan't you to be -making fancy pictures of 'Vanus going to the Bath,' or any such gammon -as that, for pot-houses, with the great female London novelist--I -believe that's what they call me, isn't it, Soolivan?--as an original.' -Indade, I think that Miss Sthabber is more nor half mad, but I must say -that she is the divil at plots and incidents, and she drinks excellent -brandy." - -[Sidenote: THE SHORT-HAND REPORTER.] - -"Stabber is a clever woman," said Cockerell, the head clerk. "Whackem & -Co., Paternoster Row, sold thirty-two thousand copies of her 'Blue-Eyed -Demon' in three months, and she refused L950 for it from an Edinburgh -house, so Whackem must have given her more. By the way, do any of -your fellows know the name of this man who has written the last new -novel 'Girded with Steel?' I fancy he must be one of your newspaper -fellows, because he has a lot of stuff in it about 'leader writing,' -'my note-book,' 'two columns is more than earthquake should be allowed -in a newspaper,' and there are, besides, the details of editorial life -which an outsider could not know. Who is he?" - -"Oh, he's a young reporter on the _Omniverous Clam_, but I could -not give his name on a pint of honor," said Fitz. "He's a clever -chap, though, and will make his way. He's only been two years in the -professhion, and he's the best short-hand man on the _Clam_ now, so -maybe you know who I mean now." - -"It's Billingsgate," said one. - -"No, it's Gravelly," said another. - -"Boys, ye are not right; it's Goby, and he's five hundred and fifty -pounds the betther of it, which is a nice little lump for a reporther -who gets five guineas a week, and has to work like a horse for that in -the session," said Fitzgerald. - -"Reporthers have harder work now then they had whin I first went in -the Gallery," said old Dawson. "Me father, as yez know, boys, was a -reporther before me; and I might say it runs in the family. Ah! thim -were good times, boys, when the ould man did his short-hand wurruk. He -knew all the great reporthers of the day; and fine fellows they were, -too. There was William Radcliffe, the husband of the woman who wrote -all the bloodthirsty novels. Radcliffe was a mimry reporther, and he'd -go to the House and sit the debates out, and nivir take a note at all, -at all. Then he'd go to the office and dictate two different articles -at a time to the juniors who took it all down, and out it came, -sphick-and-sphan, in the morning, without a flaw. - -"Then there was another grate fellow, ould Billy Woodfall, who had a -paper of his own called the _Diary_; and that was before the House -allowed the reporthers to take notes during the debates. They used -to call him "Mimory Woodfall," because he'd never forget anything -that he had heard; and when strangers would come from the country to -visit the House the first questions they would ask would be, 'Which -is Woodfall?' 'Which is the Sphaker?' Me fawther told me many a story -about him. He had a fashion of bringing hard-boiled eggs with him, -which he carried in his hat, and whin he came to the House he'd take -off his hat carefully, put it between his knees, take the eggs out, -keeping his head well down for fear the Sargint-at-Arrums would see him -eating, and then he'd brake the shells and eat the eggs with as great -relish as if they were game pies. A reporther on an opposition paper -wanted to play a joke on Billy one night, and when he laid his hat down -he took the two hard-boiled eggs out and put two in the hat that had -nivir been boiled at all, and when Billy wint to crack the shells the -yoke sphattered all over his breeches, bedad, so it did. Billy nivir -forgave the joke until the day of his death. Woodfall did all his own -reporthin', and the _Diary_ did well for a time, until the _Morning -Chronicle_ started in opposition, with Perry at the head of it. Perry -hired a lot of reporthers to take notes of the debates and write them -out, and by the time that Woodfall had his notes written out, the -_Chronicle_ was selling in every sthreet in London; and that was what -took all the wind out of poor Billy's sails." - -"Perry was a foine reporther himself, and when the House was thrying -Admiral Palliser and Admiral Keppel for their loives, Perry'd send in -eight or ten colyums every week of the debates, without any assistance; -but, bedad, we wouldn't think much of that now. Woodfall used to say, -in a joking way, that 'he had been fined by the House of Commons, -confined by the House of Lords, fined and confined by the Coort of -King's Binch, and indicted in the Ould Bailey,' for his offinces. Oh, -them were foine times, bedad, whin you could go in and get yer nice -chop and yer glass of sherry, or a sweet little sthake fresh from the -rump, and maybe have the Juke of Wellington and George Canning sitting -at the same table wid ye; and they'd be at the chops and sthakes too." - -[Sidenote: A SONG FROM THE SPEAKER.] - -"Dawson, me boy, tell us about Mark Supple and the Quaker, and take -another jugfull of beer to wet yer whistle," said the artist, who had -just withdrawn his nose from the pewter pot which he was now sadly -contemplating in its mournful emptiness. - -"Oh! is it Supple ye mane, Jimmy. I'll tell ye all about him, yer -riverence, and I'll take a pint of sthout to strinthin' me nerves afore -I begin. Ye see," said Dawson, after he had taken a long pull at the -mug, "Mark was fondher of a joke than he was of his breakfast. He was a -good reporther, too, and liked a little dhrop now and thin, like more -of his counthrymin, God forgive thim. One night Mark was in the gallery -reporthing for the _Morning Chronicle_, when Mr. Addington was the -Sphaker. Mark was a big, raw-boned native of sweet Tipperary, and was -fond of hearing a song at all times. He used to take a glass of wine -or two in Bellamy's, and thin go up in the gallery and take out his -note-book and whack away with the pot-hooks and colophons. Mark was a -foine scholar and a janius. They say he'd dhress up a mimbir's speech, -and put retterick and flowers and poethry into a dull six-mile oration, -and it used to puzzle the mimbirs so that they would hardly know their -own words again. Of course, they all liked Mark, and he sometimes took -a good dale of freedom with thim. - -"He had a mighthy quare style intirely with him, and an English mimbir -who was fond of a joke, like Mark's self, said that Mark's style -of reporthin' was 'a mixture of the hyperbolical, with a vane of -Orientalism and a dash of the bog-throtter.' They are quick enough, God -knows, to sneer about the poor bog-throtters. Well, this night was a -quiet one in the House. A number of the mimbirs were asleep, some were -nodding, some were at their dinners; and when Mark looked down from the -gallery the Sphaker, Mr. Addington, had nothing to do, and there was a -silence in the House so that you might have heard a pin dhrop. All at -once Mark called out in a reckless loud voice: - -"'A song from Mr. Sphaker.' - -"You can imagine the horror of Mr. Addington as he stood up, his tall, -thin figure stretched to its full linth, and his peevish eyes scanning -the House from top to bottom. Every one roared out laughing, and -William Pitt had the tears sthraming down his ould, withered cheeks. -After a while the House recovered its gravity, or rather its stupidity, -and the Sarjint-at-Arrums began his search for the man who had hallooed -in the sacred place. He went up among the reporthers, who all knew the -offindhir; but none of the boys would tell on Mark, who was well liked; -and, bedad, the Sarjint-at-Arrums was bursting his skin with rage. -Seeing that he could not get any information, he turned to Mark, who -was looking as solemn as a toomstone, and asked him if he knew who had -called for a song. - -"Mark purtended that he was very busy with his pencils, and, nivir -sayin' a wurd, pointed his finger to a fat Quaker who sat asleep, two -or three seats off, with his hands clasped quietly over the pit of -his stomach. The Quaker was seized in a minute, and given into the -custody of the House, vainly declaring his innocence, and was kept -in confinement two hours, until Mark, in a manly way, acknowledged -his crime, and was put in the Quaker's place, to meditate on his -foolishness. He was brought to the Bar of the House thin, and let off, -whin he promised to do betther in the future, and nivir call upon the -Sphaker for another song." - -"Tell us about Supple and Wilberforce, Dawson," said Fitzgerald to the -veteran. - -"Oh, that wasn't Supple that played the thrick on Wilberforce: that was -Pether Finnerty," said Dawson. "Pether was on the _Chronicle_; and one -night, when the House was full of business, Pether sat drinking too -long in Bellamy's and lost his turn. When he got into the House, he -asked some of the boys, who had been sphakin'? One of them who had been -present told Pether that Wilberforce had been sphakin' for an hour. - -"'What did he say?' says Pether. - -"'Take out yer book, and I'll give it to ye, me boy, in a jiffy,' says -the other. Pether was so far gone that he would have made Wilberforce -say anything, however ridiculous, and when the other reporther began as -follows, he did not see the joke: - -[Sidenote: THE BEAUTIFUL POTATO.] - -"'Potatoes make men healthy, vigorous, and active; but, what is still -more in their favor, they make men tall'-- - -"Did he say that, the jewel?" said Pether, who was touched with this -tribute to the esculent of his native isle. - -"I'll give you my word, he said it,--'and when I look around this -house, and see before me such fine, vigorous specimens of Irish -manhood, all reared on the potato, and think of my own stunted, weak -figure and attenuated frame, I must always regret and lament that my -parents did not foster me on that fragrant and genial vegetable, the -beautiful potato.'" - -"'Oh! murther!' said Pether; 'but Wilberforce is the fine fellow to use -such poetical language;' and off he wint to the _Chronicle_ office to -write out his notes. And the next morning there it was--the thribute -to the potato and all the rest of it--and all London was laughing at -Wilberforce, and every one believed that he was drunk when he spoke the -words. The next day Pether was brought before the bar of the House to -stand his trial, and Wilberforce rose and said: - -"'Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen: Were I capable of using such language -as was attributed to me in a morning journal, in its reports of -yesterday's debates, I would be unworthy of the attention which I now -claim from this House and unfit to occupy a seat in this honorable -body. Rather would I be worthy of a straight-jacket in a lunatic -asylum, where I might learn better sense of the dignity of this House.' -Pether was let off, like Mark Supple, and he was ever afterwards very -careful in his reports. But the joke stuck to Wilberforce's coat for -many a long day afther." - -By this time the greater part of the Bohemians had left for their -homes, and after a song and a few more stories from Fitz and Sullivan, -the erratic band broke up, and the tap-room was deserted. Such was -the scene--a singular one--which occurs in the old dingy Public House -night after night among the wandering journalists and penny-a-liners -of the London press and their associates of kindred professions. The -old, haunted Public could tell many a ludicrous story of a like kind -had it a tongue to speak--of the amusing, wandering, never-do-well Free -Lances, of the Press, who find food and clothing, and a good deal to -drink, by their ephemeral contributions to the journalistic and light -literature of England's metropolis. - -In addition to the "Carlisle Arms" there is another resort of the -higher class of writers, authors, and artists, in the neighborhood -of the theatres, and this place is known to those who frequent it as -the "Albion." At the Albion, there is an excellent restaurant, and -well-cooked viands, and wines of the best quality, may be obtained -there at reasonable prices. Choice little dinners, illuminated by wit -and humor, are given here by journalists to each other. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -TOWER, PALACE, AND PRISON. - - -THE sun has risen and set for a thousand years on its gray walls; the -grime and verdure of a thousand years have cemented its hoary stones; -nations have grown and decayed; dynasties have been founded and wrecked -irretrievably; a New World has been discovered, and inventive genius -has almost changed the face of the earth and yet the Tower of London, -(cemented by the blood of beasts, as the fable has it,) which saw the -beginning and progress of these changes, still endures, and will no -doubt endure to the end of time. - -[Illustration: TOWER OF LONDON.] - -It seems a long, long time ago, that bleak Christmas day of the year -800, when the Pope of Rome placed the Iron Crown of Lombardy upon the -annointed head of Charlemagne under the dome of St. Peter's, amid the -huzzas of the multitude of Frankish warriors and barons who witnessed -the sacred ceremony, and yet far back in that nearly barbarous age, the -chroniclers tell us in their scholastic volumes of the monasteries, -that a Tower existed in London and on the same spot where now the -wardens patrol in their red tunics and explain historical conundrums to -dull Cockneys. - -And some of the chroniclers go farther back and profess to believe that -the Tower is as old as the Roman occupation of Britain, and do not -hesitate to say that Julius Caesar, who has been accused of so many good -and bad deeds, was the founder of the old forbidding pile of masonry. - -Be that as it may, it is old enough to have earned a lasting infamy, -only once deserved in history by another grim fortress,--its twin -brother and accomplice in blood and oppression, the Bastile Of Paris. -That foul excresence on the fair face of the Earth has been swept away -by the stormy sea of a people's vengeance, while the Tower of London -still remains as a lesson of tradition, to tell of the crimes that God -has permitted kings and dwellers in high places to perpetrate against -the people, who have suffered and died and made no sign. - -The charge to see the Tower of London is only sixpence in these days, -and for a sixpence a visitor may see everything; dungeon and trap door, -axe and scaffold, crown jewels and prison bars, the cages and the -dungeons and graves of those who suffered and died here during the long -night of centuries,--and all this for a paltry sixpence. - -Amid the tramp and thunder of a hundred battles it has stood unshaken; -it is too strong for the destroying hand of man; and time, as if in -reverence, has trod lightly as he has stepped over its massive walls. - -I saw its towers; four of them, standing up against the sky, bellshaped -and surmounted by weather vanes, one day from London Bridge, and having -a curiosity to see a structure, which even more than Westminster Abbey -is coeval with authentic history, I walked slowly to Tower Hill, passed -along the firm drawbridge, paid a sixpence and entering under the -spiked portcullis, I found myself in the Lion Tower which stands at the -corner of the moat or Tower ditch facing the Thames. - -[Sidenote: DELIVERING THE KEYS.] - -The extent of the Tower within the walls is twelve acres and five -roods. The exterior circuit of the ditch--now a garden, or rather an -apology for a garden--surrounding it, is three thousand one hundred -and fifty-six feet. On the river side is a broad and handsome wharf or -graveled terrace, separated by the ditch from the fortress and mounted -with sixty pieces of ordnance, which are fired on the royal birthdays, -or in celebration of any remarkable event. From the wharf into the -Tower is an entrance by a drawbridge. Near it is a cut or short canal -connecting the river with the ditch, having a water entrance called -the "Traitor's Gate,"--State Prisoners having been formerly conveyed -by this passage to Westminster, where the two Houses of Parliament now -sit, for trial. Over the Traitor's Gate is a building containing the -waterworks which supply the interior with water. - -Within the walls of the fortress are several streets. The principal -buildings which it contains are the White or principal Tower, the -ancient Chapel of St. Peter-ad-Vincula, the Ordnance-Office, the Record -Office, the Jewel's House, the Stone Armory, the Grand Storehouse, -and the Small Armory, besides the house belonging to the Constable -of the Tower and other officers, the barracks of the garrison, and -the sutler's shops, commonly used by the soldiers. It is generally a -regiment of the line which serves as a garrison for the tower. - -The principal entrance to the Tower is to the west. It consists of two -gates on the outside of the ditch, a stone bridge built over the ditch, -and a gate at the end of the bridge. - -These gates are opened every morning with a strange, and for the -Nineteenth century, a very fantastical ceremony. - -The Yeoman-Porter with a sergeant and six men march to the Governor's -house for the keys. - -Having received them, he proceeds to the innermost gate, and passing -that, it is again shut. He then opens the three outermost gates at -each of which the guards rest their firelocks while the keys pass and -repass. The gravity with which the guards perform this ceremony, and -the nice precision with which they manoeuvre, is calculated to make -everybody but an Englishman laugh. - -On the return of the Yeoman-Porter to the innermost gate, he calls to -the warden on duty to take the Queen's keys, when they open the gates, -and the keys are placed in the warden's hall. - -At night the same formality is used in shutting the gates; and as the -Yeoman-Porter and the guard, return with the keys to the Governor's -house the main guard which, with its officers, is under arms, -challenges him saying: - -"Who comes there?" - -He answers: - -"The Keys." - -The challenger replies: - -"Pass Keys." - -The guards by order rest their firelocks and the Yeoman-Porter says: - -"God save the Queen." - -The soldiers then answer back: - -"Amen." - -The bearer of the keys then proceeds to the Governor's house and there -leaves them. - -After they are deposited with the Governor no person can enter or leave -the Tower without the watchword for the night. If any person obtains -permission to pass, the Yeoman-Porter attends him and the same ceremony -is repeated. - -The Tower is governed by its constable, called the Constable of the -Tower, and the Chief Nobleman or principal person next to the blood -royal, not including the Archbishop of Canterbury, is chosen to hold -this office by the Queen. At coronations and other state ceremonies -this officer has the custody of and is responsible for the regalia. -Under him is a lieutenant, deputy-lieutenant, commonly called governor, -a fort-major, gentleman porter, yeoman porter, gentleman gaoler, four -quarter-gunners, and forty warders. The warder's uniform is the same as -that of the Queen's Guards, or Beef Eaters. - -It is rarely that the Tower is used as a State Prison, in these days. -When prisoners are detained here, by application to the Privy Council -they are usually permitted to walk on the inner platform during part of -the day, accompanied by a warder. - -[Sidenote: IN THE LION'S MOUTH.] - -The fire which took place toward the winter of 1841 destroyed a great -portion of the grand armory, and materially altered the features of -the Tower. The armory, said to have been the largest in Europe, was -three hundred and forty-five feet in length, and was formerly used as -a storehouse for the artillery train, until the stores were removed -to Woolwich. A very large number of chests with arms ready for any -emergency were in a part of the room which had been partitioned off; -and in the other part a variety of arms were arranged in elegant and -fanciful devices. - -A fearful destruction of property, at once curious and valuable, took -place in this department; but one beautiful piece of workmanship being -preserved. - -This was the famous brass gun taken from Malta by the French in 1798, -and sent with eight banners which hung over the gun, to the French -Directory by General Bonaparte, in _La Sensible_, from which vessel it -was captured by the English man-of-war, _Seahorse_. - -In the Lion Tower, at the entrance, were kept the wild beasts in the -olden times, for the amusement of such monarchs as James I, who was too -cowardly to look upon any strife but that of chained or caged animals. -Here were kept lions, tigers, bears and bulls, wild boars, dogs and -fighting cocks. About one hundred and fifty years ago a young girl who -was employed as servant by one of the keepers, being of a rather bold -and courageous temper, she took pleasure now and then in feeding the -lions, and with great imprudence one day ventured to be a little more -familiar than usual with the king of beasts, relying upon his gratitude -because she was in the habit of feeding the animals. This time she went -too close to the cage of the lion, who caught hold of her arm and tore -it from the shoulder like a shred of rotten cloth, and before any one -could come to her assistance, he gave her a terrible gripe and killed -her instantly. - -Another individual who had charge of the lions and fed them had a very -narrow escape from their claws, and he has related his story as follows: - -"'Twas our custom," he says, "when we cleansed the lion's den to drive -them down over night into a lower place in order to rise early in the -morning and refresh their day apartments by cleaning them out; and -having through a mistake, and not forgetfulness, left one of the trap -doors unbolted which I thought I had carefully secured, I came down -in the morning before daylight, with my candle and lantern fastened -before me to my button, with my implements in my hands to despatch -my business, as was usual, and going carelessly into one of the dens, -a lion had returned through the trap door, and lay couchant in the -corner of the den, with his head toward me. The sudden surprise of -this terrible sight brought me under such dreadful apprehension of the -danger I was in, that I stood fixed like a statue, without the power -of motion, with my eyes steadfast upon the lion and his likewise fixed -upon mine. - -"I expected nothing but to be torn to pieces every moment, and was -fearful to attempt one step back, lest my endeavor to shun him might -have made him the more eager to hasten my destruction. At last he -roused himself, as though to have a breakfast off me; yet, by the -assistance of Providence, I had the presence of mind to keep steady in -my posture, for the reasons before mentioned. - -"He moved toward me, but without expressing in his countenance either -greediness or anger; but, on the contrary, wagged his tail, signifying -nothing but friendship in his fawning behavior; and after he had stared -me a little in the face, he raises himself up on his two hindmost feet, -and laying his two fore paws upon my shoulders, without hurting me, -fell to licking my face, as a further instance of his gratitude for -my feeding him, as I afterwards conjectured; though then I expected -every moment that he would have stripped my skin, as a poulterer does a -rabbit, and have cracked my head between his teeth, as a monkey does a -walnut. - -"His tongue was so very rough, that with the few favorite kisses he -gave me, it made my cheeks almost as rough as a pork griskin, which -I was very glad to take in good part without a bit of grumbling, and -when he had thus saluted me and given me his sort of welcome to his -den, he returned to his place and laid him down, doing me no further -damage; which unexpected deliverance occasioned me to take courage, -that I shrunk back by degrees till I recovered the trap door, through -which I jumped and pulled it after me, thus happily through an especial -Providence, I escaped the fury of so dangerous a creature." - -[Sidenote: THE BISHOP OF DURHAM A PRISONER.] - -The Tower was for many hundreds of years an object of suspicion to the -good citizens of London, who deemed the massive fortress a standing -threat against their rights and privileges. Whenever a monarch wished -to wrest concessions from the Londoners, to wring a large sum of -money from their fears, or commit some other act of despotism, it -was customary, just previous to the attempt against the people, to -strengthen the Tower in its weakest part, and a ditch, or a wall, or -a bastion was constructed, to enable the Governor or Constable of the -Tower to hold the fortress for his Lord the King, in case the citizens -should resist the attempt on their purses or their liberties. - -How little the gaping Cockneys and bulbous-eyed rustics, who stroll -around through the different apartments of this mighty castle, know or -even dream of the great deeds, terrible crimes, and high resolves of -those who have inhabited this Tower of London during a thousand years -of its most eventful and troubled history. - -[Illustration: TRAITOR'S GATE.] - -One dark night during the first years of the reign of Henry I, before -the Traitor's Gate had attained such a terrible fame as it afterward -obtained from the number of the victims who have passed under its grimy -arch, never to pass out except to the block on Tower Hill, a shallop -with two men whose arms lie between their feet at the bottom of the -boat, and a third whose arms are bound, stops at the wall where the -Water Gate is now shown, and in reply to the summons of one of the -armed men, the portcullis is hoisted, and Ralph Flambard, the fighting, -choleric, and rebellious Bishop of Durham, passes under the arch a -prisoner to the King, and the massive iron gates, rusty even then, are -shut firmly ere the sound of the boat's oars have been heard by the -wardens in the Inner Tower. - -In a few days he makes a number of friends among the officials of the -Tower by his merry temperament, and as state prisoners were always -allowed to furnish their own tables in the fortress, the jolly bishop -has many a heavy carouse. Tun after tun of hippocras, canary, and sack -is conveyed to him, and he dispenses those medieval beverages to the -knights and men-at-arms--pages and guards, with no stinted measure. -One evening the Bishop receives a long and strong coil of rope in a -puncheon of Malmsley, and that very night, after he had drank all the -knights, men-at-arms and wardens under the oaken tables, the jolly -bishop flies to the ramparts, lowers himself down into the ditch, and -like the plucky prelate that he was, escapes from Henry's wrath. - -One fine summer day when Henry III is King of England, Cardinal -Pandulph, the Legate of the Pope, presents himself and a long train of -attendants, with sumpter and service mules, at the land postern of the -Tower, and after a loud flourish of trumpets to announce his arrival, -the Cardinal is admitted to the presence of the King; and throws a bag -of Rose nobles on the table before the young monarch, for in those -days the Majesty of Britain did not scorn to borrow 200 marks of -Cardinal Pandulph, and one hundred marks of Henry, Abbot of St. Albans. -The money market was very tight in those days, and Kings often held -dealings with pawn-brokers, for we find Henry VIII pledging or melting -down nearly all the crown regalia to satisfy his creditors. - -[Sidenote: COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE TOWER.] - -There is an apartment of very large and fine proportions in the third -story of the White or Main Tower, supported by two rows of beams. The -timber ceiling is flat, and the walls are pierced with windows on one -side and heavy arches appear on the other side; the whole structure -being of the rudest construction, yet grand looking withal; and this -is the great Council Chamber of the Tower, in which some of the most -startling and memorable scenes in English history have occurred. - -It is Monday, September 29, 1399. The day, which was overcast in the -early morning, has turned out fair and bright, and the Council Chamber -and all the approaches to it are crowded with the highest nobles, -temporal and spiritual, in the land; steel clad knights, mitred abbots, -proud bishops, grave judges in cap and ermine, peers and lackeys, stand -on the stairs and in the ante-rooms, to catch a word or get a look at -the coming grand historical farce which is to end at last in a terrible -tragedy. - -It is the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, and as the sun streams -through the stained glass of the oriel windows, and the shouts of the -London prentices at their games of ball, are wafted to the warder on -the battlements, who carries his partisan to and fro; a deputation -from each house of Parliament, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, -Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and other great Nobles, enters the -Council Chamber to hold a conference with the reigning Monarch Richard -II, now about to resign his Crown to the Protector Bolingbroke, who -afterward as Henry IV, will encounter more vicissitudes and suffering -than the monarch he is about so cruelly to depose. - -The nobles seat themselves, the Protector enthrones himself, and a -ghastly figure, that of Richard II, stalks moodily into the Chamber, -clad in kingly robes, his sceptre in his hand, the Crown upon his head, -and there is silence for a moment among all present. Then Richard -says in a broken voice, but distinctly, "I have been King of England, -Duke of Aquitaine, and Lord of Ireland about twenty-one years, which -Seigneury, Royalty, Sceptre, Crown and Heritage, I now clearly resign -here to my cousin, Henry of Lancaster, and I desire him here, in -this open presence, in entering of the same possession, to take the -sceptre;" "and so," says Froissart, "he delivered it to the Duke, who -took it," and kept it, also, he might have added. - -Before a year had elapsed the unfortunate monarch was put to death in -Pontefract Castle by order of his successor, Henry IV. - -On a May day, in 1471, the streets of London resound with music, and -the populace are all in holiday attire to welcome Edward IV, who -returns victorious from the battle of Barnet, where he has slain, in -cold blood, Prince Edward, son to Henry VI, who is a prisoner in the -Tower. Next day Henry dies in a suspicious manner, and Edward has -leisure for a little while to found the Order of the Garter. - -Edward dies, and he is not cold in his tomb before Richard III ascends, -or rather usurps the throne. - -Edward has left two boys, the eldest of whom is lawful heir to the -Crown, by Elizabeth Wydville, his wife. - -One dark night, the wind soughs in the trees and moans around the -battlements of the fortress, as two men, Miles Forest and John Dighton, -hired assassins, enter the sleeping chamber of the two young princes. -They steal to the bed, and having covered the mouths of the lads with -the bed-clothes and pillows, they throw their heavy bodies across the -couch. There are some faint, stifled moans, for a few minutes, and -then all is still but the mournful music of the storm without, for the -murderers have done their work but too well. - -Sir James Tyrrell, who has been in waiting outside to see that the -bloody deed is accomplished, walks in, looks at the distorted features -of the children, gives an order in a whisper, and the still warm bodies -are carried out, and down a dark stone staircase, and are buried there -beneath a heap of stones to moulder till the Resurrection. - -Here comes William Wallace, patriot and hero, to the Traitor's Gate, in -the year 1305, and after languishing in prison for months he is tied -to horses' tails and dragged forth, through Cheapside, and thence to -Smithfield, to die the death of a dog, his mutilated body being torn to -pieces in the presence of a noisy and hostile rabble. - -[Sidenote: IMPRISONMENT OF ANNE BOLEYN.] - -From this place, Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, is also dragged forth -to St. Giles, in the Fields, and having been hung up over a slow fire -by a chain from the middle of his body for two hours he is slowly -roasted to death. He was a follower of Wickliffe. - -The Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV, is hurried to his death -in the Tower by Richard III, who orders him to be drowned in a huge -hogshead of sweet wine! A mode of death chosen, it is said, by the -victim himself in preference to any other. - -The good and pious Sir Thomas Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, eighty years -of age, is imprisoned here, and is left to starve and rot in a dungeon -of this place of infamy. His misery is such that the man of God has -to write Secretary Cromwell, minister of Henry VIII: "Furthermore I -beseech you to be good, Master, in my necessity, for I have neither -shirt, nor yet other clothes, that are necessary for me to wear, but -that be ragged and rent too shamefully. Notwithstanding, I might easily -suffer that if they would keep my body warm. But God knoweth, also, how -slender my diet is at many times. And now, in mine old age, my stomach -may rot away but with a few kinds of meat, which if I want, I decay -forthwith." - -When this God-fearing man was taken out to be beheaded, his bones -showed through his skin, and women wept and fell fainting at the cruel -sight. - -In the Beauchamp Tower, at the very bottom or foundation, is a -subterraneous cell known as the "Rats' Dungeon," a hideous hell-hole, -below low-water mark, and dark as the despair of the human souls who -were confined there in the days when men were fond of cutting each -others' throats for conscience sake. At high water, thousands of rats -sought shelter in this dungeon until the floods subsided. Woe be to the -poor wretches there confined when the rats swarmed in, screaming like -human beings in agony. - -In this den, prisoners were starved when the rack had failed to wring a -confession from them. Here all their shrieks and struggles were drowned -deep in this infernal hole with only the eye of the Almighty to look -upon the maddening horrors which the wretched prisoners had to endure -before Death came to relieve them. - -One night with the rats was enough,--at break of day only a heap of -gnawed bones remained to tell the tale. - -In one of the upper stories of the Tower there is an apartment with one -grated window and a rough oaken planked floor, where Anne Boleyn was -confined when her royal paramour had determined to send her neck to the -axe. The unhappy woman, as she passed through the Traitor's Gate, read -her fate in its dread aspect, and as she passed beneath its arch she -rose in the barge, fell on her knees and prayed God to have mercy on -her, and defend her from her Royal lover's rage. When she was shown her -apartment, its naked and forbidding aspect terrified her sore, and she -cried out in a maniacal frenzy, "It's too good for me, Jesu have mercy -upon me." Then she knelt down weeping and laughing like a mad woman. -When her head lay on the block the executioner was afraid to strike off -her head, as she refused to have her eyes bandaged, and at last he had -to take off his shoes, and cause another person to approach her while -he came from behind and clumsily hacked off her head. - -When the Marchioness of Salisbury, an aged and venerable lady, was led -to execution, she stoutly declared she was not a traitor, and refused -to lay her head on the block, and the headsman was compelled to follow -her all around the scaffold, striking at her as if she was a bullock, -until finally her gray head was hacked off. - -The Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen of that name, having been -suspected of complicity in the hasty insurrection of Sir Thomas Wyatt, -she was committed to the Tower by order of her sister, Queen Mary. - -As she passed under the Traitor's Gate, through which her mother, Anne -Boleyn, and Wyatt (who had fought for her) had preceded her, the proud -heart of Elizabeth failed her and she burst into tears. At first she -refused to get out of the boat, but seeing that force would be used, -she cried out to the rowers-- - -"Here landeth as true a subject, being a prisoner, as ever landed at -these stairs; and before Thee, oh God, I speak it, having no other -friend than Thee." - -Proceeding up the stairs she seated herself, and being pressed by the -Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir Thomas Brydges, to rise, she answered: - -"Better sit here than on a worse place: for God knoweth and not I, -whither you will bring me." - -She lived to be Queen of England, and the mercy which was shown to her -she refused to many a poor wretch, whose bones Elizabeth allowed to be -gnawed clean and bare in the "Rat's Dungeon." - -One more scene of horror. - -[Sidenote: LADY JANE GREY ON THE SCAFFOLD.] - -As Lady Jane Gray passed out of the Tower by the postern gate to Tower -Hill, she beheld the headless corpse of her husband (who had just been -decapitated) carried out on a cart to be buried in the Tower chapel of -St. Peter-ad-Vincula. - -"All, Guilford, Guilford," said she, "the ante-past is not so bitter -that thou hast tasted, and which I soon shall taste, as to make my -flesh tremble; it is nothing compared to the feast of which we shall -this day partake in Heaven." - -Then she passed on to the scaffold. - -When on the scaffold she turned to the crowd and said: - -"And now good people all, while I am yet alive, I pray of you to assist -me with your prayers." - -Then she knelt, and turning to Father Feckenham, the Queen's chaplain, -asked him: - -"Shall I say this psalm?" - -And Father Feckenham, who was afterwards Lord Abbot of Westminster, -answered: - -"Yea." - -Then she said the psalm _Miserere Mei Deus_ and stood up and gave her -book, gloves, and handkerchief to her two attendant ladies; and she -commenced to untie her gown. - -The executioner said: - -"Shall I assist you to disrobe, Lady Jane?" - -She answered him quickly: - -"Nay, leave me in peace," and her two ladies advanced and disrobed her. - -The headsman then desired her to stand on the straw, after her ladies -had tied a kerchief about her eyes, and as she complied with his -request, she asked him: - -"Will you dispatch me quickly? Will you take it off before I lay me -down?" - -"No, Madam," said he to the last question. - -Then Lady Jane felt for the block, her eyes being bandaged, and -groping, she said: - -"Where is it? Where is it?" - -Laying her head on the block, she said slowly: - -"Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit," and at that instant, her -neck being bared, there was a glitter of steel, a dull thud, and her -head rolled in the sawdust. - -The Jewels and Royal Regalia are kept in a glass case, well guarded by -a warden, who is never allowed to leave the apartment for an instant, -unless when relieved. There is a charge of sixpence extra to see the -Jewel House, and a constant stream of visitors may be found in this -part of the Tower, the ladies particularly taking a great interest in -the splendor of the royal treasures. - -St. Edward's Crown, first worn by Charles II, has since his time been -worn by all the monarchs who have ascended the throne of Great Britain. -This is the identical crown stolen by the daring Col. Blood, and the -one which was placed on the head of Queen Victoria when she was crowned -in Westminster Abbey, nearly two hundred years after it was stolen. It -is a very magnificent one, surmounted with a cross of diamonds. The new -crown, made purposely for her Majesty, is also here, and is made of -purple velvet, hooped with silver, and richly adorned with diamonds. -The ruby in it is said to have been worn by Edward, the Black Prince, -five hundred years ago, and the sapphire in it is considered to be of -great value; the crown altogether is estimated to be worth L100,000. -King Edward's Crown is supposed to be worth at least L200,000. - -[Sidenote: THE CROWN JEWELS.] - -The Prince of Wales' Crown is formed of pure gold, without many -jewels, while that of the Queen's Consort, formerly worn by Prince -Albert, is enriched with pearls, diamonds and other precious stones, -and is worth about L80,000. - -[Illustration: 1. Queen's Diadem. 2. Prince of Wales' Crown. 3. Old -Imperial Crown. 4. Queen's Crown. 5. Queen's Coronation Bracelets. 6. -Temporal Sceptre. 7. Spiritual Sceptre.] - -The Queen's Diadem, valued at L75,000, was made for Maria d'Este, the -unfortunate Queen of James II, who stood cowering in the rain and -sleet, under the walls of Lambeth Church, that awful night when her -husband abdicated, and William, Prince of Orange, landed at Torbay. -Before James crossed the river at Westminster, to join his wife in -their flight from England, he threw the Great Seal of Britain into the -Thames. - -St. Edward's Staff, a part of the regalia, is four feet seven inches -long, bearing at the top an Orb and Cross, the orb containing, it is -said, a portion of the Cross on which our Saviour died. - -The Staff is made of beaten gold, to the bottom of which is fixed a -steel spike, no doubt intended for defence, as a strong arm would be -able to drive it through any assailant. Nothing is known authentically -of the history of this Staff, but it is supposed to date back as far as -the time of the Crusades, on account of the portion of the cross which -it is said to contain. - -The Royal Sceptre is of gold, ornamented with precious stones; also -with the rose, shamrock, and thistle, emblematical of England, -Scotland, and Ireland, all in gold; the cross is richly jewelled, and -contains a large diamond in the centre; the length of the Sceptre is -two feet nine inches, and it is valued at L40,000. - -The other jewelled articles of the regalia are valued at L300,000, and -are as follows: - -The Rod of Equity is three feet seven inches in length, and is made -of gold set with diamonds. The Orb at the top is encircled with rose -diamonds, and in the cross, which surmounts it, stands the figure of -a dove with wings expanded. This is sometimes called the Sceptre with -the Dove. Another sceptre called the Queen's Sceptre with the Cross, -though much smaller, is very beautiful in design, and thickly set with -precious stones. - -[Sidenote: IVORY SCEPTRE AND SWORDS OF JUSTICE.] - -The Ivory Sceptre was made for Maria d' Este, and another sceptre, -found behind the wainscotting in the apartment in which the regalia was -kept, is said to have been made for the Queen of William III. - -[Illustration: 1. Imperial Orb. 2. Golden Salt Cellar of State. 3. -Anointing Spoon. 4. Ampulla.] - -There are also two other Orbs, well worthy of observation, as are also -the Swords of Justice, the Ecclesiastical and Temporal; and the Sword -of Mercy or the Curtana, as it is called. This is pointless, as so is -its title, which could have no point when the sword was wielded by an -English monarch. - -Then there is the Ampulla, to hold the Holy Oil for anointing the -foreheads and palms of the hands and necks of sovereigns. It is said -that Queen Victoria dispensed with the anointing of her royal neck, -fearing that it might soil a very costly lace chemisette which she -wore at her coronation. The Ampulla is made in the shape of an eagle, -and the base holds the oil. Besides the jewels already mentioned, -there are several others, among which are the Armillae, or Coronation -Bracelets, made of gold and rimmed with pearls; the Coronation Spoon, -for pouring out the oil, which is very ancient; and the Golden Salt -Cellar, shaped like a castle, with Norman turrets, windows and doors. -Then there are other salt cellars, a baptismal font, where the royal -children are baptised, a silver wine fountain, and many other valuables -which I have not room or desire to enumerate. Altogether, the crowns, -diadems, sceptres and other articles of the regalia, are worth about -seven millions of dollars, and they are of no use whatever, excepting -for show. - -[Illustration: STATE SALT CELLARS.] - -It must be remembered that hundreds of people die annually of -starvation in London, while these jewels, valued at seven millions of -dollars, are growing rusty, and every shilling which bought these -jewels was wrung from the blood, labor, and misery of the ancestors of -the radical voters who compose the English Trade Unions, and follow the -standard of John Bright. A just and honest Parliament would order the -sale of these Crown jewels, and the sum realized might find many happy -homes in the New World for those who now starve in the rookeries and -lanes of London. - -[Sidenote: A DESPERATE ADVENTURE.] - -There is only one attempt to steal the English Crown Jewels, mentioned -in history, and that was a most audacious one, and planned with a skill -worthy of the man who made the attempt. - -The robbery was committed by Col. Thomas Blood, in 1673. - -He was a native of Ireland, born in 1628. - -In his twentieth year he married the daughter of a gentleman of -Lancashire; then returned to his native country, and having served -there as a Lieutenant in the Parliamentary forces, received a grant of -land instead of pay, and was, by Henry Cromwell, son to Oliver, made -a Justice of the Peace. On the Restoration of Charles II, the Act of -Settlement, which deprived Blood of his possessions, made him at once -discontented and desperate. He first signalized himself by his conduct -during an insurrection set on foot to surprise Dublin Castle and seize -the Duke of Ormond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This insurrection he -joined and became its leader; but it was discovered on the very eve of -execution, and was rendered futile. - -Blood, who was neither afraid of man or devil, escaped the gallows, the -fate of some of his associates, and concealing himself among the native -Irish patriots in the mountains, and ultimately he escaped to Holland, -where he was favorably received by Admiral de Ruyter, the Dutch Nelson. - -Always ready for battle and spoil, we next find him engaged with -the Covenanters in their rebellion in Scotland in 1666, when being -once more on the side of the losing party, he saved his life only by -stratagem. - -Thenceforward Col. Blood appears only in the light of a mere -adventurer, bold and capable enough to do anything his passions might -instigate, and prepared to seize fortune where-ever he might find her, -without the slightest scruple as to the means employed. The death of -his friends in the Irish insurrection, seems to have left in Blood's -mind a great thirst for personal vengeance on the Duke of Ormond, whom -accordingly he seized on the night of December 6th, 1676, tied him on -horseback to one of his associates, and but for the timely aid of the -Duke's servant, would have hanged the astonished and paralyzed noble on -Tyburn Tree, where he attempted to convey him. The plan failed, but so -admirably had it been contrived that Blood remained totally unsuspected -as its author, although a reward of one thousand pounds was offered by -King Charles for the discovery of the attempted assassins. - -He now opened to the same associates an equally daring but much more -profitable scheme, had it been successful: to carry off the Crown -Jewels. It was thus carried out--Blood one day came to see the Regalia, -dressed as a parson, and accompanied by a woman whom he called his -wife; the latter professing to be suddenly taken ill, was invited by -the keeper's wife into the adjoining apartment. Thus an intimacy was -formed which was so well improved by Blood, that he arranged a match -between a nephew of his and the keeper's daughter, and a day was -appointed for the young people to meet. At the appointed hour came -the pretended parson, the pretended nephew, and two others, armed -with rapier blades in their canes, daggers and pocket pistols--a nice -wedding party indeed. - -[Sidenote: FAILURE TO GET A CROWN.] - -One of the number made some pretence for staying at the door as a -watch, while the others passed into the Jewel house, the parson having -expressed a desire that the Regalia should be shown to his friends, -while they were waiting for the approach of Mrs. Edwards, the keeper's -wife, and her daughter. No sooner was the door closed than a cloak was -thrown over the old man and a gag was forced into his mouth; and thus -secured they told him their object, telling him at the same time that -he was safe if he kept quiet. The poor old man, however, faithful to -the trust imposed in him, exerted himself to the utmost in spite of the -blows they dealt him, till he was stabbed and became senseless. Blood -now slipped the Crown under his cloak, another secreted the Orb, and a -third, with great industry, was engaged in filing the Sceptre into two -parts, when one of those coincidences, which a novelist would hardly -dare to use, much less to invent, gave a new turn to the proceedings. - -The keeper's son, who had been in Flanders, returned at this critical -moment. At the door he was met by an accomplice, stationed there as -a sentinel, who asked him with whom he would speak. Young Edwards -replied, "I belong to the house," and hurried upstairs; and the -sentinel, I suppose, not knowing how to prevent the catastrophe he must -have feared otherwise than by a warning to his friends, gave the alarm. - -A general flight ensued, amidst which the robbers heard the voice of -the old keeper once more loudly shouting, "Treason! murder," which, -being heard by the young lady, who was waiting anxiously to see her -lover, she ran out into the open air, reiterating the same cry. The -alarm became general and outstripped the conspirators. - -A warder first attempted to stop them, but being very fat, at the -charge of a pistol which was fired, he fell down without waiting to -know if he was hurt, and so they passed his post. At the next door, -Sill, a sentinel, not to be outdone in prudence, offered no opposition, -and they passed the drawbridge. - -At St. Katharine's Gate their horses were waiting for them; and as they -ran along the Tower wharf they joined in the cry of "Stop the rogues," -and so passed on unsuspected till Captain Beckman, a brother-in-law of -young Edwards, overtook the party. - -Blood fired a pistol but missed the Captain, and was immediately made -prisoner. - -The Crown was found under his cloak, which, prisoner as he was, he -would not yield without a struggle. - -"It was a gallant attempt, however unsuccessful," were the witty and -ambitious fellow's first words; "it was for a Crown!" - -Not the least extraordinary part of this affair was the subsequent -treatment of Col. Blood. Whether it was that Blood had frightened -Charles II, by his audacious threats of being revenged by his numerous -associates, in case of his death on the scaffold, or else captivated -him by his brilliant audacity and flattery combined, it is certain that -Blood, instead of being punished as he should have been, was rewarded -with place, power, and influence, at court. Instead of being sent to -the gallows, he was taken into especial favor, and all applications -through him to the King, for favors, were successful. - -It is said that Blood had told the King that he had been engaged to -kill his Majesty, from among the reeds by the Thames' side, above where -Battersea Bridge now spans the river, but was deterred from the crime -by the air of Majesty which shone in the King's countenance. - -What more delicate flattery could be administered to a King than this? - -Blood died peaceably in his bed in the year 1680. - -It was not to be expected that the notorious favoritism of the -King toward Blood should escape satirical comment, and the Earl of -Rochester, a shameless scoundrel himself, wrote, on the attempt to -steal the Crown: - - "Blood, that wears treason in his face, - Villian complete in parson's gown, - How much he is at Court in grace - For stealing Ormond and the Crown! - Since loyalty does no man good - Let's steal the King, and outdo Blood." - -Edwards and his son were awarded L300 by a not over generous -Parliament, but the delay in payment of the sum was such that Mr. -Edwards was compelled to sell his claim for L120 to a Jew. In this case -virtue had its own reward, but no other. - -[Sidenote: BIRTH-PLACE OF WILLIAM PENN.] - -On the neighboring Tower Hill, which is now covered by fine mansions, -and where the shaft has just been sunk, giving admission to the -Thames Subway under the River, in the old days of violence and blood, -many a noble head was brought to be hewed off by the executioner's -shining axe. Lady Raleigh lived here on Tower Hill after she had been -forbidden to visit her husband in the Tower. William Penn was born in -a little old house in a little old dusty court on Tower Hill, and it -was here that he first imbibed his horror of bloodshed and capital -punishment. At the "Bull," a public house on Tower Hill, on April 14, -1685, died Otway the poet, of starvation, and around the corner in a -cutler's shop, which is numbered with the things that were, Felton -bought a large jack-knife for ten-pence, with which he assassinated -the magnificent Duke of Buckingham. At No. 48 Great Tower street, is -situated the Tavern called the "Czar's Head," built on the site of -an old pot-house, in which the Emperor Peter the Great, and some low -companions, used to meet to drink fiery potations of brandy and smoke -clay pipes. - -In the very same spot, where the scaffold was formerly erected, and -where the gouts of blood fell dripping from the severed necks of -victims of the axe, marine stores are now sold, and sea-biscuits, -pea-jackets, hour-glasses, and quadrants are offered for sale. - -The scaffold was generally built on four strong posts with a platform, -five feet high, and in the centre of the platform was placed the block. -The victim was generally bound, unless by desire the binding was -omitted. - -For the gratification of those curious in such matters, it may be -as well to give the bloody head roll of the most illustrious of the -victims executed on Tower Hill, and the date of their decapitation. - -June 22, 1535, Bishop Fisher; July 6, 1535, Sir Thomas Moore; July 28, -1540, Cromwell, Earl of Essex; May 27, 1541, Margaret Pole, Countess of -Shrewsbury; Jan. 20, 1547, Earl of Surrey, the poet; March 20, 1549, -Thomas Lord Seymour, of Sudeley, by order of his brother, the Protector -Somerset, who was beheaded Jan. 22, 1552; Feb. 12, 1553-4, Lord -Guildford Dudley; April 11, 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt; May 12, 1641, Earl -of Strafford; Jan. 10, 1644-5, Archbishop Laud; Dec. 29, 1680, William -Viscount Stafford, "insisting on his innocence to the very last;" -Dec. 7, 1683, Algernon Sydney; July 15, 1685, the Duke of Monmouth; -Feb. 24, 1716, Earl of Derwentwater and Lord Kenmuir; Aug. 18, 1746, -Lords Kilmarnock and Balmerino; Dec. 8, 1746, Mr. Radcliffe, who had -been, with his brother, Lord Derwentwater, convicted of treason in -the Rebellion of 1715, when Derwentwater was executed; but Radcliffe -escaped, and was identified by the barber who, thirty-one years before, -had shaved him in the Tower. Mr. Chamberlain Clark, who died in 1831, -aged 92, well remembered (his father then residing in the Minories) -seeing the glittering of the executioner's axe in the sun as it fell -upon Mr. Radcliffe's neck. April 9, 1747, Simon Lord Lovat, the last -beheading in England, and the last execution upon Tower Hill, when a -scaffolding, built near Barking-alley, fell with nearly 1,000 persons -on it, and twelve were killed. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE CADGERS OF LONDON BRIDGE. - - -AFTER leaving the Old Jewry Lane and passing up Cheapside, we came into -the Poultry just as the rain had ceased, and as great rifts in the -masses of fog were breaking through the opaque atmosphere. The Poultry -is a short street which runs up to the Mansion House, and during the -noon of the day is nearly impassable from the amount of traffic done -there. Now the shops were all closed, and the bell of St. Paul's rang -out for midnight, the echoes stealing over the city and the river in -a ghostly way that thrilled through the hearts of the pedestrians who -were darkness-bound in the streets. We passed through the Poultry into -King William street, and on past Cannon street, with its warehouses and -retail stores, by East Cheap, until we could see London Bridge, in all -its vastness, looming up like a sleeping giant, the dark arches girding -the river in seemingly everlasting bands. - -The detective said: "Let's go down the stairs of the bridge and see -some of the characters that find board and lodging down the steps. -They're a hawful set, some on 'em." - -The Thames lay at our feet, spread out like a map. The sky was -clearing, and the river was very quiet. Now and then the sullen waters, -driven in an eddy against the huge piers, could be heard plashing in -a secret, stealthy manner, and anon they would recede and come back -again, plash! plash! plash! All about us was so still; not a sound to -be heard as we leaned over one of the alcoves in the bridge. Below us, -to the left, the Catharine Docks, full of shipping; the London Docks, -full of shipping; Shadwell lined with lighter craft--all so still, and -the million of masts looking ghostly in the holy light of the midnight. -Over on the right, Bermondsey-way, more shipping--countless spars -pointing up to the midnight skies; the Pool choked with shipping--coal -barges, eel-boats, East India vessels, brigs and schooners, barks and -black-hulled packets, lying high in the water; flat-bottomed barges -for carrying sand and for dredging; the gray coping stones of the -Tower hanging over the water, and the stillness of death on noisy -Rotherhithe, and a pall over the immense West India docks. - -This great river, this river of all the nations of the world, with -their tributes laid at her docks and their gifts on her broad -bosom--how quiet it is just now. A matchless stream for its congregated -wealth. Miles of warehouses, miles of stone docks, miles of shipping, -and thousands of seamen. And yet a dirty and turbid and ungrateful -river at times, when it overflows the fish-stalls, when it overflows -the high street in Wapping and drowns myriads of rats in Upper and -Lower Thames street. - -[Sidenote: VAGRANCY AND PAUPERISM.] - -We went down the "London Stairs." Every bridge that spans the Thames -has four stairs or flights of stone-steps running down to the water's -edge. These stone stairs are generally twenty or twenty-five feet -wide, and they run down, for a hundred broad, massive and capacious -steps, to where the tide comes in. There are turns in the stairs, and -stone platforms--where the magnificent stone embankment has not been -completed, as it is at Westminster Bridge down the river--under whose -vast arches hundreds of human beings find shelter from the inclemency -of the weather. I may say here that there is not such a city in the -world as London for vagrancy and vagabondism of the worst kind despite -the fact that there are 7,000 police in the metropolitan district; -and besides this force for prevention, the work-houses in the West -District, composing Kensington, Fulham, Paddington, Chelsea, St. -George's, Hanover Square, St. Margaret, and St. John, and Westminster, -furnish in and out door relief to 18,000 persons. Marylebone, -Hampstead, St. Pancras, Islington, and Hackney, in the North District, -provide for 24,820 persons. St. Giles, St. George, Bloomsbury, the -Strand, Holborn, and City of London, in the Central District, provide -for 19,127 persons. Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, St. George -in the East, Stepney, Mile End Town, and Poplar, provide for 28,713 -persons, in the East District. In the Southern District, St. Saviour, -Southwark, Rotherhithe, and Bermondsey; in St. Olave's, Lambeth, -Wandsworth, and Clapham, Camberwell, Greenwich, Woolwich, and Lewisham, -there is provision for 38,487 persons. Here we have a total of 128,880 -men, women, and children, occupants of the union work-houses of the -metropolis of London, with a population of less than three and a half -millions. Besides this number, there are thousands of casuals who -receive lodgings in the work-houses; and outside this fearful aggregate -there are roaming in and about London at least 15,000 vagrants--or, as -they would be called in America, "bummers"--who do not frequent the -work-houses from various reasons, and consequently have to "bunk out," -as we would call it in New York. - -At the bottom of some of the bridges there are heaps of rubbish and old -rotting planking, some of which rubbish is carried off when the tide -leaves the stones of the bridges. Then there are old boat-houses, and -rows of long, stout-built boats for hire; but at night there are no -persons to watch these boats, and they are used as berths to sleep in -by the vagrant vagabonds who haunt the recesses of the bridges. When -the tide recedes in the Thames, it generally leaves a space of twenty -to two hundred feet of the inshore bottom of the river bare on the -Surrey side, and this is generally a soft, drab-looking mud, with a -treacherous look, where man or beast might be swallowed up without any -warning. When the detective and I went down into the dark recesses of -London Bridge, that night, the river was at the flood, and the rubbish -was being carried away by the incoming tide. This was on the Surrey -side of the river. There were about a dozen persons beneath the first -archway, making, in fact, a perfect gypsy encampment. Eight of these -persons were of the male sex, and beside these there were two old -haggard-looking women and a grown girl of twenty years or thereabouts, -and a child of ten years, in all the glory of rags and destitution. -The oldest man in the party might have been fifty years of age, and -the others were younger, one of them being a stout, able-bodied young -fellow of eighteen or nineteen. Some of the party were asleep, and were -snoring most comfortably, as the rain did not penetrate to their place -of sleeping; but every few minutes a gust of wind came howling down the -river and burst through the arches with a mad fury, making the sleepers -turn uneasily on the stone steps. - -[Illustration: THE CADGER'S MEAL.] - -The old fellow, who seemed to be a confirmed vagrant, from his slouchy -look and greasy, unpatched clothes, had built a small fire of the -refuse which abounded in the arches, and he was drying pieces of -driftwood that had floated from the scaffolding on the new Blackfriar's -Bridge down the river. He was warming his hands and slapping them, and -the little girl of ten years was stooped over the fire, toasting an -enormous potato on the end of a splinter of wood. - -[Sidenote: THE LOST GIRL.] - -"What are you herding here for, Prindle," said the detective to the old -fellow, who looked up in a morose way and muttered something under his -teeth which sounded like "D----n the bobbies." - -"I'm a trying to get somethink to heat. Vy vill yer foller a cove -everywheres as wants to get a mouthful to heat. I haint done nothink as -should bring you here arter me. I'm not hon the pad now hany more." - -"I don't want yer pertikler, I don't; but stop yer jaw and keep a civil -tongue in yer head, will ye," said the sergeant. "Whose gal is that ere -a toasting the taty with the skiver?" - -"I'm blessed hif I knows whose gal it his. Ye don't suppose that I'm -the man as makes the Post-hoffice Di-rek-te-ree. She haint mine, I -know, cos I'm not a fool, nor never vos, to have any children. I must -say she is werry 'andy at the taties when a feller wants to get some -winks. But, I say, you got nothink aginst me from the Beak, 'ave you?" - -"No, I have nothing against you just at this partickler moment, but -I dunno how soon I'll have," said the sergeant. "But I have brought -a gentleman here who wants to get some information about this 'ere -precious family of yours, and how you contrive to live, and I want you -to answer him civilly, or I may find something against you that would -hurt your tender feelings, you know." - -"He wants some hinformation habout me and my family, does he? That's -a precious lark, that is. Why doesn't he stay in his bleeding bed and -cover his nose hup in the sheets. I never asked 'im about his familee, -as I knows on. Wot a werry pecoolier taste he has, to be sure. Maybe -he's one of them rummaging Paper chaps as is halways a torkin about -the rights and dooties of the vorkin' classes, and is a-ruinin' of the -country's blessed prosperity?" - -"Father, answer the man civilly, will ye. Yer halways a-making trouble -for yourself by yer bad tongue, and it does other people harm as well -as yourself. Tell him wot you have got to tell, and he'll go away." - -This was said by the young girl, who now came forward and stood looking -at the old man eagerly. She was robed in an old calico gown, rather -tattered at the bottom, and quite besmirched with the washings of the -Thames mud which had clung to the stone stairs of the bridge. The girl -was well formed and tall, and her dress hung from a good figure. Her -eyes were black and glittering, and her bold, coarse, handsome face -was seared with the traces of evil passions, hardship, and reckless -despair. The girl's face told her story before she had spoken. -Childhood and girlhood reeking with the foulness of the gutters, and -then the matured woman a castaway in the deadly miasma of the London -slums. - -"There, aint that a precious daughter for a loving father like me. Oh, -she's a comfort to me in me hold hage, so she is. And she talks of -wirtue and gets on the 'igh 'orse with her poor old father sometimes, -and makes him veep. Oh, vot an ungrateful family I've got, to be sure. -She's no better than she ought to be, anyhow." - -"Oh, stop that bloody talk, old man," said the stout, able-bodied -young fellow, who seemed to be a person of influence in the out-door -establishment. "W'ats the use of throwin' sich things in the gal's -face. Molly's a gal jest like any one else's gal when she can't get -anything to eat. I don't blame her a bit." - -[Sidenote: THE YOUNG CADGER'S STORY.] - -"If I am bad, Jem," burst out the girl, raging with passion, and her -eyes filled with tears, "who made me so? Who kept chiming into my ears -that I had a pretty face and that I ought to sell it? Who, I say? Who -was it," continued the girl, clenching her hands, and her face blazing -with excitement, "that struck me last Christmas night, come two years, -and pitched me out of the hole that we lived in on Saffron Hill? And -then I had to seek a livin' in the streets, and when I was hungry I -took money and sold myself to perdition; and then I had a father who -used to steal it from me when I'd come home to sleep, and he'd take the -few shillings that I earned by my shame, to go and drink it, and none -of ye were ashamed to live on the money that lost my poor soul. Not one -of ye." Here the girl, utterly exhausted, sat down on the stones and -wept as if her heart was going to break, while the ragged child, who -had by this time succeeded in burning her fingers a number of times, -looked on in wonder at the sudden turmoil of vagabondism. The son, a -powerfully built fellow, looked up and said: - -"Molly, I wish your devilish trap ud shut. Wot good does this do any -of ye, I'd like to know. Here I've been hon the aggrawatin' tramp for -two weeks, and I hexpected to see yes all comfortable like, when I kum -home, in Saffron Hill, down St. Giles way, and here I finds yes hall -a-living hunder London Bridge by night, and a-beggin, or doin' wuss, in -the day time. Hits enuff to make a saint swear at his blessed liver." - -"Wuss luck, Jem; wuss luck, Jem; I halways knew as how it would come -to this, a-sooner or a-later," said an old crone in the corner of the -archway, who was smoking a pipe and whom I believed to be fast asleep. - -"Well, sir, if ye'v got no hobjection," said the stout young man, "I'll -tell you our story. It isn't much of a story to tell, after all. The -old man there went to be a navvy and got two shillings a day until he -took to drink; when he had work on the Great Western. They used to -swindle him in the Tommy shops. Them's the shops, you see, where a -contractor who 'as the job to bulk it, keeps the groceries and grub for -the navvies. They skin the navvies so terribly, do these Tommy shops, -and when his week is up, a man has nothing left out of his vages, cos', -you see, they halways manages to run up the bill as high as the week's -vages. Oh! they are precious scoundrels!" - -"Don't call them scoundrels, Jem. Hit's too good a name for them -haltogether," said the old man, who was beginning to doze. - -"Will you shut up?" savagely said the hopeful son; and then he -continued, when he had taken a whiff at the pipe: "Well, by and by the -old man got to drinking so much beer that the whole of the wages was -drawn for lush, and he had nothing to eat during the week excepting -what the other men gave him for charity." - -"Hevery word of that's a lie, Jem. Wot a precious talent you have, to -be sure, for habusin of your poor old fayther." - -"Will you shut up, d----n you?" said the dutiful son, who was fast losing -his temper at being interrupted so often by his fond parent. "I wos -away at sea down on a Cardiff coaster, when the old man came home, and -the gal, there, Molly, was a lace-maker, and wos making eight shillings -a week, and the old woman used to make penny baskets to carry fish home -from the markets, and she got, I suppose, as much as--how much did you -make on them ere baskets, mother?" - -"Two and sevenpence ha'penny a week, Jem, and some of the stuff wos -rotten has an egg, Jem, and I halways had bad hies, Jem--you know I -had--a-crying for you when you wos a blessed baby." - -"There, stop that bell-clapper of yours, will ye? Yez are all crazy, I -think. Well, the short and the long of it wos, that the old man came -home and began to drink everything that he could put his hands on, and -Molly lost her place because the old un _would_ come haround her place -of business, in Tottenham Court road, and her hemployer as was said as -'ow he's blessed if he'd stand hit hany longer, 'aving such a drunken -old bloke a-comin around his shop; and then the gal took to the street, -and she got two months in the Bridewell for wagrancy, and when she came -hout she was wuss nor ever, and then the family got put hout cos' they -could not pay the rent in Saffron Hill, four bob and a tanner a week; -and it all comes of that hold man a-drinking like a swine that we are -here to-night hunder London Bridge." - -"How _can_ you tell sich voppers, Jem, about yer poor old fayther? Ven -you was about two hinches 'igh I used to dandle ye hon me knee, and now -look at yer hingratitude to the hauthor of your beink." - -[Sidenote: TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED CADGERS.] - -"Guv us a taty, Jenny," said the son to the little girl, who was now -engaged in pulling three or four from the dying embers of the fire; -and he snatched one and tore a piece out of it eagerly, hot ashes -and all. Just then a low steamer went past, with her red signal light -shining like a huge glow-worm out upon the surface of the dark river, -and as she went under the bridge her whistle shrieked out on the night -air like a demon, and at the same moment the bell of St. Saviour's in -Southwark, on the Surrey side of the river, tolled in a brazen tone the -hour of one o'clock, and Sergeant Scott suggested to me that we might -as well go about our business and leave the Cadgers to themselves. -"Cadger" is a Cockney term for people who will not work and have no -habitation, but go from one place to another, roaming loosely, picking -up anything they can get, honestly if they can get it that way, and -if not they will not hesitate to steal for a living, or beg when they -find people charitable enough and willing to commiserate their supposed -sufferings. - -There are about 2,500 of this class in and around London, continually -changing their places of residence, and to this class the hopeful -family under London Bridge belonged. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE LUNGS OF LONDON. - - -THE Lungs of London, through which her large masses of population find -respiration and ventilation, are her parks, gardens, and pleasure -grounds. - -The city is admirably provided with these oases, which occur frequently -in the great desert of brick and mortar. - -Nothing can be more grateful to the eye of the stranger sojourning in -the English metropolis, than the frequent views which he encounters -of smooth bits of lawn, upon which large numbers of sheep browse -peacefully; acres of flower beds, in the care of the most celebrated -florists; sheets of water in which nude bathers are disporting -with perfect freedom; or long and wide expanses of green trees and -shrubbery, enclosed by high iron railings, but free to all the citizens -to enjoy and to hold forever. - -[Sidenote: REGENT'S AND HYDE PARKS.] - -Beside the parks and gardens, London has an infinity of squares, -commons, and crescents, which are surrounded by private residences and -inclosed by railings and walls--such as Trafalgar Square (public), -Bedford, Cavendish, St. George's, Grosvenor, Leicester, Soho, Belgrave, -Euston, Finsbury, Fitzroy, Portman, Russell, Wellclose, Hanover, -Brunswick, Eaton, Berkeley, Golden, Mecklenburg, Red Lion, Tavistock, -and a great number of other squares which I do not now call to mind. -The majority of these places have plots of grass and trees, with -fountains and flower-beds, varying in size from a quarter of an acre -to three acres in extent. Then again others have not a blade of grass -or a single shrub to dignify their lonely aridness, and the hum of -cartwheels and the noise of brawling men and women, are heard all day -and into the night ascending from them. Half a dozen of them, like -Belgrave, Grosvenor, and Berkeley Squares, are hemmed in on all sides -by the gloomy and palatial dwellings of the governing class of England, -who seek to absorb even a stray blade of grass, or the leaves of a -scantily clothed tree, sooner than allow the poor and degraded to enjoy -them. - -And so we have green spots, like Golden and Soho, and Wellclose -Squares, exhibiting the various gradations from squalid poverty to -shabby gentility; and in Belgrave and Grosvenor Squares we have all -the indications of refinement, wealth, perfumery, silks, and satins, -combined with a resolve which says to Golden and Wellclose Squares, - -"You are of a different nature from us. We belong to a class which -knows you not, and with whom you can never mingle--never. You are -polluted and degraded. We are the salt of the earth. We lock the iron -gates of our private squares, and you must not enter them; and yet we -have parks and preserves, and Swiss Chalets, and villas at Mentone and -Rome, and spas at Hombourg and Baden." - -And accordingly and most dutifully misery shrinks by high iron walls in -the heart of London, or at most will only peer furtively through the -iron grating of Grosvenor and Belgrave Squares. - -But the public parks belong to the people, and by the people they -are enjoyed most thoroughly. Children, old and young, gray-beard and -adolescent, all flock to these parks; and Regent's Park or Hyde Park, -on a summer Sunday afternoon is a splendid sight, and a similar one -cannot be obtained anywhere else but in Paris pleasure grounds, on a -Sunday, and it was Paris that first taught London to respire through -these public lungs of hers. - -The dimensions of the public parks and gardens of London are as follows: - - Battersea Park, 200 acres. - Kensington Gardens, 380 " - Finsbury Park (in progress), 300 " - Green Park, 71 " - Regent's Park, 450 " - Victoria Park, 290 " - Primrose Hill Park (Cricket Grounds), 50 " - St. James Park, 83 " - Hyde Park, 395 " - Southwark Park (not completed), 120 " - Kensington Oval, (for Cricket Ground), 12 " - Cremorne Garden, 10 " - Botanic Garden, Chelsea, 12 " - Royal Botanic Garden (Regent's Park), 20 " - Horticultural Gardens (Cheswick), 35 " - Kew Gardens, 60 " - Buckingham Palace Gardens, 40 " - Temple Gardens, 7 " - Zoological Gardens, 18 " - Greenwich Park, 200 " - Richmond Park, 2,253 " - ----- - 5,006 " - -Here are five thousand acres of parks, pleasure grounds, gardens, and -cricket fields, all in fine order, and under careful and economical -supervision. Surely London is well provided for in the way of open -air amusement. Besides, bands play in the different parks and squares -almost daily. In St. James Park, Regent's Park, and Hyde Park, bands -play every afternoon in inclosures set apart for that purpose. Some of -these bands are formed of old musicians and veterans who have served in -the Crimean and Indian wars. There is a body of men distributed over -London, who wear a uniform of semi-military fashion, and are called -the "Corps of Commissionaires," who can be sent on errands, with or -for packages or letters, and from this body two full bands have been -formed, who earn a decent subsistence by playing in St. James Park and -Regent's Park, every pleasant afternoon during summer. - -[Sidenote: WHAT THE PARKS CONTAIN.] - -In the inclosures, where these bands furnish music, chairs are -arranged, and all persons who enter and take seats are expected to -contribute two-pence toward the musicians for the pleasure of hearing -the music. - -[Illustration: BATHING IN HYDE PARK.] - -There are also sheets of water in Regent's Park, Victoria Park, -Battersea Park, St. James' Park, and Kensington Gardens. The sheet of -water, or stream, in Hyde Park, is known as the "Serpentine River," -from its sinuous course. This is quite a large sheet of water, and is -much frequented for free bathing, on warm days in the heated term. -Here, thousands of people may be seen on a sultry afternoon, plunging -to and fro in the cool waters, and in case of any accident--for the -water is deep--the boats, ropes and drags of the Royal Humane Society's -Life Saving Apparatus, are always ready for immediate use, and numbers -of people are rescued and taken from the Serpentine, and resuscitated. - -When the winter months come, and the Serpentine becomes frozen over, -the Londoners congregate there in great numbers to skate, or play at -golf or curling. - -There is a large lake in the Regent's Park ornamented with small, -well-wooded islands, and in Kensington Gardens there is one of the -finest museums of art, science, and curiosities, in the world. There -are rocky dells, and grounds for sham fights, in Hyde Park, there are -the rarest exotics in the Palm House at Kew, and every known species of -bird, beast, reptile, and fowl, may be found in the Zoological Gardens, -which comprises eighteen acres of space in the Regent's Park. - -In Richmond Park, which is ten miles distant from the London Post -Office Centre, there are two thousand three hundred acres of hill, -dale, plain, and forest, and here are to be found deer-parks, rabbit -warrens, romantic foot-paths, ancient oaks, horse-chestnuts, and thorny -ridges, with a variety of sequestered spots for pic-nics and pleasure -parties. This noble park can be reached by a sail of fifteen miles on -the River Thames, which is skirted by Richmond Park for some distance. - -There is a grand Observatory for scientific purposes in Greenwich Park, -which is noted all the world over for its correct calculations, and all -the watches and clocks in Great Britain are set by Greenwich time. - -[Sidenote: THE WORLD'S FAIR.] - -Bushy Park, at Hampton Court, where there is a splendid gallery -of ancient and foreign paintings and sculpture, the property of -the nation, and free to the people, was formerly the residence of -Cardinal Wolsey. This royal palace and park is to London what St. -Cloud is to Paris. The palace stands on the banks of the Thames, and -when completed, in 1526, for the great Cardinal, it contained 282 -apartments, and as many beds. The Great Hall is inferior to none in -England, and is ornamented with stained-glass windows, stags' heads, -spears, flags, trophies, figures of men-at-arms, and other medieval -ornaments, and the walls are hung with tapestry, depicting the story of -the Patriarch Abraham's life. The largest grape-vine in the world grows -in the park, and extends over a space of 3,000 feet. This vine was -planted one hundred years ago, and produces, every year, about 2,000 -bunches of black, sweet grapes, which are reserved for the Queen's -private table. An attendent, showing the royal vine to me, informed -the writer that it was high treason to steal the grapes, and I have no -doubt that he believed what he said. The Queen has, also, a bed-room -here, which she wisely refrains from sleeping in, as, I have no doubt, -she would catch influenza from the draughts. - -But the great curiosity of Hampton Court Park, is the "Maze," an -intricate complication of pathways, that wind in and out, and which -have served as a standing conundrum and riddle from time immemorial, -for the amusement of the Cockneys. Any one who enters this maze without -a guide cannot leave it again, so intricate and puzzling are the -foot-paths, which are overshadowed, embowered, and interlaced with -young trees and umbrageous shrubbery. By fastidious Londoners this maze -is called the "Labyrinth." - -[Illustration: THE LABYRINTH.] - -One of the most popular places of rural resort in the vicinity of -London, is the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, a suburb of the metropolis, -and about ten miles from the city. - -It is no exaggeration to say, that next to St. Peter's, at Rome, this -is the most wonderful structure in the world, and equals in point of -magnificence, some of the creations of the Arabian Nights. - -When the great World's Fair of 1851 ended, there was a general desire -among all Englishmen, that this magnificent structure, which had held -the great cosmopolitan show, should not be destroyed. A committee of -some nine gentlemen was formed, by whose direction it was taken to -pieces for the purpose of reconstruction. This committee had purchased -the building, and a company was chartered with a capital of L500,000, -in shares of L5, and so confident were the Londoners of the success of -the new scheme, that the shares were quickly taken up and the operation -of removing the vast building to Sydenham, its present site, was -commenced. - -[Sidenote: THE CRYSTAL PALACE.] - -The new structure was begun, and the first column raised, on the 5th of -August, 1852; and, immediately after, several gentlemen were despatched -to the principal cities on the Continent for the purpose of bringing -to England casts of the finest pieces of sculpture in existence, and -other specimens of the fine arts. The splendid Park, Winter Garden, -and Conservatories were committed to the management of the late Sir -Joseph Paxton, who invented the architectural part of the Palace of -1851. The arrangements of the various other departments were assigned -to men of eminence and skill, in whose hands the structure grew, until -it quickly attained its present splendor, and the New Crystal Palace -was at length opened to the public on the 10th of June, 1854. Some -idea of the magnitude and extent of the operations carried on in the -fitting up of this enormous house of glass may be gathered from the -fact, that at one time there were no fewer than 6,400 men employed in -carrying out the designs of the directors. The edifice is completely -transparent, being composed entirely, roof and walls, of clear glass, -supported by an iron framework; and it is said that these materials -are more durable than either marble or granite, and, if properly cared -for, will utterly defy the ravages of time. The extreme length of the -Palace, including the wings, is 2,756 feet; which, with the colonnade -leading from the railway-station to the wings, gives a total length -of 3,476 feet, or nearly three-quarters of a mile. The width of the -great central transept is 120 feet; and its height, from the garden -front to the top of the louvre, is 208 feet, or six feet higher than -the Monument on Fish Hill. It consists of a basement floor, above which -rise a magnificent central nave, two side-aisles, two main galleries, -three transepts, and two wings. In order to avoid sameness and monotony -in such an immense surface of glass, pairs of columns and girders -are advanced eight feet into the nave at every seventy-two feet. An -arched roof covers the nave, and the centre transept towers into the -air in fairy-like lightness and brilliancy. There are also recesses -twenty-four feet deep in the garden fronts of all the transepts, which -throw fine shadows, and relieve the continuous surface of the plain -glass walls; and the whole building is otherwise agreeably broken -into parts by the low square towers at the junction of the nave and -transepts, the open galleries toward the garden front, and the long -wings on either side. The building is heated to the genial temperature -of Madeira, by an elaborate system of hot-water pipes, and the supply -of water is drawn from an Artesian well. The Tropical Department, -once a great feature of the Palace, has ceased to exist; having been -destroyed by fire about three years ago. - -[Illustration: THE CRYSTAL PALACE.] - -There are large and beautiful pleasure grounds all around the Crystal -Palace, and all the great national fetes, concerts, and open air -demonstrations, take place here. Patti, Nillson, and Sims Reeves, sing -here in benefits for charitable associations, and for a shilling, a -person may listen to ballads on Saturday afternoons, at these concerts, -sung by the greatest living English tenor. Then there are acres of -restaurants and dining saloons inside and outside of the Crystal -Palace, and apparatus and cooking utensils are on the premises, whereby -ten thousand people may find dinner, all at one time, and sit down to -tables in five minutes after dinner has been ordered. During the long -summer evenings, promenade concerts are held at the Crystal Palace, and -fireworks are let off in the presence of great crowds, who enjoy the -sports and junketings much as a New York crowd may do on a Fourth of -July night, in the City Hall, or Madison Park. - -The contents of the Palace itself are calculated to puzzle the brains -of a philosopher. Everything wonderful, curious, precious, or difficult -to find at any other place, may be found at the Crystal Palace. - -Specimens of architecture, sculpture of all ages, tombs, temples, -busts, statues, capitals, hieroglyphs, from Greece, Rome, Egypt, and -Italy, portions and entire courts from the glorious Alhambra, gigantic -relics and ruins from the Palaces of Babylon, Susa, and Nineveh; -fragments of the Christian temples of Italy, the castles and churches -of Germany, the Chateaux of Belgium and France, and the Cathedrals and -Mansions of England, from the earliest ages to the present time, all of -which are arranged in "courts" in the most systematic order. - -Beside these there are many Industrial "Courts" containing the most -wonderful and useful inventions of the genius and scholar. Then there -are gigantic models of the tremendous animals who existed before the -flood, with models of huge and hideous reptiles, and saurians, who did -their level best in the same period. - -[Sidenote: COST OF GROUNDS AND BUILDING.] - -Some sunny Saturdays as many as fifty thousand people pay visits to -the Crystal Palace, and to see and enjoy all these wonders, the -charge is only one shilling, including concerts, music, fireworks, and -flirtations. - -The last time I was there it was on the occasion of the Royal Dramatic -Fete, for the benefit of the profession, and fully a hundred thousand -persons were present, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, and -many of the nobility. - -The entire cost of grounds and building, with works of art and -curiosities, was seven million dollars. There were 15,000,000 of -bricks, 6,000 tons of iron, 20,000 loads of timber, 300,000 superficial -feet of glass, 1,200 iron columns, one mile and a half of clerstory -windows, and other materials in proportion, used in the construction -of the edifice, and the space of ground enclosed under the transparent -roof is twenty-five acres, being one-fifth greater than the area of the -base of the Great Pyramid. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE RAKES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. - - -ENGLAND has been singularly unfortunate in her Royal Families. - -York and Lancaster, Plantagenet and Tudor, Stuarts or Hanoverians, -they have been, with here and there an odd exception, a very bad lot, -morally speaking. - -It is a curious history of crime and bloodshed, of dishonor, perjury, -and harlotry, this history of the Monarchs of England, since the -days of William the Norman, who had three illegitimate children, and -massacred thousands of his Saxon subjects every year, down to the days -of George IV, the most gentlemanly blackguard of his time and of Europe. - -[Sidenote: VAGABONDS IN KINGLY ROBES.] - -Roll back the hoary gates of the past, and look at Richard Crookback, -who reveled in blood, and died in Bosworth Ditch, a death only a little -better than that of Edward IV, whose children Richard basely murdered, -and we find succeeding him a scoundrel like the Eighth Henry, a brutal -fiend, with his six successive wives, all of whom perished miserably, -but the first and last wives, Catharine of Arragon and Catharine Parr; -and then we find his two children--Mary, an honest fanatic, burning -human beings for the honor of God; and next comes Elizabeth, who has -been facetiously styled the Virgin Queen--with her paramours and -favorites. Follow this hideous old spinster to the yawning verge of -the tomb, and she is still to be seen with her parchment visage and -grey hairs, seeking new lovers, or butchering the unfortunate Queen -of Scots, until at last the dread moment of all approaches, when she -tells her horrified chaplain that she will give millions of money for -a moment of time. Then we have a pusillanimous monarch, James I, who -spends his best years discovering witches and writing fantastical -and forgotten treatises against tobacco, or permitting a man like -Bacon--whose life was worth that of a thousand Kings, to be degraded -and made miserable, till at last his great, far seeing eyes are closed -in a final sleep--his heart having broken to pieces in the meridian of -his genius. - -Then comes Charles I, a good man in his mild way, a patron of the arts, -a good husband and father, but withal he is doomed to the block. - -Vainly he endeavors, in battle and statecraft, to stem the onward march -of the people who are determined to hurl all obstacles from their path -which stand in the way of their new ideas. - -And now comes up the Brewer, Oliver Cromwell, one of Carlyle's heroes, -(and by the way, all of Carlyle's heroes are dripping with blood,) a -most accomplished and unrelenting butcher, one who thanks God for his -"precious mercies" when a thousand men, women, and children are driven -over a bridge into a deep river beneath, impelled by the pikes of his -ruffianly soldiery. Then he dies, and Charles II, a dissolute royal -scamp succeeds, and he of course has to dig up the crumbling skeleton -of Cromwell to hang it on Tyburn tree, that all men may see what manner -of divinity it is that should hedge around a King. - -Think of this royal vagabond, who has for his mistress a Stewart, -a Duchess of Cleveland, a Louise de Queroailles, who also becomes -a Duchess of Portsmouth, and last but not least, poor simple, soft -hearted Mistress Nelly Gwynne, who left to the nation Greenwich -Hospital to atone for her lost soul. - -It might be expected that in these days of the daily newspapers and -telegraph wires, of railroads, female suffrage and personal journalism, -that royalty, and notably, English royalty, would improve, from a -slight sense of decency and a proper regard for public opinion, if for -no other cause. Let us see. - -Ten years ago I vainly endeavored to penetrate the dense masses who -lined Broadway, New York, and filled the air with their shouts, as an -open barouche, containing the then Mayor of the chief city of America, -sitting on the back seat, and a fair faced youth with flabby skin and -retreating chin, clad in a scarlet uniform and having an Order of the -Garter pendant from his breast, passed up the thronged thoroughfare -between two lines of citizen soldiery, whose bayonets, bright as -silver, reflected back the many hues of the excited and surging masses. - -Five hundred thousand people of both sexes had turned out in holiday -attire, that ever memorable day, to do honor to a foreign prince, -whose government, since that thoughtless hour, sought during the -terrible confusion of a civil war, by every means in its power, by -money, influence, by Alabama pirates, by unceasing and bitterly hostile -journalistic attacks, by speeches in and out of Parliament--through the -pulpit and the rostrum, to destroy the Republic of the West. In fact -that government moved Heaven and Earth to annihilate and obliterate the -liberty, union, and might of the American people. - -Such a reception had not been given, twenty-five years before, to -the gallant, noble-minded, and chivalric Lafayette, the companion of -George Washington, one of the finest characters in all history, or the -unwritten records of mankind. - -This fair-faced, flabby-skinned youth, in the lobster colored and laced -coat, who stood up in the open carriage, (hired from the New York -Corporation hack-driver-in-chief, and charged for in the bill afterward -rendered, at five times the real price,) was no less a personage than -Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Fellow of Trinity -House, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, a General in the British Army, -(like Captain Jinks,) Baron Renfrew, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Dublin, -and eldest son of Queen Victoria that is, and in the future to be King -of England and Defender of the Faith, by the Grace of God and the -permission of the Radical English Trades Unions. - -[Sidenote: A CHANGE FOR THE WORSE.] - -He was not a very bad looking lad of nineteen or twenty, that -sunny afternoon, as he bowed repeatedly and raised his Generals' -chapeau, with its plume of feathers, and doffed it to the radiant -republican female faces, and curtesied like a backward school boy, -in acknowledgement of the wild shouts which pealed upward in the -clear atmosphere, although no spectator there could have accused -him of having an intellectual or cultured face. How well we can all -now remember, to our shame, the manner in which he was petted, and -caressed, and toadied, and dined, and wined, until in the estimation -of his toadies he had almost attained the stature of a God, this boy -with the retreating chin and imbecile face--this hope and pride of the -Guelph family. - -Still with all the marked and inherent imbecility of a descendant of -George III in his features, the young scion of royalty had not, at that -time when I first saw him, developed the seeds of immorality, want of -honor, meanness, and utter sottishness which have since made his name -infamous among his subjects, and despised by the princes of Europe. - -The young lad for whom America could not do too much honor in feteing -and feasting, has since surrounded himself with pimps, panders, -parasites, and blackguards, of the lowest kind. - -His name is a bye word of scorn in the British metropolis, and for a -lady of rank or position to be seen three times in his neighborhood, is -certain dishonor to her and her relatives. - -It was nearly ten years after that bright sunny day, in Broadway, with -its shouting multitudes and noisy cheers, before I again saw His Royal -Highness Albert-Edward Prince of Wales. - -One night, in going through High Holborn, and being without any settled -purpose as to where and how I should spend the evening, I accidentally -noticed the blazing gas lamps of the "Casino," a well-known dancing -hall, frequented by the loose livers and aristocratic idlers of the -English Capital. - -After a moment's hesitation I entered and found the place--as is -usual on summer evenings at all the London dancing halls--pretty well -crowded. - -Scores of couples, of both sexes, were whirling frantically in the -Old-World Teutonic waltz, and in the flushed faces and excited gestures -of the gyrating dancers I could notice a total forgetfulness of modesty -and decorum. - -From the alcoves came the sounds of the clinking of wine-glasses, the -rattle of Moselle bottles, the pop, pop, of champagne corks, and songs, -choruses, and loud shouts of laughter, together with a Babel-jabber of -many confused tongues. - -My attention was attracted while listening to the music from the fine -band, to a group that occupied a position which partially screened them -from the glances of the larger portion of the audience and dancers, -sitting and standing back as they did in an alcove. - -[Illustration: PRINCE OF WALES.] - -There were a dozen persons, perhaps, in the party, of both sexes, five -or six men fashionably attired, and as many women, in all the grandeur -and magnificence of harlotry--open and defiant--but well-bred harlotry. - -There were two central figures conversing in this group, and I could -see that they were listened to with attention while speaking, one of -them, particularly, a slightly bald-headed man, having secured the ears -of his audience. - -The other central figure was a woman, beautiful, but of that beauty -which is leprous to the sight, and fatal to those who encounter it as -the shade of the Upas Tree. - -"Who is that man?" said I to an usher, nodding in the direction of the -bald-headed person. - -[Sidenote: THE PRINCE AND HIS FRIENDS.] - -"That _man_" said the flunkey, "why, that's not a _man_, that's His -Royal 'Ighness the Prince of Wales,--and long may he reign over us." - -And this worn, blase, sottish and almost brutally stupid-looking person -in the Scotch tweed suit, with drooping eye-lids and sore eyes,--as if -he seldom went to bed, and then did not stay long in it, looking to be -forty-five years of age; prematurely bald, and without a particle of -that apparent divinity which, it is said, doth hedge a monarch, was the -self-same young lad of twenty, whom I had seen environed by bayonets in -Broadway, ten years before. - -But how changed he was! Long nights of dissipation and debauchery -had seamed the once youthful and unwrinkled features, and the under -part of the face hung in heavy, adipose folds, like the dewlaps of a -bullock. His figure was stout and without grace, and to me he seemed -like a beer-drinking bagman or commercial peddler, half John Bull, half -Hanoverian. The tweed suit, a material which he affects very much, was -not at all calculated to set off or adorn his figure, and the great -grandson of George III looked very undignified indeed as he leaned over -the painted harlot resplendent in silks, and glistening with jewels, -who is known to all wild London scapegraces, and young men about town, -by the name of Mabel Gray, a name assumed for a purpose--to hide her -identity with the gutters from which she has sprung. - -The Prince of Wales, despite all the counsels and admonitions of the -Queen (of whom whatever may be said, the merit cannot be denied her of -being a good mother), has, I regret to say, the reputation of being a -very sorry scamp. - -His intimates are, generally, the worst and most abandoned roues of the -Clubs, the lowest turf blackguards and swindlers, and when he chooses -a companion who is not a swindler or a blackguard, a debauchee, or a -decoy, he is sure to be a fool. - -The young man standing by the side of the Prince of Wales when I -entered the dancing hall, was Charles, Lord Carington, whose mother was -of the great family of d'Eresby, the head of which is Lord Willoughby -d'Eresby, Lord High Chamberlain of England, to whom is entrusted the -duty of looking after the morals of the English people and the sanctity -of the British drama. It is he who gives passes to the House of Lords -on Saturdays, on slips of blue paper which the unwashed are very eager -to obtain; and it is also the duty of the Lord High Chamberlain to -watch every new burlesque when produced, in order that the skirts of -the ballet girls and blondes may be of the proper length, and not too -short for the proprieties. - -Lord Carington's grandfather was a rich man named Smith, who was -ennobled for some reason or another, and his large fortune and title -has descended to the present possessor, who is known to be one of the -wildest and most rakehelly young noblemen in London. He is a lieutenant -in the Guards of the Queen's Household Brigade, and one of the boon -companions of the Prince of Wales. The latter is constantly to be found -in company with this "Charley Carington," as he is called, who was the -perpetrator of a most cowardly outrage upon the person of Mr. Grenville -Murray, an aged gentleman who was supposed to be proprietor and editor -of the "Queen's Messenger," a satirical weekly journal, in which Mr. -Murray was said to have written several scathing articles upon the -"Hereditary Legislators" of England. In one of these articles a sketch -was given of Lord Carington, under the title of "Bob Coachington, Lord -Jarvey," in which the practice of driving a mail coach and four horses -to and fro between London and its environs and taking up passengers for -money, a favorite pastime of Lord Carington, was referred to in no very -flattering terms. For this supposed affront, without any positive proof -to warrant the outrage, the gallant Lord Carington, aged 25 years, -set upon Mr. Murray, as he was coming out of the Conservative Club, -of which he was a member, and beat him badly. Mr. Murray is about 60 -years of age, and was of course not able to defend himself, and when -he sought justice in the usual way at the Marlborough Street Police -Station, of the magistrate, Mr. Knox, he found the Prince of Wales and -a number of titled ruffians sitting on the bench along side of the -dispenser of justice! - -[Sidenote: TWO IMBECILES.] - -Of course Mr. Murray received no justice in that Court, and not only -was he refused satisfaction, but in addition an attack was made upon -the person of his counsel, when a libel suit had been preferred against -the "Queen's Messenger," by the aristocratic friends of Lord Carington -and the Prince of Wales, who did this to intimidate him from writing -farther in his journal of the scandalous conduct of the Queen's -relations and the rottenness of the higher nobility. - -In addition to this Mr. Murray was expelled from the Conservative Club -by a ballot of one hundred and ninety votes, only ten members of the -Club having the personal courage to withstand the influence and threats -brought to bear against them by the Prince of Wales, Lord Carington, -and their minor satellites. - -Lord Carington is fond of driving his coach and four and taking up -passengers in the outskirts of London, charging them a nominal fare. -While sitting on the box or seat of the coach he usually holds to his -lips a huge horn, which he toots like a raving maniac, much to his own -satisfaction and the edification of the floating community, who with -the fondness of all Englishmen for a live Lord, smile benignantly if -not affectionately upon this imbecile young nobleman. - -In the words of the song, the "Prince of Wales goes everywhere to see -the sights of town" with Carington, and at the Dramatic fete at the -Crystal Palace in 1869, while his beautiful, good, and neglected wife -sat on a dais and received the donations for the Dramatic College, the -Prince manifested in public his intimacy with Carington by laughing -and conversing with him, arm-in-arm, much to the horror of all the -pious old dowagers who were present and had heard wild stories of Lord -Carington. - -Mabel Grey, who has ruined scores of young aristocrats and brought -them to beggary, is the reputed mistress of Lord Carington, and has -made several visits with him to Paris, Baden, and other places on the -Continent. It is said that he has already squandered twenty thousand -pounds upon this well-bred harlot, and it is the current talk in London -that the Prince of Wales has also been on terms of an improper intimacy -with Mabel Grey. At all events he is not ashamed to be seen speaking -to her in Casinos or addressing her in public places, and the dear -Prince has on several occasions been seen drinking champagne with her -in the music halls and dancing rooms of the English capital. This is a -very bad business for a bald-headed father of five children. - -[Illustration: PRINCE AND CABMAN.] - -The Prince of Wales, with all his immense riches, is mean and very -penurious in money matters. He will argue for fifteen minutes with a -cabman in the street about an over-charge of a sixpence, and has been -known to get into an altercation with ticket sellers in the box offices -of places of amusement for the sake of a shilling or half a crown, in a -most undignified way. One night when getting out of a cab at Cremorne -the driver attempted to charge the Prince four shillings for a ride -when he should have charged him but two-and-sixpence. The Prince, who -was a little intoxicated, refused to pay the over-charge. The London -cabbies are the most impudent, brassy set of fellows I ever saw, and -this cabman was more than usually pugnacious. The Prince attempted to -go into the Garden, and had presented his ticket, when the cabman with -a yell clutched his coat, and tore away the skirt in the struggle to -get more fare. The Prince was recognized by some of the attendants of -the place, and the horrified cabman was handed over to the police for -assault on the blood royal. Fearing the ridicule of the London press, -the Prince told the policeman to release poor Cabby, who was only too -happy to escape transportation for life. - -[Sidenote: INFAMY OF THE PRINCE.] - -For the past seven years the Prince of Wales has been a prominent -actor in almost every scene of aristocratic dissipation and debauchery -which has been enacted in the English metropolis. He is well known -in the coulisses of the Opera, and has openly maintained scandalous -relations with ballet dancers and chorus singers. Even the shame of -the thing would not restrain him from loudly and familiarly applauding -and clapping his hands, whenever any of these female favorites of his -came on the stage, while the strains of Beethoven or Rossini could not -elicit from him as much as a smile of gratified approbation. The taste -of the Prince for music may be imagined from the fact that "Champagne -Charley," and "Not for Joseph," are his two most cherished melodies. - -His relations with Mademoiselle Helena Schneider, the opera bouffe -singer, were most notorious, and he has been known to leave the bed -side of his wife in her illness to hasten to Paris at the summons of -this notorious woman of Darkness, and Sin, and Shame. - -Among his special female favorites, are many of the better known -soubrettes of the London and Parisian theatres, and notably he was an -admirer of Finette, the famous Can-can danseuse of the Alhambra. - -He is flippant, shallow, and heartless, and the record of his life thus -far has caused many a scalding tear to fall from the eyes of his royal -mother. - -The London _Lancet_, the highest medical authority in England, found -it necessary, some eighteen months ago, to deny the charge that was -made openly against the Prince, which if true, would stamp him with -infamy. The Princess of Wales, who is a good and noble lady in every -sense--and a long suffering one in some respects--during the summer of -1869, visited the baths of Wildbad, in Germany, for the benefit of her -health, which had been sadly impaired. I dare not in these pages insult -my readers by giving the cause of her ill-health, which is more than -whispered about in English society. - -The Prince has, I believe, five handsome children--their good looks -coming to them from their vigorous Norse mother, but it will not be -from any precaution taken by their father, if they do not hereafter -suffer from the results of his early indiscretions and follies, in the -Haymarket and the purlieus of Paris. - -In a good many respects the Prince of Wales resembles another Prince -of Wales--one who succeeded his father as King. I mean George IV. Like -him, Albert Edward is already a broken debauchee, and like George IV -Albert Edward has a vicious way of making his wife suffer through his -follies and disgraceful behaviour. Unless the Prince is predestined to -experience a sudden and speedy conversion, it is more than probable -that the next King of England will excel and put to shame the open acts -of profligacy which made George IV so notorious. - -One thing could be said for George IV which cannot be said for the -Prince of Wales. The former was a gentleman in manner if not one at -heart--but this Prince, while being thoroughly heartless and "stingy," -has the breeding of a waiter in a lager beer saloon. He is heavy, slow, -unready, hesitating, and flabby, without a spark of culture or a trace -of the refinement which belongs to his station. - -[Sidenote: PRINCE AND BREWER AS FIREMEN.] - -His Royal Highness has a great passion for running with the "masheen," -as a New York rowdy would term it, and Captain Shaw, of the London Fire -Brigade, is greatly admired by the Prince for his gallant management -of that very efficient Corps. The latter has often taken a ride on a -fire engine through the London streets. The Prince, while on a visit -to Brighton some years ago, made the acquaintance of a rich young -London brewer, who had more money than brains. This was just the sort -of a man to suit the Prince, being very fond of rich young men, who in -many cases are only too happy to have the honor of paying the bills -contracted by his Royal Highness. This eminent young brewer had, with -the Prince, a similar taste for fire engines, and it was suggested by -the future King of England that the brewer, who had a fund of good -nature, should send to London for a fire engine, at his own expense, -and have it transported to Brighton, where in course of time the -Prince hoped it might afford them much amusement. The brewer of course -complied with the Prince's request, and before long one of those -grotesque looking fire machines, that are every now and then to be seen -darting through the London streets, made its appearance at Brighton. -Night after night the Prince and the brewer made the quiet villas and -the Parade of Brighton resound with their shrieks and howls, as they -drove at headlong speed through the watering place, the two maniacs -sitting astride of the apparatus which was drawn by two horses; and -finally the thing became such a nuisance to the residents of Brighton, -and so many complaints reached the Queen's ears of the Prince's riotous -conduct, that at last he was sent for and severely reprimanded by her -Majesty, and for a few days he kept on his good behavior, to relapse -again like a fever patient. - -It is useless to conjecture as to the probability of the Prince -succeeding to the throne, but if ever he does, he will no doubt revive -the days of Charles II and his dissolute court. His beautiful and -virtuous wife will perhaps fall into the place which Catharine, of -Braganza, was compelled to accept as the consort of that rakehelly -monarch, and Albert Edward will, no doubt, find in Lord Carington -material for a successor to Sir Charles Sedley, and in the Duke of -Hamilton a scamp, worthy of the reputation borne by the Earl of -Rochester. - -It is a mistake to think, moreover, that the Prince of Wales is alone -among his family, in his vicious course, or that he has not numerous -imitators among the nobles bearing some of the proudest names in -England. Although he is yet but a young man of thirty years of age, he -has those around him who ape his immorality and copy his disregard for -the usages of society. - -Still, the Prince cannot be blamed for the follies of his relations. -The Duke of Cambridge, cousin to the Queen, and old enough to be the -father of the Prince, has as bad if not a worse reputation, than the -Prince of Wales. - -George Frederick William Charles, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary, -and Baron of Culloden, is a first cousin of Queen Victoria, a Field -Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the English Army. - -This Prince is about fifty years of age, and lives in an unlawful -way with a Miss Fairbrother, by whom he has had several children, I -believe. It might be expected, of a prince so closely related to the -Queen, and occupying such a high position as chief of the British Army, -that he would set a good example to the younger branches of the royal -family. On the contrary, the Duke is well known, everywhere, as a royal -rake, and his shameless amours are beyond number. The old prince is -slightly bald from his course of early piety, and suffers so dreadfully -from the gout, the result of early dissipation, that he is nothing but -a wreck, being compelled annually to pay a visit to the mineral baths -of Germany, and American travelers upon the continent at Baden, Ems, -and Hombourg, will occasionally encounter an old, broken, and bloated -personage, limping on a stick, who will quarrel with a waiter, in -Hanoverian Deutsch, for the sake of a kreutzer, and when once excited -it is very difficult to calm his rage, which, sometimes, degenerates -into a helpless imbecility. This is the Duke of Cambridge. - -[Sidenote: A MAD KING.] - -From his illicit connection with the lady to whom I have referred, the -mock-title of "Duke of Fairbrother," has been given to this illustrious -Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Fancy such a Duke of Cambridge holding -the baton of Wellington, and leading such soldiers as Havelock, Outram, -Colin Campbell, and Napier of Magdala. And this very same imbecile Duke -has had command of the English Army, and notably at the Alma, in the -Crimean campaign, his conduct was such as to make the spectators doubt -whether he was a madman or a coward. In the heat of the fight, the Duke -lost all management of him self, and began to make strange noises, -and to act in a strange manner, until he was carried from the field, -kicking and biting in a maniacal fashion. - -For the taint is in the blood of the English Royal Family, and may -never be eradicated. The Duke of Cambridge is a lineal descendant of -George III, who, by his inherent madness, lost half of the British -Empire, and who was in the habit of answering reasonable questions, -with such replies as,-- - -"What, what, who, who, where, where, why, why--BLIM!" Should the Prince -of Wales hereafter behave himself in an unseemly fashion, his tainted -blood may, to a certain extent, be blamed for the outbreak. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -FAST YOUNG ENGLAND. - - -WHY Londoners should presume to sneer at the morality of the volatile -Parisians, has always been a sore puzzle to me. During the past -fifteen years, sharp observers of society in the English Capital have -been appalled by the visible and marked progress of moral and social -deterioration among the people who affect to give tone, and breeding, -and refinement, to all that they do or say, as leaders of society. - -Polite London Society has always plumed itself upon being superior, in -a moral sense, to the corresponding class in the French Capital, but -it must strike those who have held such views, that there is no basis -for the belief any longer, when the notorious fact is offered to them, -that two of the highest personages in England are men who lead lives of -immorality--I refer to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge. -I have however said enough of those two loose gentlemen, and I shall -proceed to consider the subject in its larger bearings. - -I boldly assert, that English Society, of the highest class, is to-day -as rotten in every sense, as were the French nobility, with their -mistresses and their "little establishments," before the whirlwind of -the Revolution of 1793 swept away all that was of hideous corruption -and infamy, never to rise again. - -The proudest names among the English nobility are those which have some -moral or dishonorable taint affixed to their titles, by their conduct -in life. [Sidenote: MISS HARRIET MONCRIEFFE.] - -Many of my readers must recollect the termination of the famous -Mordaunt case, in which the Prince of Wales was implicated, and it -will also be remembered that the few facts which were developed on the -trial, despite the attempt of Lord Penzance, (acting under pressure of -the Throne,) to hush them up, had the effect of shaking England to the -centre, socially speaking. - -Miss Harriet Sarah Moncrieffe, now Lady Mordaunt, is a daughter of Sir -Thomas Moncrieffe, a baronet of one of the oldest families in Scotland. -The family seat is at Earn, in Perthshire, and the mansion and grounds -are among the finest in North Britain. The family was a large one, -four sons and six daughters being born to Sir Thomas and his wife, who -was a daughter of the Earl of Kinnoul. Lady Harriet's eldest sister is -married to the Duke of Athole, one of the richest and most powerful -of the Scotch nobles. Then she has a sister married to the Earl of -Dudley, and another to a Mr. Forbes, of a wealthy Scotch family, -into which, if I be not mistaken, Lady Douglas-Hamilton, a sister of -the Duke of Hamilton, is married. One of the sisters--the Duchess of -Athole, has for her mother-in-law the Dowager-Duchess of Athole--who -is a tried and trusted friend of Queen Victoria, being, as I believe, -a Lady-in-waiting, or a Lady-of-the-bed-chamber to the Queen, or -something of that sort. Altogether the family and its connections are -among the very thickest cream of English aristocratic society. - -In December, 1866, Lady Harriet Sarah Moncrieffe, then eighteen years -of age, and surpassingly beautiful in person, and most graceful -in manner, was married to Sir Charles Mordaunt, of Walton Hall, -Warwickshire, who was then twenty-nine years of age, and a very wealthy -bachelor, possessing one of the finest country seats, with mansion and -grounds, in all England. The main buildings alone were erected at an -expense of over $350,000 of American money, and to this most delightful -and picturesque spot the young bride was taken to spend the honeymoon. -Everything that the heart of a fashionably bred woman could desire was -hers, she had troops of servants, a fine old baronial mansion, a large -stable full of horses, a yacht, a gallery of paintings, a villa on the -Continent, equippages, diamonds, ladies'-maids, and a town house in -London. And beside her lightest word was law to her loving husband. -She had been presented to the Queen, and in her life-pathway sunshine -fell and gladdened her young spirit. But there was a canker in the -bud--a skeleton in the closet--as there always is. Lady Mordaunt had -loved below her station before she married Sir Charles, and had sought -to marry the object of her affection, but her mother, who was a very -worldly minded woman, was determined that she should marry the rich Sir -Charles Mordaunt, who had houses and lands, while "poor Robin Adair" -had to go about his business. - -Of course the natural consequences had to come. Sir Charles had a -yacht, and now and then went on cruises to Norway and up the Baltic, -and ran his craft from Erith to the Nore, and on many a sunny day the -snowy jib-sail of his boat was seen from afar by those nautical minded -people who frequent the breakwater at Cherbourg. When he was at home he -was either hunting with the Warwickshire hounds, or looking for plover -and grouse on Scotch moors. Any other spare time he had was taken up -in his parliamentary duties, for he had the ineffable honor of signing -"M.P." after his name. - -And the young, gay, beautiful, and high spirited Lady Mordaunt--how -was it with her? Being left very much alone, she developed herself. -She delighted in balls, the Italian--yes, and the Bouffe Opera, she -liked Croquet parties, garden parties, Crystal Palace concerts, and -flirtations, and one evening, in company with Captain Farquhar, an -officer of the Guards, she visited the "Alhambra," a celebrated dancing -hall, which is supported by the London demi-monde. - -[Sidenote: IN BAD COMPANY.] - -She was young, thoughtless, and very beautiful, and to be brief, she -fell among wolves, as many a woman has before. She had for escort -to different places, the Prince of Wales, Sir Frederick Johnstone, -Viscount Cole (eldest son of the Earl of Enniskillen), Lord Newport, -Captain Farquhar, the Marquis of Blandford, and among her acquaintances -were the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Jersey, the Marquis of -Waterford, and other young gentlemen, whose company or friendship alone -would be enough to destroy the character of the most spotless married -woman. And by the by, all these fast young noblemen are friends and -boon companions of the Prince of Wales. Lady Mordaunt also knew Lord -Carington, although his name did not appear in the trial for divorce. - -All of these titled gentlemen whom I have mentioned, are of that class -which is denominated "fast young men"--in England. They are all of -good families, and are of the salt of the earth, being hereditary -legislators for the English people. They gamble, own fast horses, -make tremendous bets, keep mistresses, and yachts, and among this -set to dishonor a young and unsuspecting married woman, and cover -with disgrace an old family name, is indeed an achievement of which -they feel very proud, a woman's weakness and folly being a subject -for joking in their clubs, and affording much amusement to the -young blackguards at covert side and in many a yacht cruise in the -Mediteranean and the Baltic Seas. - -[Illustration: LADY MORDAUNT.] - -Lady Mordaunt had fallen among a pack of masculine wolves. Her two -sisters, the Duchess of Athole and the Countess of Dudley, vainly -endeavored to save their foolish sister, and her mother, Lady Louisa -Moncrieffe, and her young sister, who was engaged privately to -Viscount Cole--(Miss Frances Moncrieffe), and Miss Blanche Moncrieffe, -used all their powers of persuasion, but Lady Mordaunt had met already -with the fate of all those who frequent bad company. She was corrupted, -and her only desire was now to become deserving of the title of "fast." -Lady Mordaunt soon became the leader of the "fast" feminine set in -London. No lady could drive such "fast" ponies as she. None could equal -her for "fast" or "slangy" talk. Her highly colored attire was voted -the "fastest" in London. Her male companions who were in her company -and who escorted her, were all "fast," particularly the Prince of -Wales, who enjoys the proud distinction of being "fast." Lady Mordaunt -never accompanied her husband anywhere--he being very often absent, and -besides, he was not "fast." - -And Lady Mordaunt is not alone among her aristocratic sisters of -London. She has a number of imitators, who talk "fast," ride "fast" -horses, frequent the company of "fast" men, and visit with these last, -"fast" places of amusement. This "fast" woman has now become typical in -England. She dyes her hair, she paints her face, she wears flaunting -and unbecoming costumes after the style of the loose living blondes -who appear in burlesque; in short, she apes the manners and the attire -of that hapless class of women of whom she once spoke, when she spoke -of them at all--with a shuddering thrill of mingled horror and pity. -A famous female English novelist--whose heroines, by the way, are -all of the light-hair-dye and "fast" type--speaking of these "fast" -society-women, pertinently asks:-- - -[Sidenote: SLANG WOMEN AND "MRS. JOHNSON."] - - "Who taught the girls of England this hateful slang? who showed - them--nay, obtruded upon and paraded before them these odious women? - who, indeed, but the men, who recoil from their own work of their - own hands, and cry out upon the consequences of their own conduct? - It was not till the young Englishman learned to ridicule everything - virtuous as "spoony," and everything domestic as "slow," that the - women took pains to master the slang of the race-course, and to - model their dress upon the costumes of the women whom they saw from - their carriage windows dimly athwart the mists of midnight flitting - across the Haymarket, as they were driven away from the Opera-house. - Be sure society decayed, like the tree to which poor Swift pointed - with sad prophetic certainty, "_first at top_." It was not till the - moral deterioration of the modern young man had become a fact but - too obvious, that any fatal change was perceived in the modern young - woman; it was not until a contemptuous and disrespectful demeanor to - parents, newly denominated governors, relieving-officers, paters, - maters, maternals; a scornful avoidance of sisters as muffs and - dowdies; an utter irreverence for age, and a disdainful treatment of - all woman kind,--had become distinguishing characteristics of young - Mr. Bull, that poor, giddy, mistaken Miss Bull, too anxious to please - the young cub, whose moral being and real interests had best been - served by a judicious course of cat-o'-nine-tails, began to dye her - pretty hair and paint her fresh young cheeks; it was not till the - British lords flocked to the sale of a bankrupt courtesan's effects, - and gave unheard-of sums for the tawdry crockery-ware of a courtesan's - bedchamber, that British ladies began to slide downwards upon that - fatal incline which their masters had smoothed for them." - - "In the early days of the music-halls, before the nameless Captain - had begun to cultivate his too famous whiskers, or the insatiable - thirst of the convivial Charley had become a fact so painfully - notorious,--when the prudent Joseph was yet unknown, and the Strand - not yet renowned as the dweling-place of Nancy,--there was sung a song - called "Mrs. Johnson," in which the singer, in a tipsy solemnity, - bewailed the fact that the tastes and manners of his amiable wife were - but too identical with his own. "And so does Mrs. Johnson,"--that - was the ever recurring refrain. "I drink, I smoke, I swear, I stop - out to unholy hours of the night," sings this Mr. Johnson of the - music-halls, "and so, unhappily, does Mrs. Johnson. I am altogether a - fast and disreputable individual, and I consider it very delightful - to be fast and disreputable; but--and here, I confess, the shoe - pinches--so does Mrs. Johnson. This midnight rioting, this hunting up - of dancing-gardens and quaffing of perennial champagne, is my very - ideal of man's existence; but I recoil aghast with horror before the - idea of the same predilections in Mrs. Johnson." It is only a vulgar - music-hall ditty; but I think there is a moral hanging to it, which - our modern Juvenals would do well to consider." - - "It is the story of Adam and Eve over again--"the woman tempted me, - and I did eat." The historian of the future, studying the social - aspects of this century from a file of _Saturday Reviews_, would - have fair ground for believing it was because of modest women that - outraged Englishmen fled to the denizens of St. John's-wood; that it - was the slang and fastness of our girls that drove our men to the - race-course and the betting-ring; the women tempted them. What cowards - and hypocrites men must be, when they can turn upon and assail the - helpless woman who has meekly and dutifully copied the model they - have set up before her eyes, and at whose shrine she has seen them - prostrate and worshipping!" - - "The modern young man, with a selfishness as short-sighted - as--selfishness, which is always short-sighted, has desired _all_ the - delights of life. He likes the society of the venal Cynthia of the - minute, as his forefathers have done before him, but it has seemed - too him too much trouble to disguise that liking, in deference to the - feelings of purer Cynthias, as his forefathers did before him. When - Junius wished to brand the Duke of Grafton with ineffable shame, he - charged him with having flaunted Miss Parsons before the offended - eyes of royalty; now-a-days such a reproach would seem the emptiest - oratorical truism. The royalty of virtuous womanhood is offended every - day by a procession of Miss Parsonses. Everywhere Miss Parsons is - followed and worshipped. At covert-side, on parade of Brighton, or in - lamplit gardens of Scarborough, in opera-house and on race-course, - abroad or at home--the Parsonian worship is still going on. Miss - Parsons has her matins and her vespers, her choral services at five - o'clock, her gatherings at all hours and all places. The bells are - always pealing that call the faithful of the Parsonian creed. And - woman's poor little stock of logic only enables her to frame one fatal - syllogism: - - Miss Parsons is admired; - - Miss Parsons is beloved; - - Therefore to be like Miss Parsons is to be admirable and loveable." - -When the season ended it was customary for Sir Charles Mordaunt to -rejoin his wife at Walton Hall, and it might have been believed that -after the gaieties of the winter revels, the mistress of the mansion -would seek a little rest and the quiet of the country. But no. The -country seat was always full of "fast" ladies and "fast" gentlemen. -Sporting men and people of loose characters, whom no sensible man -would admit to the presence of his wife, became the intimates of Lady -Mordaunt. In fine, the Coles, Farquhars, Johnstones, Waterfords, -Hamiltons, and the like, were "doing Lady Mordaunt's business for her," -as I heard a London barrister express it. People began to talk about -her, and she lost the respect of her friends, who dropped off one by -one. Her poor old father, Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, while sitting in -White's Club (the only club of which the Prince of Wales is an active -member), hears his daughter's name mentioned in a very odious manner, -and that of the Prince of Wales occurs in the connection. The "Pwince," -says one of these small wits, "is very devoted--ah--Lady Mowdaant--I -heah," and so the scandal flies. Sir Thomas is enraged, threatens the -puppy, and tells Sir Charles of the thunder in the air. Poor old man! -It is openly stated in the club that Viscount Cole and Sir Frederick -Johnstone,--the former twenty-two, and the latter thirty-two years of -age, are constant visitors to her boudoir,--as often as three times -in a day--so says Madame Scandal. Sir Frederick Johnstone is known to -be the greatest libertine in England. He is rich, of a good family, -and yet no woman will marry him, for it is whispered in society,--even -among ladies--that he has become so enervated and palsied from his long -course of debauchery, as to be unfit for the marriage bed--and Lord -Cole is a fit rival to Lord Carington for wildness and blackguardism. I -saw this same Sir Frederick Johnstone slapped in the face a dozen times -at the Cremorne Gardens one night, by a fashionably attired Cyprian -who had been his mistress, and who had been deserted by him, but not a -blush warmed his cheek under the stinging slaps of her hand. Luxury and -debauchery had emasculated him. He was no longer a man--he was a frame -covered over by a handsome evening dress. - -[Sidenote: A GIDDY WOMAN.] - -During all this time, while Lady Mordaunt was sowing the wind to -eventually reap the whirlwind, her husband was ignorant of these -most damnatory facts against her reputation,--which afterward became -known to him. At last the scandal was bruited about so much that -Sir Charles Mordaunt found it necessary to enter proceedings in the -Divorce Court, at Westminster, for a separation from his wife. All -England was, socially, turned upside down with amazement, when it was -ascertained that the Prince of Wales was implicated. The Queen sent for -Sir Charles, and begged of him to withdraw from the case, in order to -secure her son's reputation from the contempt which was sure to fall -upon his Royal Highness when the developments were made public. The -entreaties of the Queen did not avail, however, with Sir Charles, who, -with a dogged English pluck, was resolved to have justice. Then an -attempt was made to bribe him, and a peerage was offered him to keep -him quiet, but this did not serve, as Sir Charles refused to compromise -with dishonor and shame. - -Lady Mordaunt's husband had ordered her not to receive the Prince of -Wales at his house while he was absent, or at any other time, but the -unfortunate woman had disobeyed him. She also refused to accompany Sir -Charles on a fishing excursion to Norway, as she preferred to stay at -home and associate with disreputable characters. He also ordered her -not to receive Viscount Cole, or Sir Frederick Johnstone, but, as in -the other case, the husband was disobeyed, and his house was used by -them against his will during his absence. On the 27th of February, -1868, Lady Mordaunt was prematurely confined of a child which was -afflicted in the eyes with a hideous disease. The first question asked -by Lady Mordaunt immediately after her confinement, was of the nurse. -She asked, "Is the child diseased?" The nurse answered, "My Lady, you -mean deformed;" and Lady Mordaunt answered, "No, you know what I mean." -This question was repeated five or six times, and, during the night, -she said to her sister, Mrs. Forbes, "If you do not let me talk I will -go mad," meaning thereby that she desired to make a confession. The -nurse asked if she should fetch Sir Charles to her, and she said "no," -but added, "This child is not Sir Charles's at all--but Lord Cole's." -She then stated that she had behaved improperly with Lord Cole in June, -1867, at her husband's house. This was testified to by the nurse, and -the occurrence took place at Walton Hall. She was afraid that the baby -would be blind--the disease being an incurable one. - -The suit for divorce was opened in the Westminster Divorce Court -February 16th, 1869, and some of the most eminent and aristocratic -personages in England attended. The Prince of Wales was ashamed to be -present until sent for, but as he was very anxious about the result -he sent his private Secretary, Sir W. Knollys, to watch the case. -That gentleman was present every day, and manifested great interest -in the testimony, which was very filthy, but not so filthy but that -the Pall Mall Gazette and London Times, with other leading journals, -should print every line of it, day by day, as it transpired in the -Court. The trial continued seven days, Lord Penzance presiding, and it -created as great an interest in London as the McFarland and Richardson -case did in New York. No ladies were admitted to the Court, but two -thousand, the majority of whom were of the cultivated and respectable -class, sought admission during the first three days of the trial. -All the relatives, of both parties, who could attend were present. -The Dowager-Lady Mordaunt, mother of Sir Charles, testified strongly -against her daughter-in-law, whom she accused of shamming insanity to -hide her crime and dishonor. The plea of insanity was the defence set -up by Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, father of Lady Mordaunt. The testimony was -very contradictory. Some of the physicians swore that Lady Mordaunt was -perfectly sane, but that she feigned insanity to screen herself, while -others testified that she was not in a sound condition of mind. - -[Sidenote: A TREACHEROUS WIFE.] - -But the evidence was very clear against Lady Mordaunt despite of all -endeavors to save her, or rather to save the Prince of Wales, through -the unfortunate lady. Testimony was adduced, that, one evening in -November, 1868, Lady Mordaunt absented herself from Walton Hall and -went to London in company with Captain Farquhar, one of her "fast" -young male friends, and that while there she stopped a whole night with -him at the Palace Hotel. To blind her husband she wrote the following -note to him: - - Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate, Nov. 8. - - My Darling Charlie--One line to say I shall not be able to reach home - by twelve o'clock train, but will come by the one which reaches at - 3.50. Send carriage to meet me. I felt horribly dull by myself all - yesterday evening. I have not had much time as yet to-day. I have seen - Priestly and will tell you all about it when I come home. - - Your affectionate wife, - HARRIET MORDAUNT. - -Frederick Johnson, a footman of Lady Mordaunt, testified as follows: - - Frederick Johnson testified:--I was formerly footman to Sir C. - Mordaunt. While Captain Farquhar was staying at Walton, in the autumn - of 1867, I took a note, I believe, from Mrs. Cadogan, into Lady - Mordaunt's sitting-room. The captain was there. They had carving tools - before them. The rest of the party were out shooting. I did not knock - before entering. Lady Mordaunt told me I ought not to come in without - knocking. She had not told me so before. I went with Lady Mordaunt, - in the spring of 1868, to the Alhambra. Captain Farquhar was there. - Lady Kinnoul (with whom Lady Mordaunt was staying) went, too, in her - own carriage, and Lady Mordaunt in a hired one. Lady Mordaunt left - about twelve. The Captain rode part of the way home with her. I have - posted three or four letters from Lady Mordaunt to him, and have also - delivered a letter to him. The Prince of Wales called once in 1867; I - did not see him at the house again. He also called on Lady Mordaunt - while she was staying with Lady Kinnoul. I have taken letters from her - Ladyship addressed to the Prince; some I took to Marlborough House, - and others I posted. - - Cross-examined.--Letters were given me by her Ladyship, her maid, and - the butler. I posted a great many. The Prince called at Lady Kinnoul's - to see Lady Mordaunt just after she had got better. She had been - confined to her room. - - Re-examined.--I took two or three letters to Marlborough House; two I - am positive, and I think I posted three to the Prince of Wales within - three days. - -The strongest testimony against Lady Mordaunt was given by Miss -Jessie Clark, lady's maid to the wretched woman. It was full and -comprehensive, and I give it here from the official report, cooked up -by the Prince of Wales' friends, with extenuating notes, which I omit. - -[Sidenote: THE PRINCE OF WALES CALLS OFTEN.] - - Jessie Clarke was then called, and deposed,--I was lady's-maid to Lady - Mordaunt from her marriage till she left Walton. In the autumn of 1867 - Captain Farquhar came on a visit, and stayed about a week. He and Lady - Mordaunt were very much together. - - In November, 1867, Lady Mordaunt went up to London, and I accompanied - her. We stayed at the Palace Hotel, Buckingham Gate, and remained two - nights. We arrived at the hotel about 5 p.m., and about half-past ten - I saw Captain Farquhar on the landing outside the sitting-room with - Lady Mordaunt. The bed-room was a short distance off. I did not see - him come or leave. Her ladyship went to bed about a quarter to eleven, - and I called her the next morning at half-past eight. I had arranged - the bed-room for her. In the morning I noticed that the books had - been moved, though her ladyship never used to move anything that I - arranged. The next day she was out the greater part of the day, and - went out again about six. She had not returned about ten, when I went - to bed, and she told me not to sit up, as she would not want me. - - After returning to Walton she was taken suddenly ill in the night, - and was confined to her room for a week. She then got into her - sitting-room. In arranging her toilet-table I found a letter, not in - an envelope, under a pincushion. I read it. [Notice to produce the - letter was here proved, Dr. Deane stating that he knew nothing of - it.] I replaced it, and a few days afterwards showed it to the butler, - then putting it back again. I afterwards saw her ladyship take it and - put it into the fire. It was dated from "The Tower, Saturday," and - said, "Darling, I arrived here this morning about a quarter to nine, - very tired and sleepy, as you may suppose." It added that he had seen - his name inserted in the _Post_ as Farmer instead of Farquhar, and - said, "So it's all right, darling, as I was afraid Charles would be - suspicious if he saw my name in the arrivals at the hotel with yours." - The letter was signed "Yours, Arthur." I found it the day after she - left the bed-room. She seemed surprised when she found it, and said - she did not think there were any letters about, and then burnt it. - - In September, 1868, I had occasion one evening to go into her - ladyship's bed-room, and Captain Farquhar came in. Her ladyship was - not there, and the Captain did not know I was there. He walked to - the table, took some flowers up, and left. During the season in 1867 - and 1868, Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt were in town. Sir Charles - usually went out in the afternoon to his Parliamentary duties. The - Prince of Wales called two or three times in 1867 at that time of - the day, and in 1868 more frequently. In 1868 he usually came about - four in the afternoon, and stayed from one to one and a half or two - hours. Her ladyship was always at home and saw him. No one was in - the drawing-room at the time. The Prince did not come in his private - carriage. I do not remember that Sir Charles was ever at home when the - Prince called in 1868. - - Lord _Penzance_.--Sir Charles himself has told us that he was at home - on one occasion, three weeks before he left for Norway. - - Examination continued.--The Prince came about once a week. In March, - 1868, I attended Lady Mordaunt while on a visit to Lady Kinnoul, in - Belgrave-square, Sir Charles being then at Walton. The Prince came - there one Sunday, for I met him leaving as I was coming in. Lady - Mordaunt showed me a letter from the Prince before she was married, - and I have delivered letters to her in the same hand writing; six or - seven times, perhaps, in 1868. I also received two or three letters - from her addressed to the Prince, which I gave the footman (Johnson) - to post. During the summer of 1868, Lord Cole used to call twice or - thrice a week in the afternoon, more frequently when Sir Charles was - out. Lady Mordaunt was then at home. She told me we were to go home - in a week after Sir Charles went to Norway [15th of June], but we did - not go till the 7th of July. During that interval Lord Cole used to - call, and on the 27th of June he dined there with another gentleman - and lady, whom I do not know. They had not left at half-past twelve, - when I went to bed. Her ladyship invariably told me not to sit up for - her after twelve. We went to Paddington to take the train, Lord Cole - met her there, and took the tickets, giving me mine, and handing Lady - Mordaunt into a first-class empty compartment. He stood by the door - till the train was starting, and then got in. He left at Reading, the - first stopping station. The other servants came down on the 10th, - and Lord Cole also; he remained till the 14th, and the next day Sir - Charles returned. - - In December, 1868, I was staying with Lady Mordaunt at the Alexandra - Hotel, Knightsbridge. The Duke and Duchess of Athole stayed there - with her. The day after they left Sir F. Johnstone came, and left her - ladyship's sitting-room about midnight. I was at Walton during her - confinement, and until she left. After the nurse left, on the 27th of - March, I attended on her. The note produced I found soon after the - 10th of April in one of her ladyship's pockets in a dress which she - had recently worn. [This was the letter read yesterday addressed to - the nurse, and bidding her say nothing more about the nonsense the - writer had uttered.] About the 25th of April I noticed in the paper - the death of the Countess of Bradford. I showed it to Lady Mordaunt, - who said, "Poor thing, I'm so sorry," and said she would have to - go into mourning. I provided temporary mourning, and her ladyship - directed me to get two mourning dresses, as she would not be going - about much. She also selected mourning jewelry. On the 6th of May - I saw her before the physicians came. She was conversing with Mrs. - Forbes, who asked for some brandy and soda water, and while she was - drinking it Lady Mordaunt laughed, and said, "Helen, if you drink all - that I'm sure you'll be tipsy." The same evening Mrs. Cadogan called, - and I took a photograph in. They were talking very comfortably. On - the 12th of May, while dressing her ladyship, she remarked on the - dress Lady Kinnoul wore, and said, "What a larky old thing she is." I - told her Mrs. Forbes admired a certain dress of hers, and she replied - that she wore it a long time at Yowle [Mrs. Forbes' residence]. Her - ladyship looked at the newspapers until the time of her leaving, the - 15th of May. Down to that day I constantly attended on her. I have - never seen her since. I never saw anything indicative of unsound mind. - She was perfectly rational and sensible, and appeared to understand - everything. - -Henry Bird, an old servant of the family, and butler, testified in a -candid, frank way, to what he knew, as follows: - -[Sidenote: FARQUHAR AND JOHNSTONE.] - - Henry Bird.--I am butler to Sir C. Mordaunt, and have been in the - service of the family thirty years. Lord Cole, Captain Farquhar, - and Sir F. Johnstone visited Walton Hall. In the autumn of 1867 - I accompanied Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt to Scotland. Captain - Farquhar was staying at the same place, and I noticed that he and her - ladyship were often together. Lady Mordaunt was more frequently with - him than with other people. A few days after we returned to Walton - he came to visit. He was often in her sitting room, generally alone - with her. Sir Charles was frequently out shooting at the time. Jessie - Clarke made a communication to me, and showed me a letter. That was - about ten days after Lady Mordaunt's return to London. It was in - Captain Farquhar's writing. I read it and returned it to Clarke. It - was dated at the Tower, and said, "Darling, I got home here, tired - and weary, as you may suppose. I have read the _Morning Post_, and - have seen that they have inserted my name as Farmer. If they had - inserted it Farquhar, Sir Charles would have been suspicious." There - was also an allusion to having attended a play, and the persons they - had seen there. Clarke did not tell me where she had found it. I - referred to the _Post_ of November 7 and 9, 1867; Sir Charles took - it in. I referred to it before I saw the letter, on account of what - Clarke told me, and I put aside the two papers in my cupboard. On the - 7th, among the arrivals at the Palace Hotel, Buckingham-gate, Lady - Mordaunt's name is given, and on the 9th Captain Farmer's. In January, - 1868, Captain Farquhar visited Walton, and staid about a week. There - were other visitors, and there was not so much opportunity for him - and Lady Mordaunt to be together. I once found them together in the - billiard-room, standing close together near the billiard-table; they - seemed startled, and I apologised and left. In 1867 and 1868 the - Prince of Wales called at Sir Charles's London house--in 1868 about - once a week; but one week twice. He came about four p.m., and stayed - from one to two hours. I received him. Sir Charles was then at the - House of Commons, or out pigeon-shooting. Lady Mordaunt gave me - directions that when the Prince called no one else was to be admitted. - After Sir Charles left for Norway the Prince took luncheon there once, - with a sister of Lady Mordaunt and a gentleman. The last two went away - together, but the Prince remained about twenty minutes alone with Lady - Mordaunt. Lord Cole visited the house two or three times a week--more - frequently when Sir Charles was out and after he had left for Norway. - Sir Charles was seldom at home in the afternoon. Lord Cole and two - others dined with Lady Mordaunt after Sir Charles's departure. The two - others left about eleven, but Lord Cole stayed in the drawing-room - till about a quarter to one. I knew this by hearing the front door - bang, and by observing that his hat and coat were gone. I went down to - Walton on the 10th of July; Lord Cole arrived the same day, and left - the day before Sir Charles's return. Sir F. Johnstone, when he stayed - at Walton, was often in her ladyship's sitting-room while the rest of - the party were shooting or hunting. I left Walton with Sir Charles on - the 5th of April, 1869. After her confinement Lady Mordaunt used to - take the papers from me, and once proposed to go fishing, as she had - done before; but I said it was too cold. She seemed quite rational. I - went on the 20th of August to Worthington in order to accompany her - to Bickley. She shook hands with me. I told her Sir Charles had gone - to Scotland, and that Taylor, the gamekeeper, had gone with him. She - laughed and said, "Only think of Taylor's going." She referred to the - death of the Dowager-Lady Mordaunt's son, Mr. Arthur Smith, and said - how sorry his father must be to lose his only son. I remained five or - seven minutes. - -A package of letters, a love valentine, and some flowers, which the -Prince of Wales had sent Lady Mordaunt, were found by Miss Jessie -Clarke, and were given to Sir Charles Mordaunt by her. It has been -stated there were other letters from the Prince of Wales to Lady -Mordaunt, which were destroyed in time to save the Prince from the -reputation of a dastard. The letters which were found were produced in -court, but were not read in the early stage of the proceedings, until -the leading newspapers had by some stratagem succeeded in getting -copies, which they published, to the great indignation of Lord Penzance -and other toadies of the Prince. These letters I give as specimens of -the style of writing, amusement, and companions, which the dear Prince -affects. They are ungrammatical, silly, and slangy, and show a vivid -dearth of ideas in the heir to a great kingdom. - - I.--She Sends Him Muffetees. - - "Sandringham, King's Lynn, January 13, 1867. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I am quite shocked never to have answered - your kind letter, written some time ago, and for the very pretty - muffetees, which are very useful this cold weather. I had no idea - where you had been staying since your marriage, but Francis Knollys - told me that you are in Warwickshire. I suppose you will be up in - London for the opening of Parliament, when I hope I may perhaps have - the pleasure of seeing you and making the acquaintance of Sir Charles. - I was in London for only two nights, and returned here Saturday. The - rails were so slippery that we thought we should never arrive here. - There has been a heavy fall of snow here, and we are able to use our - sledges, which is capital fun. - - "Believe me, yours ever sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - II.--Would Like to See Her Again. - - "Monday. - - "My Dear Lady Mordaunt,--I am sure you will be glad to hear that the - Princess was safely delivered of a little girl this morning and that - both are doing very well. I hope you will come to the Oswald and - St. James's Hall this week. There would, I am sure, be no harm your - remaining till Saturday in town. I shall like to see you again. - - "Ever yours most sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - III.--She Brings Him an Umbrella. - - "Marlborough House, May 7, 1867. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your letter, and I am very - sorry that I should have given you so much trouble looking for the - ladies' _umbrella_ for me at Paris. I am very glad to hear that you - enjoyed your stay there. I shall be going there on Friday next, and - as the Princess is so much better, shall hope to remain a week there. - If there is any commission I can do for you there it will give me the - greatest pleasure to carry it out. I regret very much not to have been - able to call upon you since your return, but hope to do so when I come - back from Paris, and have an opportunity of making the acquaintance of - your husband. - - "Believe me yours very sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - IV.--Hamilton's Wife is Good Looking. - - "Marlborough House, Oct. 13. - - [Sidenote: SAM BUCKLEY IN HIS KILT.] - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your kind letter, which I - received just before we left Dunrobin, and I have been so busy here - that I have been unable to answer it before. I am glad to hear that - you are flourishing at Walton, and hope your husband has had good - sport with the partridges. We had a charming stay at Dunrobin--from - the 19th of September to the 7th of this month. Our party consisted - of the Sandwiches, Grosvenors (only for a few days), Sumners, Bakers, - F. Marshall, Albert, Ronald Gower, Sir H. Pelly, Oliver, who did - not look so bad in a kilt as you heard; Lacelles, Falkner, and Sam - Buckley, who looked first-rate in his kilt. I was also three or four - days in the Reay Forest with the Grosvenors. I shot four stags. My - total was twenty-one. P. John thanks you very much for your photo; - and I received two very good ones, accompanied by a charming epistle, - from your sister. We are all delighted with Hamilton's marriage, - and I think you are rather hard on the young lady, as, although not - exactly pretty, she is very nice looking, has charming manners, and - is very popular with every one. From his letter he seems to be very - much in love--a rare occurrence now-a-days. I will see what I can do - in getting a presentation for the son of Mrs. Bradshaw for the Royal - Asylum of London, St. Ann's Society. Francis will tell you result. - London is very empty, but I have plenty to do, so time does not go - slowly, and I go down shooting to Windsor and Richmond occasionally. - On the 26th I shall shoot with General Hall at Newmarket, the - following week at Knowlsley, and then at Windsor and Sandringham - before we go abroad. This will be probably on the 18th or 19th of next - month. You told me when I last saw you that you were probably going - to Paris in November, but I suppose you have given it up. I saw in - the papers that you were in London on Saturday. I wish you had let me - know, as I would have made a point of calling. There are some good - plays going on, and we are going the rounds of them. My brother is - here, but at the end of the month he starts for Plymouth on his long - cruise of nearly two years. Now I shall say good-by, and hoping that - probably we may have a chance of seeing you before we leave, - - "I remain, yours most sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - V.--Don't Know the Height of the Ponies. - - "White's, Nov. 1. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your letter, which I received - this morning. I cannot tell you at this moment the exact height of the - ponies in question, but I think they are just under fourteen hands, - but as soon as I know for certain I shall not fail to let you know. I - would be only too happy if they would suit you, and have the pleasure - of seeing them in your hands. It is quite an age since I have seen or - heard anything of you, but I trust you had a pleasant trip abroad, - and I suppose you have been in Scotland since. Lord Dudley has kindly - asked me to shoot with him at Buckenham on the 9th of next mouth, and - I hope I may, perhaps, have the pleasure of seeing you there. - - "Believe me, yours ever sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - VI.--The "Great" Oliver is Coming. - - "Sandringham, King's Lynn, Nov. 30. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I was very glad to hear from Colonel - Kingscote the other day that you had bought my two ponies. I also - trust that they will suit you, and that you will drive them for many - a year. I have never driven them myself, so I don't know whether they - are easy to drive or not. I hope you have had some hunting, although - the ground is so hard that in some parts of the country it is quite - stopped. We had our first shooting party this week, and got 809 head - one day, and twenty-nine woodcocks. Next week the great Oliver is - coming. He and Blandford had thought of going to Algiers; but they - have now given it up, and I don't know to what foreign clime they - are going to betake themselves. I saw Lady Dudley at Onwallis, and I - thought her looking very well. I am sorry to hear that you won't be - at Buckenham when I go there, as it is such an age since I have seen - you. If there is anything else (besides horses) that I can do for you, - please let me know, and - - "I remain, yours ever sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - VII.--Sorry to Hear That She Has Been Seedy. - - "Sandringham, King's Lynn, Dec. 5. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your letter, which I received - this evening, and am very glad to hear that you like the ponies, but - I hope they will be well driven before you attempt to drive them, as - I know they are fresh. They belonged originally to the Princess Mary, - who drove them for some years, and when she married, not wanting them - just then, I bought them from her. I am not surprised that you have - had no hunting lately, as the frost has made the ground as hard as - iron. We hope, however, to be able to hunt to-morrow, as a thaw has - set in. We killed over a thousand head on Tuesday, and killed forty - woodcocks to-day. Oliver has been in great force, and as bumptious - as ever. Blandford is also here, so you can imagine what a row goes - on. On Monday next I go to Buckenham, and I am indeed very sorry that - we shall not meet there. I am very sorry to hear that you have been - seedy, but hope that you are now all right again. - - "Ever yours very sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - VIII.--He is Anxious. - - "Thursday. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I am sorry to find by the letter that I - received from you this morning that you are unwell, and that I shall - not be able to pay you a visit to-day, to which I had been looking - forward with so much pleasure. To-morrow and Saturday I shall be - hunting in Nottinghamshire, but if you are still in town, may I come - to see you about five on Sunday afternoon? And hoping you will soon be - yourself again, - - "Believe me, yours ever sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - IX.--He Had the Measles. - - "Sunday. - - [Sidenote: THE PRINCE HAS THE MEASLES.] - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I cannot tell you how distressed I am to - hear from your letter that you have got the measles, and that I shall - in consequence not have the pleasure of seeing you. I have had the - measles myself a long time ago, and I know what a tiresome complaint - it is. I trust you will take great care of yourself, and have a good - doctor with you. Above all, I should not read at all, as it is very - bad for the eyes, and I suppose you will be forced to lay up for a - time. The weather is very favorable for your illness, and wishing you - a very speedy recovery, - - "Believe me, yours most sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - X.--Anxious Again. - - "Sunday. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--Many thanks for your kind letter. I am so - glad to hear that you have made so good a recovery, and to be able - soon to go to Hastings, which is sure to do you a great deal of good. - I hope that perhaps on your return to London I may have the pleasure - of seeing you. - - "Believe me, yours very sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - - XI.--The "Great" Francis is to Arrive. - - Sandringham, King's Lynn, Nov. 16. - - "My dear Lady Mordaunt,--I must apologise for not having answered - your last kind letter, but accept my best thanks for it now. Since - the 10th I have been here at Sir William Knollys' house, as I am - building a totally new one. I am here _en garcon_, and we have had - very good shooting. The Duke of Cambridge, Lord Suffield, Lord Alfred - Paget, Lord de Grey, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Chaplin, General Hall, - Captain (Sam) Buckley, Major Grey, and myself, composed the party; - and the great Francis arrived on Saturday, but he is by no means a - distinguished shot. Sir Frederick Johnstone tells me he is going to - stay with you to-morrow for the Warwick races, so he can give you - the best account of us. This afternoon, after shooting, I return to - London, and to-morrow night the Princess, our three eldest children, - and myself, start for Paris, where we shall remain a week, and then go - straight to Copenhagen, where we spend Christmas, and the beginning of - January we start on a longer trip. We shall go to Venice, and then by - sea to Alexandria, and up the Nile as far as we can get; and later to - Constantinople, Athens, and home by Italy, and I don't expect we shall - be back again before April. I fear, therefore, I shall not see you for - a long time, but trust to find you, perhaps, in London on our return. - If you should have time, it will be very kind to write me sometimes. - Letters to Marlborough House, to be forwarded, will always reach me. I - hope you will remain strong and well, and wishing you a very pleasant - winter, - - "I remain, yours most sincerely, - - "Albert Edward." - -On the afternoon of the fifth day of the trial, the Prince of Wales, -who had been driven by his royal mother to take the step, much against -his will, appeared in court to testify, nominally at his own request, -but really from a fear of public opinion. The presiding judge of the -Divorce Court, Lord Penzance, when he heard that the Prince desired -to testify in his own behalf, exerted himself in such an extreme -fashion, as to call down the ridicule and scorn of the London press -for his servile proceedings. Having been informed that the Prince was -about to appear in court, this flunkey judge, who had been created -a peer for something that he had done as a lawyer, was most eager, -painfully eager, in fact, to accommodate his Royal Highness. The latter -was treated by the judge with a respect which was a combination of -profundity, enthusiasm, and excitement. One journal suggested to the -learned judge, that while the Prince was in attendance on the trial, -it was the duty of the magistrate to have a smoking room fitted up for -the special use of the Prince, while another claimed that a billiard -table should be provided for the amusement of the Prince between the -intervals of the evidence, and asked Lord Penzance to be careful -and open court daily at an hour to suit the convenience of the Heir -Apparent, who is I believe, a late riser. It is a rule of British law, -that the members of the Royal family cannot be called upon to testify -in any case, unless of their own free will, and then they are not -asked to swear to the evidence which they may give, as their simple -affirmation is deemed to be sufficient. The Prince of Wales on this -occasion, however, thought it necessary to be sworn, and he testified -that he knew Sir Charles and Lady Mordaunt, and that Lady Mordaunt had -been an acquaintance of his before his marriage to the Princess of -Wales. He also testified that he was fond of riding in hansom cabs, and -lastly, he swore that there never had been any improper familiarity or -criminal act between himself and Lady Mordaunt. This statement, in open -court, was a great relief to the Queen, who it is said, at once upon -hearing of it sent for the Prince to come to Buckingham Palace, and on -his arrival he was welcomed warmly by his mother. - -[Sidenote: SIR FREDERICK JOHNSTONE TESTIFIES.] - -The next witness examined was Sir Frederick Johnstone, who testified -that he had gone to dine with Lady Mordaunt at the Alexandra Hotel, -in obedience to a request which she made by letter, to that effect. -The dinner was a tete-a-tete one, (no one being present but Sir -Frederick and Lady Mordaunt) in a private room, and it lasted from four -o'clock in the afternoon until twelve o'clock at night. Sir Frederick -acknowledged that the dinner took place without the knowledge of Sir -Charles Mordaunt, and that he never told the latter of the circumstance -afterward, although a visitor at Walton Hall. This closed the case -on evidence. A paper had been found in Lady Mordaunt's handwriting, -with the memoranda "280 days from June 29--April 3d," referring, -as it was supposed, to her first meeting with Viscount Cole. Sir -Charles Mordaunt, in his affidavit, alleged the marriage on the 6th of -December, 1866, at St. John's Episcopal Church, Perth; cohabitation -at Walton Hall, and at 6 Belgrave-square; and adultery with Viscount -Cole in May, June, and July, 1868, at Chesham-place, and in July, 1868, -and January, 1869, at Walton Hall; and adultery with Sir Frederick -Johnstone, in November and December, 1868, at Walton Hall, and in -December, 1868, at the Alexandra Hotel, Knightsbridge; and adultery -also with some person between the 15th of June, 1868, and the 28th of -February, 1869. - -The English aristocracy never have had such a blow dealt at their -corrupt social system, as the developments of this suit impelled -against them. "Reynolds' Newspaper," a London journal with a -circulation of 280,000 copies weekly, spoke in thunder tones as -follows, to its readers, the workingmen of London: - - "THE PRINCE OF WALES IN THE DIVORCE COURT. - - The great social scandal to which we have frequently alluded, has - now become blazoned to the world through the instrumentality of the - Divorce Court. Nothing was left undone that might hush it up, so - that the Prince of Wales' name should not figure in so discreditable - a business. Every effort was made to silence Sir Charles Mordaunt. - A peerage was, we believe, offered him. Any place of emolument he - asked for would willingly have been given him. All the honors and - dignities the crown and government have it in their power to bestow - would readily have been prostituted to insure his silence. Lord - Penzance, at the last moment, earnestly strove to keep the name of - the Prince from coming before the public. Sir Charles Mordaunt, - however, was deaf to every persuasion, and, like a noble minded - man and high spirited gentleman, scouted all attempts to shut his - mouth; and, with contemptuous indifference to the entreaties of the - judge, and disregarding the course adopted by his own counsel, at - once told the whole story of his supposed dishonor, without blinking - facts or concealing names. He told the court that he forbade his - wife continuing her acquaintance with the Prince of Wales on account - of his character. He intimated to the Prince that his visits should - cease. He, however, alleges that, despite this intimation, they were - surreptitiously continued; that letters of a compromising character - were found; and that other circumstances occurred leading him to - suppose that an improper intimacy existed between, the Prince and his - wife. It should be borne in mind that when all this is said to have - occurred the Prince of Wales was a married man himself, and the father - of a family. The question, therefore, remains to be solved, is he an - adulterer or not? Can he disprove the apparently damnatory allegations - of Sir C. Mordaunt? Of course we do not wish to prejudge the case. We - hope, for his own and for his wife's sake, that he can completely - refute the heavy accusation laid to his charge, and that he will do so - at the earliest opportunity. But we have no hesitation in declaring - that if the Prince of Wales is an accomplice in bringing dishonor - to the homestead of an English gentleman; if he has deliberately - debauched the wife of an Englishman; if he has assisted in rendering - an honorable man miserable for life; if unbridled sensuality and lust - have led him to violate the laws of honor and of hospitality--then - such a man, placed in the position he is, should not only be expelled - from decent society, but is utterly unfit and unworthy to rule over - this country or even sit in its legislature." - -[Sidenote: THE FASTEST MAN IN ENGLAND.] - -I don't see how any writer could make a stronger case against Royalty, -(however hostile his spirit,) than this fearless exposition by the -English journal of wide circulation, to which I have referred. The -evidence of Sir Frederick Johnstone, which I have omitted, was too -disgraceful to appear in this work, although the English papers printed -every line of it. Well, the case went to the jury at last, after Lord -Penzance had properly and carefully manipulated them, and a verdict was -brought by them "that Lady Mordaunt being of unsound mind, was totally -unfit to instruct her attorneys," and thus Sir Charles Mordaunt, having -been dishonored and his domestic happiness destroyed by a conspiracy -of titled persons, had to be satisfied with the verdict. In these days -the plea of insanity is always a convenient one, and is very useful in -a desperate case. Sir Charles was not daunted, however, and appealed -his case, but met with defeat again, and thus the matter rests, and -will rest. It is the intention of the injured husband to visit America, -as he is an admirer of our institutions. I do not wish to offer any -comment whatever on the state of society in which such corruption -exists. The facts must speak for themselves. - -The "fastest" young man in England is undoubtedly, William Alexander, -Louis, Stephen, Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, Marquis of -Hamilton, Marquis of Douglas, Earl of Angus, Earl of Arran, Earl -of Lanark, Baron Hamilton, Aven, Polmont, Macanshire, Innerdale, -Abernethey and Jedburgh Forest, and premier Duke and Peer in the -Peerage of Scotland, Duke of Brandon (Suffolk), and Baron Dutton in the -Peerage of Great Britain, Duke of Chatherault in France, Hereditary, -Keeper of the Holyrood House, and Deputy Lieutenant of some county with -an unpronounceable name in Scotland. - -Possibly some of my readers, in going over this long line of titles, -will recall the days of Bruce and Douglas, of "proud Angus," whom -Marmion bearded in his hall, and of that Douglas who carried the heart -of Bruce, like a Paladin, amid the lances of Spain; or perhaps the -picture of Chevy Chase, and Douglas, and Percy, in armed fight, will -be evoked with thoughts of the greatest historical House in Europe. -Nobler descent, or more genuine historical honor, cannot be claimed by -the holder of any lordly or royal title, than that which belongs to the -present Duke of Hamilton, who is as yet only twenty-seven years of age. -He is a first cousin of the Emperor of France by his mother, Stephanie, -Duchess of Baden, a noble, beautiful, and good woman,--who married the -old Duke of Hamilton; and one of his sisters is married to the Prince -of Monaco, a sovereign in his own right. Two other sisters of the -present Duke are nuns, having been educated in the Roman Catholic faith -by their mother. The fourth sister is married to a private gentleman of -large fortune. - -[Illustration: THE DUKE OF HAMILTON.] - -[Sidenote: INSULTS THE EMPEROR.] - -The old Duke was in every sense a gentleman and a man of honor, but his -two male descendants, the present Duke of Hamilton, and his brother, -Lord Churchill Hamilton, are sad scapegraces--indeed I doubt if a -rougher name would not be more appropriate. The young Duke, as soon as -he came of age, fell heir to an income of L300,000 a year, and eight -or nine country seats and residences. He had no sooner entered into -possession of his estate, than he was surrounded by betting men, turf -blackguards, spendthrifts, abandoned women, and dissolute noblemen of -his own age. Every shilling of his gigantic fortune was squandered in -three or four years, and his proud old name became a by-word of scorn -and reproach when it was found that his debts amounted to L130,000. He -had for his associates the Earl of Jersey, the Marquis of Waterford, -the Prince of Wales, Lord Carington, the Duke of Newcastle, the Earl of -Winchelsea, the Earl of Westmoreland, and other bankrupt and dissolute -nobles. For a long time polite society tolerated the Duke of Hamilton, -because of his family, birth, and fortune, but when he lost the latter, -those who formerly laughed at his wild actions and peccadilloes, now -began to frown upon him as an _enfant perdu_. He was sowing too much -wild oats, and his friends began to desert him in disgust. A bad set -of men who had control of the Duke, did not hesitate to drag his proud -name and title through the gutters. At last his fellow noblemen, -thoroughly ashamed of him, determined to give him a lesson. His name -was put up for membership in the Jockey Club, and he was black-balled -with great unanimity. The Duke of an almost royal family was treated -in this ignominious way by the fathers of families, and brothers of -girls of stainless birth, as a caution to him. The Duke being both -bankrupt and disgraced, left England for the Continent, to avoid his -thousand and one creditors, who cursed him bitterly when he departed. -Passing through Paris, his cousin, the Emperor, invited him to dine at -the Tuilleries. The Duke returned a curt verbal answer to his imperial -relative, that he could not accept the invitation, "for he had neither -clothes nor manners in which to appear at the Emperor's table." That -same evening he appeared in a private box at the opera, dressed in a -short double-breasted shooting jacket, in company with two or three of -the turfites (broken down betting men, who hung on to him for what they -could get), and afterwards presided at a supper of which the less that -is said the better, concerning the "ladies," who composed one-half of -the twenty-four persons who sat down to table. - -After the Duke left England for the Continent, a sale of his effects -was had. Hundreds of purchasers attended the sale out of curiosity, -as they had attended the sale of "Skittle's" furniture, or as the -Parisian dandies and lorettes attended the sale of the household gods -of Marguerite Gautier, afterwards known as the "Dame aux Camelias." -Every article belonging to the Duke realized a value of more than two -or three hundred per cent. over its original value. Crowds of "snobs" -and "cads" bought whips and pipes, riding jackets, cigar cases, canes, -gloves, and boots, pictures of French dancers and German soubrettes, -as well as articles of crockery, at the most extravagant prices, -simply because they had once been in the possession of a real live -Duke, although he was a scamp. One miserable little tea-broker gave -twenty-five pounds for a worn, poorly bound copy of the "Kisses of -Johannes Secundus," with the idea that he was getting something very -immoral--but he was disappointed of course. - -I saw him twice, this Duke of Hamilton, once in a low cabaret in Paris, -which had for a name the strange and I thought very inappropriate title -of the "Groves of the Evangelists." - -It was in a little street, or rather lane, called the Rue Belle-Cuisse, -which is in the Quartier Breda. - -It was a low dingy little hole, this "Groves of the Evangelist," and -the people present were chiefly infantry privates of some of the line -regiments, who serve as a part of the garrison of Paris. They were a -hard-drinking, ruffianly lot, and the women who sat on their laps were -of all the obscene birds of night that I encountered in Paris, the very -worst and most abandoned. - -A little girl, with a bold face and wearing a slatternly, torn dress, -with a brazen pair of steely blue eyes, acted as bar-girl in this -place, and measured out to the customers, petit verres of fiery Nantes -brandy. - -Two men, young, and fashionably dressed, sat at a table, who appeared -to be strangers in Paris, although they conversed fluently enough, in -French, with each other. - -One of these was a fair, girlish-faced, young gentleman, with hair -which is always termed auburn by the poets, while, as a contradiction -it is generally denominated, in police returns--"red hair." This was -the Duke of Hamilton. - -[Sidenote: VILLAINY OF THE MARQUIS OF WATERFORD.] - -The second person at the table was a tall, athletic, and -handsome-looking fellow, of twenty-four or five years of age, with a -smooth face, daring, black eyes, and a massive head well set upon a -pair of broad shoulders. - -This individual was John De La Poer Beresford, Marquis of Waterford, -Earl of Tyrone, Viscount Tyrone, and a Baron five times over in England -and Ireland, a relation of the Archbishop of Armagh, Protestant Primate -of Ireland, and having an income of about half a million dollars, -annually, in his own right. - -[Illustration: MARQUIS OF WATERFORD.] - -This young Marquis of Waterford, did a most dastardly thing when he -seduced the wife of his bosom friend, the Hon. J.C.P. Vivian, M.P., a -Junior Lord of the Treasury, who had placed the utmost confidence in -the Marquis. He took Mrs. Vivian with him to Paris, and there lived -with her in open adultery for some time until he became tired of his -victim and then he ordered her with great coolness to return to her -dishonored husband. To make the matter worse she was the mother of two -lovely children. Her married sister, the Honorable Mrs. Somebody, went -to Paris to attempt to reclaim her, held an interview with her, and -begged of her to return to her husband. She blankly refused to do so, -giving as her reason that she loved "John" too much,--"John," I need -not say, being the Marquis of Waterford. - -Mr. Vivian having commenced a suit for divorce, the utter villainy of -the Marquis appeared when the letters of that nobleman to his quondam -friend Vivian were read, in which the great trust reposed by Mr. Vivian -in Waterford was most publicly made manifest. - -This young nobleman is a grandson of the second Marquis of Waterford, -who was distinguished as a companion to the Prince Regent, and as well -for breaking off door-knockers and bell-handles--a complaint that was -chronic with him, and that seems to run in the family. - -The Marquis of Waterford is not quite so impoverished through his -excesses as some of his friends, but I understand that his debts at one -time amounted to L60,000. - -My readers may recollect that, during the visit of the Prince of Wales -to America, he had in the suite which accompanied him, a certain Duke -of Newcastle, a young nobleman, who married, some years ago, a daughter -of the great banker, Hope, who brought her husband an immense fortune. -Beside these advantages there were few noblemen in England as highly -connected, or as wealthy, as the Duke of Newcastle. Well, Miss Hope -only served to stay the waning fortunes of this spendthrift for a short -time, as he is now a bankrupt, and has to reside out of England to -avoid the Sheriff's officers. While the execution was being levied in -the magnificent mansion of the Duke, and before his wife could leave -the premises, the Duke had gambled away thirteen thousand pounds, the -last remnant of his once princely fortune. This hopeful Duke has always -been very intimate with the Prince of Wales. - -Another of the same reckless unprincipled set is the young Earl of -Jersey, who was left an income of L50,000 a year, every shilling of -which is gone. This young fool, who is endowed with the manners of a -cabman, and who has a pot-house air in everything that he says or does, -was deeply in debt at sixteen years of age, and before he left school -he had borrowed L25,000 from the Jews, who now own him body and soul. -His grand-mother, the Countess of Jersey, was, I believe, a mistress of -George IV. - -[Sidenote: THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.] - -The Marquis of Hastings, who died about two years ago, was also one of -this same set of spendthrift, young harum-scarum, unprincipled scions -of the Bluest Blood of which England can boast. All his magnificent -fortune went in horses, and women, and yachts, and at last, when -he died, at the age of 26, he had squandered some three or four -millions of dollars, and, I believe, the title created as far back as -1389, became in the direct line, extinct. The Marquis lost one day -at the Derby race on Lady Elizabeth, a favorite horse of his, the -enormous sum of $150,000 in gold. He married a beautiful and wealthy -girl, and her fortune went in the general crash after his death. He -owned a magnificent yacht, and was in the habit of cruising in the -Mediterranean with a coterie of dissolute young aristocrats like -himself, and on board of this yacht scenes took place that might have -made the cheek of Sardanapalus to blush--that is, provided that that -bloated Assyrian ever blushed. - -[Illustration: THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.] - -Prince Christian of Schleswig, a beggarly little German kinglet, who -was allowed to marry the Princess Helena, a daughter of Queen Victoria, -and a very good girl, is said to be rather wild in his ways, but his -allowance, L10,000 a year from Parliament, has to satisfy him whether -he likes it or not. But in 1869 Prince Christian and the Duchess of -Mecklenburg-Strelitz had occasion to journey from Dover to Calais, and -the little German had the impudence to send a bill of sixty eight -pounds expenses to Parliament, despite the fact that he received his -allowance regularly. Professor Fawcett, a liberal member of Parliament, -who brought in bills to abolish religious distinctions in Dublin -University, and in favor of woman suffrage, demanded the items of -the bill, and failing to get them, moved that the Prince Christian's -bill be struck out of the estimates. To show what is thought of such -unbridled extravagance--the fare being only about two pounds from Dover -to Calais--I give the satire and comments of the _Queen's Messenger_ -of August 5, 1869, upon the matter. This paper is a weekly organ, -published in London. - - "Happily there are always two ways of looking at a question, else the - following bill, which was presented last week to Parliament, might - have suggested puzzling reflections: - - DUE FROM BRITISH TAXPAYER TO BRITISH GOVERNMENT: - - For cost of presents made by Duke of Edinburgh during voyage - to Cape and Australia, L3,374 14 0 - - For conveyance of Prince Christian and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - from Dover to Calais, 68 0 0 - - For royal present to Peter, king of Congo, as reward for act - of Christian charity, 0 12 6 - - For luncheon to Prince William of Hesse, 13 0 0 - - For providing food for inhabitants of Cephalonia after the - island had been injured by earthquake, 10 9 6 - - For rigging-out a pier at Antwerp for reception of Prince of - Wales, 2 1 0 - - For robes, collars, and badges for certain persons who had received - honor of knighthood, 1,000 0 0 - - For maintenance of Congo, pirate chief, at Ascension, 38 3 0 - - Cost of presents to King of Masaba, by Captain of H.M. ship - Investigator, 2 0 4 - ======== - L4,509 0 4 - - Thus it costs 13l. to give a luncheon to Prince William of Hesse, - and only 10l. to relieve an island full of people who are dying of - famine. It requires 2l. to lay down red cloth for the Prince of Wales - to walk on, and only 12s. 6d. to reward King Peter for an act of - Christian charity. These are facts worth knowing. The only thing we - regret is that Government should have withheld information as to the - precise nature of the gift with which King Peter was gratified. Did - this mighty Empire present him with six pairs of cotton socks, or - request him to accept a gingham umbrella second-hand? And the King of - Masaba, who figures anonymously, what did he get for 2l. 0s. 4d.? Was - it a pair of boots and some pocket-handkerchiefs, or a few pots of - Scotch marmalade and a dozen pints of Bass? As to the other items of - the bill, it is so obviously right that the country should be made to - pay 68l. every time Prince Christian crosses the Channel, that we can - only wonder anybody should ever have thought otherwise, and moved, as - Mr. Fawcett did, that the sum be struck out of the estimates. We live - in strange times, forsooth, when a prince cannot charge the cost of - his railway-tickets on to the national purse without being made the - subject of unmannered comments!" - -[Sidenote: LORD ARTHUR CLINTON.] - -And now having given as brief a resume as I possibly could of the -salient characteristics of the "fast" young English aristocracy--having -shown how extravagant, useless, dishonorable and unprincipled many -of them are, I will close by mentioning that it is not long since -the English journals were filled with the evidence on the trial of -two young men who were arrested in London for dressing and appearing -in public as females. They were frequently seen at the Opera, the -race course, and in other public places, in company with Lord -Arthur Clinton, a well-known young nobleman. Their apartments were -searched, and waterfalls, chignons, puffs, and all the articles of -the female toilet and female wearing apparel, were found in their -possession. Brought before a magistrate, they manifested a strange and -unmanly behavior, and bore without shame the details of the medical -examination. Lord Clinton, in company with some other friends, had been -paying their addresses to these hybrid creatures, and following in the -footsteps of some of the disgusting court favorites, of which Juvenal -and the Satirists of the Lower Empire speak, he was jealous of another -young Lord, the cause being a rivalry for the affections of one of -these hybrid things in a woman's clothes! - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -LORDS AND COMMONS. - - -"WHY, Sir, I do think the times 'ave changed a great deal, but I -am afeered they will change wuss nor ever agin. They do say as how -Gladstone has, wen he likes, a will of his own to overturn the Crown -itself. And I know 'is son--'a past eight-and-twenty years the young -one is. He is just a bit of a curate in yon church of St. Mary's, -Lambith; and I can say for 'im as he is a hard-working man--it's no -bed of ease, the parish--and 'is father, who is now more than the -Queen herself, might have given young Gladstone the richest living in -Ingland, and nobody to say boo to him for the favor. Yisar, I'm sixty -past, last Miklemas, and man and boy I've lived in Lambeth; and now I'm -broke down with the parlyatics--but I once was a good man on the river, -and could pull a wherry or waterman's tub with the best on 'em." - -The murky beams of an August sun were falling slantingly on the muddy -waters beneath my feet as I leaned over the stone balustrades of -Westminster Bridge, which connects the ancient borough of Westminster -with the Surrey side of the River Thames. Far down the river, I could -see craft of every description lying in the stone docks, the pride and -boast of all Englishmen. Bridge after bridge loomed up in the sun's -hazy beams. Waterloo, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Vauxhall, and Lambeth -Bridges, crowded with traffic and swarming with the wild, heedless, -ever-bustling life of the greatest city of the modern world. Under -the piers of this grand bridge, nearly a thousand feet long, swept coal -barges, wherries bearing noisy cockney watermen, who halloed to each -other from roast-beef stomachs and brown-stout lungs, and every minute -the paddling, roaring steamboats, peculiar to the Thames,--each boat -about sixty feet long, their clean black hulls set off to advantage by -the narrow streaks of red paint that served as an ornament to their -keels, dashed to and fro, in and out of the bridge, conveying homeward -clerks, shop boys, barristers, solicitors, M. P.'s, business men from -the city, physicians, and here and there a stray white neck-clothed -curate of the Established Church, disgusted with the latest work -of Parliament, while, within a few feet of him, scarcely conscious -of the visible triumph that shone over his face, sat a Dissenting -preacher reading Bright's last effort in the Commons on behalf of -Disestablishment. - -[Illustration: HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.] - -On either side of the Thames, beginning at one end and ceasing at the -other end of the Houses of Parliament, the magnificent embankment of -hewn granite stone stretches, thirty or forty feet in width, for a mile -each way, thousands of foot passengers traversing its massive blocks, -each man and woman busy with his or her thoughts, or preoccupied with -the passing vagaries of the hour. - -[Sidenote: VIEW FROM WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.] - -On my right is Westminster Palace and the Houses of Parliament, the -finest modern gothic buildings in the world. The dozen towers and -belfries of this truly glorious edifice, gilded over with brass, -glisten with the refulgent hues of the dying sunset,--for nine hundred -and forty feet on the river, these massive, brown buildings, (that, on -the first view, bring up memories of some grand, old Gothic Cathedral,) -stretch away with tower, buttress, and pinnacle, presenting a river -facade which cannot be equaled by any other edifice for legislative -purposes in the world. - -Beyond, to the left, on the Surrey side, I can see Lambeth Palace, with -its faded reddish-brown brick piled up to the clouds, where resides -his Grace, the high and puissant spiritual prince, the Archbishop of -Canterbury and Primate of England. The feverish broil and confusion -of the great city are all round me, and are present in, and to an -extent pervade, the air above me. The whistling and puffing of the -locomotives may be heard night and day as they sweep to and fro, -conveying passengers and freight to and from all parts of England and -the Continent, over Charing Cross Bridge. The old man by my side on -the bridge, with whom I have been conversing for half an hour, is an -intelligent artisan of the conservative class, benumbed and enfeebled -by illness, and his poor old watery, dazed utterances confess to his -astonishment at the marvelous rapidity with which one of the great -strongholds of every Englishman's belief,--the Established Church, has -been over-turned by the now foremost man in Britain--William Ewart -Gladstone. The old man has relations in America, somewhere,--he thinks, -near Cincinnati, and he asks after their health and well-being with the -most implicit trust that I should know all about them, believing that -the Queen City is only a few miles distant by rail from New York. Yet -the relatives of his youth and manhood have been absent over twenty -years, and are possibly all dead and dust by this time. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.] - -As I have a desire to pay a visit to the House of Commons, and be a -witness of the proceedings of that dignified body of legislators, I bid -the Old Man of Lambeth a very good day, which he acknowledges in his -own fashion, and I stroll across the Bridge and down Bridges street -toward the Commons. As I pass the huge and massive Clock Tower, said -to be four hundred feet in height, and of most beautiful design, I am -warned by what I see all around me, that I am in the close vicinity -of that edifice which contains within its walls annually the chosen -wisdom and supposed best talent of England. Directly before me is the -magnificent fane of Westminster Abbey, holding within its thousand -storied urns, the ashes of the bravest, most intellectual, and most -renowned, as well as the most wretched and unfortunate of Britain's -dead. I can see, as I cross the bridge, the back portion of the -Chapel of Henry the Seventh, with its superb and intricate net-work -of tower, cornice, buttress, groined and fillagree stone-work. Cabs, -four-wheelers, and open carriages, with coachmen and footmen attired in -gorgeous liveries, their wigs powdered and frizzed, are driving hither -and thither, the occupants of some in full dress going to dinner, or to -listen to the debates which are to take place to-night in the Lords or -Commons. - -[Sidenote: "BOBBIES" AND "CABBIES."] - -These magnificent flunkies wear a contemptuous look of ennui -on their faces, and they survey all foot-passengers with blase -glances of indifferent serenity, which I find almost impossible to -describe justly. The court-yard directly opposite St. Margaret's, of -Westminster, is in a hollow below the grading of the approach to the -bridge, and is surrounded by a very handsome gilded iron railing, -which is in turn surmounted by a row of lamps which encircle the House -of Commons at night like a belt of fire. Within this enclosure are -continually stationed fifty or sixty hansom cabs for the convenience of -the members who may need them in the intervals of debate, and on top of -these cabs are to be found the cabbies who delight to bark and bite at -the unsophisticated and verdant stranger. - -There are half a dozen of policemen, or "bobbies," as the cockney, in -his refined slang, chooses to term them, wearing dark blue uniforms -with silver gilt buttons, and the letter and number of their division -on their close coat collars. The thick cloth-board hats, of a helmeted -shape, that these poor fellows are compelled to wear, even in hot -weather, are heavy enough to excite the compassion of the most -hard-hearted person, An inspector of hacks, always on duty in the -Palace Yard, may be seen moving to and fro, giving instructions to the -malicious cabbies, who are listening to his scoldings with the most -provoking indifference, real or assumed, as the case may be. - -Not being aware of the regulations, which do not permit a stranger or -visitor to enter the House of Commons without being possessed of the -written order of a member, I find myself notified at the splendidly -arched gothic doorway that I cannot pass. Here is a difficulty I had -not counted on. A friend from America, however, shows an order, which -I afterwards discover only admitted one person. We pass in under the -groined roof of one of the finest halls, architecturally considered, in -Europe. In this hall, over six hundred years ago on a New Year's day, a -monarch of the Plantagenet line fed six thousand poor people, and one -may well believe the legend of old prosy Abbot Ingulph, of Croyland, as -he looks around and above him at the grand dimensions of the stately -hall. On either side as one enters are marble statues, life-size, of -Hampden, Falkland, Walpole, Fox, Pitt, Burke, Grattan, and others,--the -work of England's greatest sculptors, placed on pedestals of stone. - -We are told by the policeman who attends at one of the inner doorways -to seat ourselves on a stone bench in an alcove, and wait our turn as -is the custom here. The Stranger's Gallery will not hold more than a -hundred persons when crowded; and when a heavy debate is in progress, -on a great public measure, the gallery is sure to be full. Five persons -are admitted to the gallery at a time as soon as a gap is made in the -benches by the departure of an equal number of spectators. Should a man -leave his seat in the alcove for an instant he is certain to lose his -turn, and he will be compelled to go to the bottom place and begin over -again. As soon as there is room, the policeman makes a sign to those -in waiting, and he marshals the five persons who have tickets, and -they follow him through several passages and halls to the Lobby of the -Commons--a large, square hall, beautifully decorated, and, turning to -the left, they all ascend a winding stair to the ante-room, where the -tickets are examined by an old, white-haired gentleman who sits in a -chair in evening dress, and, if correct, the batch are admitted to the -Stranger's Gallery, which is on the same floor, at the end of another -dark passage. - -[Sidenote: BILL OF FARE.] - -Before I leave the Lobby of the Commons, let me describe it briefly -together with the Lunch Counter of the house, which even the greatest -public men find it necessary to visit occasionally. It is a large -square hall of lofty proportions, almost every inch of the walls and -ceiling being ornamented in relief with the insignia of the Kingdom of -Great Britain and Ireland. - -A score of the members are in the Lobby talking with one another, in -an animated but not loud tone, or mayhap to some of their favored -constituents who have admission. To the right is a counter running -across an angle of the Lobby, at which ices, sandwiches, a glass of -sherry, a glass of port, or a glass of brandy--all of a good quality, -can be obtained by those of the members who do not wish to spoil a -dinner by a hearty luncheon, or who do not wish to spend the time in -going down stairs into a cosy suite of rooms, which I almost fancied -were carved out of the beautiful oak paneling, and where a dinner -nearly as good as may be found in England can be obtained at the prices -and at the hours which I give in the Bill of Fare: One o'clock--Soups: -Jardiniere, 1s.; Calf's Tail, 1s. Joints: Shoulder of Mutton, 2s.; -Steak, stewed, 2s. Entrees: Hashed Venison, 3s.; Filet Boeuf au Vin, -2s.; Mutton Cutlets piquante, 2s.; Lamb Chop, 1s. 3d. Five o'clock to -6.30--Salmon, 1s. 6d.; Sole, 1s.; White Bait, 1s.; Saddle of Mutton, -2s.; Cold Roast Beef, 1s. 3d.; Cold Boiled Beef, 1s. 3d.; Cold Lamb, -2s.; Cold Ham, 1s. 3d.; Lobster, 1s. 3d.; Ribs of Beef, 2s. At 7 -o'clock, same prices. Puddings, 6d.; Tarts, 6d.; Wine Jelly, 6d.; -French Beans, 6d.; Green Peas, 6d.; Salad, 6d.; Cheese, 4d. This is the -bill of fare, for one day only, of the steward, Mr. Nicoll, who purveys -for the Lords and Commons of England in both Houses. - -I give the prices as a curiosity, showing on what nutriment heroes, -statesmen, and orators are fed while attending St. Stephens, and -how much they are taxed for their food. This may be trivial to some -persons, but I contend the sum of human existence is made up of -trifles, and in England, particularly, of such substantial trifles as I -have given above. Wellington gained the battle of Waterloo because his -troops were well fed, while the raw levies, and even the Old Guard of -Napoleon, had been fighting for three days at Ligny and Quatre Bras, -and had to lie the night before Waterloo in a wet morass, hungry and -exhausted. The articles of food that I have named are to be procured -here at a cheaper rate and of better quality than anywhere else in -London, only that to enjoy the luxuries which I have enumerated at -moderate prices, it is first necessary to gain admittance to the Houses -of Parliament, which can only be done through a member's order. The -chops and steaks here are truly magnificent, and on a scale of grandeur -commensurate with the architectural pretensions of Westminster Palace. - -Besides all this, away down below the bustle and eloquence of the -Commons, in those dark, quaint oak passages enclosed by marvelous -paneling, the visitor is certain to find one of the most beautiful -bar-maids in London to wait upon him--and hand him cold sherry at -sixpence a glass. - -This comely damsel had some tickets to sell. Her uncle--I think it was -her uncle--it was who had broken his leg. He belonged to the Noble -Order of Foresters, and it was necessary that the public should be -called upon to make up a purse to have the uncle's leg set. I had a -benevolent American along with me who knew not what to do with his -newly cashed sovereigns, and he listened with a compassionate ear to -the tale of distress. The result was a small contribution of a half -sovereign to the uncle. - -[Sidenote: MR. BRUCE AND HIS STEAKS.] - -The bar-maid said, in presence of two of her country friends--they came -from Ilfracombe, down in the country: "I am so much obliged to you, -sir. My uncle is very bad. Will you have soda and brandy, sir, or will -you have a little bitter beer? The bitter beer is very good after a -mutton-chop and potatoes. Mr. Bright always prefers a glass of sherry -when he comes down here, but Mr. Disraeli takes brandy and soda. The -Hirish members, they are so jolly, and they do carry on so, and they -make such jokes with us girls. I likes Lord Stanley, the member for -Lynn, least of them all. Somehow, you can't joke with him. He looks -awfully sewere, and whenever he speaks it's just like a father for all -the world. You know, sir, he's got the hold Darby blood hintoo 'im, and -he is a great man." - -"Who do you like best in the House of Commons, sissy?" said my -frolicsome American friend to the joyous bar-maid. - -[Illustration: THE LEGISLATIVE BAR-MAID.] - -"Well, sir, I likes Mr. Bruce, the 'Ome Sekretary, the best of hall -of them. He has sich a hinfluence. When he comes down here he always -takes a steak, and he is hawful pertikler habout it as how it is to be -cooked. He halways likes to have one side raw and the other side burnt. -Oh, I have been so worrited about Mr. Bruce and 'is steaks--the waiters -always comes to me and says, 'I say, wot kind of a man is this 'ere -'Ome Sekretary, he ought to get some silk binding on to his steaks, he -is so werry pertikler.' But he always drops 'em a sixpence and that -makes it hup." - -The door of the members' entrance to the Commons is guarded by two -persons in evening dress, who are dignified enough in presence and -feature to sit in the Senate of the United States. At each side is -a handsomely carved, oaken box, shaped like a sentry's hut in camp, -and in the sides of these boxes are placed notches or racks where all -messages and letters for the members are left in the charge of the -doorkeepers, as no outsiders whatever are permitted to penetrate this -entrance excepting the Lords or distinguished foreigners, and the -latter only by invitation of the House itself. - -There are also telegraph offices in the corners of the lobby, with -stained glass windows, from whence telegrams can be sent without -delay to the Mediterranean, to Paris, St. Petersburg, New York, -Washington, San Francisco, Madrid, Pekin, or any place in the bounds of -civilization. As I turn from the contemplation of these offices, and -from the benches where a number of messengers and smart-looking and -handsomely-uniformed pages are in readiness to rush to the clubs in -Pall Mall, to the Opera, or to the private residences of the members -of the House, in obedience to the beck or nod of the "whip" of the -government, (Sir Henry Brand,) in case of a division, I see before -me in the doorway a magnificently attired gentleman, in black silk -stockings, buckled shoes, and powdered hair and ruffles, wearing a -bright sword at his hip. He looks like a picture stepped out of a frame -of the period which Thackeray loved to dwell upon--when George the -Third was king. - -This gentleman is none other than the Sergeant-At-Arms of the House of -Commons, Lord Charles James Fox Russell, a scion of the great house of -Bedford, of which Earl Russell is a member. How different he looks from -the sergeant-at-arms of some of our State Legislatures, or even of the -National Houses of Congress. Here is no promoted bar-keeper or reformed -rowdy, but a gentleman bearing one of the proudest names in England, -and befitting by position and character the elevated office which he -holds. It is more than easy to believe that a slung-shot or revolver -could not be pulled upon this gorgeous and venerated being while in the -performance of his august duties. The most malicious derringer would be -silent in his awful presence, and no slung-shot, however moulded, could -ever impinge that hereditary forehead. - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT COMMONER.] - -A story is told of a man who once penetrated even to the floor of -the House itself, and sat there on the benches, being taken for some -new member by his colleagues who was yet to be sworn in. But before -the morning broke, the House having sat all night, the horror of his -position had so paralyzed him that his jetty hair had turned white. -Stay, as I have no ticket I will throw myself upon the country and -abide the issue. I sent in to the Hon. John Francis Maguire, M.P., my -card, with the written desire that I should be admitted to the gallery, -and then I awaited the issue, whether for the Tower or the House. - -While I waited, strolling about the gallery, a gentleman came out of -the door of the Commons, upon whom every eye was turned, and walked -in an upright, John Bull fashion towards the refreshment counter. A -whisper went round the lobby, "That is John Bright," and then I knew -that for the first time I stood in the presence of England's greatest -Commoner, the apostle of the Manchester school and Tribune of the -people. I who had seen so many caricatures of the great orator in -Punch, which has always depicted him as a fat, pursy, vulgar-looking -person, sans breeding, sans ceremonie, failed at the first glance -to identify the noble-looking old man in evening dress, with an -irreproachable white neck-tie, and a decidedly polished exterior, who -halted at the refreshment bar to slowly sip a strawberry ice after the -heat of the debate. - -[Illustration: JOHN BRIGHT.] - -Every inch this was a man, as I looked at him, and a king among men, -if the outward shell can serve at all to indicate what is concealed -within. And he has a princely following too. For around him I can see -a number of men whose names are known wherever the English language is -spoken, and wherever English newspapers are printed and read,--eager -to get a word or a look from him, plain John Bright, once the best -hated man in England, and now, by sheer force of will and dogged -pluck, enshrined forever in the admiration, if not the love, of his -countrymen. I have as yet only been waiting a few minutes when I see -approaching me a messenger of the House, who points the writer out to -a stout, compact-looking man in evening dress, of advanced years, fair -complexion, and with a keen look in his face which serves as a front -to a large, solid head, well set on strong shoulders. This is the Hon. -John Francis Maguire, M.P. for Cork, author of "Rome and its Rulers," -"The Life of Father Matthew," "The Irish in America," and editor of the -Cork _Examiner_, a man well known in Ireland and America, and one of -the Irish leaders of the Liberal side in the House. - -Mr. Maguire has taken the trouble to leave his seat in the House -during debate to oblige the writer of this book, and I must here make -my acknowledgment for the courtesy done. Mr. Maguire hands me a slip -of paper which he has procured for me from the Right Honorable John -Evelyn Denison, Bart., Speaker of the House, and this order entitles -me to a reserved seat on the front bench of the Gallery. I now pass -the dignitary in the black stockings and buckles, who smiles most -graciously at me out of the respect to the Speaker's order, and, after -traversing a narrow stair, emerge into the Speaker's Gallery, and find -myself at last inside the English House of Commons, of which I have -heard so much and so often. - -It is now after dusk, and I can hear the silvery chime of "Big Ben" in -the huge clock tower of St. Stephen's, as it peals the hour of eight -through the corridors and galleries. There is just now a recess among -the members for consultation, and but few are on the floor of the -House, the majority being in the lobby button-holing each other, and -the rest, with the exception of fifteen or twenty on the seats behind -the Treasury Bench, are at dinner. - -[Sidenote: HALL OF THE COMMONS.] - -There are fifty or sixty persons in the Gallery, behind and above -me, the place where I sit being reserved for those whose names have -been inscribed on the list of the Speaker. The Commons' Galleries run -lengthwise on either side of the House, for nearly a hundred feet, -having an upper and lower bench, covered with green leather. The House -is about forty-five feet wide, and one hundred feet long, and the -ceiling is over forty feet from the ground floor, where the debates -are held. It is impossible for me to convey an idea of the richness -and splendor of this Hall of the Commons. Suffice to say that there -is nothing to compare with it in America for architectural effect and -compactness. - -From above in the ceiling a flood of mellow light pours through -sixty-four stained glass windows, and on either side of the House the -windows are gorgeous in their designs of shields and coats of arms, -indicating the living presence of the monarchy of Great Britain and -Ireland. The numerous gas jets are concealed at the top of the glass -panelling of the ceiling, throwing a brilliant but subdued light -upon the Speaker as he sits in his high, over-hanging oak chair; on -the members; on the spectators, and on the ladies who are assembled -behind the glass screen at the back of and above the Speaker's chair. -Beneath the Ladies' Gallery, and also behind the Speaker's chair, is -the Reporters' Gallery, so arranged that each member, as he faces -the Speaker, shall also face the numerous corps of reporters who are -in attendance to note down whatever wheat may develop itself in the -wilderness of chaff spoken in this House. - -The lowest bench on the right hand of the Speaker is devoted to the -Ministry, and on this side, immediately above, the supporters of the -government congregate within hearing distance of the Premier, night -after night, during the sessions. Whenever the Ministerial side is -thin of speakers, Mr. Gladstone simply turns around, and a nod or look -will bring upon his feet whatever member he thinks will best fill the -gap. Underneath the Strangers' gallery is placed a special seat for -the august Sergeant-at-Arms or his deputy, who is, if I mistake not, -a baronet. The walls and ceiling all round are of stone of a peculiar -color, which is neither brown, white, grey, nor yellow, but is a -combination of all four; and I can best describe the tone of color by -likening it to the hue of the bronchial troches or lozenges that are -sold in the druggists' shops in America. Otherwise I might call it a -brownish-grey, of which John Ruskin has examples enough and to spare in -his "Stones of Venice." - -It is certainly a very rich color, and admirably adapted to the damp -and foggy atmosphere of London. Wherever the eye may choose to rest -in the Houses of Parliament, it is sure to be confronted with the -emblazoning of royal and princely cognizances. On both sides of the -House are the Division lobbies, where the members go to be counted by -the tellers, when a division is called for. That on the west side is -for the "ayes," and on the opposite side is the lobby for the "noes." -There are also libraries, residences for all the officers of the House, -on a scale of the most princely magnificence, and more than a score -of committee-rooms abutting off the longest corridors of any public -building in the world, not excepting the Escurial in Spain. Everywhere -you may see acres of polished oak above and around you. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -LORDS AND COMMONS.--CONTINUED. - - -DIRECTLY in front of the gallery where I am sitting, is the Reporter's -Gallery. There are fifteen boxes for their use to take notes in, each -reporter sitting separately from his comrade, and writing characters -for dear life. These boxes resemble private boxes in our New York Opera -House, with the difference that they have no roofs above them, and -are open to the public gaze. Behind these fifteen boxes are seats for -twenty more reporters, to take the place of those in the boxes in turn. -Each reporter takes short-hand notes for a space of ten to fifteen -minutes time, and is then relieved by his colleague, waiting above him, -who steps into his place as the other retires to the Reporter's Room, -in the corridor, to write out his notes, and thence to take them to -the newspaper office, or else, if he chooses, he may send them by the -small boys waiting in the gallery, who are employed by the newspapers -at a salary of from eight to twelve British shillings a week to act -as messengers. Late at night, it is customary for the reporter who -has notes of a very important speech--which he desires to get to the -composing-rooms of his journal, to take a cab from the Palace Yard, -where there are dozens of them always waiting, and thus dash off to be -in time for the press. The _Times_ keeps thirteen reporters constantly -in the gallery during the session, and the _Standard_ as many more, -if I am not mistaken. These men are all expert short-hand reporters, -and receive from five to eight guineas per week, according to their -capability. There is also a man who remains late to get the gist of -what is said and done in debate, and from his notes he makes up a -clear and comprehensive summary for the morning edition. Then there is -the "leader-writer," "the editor" proper, and a "special reporter," -who receive cards of admission to that part of the house under the -Reporter's Gallery, and consequently on the floor of the House behind -the Speaker's chair. This is a high favor, and only granted most -sparingly, and with discretion. - -There are generally to be found about twenty reporters in the gallery, -but this number is greatly increased on a "field night," when it is -usual to find as many as thirty-five or forty journalists in the -gallery. From what I have seen of these parliamentary reporters they -seem to be very deliberate in their movements, and they do not allow -anything to hurry them. They are nearly all, however, very pleasant -gentlemen, and with few exceptions, men of experience and scholarly -attainments, two-thirds of them being men who have taken honors at -the universities, or at Harrow, Eton, or Rugby, and in not a few -instances they have begun life by taking minor orders in the church, -and having toyed with journalism for some time they were unable at -last to resist its feverish fascination. Some few of them are in the -Inns of Court--embryo barristers during the day, and at night they -practise short-hand, earn a respectable living, and gain experience -from England's chosen representatives up in their secluded nooks in -the gallery of the House. It was not always that the press and its -reporters had such privileges as they now possess in the House of -Commons. - -[Sidenote: DR. JOHNSON TAKING NOTES.] - -Before the administration of Sir Robert Walpole, there were no -satisfactory records of the debates in the House. The fierce contests -between Walpole, Windham, Pulteney, and others had, indeed, for some -time before 1740, attracted attention to the proceedings of the House, -and they had been regularly reported in a confused long-hand sort of -fashion every month in the _Gentleman's_ and _London Magazine_, the -former publication commencing the debates in January, 1731, the latter -in April, 1732, but no attempt can be said to have been made to convey -more than the substance of the speeches until that department of the -_Gentleman's Magazine_ was intrusted to gruff old Samuel Johnson, in -November, 1740. This is the commencement of the era of parliamentary -reporting in England. Short-hand, before that time is involved in -chaos, and it is doubtful if Johnson knew anything more than the -rudiments of the then crude system of stenography. - -Indeed, Johnson appears to have given more of his own eloquence than of -what had actually been uttered in Parliament; but still, what he did -was, in all probability, only to substitute one kind of eloquence for -another--a better for a worse; or, it might be, sometimes, a worse for -a better--and therefore, on the whole, the speeches written by him, -though less true to the letter than those given by his predecessors, -may be received as a more living, and, as such, a truer representation -of the real debates than had ever before been produced. - -He would not take the trouble to or be guilty of the absurdity of -expending his lofty rhetoric upon the version of a debate or speech -which had not really attracted attention by that quality, but I -suppose he reserved his strength for occasions on which those who had -heard, or heard of, the original oration, would look for something -more brilliant than usual. It was not, however, until after a long -and severe struggle, with a desperate fight at the close, that the -right of reporting the debates of Parliament was gained by the English -press of that day. It is only about one hundred and thirty years ago, -(in the old days of the Hanoverian and Pretender's troubles), since -anything spoken in the House was allowed to be printed until after the -session was dissolved. The House, in its wisdom, denounced any earlier -publication of the eloquence of the honorable members as a daring act -of illegality. - -On the 13th of April, 1738, the House resolved "that it is an high -indignity to, and a notorious breach of the privilege of this House, -for any news matter or letters, or other papers, as minutes, or under -any other denomination, or for any printer or publisher of any printed -newspaper of any denomination to presume to insert in the said letters -or papers, or to give therein any account of, the debates or other -proceedings of this House, or any committee thereof, _as well during -the recess as the sitting of Parliament_, and that this House will -proceed with the utmost severity against such offenders." The House of -Commons, it is needless to say, has progressed somewhat since that day. - -The monthly magazines, notwithstanding the resolution of the House, -still continued to print the debates, although for some time they took -the necessary precaution of indicating the speakers by fictitious -names, to which they furnished their readers with a key when the House -became dissolved. But it was not until the year 1771, nearly a century -ago, that the debates began to be given to the public day by day as -they occurred, and then the attempt gave rise to a contest between the -House and the newspapers, which occupied the House, to the exclusion of -all other business, for three weeks, when a committee was appointed, -whose report, when it was read two months after, suggested whether it -might not be expedient to order that the offending parties should be -taken into the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Edmund Burke compared -the decision, in his own brilliant manner, to the resolution of the -bewildered convocation of mice,--that the cat, to prevent her doing -future destruction, should have a bell hung to her neck, but forgot to -say how the rash act was to be performed. Well, that is all past and -gone now, and the only complaint made in these busy days by members of -Parliament against the score of daily newspapers, published in London, -is that they err in not printing enough of the speeches to satisfy each -individual representative. - -[Sidenote: THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE.] - -I noticed that the majority of the parliamentary reporters in the -Gallery were considerably advanced in age, many of them wearing gray -hairs, and fully sixty per cent. of the whole number that I saw were -above forty years of age. Some of these gentlemen, by careful saving -and strict attention to their arduous professional duties, have amassed -comfortable competencies, and some of them own, in the environs of -the city, snug little houses, with snug little libraries, and in some -of them, I can certainly say, are to be found pleasant tables and -home-comforts rarely possessed by their brethren of the note-book and -pencil in America. There are, to be sure, many improvident ones in -London, as elsewhere, and here Bohemianism has a lower depth than it -ever was known to have in America, for it is here that the really -depraved and abandoned Bohemian confines himself exclusively to the -consumption of gin--raw and simple gin. A low London Bohemian is a -mere animal, and will beg a copper from you in the same breath that he -professes his willingness to translate a Greek tragedy--to oblige the -giver of the copper, or else he will favor you with an account of his -days at Oxford or Trinity, when he was a "first honor" man or a B.A. -But one thing I have not found as yet in London on the press, and that -is an illiterate or badly taught man, such as can be met with by the -score on the American press. - -The House to-night is in a Committee of the Whole on the Scottish -Education bill. The Ministerial benches are pretty well filled, while -the Opposition benches, to the left of the Speaker's chair, are but -thinly populated. Fronting the Speaker's chair of state is a table -of polished mahogany, the surface of which is about ten feet wide by -fifteen feet long. Directly before the chair of the Right Honorable -Speaker are two low-seated chairs of less pretension, occupied by -the Clerk of the House of Commons, Sir Denis Le Marchant, and his -assistant, Sir Thomas Erskine May, K.C.B. The former is a smooth-faced -man, having the inevitable wig upon his head, which gives him a much -older appearance than his years would warrant. His shoulders are -enveloped in an ample black silk gown, and a blank book of large -dimensions is open before him upon whose leaves he is supposed to -enter the minutes of the House. This person has a magnificent suite -of apartments in a wing of the Parliament House, beside a very large -salary, and is as comfortably housed as if he belonged to the royal -blood of Britain. Sir Thomas Erskine May, K.C.B., seated upon his -left, is a clean-shaved gentleman in evening dress, who also has -apartments in the palace, and a good salary. He has nothing remarkable -about his person or manner, with the exception of a very drawling -voice and a hesitancy in announcing motions made by the members, or -in calling a division when the House so wills it. He is the author -of the continuation of Hallam's Constitutional History of England. -Beside these high officials there are four "Principal Clerks," one -of whom, like Sir Thomas May, enjoys the high dignity of a Knight -Companion of the Bath, &c. Then there are twelve "Assistant Clerks" -and twelve "Junior Clerks," with an "Accountant," an "Assistant -Accountant," a "Private Secretary to the Chairman of Ways and -Means;" a "Sergeant-at-Arms," who is a Lord; two "Deputy Sergeants;" -a "Chaplain," no less a man than Canon Merivale, the accomplished -Roman historian, who has the good sense to make his prayers at the -commencement of the proceedings very short; a "Secretary to the -Speaker;" a "Librarian," a poor cadet of the great overshadowing family -of Howard; an "Assistant Librarian," with an Irish name; two "Examiners -of Petitions for Private Bills," one of whom is Mr. R.D.F. Palgrave, -of whom Americans have heard, and finally a "Taxing Officer," beside -innumerable servants, of superfine bearing, correct evening dress, and -consummate self-possession. I asked one of these ponderous servants, -whom at first sight I took to be the "Juke of Linsther," as an Irish -reporter pronounced it, if he was not awed by the dignity of the house. - -[Illustration: COULD YOU MAKE IT A TANNER?] - -"Aw," said he, in a gracious manner, "you er, I preeszhume, en -Eemireken. This sawt of thing boaws me 'orrid; it does. I hev dun hit -for heit yeers. I wish they wud adjoan, and I wud go to my CLUB." - -[Sidenote: THE SPEAKER AND HIS WIG.] - -Timidly I offered this gorgeous being four-pence, expecting to be -rebuked in a dignified manner for my presumption by the personage who -talked so fluently of "'is club." He never turned around, but, gazing -steadily at the Speaker's chair, as if he was desirous of catching the -Right Honorable Gentleman's eye, thrust his hand behind him, counted -the pennies with his fingers, and said to the writer in a stage whisper: - -"Would your 'onor pleese to make it a 'tanner'? We 'ave no perkisites -in the Commons, pleese." Let me here state that a "tanner" is the slang -term for sixpence, and a "bob" is a shilling among the London cockneys, -servants, bar-boys, and wild children of the thousand streets and lanes -of London. - -When the House is in committee it is not the custom for the Speaker -to be present. When the House is in open session, then the Speaker is -arrayed in wig and gown, and he sits far back in the recesses of his -chair, like some dried-up mummy, so closely is he swathed and covered. -It is pretty hard work for a member to actually catch his eye, being -so muffled up as to defy recognition by a casual observer. Yet it is a -part and parcel of the British Constitution, that this Right Honorable -John Evelyn Dennison should be smothered in this huge box and gown and -wig on a warm August night like this. During committee proceedings the -Speaker may walk out, doff his wig and gown, and dine as he has done -to-night, and then come back, and finding the House still in committee, -he will seat himself in his chair without his legal vesture. I have -been in this House four nights, and this is the first time that I have -seen the Speaker's legs--palpably. He lolls back without any of that -reverence that I have heard so much of, as belonging to the Commons, -and he has at last gone to sleep, like Mr. Greeley under Dr. Chapin's -sermons. In the meantime, the bill, which has twenty-five clauses or -sections, is being canvassed and considered by the members who stream -in, now that the dinner hour has passed. - -While the Speaker slumbers in a quiet way, the chief and assistant -clerks of the House conduct the business, the assistant taking up the -bill, and repeating as he reads each clause in detail: "It is moved," -or "it is proposed that a substitute," or that the "word ---- instead -of ----," and so on, in soporific tones, for two long hours. A number -of people in the gallery are gently dozing, and visibly many of the -messengers are relapsing into a blissful repose. - -The Speaker's table is covered with reports, large bound and gilt -volumes, books of reference, pamphlets, newspapers, costly ink-horns, -and other clerical paraphernalia of the state service. The huge gilded -mace of the Speaker, which lies on the further end of the table below -his chair, when the House is not in committee, is now pendant under -the table on a rack, to show that it is not an open session for the -introduction of new measures or for the making of set speeches. - -[Illustration: THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.] - -Out of six hundred and seventy or eighty members of the House, there -are not present to-night more than one hundred and fifty. Many of the -remaining members are scattered all over the Continent in nooks and -corners. A large number may be found on the Parisian boulevards; some -are at Fontainebleau; some in the Pyrenees, swallowing chalybeate -waters; many are yachting in the Mediterranean, or wasting their time -with the peasant girls in Isles of the Greek Archipelago; not a few are -off at the races at Goodwood or Brighton; some are at Rome, burning, -fuming, and cursing the garlic and salads; dozens of them are at -Constantinople, at St. Petersburg, or climbing the Alps out of a sheer -love of danger and the reckless fondness of physical excitement inborn -in the Englishman; and probably as many as could be numbered on the -fingers of the hand are scattered over the American Continent in search -of novelty. There are also a number of City members absent, in their -out-of-town residences, compelled to forego forensic honors, at the -command of wife and daughters who are packing and poking preparatory to -a flight to the Rhine and Germany. The ministerial benches show a good -front for the late season; first, because the government has a great -deal of unfinished business on its hands, which must be transacted -before Parliament is closed; and secondly, because the exertions of the -government whip have been most arduous in hunting up Mr. Gladstone's -supporters, and compelling them to remain in their seats, while there -is work to be done by them. - -[Sidenote: DIGNITY OF THE HOUSE.] - -With a great number of Americans, that have not visited England, -there is in some way or another an abiding impression that the House -of Commons is the most stately and dignified legislative body in the -world. To be disabused of this notion it is only necessary for an -American to sit during a night session in the gallery of the House, -with a proviso that he has been a visitor at some time or another to -the Senate Chamber or the House of Representatives at Washington. When -a member of this House rises to claim the attention of the Speaker, -it is common to find half a dozen of his fellow members rising also -with him for the same purpose. A member of the government gets on his -honorable legs with his face turned toward the Speaker. If on the -lower bench, he will walk a little forward to the table, and if he is -accustomed to speak from notes, it is more than possible that he will -lay one hand on the table and with the other turn the leaves of his -manuscript. If he speaks extemporaneously, he will probably lean in a -lounging position forward, his two hands resting on the Speaker's table. - -Many of the members who are best known to the public have this fashion, -and it is most unpleasant to hear them drawl forth sentence after -sentence as if they were dragged from their honorable throats by sheer -force. It has often been reported by English writers that American -legislators have a bad fashion of elevating their legs and laying back -in an irreverent attitude while listening to a debate. Also, that they -expectorate freely. Well, I have seen the most distinguished statesman -at present in England--I mean Mr. Gladstone--lounge and disperse his -limbs, while within ten feet of the Speaker, in a fashion that would -bring shouts of laughter from a crowded theatre, were the same thing -done in a farce or low comedy. - -Each member of the Commons, as he walks into the House, to-night, has -his hat on his head. As he passes the Speaker's chair, he doffs it -for an instant, but when he takes his seat the hat is replaced upon -his head as before. As a general thing, a member who speaks without -notes, addresses the Speaker, with his hat in one hand. They all seem -to conclude whatever remarks they have to make with a jerk, and as -soon as they sit down the hat is again replaced, or rather slapped on -the head, with a vehement motion that seems impelled by some hidden -mechanical power. Then they have a fashion of lounging in and out in -a free-and-easy way during debate, that is highly suggestive of a -bar-room in a frontier town. - -There is rarely, or never--in the House of Commons--an exhibition of -the nervous, impassioned speaking which may be heard all over America -or in the Corps Legislatif. When there is a clear or telling speech -made, (as far as the manner of delivery goes,)--mind, I do not speak of -its effect practically--or if the eloquence is of a florid description, -it will be surely spoken by one of the one hundred and five Irish -members. Certainly, when Whalley or Newdegate get on their legs, to -smash the Pope or to recount horrible but dramatic stories about -the mysteries and child massacres of convents, there is no lack of -vehemence and buncombe. But this style of oratory is confined to a few -of the members who have hobbies to ride, and who cannot be driven from -them even at the point of the bayonet. - -[Sidenote: AMBASSADOR LAYARD.] - -Physically speaking, a majority of the members are gallant-looking -fellows, and they are all dressed simply, but with the taste always -observed by a gentleman in the selection of articles of clothing. A -small number of them wear white beaver hats, and their trowsers are cut -widely at the bottom in the now prevailing fashion. With the exception -of a few of the younger and more fashionable members, who frequent -the race-courses, the Opera,--go to hear Schneider, lounge into the -Cremorne after eleven o'clock at night, or frequent the society of such -famous demi-reps as "Mabel Grey," "Baby Hamilton," "Baby Thornell," or -other women who have beggared and ruined hundreds of those young men -about town who have a disposition to be fast, there is a total absence -of showy or loud colors in their apparel. A great many of the "fast" -young men attend the session--occasionally--for the sake of common -decency, or because their constituencies compel it, as in the case of -a City borough the other day, where a member was rebuked by a public -resolution of condemnation and asked to resign, for absence from his -seat. Younger sons of noble lords look upon the House of Commons as -a necessary evil, which must be "done," like an occasional visit to -church, or to Richmond, or Greenwich, to eat fish. - -As the members come in one by one and take their places on the benches, -I find opportunities to observe and note their peculiarities and looks. -That gentleman who comes in so slowly and so quietly, dressed in dark -clothes, and having a head, whiskers, and general resemblance to our -Longfellow, is the Right Honorable Austin H. Layard, Commissioner of -Public Works, one of the Ministers, but not a member of the Cabinet, -and lately appointed English Ambassador to Spain. You would take him -for a literary man or a thinker, anywhere, by reason of his long, -flowing, white hair and thoughtful look. Mr. Layard is the author of -the celebrated book on Nineveh. He receives attention in the House -always when he rises to speak of Eastern affairs. He was at one time an -attache of the English embassy to the Porte, and was Under Secretary -for Foreign Affairs in the administration of Earl Granville. Mr. Layard -has the reputation of being rather hot tempered in debate, and at one -time he earned the ill-will of the aristocratic faction in the House -by his persevering liberalism, but at present he is popular enough, and -no one can look at his bright dark-blue eye and general appearance, -without feeling that he is in the presence of a man who possesses a -considerate and calmly philosophical spirit, broken at times by a -sudden flash of the scholar's enthusiasm. - -That gentleman with the exquisitely carved face and very red hair, with -a slight dimple in his chin, and clear, frank eyes, is the Secretary -of State for War, the Right Honorable Edward Cardwell, M.P. for Oxford -City, and an old follower of Sir Robert Peel. He has in his time held -various offices of trust under different administrations, and in June, -1866, when the forces of Col. William R. Roberts, President of the -Fenian Brotherhood, invaded the Canadas, Mr. Cardwell, as Secretary -for the Colonies, had his hands full of a rather difficult business, -which he managed as well as the very annoying circumstances--for a -British Crown Minister--would permit. I like to hear Mr. Cardwell -speak. He is always ready, yet deliberate, and with these qualities he -possesses a happy and easy manner in argument. The most difficult job -of Mr. Cardwell's life was the management of the Governor Eyre-Jamaica -business, which at its crisis covered the English administration with -shame and ignominy. Mr. Cardwell had, while at Oxford, a very good -reputation, which he has not as yet contradicted by his course in -Parliament, of which body he was returned as a member as early as 1842. -Thackeray once ran against him and was defeated. - -[Sidenote: LORNE AND CHILDERS.] - -That really handsome young gentleman, who is said to have the -best-shaped leg in the House, as well as the friendship of the -most charming female members of the aristocracy, as he certainly -is the owner of a most beautiful head of hair, of the hue of a new -guinea, such as is seen in Carlo Dolce's Virgins--is the member for -Argyllshire, the Marquis of Lorne, heir presumptive to George Douglas -Campbell, eighth Duke of Argyll, the Liberal Secretary of State for -India in the Gladstone Cabinet, a Privy Counsellor, and a Knight of the -Thistle. The young marquis, at twenty-five, has the face and skin of a -maiden of twenty, and I could not but observe that his trowsers were of -a fashion superior to any other known trowsers in the House of Commons. -I do not know whether the handsome Marquis inherits the Covenanting -piety of the Argyll-Campbells, his ancestors; but he bears a wonderful -resemblance to his father, the Duke, and among the frescoes in the -corridors of the House there is one by Copely, entitled the "Sleep of -Argyll," and I was astonished to notice the strong likeness of the -young Marquis--who passed the fresco at the moment--to the face of his -illustrious ancestor of two hundred years ago, as it was depicted by -the artist--lying on a prison pallet. The Marquis of Lorne, while I -was in the gallery, sat behind Mr. Gladstone, on an upper bench, as a -Liberal, like his father who sits in the Lords. When the hereditary -Campbell got up on his well-shaped legs to speak as a Scotch member on -the Parochial Schools bill, he did it quietly, and in a clear, musical -voice, that seemed to attract attention. - -The Marquis of Lorne has a very ready delivery, though he is not as yet -of great account in debate, and he is I believe, from all reports, a -marvelously proper young man, compelled to exist upon about L25,000 a -year, which amount will be largely augmented when the present Duke is -committed to the family vaults. - -That big, bulky six-footer, of great shoulders and massive limb, -wearing tightly fitting clothes, his forehead overshadowed with dark, -reddish-brown hair, and his whole manner indicative of pluck and a -contest against life-long odds, is the Right Honorable H.C.E. Childers, -member for Pontefract, and First Lord of the Admiralty, an office that -in England somewhat resembles the position of Secretary of the Navy of -the United States, having this difference only--that the First Lord, -while in his place on the Treasury or Cabinet benches in the House of -Commons, is compelled to reply to all attacks on the management of the -Navy, and to defend the expenditure and estimates of that department. -He is now giving facts from a pamphlet which he holds in one hand, -while he rests his body on his other hand across the table in a -negligent manner, as if he were more used to roughing it in the bush -than supporting a minister by a recapitulation of dreary statistics in -the House. - -Mr. Childers was at one time, I believe, a fellow-member with Mr. -Robert Lowe, of the Parliament of Victoria, after both of them had -exiled themselves voluntarily to the antipodes. Mr. Childers only -became a member of the House in 1860, and his rise to eminence was -achieved with more than American rapidity, in a country where it is a -cardinal principle that a man should not receive emolument, honor, or -position, until he has grown the gray hair of sixty years. - -Mr. Childers is the chairman and director also of at least threescore -of corporations and foundations of charity of one kind or another, and -is said to be very good in figures--a necessary gift in a Lord of the -Admiralty. If his mind is half as big as his whiskers, he is certainly -a genius. The hard work of defending the Gladstone administration in -detail is usually given to Mr. Childers, to W.E. Foster, M.P. for -Bradford, or to Mr. Bruce, the Home Secretary. In all Irish matters, -Mr. Chichester Fortescue, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, is expected -to stand by his leader, Mr. Gladstone, and he has been of great service -to him in the Irish Land Bill legislative measures. Mr. Childers, like -the young Marquis of Lorne, is a Trinity College, Cambridge, man, but -not an Eton boy like the former. - -[Illustration: FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY.] - -The next noticeable person on the ministerial bench, and by all -acknowledged to be one of the ablest men in Parliament, is the Right -Honorable Robert Lowe, member for London University, an Oxford man, and -son of a Church of England clergyman. London University, which Mr. Lowe -represents, is the most liberal educational institution in England, and -grants University degrees to students, irrespective of their religious -belief. A short time ago the Queen opened the new London University -buildings, which are, I believe, unequaled in the metropolis for beauty -of design and commodious comfort. Mr. Lowe is now in his fiftieth -year, and is a member of the Gladstone Cabinet, and Chancellor of the -Exchequer--the office formerly held by his illustrious chief, and one -of the greatest trust and responsibility in England. - -[Sidenote: THE SATIRICAL LOWE.] - -As an orator Lowe has few equals, and stands in the following order -of precedence: Gladstone,--Bright,--Disraeli,--Lowe,--according to -the best judges. By many he is said to be superior to Disraeli in -satirical power, although not his equal in vehement philippic, and -not a few consider him equal in logical force to Bright. Yet, with -all his ability and power, he is one of the best-hated public men in -all England, and this is said to be the result of his unfortunate -proclivity for satire, and for a certain unpleasant gruffness, that, -spite of his education and inward natural courtesy, will break out, and -in a minute demolish the labor of a year of statesmanship. I might call -Mr. Lowe a pure-blooded Albino, as he is first noticeable by his bushy -white eyebrows, white hair of great length, and rather pinkish eye-lids. - -He has a positive, firm chin, a clear eye, and, from the abutment -of his nostril to the corner of his lower lip on either side deep -ridges extend, giving him in that part of the face the look of a _bon -vivant_. The eye is very steady, and looks at a stranger of doubtful -appearance with a sneering way that seems to say: "I have to be -polite; but if I choose to think you an idiot, it is my own business." -The ears are large, and seem to be buttoned back, as if ready for a -row on the slightest provocation. Mr. Lowe is quite near-sighted, -and it is said that to this defect he owed his release from holy -orders, having studied for the Church at University College, Oxford. -He certainly would have made a very unpleasant sort of a clergyman -for some of the lax and rather immoral public men who illuminate the -House occasionally. He is a man of many edges, bristling all over -with sharp and hard angles, and is in every way an aggressive person. -Lord Palmerston, who was with every other member of the House--on the -footing of a jolly good fellow, could never be brought to like Robert -Lowe. Lowe never laughed at the veteran Premier's jokes. - -Mr. Lowe owes his first important advancement from an ordinary station -in life to the fact that when he returned to England from Sydney, he -had the good fortune to contribute a smashing article to the _Times_, -and since that time Mr. Lowe, it is understood, has been a regular -outside contributor of that journal, with great good luck to back him. -Mr. Lowe has also the reputation of being a very quick and facile -"leader" writer upon the topics with which he is best acquainted. - -[Illustration: ROBERT E. LOWE.] - -Mr. Lowe once had his head well smashed by the roughs at an election -row, and it is said that the memory of it has stuck to him ever since, -like the caning of Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks, and, like that -episode, it has served to keep old fires burning. In the memorable -debates of 1866, upon the suffrage question, Mr. Lowe shone with his -greatest force. With such rivals as Bright, Disraeli, Gladstone, Hardy, -and Milner Gibson, it was no joke to keep on the top of the tide, -but Lowe never faltered in his career. The more pitiless were his -adversaries in argument, the more pitiless became Robert Lowe. - -[Sidenote: THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON.] - -The fancy, the vigor, the antithesis, the irony, wit, force, energetic -subtlety, and strength of his speeches during that stormy session of -1866, are not likely to be forgotten soon, by friend or adversary, in -the House of Commons. Lowe is, I believe, the only instance of a man -who has at one and the same time a dimpled chin and a bad temper. - -That mild-looking, dark-faced man, with neat attire and jeweled -fingers, who comes in almost stealthily from behind the Speaker's -chair, and takes his seat upon the Ministerial Bench, is Goschen, -who represents London, and is a member of the Cabinet, President -of the Poor Law Board, and son of a Leipsic bookseller of moderate -circumstances. - -Mr. Goschen is evidently of Jewish origin, and his rise to power has -been speedy. He is still a young man--of polished manners, and more -than any other member in Parliament represents the moneyed interests -of the great city for which he sits. He is a Rugby and Oriel College -man, and was at one time Vice-President of the Board of Trade, and -afterwards Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Yet he is scarcely -developing the statesmanlike power which was predicted for him by -his friends who had watched his career as a Director in the Bank of -England, and as the author of essays and treatises on some topics of -political economy. - -The middle-sized gentleman, inclined to baldness, wearing a brown -coat and a mixed trousers, with straps at the bottom of the latter, -and who has a slight fringe of whiskers and a round bright eye, is no -less a personage than the Marquis of Hartington, Postmaster-General, a -member of the Cabinet, heir presumptive to the Dukedom of Devonshire, -the Earldom of Burlington, Baron Cavendish in Derbyshire and Baron -Cavendish in York, chiefly celebrated for his advocacy of the -Confederacy in Parliament, and a man of not exceedingly great calibre -as a debater or thinker; but from the possessions which he will one -day inherit in this broad and merry England, a man of most decided -influence and power. He has for his family motto, "Secure in Caution," -and generally sticks to it in the House. - -In his young days, it is hinted that the Marquis of Hartington was in -the habit of going home very late with his night key in his coat-tail -pocket, and at one time it is said that the notorious "Skittles," -(since dead,) had emblazoned on her handsome brougham--presented her -by the Marquis--the crest of the now steady and religiously inclined -Postmaster-General of Great Britain. He is just now conversing with a -tall, black-whiskered man, of sharp features and equally sharp accent, -in drab clothing. This is George Armistead, M.P. for Dundee, formerly a -Russia merchant, and said to be a good man on committees. - -A medium-sized, dark-faced, and portly person in black clothes walks -in slowly by the Speaker and seats himself, with his hat bent forward -over his eyes, and having a book, whose leaves he is cutting, in his -hand. This is Alexander James Beresford-Hope, one of the two M.P.'s for -Cambridge University--the other being the Right Hon. Spencer Horatio -Walpole, whose mother was Countess of Egmont. - -Mr. Beresford-Hope is part proprietor of that well known weekly -and satirical journal, the _Saturday Review_, and is or has been -a writer for the same sheet. During the Civil War in America, Mr. -Beresford-Hope spoke early and often in support of the Confederacy -while in Parliament, and also wrote a book favoring Jefferson Davis -and his cause. In this course he had no more ardent colleague than the -gentleman who now approaches him with his head moving from right to -left, in a nervous fashion--I mean William Henry Gregory, member for -Galway. - -[Sidenote: PEERS IN THE GALLERY.] - -Mr. Hope is no doubt a good liver, and is a member of the Carlton, -Athenaeum, University, Oxford and Cambridge, and New University Clubs, -where, possibly, he has a great opportunity to study cookery as a fine -art. His fellow member from Cambridge, who stands toying with his watch -chain and drumming on the floor, bears the imposing name of Spencer -Walpole, and has no decided individuality in the House. Both Hope -and Walpole are Conservatives, and are sadly shocked at the continued -majorities of Mr. Gladstone. - -The man just now speaking from notes is Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert -Anstruther, of the Grenadier Guards, member for Fifeshire, a Harrow -man, and an earnest liberal of the Scotch stamp. - -The little old man in evening dress, pale face, and having a circle -of white beard around his throat, who is playing with his fingers -nervously, is The O'Conor Don, member for Roscommon, who is looked up -to by all the Irish members. - -The slender young gentleman, not yet in his twenty-fifth year, and -very fashionably dressed, leaning up against the back of the Speaker's -chair in conversation, is Henry George, Earl Percy, son of the Duke of -Northumberland, who married the eldest daughter of the Duke of Argyll, -and will one day be the proprietor of the second proudest title in -England as well as of half a dozen castles, a score of manors, and -three or four baronies. This young man was sent to the House of Commons -by his father, the Duke of Northumberland, as a Conservative, but it -is rarely that he takes the trouble to open his lips in debate. He has -a very great reputation for driving tandem, and is known to be a judge -of boquets and claret--young as he is as a legislator in the House of -Commons--but he bears a good reputation, and has not done anything to -dishonor the proud name of Percy as yet. - -That young gentleman with the pointed yellow moustache and goatee of -the Vandyke type, is Sir David Wedderburn, of an old Scotch family, -and quite an active working young member of the opposition when led -by Disraeli. Very often the peers of the Upper House may be found in -the Commons, from motives of curiosity or to get intelligence of the -birth of new bills before they are sent to the Upper House. They have a -gallery of their own, these peers, and hardly ever trouble the floor of -the House. - -Occasionally a prelate of the English Established Church may be found -in the Peers' Gallery of the House of Commons, listening to the -debates, and to-night there are two bishops in the gallery, one of -whom is Dr. Fraser, Bishop of Manchester, who is said to be the most -practical minded prelate in England. Dr. Fraser has a well outlined -face and a very compact head, with a clear, firm eye. He is big with a -scheme for the education of the working classes, and looks to be deeply -interested in the debate. His companion is the Bishop of Peterborough, -who is acknowledged to be the ablest speaker and clearest thinker in -the English Episcopate. Viscount Bury is now on his legs. The Viscount -is of all the speakers I have heard, the very dullest. He reads from -notes which he takes page for page from his hat, and I am certain -that I never listened to such a dreadful monotone as his voice. The -Viscount dresses plainly, and yet he has a Dundreary look, the light -side whiskers which he wears giving him an affected appearance. The -Viscountess Bury is a daughter of Sir Allan McNab, and in her younger -days was a celebrated beauty, and was a toast in fashionable society. - -That young gentleman with the slight, downy moustache and gloriously -handsome face, leaning over the side of the Peers' Gallery, is the -Marquis of Huntley, a member of the House of Lords, and is the first -Marquis in rank of the Scottish peerage. He is only twenty-three years -of age, and was married a short time since in Westminster Abbey, the -Prince of Wales acting as his best man, and all the notabilities of the -court attending. The old, soldierly-looking man who is conversing with -him and having a white rose in his button-hole, whose hair is cropped -quite close, is the Earl of Fingall, who was formerly an officer in the -8th Hussars, and a hero of the Crimean war. - -[Sidenote: LORD STANLEY AND THE O'DONOGHUE.] - -The medium sized gentleman with the thoroughly English face, wavy hair, -and plain and unostentatious attire, who passes behind the Speaker's -Chair for a moment, and then whispers to that awful dignitary, is the -Duke of Richmond, the leader of the Conservative party in the House -of Lords. The Duke is quite popular in England, and has a magnificent -park and castle at Goodwood, where a race takes place every year, for -a prize called the "Goodwood Cup." Under the administration of Mr. -Disraeli the Duke held the position now occupied by John Bright, who is -President of the Board of Trade. - -There was for some time a warm rivalry between the Duke of Richmond, -Lord Cairns, and the Marquis of Salisbury, as to which of the three -should lead in the House of Lords, and at one time, I believe after the -death of the lion-like Earl of Derby, Lord Cairns, who used to be an -Irish lawyer before he was ennobled, had the best chance from his great -ability, but the high position and family of the Duke carried the day. - -That plain looking man who with a slight inclination to the Speaker -and doffing his hat, passes out to the Division Lobby, is Lord -Stanley--now Earl Derby, since the death of his father. Lord Stanley, -who is now in the House of Lords, was one of the ablest members of -the House of Commons, a forcible debater, a logical reasoner, and a -thorough gentleman in all respects. Lord Stanley entered political -life very early, and has filled various offices of trust, being -successively--Under Secretary of Foreign affairs in 1852; Secretary -for the Colonies in 1858; Secretary of State for India in 1858-9, and -Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1866-8. - -The tall, dark-haired and handsome looking member who has followed -Viscount Bury in debate, and who speaks so fluently without notes, -and whose language and gestures are not without a certain grace and -elegance, is The O'Donoghue member from Tralee, who was going to -marry an Earl's daughter in order to pay his debts--but didn't. The -O'Donoghue challenged Sir Robert Peel to fight a duel a few years ago, -having been offended by some unparliamentary language of Peel's in -the House, but the latter backed out of the row in a very undignified -manner. - -Lord Stanley having forgot something, comes back to find it, and -searches the bench behind the spot where The O'Donoghue is speaking -from, which rather confuses the Irish orator a little--but Lord Stanley -apologises at once. By the way, Earl Derby is said to be engaged to -the Marchioness of Salisbury, whose husband died a year ago. This -will be a late marriage for both parties, the intended bride being -forty-six years of age with five children, the youngest of whom is a -daughter twenty-two years of age, while Earl Derby is forty-four years -of age, and very common-place and prosaic in his domestic habits. The -Marchioness is, I believe, a daughter of Earl De La Warr. - -Three men now enter the House and take seats--two in the galleries, -who are soon joined by a third. This last man is the richest noble -in England. He is an old man on the brink of the grave, and yet he -could buy up a dozen of the members of Parliament who are fuming and -fidgeting below in the freshness of good health. It is the Marquis -of Westminster, who owns half of the borough from which he takes his -title, and his income I have been told is something like four hundred -thousand pounds a year. The Marquis is very charitable, and has -spent over L100,000 in erecting model tenements for poor people in -London. Beside the title of Marquis, he also bears that of Sir Richard -Grosvenor, which is supposed to be derived from the French of Gros -Veneur--"Great Huntsman,"--some of the ancestors of the family having -acted in that capacity to the Norman Dukes at a remote period. - -The other gentlemen are Earl Spencer, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, -a big man with a big head, a big whisker and a big look in the face, -wearing a big tweed coat; and the Hon. Robert Wellesley Grosvenor, one -of the members for Westminster, a Captain in the 1st Life Guards, and -belonging to the family of the old Marquis of Westminster. He has for -his colleague who now takes his seat, William Henry Smith, the other -member for Westminster, who owns the largest news agency in the world, -at No. 186 Strand. - -[Illustration: GLADSTONE SPEAKING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.] - -And now the Premier is on his legs at last. I had heard of Gladstone -so often that I was curious to hear his voice and look upon his face. -Imagine a tall man, six feet in his stockings, with a massive head, a -good strong body, sparse side whiskers just whitening with years, a -pair of dark eyes, deep as an abyss, with the thoughts and struggles of -a mighty spirit welling up--firm lips and cavernous eyebrows, a massive -and persistent under jaw, the lines of the face strongly marked -and indicating by their rigidness the conflict that has been going -on inwardly for years, and dress that figure up in deep black upper -garments and mixed trousers, and you have something like the Premier -of Great Britain as I saw him in his seat on the end of the Treasury -benches in Parliament. One leg is thrown over another in a negligent -and thoughtful attitude, the head being bowed forward on the breast, -while every few minutes he raises his eyes with a wonderful mystery -glittering in them, to the face of the member who has the floor, as -if he were taking the mental measurement of the speaker. The face -represents a fierce enthusiasm which can kindle into great deeds, or -express with a glance great thoughts. - -[Sidenote: MR. GLADSTONE'S EARLY LIFE.] - -This wonderful man started in life as a High Churchman and Tory, -believing that all bishops should know Greek and acknowledge the -Apostolic Succession, and now he is an advanced Liberal, but opposes -woman's suffrage as a dangerous measure. In religion Gladstone sticks -to his Oxford teachings, and this is best proved by his Episcopal -appointments, nearly all of whom are High Churchmen. - -How grandly the sentences roll from the lips of the scholarly Premier, -as he stands up to reply to some attack on the administration. Every -sentence is rounded, full, concise, and flowing, and every phrase -seems chosen with elegance. He is a marvelously brilliant speaker, -but it is better to hear him than to read his speeches, which though -perfect literary compositions, are yet, in type, brilliant and dry -abstractions, while the contrary may be said of Bright's speeches, -whose productions sound better in a report than they do when they are -delivered. - -And now he has done, and sits down, slamming his hat on his head, and -reclining back, with his eyes glued on his shirt bosom; and from the -Opposition benches at the other side of the House, a tall, massive -figure, which is radiant with jewelry and surmounted by a poll of black -curly hair, rises to answer Mr. Gladstone. The face is corrugated, -the nose like an eagle's beak--curved--like those on Roman coins, or -just such a nose as Titus encountered by the thousand, under piercing, -almond-shaped black eyes, in the Court of the Holy of Holies, when the -Chosen People fell in heaps behind their shields, only glad to die for -Jerusalem. - -Yes, here is one of that same wonderful, plucky race, which has -survived hundreds of years' of war, pestilence, famine, persecution, -and contumely, and now finds its best representative in Benjamin -Disraeli, the author of "Tancred," "Coningsby," "Henrietta Temple," -and "Lothair," that book of books. This is the same Jew whom -O'Connell thundered at thirty years ago, and whom he denounced as the -lineal descendant of the impenitent thief who died upon the Cross. -Thirty-three years ago this man entered Parliament and made his maiden -speech, or attempted to make it,--as a member from Maidstone. The -crowded House laughed at him that night,--men who were used to Canning, -and Henry Brougham; to that consummate orator, Daniel O'Connell, and to -the brilliant fireworks of Richard Lalor Sheil,--laughed at the young -member with the Jewish beak and profile, and he sat down discomfited, -but not beaten, crying out to the House, which was indulging in -cock-crowing and geese-cackling at his expense, "You will not hear me -now, but you shall hear me yet." - -He is an older man now, and success in everything he has attempted, -such as has never been given to any living man but Louis Napoleon, -has rewarded his efforts. Hear how he dashes into Gladstone's -eloquent sentences with his biting, withering words of sarcasm,--how -he overthrows the airy edifice which the Liberals were just now -contemplating,--listen to the fiery words of this master of wit and -trenchant, cutting invective--invective that spares no feeling or -cherished opinion, but bares the breast of the Minister like the -surgeon's hand to plunge still deeper the scalpel in the roots of the -wound. - -Now he has done, and he sits down, and members crowd around him and -congratulate him, but he receives their incense with a wearied, -indifferent air, that seems to say, "I have been Premier myself, and I -think it to be a small place for a man of ability." - -[Sidenote: DANIEL O'CONNELL.] - -And so the night passes on in the House, member after member getting -upon his honorable legs, and the small hours come on apace, and the -small talk continues, and the Speaker comes in and goes out, yet still -the House remains in Committee--a very wearisome night it is, and hot -and close in the galleries, and many sleep the sleep of exhaustion in -the legislative arena--while off in green fields and on grassy meads, -by lakes and rivers, the dew falls heavily, and the English Moon shines -with a soft light all over the broad land. - -It is amusing to see the Speaker of the House settle a point of order -when members become obstreperous, with his little cocked hat in his -hand, or to see him reprimand a member who crosses the horizon of a -member who is addressing the House. This last offence is considered -a great breach of etiquette, and the Speaker always instructs the -offender that he should have made a tour around the House to avoid -giving offence to the orator. Sometimes a tired member will notice that -there is not a sufficient number of members in the House to transact -business, and if he wishes to escape a threatened monstrous debate, he -must notify the Speaker that there is not a quorum present. Perhaps the -Speaker may desire to rush some business through, and he will therefore -have to be notified several times before he will take warning to count -the members, which he does at last with slow reluctance. - -It has been the privilege of any member (from time immemorial,) to -inform the Speaker that there are strangers in the gallery, meaning -ladies, reporters, or any one who is not a member of Parliament. When -so notified, the Speaker, by this musty old rule, is compelled to order -the strangers to leave the House. Thirty years ago Daniel O'Connell -quarreled with the London _Times_, and that paper in revenge would not -print his speeches. O'Connell determined to be even with the journal, -and whenever he saw a _Times'_ reporter in the gallery, he would cry -out, "Mr. Speaker, I beg to call your attention to the fact that -there are strangers in the gallery." Then the Speaker would order the -galleries cleared, and the _Times'_ reporters had to take their note -books and march off disgusted. It was not long before the _Times_ gave -in and stopped the fight, and O'Connell's speeches were reported with -fidelity. This has always been regarded as a joke of O'Connell's, but I -see that lately a Scotch member named Craufurd, who represents the town -of Ayr, and is also editor of the _Legal Examiner_, has been putting -O'Connell's joke in practice. - -Miss Florence Nightingale, Miss Lydia Beckett, and Miss Harriett -Martineau, as well as many other well known ladies, have been for -some time working with great zeal for the repeal of the act which -licenses prostitution in garrison towns. Many members of the House are -opposed to the repeal of the act, and consequently when the question -of repealing it came up in the House, and just as the debate had -opened, the member for Ayr, Mr. Craufurd, rose and said, "Mr. Speaker, -I beg to call your attention to the fact that there are strangers in -the gallery," pointing to the gallery where a few ladies had placed -themselves, for the purpose of hearing a question of so much moment to -their sex, discussed. The Speaker and many members urged Mr. Craufurd -not to look that way, and to permit the obnoxious persons to stay where -they were; but with Scotch obstinacy he insisted, and Mr. Bouverie -upheld him in it, saying, "I believe it is an undoubted rule of the -House, sir, that if an honorable member does notice the presence of -strangers, the galleries are cleared." Accordingly they were cleared; -the reporters, as well as the ladies, were put out, and then the debate -went on for several hours. At the close of this, the Prime minister, -Mr. Gladstone, got up and lectured Mr. Craufurd for his ill-timed -modesty, telling him that the feeling of the whole House was against -him. The debate was therefore adjourned, by a strong vote of 229 to 88, -to come up again in the presence of reporters, and most likely, of such -strangers of either sex as may choose to come in. - -[Sidenote: DUCAL HOUSES.] - -The House of Lords is the Upper House of Parliament; in England all -bills that are born in the Commons have to be confirmed by the Lords -and signed by the Queen, before they become part of the statutory law -of the land. There are about four hundred of these legislators in the -House of Peers, for it must be understood that every nobleman does not -sit by right in the House of Lords. In many families the privilege is -hereditary, and generation after generation a family is represented by -the oldest son, who, on the death of his father, takes the seat made -vacant in the Lords. The highest rank of nobility in England is that of -Duke. There are eighteen nobles who enjoy the Ducal dignity in England, -two in Ireland, and six in Scotland. They are as follows: - -English Dukes.--Norfolk, Somerset, Richmond and Lennox, Grafton, -Beaufort, St. Albans, Leeds, Bedford, Devonshire, Marlborough, Rutland, -Manchester, Newcastle, Northumberland, Wellington, Buckingham and -Chandos, Sutherland, and Cleveland. - -Irish Dukes.--Leinster, Abercorn. - -Scotch Dukes.--Hamilton and Brandon, Buccleuch, Argyll, Athole, -Montrose, and Roxburghe. - -There is only one Duchess in her own right--the Duchess of Inverness, -which is a Scotch title. On state occasions Dukes wear velvet robes and -ducal caps of state, with strawberry leaves in gold. - -A stranger addressing one of these Dukes, has to begin his letter as -follows: - -"My Lord Duke, may it please your Grace." And in state proceedings a -Duke is styled "High, Puissant, and Noble Prince." There are Dukes -and Dukes. Dukes of the royal blood are still higher in rank than the -noble Dukes. The eldest son of the reigning monarch always bears the -title of "Prince of Wales." The eldest daughter is called the "Princess -Royal." This princess is married to the Crown Prince of Prussia. These -two dignitaries, according to court etiquette, are served by the -attendants, when at table, on bended knees with uncovered heads. Those -admitted to kiss their hands must also kneel. In the House of Lords, -when the Queen is present, the Prince of Wales, as heir apparent, sits -on the right hand of Her Majesty, while Prince Albert always sat on her -left hand. The younger sons of the Queen, when they are Peers, sit on -the left hand of the throne, but after the father dies, they sit below -the Wool Sack, (a huge fiery red bed-tick full of wool, on which the -Lord Chancellor takes it easy when the Lords are in session,) on the -bench assigned to the other Dukes. - -The Prince of Wales, when on his throne, wears a robe of ermine, a -cape of ermine, and a red velvet cap, with a gold tassel over a gold -crown, ornamented with pearls. The younger sons and daughters have no -diamonds, pearls, or crosses surmounting their diadems--unlike the -Prince of Wales. - -The three highest subjects after the Queen and the Royal Family in -England, are: First, The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. Second, The -Lord High Chancellor of England. Third, The Lord Archbishop of York. -The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is Primate of England, is styled in -public documents, and he also writes himself, "The most Reverend Father -in God, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, by Divine Providence." The -Archbishop of York signs himself, "By Divine Permission," as do all the -other Bishops. There are only two Ecclesiastical Provinces in England, -those of York and Canterbury, and two Archbishops. In the House of -Lords the Archbishops and Bishops, (excepting the Irish Bishops now -disfranchised,) sit as Spiritual Peers, and the two Archbishops wear -Ducal Coronets--the Bishops wearing fillets of gold on their heads, -with pearls and jewels. The Bishop of Sodor and Man, and the junior -Bishops have no seats in the House of Lords. A Bishop ranks next to a -Viscount. The nobility of Great Britain own three-fifths of the landed -property of the Kingdom, while starvation and want run riot in the land. - -England is studded with parks, villas, castles, game preserves, rabbit -warrens, trout streams and deer parks, all of which are held by right -of primogeniture. No poor man can enter these beautiful ancestral -domains, and the severest penal punishments are meted out to those poor -wretches who dare to infringe on the game laws. - -The English nobility are not cowardly or treacherous, but many of the -younger members are very corrupt, extravagant, and reckless, and no -doubt in time their order will pass away, for they are out of place in -this century. - -[Sidenote: PRIVILEGES OF THE PEERS.] - -England has nineteen Dukes, seventeen Marquises, one hundred and -three Earls, one Countess (widow of an Earl), nineteen Viscounts, one -Viscountess, and one hundred and fifty-two Barons. - -Ireland has two Dukes, twelve Marquises, sixty-four Earls, and sixty -Barons, besides twelve Viscounts. When three Irish Peers die in -succession without issue, one other Irish Peer is created to fill the -gap. - -Scotland has seven Dukes, four Marquises, forty-four Earls, five -Viscounts, and twenty-five Barons. The wife of a Duke is entitled -"Duchess," the wife of a Marquis "Marchioness," the wife of an Earl is -a "Countess," the wife of a Viscount is called a "Viscountess," and -the wife of a Baron enjoys the title of "Baroness." The better-half -of a Baronet, which is a title bestowed upon fat aldermen and rich -manufacturers--being a cheap order of knighthood, conferred by the -Queen, is called "My Lady This," or "My Lady That," as the case may be. - -The people of England are heartily tired of their nobility, and the -success of American principles upon this continent has a tendency -to cause the destruction of this social outrage upon the Nineteenth -Century. - -Peers, or members of the House of Lords, have many privileges which -others of noble blood do not enjoy. A Peer can only be tried for High -Treason or murder by his Peers, who compose the House of Lords, and the -trial takes place in a session of that body specially convened for that -purpose, after the fashion here described. - -The Peers having taken their seats in full, flowing robes, the Lord -Chancellor seats himself on the Woolsack in the middle of the House of -Lords, the Garter-King-at-Arms, in his gorgeous surcoat and tabard, -makes proclamation of the offences against the culprit Peer. The Lord -High Steward puts the question to each peer in his seat, after the -evidence has been heard; - -"Is the prisoner at the Bar Guilty or Not Guilty?" - -Then each Peer, rising, says, "Guilty," or, "Not Guilty upon my Honor," -as the case may be. A Peer cannot be taken into custody unless for -an indictable offence. This is also a parliamentary privilege of the -members of the House of Commons, who cannot be arrested for debt while -the House is in session, or while attending the proceedings, or going -to or from Parliament. An old custom of England allows a Peer, going to -or from Parliament, the privilege of killing one or two deer belonging -to the Sovereign, after he has blown a horn. This is very seldom done -now-a-days. A Peer cannot be bound over to keep the peace, excepting -in the Court of Queen's Bench. Slander against a Peer is known in the -courts as _scan. mag._ and is severely punishable. - -A Peer cannot lose his title of nobility excepting by death, or when -he has been attainted for High Treason. He is allowed to answer to a -bill in Chancery upon his word, and is not required to take an oath. -The Sovereign may degrade a Peer from his rank for wasting his estate, -as in the case of George Neville, Duke of Bedford, who had led a -dissolute life and had squandered all his fortune. He was deprived of -his title, honors, and possessions, by Edward IV, the latter being -forfeited to the Crown. If that precedent was followed in these times, -a great number of scampish young nobles would lose their titles and the -remnants of princely estates. - -Lately, I believe, Parliament has ordered it so that a Peer may be -proceeded against for debt, as in the case of the bankrupt Duke of -Newcastle. Besides all these manifold privileges, which exist for -the benefit of the nobility, the Diplomatic Service is chiefly for -their support, and here, as in the Foreign Office, fat sinecures are -available at all times, for the improvident and spendthrift nobles. -Some idea of the rich prizes of the Diplomatic Service may be got from -the following list of salaries of the different Ambassadors, Ministers, -and Charges d'Affaires, at the principal countries with which Great -Britain holds intercourse. The salaries I give are those of the -Ministers alone, not including the salaries of attaches, and they are -thus enumerated: - -[Sidenote: SALARIES OF AMBASSADORS.] - -France, L10,000; Turkey, L8,000; Russia, L7,800; Austria, L8,000; -Prussia, L7,000; Spain, L5,000; United States, L5,000; Portugal, -L4,000; Brazil, L4,000; Netherlands, L3,600; Belgium, L3,480; Italy, -L5,000; Bavaria, L3,600; Denmark, L3,600; Sweden, L3,000; Greece, -L3,500; Switzerland, L2,500; Wirtemberg, L2,000; Argentine Republic, -L3,000; Central American Republics, L2,000; Chili, L2,000; Peru, -L2,000; Columbia, L2,000; Venezuela, L2,000; Ecuador, L1,400; Coburg, -L400; Dresden, L500; Darmstadt, L500; Rome, L800; Persia, L5,000; -China, L6,000; and Japan, L4,000. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -THE LONDON POLICE AND DETECTIVES. - - -ABOUT ten o'clock in the evening, the rain, which had been gathering -all day, came down in bucketfuls. The gutters ran like little rivers, -and on Lothbury and the Poultry, and on all the buildings behind the -Bank and over London Bridge there came down a hot steaming fog that -almost blinded, as the rain poured against the faces of those who had -to encounter the storm. The rain was hot, and the fog had a fetid, -sticky odor, that seemed like the breath of a graveyard, or a festering -corpse in an old vault on a hot July day. - -Down below, on the river, all was quiet among the noisy Wapping -boatmen, and the river below London Bridge looked gloomy and vast and -dangerous as the entrance to the shades of the Inferno. Now and then, -through the dense darkness and gloom which hung like a tissue over the -river, came a whistle, eldritch-like, from the funnel of some Greenwich -or Chelsea steamer, as she grated against the fishermen's barges, that -lay like huge floating carcasses out on the bosom of the dark river; -and anon came the hoarse, drunken shout of some intoxicated oyster -or herring navigator, who lay in the shadow of Billingsgate Market, -returned from some Flemish or Scotch port with a precious cargo of eels -or sprats. London, or the City, seemed deserted and lonely. The portal -of the Bank was as solemn as a churchyard. - -[Sidenote: THE OLD JEWRY.] - -The insurance offices in Bishopsgate and Broad streets, the -money-changers' and money-brokers' haunts in Leadenhall street, and -the merchants' desks in Cornhill and Gracechurch street, were forsaken. -A footfall seemed like an echo of past years, and while the water ran -in torrents in the gutters, and while misery haunted doorsteps and dark -passages, seeking shelter with dripping rags to hide its shame, the -stolid policemen walked their rounds and looked sharply through the -thick fog as cabs dashed by, for the West End, and the noise of the -horses' feet died away under the arch of Temple Bar. - -Where the Poultry, Bucklersbury, and Cheapside, form a junction, just -below the Mansion House, there is a little, narrow, and short street. -This street is called the "Old Jewry," and it has its outlet in Coleman -street and Moorgate street, which run in the direction of Finsbury -square. Behind the Old Jewry is Basinghall street, the Aldermanbury, -and Finsbury square. Then there are Milk street, Wood street, Botolph -street, Pudding lane, Fish street, Mark lane, Lime street, and Love -lane. In all these narrow causeways, dark passages, and crooked -sinuosities of brick, stone, and mortar, untold and uncounted wealth is -hidden away, safely behind bolts and bars. - -These tall, lowering warehouses, with their treasures of spices and -silks, ingots and bars of yellow metal, where guineas are shoveled -about all day as if they were plentiful as cherry-pits--have a dismal -effect this sloppy, stormy night. Then the Old Jewry has its memories, -some sorrowful and sad enough. Its very name a synonym for persecution -and torture, a relic of steel-clad days and roystering and merciless -nights, when the tribes of Israel were the playthings of the Gentiles -and unbelievers. - -Here, in this narrow lane, stood the proudest synagogue in all England -until the year of grace 1291, when the Jews were, by edict, expelled -the kingdom; and here came the Brothers of the Sack, a mendicant -order of friars, to take possession of the deserted temple, one sunny -May afternoon, when the orchards were blooming, and the linnets were -singing in Cheapside--now a mart of all the nations of mankind. And -then, in the natural order of things, came Sir Robert Fitzwalter on -another sunny afternoon, to dispossess the Brothers of the Sack; and -this doughty knight, having the ear of the then King, turned the monks -out, and they, invoking the displeasure of the Maker of all things -upon Knight Fitzwalter, banner-bearer to the city and the Lord Mayor -of London, left the convent and dispersed themselves severally and -sorrowfully, all over the by-paths and sequestered roads and nooks of -merry Old England. - -The Old Jewry is about two hundred and fifty feet long. Short passages, -that cannot be dignified by the title of lanes, jut off this narrow -street. High buildings loom up to the sky above the heads of the -passers-by, and the dome of mighty St. Paul's is hid away from the -vision. - -In this Old Jewry is a court-yard hidden away. There are jewelers' -shops, silk-mercers' shops, and chop-houses of the better class on -either side, and a man, in a blue cloth uniform of heavy fabric, walks -up and down, day and night, with a pasteboard helmet on his head. His -wrists are trimmed with bands of crimson and white flannel, and one row -of gilt brass buttons bifurcate his blue, close-fitting coat, and meet -to part no more at his throat and waist. The face of the man is homely, -and his black eyes burn under his helmet of a hat, and in the glare of -the street lamp. Not a soul stirring in the Old Jewry to-night but this -silent patrolman, who looks up and down the lane, now to Cheapside, -now over the roofs as if he would like to get a glimpse of St. Paul's, -whose bell booms with an affrighting suddenness and energy on the air, -through the beating rain and blinding fog. - -"Is this the Central Detectives' Office?" I ask of the helmeted patrol. - -"Yes, sir. This 'ere is the Central Hoffis of the City of Lunnun; the -hother hoffis is down Scotland-yard way in Parliament street, hopposite -the Hadmiralty and the 'Oss Gy-a-ads." - -I find my way past the patrol, and around me I can see a court-yard -fifty by a hundred feet in size, and at either side a gas-lamp burns -dimly, and the wind whistles down from above, and the rain patters -unceasingly. - -[Sidenote: RELICS OF CRIME.] - -It is like a play-ground or school-yard, but there is in it the -quietness of a deserted church. Turning to the right, I ascend two -steps and enter a hall, where another morose-looking patrolman demands -my business. - -"Who do you want to see, sir? Oh, Hinspector Bailey. Well, sir, he is -werry busy just now; got a precious 'ard case to desect; but I'll take -your card and I'll try wot I can do." - -In a few minutes I am ushered into the presence of the chief detective -officer of the chief city of England. He sits in a room secluded from -the main rooms, and as I pass through a number of these chambers a -squad of men, who are sitting on chairs and lounges, look up at me -quietly for a second, and, not recognizing any one whom they "want," -drop their eyes immediately. The room in which Inspector Bailey sits -is not a large one, and there is no superfluity of furniture, but the -walls are covered with placards offering rewards for the apprehension -and conviction of criminals, murderers, forgers, and other runaways -from justice. Some of these are so curious that I must give a few of -them: - - RING STOLEN--L1 REWARD. - - A reward of L1 will be paid for information that shall lead to the - discovery of a gold ring, the setting in which was originally arranged - for a round stone, with about five small teeth or holders to fix the - same; the original stone having been lost it was replaced by an oval - or pear-shaped rose diamond, which was loose in the setting. - - The said ring was stolen from a warehouse in the city, on the 14th - inst.; and it is requested that any person hereafter offering it, for - pledge or sale, may be detained until the police are informed. - - Information to Inspector Bailey, City of London Police, Detective - Office, 26 Old Jewry: or to the officers on duty at any of the city or - metropolitan stations. - - L1 10s. REWARD. - - TO CAB-DRIVERS, ATTENDANTS, AND OTHERS. - - INFORMATION WANTED. - - On Saturday, the 17th of April, 1869, about 4.45 in the afternoon, a - four-wheeled cab, took up at Messrs. Smith, Payne & Co.'s Bank, at - the end of King William street, near the Mansion House, a gentleman, - 48 years of age, 5 feet 8-1/2 inches high, dark brown hair, fresh - complexion, scanty whiskers, square build, and moderately stout; with - a dark-brown portmanteau, which was put inside. He told the driver - to take him to Finsbury square and he would tell him the number - afterwards. L1 10s. reward will be paid on the required information - (as to his destination) being given to Inspector Bailey, City of - London Police, Detective Department, Old Jewry, E.C. - - London, 8th May, 1869. - - L200 Reward. - - EMBEZZLEMENT. - - Absconded, on Friday, the 5th inst., from the employment of the Great - Central Gas Company, 28 Coleman street, London, Benjamin Higgs, late - of Tide-End House, Teddington, Middlesex. Description.--About 35 years - of age, 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, black hair, mustache, whiskers, - and beard, pale complexion, slender build, gentleman-like appearance. - Generally dressed in black or dark clothes and brown overcoat. Had a - large-sized dark green-colored leather bag and a small black bag. - - The said Benjamin Higgs is charged on a warrant with embezzling - a large sum of money belonging to the above company: and notice - is hereby given, that a reward of L100 will be paid to any person - who will give such information as shall lead to his apprehension; - and a further reward of L100 on recovery of the monies embezzled. - A photograph of Benjamin Higgs may be seen on application at the - principal police stations. - - Information to be given to Messrs. Davidson, Carr, and Bannister, - Solicitors, 22 Basinghall street, E.C., or to Inspector Bailey, City - of London Police, Detective Department, 26 Old Jewry, E.C. - - London, 18th March, 1869. - -"So you would like to see London under its most unfavorable aspects. -You would like to scour it by day and night, Sir. Well, you have a big -job on hand, let me tell you, Sir," said a cheery voice which came from -behind a low desk. This was Inspector Bailey, a very English-looking -gentleman, with a ruddy oval face, reddish whiskers,--thick and neatly -trimmed, and wearing a dark-mixed suit of clothes. He had clear blue -eyes, this cheery-voiced inspector, and did not in any way give the -idea of a detective, he looked so jolly and well-fed, and there was -such a humorous, good-natured, twinkle in his eyes. - -[Sidenote: MR. FUNNELL'S SECRET.] - -"Well," said he, "let us see what's best to do for you, sir. I'll give -you the best men I have, and I can do no more. I suppose you want -to see St. Giles? Well, St. Giles is not what it once was. You see -they have been rooting up the worst holes, and the parish authorities -are quite active, and three new streets have been opened, and a -great change has come over the place. But there's a terrible lot of -destitution and crime and misery in the City of London still, and you -can see it all if you have the heart for it. Send up Sergeant Moss," -said the Inspector to a messenger. - -Sergeant Moss came up from below stairs, a dark-eyed, thick-whiskered, -good-looking fellow of thirty-five years, dressed like a dissenting -minister, and trying to look very meek. Butter would not have melted in -Sergeant Moss's mouth. He wasn't "fly" to what was going on neither. -Oh, no! - -"Sergeant Moss, you will take this gentleman through Ratcliffe Highway -and Wapping, and show him the sailors' dens and the thieves who haunt -Lower Thames street. Give him the best chances you can, and look out -for Bill Blokey. He's down that way to-night, more nor likely, and if -you brought him in it would be no particular harm to him or you. We got -the trunk that he broke open and left behind. That will be your detail. -Send me Funnell up stairs." - -Mr. Funnell came. Mr. Funnell had a very huge beard, which hung down -on his chest like a door-mat, and a sharp eye for business. In fact, -he was all business, this cheerful Mr. Funnell. He was a first-class -detective in London. But he had hard feelings against New York. It was -no place for Mr. Funnell. Mr. Funnell confided to me a secret which I -will now give to my readers. - -"I wos wonst over in New York. That's a good many years ago. _That_ was -a long time ago. Yes, a very long time ago, in Bob Bowyer's time, when -Bob was the topper, as we say. He wos the 'Awkshaw of the period, wos -Bob. I wos awfully innocent then, and Bob didn't take the right care of -me, and I fell into the hands of the Philistines. I went down one day -to Fulton Market; I think it's just opposite some ferry where you go -across, just like Southwark, and you can get very big oysters there. -Well, as I wos saying, I wos werry innocent, and as I wos walking -along, thinking of a good many things, when one of these fellows I -believe you call the gentry on your side 'heelers'--dropped a big fat -pocket-book at my feet. - -"Now, mind you, I did not see him drop it, and that's where I was taken -in. That made the trouble for me. I had never seen anything of that -kind done in England, and of course the 'heeler' naturally insisted -that the pocket-book wos mine. I tried to argue with him that the -pocket-book wos not mine, but the more I argued that way the more he -persewered the other way. Well, I wos perswaded against my own ideas -that, perhaps, I might have lost a pocket-book, and the fellow wos -so blessed positive about it too. So I fell a wictim to the infernal -scoundrel, and gave him some money for the pocket-book, and, of course, -the money wos worth nothink, and Bob Bowyer could do nothing for me. -Ah, New York is a precious bad place.--So it is." - -[Illustration: THE POCKET-BOOK GAME.] - -"Well, now, Mr. Funnell, as you have done relating your sad -experiences, you will please do as I tell you. You will report to -our American friend, or, rather, he will report to you early in the -morning, and you will take him and show him Billingsgate Market before -daybreak. You are the best man for Billingsgate, I think, and you had -better attend to that detail." - -[Sidenote: "PIPING OFF."] - -"I will meet him there or at the Fish Hill monument, at 5 o'clock in -the morning, if that will do, Sir." - -"That will do very well," said the Inspector. "And now we want a man -for Smithfield. Who is a good man for Smithfield? Let me see," and the -Inspector tapped his forehead. "I think Ralfe will do for that. He -knows the Smithfield Market best, and he will show you everything, with -a knowledge of what he is doing. Let Ralfe come up, and Sergeant Scott -and Webb. I want to speak to them." - -Ralfe, or Dick Ralfe, as he was called, was a good-looking young -Englishman, who had not been long on the force, and who was in capital -health and spirits, having lately been detailed, for his quickness, to -special duty from the patrol to the Old Jewry. - -"Mr. Ralfe, you are good on Smithfield Market. Take this gentleman -there at 4 o'clock to-morrow morning. Meet him at the Smithfield -Police Station at 4 o'clock in the morning, and time your inspection -so that you will be able to catch Funnell at the Fish Hill Monument at -5 o'clock in the morning, so as to have him see the fish come in at -Billingsgate. And now, Sergeant Scott, you will show this gentleman -the Minories, Petticoat Lane, Bevis Marks, Houndsditch, and the Jews' -Quarters, but those you will have to take on another day, as you have -already a hard day's work before you. You had better see the market on -Sunday morning, one of the greatest sights in the world, sir, I assure -you, and the Rag Fair is also a grand show of the kind, I also assure -you; and now, Sergeant Webb, I will give our friend in your charge -when he has got through with the rest of them, and you and he can work -the City, I think. You will do the Bank and the Mansion House and -Newgate; and, let me see,--Funnell can take him to the Sessions and the -Old Bailey Courts; and he will have to go to Scotland-yard to do the -Borough of Westminster, as that is not in our jurisdiction. And now, -Sir, good morning, and don't carry a watch with you in the places where -you are going, for some of the people are not very moral or very pious -to get a look at. Good morning, Sir. Smithfield at 4 o'clock, Ralfe." - -Sergeant Webb was a tall, well-built man, in the prime of life, with -ruddy cheeks, and a look that resembled the expression usually worn by -Mr. Seward before he lost all chances for the presidency. His face was -smoothly shaved, and he looked as if he could assist with great dignity -at a banquet. - -Sergeant Scott was a man just above the middle height, with light brown -whiskers, and an easy, good-natured manner, who had a memory well -stored with anecdotes of "blokes," and "wires," and "dummies." He had, -also, choice stories of distinguished people who had, during their -lives, been known in the "faking" line, and could have pointed me out a -number of pals who were celebrated in the "kinchin lay" for snatching -"wipes" and "grabbing tanners" and "browns" from little children when -they were sent to the shops for bread or milk. - -At the back of the apartment in which the detectives were assembled -to receive orders, stood a short, thick-set looking young man, with -an amber moustache and goatee. His eyes were blue and his complexion -very fair. He was dressed in a quiet manner, and nodded to each of the -detectives as they passed out into the court of the Old Jewry. This -was Jim Irving, the celebrated American detective, who had apprehended -Clement Harwood, the great forger, just as he was about to land in New -York, and he was now waiting the trial of the accused which was to take -place at the Mansion House. - -"Jim" was already quite familiar with the City of London, although he -had been in it but a few days. He was, of course, rather astonished, -at the quiet, old-fashioned way, that the English detectives had with -them of waiting for a thief until he came and gave himself up. But he -was very much charmed with a gorgeous seal-skin vest, for which he gave -five guineas. - -[Sidenote: POLICE DIVISIONS.] - -Seventy-five years ago, London had not more than sixty-eight policemen -or constables, and the present admirable system of Police is all owing -to the clear head and sagacious mind of Sir Robert Peel, who first -organized it about thirty-five years ago. The old local watch of the -city consisted of the Bow street force of sixty-eight men, and the -parish beadles, constables, headboroughs, street keepers, and watchmen, -in the several wards of the City, and in many cases these so-called -officers of the peace were rascals of the worst description, in league -with thieves and prostitutes. - -It is said that a Mr. George Vincent Dowling, (who was editor of -"Bell's Life" at the time,) gave Sir Robert Peel the first idea of -the present organization, which consists of a Board of three Police -Commissioners, a chief Superintendent, 25 Sub-Superintendents, 136 -Inspectors, 700 sergeants, and over 7,000 policemen. 4,000 men are on -duty in the day-time and 3,000 in the night time. During the day they -are never allowed to cease patrolling, being forbidden even to sit -down. They wear dark-blue pilot woven short frock coats, buttoned up to -the neck, trousers of the same material, with brass buttons on the coat -and a pasteboard helmet covered with black rough felt. - -The Police Districts are mapped out into divisions, the divisions -into sub-divisions, the sub-divisions into sections, and the sections -into beats, all being numbered and carefully defined. To every beat, -certain policemen are detailed, specifically, and they are provided -with little slips of pasteboard, on which are printed the routes they -are to take. So thoroughly has this management been perfected, that -every street, lane, road, alley, and court, within the Metropolitan -District--that is, the whole of the metropolis--(excepting that part in -a radius of three-quarters of a mile from St. Paul's, which is called -the City of London Proper)--including the County of Middlesex, and all -the parishes, 220 in number, in the Counties of Surrey, Kent, Essex, -and Hertfordshire, which are not more than 15 miles from Charing Cross -in any direction, comprising an area of about 700 square miles, and 90 -miles in circumference, and with a population of 3,500,000,--is visited -constantly, day and night, by some of the police. Within a circle -of six miles from St. Paul's, the beats are traversed in periods of -time varying from twenty to fifty minutes, and there are some points, -such as the Bank, the Mint, the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Abbey of -Westminster, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Horse -Guards, and the Inns of Court, which are never free from inspection for -a single moment. - -There are 130 police stations in the metropolis, and by a telegraph -signal a Police Commissioner at White Hall, in Parliament street, which -is contiguous to Scotland Yard,--the headquarters of the Metropolitan -Detective force, who are separated in their duties from the Old Jewry -or City of London Detective force,--can concentrate in an hour and a -half as many as 6,000 men for instant duty. This vast force, each man -receiving but three shillings to three and sixpence a day, is really -under a wonderful control. Each officer has to walk twenty miles a day -in his rounds beside attending the police courts, which is equal to -five miles in addition. 98,000 persons were arrested in one year--1869, -of which number 40,000 were discharged. The cost of the Metropolitan -Police for one year was about L525,000, and the City Police, for the -same term, L60,000--the City Police numbering 700, the Metropolitan -force nearly 7,000. - -The expenses of the Police Courts, for 1869, was L88,240, including the -salary of one Magistrate at L1,500 a year, and thirty other Magistrates -at L1,200 a year, each. Sixty pounds and six shillings were expended -for rattles, swords, and clubs, in the same time. The City Corporation -are allowed, by act of Parliament, to have their own Police and -Commissioners in the heart of the metropolis, or City proper. There -is, besides, a "Horse Patrol" for public occasions; eight hundred -of which were on duty on the day of the Oxford and Harvard race; a -"Thames River" Police, the "Westminster Constabulary," and a "Police -Office Agency," for recovery of stolen goods. Before the establishment -of the Thames Police, in 1797, the annual loss by robberies alone -on the river, was L750,000 a year, the depredators having various, -curious names, such as "River Pirates," "Light" and "Heavy Horsemen," -"Mud-larks," "Capemen," and "Scuffle-hunters." - -[Sidenote: RIVER THIEVES.] - -They were frequently known to weigh a ship's anchor, hoist it with -the cable into a boat, and when discovered, to hail the captain, tell -him of his loss, and row away cheerily. They also would cut shipping -and lighters adrift, run them ashore and then clean them out. Many of -the "Light Horsemen" cleared as much as thirty pounds a night, and -an apprentice to a "mock-waterman" often kept his saddle horse and -country seat. During the first year of the Thames Police, the saving to -the West India merchants alone amounted to L150,000, and 2,200 river -thieves were convicted during that time, of misdemeanor. - -In those days, the magnificent docks which are now the chief ornament -of London, had not been built with their high walls to keep out the -swarming thieves who haunted the shipping. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -HUNTING THE SEWERS. - - -HIDDEN in the bosoms of the sewers of every Great City lies a world of -romance. The secrets of thousands of human beings, with their hopes -and aspirations, their defeats and disappointments, are garnered, in -the relics of myriad households, whose rubbish is shot through drains, -to be imbedded in the accumulated masses at the bottom of the soggy -sewerage. - -London has two thousand miles of bricked sewers, and the entire -metropolis is honey-combed by these effluvious passages. - -These sewers are, of course, choked with refuse and swarming with rats -and other pestiferous vermin, by night and day, and are pervaded with -noxious gases, which, when inhaled, cause almost instantaneous death. -The rats grow as big as kittens in the sewers, and will face strong, -healthy men, and give them combat--in legions. The rats feed on offal -from the butchers' slaughter houses, which is poured into the sewers, -and they also subsist on the grain which comes from the breweries, in -different parts of the city. - -Twenty years ago, the main sewers of London, having their outlets on -the river side, were completely open, and it was lawful to enter them -to search for valuables, but since then so many people have died of -the gases, or have lost themselves in their noxious recesses, that -a law was at last passed, by which persons entering the sewers to -explore them, unless they were employed as workmen, became amenable to -imprisonment, and at present the law is strictly enforced. - -[Sidenote: SEWER HUNTERS.] - -Formerly, when the spring tides in the Thames began, it was of common -occurrence for the waters to dash into the sewers, sweeping everything -in their way, and very often engulfing the workmen, or others engaged -illegally in searching the sewers; and days after one of these tidal -floods had occurred bodies of drowned and disfigured men would be -vomited from the mouths of the sewers. - -Now, however, this is changed, and hanging iron doors, with hinges, are -affixed to the mouths of the sewers, and are so arranged that when the -tides are low the iron doors are forced open by the rubbish and wet -refuse which is emptied into the Thames, and when the tides rise the -volume of water forces the doors back, and the river cannot enter the -sewers. - -There are two or three hundred men in London, who earn a living by -working in the sewers. These men, though there is a law against the -practice, search the sewers, night and day, for old iron, rope, -metal, money, or whatever is of value to the finder. They are called -"Toshers," or "Shore-men," and are, in some things, very like the -"mud-larks," who frequent the river sides. - -Some of these men are very fortunate at times, and succeed in obtaining -good prizes from the black, stinking mud of the sewers. Gold watches, -silver milk-jugs, breast-pins, bracelets, and gold rings, are obtained -by them. These sewer hunters, however, do not trouble themselves to -collect coal, wood, or chips, as is the case with the mud-larks. There -are better prizes for them, and accordingly, they do not waste their -time on such trifles. - -The Sewer-Hunter, before penetrating a sewer, provides himself with -a pair of canvas trousers, very thick and coarse, and a pair of old -shoes, or high-topped boots--the higher the legs the better. The coat -may be of any material, only it must be of heavy fabric, and there are -large pockets in the sides, where articles may be crammed at will. - -They carry a bag on their backs, these sewer-hunters, and in their hand -a pole, seven or eight feet long, on one end of which is fastened a -large iron hoe to rake up rubbish. - -Whenever they think the ground is unsafe, or treacherous, they test it -with the rake, and steady their steps with the staff. - -Should a Sewer-Hunter find himself sinking in a quag-mire, he -immediately throws out the long pole, armed with the hoe, and seizes -the first object in the sewer, to hold himself up. In some places, had -the searcher no pole, he would sink, and the more he tried to extricate -his person, the deeper he would imbed his body. - -Use is made of the pole to rake the mud for iron, copper, or bones, and -occasionally the rake turns up the remains of a human being, who may -have perished in those fetid cells. Great skill is necessary in the -hunter, to know always when the tide leaves and comes, so as to enable -him to find articles at certain points. - -The brick work in many parts is rotten, especially in old sewers, and -there is great risk in traversing the channels, as sometimes, when the -sewers are being flooded from the dams erected at stated intervals, -the passage is flooded to a height of three feet, very suddenly, and -if the Sewer-Hunter be not notified the first intimation of his danger -is given by a thundering, rushing sound, and before he can escape the -waters are upon him, and he is enveloped by them or hurled down with -tremendous force, and swept along for miles in darkness, and filth, and -despair, cut off from all human aid, no ear to hear his shouts, and no -hand stretched forth to save. - -In some places where the arches are unsafe, he will not dare to touch -any part of the roof of the sewers, or the sides, fearing that he may -be buried beneath the ruins. The main sewers are generally five feet -high from floor to ceiling, but the branch sewers are much lower, and -it is necessary to crawl on hands and knees to proceed. In the main -sewers, there are niches built in the brick walls of some depth, with a -raised platform, and the hunters always step into one of those when the -sewers are being flooded, to clean them. - -[Sidenote: AN UNLAWFUL BUSINESS.] - -Rats, unless in great numbers, will not attack a man if he passes them -quietly, but if driven to a corner they will fly at the intruder's -face and legs in hundreds. A bite from one of these rats will swell a -man's face or arms to an enormous size. The men who are employed as -"flushers" to clean the sewers wear leather boots, the legs of which -come up to the hips, and of thick leather, and when the rats make -an attack on these men, they always flash their lanterns, which are -fastened to leather belts around their waists, and this frightens the -vermin away, as they are not accustomed to light, and will flee from -it if not molested. The big leather boots of the "flushers" cannot be -bitten through by the rats. - -The trenches or water-tanks for the cleansing of the sewers, are -chiefly on the south side of the Thames, and as a proof of the great -danger incurred by sewer-hunters from these floods of water suddenly -let in on them, I am told that when a ladder was put down a sewer from -the street some years ago, on which a hod-carrier was descending with a -hod of brick, the rush of water from the sluice struck the ladder, and -instantly, ladder, hod-carrier, and all, were swept away, and afterward -the poor man was found at the mouth of the sewer, all battered, torn, -bruised, and dead. - -Whenever a Sewer-Hunter passes through a sewer under a street grating, -he is compelled to close his lantern, else the reflection of the -light through the grating would call the attention of the police, and -he would be taken before a magistrate. Dogs are never taken through -the sewers, for the same reason, as their barking would be noticed, -although they would be an excellent defense against the rats. - -Occasionally skeletons of unfortunate cats have been found in the -sewers, their bones completely cleared of flesh, and nothing but a -little fur remaining. I should pity the cat that strayed into a sewer, -as they do occasionally from house-drains and cesspools. - -As the Sewer-Hunters go along in the sewers, they often pick money from -between the crevices of the brick-work, and now and then a handful of -sovereigns have been taken from these crevices. Sometimes a small pick -is needed to recover metals or money from the crevices where they are -wedged. - -One man told me that he found a small leather bag with two hundred -sovereigns and some shillings in it, that had no doubt been washed out -from a drain. He said that he had often found money, and that he was -well satisfied with his luck in general. He had been for twenty years -searching the sewers, and had amassed considerable property. He told me -his story as follows: - -[Illustration: THE SEWER-HUNTER.] - -[Sidenote: A RAT STORY.] - - "The first night, ye know, that I went into a sewer, I had a pal with - me, as is dead now. Steve Williams was his name--God rest his soul. I - felt afeered when I went in and got lost two or three times, but Steve - allers found me agin by hollering at me. I got the greatest fright - that night I ever got in my life. We were somewhere in a sewer in old - Smithfield, and there must have been a distillery somewhere there, for - when I turned out of the main sewer into a branch one, I saw by the - light of the lantern a thick steam beyond me. I was a little ahead of - Steve, who had just got a haul of two silver table-knives and a watch - chain of goold, and he was looking at the haul he made when I saw the - steam a fillin of the sewer. I went along, when I got near it my head - begun to get dizzy, and I fell back on my shoulders into the sewer. I - got drunk in the steam from the distillery,--that's what ailed me--and - it was so sudden like, that I would have lost my life if Steve hadn't - been there. - - "Well, Steve saved my life agin the same night. We were pretty near - the mouth of the sewer on the Thames, near Wapping, where we had a - boat to take us off, for in those times the peelers never meddled with - us like they does now. - - "Well, there was one place very ticklish in the sewer, that Steve had - cautioned me about, and this place was all broken and in holes, and - it was chuck full of rats. When we came by I was foolish enough to - turn the light of my lantern on the broken place in the sewer, and - sure enough, there was a reglar colony o' rats in a room--keeping - house,--about two thousand of them--with a hall-way and a room gnawed - out of the bricks, as large as the room I live in at home. There they - were, all stuck together, with their eyes a glarin at me like winkin, - and they all in a heap as big as a horse and cart. I never seed - such a sight in my life. Steve told me to come on, and I was going, - for the rats never said a word all the time, but looked at me and - squealed--but just as I was turning around after Steve my foot slipped - and I fell, and the lantern dropped into a pool and went out. - - "I must have frightened the rats, for there was an awful squealing - and scampering--but they didn't all run away, for I found a hundred of - them fastened on my hands, legs, face, and body, when I fell. You may - be sure I hollowed and yelled, for I wasn't used to these vermin then, - and the more I hollowed and beat them, the more they squealed and bit - me. - - "In a few minutes Steve came running back with his lantern, and seeing - I was down and couldn't get up, he drove at them with his pole and - killed half a dozen of them, and then they left me and jumped at him. - Then we went at it for a couple of minutes, battling for our lives, - and when we did beat them off we were bitten all over our bodies. I am - sure if it warnt for Steve and his lantern that time, I should have - been eaten up by the rats. You see, Sir, they thought when I stumbled - and fell that I attacked them, for I found out since that they never - begin first if they can help it." - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -BACCHUS AND BEER. - - -IT is an undeniable fact, that the English are the greatest -beer-drinking people in the world. The assertion may be disputed in -favor of the Germans (and their beverage, lager bier,) but who can -compare the thin resinous beer of Munich and Vienna with the heavy -bodied, soporific, and sinewy London pale ale, Edinburgh ale, or -Guiness Brown Stout, that has ever drank the latter malt liquors. - -To believe in his native beer is a necessary part of the Englishman's -religion, and it is with the proverbial Briton a trite saying, when an -exile at Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Madrid, Constantinople, St. -Petersburg, or Calcutta, - -"You cawnt get a glass of hale in this blessed country--you knaw. You -hawvent got the 'ops you knaw, and ye cawnt make it ye knaw." - -English literature and English poetry are full of beer and redolent of -malt and hops, from Chaucer and Shakespeare down to the present day. -Tom Jones, Roderick Random, the Spectator, the Tatler, the Guardian, -Fielding, Hume, Smollett, Pope, Addison, Dryden, Goldsmith, and Samuel -Johnson, never let slip a chance to prove the virtues and efficacy of -beer, and 'Alf and 'Alf. - -It was in a room in Barclay & Perkins' brewery in Southwark, then owned -by Mr. Thrale, that Samuel Johnson, (who, if he was an obstinate, -dogged, and overbearing old rascal,--yet was the father of modern -English,) wrote the famous English Dictionary, and when Mr. Thrale -died, Johnson being one of his executors, the property was sold to the -Barclay & Perkins of that day for the sum of L135,000. The present -brewery encloses fifteen acres of buildings and vats, and is the -largest in the world but one. - -The tribes that came from India and settled in Germany, to which -Tacitus refers, were the first to introduce beer into Europe. The -descendants of these long haired, fair skinned tribes, were long after, -(in the sixteenth century,) the first to teach the English brewers the -use of hops, for the people of England, of that day, made their beer -after the manner of the ancient Egyptians, by the admixture of herbs, -broom, and berries of the bay and ivy. - -In 1585, there were twenty-six brewers in London and Westminster, who -brewed in that year 648,960 barrels of beer, and, six years after, they -exported 24,000 barrels of beer to the Low Countries and Dieppe. In -1643, the first excise duty was imposed on beer. In 1722, the brewers -stored their beer to keep it mellow, for the first time, and sold it -to all house-keepers to be retailed at three-pence a pot--holding over -a pint. In 1869, 500,000 barrels of beer, valued at L1,800,000, were -exported from London to foreign places, being one-fourth of the total -amount that was exported during the same time from other ports in -England. - -British India took 201,000 barrels, Australia and New Zealand, 148,000 -barrels, China, 35,000 barrels, Cape of Good Hope, 15,000, British West -Indies, 30,000 barrels, Spain took 209 barrels, Brazil, 15,000 barrels, -Russia, 6,000, and France 7,000 barrels. - -Barclay and Perkins employ a capital of L2,000,000 annually in their -trade, and 300 huge horses, brought from Flanders, at a cost of from -L60 to L100 each. These horses consume 9,000 quarter hundreds of oats, -beans, or other grain, 900 tons of clover, and 290 tons of straw for -litter. The manure hops that are spent, and other refuse, are taken -by a Railway Company. There are five partners in the house; the firm -being worth L8,000,000, and the head brewer receives a salary of L2,000 -a year. - -[Sidenote: CATS ON GUARD.] - -The water used for brewing purposes is that of the Thames, pumped by -a steam engine, on the same ground where Shakespeare's Globe Theatre -stood three hundred years ago. One hundred and fifty thousand gallons -of beer can be brewed from this water, daily. There are two engines -of 100 horse power each, which are nearly a hundred years old. The -furnace shaft is 19 feet below the surface and 110 above it. The malt -is carried from barges at the river-side, by porters, and deposited in -enormous bins, each of the height and depth of a three-story house. -Rats are fond of malt, but to keep them off a staff of sixty large cats -are constantly employed on the premises, and all these cats are under -the supervision of a big-headed or chief cat, with a long moustache and -Angola blood. - -[Illustration: CATS RECEIVING RATIONS.] - -It is quite a sight to witness the anxious solicitude of this Chief -Cat for the honor of the house of Barclay & Perkins, and for the -discipline of his subordinate cats, the chief being a Thomas of the -purest breed. - -Thirty-six tons of coal per day are used here for brewing purposes, and -the malt is stored in a huge room, with light windows, called the Great -Brewhouse, built entirely of iron and brick. There is no continuous -floor, but looking upwards, whenever the steaming vapor rises, there -may be seen, at various heights, stages, platforms, and flights of -stairs, all occupied by the Cyclopean piles of brewing vessels. - -There are also huge buildings next to the brewhouse, with cooling -floors, into which is pumped the "hot Wort," as it is called, or beer. -The surface of the floor in one of these buildings is 10,000 feet -square, and I saw men with gigantic wooden shoes swimming about in this -beer, which looked like a vast lake. The beer is sometimes cooled by -passing it through a refrigerator which has contact with a stream of -cold spring water. The cold beer is then allowed to ferment in vast -rooms or squares, as large as an ordinary block of houses,--which are -made to hold 2,000 barrels. It is a strange sight to look at one of -these lakes of beer, the yeast rising in masses like coral reefs in -a southern sea,--upon the surface of the water, and these rock-like -elevations yield, after the force of the yeast is spent, to the -slightest wind, giving it the appearance of a vast ocean of beer in a -storm. There is one huge vat for porter that will hold 5,000 gallons, -which at selling price is worth L12,000. The Great Tun of Heidelberg -holds but half of this quantity. One thousand quarter-hundreds of malt -are brewed daily by Barclay & Perkins. - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT PORTER TUN.] - -The great rival house to that of Barclay & Perkins, is that of Hanbury, -Buxton & Co., in Brick-Lane, Spitalfields, covering eight acres; in -which 275,000 gallons of water are used daily, obtained from a well 530 -feet deep;--600,000 barrels of beer are brewed here annually. There are -150 vats, the largest of which contains 3,000 barrels, or about 100,000 -gallons of beer. There are eight brewing coppers, three of which are -capable of containing 800 barrels each. 700 quarters of malt can be -mashed at one time in six mash tubs;--10,000 tons of coal are used -annually, and there are 200 huge horses, each horse consuming 42 pounds -of food per day, or about 2,500,000 pounds per annum. - -There is a library with 5,000 volumes, a billiard-room, reading-room, -and savings-bank, on the premises, with a benefit Club for the workmen, -each member paying sixpence a week, and receiving fourteen shillings -a week in case of sickness; and on the death of his wife, L8, and in -the event of his own death the family receives L18. Two companies of -volunteers were raised from the 800 employees of the firm, and the men -are allowed one holiday in a fortnight. - -The brewery of Mr. Salt, at Burton-on-Trent, has been established for -eighty years, and brews annually 25,000 barrels of that peculiarly -strong and bitter ale. - -[Illustration: THE GREAT PORTER TUN.] - -In London it is calculated that about 6,500,000 barrels of ale, beer, -and porter, are brewed annually, valued at about L20,000,000, and I -think I am therefore correct in calling the English a beer-drinking -people. - -Everybody drinks beer in London. You can see laborers and dockmen -sitting on benches outside of public houses, swilling what they call -swipes, at two pence a pot. So if you drink at a Club you will see men -as eminent as Mr. Bright, or Mr. Disraeli, calling for a "pint of Bass' -East India Ale," or "a bottle of Stout." Even in work-houses beer is -kept on tap, and were the paupers to be deprived of their beer, they -would, I believe, rise and annihilate their masters. A quart bottle of -good beer or porter can be got anywhere in London for sixpence, and -of all the beverages that I have ever tasted, I never found anything -to equal in fragrance a drink of good London "Brown Stout" on a warm -summer day. A man may procure as much good beer as he can drink at a -draught, for three pence, in London, at any public house or restaurant, -and it is the common custom with the Cockneys to have it at every meal, -and also between meals. - -They have also a fashion in large parties among the working and middle -classes, of ordering what is called a "Queen Ann," which is simply -three pints of beer in a large, brightly burnished metal pot with a -handle, and the man who calls for it having paid, takes a drink, then -wipes the edge of the pot with the cuff of his coat-sleeve, to remove -the foam from his lips,--then passes it to his wife, sweetheart or -his eldest child, who each in turn drink and wipe the edge of the -measure; then it is passed to the stranger, and all around the board, -each person being careful to wipe the "pewter" in the same fashion. -This custom seems rather strange and savage at the first sight to an -American, but it is the custom of the country, and therefore cannot be -quarreled with. - -Benjamin Franklin, as we learn by his diary, was disgusted by the -beer-swilling Londoners. When a journeyman printer in London before -1776, he says--"I drank only water; the other workmen, near fifty in -number, were drinkers of beer. We had an alehouse boy who attended -always in the house to supply workmen. My companion at the press drank -every day, a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread -and cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint at dinner, a -pint in the afternoon about six o'clock, and another pint when he had -done his work. I thought it a detestable custom, but it was necessary, -he supposed, to drink _strong_ beer, that he might be _strong_ himself. -He had four or five shillings to pay out of his wages every week for -the detestable liquor." - -This is pretty strong testimony from Franklin, and I find that -although he frequented alehouses in London, where all the men of wit -and learning of the time were to be found, yet he never indulged in -beer. - -[Sidenote: QUANTITY DRANK IN LONDON.] - -Any foreigner passing through a London street which is inhabited by -working men and their families, or in the neighborhood of factories or -other industrial establishments, if the period of the day be between -twelve and one o'clock, or just after twelve, cannot fail to notice -a sudden commotion and rush of men, women, and half naked children, -with jugs, pewter measures, tin cans, and earthen vessels, to the -neighboring tap-room or beer-house. All this large multitude are in -quest of beer for the noonday meal. - -At noon and night the pot boys of the innumerable beer-shops may be -seen carrying out the quarts and pints daily received by those families -who do not choose to lay in a stock or store of their own beer, or the -mothers and children of the same families, to whom the half-penny given -to the pot boy is a matter of consequence, may be seen journeying to -the beer-conduits themselves, and the drinking goes on from morning -until night, among truckmen, coal heavers, street pavers, mechanics in -the "skittle grounds," medical students in the hospitals, law students -in the Inns of Court, and "swells" in taverns. - -From the gray of the morning until the hour of dark, you may see in -the London streets those large drays, larger horses, huge draymen, and -large casks of beer, ever present and never absent from the Londoner's -eyes. Go down to the Strand, that street which borders the river, and -you will see the same drays and Flemish horses emerging from the huge -brewery gates, preparatory to carrying barrels of beer to tap-houses, -and nine-gallon casks, the weekly allowance of a private London family, -to dwelling-houses. - -A competent authority has estimated that each and every inhabitant of -London will drink, averaging young and old--80 gallons of beer in the -year. The population is 3,500,000. - -Therefore, Great is Beer, and Barclay and Perkins are its prophets. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -HARVARD AGAINST OXFORD. - - -SELDOM--perhaps not twice in a hundred years, had such a night of -excitement been known in London as that which ushered in the morning -of the Twenty-Seventh of August, 1869, the ever-memorable day on which -a million of half-crazy people were to witness the Great University -Boat Race between Oxford and Harvard. This race, it was universally -declared, would forever settle the mooted question of British pluck -and American endurance, by twenty-five minutes hard pulling in two -four-oared boats on the River Thames, between Putney and Mortlake. - -The boasted phlegm of the English race had, as it were, disappeared -before the touchstone of national rivalry, and prince, peer, peasant, -and cabman alike felt that the honor of England was in the hands of Mr. -Darbishire's Oxford crew. - -For weeks before the race came off, the London shopkeepers, mercers, -haberdashers, and drapers, had illuminated windows and doorways with -neck-ties, scarfs, shoe-buckles, ribbons, silks, and hosiery, and with -the greatest commercial impartiality, these articles that I have named, -with a hundred others that I cannot recollect, had been made to assume -the modest hues of the Oxford Dark Blue, and the blazing brilliancy of -the Harvard Magenta. The merits of the men of both Universities had -undergone the severest mental and conversational scrutiny in every part -of the metropolis. - -[Sidenote: POLICE ARRANGEMENTS.] - -In a great city with a population of over three millions of Englishmen, -it was but natural and just that Oxford should hold high ascendancy, -and that Oxford favors should be worn almost exclusively, and that the -superiority of Oxford rowing, should be with high and low a question of -orthodoxy. Night settled down on the myriad roofs and church steeples -of London, and ten young lads, down at the little village of Putney, -with its narrow streets and old-fashioned church, braced themselves, -before going to sleep, for the greatest athletic conflict that the -Nineteenth century has known. - -The sun broke over the London housetops on that eventful Friday -morning, the Twenty-Seventh of August, with unusual brilliancy for an -English sun. The weather had not been of the most promising kind for -some days previous, and it was feared that the day might turn out a -foggy or a rainy nuisance, and thus interfere with the pleasure which -so many countless thousands had promised themselves in witnessing the -race. London was astir at an early hour, and great crowds filled the -streets in the direction of the railroad stations on the Surrey side -of the river, and in the vicinity of the numerous steamboat wharves, -for the purpose of securing an early transportation to the scene of the -conflict. - -At 9 o'clock the stations of the Northwestern, the Metropolitan, -and the London and Northwestern Railways--at Waterloo, Vauxhall, -Clapham Junction, Wadsworth, Putney, Ludgate Hill, London and -Blackfriars Bridges, Euston, Chalk Farm, Hammersmith, Paddington, and -Westminster--were swarming with masses of men, women, and children, -vainly endeavoring, struggling, pushing, and trying to obtain -precedence of each other, in order to get tickets to be carried to -the boat race. The different railway companies of London, in order to -accommodate the tremendous number of spectators, had suspended their -regular traffic and agreed to run excursion trains all day steadily -until an hour before the race. - -The Thames Conservancy Board, which has the power to clear the river -and prevent obstructions from delaying the race, had worked manfully, -and by great exertions had succeeded in making every steamboat captain -and owner on the river know that he would be compelled by force to -remain above Putney Bridge, where the race was to begin, on penalty of -L20 fine; and if rash enough to run the risk of fine, the police were -to seize the offending steamer and quench her fires, and thus prevent -further locomotion. - -One steamboat speculator had been selling tickets at two guineas a head -for the steamer Venus, and had declared openly that he would pay the -fine of L20 and run the boat anyhow, despite the authorities of the -river and the police who swarmed, in hundreds of small boats and tiny -steam launches, all over the broad surface of the Thames. - -When the steamer Venus came down to Putney Bridge, however, she was -stopped very quickly, and her cheated passengers were forced to remain -on board and witness the start, but the steamer was fastened at anchor -and could no farther go. Passengers by this unlucky boat, who were -unable to stand the broiling sun for four or five hours, debarked at -Putney, and consoled themselves with mutton chops and bitter beer at -the Star and Garter. Formerly, at the University races between Oxford -and Cambridge, there was not only danger that the race itself would be -interrupted, or perhaps lost, by the reckless rushing to and fro of the -innumerable steamers that were sure to follow the progress of the boats -towards Mortlake, but it was also very unsafe for passengers in small -boats, wherries, or launches, to venture on the river, owing to the -manner in which the steamers dashed to and fro at the bidding of the -eager captains. - -But the assertions in some of the American newspapers, that the Harvard -crew would meet with foul-play from some scoundrel or other who might -employ money to influence a master of one of those vessels, had aroused -a determined energy among the members of the Thames Conservancy -Board, and the result was a clear river, in one sense, from Putney to -Mortlake, for the two crews. - -When I say in one sense, I mean that the channel of the river was -kept clear of steamboats and skiffs alike; but, while the steamers -were not allowed inside of the chains stretched across at Putney and -Mortlake, thousands of every description of small craft lined the river -for a space of five miles on both sides, on the Surrey and Middlesex -shores,--but out of the path where the race-boats were to make the -essay for superiority. - -[Sidenote: THOMAS HUGHES, M.P.] - -But two steamboats were allowed to follow the crews, and one of these -was the steamer Lotus, engaged to carry the referee, Mr. Thomas Hughes, -M.P., author of "Tom Brown at Oxford," "School Days at Rugby," and -other well-known and popular books--Besides the umpire for each crew, -the judge of the race, Sir Aubrey Paul, and a number of ladies and -gentlemen specially invited. Besides this boat there was also the -steamboat Sunflower, chartered for the use of the press of London and -for the benefit of American correspondents in London, by one of the -editors of _Bell's Life_. These two boats were never more than fifty -yards to the rear of the Oxford and Harvard shells during the progress -of the race. - -At half past 1 o'clock the press boat had been advertised to leave -the Temple Pier for the scene of the race. Taking a cab at the head -of Regent street, I had a good opportunity to observe the streets and -shops and numerous vehicles. Of the six or seven thousand cabs which -are to be found at the different stands all over London, hardly one -this morning but is in some way decorated for the festival. These -sharp-eyed, cunning-looking cabbies, in their careless attire, each -with a brass medal depending from his breast, giving his number and -license, have an eye to the main chance. Their long whips are tipped -with short bows of blue ribbon in the greater number, while a few have -magenta ties. Out of respect for the Yankees, they will charge them -to-day a shilling a head more than they dare ask from an Englishman. - -The great clumsy busses, that look more like advertising vans than -vehicles for the purpose of carrying passengers, are splendid this day -with decoration. They are made, as the sign above each tells you, to -carry twelve inside and sixteen outside. The drivers of the busses have -a more respectable look and are more profound in their wit than the -cabbies. They have a solid British look that tells plainly of roast -beef and careful usage. The cabbies are to the buss drivers a sort of -gypsies, and are looked upon by them with suspicion. Every omnibus is -crowded with passengers this cheerful, sunny day. - -All London seems going to the race. Dry goods clerks, licensed -victualers, "cads," grocers, public-house keepers, bar-boys, -stable-boys, bar-maids, servant-maids, well-to-do tradesmen and their -wives and children, apothecaries' assistants, golden-haired milliners -nicely gloved, dressmakers' apprentices, pickpockets, peers of the -United Kingdom, University men in cap and gown, Charter House boys -with yellow stockings on their legs, and dark-blue frocks fastened -at their waists with leather straps, wandering Americans displaying -large diamonds and shocking bad hats, Westminster schoolboys on the -foundation of Elizabeth, the Dean of St. Paul's in his shovel hat, -city men, brokers and bankers, watermen from the Thames, professional -oarsmen, Jew and Gentile;--they are all interested and will all see the -race or a part of it. - -I never saw anything like this great crowd before. It is believed that -two hundred and fifty thousand people is the average number that are in -the habit of witnessing a Cambridge and Oxford boat-race, but Cambridge -has been beaten so often that the interest does not compare at one of -these races with the tumultuous, all-pervading feeling that is borne in -every man's bosom as he hurries along to-day. It is not so very certain -that Harvard will be beaten, although it is rumored here and there that -Loring, the stroke of the crew, is unwell, which rumor only tends to -increase the odds on Oxford. - -The Temple Pier is reached at last. We pass through an arched gateway -at the bottom of a narrow street opening on the Thames. This spot is -more historic even than Westminster Abbey. There before us is the -Church of the Temple, seven hundred years old and black with time. All -the ground around us belonged, in the old bygone days, to the Knights -of the Order of the Temple. Now the place is the resort of attorneys -and barristers, and in it legal people have chambers. Right in the -shadows of the old Norman towers and battlements of the ancient church, -Jack Cade's followers rose from a swinish, drunken sleep to turn their -weapons against each other, hundreds falling in the conflict. - -[Sidenote: DARK BLUE AND MAGENTA.] - -Here in these chambers resided Chaucer, Gower, Spenser, Clarendon, -Coke, Plowden, Selden, Beaumont, Congreve, Wycherley, Edmund Burke, -Cowper, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Pope, Eldon, Erskine, and -others equally famous. Here they slept, joked, read, ate, and drank. -Surely, if this ground be not hallowed, none other is. In company -with a well-known American journalist, Mr. George Wilkes, I find my -way to the Press boat, which is lying at the foot of the Temple Pier, -off the Embankment. She is a long, double-ender, with a red streak -on the upper part of her keel, and a black hull. Her steam funnel is -made to be lowered at the base, working on hinges, when going under a -bridge. Like all Thames boats to-day, there are two flags hoisted on -her twin flag-staffs--the American and English. There is no awning, no -upper-deck, to shade us from the August sun, which is now beginning to -burn with an intensity peculiarly un-English. - -There are, perhaps, about fifty persons on the boat, of whom two-thirds -are English; the remainder Americans. They are not all newspaper men, -though it was understood, before the tickets were sold, that none but -newspaper men would be allowed on board. - -The Englishmen wear blue scarfs and bows; the Americans sport the -magenta all over their clothes. The sun falls on the broad, muddy river -in slanting beams of kindling gold, making the old warehouses on both -banks of the stream, with their yellow brick gables, to stand out in -bold relief. - -Above us is London Bridge, lowering in its immensity, and to the -right is Billingsgate Market and Paul's wharf. Close upon our stern -is Blackfriars Bridge, the Temple Gardens, Kings College--a massive, -dirty gray structure, running along the river bank; Somerset House, the -government building where all the clerical work of the administration -is done, and where well-fed and well-paid clerks enjoy sinecures of the -kind which the Barnacle family were so fond of. Before us is Waterloo -Bridge, Cecil, Duke, Salisbury, Surrey, Buckingham, Villiers, and other -streets called after the mansions once inhabited by the favorites of -Charles, James, and William of Blessed Memory. - -At a little before two o'clock the Sunflower steams off on her journey -up the river. The course of the steamer is impeded at almost every foot -by small craft of all descriptions, en route to Putney and the race. - -We pass, on our way down, Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge, with -its huge railroad trains thundering over our heads, bound to Dover, -with passengers for the Continent; Westminster Bridge and the Houses of -Parliament, with their gilt vanes, towers, and battlements glistening -in the sun; Lambeth Bridge and Lambeth Palace, the residence of the -Primate of England, with its gardens and red brick towers; St. Thomas -Hospitals, in process of construction; Millbank Penitentiary, a gloomy, -six-sided fortress of crime; Vauxhall Bridge; Pimlico Pier, where -we stop a moment; the Nine Elms Road, Chelsea Bridge, and Chelsea -Hospital, where a number of frisky, one-legged and one-armed veterans -are disporting themselves on its smooth, grassy lawn; the Botanic -Garden on the right, and the green fields and trees and silvery lake of -Battersea Park on the left; Albert Bridge, Cadogan Pier, Chelsea Pier, -Battersea Bridge, and the Cremorne Gardens, with its kiosks, captive -balloon, statues, shady walks, fountains, and flower beds; and now we -are opposite Fulham and Brompton, where the splendid and extravagant -Formosas of the metropolis enjoy their ill-gotten gains in pleasant -villas and cozy little houses. - -We are now getting away from the thickly populated districts of London, -and the bridges that cross the river are fewer and farther between, -and, being generally of wood, are more rickety. - -During the entire passage we are continually stopped by small craft of -all kinds. The river is alive with them. - -[Sidenote: ON THE TOWING PATH.] - -There are huge yawls, of broad bottom and clumsy construction, -containing family parties, with their provender--bread, cheese, and -beer, ham pies, and beef pies, kidneys and tongues--spread out in the -bottom of the boats on white cloths or in open baskets; there are long -shells with crews of eight and four, carrying coxswains; single sculls, -double sculls, wherries, watermen's boats, small steam launches, -lighters, watermen's barges, small sloops and schooners with dirty -sails and unseemly rudders, pleasure yachts, and craft of such queer -shape and rig as are never seen on our American rivers. - -All are bent on pleasure, and in many of the boats they are singing -the slang songs of the London streets; and now and then are warbled -the cheering chants of the boatmen immortalized by Dibdin and Taylor, -the water poets. A couple of miles more and we are in sight of Putney -Bridge, which towers aloft, rickety, worn, and decayed, thousands -crossing to and fro on its frail planks to get positions for the race. - -And now the full grandeur of a sight such as is seldom or ever seen -bursts upon every one on board the Press boat, and even the Londoners -admit, in an easy way, that the Derby Day is eclipsed by the great -number of people who line the banks of the river for miles on the -Surrey and Middlesex shores. - -To the left, above the old bridge, is the village of Putney, with its -narrow streets and noisome lanes, its green fields, festering pools, -eccentric-looking mansions and houses of an humbler kind, the steeples -of St. John's and St. Mary's, with their quaint clock-towers; and to -the left, on the Middlesex bank, are Fulham and the Bishop of London's -palace, the long grass on the Bishop's lawn waving in the breeze, and -upon whose surface were stretched pic-nickers eating and drinking. - -The Star and Garter at Putney, a famous hostelry, where the crew -of Harvard had lodged when they first came to England, was covered -all over its surface toward the river with the flags of America and -England. The old wooden balconies were crowded with ladies wearing -favors in their bosoms; the passages and lanes leading to the -towing-path on the river swarmed with foot passengers, all having one -determination and one sole object. The "Bell Inn," a rival to the Star -and Garter, was also glorious with colors, and all the house-owners -for miles along the river had let their windows and seats on their -roofs for various sums, varying from five shillings to five guineas per -head. - -One generous American "lady" had advertised in the _Times_ that she -would let seats in her windows to her countrymen at the modest price of -two guineas per head, and she found that she had not half room enough -for her compatriots. An innkeeper on the towing-path had let the front -of his house for L40 to a speculator, who realized a profit of L25 on -the venture. The Leander Boat-house, belonging to a well-known boating -club, had a scaffolding erected fronting the river for the members and -their ladies, which was covered with Union Jack bunting, the structure -being the place where the Oxford crew had housed their race-boat. - -Close to it was the boat-house of the London Rowing Club, an -association of four hundred gentlemen, who had proved themselves -warm and steady friends of the Harvard crew since their arrival -here. The Harvard boat was housed here, and the staging and platform -were decorated with American colors. A number of ladies, wearing red -rosettes, were seated upon this balcony. - -A few yards below was the modest stone house where the Harvard crew -were sleeping two hours before the race. This place was enclosed by -a stone wall, breast high, and shaded by green trees. Platforms were -erected behind this wall, and on them I noticed seated the American -Minister, Mr. Motley, the Hon. S.S. Cox, "Tom Hughes," Charles Reade, -the novelist--a bluff-looking, hearty Englishman, in gray clothes--and -a number of ladies, just before the race began. - -[Sidenote: A FRIGHTFUL JAM.] - -Back from this house ran the High street, and, I believe, the only -street of Putney, and in this street was located the unpretending -place of residence of the Oxford men. The towing-path on the Surrey -side of the river runs along for miles away beyond Mortlake, and on -the Middlesex bank there is also a path, and on both of these paths it -is customary on a race day for thousands of harmless maniacs to run -along, hats and coats in hand, vainly endeavoring to keep up with -race-boats going at a speed greater than a mile every five minutes. - -[Illustration: THE HARVARD CREW.] - -Of course, they soon lose sight of the boats after the start; yet they -will still run, hallooing, cheering, and shouting like madmen. To -furnish sport and amusement for the myriads of Cockneys who come by -rail, steamboat, or on foot, from London and its environs, there are -not wanting sharpers, players, peddlers, fighting-men, showmen, venders -of all kinds of fruit, vegetables, meats, pies, drinks, ices, and all -kinds of knick-knacks--things useful and useless; and these people and -their wares combined make up a kind of a Bartholomew's fair on a grand -scale. - -The fair and its accessories covered the towing-path for three miles, -and rendered the passage most difficult on this occasion for the many -pedestrians. Dresses were torn, buttons pulled off, hats smashed, -bonnets rumpled, hoops irretrievably wrecked, children trod on, women -half suffocated and rendered faint and sick; yet, back from the river, -for fifty or sixty feet, for a distance of three miles, the uproar and -sale of questionable merchandise and doubtful provender never ceased -for an instant. - -It was a scene such as is displayed once in a man's life-time, to -remain indelibly engraved on his mind ever after. One thousand -policemen lined both banks of the river to keep order, but most of them -were on the Surrey, or most thronged bank of the stream. A large number -of those were mounted on huge black horses, and but for them many lives -would have been lost on this most eventful day of days. - -At the boat-houses, where the shells of the rival crews were concealed -from the gaze of the crowds, outside, the jam was frightful, and very -dangerous, as the police every few moments had to back their horses -into the crowd to keep a passage-way clear, and on several occasions -were compelled to charge the dense masses of men, women, and children. - -Some time before the race came off, I made my way along the towing-path -as well as I could through the swaying, surging crowds, for the purpose -of taking a look at the amusements they were enjoying. - -There was a large crowd around a man who stood before a circular -table, the top of which revolved on a pivot. The surface was painted -and divided into four triangles by colored lines. In each angle was -painted the name of some famous horse, such as "Formosa," "Pretender," -"Blue Gown," and "Lady Elizabeth." An indicator, like the hand of an -eight-day clock, swung on a pivot in the centre of the circle. - -A spectator being invited to place sixpence on the name of some -favorite horse, the proprietor of the show gave the circular board -a spin, and if the indicator stopped opposite the name of the horse -where he had placed his money, he gained a shilling. The fellow who had -this machine in operation was a hard-looking case, in a greasy cutaway -velvet coat. His oratory was to the point and business-like. - -"Down vith yer sixpence; and make yer bets, gentlemen. My hindicator is -sure as the clock of St. Paul's and twice as waluable ha hacquisition. -I don't care vether it is Formosy or Purtendir that yer bets yer bob -hon. Yer take Hoxford or ye take 'Avard-- - - Hi gives 'er a spin - Han lets yer vin; - -vich is poetry, and if ye dosn't vin, I gits the tin; vich is po-e-try -agin, and is halso a favrite hexpression of the Chanselur of the -Hexcheckever ven he piles hon the blessed taxis has 'as made me sell -hall my property to havoid a bust hup. Try yer luck agin; thank ye sir. -Formosy, sir, sure to vin or lose." - -Close by this amusing blackguard is the stand of the root-beer, -ginger-beer, and bitter-beer seller, who is crying out from behind his -little cart: - -[Sidenote: BOOTHS AND SHOWS.] - -"Valk hup and try this ere de-lee-shus bewerage, honly tuppence a -bottle. If ye don't like it I gives ye yer money back, and no 'arm -done. The Prinse of Vales alvays buys 'is beer hof me ven 'e isnt -travelin, for the good of 'is 'ealth. Valk hup and don't be ashamed; -the no-bil-e-tee and gen-te-ree hall patronizes me. Ginger-beer, -ginger-beer, and may the best man win, as my vife says, ven she sees -two pickpockets a fightin' for a shillin'." - -"Trick-hat-the-loop, ring the nail, and ye gets three h'apens. Ring the -nail and ye gets three h'apens. And 'ow much does ye hinvest. Vy honly -ha'apenny. A man von two hundred pun hof me last veek, and there 'e -his just now agoin to bet hit all on the Hoxford crew, and ef ye don't -believe me just hax 'im 'isself," said a seedy looking wretch, with a -handful of small iron rings in his hand, directing his index finger -to some indistinct personage in the crowd, whom no one present could -recognize. - -The number of apple, pear, goosberry, plum, pie, and ice-cream stands -that line the path are almost incalculable to think of. Pies square, -round, and triangular of shape, in all the varied stages of decay, are -for sale at a penny a piece. Tarts, cheese cakes, mutton pot-pies, -ham pies, suet puddings, whelks, a sort of odorous shell-fish, at -half-penny apiece, green gages, and "sandviches" are shouted on every -side of us. - -There are all kinds of games in progress. There is the ancient and -honorable game of "cockshie," and "cocoa-nut." The latter is curious. -Three cocoa-nuts, hollowed out, are placed on the top of as many -sticks, which are stuck upright in the ground, and the game, costing -a penny, is to knock off those cocoa-nuts at three strokes, when you -can claim three pence--providing, of course, that you knock off all -three cocoa-nuts; which, of course, can only be done by the princely -proprietor himself after hard training. - -There is one noisy fellow on a little hillock, pockmarked and -ferret-eyed, in a greasy woolen duster, who has drawn a large crowd -around him by his peculiar and quack-like oratory. This fellow is a -gem, in his way, of purest ray serene. He is a merchant of penny scarf -and finger rings. - -"Now," says he, elevating a scarf ring on one finger and a wedding ring -on another, in sight of the wondering crowd, "hif hi was to tell you -good people that these beuty-_fool_ rings wor pure goold, vot vould -you say? Vy, you vould say, in the most hexitibel and hunmistakabel -langvidge has could come from your blessed traps, 'ee his a harrant -himposter. - -"Could hi blame yer for hexpressing yer feelinks in sich langvidge? No. -Hi vould say to my disturbed conscience, has was at that very moment -a tearing my hinsides to pieces, 'you, Villiam Bowsley, have forsaken -the good karraktir has was 'anded down to yer by hancestors who 'ad -their hown hestates, 'osses, and kerridges; Villiam Bowsley, you 'ave -been han harrant himpostor, and deserves to be 'ung.' Vell, does I tell -ye that these ere rings is goold? No; on the contreery, I says they -are brass. Vell, may be ye don't care so much for brass harticles. Ham -hi a friend of brass? No, agin. But I ham a friend of Hart. I asks ye -to look at this ere image of Mr. Glads_tun_, as is now hour blessed -Pri-_meer_. Wos hever anything so beau-ty-fool? Look at the insinivatin -smile on 'is sveet feetyures. Ven I last dined vith Mr. Glads_tun_--ye -needn't laff, cos ye knows, perhaps, the story in the Good Book of the -bad children 'oo chaffed the old Profits and wus heat hup by bares--ven -I last dined vith Glads_tun_, hour blessed Pri-_meer_, he says, -'Bill'--he calls me 'Bill' ven 'ee his friendly--'Bill, them pictures -on them ere kam-e-o-s as you sells is my likeness just like twins. Cos, -vy,' said he, 'my maiden haunt reckignized them, and fainted avay ven -she seed vun.'" - -Passing along a few feet I am attracted by the noise of a loud, rough -voice, that is shouting over the thickly packed heads of another crowd: - -"Step hup gentlemen and take a look hat the noble hart of Self-Defence -has his practised in the Royal Tent. This vay gentlemen, honly tuppens. -Brisket Bill and the 'Ackney Vick Cove is a goin' to set-too. Step hup." - -[Sidenote: THE BOXING TENT.] - -There is a large tent back from the path covered all over with -representations of half-naked boxers in the act of defending -themselves, or mauling or beating each other to pieces, and the master -pugilist stands on a high bench to attract the crowd, while at the -same time he can look inside of the tent and direct the ceremonies by -calling time and announcing the names of the combatants. Two wretched, -miserable looking women, their features furrowed with want, their -eyes bleared with gin, and their general appearance indicative of hard -luck, cruel treatment and filth, hold each a sheet of the tent in their -hands, and one of them puts out her hand to take the two pence which is -the price of admission. - -I pass in to the tent and find twenty or thirty hard-looking cases -circling around "Brisket Bill" and the "Hackney Wick Cove," who are -stripped to their waists, their features inflamed with passion, their -hair cropped short, and boxing gloves on their hands. There are half a -dozen burly, big soldiers in the tent belonging to different arms of -the Queen's service, and two of them wear the red shell jackets and -army fatigue caps of the Life Guards. Brisket Bill is a low-sized, -compact, thick witted brute in corduroys and heavy hob-nailed shoes, -who has been probably "starring" in the provinces, and the Hackney -Cove is a tall, well-made, fresh-faced-looking young fellow, who is -quite lively on his feet, and seems to rather like the punishment which -Brisket gives him every now and then in the chest and face. - -A ruffianly-faced scoundrel offers me a ticket to go to his boxing -benefit on the next Monday night, which is declined, and at the next -moment the Hackney Cove knocks Brisket Bill, with a tremendous blow, -kicking at my feet, while cheers greet the feat from the Life Guards, -roughs, thieves, and clodhoppers in the tent, and the Master Pugilist -cries from the top of the tent outside: - -"Vind hup, Brisket; 'it 'im 'ard and be done vith your larking. Give -these gentlemen the vorth of their tupence. Vind hup, I say, and stop -'im." - -Going down the towing path I found the crowd increasing every moment, -and all streaming from the direction of London. A great number of -soldiers were present all in bright uniform, without side-arms, -and all carrying jaunty canes--lancers, foot guards, riflemen, -artillery drivers, men of the siege train, heavy cavalry, dragoons, -and light-infantry men. The majority of these warriors bold were -accompanied by their sweethearts, pretty, clear-skinned English girls -in their best bibs and tuckers, and of course they all wore the Oxford -blue on their persons. Hundreds of small dirty-faced and ragged boys -swarmed in and out of the numerous tents, and many grown men were -endeavoring by bawling loudly, to dispose of badges and rosettes. Some -of them had pieces of wide dark blue ribbon with the words cribbed from -the famous ballad of Tommy Dodd a little altered, inscribed in gilt -type on them: - - "Now boys, let's all go in; - Oxford--Oxford sure to win, - Tommy Dodd." - -Others sold small rosettes with the words "Oxford Laurels" engraved, -and Harvard badges made of red, white, and blue lutestring, bearing the -arms of the United States, the eagle rampant, and screaming fiercely, -while one costermonger's cart had elevated on canvas in bold letters, -the words of Nelson at Trafalgar, forever classic in the English tongue: - - "ENGLAND EXPECTS THIS DAY THAT EVERY MAN SHALL DO HIS DUTY." - -Almost every person who passed this costermonger cart cheered or -approved of the legend in some way, while as a counter irritant a party -of Americans who had hired a whole house, had the Star Spangled Banner -displayed with the following couplet underneath, in glaring type, and -which attracted very considerable attention: - - "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, - And this be our motto: In God be our trust!" - -I saw numbers of Americans, during the great excitement of that -memorable day, pass and repass the sacred symbol of their country -just for the sake of lifting their hats to the dear old flag. Blood -_is_ thicker than water--even if it was only a boat race. One young -fellow who had been for four years studying his profession at Halle, in -Germany, and had not seen the Gridiron during that time, doffed his hat -twice and was cheered from the balcony in return; and when he came to -me and spoke, his eyelashes were humid, and, when I asked him what was -the matter, he answered in a polyglot of Deutsch and English: - -[Sidenote: THE DEAR OLD FLAG.] - -"Ach Gott! I've been having a blamed good cry at the sight of the Stars -and Stripes." - -And thus the day passed, and the sun declined in force and fell in -strips of silver and gold and purple on Putney church and steeple, -and on all that mad, roaring, shouting, gambling, eating, and -drinking multitude, that lined both banks of the river from Putney to -Mortlake--a million human beings in all--to witness ten lads struggle -for less than half an hour in two frail boats. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -STRUGGLE AND VICTORY. - - -AS I passed down the towing path toward the stone house where the -Harvard crew were resting, I saw the blue blades of four slender oars -elevated above the crowd, and passing through the closely wedged -ranks. The men who carried them, the Oxford Four, appeared on the -river's bank--four fine looking young fellows, with the coxswain, a -mere lad, in their rowing suits. They were going to take a paddle -preparatory to the race, for half a mile up the Thames toward the Duke -of Devonshire's. They looked well, and were loudly cheered as they got -into their boat. They paddled up the river. - -As I passed the gate of the stone house I saw the Chevalier Wykoff and -George Wilkes standing together and spoke to them both. Just at this -moment the face of Loring, the stroke of the Harvard crew, appeared -looking out toward the river, which was packed with boats full of -people. There was something in the man's face that I did not like. I -had not seen him for a few days previous. He had a huge boil under his -right chin in his neck, with a white crust on the top of it; his eyes -seemed wild, his manner anxious and hurried, and altogether he seemed -very unsteady. I shook hands with him and asked him how he felt. - -[Sidenote: ON BOARD THE PRESS BOAT.] - -He said slowly, "Pretty well," and after we talked a few minutes he -went in to prepare for the struggle. I stepped back to the towing path -and spoke to Mr. Wilkes, who asked of me "Who is that? Is not that -Mr. Loring, the Stroke of Harvard?" I answered in the affirmative. Mr. -Wilkes then asked me, "What did he say? Does he feel well?" I answered, -"He says he feels pretty well?" Wilkes burst out, "Pretty well! He -doesn't look like it. That man's sick." and in an instant he dashed -into the crowd to find some one and I lost him for the time being. - -I walked down to the "Star and Garter" inn slowly, thinking of the last -look I had at Loring, and I felt astonished that he should be ready -to pull a race in his condition. The man was evidently in a state of -exhaustion; he looked overworked, overstrained, and out of condition -for a four mile and three furlong race--he who had, when at his best, -only been used to pull a three mile race, turning at a stake of a mile -and a half distance. - -Warned by the noise and rapid movements of the crowd that something -was astir, I made my way by the Star and and Garter, out of whose -windows men were handing porter bottles to their friends beneath, and, -walking to the river's bank, I hailed a boat with two Thames watermen -in it, who pulled me through the line of Police boats to the Press boat -Sunflower, which had her steam up and was getting ready. - -Getting on the deck I took a look around me. Above and at our back was -the old Putney Bridge, thick with human beings of both sexes. Beneath -were countless steamboats and small craft, wedged together in a dense -mass, covering the river behind the bridge for acres, and at our stern -a huge iron chain of Vulcanic links stretched from the Star and Garter -to a point off Fulham on the Middlesex shore. The chain in the middle -of the river was under water, but near both shores it was visible to -all the passengers on the steamboats behind Putney Bridge, but also -impassable to them, however they might rage, fume, and curse at their -ill-luck and guineas thrown away. - -By the side of the Press boat, the Umpire's boat--a craft similar in -build and appearance--was anchored, many of the passengers wearing -the rival colors; the Americans drinking brandy and soda to refresh -themselves, and the Englishmen giving odds on Oxford with great good -will and humor. - -The picture on the river was a most striking one, and worthy of a -master's brush, with its vivid color, the striking dresses of the -crowds, the flags and bunting from housetops and steam funnels; the -green-leaved trees, their branches covered with human fruit, and the -hot August sun, just losing its intensity, as a cool breeze came down -from the direction of Mortlake to ruffle the surface of the river, its -eddies and wavelets sparkling and dancing like diamonds of price. - -It was now within a few minutes of five o'clock. There was a sudden -hum above on the river, at a place called the Crab Tree, as the Oxford -crew got into their boat, and the hum became distinct and swelled into -a pronounced noise, and the noise became a great solid, full cheer from -a hundred thousand throats, as the bright blue blades of the Oxford -Four were dipped in the water, and they came paddling down the stream -in their narrow shell to take position by the Umpire's boat near the -bridge. They paddled easily, and took position with a quiet look in -their fair English faces that impressed every American favorably. - -Then there was another hum as before, when the Harvard crew came down -from the boat-house of the London Rowing Club, and a tremendous cheer -as their boat came up to the Middlesex shore--in among the seedy long -grass. - -And now let us look for a moment at the two crews as they sit there -passively awaiting the order to "go." The Harvard boat is long, narrow, -and the frail cedar wood timbers that compose it are polished like a -steel mirror. Its nose and bow are sharp as a lancet, and amidships it -is but a few inches out of the water. So frail, and yet to carry the -good or bad fortune of a mighty nation's hope. - -[Sidenote: LORING'S CONDITION.] - -The Harvard crew wore white flannel shirts, the sleeves cut away at -the shoulders, with white drawers shortened above the ankles, and -white fillets bound around their temples to save their heads from -the sun's rays. To a spectator they looked magnificent--all of them -bronzed as they sat well forward in the boat, their skins like a new -guinea. Burnham, the coxswain, had his back to the steamer and faced -the stroke, Mr. Loring. Burnham looked stout, massive, and in good -condition. His broad back, rather too broad for a coxswain, gave an -idea of endurance and "staying" more useful in a stroke than a "cox." -His face was tanned, and his quick, restless eyes scanned the broad -Thames with a short, momentary glance, and then they rested on Simmons, -the hope of the American boat. - -Burnham wore a Vandyke tuft at his chin, and a stiff, bristling -mustache of sandy hue. He looked old enough to be father to the Oxford -coxswain. Loring sat with both hands grasping the stroke-oar on the -right side of the boat. His face was turned also, and his dark eyes had -something nervous and flitting in them that I did not like. His body -was as lean as a greyhound's--in fact, he was too lean for a long race. -But the muscles and sinews stood out in bold relief, and the cords of -flesh between the shoulder-blades were hard, and, Loring being slightly -round in the shoulders, it gave him a look of great strength, more -fictitious than real. - -He wore a mustache and goatee--not quite so artistic in shape as -Burnham's--and the hair was cropped close to his ears. His face, -however, did not satisfy the Americans, who watched him closely. There -was something that was indefinite, something unstrung, in the lines -that should have been set and hardened like steel bars. He had a -feverish look as he sat forward, with his long, massive arms, grasping -the oars. - -Simmons, the pride of the crew, sat behind Loring, his perfect physical -form astounding the Englishmen by its massive and beautiful outline. -The face was gravely handsome, the chin round yet firm, the shoulders -grand in their proportions, and the loins like the waist of an oak -trunk. His naked arms were marble for their shape and purity of skin, -and the neck, proudly resting upon his shoulders, could not have -disgraced the Sun God. - -Take him altogether, I never saw such a perfect specimen of manhood -and physical beauty as he looked that day in the Harvard boat. And yet -his eyes, usually intense and piercing, and bluish gray, which always -looked a man in the face, were to-day yellowish and overcast. That -lion heart, which could hardly think of defeat, was torn in a struggle -to maintain composure. He and Loring for four days had been gradually -weakening almost to the point of exhaustion, and these two men, upon -whom the race principally depended, were perfectly aware that their -form was not good, and they were well aware, also, that without their -strength and health the race was lost before it began. - -Simmonds towered above all his companions, and he held the wrist of his -oar calmly as he could, while behind him sat Lyman, a grave, austere -looking young gentleman, with a well cut face, mouth, and chin, dark -hair, a resolute look, and a well shaped body; of modest, but athletic -look and determination. - -Lyman seemed in very good shape, though a little anxious--as was -no more than natural--about Loring and Simmonds, while the most -insouciant, daring looking man in the boat to-day, is that haughty, -imperious looking fellow who sits in the bow, Joseph Story Fay, a man -of proud will, self confidence, and great endurance. He sits seeming -a careless observer of the preparatory and technical part of the -programme, but those keen, watchful eyes, that seem to stab like a -knife, are bent with no little solicitude on the Oxford boat, which is -almost stationary a few yards distant. - -The Harvard crew had a manly, bold look, taking them in a mass, and a -sombre, matured appearance, their bodies and faces stained deep yellow, -like a crew of Indians, and they also sat, if I may use the word, -taller in their boat than the Oxford crew did in theirs. - -[Sidenote: CONDITION OF THE MEN.] - -The Oxford crew were boyish, fresh-faced fellows, compared with -them, their light skins and hair making them look more juvenile in -appearance, and beside, they had not such an ascetic look as the -Harvards, who had lived more like monks than athletes, without any -amusement or even beer--for weeks training themselves to death, and -working body and mind too much. The Harvard crew seemed anxious and -careworn, when their faces were studied, and they were certainly not in -good training condition for the race. - -Loring had worked like a horse, pulling long distances in broiling -suns; and the crew when together had a bad fashion of rowing the whole -course, while the Oxford men contented themselves with a pull of a -couple of miles at a time, being careful not to overdo the business. -Then, on Sunday the Oxford men always went down to the sea-shore at -Brighton, and drank beer moderately and ate fruit in a jolly sort of -a way, and plenty of roast meats, while the Harvard men lived to some -extent on farinaceous food and porridge and figs and mutton, a favorite -dish of theirs when roasted--and to be brief, they were too anxious to -win, and the consequence came in the shape of a fidgetty, nervous, and -overtrained condition. - -Besides, the stroke of the Harvard crew was too labored and fiery and -energetic to last, for the amount of powder belonging to them. The arms -were with them the great impelling power, and the recover was too high -up in the chest, while the Oxford men recovered a little above the pit -of the stomach, which is less wearisome and distressing. In catching -the oar forward they expended too much force, and spent a great deal of -strength in dropping it, while their strength would have been better -used in holding the water just before the recovery. - -The coxswain, too, was naturally uncertain of his Stroke and Simmonds, -both men being in poor condition; and Loring told him before the race, -in case that he flagged to sprinkle his face and that of Simmonds, with -water. This alone was enough to make Burnham rather shaky, and not a -little doubtful of his crew. A few lengths lost by wild steering or -nervousness, and it would be of course impossible to win in the case of -two crews so very closely matched otherwise. I say all this advisedly, -and I am sure the conclusion will bear out my premises. In addition, -they had tried half a dozen boats while in training, and displaced two -of their crew. Whether it was wise to make this change or not, I have -no means of knowing, and cannot say. - -The Oxford crew having paddled their boat a little nearer the Press -steamer, I now had a good look at them. They all had a fresh, fair, -English look, and were not, as far as I could see, at all fagged before -going into the race. Darbishire, the Stroke, was the first man who -caught my eye. He did not look at all burly in frame, and his figure -was lower in the thwarts of the boat by a head, than that of the -gigantic-framed Cornwall Celt, Mr. Tinne. - -Darbishire had a merry blue eye and a turn-up nose, indicating good -humor. His body was well set, his shoulders compact, and his hair, -though short, had a proclivity to curl and kink. He had a broad -forehead, a mouth a little turned down at the corners and arching, and -his chin was moderately firm. - -Yarborough was far more determined in his look, and sported a pair of -thin, mutton-chop whiskers. He was the darkest-skinned and darkest-eyed -man in the Oxford boat, besides being a fine oarsman and a victor -of many college matches. His nose was of the snub order, and the -chin dimpled, the forehead being broad and white, and the hair, like -Darbishire's, inclined to curl. He was what would be a "big small" man, -and was as compact and tough as a hickory nut. - -Tinne was, however, the giant of the crew. I never saw a more glorious -looking fellow than this clear-skinned, handsome Cornwall lad, with his -splendid clearly cut profile, frank, merry face, laughing eyes, and -thoroughbred look. - -It was worth a day's walk to see Tinne pull. He was a man a good deal -after the style of our own Simmonds, but not so gravely reserved. He -was not as tall as Simmonds, but a great deal heavier, and looked as if -he could pull a man-of-war's gig in a race, with those grand shoulders -and hips broad as a barrel of beer. Yet, with all his great physique, -his gait was as light as a girl's, and the feather of his oar when -taken from the water was artistic in itself. - -[Sidenote: HALL, THE COXSWAIN.] - -This huge fellow, weighing 192 pounds on the day of the race, was -formidable enough to intimidate the boldest betting American of us -all. Tinne, like his friend Willan, the bow oar, had been president of -the Oxford University Boat Club, and had never known defeat. Willan, -the Bow, looked as if the matter was mere play, while he amused himself -with the oar and watched Walter Brown, who held the nose of the Harvard -boat from a launch, with a keen alert look. His white Guernsey shirt -was open at the neck, and it showed a wonderfully muscular but white -throat. His shoulders were broad across, and his fingers grasped the -oar as if they were riveted with steel nails to the frail shaft. - -[Illustration: THE OXFORD CREW.] - -The most innocent looking boy I ever saw in a boat was Hall, a slight, -frail, girlish looking lad, and coxswain of the Oxford crew. Weighing -one hundred pounds on the day of the race, and being about seventeen -years of age, he was the last person that a man would choose for a -coxswain, who knew nothing of the mysteries and science of the art -of rowing as practiced in England. His skin was light and almost -transparent, the blue veins in his face being very prominent. His hair -was very light, and his eyes blue as the sky. A handsomer lad could not -be found, but he seemed delicate enough to be blown away with a breath. -The face was weak, and the mouth of a curious shape, the corners being -drawn down, and giving him a soft, credulous look. - -Looking at him there in his dark-blue jacket of thin flannel--all the -rest of the crew were in white shirts cut away at the elbows, and white -drawers shortened at the ankles--he looked so innocent and lady-like, -that it needed but a crinoline and silk skirt to transform him into a -pretty English girl of the period. - -And yet that delicate boy had a great trust, and "Little Corpus," as -he was called from his college at Oxford, well deserved it all, for -his knowledge of the river was unrivaled, and his steering was simply -perfection. Nothing could be finer. A New York betting-man, who lost -heavily, declared that he was a "young weasel" for sagacity and cool -nerve. - -By the time I had taken a good look at both crews, the arrangements had -all been made, and the two boats had been brought by their coxswains -up to a line stretched across the river, and the crews now lay in their -boats, with bodies bent forward, their faces set, their oars grasped -with energy, the coxswains with the ropes in both hands, and the stroke -of each boat having his oar blade poised a few feet above the water. - -Walter Brown held the nose of the Harvard boat, and John Phelps, a -rugged looking Thames waterman, had his grip fastened on the Oxford -boat, waiting for the word to go. Loring's eyes are blazing with -unwonted fire; Darbishire seems confident and easy, with his ears -dilated like a pointer, and a death-like silence reigns all over that -swarming river--just now the noise was deafening; the Americans have -ceased to drink any more brandy and soda; Tom Hughes looks up the river -to see if all is clear; Mr. Lord, of the Thames Conservancy, reports -all clear--and the bulky figure of Blakey, the starter of the race, is -seen to ascend the paddle-box of the Lotus steamer, and his voice rings -over the water, and is heard with a thrill, for the decisive moment has -come at last. - -"I shall ask," says Blakey, "are you _Ready_--are you _Ready_, and if -you do not stop me I shall give the word Go, after which God speed you -both." - -"Are you ready?" - -"No!" shouts Darbishire. - -"Are you ready?" - -"No!" again, distinct and clear, from Darbishire. - -"Are you _Ready_?" No answer this time from either crew. - -"GO!" - -A hundred thousand throats, as if made of cast-iron, bellow forth: a -hundred thousand eyes are dazzled for a moment as the diamond drops -fall from the upraised blue blades of Oxford and the white blades of -Harvard. Walter Brown executes a war dance in an instant after he has -sent the Harvard shell a full length on its way. The 'Rah, 'Rah, 'Rah, -of Harvard pierces the air; the masses on the banks of the river begin -to show incipient symptoms of madness. Both boats are off, Harvard -pulling like demons, and Oxford has just got into her careless, easy -swing, pumping away like machines. The two steamers start on a -helter-skelter race, and the greatest boat race the world ever saw has -just begun for better or for worse. - -[Sidenote: HARVARD'S LIGHTNING STROKE.] - -No man that day who witnessed the start of the two boats--the terrific -spring of the Harvard crew, and the cool, rythmical measure of the -Oxford stroke--can ever forget that moment of moments, unless, indeed, -his blood be thinner than water and his pulse of ice. The Harvard crew -caught the water first, and were well on their way before the crowds -were recovered from the shock. Loring swept away like a tiger after his -prey, and Burnham--who had won the toss for choice of position, steered -in on the Middlesex shore, the Oxford crew having won a blank, and -having to keep in, consequently, on the Surrey side--showing very good -judgment at first, and keeping his boat well under way. It was but a -minute, and Harvard was a full length clear in the water of the Oxford -boat, Loring pulling forty-two strokes a minute, and Simmond's elbows -going backward and forward like a steam engine. - -The Oxford crew, after a pause, recovered from their slight surprise, -and fell into stroke as if a piece of mechanism were propelling their -narrow shell. Darbishire is now rowing beautifully, and has settled -down to hard work, while Tinne's great shoulders, bob up and down with -superhuman energy, his glorious chest expanded to its full power, -and he pulls with the magnificence of incarnate force, while "Little -Corpus," the coxswain, is as quiet as a mouse, watching every stroke of -the Harvard crew, as he sets in the stern sheets of the Oxford shell. - -Oxford has started with thirty-eight strokes, and now, when Mr. -Darbishire sees Loring putting on the steam at forty-four, he quickens -his stroke to thirty-nine, and Hall gets the boat headed a little -toward the Middlesex shore. - -The Star and Garter is fast disappearing from the stern of the Press -boat, and the Umpire's boat follows closely, neck and neck almost. -The crowds at a place called the "Creek," where a little stream runs -tributary to the Thames, are shouting "Oxford" all their might and -main. Fay, in the bow of the Harvard boat, seems to hear the taunt, -and begins to show evidence of his strength, by pulling the bow-side -around slightly, which compels Burnham to put his rudder down and keep -off from the Oxford boat. - -At Simmond's boat-house the jam is tremendous, and the crowd cheers -Harvard as she sweeps by a length ahead; and Oxford going a few -feet wild at this point, the Harvard men on the two steamers shout -themselves hoarse, and one man with a Magenta-ribbon takes off a new -hat, carefully inspects it for a moment, and then in a delirium of -frenzy kicks the crown of it in, and presents it skyward as a peace -offering. - -The people on the Surrey towing-path seem all mad, Oxford is not -showing speed enough for them, and the stands and shows and booths are -deserted as if they had never been in existence, the crowds pressing -forward to the bank of the river wildly. Passing the "Willows," a -pleasant little grove of trees, with a quaint stone house nestled in -their bosom, a loud cheer is given as the Oxonians spurt a little, -while at the same time the water falls, or rather dashes from Loring's -oar with increased vehemence, for Harvard is now pulling at the -tremendous pace of 45 strokes a minute, a thing unheard of before in an -English boat race. - -At "Craven Cottage" Oxford gains slightly, but the fact is hardly -noticed by the Harvard men, who can see but one thing, and that is -the Harvard boat, now ahead by a length and a half. I never imagined -that Loring could do the work he is now doing, which is superhuman, -and therefore cannot last. At the "Soap Works," a crazy old place, -Darbishire seems to be creeping up, and his stroke is most assuredly -telling on the Harvard energy and fire. Oxford is now pulling 40, and -the cheers are deafening from the shore, while cries and exclamations -and yells of encouragement come from the countless wherries, stationary -barges, and craft of all kinds that line the Surrey side. - -[Illustration: THE UNIVERSITY RACE.] - -"Well pulled, Willan. Nobly done for Exeter," shouts an excited Oxford -University man from a small boat. "You are sure to win." - -[Sidenote: BURNHAM'S BAD STEERING.] - -"Oh, _go_ it Harvard; _go_ it Harvard. 'Rah--'Rah--'Rah--'Rah. Hit her -up, Loring." - -"Keep your steam on, Burnham. Don't get frightened." - -"What's the matter with Harvard, now," says a Harvard man to a -dignified English gentleman on the Press boat. - -"Wonderful stroke, sir; 'fraid it can't last. Great power, sir, in the -Oxford crew," says the old gentleman rather curtly. - -"Well done, Simmonds, you are the man for my money," cries a Western -man who has a bottle of soda water in his hand, and has been betting -heavily all the way down the river on the boat. - -Opposite the "Doves," Harvard goes away splendidly from Oxford; but -now the Harvard men on the steamboats begin to notice something queer -in the steering of Burnham. Briefly, he is steering wide of his race, -and very badly, and his nerve seems to be going, for the boat looks -quite unsteady and veers in the water more than she ought to. Now -we are rounding a bend in the river, and the great, single span of -Hammersmith Bridge looms up before us. Every coigne of vantage on this -immense pile, from one side of the river to the other, is covered -with vehicles, broughams, carriages, 'busses, and at least thirty -thousand people are clustered and hanging on to the structure in a most -astonishing manner. It was a mad sight, that bridge, with the great -swaying masses, pushing, shouting, and fighting to get a look at the -boats. - -Cries of "Hoxford," "Hoxford," come down from above our heads as we -near the bridge, and the excitement is perfectly terrific. We have -already passed a quarter of a million of people, to estimate them in -the rough, and still they line the banks above us in impenetrable -masses. The waving of handkerchiefs and shouting is enough to make a -man lose his senses, if the race did not claim so much attention from -the spectators. - -Harvard prepares to shoot under the bridge, being still a length and a -half ahead, but Loring is not doing his work so stoutly now, although -the Harvard boat glides through the water at 46 strokes a minute. The -pace is too hard and it will not and cannot last five minutes longer. - -Oxford steers out from the Surrey bank to shoot the bridge, and -"Little Corpus" makes a circuit to avoid an eddy where the tide is -bad, while Burnham is mad enough to go away from the race by giving -room to Darbishire's boat, whose coxswain never loses an inch by weak -or ill-judged steering, Burnham going out of his way too much to -accommodate Oxford, instead of keeping on and taking Oxford's water in -a direct line. It was at this place that Harvard lost the race, wholly -by Burnham's bad steering and Loring's nervousness. - -"Oh, my God! what are you doing Burnham, why do you steer so?" shouts -an excited Yale man in the Press boat thinking vainly that Burnham -will hear him; but Harvard is too far on our bow to hear the warning -voice, and here she loses a full half length. The excitement is now -beyond description. From all the vast stagings that are erected on the -Surrey side, decorated with English bunting and covered with thousands -of people, comes a glad swell of triumph, borne on the breeze, and -striking despair to every American heart. - -Now, at this moment, after shooting Hammersmith bridge, Loring's oar -seems to hang loosely from the gunwale of the boat, and his head is -bent forward as if he were about to faint. In an instant the coxswain, -Burnham, dashes water into his face and chest, and repeats the ablution -five or six times, throwing the water also on Simmonds, who is weakened -from the pace he has been pulling. - -The Harvard stroke now goes down to 42, to 41, and to 40; for Loring is -knocked up, and the pulling is being done by Fay, on the bow side, in -despair. Elliott, the boat-builder, standing on the paddle-box of the -Lotus, is black in the face from shouting, "Harvard! Harvard!" "Pull up -Harvard!" - -[Sidenote: OXFORD'S VENGEANCE STROKE.] - -There goes that same steady, wonderful, glorious stroke of Oxford, -like the knell of doom, not to be stopped until victory perches on her -gallant crew. At Chiswick Island Loring spurted and made a despairing -effort; but the man is sick and gone for the race, and it is no use -hallooing now, for Oxford forges past the Harvard boat with a will -and power that calls forth a shout from the assembled multitude, which -rings in the ears of Loring's crew like a sentence of death. - -Still the gallant fellows struggle on, inspired by an agony which none -may describe in such a race, and they never falter for an instant, but -pull as if they were determined to win. During the first mile and a -half of the race, Burnham received the back wash of the Oxford boat, by -keeping all the time in a line behind Darbishire's crew with a seeming -blunder that actually called tears of rage to the eyes of Americans on -the steamboats. Getting along by Chiswick Church, which was crowded -with people, the Oxford crew pulling 40, their boat was a length ahead -of the Harvard bow oar, and Hall, the coxswain, took care that no -ground should be lost by his steering. Then Darbishire spoke the word -to his crew, and throwing all the powder they could into their backs, -they gave Harvard only the alternative of pulling to Barnes's Bridge -for an honorable defeat. - -Never for a moment did Oxford flag, but kept the stroke as if grim -death was at their heels, yet all the time throughout the race they -seemed easy in their style, and regular as the pendulum of an eight-day -clock. - -The want of time and catch in the Harvard stroke was very noticeable at -Barnes's Bridge, and here the same immense crowds were gathered as at -the bridge at Hammersmith, and now the Oxford boat being positively a -length and a half ahead, and no mistake, the cries and shouts were most -appalling. Past the green fields in the Duke of Devonshire's meadows a -large crowd was gathered, who hailed the appearance of the Oxford crew -with great and significant pleasure. - -The race was now lost, virtually. Harvard was out of time--knocked -up--and the men in her boat were laboring like oxen in chains. The -morale of the Harvard crew was gone a mile below Barnes's Bridge, when -Loring's oar hung loose for the first time, and nothing human could now -give old Massachusetts a victory. It was a gallant struggle, too, and -nobly waged. Passing the "White Cottage" and the "White Hart" in the -race for the Ship Tavern at Mortlake, the Harvard crew, in the last -quarter of a mile, put on a desperate spurt and rowing for a minute and -a half at 44 strokes, they gained ground on Oxford, whose crew seemed -as fresh as when they began. - -Now is the last desperate struggle. Pull, Harvard; you cannot hope to -win. Pull, Harvard, and pluck the sting from defeat! Both crews go at -it for a minute, and Loring's last spark of fire is given to drive his -boat through the water. There is a shout from the Ship Tavern, where -the American flag is displayed. Oxford comes by with that terrible -vengeance stroke, the terror of many a gallant Cantab oarsman. There is -a shout which splits the clouds almost, a report of a gun, and Oxford -has struck the tow line, a boat and a half's length ahead, (not three -lengths ahead as was reported,) the race is lost and won, by about 65 -feet, and the most gallant display ever seen on the Thames is over, and -the dark blue swarms go home triumphant at heart. Bridges, river bank, -and church steeple are deserted, as the Oxford crew paddle their boat -along side of the Harvard crew, and, raising their hands in air, give -the defeated oarsmen a hearty English cheer and shake hands with them, -and the Harvard boys cheer back, and Charles Reade, who stands on the -deck of the steamer Lotus, lifts his straw hat in respect to Loring, -who smiles back sadly at him, and all is over. The children's children -of those two crews will yet tell of that day's struggle, which for one -hour served to call back the Homeric days of Greece. - -The distance pulled by the Harvard and Oxford crews was four miles and -three furlongs, without any turning at a stake boat. The day was a very -warm one, the thermometer being at 87 deg. Fahrenheit--in the shade. - -The names and weight of the crews were as follows: - - OXFORD UNIVERSITY. HARVARD UNIVERSITY. - - 1. Darbishire, (stroke) 160 lbs. 1. Loring, (stroke) 154 lbs. - 2. Yarborough, 170 " 2. Simmonds, 170 " - 3. Tinne, 192 " 3. Lyman, 155 " - 4. Willan, (bow) 166 " 4. Fay, (bow) 155 " - Hall, coxswain, 100 " Burnham, coxswain, 112 " - ____ ____ - 788 746 - -[Sidenote: BEATEN BY EIGHT SECONDS.] - -The time occupied by both crews in pulling the race was as follows: - - Oxford, 22 minutes 20 seconds. - Harvard, 22 " 26 " - -Both crews did their best, but the Oxford style of rowing, and their -form, was superior to that of Harvard. Rowing with a coxswain will -one day supersede the Harvard bow-steering. The Harvard crew received -perfect fair-play and courtesy, and all the stories to the contrary -which have been circulated are untrue. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -THE CURIOSITIES OF LONDON. - - -A MOST venerable relic--none more so in London--is the Domesday Book, -which I was allowed to inspect one day while sauntering through the -Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. This hoary volume is called the -"Domesday Book," or, "Register of the Lands of England," and was made -in the year 1086, almost in the morning of English history. - -There are two volumes of the "Domesday Book," one being a folio and the -other a quarto. A fee of a shilling is charged strangers, to inspect -the musty old tomes, with their illuminated characters, which detail -the various "messuages," "folkmotes," "carucates," and "hydes," of -land, which were divided among Norman William's mail clad barons, by -right of conquest, nearly a thousand years ago. - -These volumes are the oldest in England, although I have been informed -that there are, in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, two books, in Greek -characters, which were saved from the destruction of the Alexandrian -Library in the Ninth Century. - -[Sidenote: THE DREADNOUGHT.] - -One of the Domesday volumes is a very large folio, the other is a -quarto. The quarto is written on 382 double pages of vellum, in one -and the same hand, in small but plain characters, each page having -double columns. Some of the capital letters and principal pages are -touched with black ink, and others are crossed with lines of red ink. -The second volume, in folio, is written in 450 pages of vellum, but in -single columns, occupying each page, and in a large, fair character. -At the end of the second volume is the following memorial, in capital -letters, of the time of its completion: - -"Anno Millesimo Octogesimo Sexto ab Incarnatione Domini, vigesimo vero -regni Willielmi, facta est ista Descriptio, non solum per hos tres -Comitatus, sed etiam per alios." - -These books, until the year 1696, or for over six hundred years, were -carried innumerable times from place to place, through England, under -strong guards, within the jurisdiction of the various Lord Chancellors, -and Courts, to settle disputes and verify local records and documents, -in regard to the transmission of real estate, for every acre of land -owned to-day in England is held by the original tenure, given in -Domesday Book. - -Since 1696 the book has been kept with the King's Seal, at Westminster, -in the Exchequer, under three locks and keys in the charge of the -Auditor, the Chamberlain, and Deputy Chamberlains of the Exchequer. -It is kept in a vaulted porch never warmed by fire. For eight hundred -years it has never felt or seen a fire, and yet the pages are bright, -sound, and perfect as ever. In making searches, or transcripts from the -volume, the text must not be touched, and this has always been the rule -from forgotten days. All the cities, towns, and villages of England -are recorded in this book, with their value, location, and boundaries, -their castles, fortresses, marches, and the religious houses of the -Kingdom, as they stood twenty years after Duke William, of Normandy, -reined in his war horse from the slaughter of Hastings' dread field. - -The Hospital Ship "Dreadnought," (soon to be broken up and sold,) which -lies moored off Greenwich, in the dirty Thames, is another of the -curious sights of London. An hospital for the sick and diseased seamen -of all nations arriving in the port of London, was established on board -of the "Grampus," a 50 gun frigate, in 1821, but the "Grampus" did not -prove large enough for the purpose, and the next vessel chosen was the -104 gun three-decker "Dreadnought," which was fitted up in 1831, as an -Hospital Ship. This old hulk has glorious memories for all Englishmen, -who, as they look at her rotting timbers, can imagine that they see her -coming out of the smoke of Trafalgar fight, after capturing the Spanish -three-decker, "San Juan," which had, two hours before, beaten off the -English frigates, "Bellerophon" and "Defiance." - -[Illustration: HOSPITAL SHIP, DREADNOUGHT.] - -The establishment on board of the "Dreadnought" consists of a -Superintendent, two Surgeons, an Apothecary, Visiting Physicians, and -a Chaplain. The ship is moored contiguous to the bulk of the shipping -in the docks, and in the river, and is the only place in London for the -reception of sick seamen arriving from abroad, or to whom accidents may -happen between the mouth of the river and London Bridge. Sick seamen of -every nation, on presenting themselves alongside, are immediately and -kindly received without any recommendatory letters, and ship-wrecked -sailors, and vagrant seamen, are admitted, if deserving. In 1869, 2,463 -patients were received on board, and 1,836 seamen were attended to as -out patients. - -[Sidenote: A GAUDY SHOW.] - -The Emperor of Russia subscribes annually L150, the Queen of Spain -L100, the King of Italy L100, the Emperor of France L200, the Sultan -of Turkey L100, the King of Denmark L50, and the King of Prussia L100. -I heard nothing of a contribution from the American Government, but it -is probable that the American Consul may, in some way, provide for the -destitute seamen of his country. - -The patients are ranged upon the lower decks, the portholes affording -a sort of ventilation, such as it is--the breeze coming in from the -putrid Thames' river, and in the cabin are all the implements of -surgery, so that a leg or arm can be whipped off at a moment's notice, -or an abscess, or ulcer, may be punctured equally quick. - -Visitors can inspect the "Dreadnought" on any day of the week, -excepting Sunday--between the hours of eleven and three. - -The number of seamen cared for in this floating hospital, for the past -thirty years, with their different places of nativity, is as follows: - -Englishmen, 84,600; Scotchmen, 18,960; Irishmen, 17,325; Frenchmen, -3,911; Germans, 2,800; Russians, 2,230; Prussians, 1,840; Hollanders, -480; Danes, 1,600; Swedes, 2,117; Norwegians, 1,604; Italians, 1,208; -Portuguese, 706; Spaniards, 801; East Indians, 2,014; West Indians, -3,212; British Americans, 1,582; United States, 3,316; South Americans, -712; Africans, 1,200; Turks, 174; Greeks, 295; New Zealanders, 98; -Australians, 307; South Sea Islanders, 80; Chinese, 347; born at sea, -206. - -Generally there are about two hundred patients in the floating Hospital -at a time, and it is kept pretty full, from the fact that a poor sailor -will perish afloat sooner than enter a land hospital, and seamen often -travel from the most distant parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, -to be received in the Dreadnought. - -One day, while standing on Cheapside looking at the busy thoroughfare, -which much resembles Broadway, New York, in its main features, I saw a -queerly-shaped, but magnificent vehicle dash by, embellished in gold -and silver, and hung with crimson velvet. - -I asked a bystander what it was, and he answered with proper British -pride: - -"Why, don't you know? That's the Queen's State Kerridge a-goin to the -Tower to be repaired." - -I afterward saw this vehicle in all its glory and detail, and for the -benefit of Americans who may desire to get up a gorgeous equipage, I -will do my best to describe it. - -The carriage is composed of four Sea Tritons, who support the body -by cables; the two placed on the front, as it were, bear the driver, -(a most magnificent flunkey in powder and velvet,) and are sounding -shells, and those on the back part carry the bundles of Lictors rods -which are seen on Roman monuments and medals. The foot board on which -the driver rests his noble feet, is a large scallop shell, supported -by marine plants of different kinds. The pole resembles a bundle of -lances, and the wheels are made in imitation of the war chariots which -once rolled around classic arenas in the Games. The body of the coach -is composed of eight palm trees, which, branching out at the top, -sustain the roof, and at each angle are trophies of English battles by -land and sea. - -On the top of the roof are three little figures of fairies representing -England, Ireland, and Scotland, supporting a golden crown, and holding -the sceptre, the sword of state, and insignia of knighthood, and from -their bodies fall festoons of laurel to the four corners of the roof. - -On the right and left doors, and on the back and front pannels, are -painted allegorical designs in splendid style, representing Britannia -on a Throne, Religion, Wisdom, Justice, Valor, Fortitude, Commerce, -Plenty, Victory, and all the other virtues and acquisitions which all -Englishmen flatter themselves can only be found in "Britain ye knaw." - -[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S STATE COACH.] - -Inside the State Coach it is simply magnificent. The body is lined with -scarlet embossed velvet, superbly laced and embroidered with the Star, -enameled by the Collar of the Order of the Garter, and surmounted by -the crown with the George and Dragon pendant. St. George, St. Michael, -and even St. Patrick, get a show here, although the latter has very -little show from the Queen in his own country. - -The hammer cloth is of scarlet velvet, with gold badges, ropes, and -tassels. The length of the carriage and body is 24 feet, width 8 -feet 3 inches, height 12 feet, length of pole 12 feet, weight four -tons. So that the Queen, when she desires a state airing, is carted -around for the amusement of her subjects, in a four-ton vehicle. The -painting of the panels cost L800, or about $4,000 greenbacks. The -eight horses which are employed to draw this magnificent carriage on -state occasions, are valued at L2,000, and the expense for grooms, -drivers, coachmen, and boys, of this equipage, which is not used more -than once in five years, (and when not used being chiefly of service -in showing off the manly proportions of John Brown,) is for every year -over $25,000, or as much as the salary of the President of the United -States. The Queen's coach is one hundred and eight years old, and is -kept in the Royal Mews or Stables at Pimlico. - -The bill which a loyal people had to pay when it was sent in for this -coach, was as follows: - - Coachmaker (including Wheelwright and Smith), L1637 15 0 - Carver, 2500 0 0 - Gilder, 935 14 0 - Painter, 315 0 0 - Laceman, 737 10 7 - Chaser, 665 4 6 - Harnessmaker, 385 15 0 - Mercer, 202 5 10-1/2 - Beltmaker, 99 6 6 - Milliner, 31 3 4 - Saddler, 10 16 6 - Woollendraper, 4 3 6 - Covermaker, 3 9 6 - ---------- - L7528 4 3-1/2 - -There was an awful row about the size of the bill, which was at first -L8,000, but after a great argument it was cut down to the amount paid, -L7,528 4 3-1/2. The maker refused to take off the three-half pence, -and declared that he had been "skinned and robbed," but I imagine it -was the poor miserable wretches who died of starvation and cold and -exposure in the London streets that had the best right to complain. - -The Lord Mayor's State Coach, which was built in 1757, is almost as -magnificent as the Queen's, and is designed in fully as good or bad -taste, I do not know which to call it. - -To show how the people of England tolerate the most outrageous humbugs -on the face of the earth, I will give some of the items in regard to -the cost of the Lord Mayor's coach. When the coach was built, one -hundred and thirteen years ago, each alderman in the city subscribed -L60 towards its construction; then each alderman who was afterward -sworn into office, was forced to contribute L60 on taking the oath. -And each Lord Mayor also gave L100 on entering his office, to keep the -coach in order. In 1768 the entire expense of keeping the coach fell -on the Lord Mayor, who had to pay L300 during that year, and twenty -years after its construction, the coach cost in 1787, L355 to keep it -in order for that twelve months. During seven years of this present -century, the cost for repairs was per annum--L115, and in 1812 it was -newly lined and gilt for the benefit of the gaping London crowds, at -an expense of L600, and a new seat cloth was furnished for L90; and -again in 1821, this costly vehicle devoured the bread which ought to -have been eaten by the starving poor, to the tune of L206 for another -relining. In 1812 a carriage-making firm agreed to keep the coach in -order for ten years at an expense to the city of L48 a year, which -offer was accepted. The real amount of money swallowed up in this old -lumbering vehicle is incalculable. Six horses are required to draw -it, valued at L200 a piece, and the coach weighs 7,600 pounds. A Lord -Mayor, when well fed and taken care of, weighs, I believe, about 312 -pounds. The harnesses for each of the six horses weighs 106 pounds, or -636 pounds in all. - -The State Coach belonging to the Speaker of the House of Commons, was -built for Oliver Cromwell, and is drawn by two horses. - -[Sidenote: JONATHAN WILD'S SKELETON.] - -The two sheriffs of London have also State Coaches, burnished and -blazoned with gold, and hung with silks and velvets, and although they -only receive L1,000 for their year's services, the expense of state -coaches, horses, liveries, and drivers, never falls below 2,500 guineas -for their term. They are not allowed to serve if they swear themselves -to be worth over L15,000, or $75,000. - -The ceremony of installing a London sheriff I am afraid would make a -New York Sheriff howl, and much profanity would result were the ancient -ceremonies to become necessary at the City Hall of New York. I give the -curious form of installation of a Sheriff of London. - -[Illustration: JONATHAN WILD'S SKELETON.] - -The sheriffs are chosen by the Livery Companies or Trade Associations -of London, on the morning of the Feast of St. Michael, and are -presented in the Court of Exchequer, accompanied by the Lord Mayor -and all the Aldermen, when the Recorder of London introduces the -two sheriffs, one for London proper, and the other for Middlesex -County, and the Chief Judge in his red robes, signifies the Queen's -assent, handing the sheriff's "roll"--a sheet of paper which has had -the names of the sheriffs pricked in by the Queen's own hand, the -writs and appliances are read and filed, and the sheriffs and senior -under-sheriffs take the oaths; when the late sheriffs present their -accounts. The crier of the court then makes proclamation for one who -does homage for the sheriffs of London to "stand forth and do his -duty;" when the senior alderman below the chair rises, the usher of the -court hands him a bill-hook, and holds in both hands a small bundle of -sticks, which the alderman cuts asunder, and then cuts another bundle -with a hatchet. Similar proclamation is then made for the sheriff of -Middlesex, when the alderman counts six horse-shoes lying upon the -table, and sixty-one hob-nails handed in a tray; and the numbers are -declared twice. - -The sticks are thin peeled twigs tied in a bundle at each end with red -tape; the horse-shoes are of large size, and very old; the hob-nails -are supplied fresh every year. By the first ceremony the alderman does -suit and service for the tenants of a manor in Shropshire, the chopping -of sticks betokening the custom of the tenants supplying their lord -with fuel. The counting of the horse-shoes and nails is another suit -and service of the owners of a forge in St. Clement Danes, Strand, -which formerly belonged to the city, but no longer exists. Sheriff -Hoare, in his MS. journal of his shrievalty, 1740-41, says, "where -the tenements and lands are situated no one knows, nor doth the city -receive any rents or profits thereby." - -In the Town Hall or Guildhall of London, some very strange relics are -preserved, but none can be more strange than the yellow faded parchment -shown me on which was written the humble petition of that notorious -rascal and thief-taker, Jonathan Wild, who had first trained Jack -Sheppard to thievery, after which he entrapped and hung him. Well, this -very virtuous old gentleman had the audacity to send a petition to the -Court of Aldermen in the year 1724, praying for the freedom of the City -in view of the benefit he had conferred on it by the apprehension of so -many thieves who had returned from transportation. - -One day while paying a visit to a celebrated surgeon, whose residence -is at Windsor, I was invited to look into his closets, in which were -stored a number of curiosities. Suddenly a door in a recess of the -chamber flew open, and out popped a skeleton on wires, with a ghastly, -grinning jaw, and its ribs all open like the timbers of a wrecked ship. - -"That's the skeleton of Jonathan Wild," said the surgeon, "It has been -in our family for a hundred years, I believe." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -STREET SIGHTS OF LONDON. - - -VERY strange sights are seen in London. No city that I have ever -visited will compare with London for the number of its street peddlers, -hawkers, booth proprietors, open-air performers, ballad singers, -mountebanks, and other street itinerants. - -From daybreak until dark, and long into the night, in the ramification -of Streets and Lanes, Squares, Mews, and Ovals, the ear of the stranger -is saluted with the harshest and most discordant sounds which emanate -from the throats of a street-selling population of both sexes, large -enough alone to make the population of a fifth-rate city. - -The London Cockney who has heard the same grating sounds from the days -of his earliest childhood, never stops in his walk to listen to the -cries, but the stranger in London is compelled by the very want of -melody or intelligibility in the hawker's cries to listen, yet it is -useless for him to attempt to solve the meaning of their uncouth and -barbarous gibberage. - -For these seventy-five thousand men, women, and boys, as well as -girls, many of a tender age--have their several dialects, and signals, -and patois, which it would be madness to try to understand without -a thorough schooling in the rudiments of their language and several -occupations. - -In another part of this work I have taken a glance at the London -Costermongers and their habits and amusements, such as they are. - -Beside this, the largest and most hard-working class of street hawkers, -there are a hundred other branches of street merchandise, and all these -different branches have their followers, who navigate every quarter of -the metropolis, trying to pick up a shilling here and there from the -sale of their commodities, as luck or energy may chance to send the -shilling their way. - -It is calculated that the gross receipts of the street peddlers of -London amount to as much as L5,000,000 a year. This would make an -average of L70 a year, or nearly $500 for each person engaged in street -peddling. Of course in this aggregate I must include all those who keep -stands or booths of a greater or lesser magnitude. - -Some of these poor wretches may earn in good weeks about fifteen to -twenty shillings, while at other seasons when green stuff is scarce, it -is rarely that they exceed more than eight shillings on an average for -the same amount of labor and hawking. - -Ten shillings, however, is a fair week's earning if that amount be -realized during the current year. It may be calculated that the profits -will average as high as L1,500,000 where the gross receipts for sales -are as high as L5,000,000. - -A bitter hostility exists between the tradesmen who occupy shops and -pay what they consider to be exorbitant rents, and the street sellers. -No sooner has a street seller made a round of custom for himself and -advertised his wares sufficiently, than the blue-coated policeman is -sure to appear, armed with the authority which cannot be disobeyed, and -he is compelled to move his stand or barrow. - -The hawker or peddler is forced to pay four or five pounds a year for -a license to sell in this precarious way, and yet in London he has no -legal right to occupy a stand or booth. He has always to move on, like -the boy Joe in Bleak House. - -It is more than wonderful to think of the shifts made by the poor -classes of London to make a living. - -[Sidenote: SECOND-HAND BOOTS AND SHOES.] - -The rich man passes by objects in the crowded streets every day with -scorn or loathing, which serve to yield a sustenance to the indigent -population, and even the offal of the streets will bring a price when -offered for sale. The work of the class who gather this material is -generally done before daybreak, and in some cases their earnings are -considerable. - -The second-hand metal and tool sellers are to be found chiefly as -proprietors of booths or barrows in the vicinity of Petticoat and -Rosemary Lanes. The street trade of the city is, to a great extent, -done by those who have barrows, and as it is convenient for them to -move their barrows from place to place, the costermongers are found all -over the metropolis. - -I made it my business to go almost incessantly among those street -hawkers, and I got from them a vast amount of useful information, and a -great many statistics. - -Some of them tell curious stories, and have considerable wit of -a coarse kind, but to the wandering American they are, with few -exceptions, very civil, and will relate their checkered life-histories -with great eagerness. - -There are hundreds of old boot and shoe shops and stands, where a great -business is carried on in the mending, patching, and vending of old -shoes and boots. - -In one branch of the street trade alone, it will be interesting to give -some statistics which may be deemed reliable, as having been collected -by Mr. Henry Mayhew. There are shops and stands included in this trade -alone-- - - In Drury Lane and streets adjacent, 50 shops. - Seven Dials, " " 100 " - Monmouth Street, " " 40 " - Hanway Court, Oxford Street, 4 " - Lisson-grove, " " 100 " - Paddington, " " 30 " - Petticoat Lane, " " 200 " - Somerstown, 50 " - Field Lane, Saffron Hill, 40 " - Clerkenwell, 50 " - Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, 100 " - Rosemary Lane and vicinity, 30 " - ---- - 744 shops. - -About two thousand five hundred men are employed mending and patching -shoes. Then there are hundreds of poor men and women who gain -subsistence, but barely subsistence, by collecting the old material of -all articles that are made of leather, and selling it to those who keep -shops or stands. - -I visited the lodgings of a man, in Cutler street, who paid his -landlord a weekly rent of 1s. 8d. for the use of one bare room, which -had no furniture with the exception of a three-legged chair upon which -he sat--and a heap of straw and dirty rags, which served him as a bed. -On the bare mantel-piece was a broken loaf of brown-bread, and a cooked -kidney, with a broken mustard-pot. - -The man was named Ferguson, and had only one eye, the other having -been obliterated by the small pox. He was a cheerful old fellow, this -peddler of second-hand boots and shoes, and seemed to take the world as -it came without thought of the morrow. I told him that I was in search -of information, and statistics in regard to the working people of -London, and he offered me very politely his only stool. I declined the -courtesy and sat on the heap of rags while he told his story. - -"Ye need not be afeered of the bugs, yer honor, in the bed. The place -is not warm enough for them to stay here. - -"Stistiks ye want is it? Well, I don't know how I can give ye stistiks, -but I can tell you my own story. - -"I began life a shoemaker's apprentice, in Edinburgh, although I am by -birth an Englishman. My master's name was Mac Donald, and when he drank -whiskey his temper generally ruz, and the divil couldn't stand him or -get the better of him. So I listed for a soldier and went to furrin -parts, and after I sarved my time I came back a good deal wiser but not -a penny richer of it all. - -[Sidenote: THE DOG FANCIER.] - -"I had my ups and downs when I came back, but I didn't marry, as it -was too bad to bring another person into poverty besides myself. I've -smoked a pipe when I was troubled in mind and could not get a bite to -eat, or a drop of gin to drink, but how would it be if I had a young -daughter? What good would it do to smoke if she wos hungry and I had -nothing to eat for her. I used to sell cherries and strawberries, and -then I gave that up and went into the old shoe trade. It paid better, -but sometimes I hadn't a penny-piece for two days at a time, and I -would have to sell my stock to get my grub. - -"The regular sort of men's shoes are not a werry good sale. I gets from -ten-pence to five shillings a pair, but the high priced ones is always -soled or heeled and covered with mud. I gets from one shilling to -two-and-sixpence for cloth in the shoes, when they are in decent trim. -Blucher's brings two shillings and upwards, and Wellington's about the -same. I have sold children's shoes as low as three-pence and as high -as one and sixpence. I carry a wooden seat with me so that a man who -wants to buy from me can sit down and try on a pair anywhere. People -who havn't got any money to throw away generally likes to get their -second-hand boots or shoes as big as you have them, cos wy, when they -take them in the rain if they are a tight fit they can't put them on." - -On an average the one-eyed boot and shoe seller informed me that he -made about four to seven shillings a week, and he called it a very good -week when he managed to make ten shillings profit. - -Dog-sellers, of whom there are about two hundred in London, always -choose the most public places for their stations. - -Down in Parliament street, opposite the Horse Guards, in Trafalgar -square, at the base of Nelson's Monument, in Upper Regent street by the -Coliseum, on the steps of the Bank and the Royal Exchange, on Waterloo -Bridge and along the Thames Embankment, and in fact wherever a large -open space may be found, or a well known public building located, the -dog-fancier may be noticed with a poodle between his legs, a black and -tan under one arm and a spaniel under the other, and by his side, it is -more than probable that a basket will be placed full of live, kicking, -and sagacious pups, of different colors and of as many breeds. - -These dog-sellers are the keenest street traders to be found in London, -and dramatists and playwrights are never weary of making sketches and -amusing characters of dog fanciers. - -Some years ago, two rascals, bearing the names of "Ginger" and -"Carrots," made themselves famous for the number of dogs stolen by -them. At last it was impossible for any canine to escape these fellows, -and so industrious did they become in the pursuit of them that they -were arrested by the police and sent to the House of Correction for -six months, which is the penalty for stealing one dog, yet "Ginger" -and "Carrots" had, in their career, stolen thousands of unsuspecting -yelpers from their owners. - -In one year 60 dogs were reported lost, 606 stolen, 38 persons were -charged with dog stealing, 18 of whom were convicted, and 20 discharged. - -It is a fact worth noting, that, excepting in rare cases, the -dog stealers do not affiliate with or frequent the company of -house-breakers, or thieves of any other class. Dog stealing among -professionals is looked upon as a noble science, and deserving of long -and arduous practice. - -On wet days, when pedestrians may be forced by the suddenness of the -rain gusts to seek refuge in some arcade or colonade, like those in -Piccadilly or the Regents' Quadrant, it is then that the dog fancier -suddenly emerges from his hibernation, and knowing that he will have -the attention of a group of people who are without occupation while in -shelter, he may be certain to dispose of his dogs to advantage. It is -upon old and timid ladies that these dog venders are sure to practice -their tricks. - -Let an old maid but look longingly at some hairy poodle or woolly King -Charles,--then woe be to her if she attempt to escape without buying. - -"Wot," said one heartless villain of a dog fancier to a spinster -wearing gold spectacles, who was trying to make her escape from his -alarming language, as he stood in the Strand with a pet poodle in his -arms, "does ye keep me 'ere a torkin for three blessed hours and then -ye goes hoff without buying this beutifool dorg as is dirt cheap at -twenty pounds and I hoffers it to ye for five sovs. I say, do take it -with ye and make a muff of hit, the precious dear. All ye have to do -is to get its legs and tail cut off, and get its insides scooped out, -and ye'll have a splendid muff. Wot, ye won't buy, hey? Pir-leece, -Pir-leece," and the fellow began to scream for the police as if the -poor frightened old maid had intended to rob him. - -[Sidenote: WHO KEEP BIRDS.] - -Bird-Sellers frequent the New Cut, Lambeth, Bermondsey, Whitechapel, -Billingsgate, and Smithfield, as well as the different streets of -Southwark and Blackfriars. - -There are hundreds of these bird-sellers to be found hawking their -birds all over the city. They are shrewd, speculative men, and can tell -a bird's age and power of singing almost at a glance. - -The smallest cage costs sixpence, and a thrush and cage of a common -kind is valued at 2s. 6d. A canary that sings well may fetch about -3s. The hens or female birds do not have a large sale, and the trade -in pigeons is decreasing, owing to the emigration of many of the -Spitalfield weavers, who had a great love for pigeons and were the -principal breeders of that bird in England. - -The poorer the family, the more likely that a bird will be found in the -house; and stable boys, laborers, and the humbler class of artisans, -are in the habit of keeping birds in their dwellings. - -It is also curious to notice the love formed by women who lead an -abandoned life, for all kinds of birds, chiefly, however, for those -that will sing. I noticed, in making a tour of inspection with the -police among the Slums of the Haymarket, that nearly every woman of -foreign extraction and of dissolute life had a linnet, canary, or -blackbird, in her room. Frenchwomen of this class are very fond of -canaries. Poor, lonely, forsaken wretches, it is the instinct of -deprived maternity which demands that they should have something to -love and make a pet of. - -Sailors, who have returned from long voyages, will stop in the street -when they see a bird-seller's stand, look at it for a moment with open -mouth, and taking out a handful of silver, will give the bird-fancier -any price he chooses to ask for a sweet singing bird. The bird will -serve as a gift to some female relative, a wife, or as, in many cases, -some woman of the town will receive the cage and its occupant as a gift -from the drunken Jack-Tar. - -About five thousand parrots are imported and sold annually in London. -They are chiefly brought from Africa, and a fine parrot will bring as -high as a pound. Quite a number of these birds die on the homeward -voyage, and this makes the price of parrots very high. Birds' nests are -also sold in the streets by Italian and Savoyard boys in great numbers. - -Squirrels, rabbits, and gold and silver fish may be also found for sale -in the streets, the latter being bought to keep in glass globes as -ornaments. - -At every railroad station, in and outside of London, a person can be -weighed for a penny. A man named Read has at least one hundred weighing -chairs, which he rents out to men and boys at a certain rate of the -gross receipts. On the different bridges cripples and retired soldiers -may be found with brass instruments for testing the lungs and power of -a man's arms, and also machines are to be found in front of well-known -public houses, and in the parks and squares, for measuring the height -of pedestrians. - -There was one old fellow with whom I became acquainted, who kept a -measuring and a weighing machine. - -His station was on the Middlesex side of the Waterloo Bridge. He told -me that he had been a pot-boy in a cheap eating house for five years, -and then was a helper in a gentleman's stable for six years. One of his -arms was rendered useless from an attack of paralysis, and finding that -he could not any longer work as a helper, he borrowed enough money to -purchase the weighing and measuring machines. - -Having some curiosity to know the average weight and height of his many -customers, I made a bargain with him, as he could read and write, to -keep a record of his experience for three days of the physique of those -who patronized his machines. - -His patrons were chiefly laboring men on the new Thames Embankment, -boatmen plying on the river, clerks going and coming to their business -over Waterloo Bridge, and soldiers. - -[Sidenote: COKE SELLERS.] - -His largest income was on Saturday nights, when the laboring people -were flush of copper pennies, and as nearly every third man was sure -to be drunk going over the bridge on Saturday night, he was certain to -reap a good harvest from their generous pockets. - -In three days he had weighed one hundred and thirty-two persons of the -male sex, and eight women. The average weight of each person I found -was, including the women, one hundred and fifty-five pounds. The number -of persons measured for their height was sixty-four, and the average -tallness of each person, among which number was only one female, was -five feet eight inches. The soldiers were of course the tallest. These -figures speak well for the London Cockneys. One of the women, a cook, -measured six feet, and weighed one hundred and ninety-eight lbs. I gave -the venerable statistician a shilling and bade him good-bye, but not -before I had received his blessing in fervent tones. - -[Illustration: COKE PEDDLER.] - -The consumption of coke purchased from the various gas houses of the -city by peddlers and hawkers is enormous. - -There are about two thousand persons concerned in this street trade, -one hundred of whom are women, and the aggregate includes boys. The -various gas companies realize a yearly sum equal to six million of -dollars from the sale of the coke. The peddlers distribute the coke to -their customers in large vans, wheelbarrows, donkey carts, hand carts, -and some of these strong limbed, broad chested fellows, carry the -coke from door to door in large sacks. A few of the women own routes, -and hire boys or men to sell the coke, giving them eight to twelve -shillings a week, according to their merits and enterprise as hawkers. -Coke is bought by these hawkers at the gas houses at from three to four -pence per bushel, and is sold by them again at eight pence per bushel. - -In giving the rates which I will have occasion to quote from time to -time in this work, I shall generally give the prices in British money. - -Salt is also vended in carts and wheelbarrows like coke, and some of -the peddlers of that much desired article for seasoning and preserving -food, sell in one day as much as five hundred pounds. The wholesale -price to the hawkers is about 2s. 6d. per hundred pounds, and it is -sold by them to the poor people in thickly populated districts, at a -penny a pound, or sometimes cheaper. - -Sand is sold in large quantities to the keepers of publics and small -shops, and to those keeping stalls in the old markets, at twenty -shillings a load, and the sand peddlers pay a license of two pounds per -annum. In fact all the London peddlers pay a tax or license of some -kind or another. - -One of the strangest sights in London is the "Bum Boat" of a "Purl," -or warm beer seller, who may be found now and then of a dark foggy day -plying his vocation on the Thames. - -Formerly there were hundreds of these beer peddlers upon the river, but -I believe that there are but a few, perhaps not more than five or six, -who still follow this occupation. - -One day while pulling around the shipping below London bridge in a -small boat, I came across one of the "Bum Boat" men, who might, I -believe, be taken as a very fair specimen of his class, or calling, -once numerous, but now only a scattered remnant of their former numbers. - -[Sidenote: STOCK IN TRADE.] - -This fellow, a sun-browned-looking man of thirty years of age or -thereabout, was impelling a craft, a strongly constructed, broad -bottomed barge or yawl, in and out among the smoky looking coal -barges, fish and oyster craft and coasting steamers. He wore a dark -blue guernsey shirt and a yellow oil-skin jacket, with heavy water -boots which encased his large legs from the knees downward. An immense -"Sou'-wester" shaded his broad face, and he was trying to drive the fog -away by smoking a dreadful black clay pipe. - -At the stern of the boat was a rough canvas awning, and under this the -"Purl" man told me that he slept for weeks and months, while his boat -lay at anchorage in some of the nooks of the busy river. - -[Illustration: BUM BOAT MAN.] - -He seldom or ever went ashore, excepting when necessity compelled him -to debark for the purpose of laying in beer and other stock for his -customers. - -In the bottom of the boat were heaps of fresh onions, a bag of -potatoes, a couple of bushels of Swedish turnips, parsnips, carrots, -some packages of tea and coffee in small square brown parcels, tied -with white string, a tin box full of mutton chops and beef steaks, cut -ready for sale, and other articles of food that would be most relished -by seafaring men on their return from a voyage. - -There were also in the boat a small patent sheet-iron furnace, two -little casks of beer, each containing about four gallons of that -beverage, a can with a gallon of gin of the cheap and fiery brand, -and two tin pannikins in which he warmed the beer, or "Purl," as it -is called, upon the small sheet-iron stove. This he sold hot to the -sailors, oystermen, and coal bargees, at four pence a pint. It was -most wonderful to see the dexterous manner in which this Bum Boat man -passed in and out between the numerous craft, paddling and ringing a -hand bell the while, without any collision or trouble, and then to hear -through the fog, the answering cries from the sailors who recognized -his welcome bell: - -"Boat ahoy!" - -"Bell ah-o-o-y!" - -"P-i-n-t o' P-u-r-l a-h-o-o-y!" - -Then for an instant the bell would cease, and the dark shapes of the -"Bum Boat" and its proprietor would be seen, as the latter stood up -to reach a noggin of gin to a bargee, or a pewter pint of foaming hot -"Purl" to some thirsty soul of a tar just arrived from Greenwich, -Glasgow, or Cork. - -The "Bum Boat" man is one of the most picturesque sights of that most -picturesque of cities, London. The few who still ply their avocation -on the river, are in pretty comfortable circumstances, and their lives -are as happy as can be imagined, much more so, I have no doubt, than -they were when there were hundreds of them paddling about the river and -impoverishing themselves by a ruinous competition. - -[Sidenote: HOW DICK GETS HIS PORRIDGE.] - -I have often noticed miserable, wan, and half naked looking little -children, in and around the Regent's Circus, and in the neighborhood of -the Cafes and Pall Mall, with small bags made from the material used in -potato sacks, collecting cigar ends and crusts of bread from ash heaps -and dust bins. Wondering what use could be made of these disgusting -fragments, I one day accosted a lad of twelve years or thereabouts, -who was busily engaged in searching a dust bin near Simpson's Tavern -in the Strand, which is a resort for fashionable diners out. - -I said to him, after giving him a penny, which will always unclose the -lips of the sauciest London street boy: - -"Child, why do you collect these fragments of crusts and cigar ends?" - -"Mister," said the half frightened child, who took me at the first -glance for a detective in plain clothes--and by the way, it seems as if -every poorly clad and hungry man and woman in London were suspicious -of the police, for the reason that they are poorly clad, and for that -reason alone-- - -[Illustration: "I GETS IT FOR CIGAR STUMPS."] - -"Mister," said the hungry child, whose face was prematurely aged, "I -aint doing nothink; I was only grabbing the crusts for porridge." - -"For porridge,--how do you make the porridge, my lad?" - -"My mother--she is down in Milbank street, and has got the small pox, -but before she was sick she used to bile the crusts in hot water and -put a pennorth o' oat meal in the pot. She borrowed the pot from Mrs. -Clarke, she did." - -"Who makes the porridge now, boy," said I to him. - -"A gal--me big sister Mag--she makes ladies' shoes for a shop, and -wacks me when she's mad and I aint got no money for gin. I likes -porridge, and Mag she makes it so preshis 'ot. My name's Dick." - -"Well, Dick, how do you get the 'pennorth' of oat meal for the -porridge?" - -"I gets it for cigar stumps. I finds a lot on 'em and sells 'em, and -I gets ten browns for a pound on 'em. The tibbaccy man buys 'em, but -he wont buy the short ones, cause he says they are all wet and the -tibbaccy is all gone from them. I makes tuppence a day sometimes." - -There are, I am told, fifty or sixty persons, men and boys, some of -whom are Irish, engaged in this branch of the Street Finders' vocation. - -It would be tedious to give an account of all the different branches -of street selling and buying in London. Their number is legion, and -it would be the work of weeks to merely recapitulate all the strange -ways and means whereby wretchedness exists in the heart of surrounding -splendor, and what would seem to be, but is not--an all-pervading -charity. - -But I cannot close this chapter without glancing at the street -performers--street "Peep" Shows, Reciters, Showmen, Strong Men, Dancing -boys and men, Tom Tom players, Street Clowns and Acrobats, Bagpipe -players, Negro Serenaders, Street Bands, Punch and Judy shows, and -other street folk, who are almost if not as numerous as the hawkers and -collectors. - -There is to be seen on Saturday nights, in the vicinity of Farringdon -and the old London markets, now and then a stray Peep Show man, who -frequents the most crowded districts, where the poorer people have -money to spend. These Peep Shows are conveyed through the streets on -a low four wheeled wagon, sometimes by the performer or proprietor -in person, at other times by a donkey. Donkeys cost from two to five -pounds in London, according to their breed and tractability. - -On the wagon a square box is generally placed, having a large glass -front, which is covered with green baize or a dirty velvet curtain. - -[Illustration: STREET ACROBATS.] - -This screen conceals the automaton figures that are set in motion -by the man in charge. Sometimes there is a hurdy gurdy, or hand -organ, attached, and while the exhibitor turns a crank to allow the -spectators to look at the revolving pictures of the "Capture of the -Malakoff," the "Death of Nelson," "Napoleon at Waterloo," or some -other historic picture, the hurdy gurdy will play "Old Dog Tray," "The -Lancashire Lass," or some other popular ditty. Representations of the -most horrible murders, or executions of well known criminals, are much -relished by the London mobs, and are well patronized. One of these men -told me that he was accustomed to take three and four shillings on -Saturday nights in Farringdon market or the New Cut, while during the -week he might not make four shillings altogether. - -[Sidenote: STREET ACROBATS.] - -Street acrobats, or posturers, are often met with in London. They are -to be found usually in streets which have one end closed, or near -the river. Thus the traffic is not impeded, owing to the absence of -vehicles; and a street like those which run off the Strand toward the -river will be quiet as the grave all day long until near the dusk, -when all at once, as if by magic, a curious crowd of men, women, and -children will collect around a man and boy or boys, who will in the -most business like fashion proceed to divest themselves of their -outward clothing, which of course is of a rather shabby kind, and -in a few moments they will appear in all the glory of flesh-colored -tights, just as they may be seen standing in the sawdust of a circus -arena. Their foreheads are glorious with silver tinsel or silk ribbon -fillets, their loins girt with strips of velvet, and their whole rig -of a theatrical character. Some of the children are really handsome, -and most exquisitely shaped, the results of athletic exercise and free -fresh air. But the men, poor devils, have all of them a haggard, worn, -fretful look, with hollowed cheek and straggling gray hair. - -Having placed a piece of carpet, rather threadbare in appearance, in -the middle of the street, after selecting the cleanest spot for it, -these fellows (who are soon in the centre of a ring of people, from -whom coppers are collected while the acrobats are bounding in air), go -to work, and for half an hour will amaze, delight, edify, and instruct -the grown children, larking street boys, and nursery maids of the -neighborhood, and having collected perhaps ten pence or a shilling, -they will gather up the carpet, don their sober, shabby garments, and -find another quarter to do their trapeze, pyramid, and dancing feats. - -Nearly all these street acrobats are bruised, or are in some way -injured, and many die young from falls. - -Occasionally they will disappear from the crowded London streets, in -search of a scanty existence in some miserable provincial barn of -a theatre or music hall, and years may perhaps elapse before their -pinched cheeks and hungry eyes will again be encountered in the shabby -chop houses and dark, lanes of London. Six shillings a week is as much -as these poor wanderers, soiled by the glare of tallow candles in -crazy barns and sheds, can expect to make in the provincial towns and -villages. Therefore London, with all its misery, is very dear to them, -for with much less toil and labor they can realize twelve to fifteen -shillings per week in the Capital. - -[Sidenote: PUNCH AND JUDY SHOW.] - -But the great and lasting attraction among the multifarious street -scenes of London, is the Punch and Judy show, the delight of joyous -children, of the rich and poor, whether in Belgravia or St. Giles. And -indeed, Punch and Judy shows reap more profit in a poor and squalid -district than they will in the aristocratic quarters. - -[Illustration: PUNCH AND JUDY.] - -It is rarely that the police will disturb these street shows, unless -that householders should prefer a complaint that they were annoyed, -and then of course they are driven away. I have myself looked and -listened for many an hour to these absurdly humorous shows, to Punch -and Judy, the Dog, the Clown, and some negro characters selected for -the exhibition. Usually there is a man, his wife, and a boy to collect -the pennies thrown from windows or given by the crowd which assembles -to witness the performance. - -The man plays the pipes, fastened at his breast, and the drum with his -elbow; and the woman keeps the figures in motion on the miniature -stage, the back of which is hidden by a green curtain or tent, placed -in the cart. Behind this screen the woman conceals herself and talks -for the little automaton figures. There is a set dialogue in which the -figures are supposed to converse, and as it is seldom changed, I give -the following portion of a comedy of conversation, as that chiefly used -for many years by the London Punch and Judy shows: - - Enter Judy. - - _Punch._ What a sweet creature! what a handsome nose and chin! (He - pats Judy on the face lovingly.) - - _Judy._ Keep quiet, do! (Slapping him wickedly.) - - _Punch._ Don't be cross, my ducky, but give me a kiss. - - _Judy._ Oh, to be sure, my love. (They embrace and kiss.) - - _Punch._ Bless your sweet lips. (Hugging her.) These are melting - moments. I'm very fond of my wife, I must have a dance. - - _Judy._ Agreed. (Dancing.) - - _Punch._ Get out of the way, you don't dance well enough for me. (Hits - her on the nose.) Go and fetch the baby, and mind and take care of it - and not hurt it. (Judy goes off.) - - Judy. (Coming back with the baby.) - - Take care of the baby while I go and cook the dumplings. - - _Punch._ (Striking Judy with his hand.) Get out of the way! I'll take - care of the baby (and Judy goes out). - - Punch. (Sits down and sings to the baby.) - - "Hush a-bye baby on the tree top, - When the wind blows the cradle will rock; - When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, - Down comes the baby, cradle and all." - - (The baby cries and Punch throws it up and down violently.) - - _Punch._ What a cross child! I can't abear cross children. (Shakes the - baby and pretends that he is about to kill it, and finally throws it - out of the window.) - - Enter Judy. - - _Judy._ Where is the baby? - -[Sidenote: PUNCH IS EXECUTED.] - - _Punch._ (In a lemoncholy tone.) I have had a misfortune; the - child was so terrible cross I throwed it out of the window, I did. - (Lamentation of Judy for her dear child. She goes into asterisks, and - then excites and fetches a cudgel, and commences beating Punch over - the head.) - - _Punch._ Don't be cross, my dear, I didn't go to do it. - - _Judy._ I'll pay yer for a throwin' the child out of the winder. (She - keeps a beatin him on the blessed head with the stick, but Punch - snatches the stick away, and commences a smashin of her blessed head.) - - _Judy._ (Screaming like hanythink.) I'll go to the Constable and have - you locked up. - - _Punch._ Go to the devil. I don't care where you go. Get out of the - way. (Judy goes hoff, and Punch sings, "Par Excellence," or, "Ten - Little Indians." N.B. All before is sentimental, but this here's - comic. Punch goes through his roo-too-to-rooey, and in comes the - Beadle hall in red.) - -Then the "Clown" and "Jim Crow," the "Doctor," "Jack Ketch," the -hangman, with various characters, follow each other in quick succession -and enact their absurdities to the intense delight of the "juveniles," -as the showman, in his printed book of the play calls the children. -Punch is tried and convicted of murder, and being sentenced to death, -is finally hung by Jack Ketch, at Newgate, as a punishment for his -crimes, and is then placed in a coffin and given to be dissected. - -All through these performances I have frequently noticed that the child -spectators sympathized with Punch,--who is certainly a most notorious -criminal if we are to judge by his actions on the stage of the Punch -and Judy show,--and they always applauded when the Beadle got the worst -of the fight. - -It is a strange instinct, that which rises and glows in the breast of a -child,--this resistance to the spirit or personification of authority. - -The same instinct in the full-grown man, draws a mob of ragged blouses -after a Rochefort, in the streets of Paris, and builds barricades from -which they fire upon the hireling soldiery of a Bonaparte. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND NATIONAL GALLERY. - - -ON Great Russell street, Bloomsbury square, is the British Museum, one -of the chief glories of the English metropolis, and an institution of -which every Londoner is deservedly proud. There is, perhaps, no finer -collection of curiosities and antiquities, and the nation has been -for a century gathering the tributes of Science, Art, and Antiquity -together in this vast building, which covers, with grounds and -outbuildings, an area of seven acres. - -The first purchase for the collection was made in 1750, when Sir Hans -Sloane, a great collector and scientific man, died, leaving a will, in -which he suggested that his collection which cost him L50,000 should be -bought by Parliament for L20,000. This offer was accepted, and an act -was passed purchasing Sir Hans Sloane's "library of books, drawings, -manuscripts, prints, medals, seals, cameos, and intaglios, precious -stones, agates, jaspers, vessels of agate, crystals, mathematical -instruments, pictures, &c." Thus was laid the first foundation of the -now world famous British Museum. By the same act a purchase was made of -the Harleian Library of about 7,000 rare volumes of rolls, charters, -and manuscripts, to which were added the Cottonian Library, and the -library of Major Arthur Edwards. A lottery was devised, from which -L100,000 was realized, and the collections were paid for from this -fund, as well as the sum of L10,250 which was paid to Lord Halifax for -Montague House, in which the museum was then located, and on which -site the present building has been erected. The additional sum of -L12,873 was paid for the repairs of Montague House, and a fund was also -set apart for its taxes, salaries of officers, and Trustees, who were -chosen from the best and noblest in the land, and in 1759 the Museum -was opened to the public. - -[Sidenote: THE READING ROOM AND ITS OCCUPANTS.] - -The present lofty and imposing building was thirty years in -construction, although the Museum was all that time open to the public, -the building being erected piecemeal. The main buildings form a -quadrangle with spacious and lofty galleries and courts. The entrances -to the buildings are by magnificent staircases of stone, and the -portico is adorned with giant figures and groups of sculpture. - -Even in the old Egyptian days, no greater masses of stone were ever -used than those which have been placed in the grand flight of steps -of the main facade. There are twelve stone steps, 120 feet in width, -terminating with pedestals, on which are the groups of sculpture. There -are 800 huge stones in the edifice, weighing from five to nine tons -each. - -In the pediment, on the main front, are typified in storied stone, -Man, Religion, Paganism, Music, the Drama, Poetry, the Patriarchs, -Civilization, Science, Mathematics, and other allegorical figures. The -entire buildings have cost upward of L1,000,000. The principal doorway -is really majestic, being twenty-four feet high and ten feet wide. - -The Reading-Room of the Library contains 1,250,000 cubic feet of space, -the dome being 140 feet in diameter and 106 feet high. In this vast -room an echo is heard like the sound of a trumpet, and on its shelves, -and in contiguous alcoves, are 800,000 volumes of books upon every -known subject and in every known language. This room cost L150,000. -4,200 tons of iron were used in the construction of the dome alone. -There is accommodation for 300 readers, each person having a desk and -table in a space of four feet three inches. - -There is a great silence in this vast room where every one seems bent -on study. The very doorkeepers who take your hat and umbrella, have a -studious look. Every visitor presents his ticket of admission, and is -registered for the benefit of the statistics of the Kingdom. Scores of -men who have a taste for literature and reading, and no money to buy -books, come here, and, during lunch-hours, those who are anxious to -study, and do not wish to leave their seats, may be seen taking from -under their tables light luncheons, kidney-pies, and sandwiches, of -which they partake with that peculiar shamefacedness which is always -observable in people who eat in public places. - -There is a member of Parliament in his natty suit, and with a heavy -watch-chain, who has gotten him down an old rusty tome, from which he -is cramming with great earnestness for the next debate. Last night he -had never heard of the subject of which he is reading, and just now he -is full of it, and so puzzled with the wealth of the material before -him that he does not know at which end to begin. - -There is an old gentleman, in threadbare clothes, and worn cuffs, who -has a very mild and placid face, and blue bulbous eyes. The table -before him is strewn with old, worn volumes, bound with parchment and -sheep-skin covers, and every time he turns a leaf a cloud of powdered -dust ascends to his nostrils, and he is nearly suffocated. It is easy -to see from this man's soft and fixed look that he is a monomaniac upon -some subject, and that he is now settled for the day. Ah! what a sigh -of relief from the old codger. He has, after great trouble, secured in -his mind the point in dispute, and now he is at work rapidly scratching -away at his notes. Looking over his shoulder I can see that the old -fellow has a number of works on the subject of Heraldry before him, and -he is, of course, tracing some mystic pedigree to the Flood, or further -back, perhaps for the satisfaction of a butcher or tailor who may be in -want of an escutcheon and a bar sinister in his shield. - -In 1827, Sir Joseph Banks presented his botanical collection, and -66,000 valuable volumes. In 1837, the Prints and Drawings, the Geology -and Zoology departments were formed, and in 1857, the Department of -Mineralogy. The Museum is divided into departments of Printed Books, -Manuscripts, Antiquities, Art, Botany, Prints, and Drawings, Zoology, -Paleontology, Mineralogy, and Sculpture, each under the charge of an -"Under-Librarian." - -[Sidenote: THE MAGNIFICENT LIBRARIES.] - -There are five Zoological galleries or saloons, embracing everything -in the schedule of serpents, monkeys, lizards, tortoises, crocodiles, -toads, antelopes, rhinoceri, elephants, and hippopotami, giraffes, -buffaloes, oxen, lions, tigers, bears, otters, kangaroos, apes, -squirrels, whales, sharks, porpoises, and all kinds of fish and -mollusca. - -There is also a gallery of Fossils, Zoological and Geological, and -a Gallery of Minerals. In these galleries are eight saloons. Then -follow the Departments of Botany, and the Department of Antiquities, -containing vases, terra cottas, bronzes, coins, and medals. There are -also three saloons of Anglo-Roman Antiquities, of Roman Iconography, -three Greco-Roman saloons, the Greco-Roman Basement Room, the Lyceum -Gallery, and the Elgin Rooms, in which are the splendid marbles -collected by Lord Elgin at Athens, and which were bought for L35,000 by -Parliament. - -There are also the Hellenic Galleries of Marbles, the second Elgin -Room, the Assyrian Galleries, 300 feet in length, and thirty other -galleries, and innumerable saloons crowded with the most wonderful and -valuable objects of art and science. - -There is a Newspaper Saloon with the finest collection of newspapers -in England. The catalogues of the libraries and collections of the -Museum alone amount to 620 volumes. The collections are valued at -L15,000,000. By act of Parliament, a copy of every book, pamphlet, -sheet of letter-press, sheet of music, chart, plan or map, issued in -Queen Victoria's dominions must be delivered to the British Museum. -There are three libraries in the Museum: the King's Library, presented -by George IV, consisting of 80,000 volumes; the Greenville Library, -21,000 volumes; and the General Library of 730,000 volumes, and which -is inferior only to those of Munich and Paris. - -Magna Charta, if not the original, a copy made when King John's seal -was affixed to it, was acquired by the British Museum with the -Cottonian Library. It was nearly destroyed in the fire of Westminster -in 1731; the parchment is much shriveled and mutilated, and the seal is -reduced to an almost shapeless mass of wax. The MS. was carefully lined -and mounted; and in 1733 an excellent _fac-simile_ of it was published -by John Pine, surrounded by inaccurate representations of the armorial -ensigns of the twenty-five barons appointed as securities for the due -performance of Magna Charta. - -An impression of this _fac-simile_, printed on vellum, with the -arms carved and gilded, is placed opposite the Cottonian original -of the Great Charter, which is now secured under glass. It is about -two feet square, is written in Latin, and is quite illegible. It -is traditionally stated to have been bought for four-pence, by Sir -Robert Cotton, of a tailor, who was about to cut up the parchment into -measures! But this anecdote, if true, may refer to another copy of -the Charter preserved at the British Museum, in a portfolio of royal -and ecclesiastical instruments, marked Augustus II, art. 106; and the -original Charter is believed to have been presented to Sir Robert -Cotton by Sir Edward Dering, Lieut.-Governor of Dover Castle; and to be -that referred to in a letter dated May 10, 1630, extant in the Museum -Library, in the volume of Correspondence, Julius C. III. fol. 191. - -In the Museum, also, is the original Bull, in Latin, of Pope Innocent -III, receiving the kingdoms of England and Ireland under his -protection, and granting them in fee to King John and his successors, -dated 1214, and reciting King John's charter of fealty to the Church -of Rome, dated 1213. Also, the original Bull, in Latin, of Pope Leo X, -conferring the title of Defender of the Faith upon Henry VIII. - -[Sidenote: ADMISSION TO THE MUSEUM.] - -The Reading Room is open every day, except on Sundays, on Ash -Wednesdays, Good Fridays, Christmas-day, and on any Fast or -Thanksgiving days ordered by authority; except also between the 1st -and 7th of May, the 1st and 7th of September, and the 1st and 7th of -January, inclusive. The hours are from 9 till 7 during May, June, -July, and August (except on Saturdays, at 5), and from 9 till 4 during -the rest of the year. To obtain admission, persons are to send their -applications in writing, specifying their Christian and surnames, rank -or profession, and places of abode, to the principal Librarian; or, -in his absence, to the Secretary; or, in his absence, to the senior -Under-Librarian; who will either immediately admit such persons, or lay -their applications before the next meeting of the Trustees. - -Every person applying is to produce a recommendation satisfactory to -a Trustee or an officer of the establishment. Applications defective -in this respect will not be attended to. Permission will in general -be granted for six months, and at the expiration of this term fresh -application is to be made for a renewal. The tickets given to readers -are not transferable, and no person can be admitted without a ticket. -Persons under eighteen years of age are not admissible. - -The Reader having ascertained from the Catalogue the book he requires, -transcribes literally into a printed form the press-mark, title of the -work wanted, size, place, and date, and signs the same. Readers, before -leaving the room, are to return the books or MSS. they have received to -an attendant, and are to obtain the corresponding ticket, the reader -being responsible for such books or MSS. so long as the ticket remains -uncanceled. Readers are allowed to make one or more extracts from any -printed book or MS.; but no whole or greater part of a MS. is to be -transcribed without a particular permission from the Trustees. The -transcribers are not to lay the papers on which they write on any part -of the book or MS. they are using, nor are any tracings allowed without -special leave of the Trustees. No person is, on any pretence whatever, -to write on any part of a printed book or MS. belonging to the Museum. - -The persons whose recommendations are accepted are Peers of the Realm, -Members of Parliament, Judges, Queen's Counsel, Masters in Chancery or -any of the great law-officers of the Crown, any one of the forty-eight -Trustees of the British Museum, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, -rectors of parishes in the metropolis, principals or heads of colleges, -eminent physicians and surgeons, and Royal Academicians, or any -gentleman in superior position to an ordinary clerk in any of the -public offices. - -Some idea of the magnitude of this great Museum may be formed when -I state that the clerical and literary force connected with the -institution is larger than that of any similar foundation in Europe but -one--the Imperial Library at Paris. - -There is first a Principal Librarian, a Secretary, fifteen keepers -of departments, beside a little army of attendants, messengers, -bookbinders, watchmen, and doorkeepers, numbering over one hundred -persons. Beside there are fifty or sixty persons of literary eminence -and celebrity connected with the Museum, and employed to perfect the -collection, to collate and arrange the books and to classify subjects. -In this way alone the expenses of the establishment amount to L40,000 -yearly. - -The average number of visitors to the Museum yearly is over one -million, and the galleries are entirely free to the public. - -[Illustration: NELSON'S MONUMENT.] - -Next to the British Museum, the most frequented place in London is the -National Gallery of Art, in Trafalgar Square, facing Nelson's Monument. -This lofty monument fills the eye of the spectator as it takes in the -range of one of the finest squares in Europe. The column is a circular -one, 145 feet high, and the figure of the great naval hero, Nelson, -on the top, is 17 feet high. The monument was built in 1840-43, and -is placed on an elevated pedestal of granite. The Emperor Nicholas of -Russia gave L500 toward the erection of the monument, and the rest was -raised by public subscription. The two immense lions of bronze who lie -couchant at the base of the monument, were modeled in iron from visits -made by Sir Edwin Landseer to the live lions at the Zoological Gardens. - -[Sidenote: THE NATIONAL GALLERY.] - -There are also statues of Sir Henry Havelock and of Sir Charles Napier, -on each side of the inclosure which fronts the Nelson column, twelve -feet high and of bronze, and just below in an angle of the square is a -bronze statue of George IV, which cost L10,000. These three statues, -which are all equestrian, were paid for by public subscription. - -On one side of the square is the church of St. Martin, an imposing -looking building, built by Wren, and on the lofty steps of this church -the crossing sweepers and bootblacks of the Metropolis have their daily -rendezvous, and here divide their earnings with each other. - -The National Gallery is, therefore, in a most commanding site, and from -its broad steps a very fine view can be obtained of the Strand, Charing -Cross, Parliament Street, and the Houses of Parliament. - -The edifice was finished in 1838, and is 461 feet in length, and -its greatest width across the saloons of painting is 56 feet. The -stones were taken to construct it entirely from the King's Stables or -Mews, and the building has a peculiarly sombre and solid effect. In -it are a range of spacious galleries, whose walls are covered with -the greatest works of the old masters and modern painters. It is the -chief collection of paintings in the British Islands, and the number -of subjects amount to 1,600. The number of pictures in the National -Gallery, as compared with the number in the Continental galleries, is -as follows: National Gallery, 1,600; Dresden Gallery, 2,000; Madrid, -1,833; Louvre, 2,500; Vienna, 1,500; The Vatican, 37; the Capitol, -Rome, 250; Bologna, 280; Milan, 503; Turin, 563; Venice, 688; Naples, -700; Frankfort, 380; Berlin, 1,350; Munich, 1,300; Florence, 1,200; -Pitti Palace, 500; Amsterdam, 386; Hague, 304; Brussels, 400; and -Versailles, 4,000. - -The pictures in the National Gallery are divided into the British and -Foreign Schools. Of the British School there are 795 paintings of -various artists, and of various degrees of merit, in which the names of -every English painter of consequence is included by his works. - -The chief collection in this division is that of Turner, the great -colorist, and here are exhibited in a saloon by themselves the finest -specimens of that great painter's works, in all numbering over one -hundred subjects, which, together with a large collection of drawings -and water colors, he bequeathed to the English people. - -The Foreign School is sub-divided into the Italian, Spanish, Flemish, -and French Schools, and these schools embrace 797 fine pictures, in -which the old masters chiefly predominate. Three of Corregio's pictures -in this gallery cost L15,000, and the latest acquisition is a Michael -Angelo valued at L30,000. - -The Gallery is open to the public on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and -Saturdays; and on Thursdays and Fridays to students only. It is open -from Ten to Five from October until April 30, inclusive; and from Ten -to Six from April until the middle of September. It is wholly closed -during the month of October. - -Daily this free gallery of art is thrown open to the working people -who enjoy the paintings, excepting on the days specified. There is no -charge whatever excepting for catalogues of the British and Foreign -Schools, which cost a shilling each. - -The question of opening the Galleries on Sunday has been much agitated -of late, but I question if the British public, particularly the -working or artisan class, care much for paintings. The lower classes -of Englishmen are not, as a rule, very esthetical in their views or -ideas, and I think the British masses are best calculated to shine at a -cattle-show. There is nothing in this world so capable of striking an -average Englishman's fancy as a huge ox or a mountain of moving beef. - -Corregio's master pieces, Turner's flaming colors, or Claude's -landscapes do not move him at all; but take him to a cattle-show, and -behold he is all life and animation, and give him a pot of beer in his -red fist, and he becomes positively witty, and capable of conversation. - -[Sidenote: WANT OF TASTE AMONG THE ENGLISH.] - -One thing struck me as I wandered hour after hour through these -galleries, and that was the total lack of education in the commonest -rudiments of art, and the complete ignorance manifested in the remarks -of the boors who gave the greatest works of their countrymen but a -passing glance, and walked on in stupid stolidity. At Versailles or -Florence, there was life, enthusiasm, and criticism of a very fair kind -noticeable in the remarks of delight or disapproval which came from -groups around a famous painting or a daub, but at the National Gallery -the cattle-show and the pot of beer was still uppermost in all the -looks and phrases of the spectators who used the place as a show room -to pass an hour away. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -NAKED AND NEEDY. - - -ONE hundred and thirty years ago, infanticide and desertion of -children, were twin crimes, very prevalent among English women of -the humbler and lower classes. The dull, twaddling, gossip-monging -newspapers of that day were often the vehicle through which the public -ascertained that infants were found in dust-bins and dark alleys, and -on dung-hills, there exposed by their miserable and heartless mothers -to starvation and storm. Twenty or thirty children per week were -exposed, in London, after this fashion, and the evil grew to such an -extent that it served to awaken the benevolence of God-fearing men and -women, and among those was one Capt. Coram, a seafaring man who, by his -long and repeated voyages and wanderings over many lands and in many -strange waters, had accumulated a large sum of money. - -I fancy I can see that brave old fellow now in his closely buttoned-up -tunic, his three-cornered mariner's hat set askew, his eyes beaming -with kindness and compassion, picking his steps through the worst -holes and quarters of Old London, the London of Queen Anne and of -Bolingbroke, of conspiracies, of Hanoverian Successions, of Highwaymen -and Newgate, and of all the faded memories of that olden time which -enthrall sense and memory, when we try to recall that which we can -only see as Macaulay saw it by the light of old newspaper scraps, -chronicles, and by the memoirs and diaries, of the then insignificant -but to-day useful people, like Evelyn and Pepys. - -[Sidenote: THE FATHER OF THE FOUNDLING.] - -Who will not bless that noble old sailor, as I did, the May evening I -stood in the principal dormitory of the Foundling Hospital, in which -were comfortably housed over fifty of the devoted lambs, sleeping -with warm clothes covering their little bodies, and their infantile -chirpings seeming like a chorus of angels, whose visits are alas--few -but far between. - -[Illustration: NURSERY IN THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.] - -There was the row of cots, and the kind-hearted women attending -to their wants, and when I gave one of them an orange, the little -twelve-pounder seemed as glad as if it had descended from the loins of -a Tudor or a Stuart, instead of being, as it was, both fatherless and -motherless. - -I can see him who was to be father of the first Foundling Hospital in -England, losing his way purposely, night after night, among those dark -and badly lighted and unpaved streets and lanes that fringed the Thames -River in those days, and from which issued nightly shouts of murder -and rapine, and the boisterous but less deadly revelry of bacchanalian -seafaring men, in trunk hose and canvas tunics. I can see the link -boys with their smoky torches passing to and fro as in a fevered -dream and the bearers of sedan chairs,--the porters shouting at the -brave-hearted grim seaman, who turns his kindly old eyes aside from -the flashing glance of beauty shot at him in dumb wonder by the damsel -on her way to Vauxhall, Ranelagh, or a Rout, and Captain Coram the -meanwhile chatting and bestowing pennies upon the beggar's offspring -or forsaken child. His heart was large as the seas which he had sailed -over, and his happiest moment was when he had rescued from the gutters -and death some poor foundling who had been thrown on the world to make -its way. - -He had first embarked in the Newfoundland trade, and after some time -spent in ploughing the waters between England and the Colonies, he -set up at Taunton, Massachusetts, as a shipwright, where he prospered -apace. Then we find him, after some years, in Boston, where, by his -enterprise, the manufacture of tar was established in the then infant -Colonies. Home to Old England again after thirty years of wandering, -and on landing at Cuxhaven the brave old man was set upon by thieves -and ruffians and plundered of all his earnings. Then the Government, -in 1732, appoints him as a trustee for the settlement of Georgia, and -subsequently he is engaged in the colonization of Nova Scotia. Finally -he came home to project and carry out the idea of his life, which was -the establishment of a Foundling Hospital in London. - -Never was there a more indefatigable or tireless philanthropist than -this bluff old sailor. Insult, contumely, and humiliation he cheerfully -underwent to carry out his cherished plan. - -One cold, stinging, December day, in the year 1737, Thomas Coram,--who -had been advised that the Princess Amelia was a charitable and well -disposed lady, and would be, perhaps, favorable to an application for -the scheme he had in view--started for St. James' Palace, the then -residence of royalty--with his three-cornered hat well planted upon -his head, and his coat buttoned up, and offered a petition for the -formation of a foundling hospital through Lady Isabella Finch, the lady -of the Bed Chamber in waiting, who turned upon Coram when he presented -her the paper, like a vixen, and bade him begone with cutting words and -sneers. The poor old fellow, with rage in his heart, strode from the -doors of royalty and never troubled the Princess Amelia again. - -[Sidenote: ADMISSION OF CHILDREN--HOW OBTAINED.] - -Finally, George II became interested so far as to give a charter on -the application of John, Duke of Bedford, the Master of the Rolls, -the Chief Justice, the Chief Baron, the Speaker of the Commons, and -the Solicitor and Attorney's General. Hogarth, who also became deeply -interested in the charity, and ever afterward continued its benefactor, -painted a shield for the Hospital, and on the 26th of October, 1740, -the old house in Hatton Garden was thrown open to nameless and homeless -children. - -The charter was signed by twenty-one ladies, of birth and distinction, -and stated that "no expedient has been found out for preventing the -frequent murders of poor infants at their birth, or of suppressing the -custom of exposing them to perish in the streets, or putting them out -to nurses, who, undertaking to bring them up for small sums, suffered -them to starve, or, if permitted to live, either turned them out to beg -or steal, or hired them out to persons by whom they were trained up in -that way of living, and sometimes blinded or maimed, in order to move -pity, and thereby become fitter instruments of gain to their employers. -In order to redress this shameful grievance, the memorialists express -their willingness to erect and support a hospital for all helpless -children as may be brought to it, 'in order that they may be made good -servants, or, when qualified, be disposed of to the sea or land service -of His Majesty the King.'" - -The children who are maintained by this charity are admitted on -application of their mothers only, whose application to the governors -must take place within twelve months of the birth of the child. - -The petition is read to the governors assembled in committee; and -the petitioner is called in and examined as to her allegations; and -then the steward of the hospital (with the petitioner's permission) -is instructed to make secret inquiries as to the truth of the -case. If the admission be ordered, it takes place on the Saturday -fortnight after the order (a small weekly allowance being made in the -interim, if necessary, to the mother), when the child is examined -by the apothecary, and if found perfect in eyes, limbs, and health, -is received into the Institution. Its mother is presented with a -certificate of its reception--with a certain letter on the margin, by -which her infant pledge may be subsequently identified if necessary; -but in all probability she never sees the child again. - -It has a particular number assigned to it, which is sewn to its -clothes, and becomes a property and chattel of the hospital. It is at -once sent to the matron's room, and delivered to a wet-nurse previously -engaged; and on the following day, being Sunday, it is baptised in -the chapel of the institution--some common name, such as Smith or -Jones, being given to it out of a list approved by the committee. On -the same night, or following day, it is sent with its nurse into the -country, who carries it to her own residence--she being generally -the wife of some agricultural laborer--and reared there, under the -occasional supervision of inspectors, for five years, when it returns -to town for its education at the hospital. The number attached to its -clothes remains so attached thoughout that time. At fourteen, the boys, -at fifteen, the girls, are apprenticed, but still looked after by -inspectors from the hospital until they are twenty-one years of age, -when they are supposed to be able to take care of themselves. Deserving -adults, however, are not lost sight of by the governors, and in case of -incurable infirmities preventing apprenticeship, the Hospital does not -desert its children to the end. - -That the child be illegitimate is of course the most essential -regulation, but an exception is made if the father be a soldier or -sailor killed in the service of his country. Immediately after the -battle of Waterloo, it was enacted that fifteen children of each sex -should be forthwith admitted, the offspring of those who fell in that -action; but to the honor of the soldiers' wives, it is recorded that -only two mothers gave way to the temptation, and accepted the offer. No -legitimate child has been admitted into the hospital for the last ten -years. - -[Sidenote: A RUSH OF BABIES.] - -The other conditions of admission are: that the petitioner shall not -have applied for parish relief; that she shall have borne a good -character previous to her misfortune; and that the father shall have -_bona fide_ deserted his offspring, and be not forthcoming. The child -acquires stronger claims for admission, if, First: the petitioner has -no relations able to maintain the child; Second: if her shame is known -to few persons (the express wish of the founder being that she might, -if possible, recover her lost position); and, Thirdly: that in the -event of the child's being received, the petitioner has a prospect of -obtaining an honest livelihood. - -The manner of admission was originally based upon that pursued "in -France, Holland, and other Christian countries," as the wording of the -quaint old charter went. The applicant came in at the outward door, -rung the bell at the inward door, and presented her child; no questions -whatever were asked of her, nor did "any servant of the hospital -presume to endeavor to discover who such person was, on pain of being -dismissed." When the narrow limit of accommodation was reached, the -notice, "The house is full," was affixed over the door. - -In October, 1745, the western wing of the present building was opened; -but so many more children were brought than the place could hold, that -there were frequently a hundred women with children at the door, when -only twenty could be admitted. The ballot was then resorted to: all the -women were admitted into the court-room, and drew balls out of a bag; -but it was still stipulated that if any desired to be concealed, the -bag might be carried to them, or the matron was empowered to draw for -them. - -In 1754, the hospital authorities had six hundred children to support, -the cost of which exceeded their income fourfold. They therefore -appealed to Parliament, who voted them ten thousand pounds on the -condition that _all_ applicants under twelve months old should be -received. This wholesale scheme of charity, which was largely assisted -by more public grants, only lasted for four years. On the very first -general reception-day, 117 infants were taken in, and 1,800 before the -half-year was out; while in the ensuing year 3,727 were admitted. The -consequences are described to be lamentable. Immorality was greatly -encouraged by the unlimited facility for thus disposing of its fruits, -and the children themselves--though "the Foundling" had then branch -establishments in many country places--could not be supported in such -vast numbers. - -Of the 15,000 children received in those four years, no less than -10,000 perished in their infancy. Parish officers, with local cunning, -sent to the Foundling the legitimate children of paupers, in order to -relieve their constituents; parents brought their own children, when -dying, in order that the hospital should pay for their interment; and -surgeons were even employed by parents to convey their children to this -Alma Mater, at so so much per head, like pigs, or other cattle. - -Parliament withdrew its grant from this formidable charity in 1759, -although it humanely provided for the maintenance of all whom its too -lavish charity had already admitted, and the branch country hospitals -were discontinued. There were at that time 6,000 children in the -institution under five years of age, and it was not until 1769, that -by apprenticing all who were fit to be placed out, their number was -reduced below 1,000. At the present time the yearly admissions average -32, and the total number maintained by the Hospital is 430. - -As years sped by the spirit of the institution changed with its -succeeding governors, and children were received without any inquiry, -with whom a hundred pounds were paid down. - -The Court Room of the Foundling Hospital has probably witnessed as -painful scenes as any chamber in Great Britain, and though mothers -may abandon their illicit offspring to the tender mercies of a public -company, they cannot do it without great pain, and many an after pang -of agony. - -[Sidenote: AN AGED FOUNDLING.] - -These scenes are renewed again when the children at five years of age -are brought up to London from the places they have been farmed out like -young goats, and they are then separated from their foster mothers. -Even the foster fathers are sometimes greatly affected by the parting, -while the grief of their wives is most excessive; and the children -themselves so pine after their supposed parents that they are humored -by holidays and treats, for a day or two after their arrival, in order -to mitigate the change. - -Though infants received into the hospital are never again seen by their -parents, save in peculiar cases, a kind of intercourse with them is -still permitted. Mothers are allowed to come every Monday and ask after -their children's health, but are allowed no further information. On an -average about eight women a week avail themselves of this privilege, -and there are some who come regularly every fortnight. - -I was present in one of the rooms of the Foundling Hospital while a -stout red faced matron was engaged in washing one of these dear little -babes of misfortune, and it was indeed an affecting spectacle, to hear -the little motherless waif cry and watch its infantile kickings and -splurgings in the wash tub. - -[Illustration: WASHING THE WAIF.] - -Even when application is made by mothers for the return of their child, -it is frequently refused; when it is apprenticed, and no intercourse is -permitted between them, unless master and mistress, as well as parent -and child, approve of it; nor when it has attained maturity, unless the -child as well as the mother demand it. - -Thus a woman, who was married from the hospital, and had borne seven -children, once requested to know her parents, on the ground that -"there was money belonging to her," and her application was refused. -But in November of the same year the name of a certain Foundling was -revealed upon the application of a solicitor, and his setting forth -that money had been invested for its use by the dead mother; the -governors granting this request upon the ground that the mother herself -had disclosed the secret, which they were otherwise bound to keep -inviolable. Again, in 1833, a Foundling, seventy-six years of age, was -permitted, for certain good reasons, to become acquainted with his own -name, though, as one may imagine, not with his parent. It is a wise -child in the Foundling who even knows its own mother. - -Sometimes notes are found attached to the infant's garments, beseeching -the nurse to tell the mother her name and residence, that the latter -may visit her child during its stay in the country; and they have been -even known to follow the van on foot which conveys their little one -to its new home. They will also attend the baptism in the chapel, in -the hope of hearing the name conferred upon the infant; for, if they -succeed in identifying the child during its stay at nurse, they can -always preserve the identification during its subsequent abode in the -hospital, since the children appear in chapel twice on Sunday, and dine -in public on that day, which gives opportunities of seeing them from -time to time, and preserving the recollection of their features. - -In these attempts at discovery, mistakes, however, are often committed, -and attention lavished on the wrong child; instances have even occurred -of mothers coming in mourning attire to the hospital to return thanks -for the kindness bestowed upon their deceased offspring, only to be -informed that they are alive and well. - -It is stated that children who are discovered by the mother are spoiled -by indulgence--and I can imagine that efforts to make up for the past -would be lavish enough in such cases--and rarely turn out well. - -[Sidenote: HOW THEY DINE.] - -One exception to the rule of non-intercourse is related, where a -medical attendant certified that the sanity of one unhappy woman might -be affected unless she was allowed to see her child. - -Twice or thrice in the year the boys are permitted to take an excursion -to Primrose Hill; but at other times (except when sent on errands), -and the girls at all times--are kept within the hospital walls. This -confinement so affects their growth, that few of either sex attain to -the average height of men and women. - -It is a curious old place, this hospital for Foundlings, and full -of memories. Here are some of Hogarth's best efforts as a portrait -painter, and it was for this hospital that Handel wrote his glorious -oratorio of the "Messiah." The organ, so magnificent in tone, which is -placed in the chapel, was also the gift of Handel. - -The high old-fashioned reading desk, from whence the chaplain expounds -the scriptures; the side galleries in the style of George I, and -the pillars that seem to tell of the days of Addison and Sterne and -Swift, and all the rest of that galaxy who made the Augustan age of -England--the rows of high backed benches such as are to be met with in -all the London churches, built after the architectural period of Wren -and Inigo Jones--combined with the low full toned voices of the boys -and girls, as they raise the Anthem, seem to make the place a haven of -rest and an abode of happiness for the poor world outcasts. - -Then there is the girls' dining-room, hung with some fine paintings and -works of art. The girls enter and take their stand, each in her proper -place, against the long row of tables that extends from end to end of -the room, the crowds forming a lane on either side. - -A moment's pause, and a sweet voice is heard saying grace: the utterer -being that modest looking girl at the centre of the table, who from her -superior height and appearance seems chosen as one of the oldest among -her companions. Scarcely has she finished before another girl, at the -end of the table, dispenses with the ease and rapidity of habit, from -the large dishes of baked meat and vegetables before her, the dinners -of the expectant children, plate following plate with marvelous -rapidity, till all are satisfied. - -This room occupies a great portion of one side of the edifice. - -In the boys' room the evolutions of the lads preparatory to taking -dinner are most interesting. The change at once, and without blunder, -hesitation, or want of concert, from a two deep to a three deep line, -then they beat time, march, turn and turn again, until the welcome -word is given for the final march to the dinner table. Thousands of -the citizens of London visit this hospital yearly, and ladies are -particularly interested in all that pertains to its welfare. - -It has been enriched by innumerable bequests, and has a revenue of over -L120,000 a year from rents, stock, and other sources. - -The charities of London are incalculable in their extent, and it is my -belief that no other city in the world--excepting Paris--possesses so -many and such various institutions where the sick, naked, and needy -are taken in and cared for. And yet with all this benevolence, there -is a pharisaical spirit of ostentation at the bottom of every pound -that is given, and the pupils of the beneficed schools, the inmates -of the almshouses, the patients in the various hospitals, and the -vagrants and lost ones in reformatories, refuges, and model lodging -houses are drilled, uniformed, preached at, exhibited to the public, -and ventilated in the newspapers, while the donations of those who -have established the charities are be-puffed and be-lauded until the -stranger is astonished at the mountains of cant which smother the work -of so many generously benevolent people. - -However, there is a vast amount of charity in London, and incalculable -good is done those who are in need of it. - -I can only give the aggregate of all these charities, hospitals and -almshouses, as I have not space for details. - -[Sidenote: INCOME OF CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.] - -The incomes and receipts of the various Metropolitan Charitable -Institutions amount to about twelve millions of dollars annually, much -of which is contributed voluntarily, and this vast sum does not include -contributions to police courts for the use of prisoners, amounting to -L50,000 a year, or the erection and endowment of schools, and other -similar gifts by individuals, deeds which are impossible to classify, -from their isolation. Besides the regular incomes, as below, the -proceeds of former legacies amounts to L841,373, or nearly six million -dollars of United States money. - -This large amount of nearly eighteen millions of dollars, double the -entire sum realized from poor rates obtained in London, is divided -among 640 institutions, of which 144 have been founded during the last -ten years, 279 during the first half of the century, 114 during the -Eighteenth Century, and 103 before that period. - -The classification--generally speaking--and aggregate incomes are as -follows: - - INSTITUTIONS. ANNUAL INCOME. - - 14 General Hospitals, L174,858 - - 66 Hospitals and Institutions for Special Medical purposes, 155,025 - - 39 Dispensaries, 23,877 - - 12 Institutions for the Preservation of Life, Health, and Morals, 46,230 - - 1 Foundling Hospital, 20,200 - - 22 Hospitals, Penitentiaries, and 16 Reformatories--total, 93,981 - - 29 Relief Institutions, 64,720 - - 21 Homes, for both sexes, and all ages, 18,200 - - 9 Benevolent Pension Funds, 26,000 - - 20 Poor Clergymen's Benefit Funds, 49,508 - - 72 Professional and Trade Benevolent Funds, 125,051 - - 24 City Company and Parochial Trust Funds, 40,820 - - 4 Special National Funds, 53,000 - - 124 Colleges, Almshouses, and Asylums, for the Aged, 103,063 - - 1 Cripple's Charity, 7,215 - - 16 Deaf and Dumb Institutions, 43,521 - - 35 General Educational Funds, 112,600 - - 16 Asylums, educating 2,400 orphans, 80,634 - - 24 Educational Asylums for 3,700 children, 120,000 - - 60 Home Missionary Societies, 413,171 - - 30 Foreign Missionary Societies, 642,217 - - 19 Jewish Charities, Hospitals, Schools, Almshouses, and Refuges, 163,000 - - 3 Grammar Schools, on original Foundations, 862,000 - - 2 Educational Establishments,8 parochial schools, libraries, - lectures, and miscellaneous societies, of a charitable or benevolent - character, 732,000 - -Some of these hospitals are not equaled by any in the world excepting -those of Paris, and have splendid beds and the best of medical Staffs. - -Guy's Hospital is called after a London Alderman and Member of -Parliament, who made a fortune, in Oliver Cromwell's time, selling -Bibles, buying sailors' pawn-tickets, and in the South Sea Speculation -Bubble. It has 22 wards and 600 beds, and averages, yearly, 6,000 -in-door and 55,000 out-door beds, with 24 professors and 250 students. -The legacies left to this hospital amount to L500,000, and its annual -income is over L30,000. Kings' College Hospital has 180 beds, and about -2,000 in-door and 40,000 out-door patients, annually. Its income is -about L5,000 a year. The London Hospital has 500 beds. - -Bartholomew's Hospital, founded by a Catholic monk, in the hoary past, -is the oldest and largest hospital in London, as its students are the -wildest and most reckless in the metropolis. The number of in-door -patients is 7,000; out-door, 100,000, annually, and the yearly income -is L32,000. There are 700 beds, 36 professors, and 500 students. - -The St. Thomas' Hospitals, now in process of construction at the Surrey -Side of the Thames, in Lambeth, opposite the Houses of Parliament, -will combine a number of hospitals for Special Diseases, and will -accommodate about 2,000 patients, with as many beds, and will have an -income of L50,000 a year, or more. - -It is impossible to think of any disease, complaint, deformity, or -injury to any member or organ of the body, which has not its special -hospital or institution for relief or cure, in the English metropolis. -There are homes for distressed widows, for Asiatics, Africans, and -South Sea Islanders, a Benevolent Society of Female Musicians, one for -the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a Life-Boat Society, Homes for -Teaching the Blind to read, for Governesses, a Shoe-Black Society, and, -in fact, all classes of indigent and impoverished persons are provided -for. - -[Sidenote: INTERESTING SIGHT.] - -The Sick Children's Hospital is one of the best and most needed -institutions in London. This hospital was opened eighteen years ago, -and has among its patrons the excessively pious Prince of Wales, and -the lady whom he admired so much--the wife of Sir Charles Mordaunt, as -also the highest ecclesiastical authority in England, the Archbishop of -Canterbury. This Hospital for Sick Children is situated at No. 49 Great -Ormond street, Bloomsbury, in an old-fashioned house built in the time -of Queen Anne. The annual income of this hospital is about L25,000 a -year, with 100 beds, including about a dozen at Highgate and Margate, -the latter for those children who require sea air. It has about 600 -in-door and 12,000 out-door patients, annually. - -A sick child among the rich has, at least, solace in its sickness, -besides every chance for its recovery that money can supply. A sick -child among the poor may have attendance or not, as the case may be, -but its father and its mother in London have but little time to bestow -upon its sufferings. It is, perhaps, uncared for and all but abandoned -to battle with disease without help. It is for the children of the -needy poor that this hospital is established and is carried on. - -No child suffering from small pox is admitted into the house, nor are -any cases of rickets, hip joint or scrofulous disease of the spine -or joint. They are refused for three reasons: because they are quite -incurable, because they require nothing but rest for many months, and -because good diet and fresh air, continued for months or years, are -essential to improvement. - -Glad children's laughter may be heard within those old walls, and -pretty little voices murmuring to each other, as the tiny sick people -chatter to their next bedside friends and neighbors. Sometimes a little -tired one, wearied from weakness, lies still watching the blue scroll -on the ceiling, or trying to make out what all the pink-cheeked and -powdered ladies are doing upon the frescoes of the old-fashioned walls. - -Each child has its cot to itself, and besides those in the house -myriads of children are brought each year, by their mothers, to be -seen by the doctors and nurses. In the room where mothers bring their -children is a box, affixed to the wall, with a printed solicitation -for pence, and fifty pounds a year is collected in this way, which -is devoted to sending children to the watering places who are getting -convalescent and need sea air. - -The Queen, and other members of her family, are accustomed to send -yearly donations of toys and jimcracks for the amusement of the -children; and proud ladies may be seen daily moving among the sick beds -with all kinds of gifts and childish luxuries, and who shall say that -the faces of these beautiful girls, and the toys they bring, do not -help most signally to establish convalescence, for what sick child ever -suffered without appreciating a kindly smile, a wooden horse, a cart, a -Punch, or a Noah's ark. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -MARKETS AND FOOD. - - -THE aggregate of time, labor, and expenditure, necessary to provide -three millions and a half of inhabitants with food, in a city like -London, is something beyond comprehension. In getting at the food -statistics of this great City, I found more trouble than in procuring -material and detail for any other portion of this book. And yet there -cannot be anything of more interest to the public than to know how, -when, and from where, a great city derives the food which subsists its -citizens. - -The London markets are well built, well ventilated, well situated, and -well regulated. The markets of London are a credit to the city and -people. The markets of New York are a scandal and a shame to that great -city. - -Some idea may be formed of the amount of food needed to subsist London -from the figures which I will give. - -The Metropolitan Cattle Market, in Caledonian Road, Islington, is the -largest market in London, covering fifteen acres, and having three -acres of slaughter houses. This market cost one million four hundred -and sixty thousand pounds, and cannot be surpassed by any other market -in the world. The yearly receipts at this market was as follows: -360,000 beef cattle, 36,000 calves, 1,900,000 sheep, and 37,650 pigs. -Besides this vast amount of meat there was nearly as much more received -at the Newgate, Leadenhall, and Whitechapel meat markets. - -The other articles of food, brought to the London markets, are -estimated by those who profess to have nearly accurate information, -as follows: Seven million head of game and poultry, six hundred and -fifty million pounds of fish, two hundred and fifty million barrels of -oysters, and two hundred and fifty million cubic feet of eggs. This -last item rather staggered me, but the other estimated quantities are, -I am assured, rather below than above the aggregate annual consumption. - -The inspections of the London markets are made very rigidly, and I do -not wonder at the necessity for a strict watchfulness, when I find -that, in 1868, 160,340 pounds of meat, and 1,963 head of game and -poultry, were seized by the officers as being unfit for human food. -This amount consisted in part of 1,200 sheep, 186 pigs, 73 calves, -1,100 quarters of beef, 762 joints of meat, 462 tame fowls, 121 wild -fowl, 300 geese, 290 ducks, 316 pigeons, 15 lambs, and only thirty -pounds of sausages. There were also 239 rabbits, 111 hares, 75 haunches -and quarters of venison, 84 partridges, and four pounds of pickled -pork. It will be seen that there was a very great deal of beef and -mutton to a very little pickled pork and sausage. All of the game, and -most of the poultry seized, was putrid, and of the meat 108,000 pounds -were diseased, while 21,000 pounds were stinking; 36,240 pounds of meat -being taken from animals that had died of natural causes. As soon as -the meat is seized it is sprinkled with creosote of coal tar, which -checks putrefaction, and at the same time prevents it from being used -as food, after which it is sent to the bone-boilers and destroyed. - -Besides the enormous amount of food received at the markets already -enumerated, there was also received at the Borough Market, Southwark, -Smithfield New Market, Newport Market, Cumberland, Portman, Clare, and -the Potato Markets, by railway, in the same year, 17,000 tons of meat -of all kinds, 100,000 tons of potatoes, 14,000 tons of fish, 15,000 -tons of vegetables, and 60,000 tons of grain, wherewith to feed the -Londoners. - -[Sidenote: THE SMITHFIELD POLICE STATION.] - -Before daybreak is the best time to see the Markets of London in all -their bustle and brisk traffic, and one summer morning I accordingly -took a cab from the Langham Hotel and told the sleepy driver to take me -to the New Smithfield Market, which is convenient to Newgate Prison. -We dashed madly in the gray of the morning (it was not yet more than -four o'clock) through Regent street, up Oxford street, over the Holborn -Viaduct, and so on to the Smithfield Police Station, which is situated -at a few rods distant from the place where the Cock Lane Ghost was -first discovered. - -I had been directed by Inspector Bailey, of the Old Jewry office, to -call at this police station, and he informed me that I should find a -special policeman there at my disposal to show me the markets, and -procure me any information I might desire in regard to them. - -The Smithfield Police Station is like most London police stations, -a very quiet and not pretentious edifice, just in the shadow of -Smithfield New Market. - -There was a little desk and a little railing, behind which sat a little -man in a blue uniform of pilot cloth, and behind the little man were -hung upon the plainly whitewashed walls a collection of handcuffs, -pistols, and knives, all of which were deodands to the law. There were -also placards, offering rewards for all kinds of offenders, thieves, -forgers, murderers, and embezzlers, and giving detailed descriptions -of their persons and clothing when last seen. These placards covered -the walls, but did not add much to the appearance of the apartment. -On producing my letter of introduction from Inspector Bailey to the -Sergeant in command--who treated me with much civility, a bell was -rung by the latter, and a policeman in uniform appeared, my old friend -Ralfe, whom the Sergeant addressed as follows: - -"Ralfe, you are to take this gentleman all through Smithfield Market, -and show him the sights, and then you can transfer him to some one -else to have him taken through Billingsgate Market, and after that he -may take a look at Covent Garden Market, if he so desires. Show him -everything that you can, then report to me back again." - -"Yesir," said Mr. Ralfe, touching his hat, although he was not in -uniform, and in another instant we were in the London streets, which -were very drear and damp, the gas lamps yet burning with a feeble -light, and the daybreak as yet not having revealed itself. - -The way was murky and dark, and the vicinity of the market was -sufficiently indicated by the peculiar raw, fresh smell, with which -newly killed meat greets the nasal organs. - -Smithfield Market is built on a large, open square, and being on high -ground commands a good view of the City of London proper. The site of -the New Market which was opened a year ago, was formerly covered by -the Cattle Market, which is now removed to Islington, in the suburbs. -The building is of mixed stone and brick, and the cost was about half -a million pounds. The ground on which it is built is also nearly as -valuable as the building. The market is about four hundred feet in -length and a hundred and fifty in width. The roof is of iron, and a -vast avenue, high, broad, and spacious in every way, runs through the -entire building. - -[Sidenote: THE HOT COFFEE GIRL.] - -When I reached the market with my friend, the policeman, the gas was -still burning, and the long rows of stalls situated on the wide avenues -of the market, were covered with beef and mutton, the stalls averaging -thirty to forty feet in height. There was a confused hum of many -voices, and coarse rough looking fellows in smalls and canvas smocks, -with broad, scoop-shaped hats, rushed hither and thither with immense -loins and quarters of beef on their brawny shoulders. Over each stall, -and inside of the market beneath the roof, the proprietor or lessee of -the stall has a small wooden edifice, with doors and windows and places -to sleep for two or three persons. At each corner of the market is a -lofty tower, a hundred feet high, and in these towers are board-rooms -and dining-rooms, and reading rooms for select parties, and at the base -or bottom floor of each tower is a bar where liquors and hot coffee, -bread, butter, and tea, and other refreshments are sold during the -early hours of the morning, to those who need sustainment. Two or three -pretty girls were behind each of these stalls, and were serving with -great dilligence and taste, the knots of butchers' helpers, cartmen, -butchers' boys, and market officials who stood in their vicinity. - -There are at least half a dozen meat inspectors in each market, and -these men are paid one hundred pounds a year to examine and decide as -to the wholesomeness of each and every pound or carcass of meat brought -into the markets. - -To one of these I spoke and asked him if he had much trouble with the -butchers in regard to putrid meat. - -"Trouble--Lord bless you sir, we have no trouble here to speak on. Ye -see, sir, the class of butchers as sells meat here in Smithfield Market -allers sells on commission. All this meat that you see a hanging on -these ere hooks doesn't belong to the butchers. It is sent to them to -sell on commission by the Railway Companies, and they do not own the -stalls themselves either. They pays one pound ten shilling and sixpence -a week for five square feet of ground--that's about the rate they pays, -and the City owns the markit. Lord bless you, Sir," said the loquacious -inspector, who was dressed like a butcher, having an apron, and stood -leaning against a large quarter of beef. "I don't know where all the -blessed meat comes from, but I knows that the pigs come from Hireland, -and a goodish bit of the beef from Devonshire. It comes to the city by -the Underground Railway, and you can see the place down stairs where -all the meat comes in the mornin'." - -At the breakfast stalls I noticed that nearly every one called for "two -pennorth of bread and butter," and drank with it a bowl of hot tea or -a smoking cup of coffee. The girls who served the coffee were chatty -and lively, and desired information of me in regard to America. One of -them, a little black brunette, queried: - -"They say, sir, as how that a young leedy in Hamerica can get married -on nothink--if she's good looking and can cook. Is it so, sir?" - -I had no means of satisfying her as to that question, and I left her as -she was preparing a sandwich for a hungry clodhopper, whose eyes were -bulbous with hunger and expectation, and went below to the basement -story, which opens by arches on the depot of the Underground Railway, -and I found the entire earthen floor cut up by rails and platforms, on -to which the meat from incoming trains is shunted and delivered. All -meat delivered at Smithfield is of course dead, and no slaughtering is -carried on in this market. Millions of pounds worth of meat finds its -way here day after day, and thousands of men--porters and helpers and -butchers' assistants--find employment here, their wages ranging from -ten to thirty-five shillings a week. - -Each helper is paid so much for every carcass which he carries into -the market on his shoulders, and broad shoulders they have to be to -carry these huge quarters of beef from the wagons which are drawn up in -dense masses in and around the open spaces outside of the market walls. -When this market was opened by the Mayor of London and other city -dignitaries, sixteen hundred officials, connected with the market and -the municipal government, dined in the central avenue, and two hundred -barrels of ale were drank. This is a sample of a municipal British -feast. - -Outside of the building are little houses or market lodges, built of -stone, in which are weighing machines, where men are constantly in -attendance as weighers of beef and mutton. For this service they are -paid one hundred and twenty pounds a year. The weighing machine in the -little house connects under the middle of the street, where a platform -is constructed, level with the surface of the pavement, and when a -cart-load of beef is to be weighed, horse, cart, and beef are weighed -together, and the total is placed on a slate, and when the helpers -have carried all the meat into the stalls in the market to be sold -wholesale, (for it is not a retail market,) the horse and cart are -again weighed, and then their united weight having been deducted from -the gross weight, the actual weight of the meat is thus ascertained by -this simple and easy process. I think that the Smithfield Market is the -finest I ever saw, and its ventilation and perfect system cannot be -surpassed anywhere. - -[Sidenote: THE VEGETABLE MARKET.] - -From Smithfield Market I went to Covent Garden Market, which is a -couple of miles distant, in Russell street, forming quite a spacious -area. This is the great vegetable and flower market of London. There is -a market held every morning in summer, but in winter, markets are held -only on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. The market is owned -by the Duke of Bedford, and was built at a cost of L30,000 by a former -Duke of that family, forty years ago. - -It has a colonade running around the entire building on the exterior, -under which are shops having apartments in the upper stories. Joined -to the back of these is another row of shops facing the inner courts, -and through the centre runs a passage with shops on either side, in -which are exposed for sale herbs and flowers, and the most magnificent -bouquets can be procured here on a fine morning in summer. Scarce -and delicate plants and flowers are here found in abundance, and -around these stands I noticed numbers of male servants and pages in -the liveries of some of the best known families among the London -aristocracy, barganing for bouquets for their mistresses' tables. The -noise and hub-bub around the open spaces in this market was perfectly -deafening. It was now about four o'clock in the morning, and all the -open areas were thronged with market-men and women and boys, carrying -baskets and flowers in their arms, to and fro, chaffing each other or -cursing and swearing with great good will. - -Immense vans and market-carts loaded down with cabbages, onions, peas, -cauliflowers, turnips, beans, parsley, greens, cucumbers, lettuce, -apples, pears, parsnips, and other vegetables and fruits, are moving -to and fro, some of them blocked in with the increasing traffic, the -drivers, great big hulking fellows, mopping their perspiring foreheads -and shouting at each other, as is usual among all cartmen. Women are -hurrying hither and thither, making bargains and chaffering about the -prices of vegetables, and meanwhile, it is almost impossible to hear or -understand anything that is said. The police who are scattered here and -there with their tall helmets, goodnaturedly push and shove those who -block the passage ways, and frown sternly at the impudent young rascals -who excite crowds and gather small knots of boys against the breakfast -stalls outside the market. - -Here and there around these coffee stalls, which are generally kept -by old men or dilapidated and ancient women, you will see a couple of -drunken or half sober roysterers, who have been on the tramp all night, -and have at this early hour of the morning reached Covent Garden to get -a cup of hot coffee in the market, which will clear the fumes of the -liquor away, before they stagger home to a fond and anxious wife or an -unrelenting landlady. - -Wagons and carts have been arriving from a very early hour, and five -o'clock seems to be the busiest time in Covent Garden. The houses of -refreshment around the market are open at half past one in summer, and -little tables are placed against the wooden pillars of the market by -the tea and coffee venders, from which porters and carters make hearty -breakfasts. There is no need to resort to exciting liquors, as the -coffee is good and hot, and a baked potato, fresh and smoking from the -oven, costs only one penny. - -Every few minutes, through all the roaring and shouting, singing, -talking, whistling, and laughing, I could hear the clear voice of the -Baked Potato man, vending his smoking tubers and shouting: - -[Illustration: BREAKFAST STALL, COVENT GARDEN MARKET.] - -"Tates hot!--all 'ot, 'ot! Taters all 'ot." His can with its steam -pipe, from which issues forth a fragrant odor on the morning air, is -already surrounded by young street boys, who will run an errand for -a penny, hold your horse, catch a flying hat, steal a cabbage or a -pocket full of potatoes from the stalls with equal impartiality and -energy. These markets are the worst places in London for young lads, -as there is always some excuse for their presence in the vicinity, -under pretence of earning a penny or picking up the refuse and odds -and ends of a vegetable market. Observe this young rascal now, who is -surveying the Baked Potato man with an assumption of scorn combined -with a profound look of wisdom in his features. His hands are in his -pockets, his trousers are ragged to the knees, and his linen is nowhere -visible--a miserable London street boy--and yet you would imagine, -to look at him as he steps up to negotiate for a potato, that he was -the agent of the Rothschilds about to make arrangements for a loan. -His age does not exceed fifteen years, and he has been sleeping in -the purlieus of the market all night, as his ragged and soiled coat -testify, and his hair is full of slimy straws which he has accumulated -while reclining his head on a market gardener's basket. The Baked -Potato man eyes him with distrust and timidity, for he is well aware -that there is no profit to be made from him, and that he is about to -"chaff" him. The young rascals who stand around are all wide awake, and -await the contest with solicitude in their countenances. - -[Sidenote: THE POTATO MAN GETS ANGRY.] - -"Taters all 'ot--taters all 'ot--'ot--'ot," cries the Potato Man. - -"Well, guv'nor, I see you're a keepin the steam up as usual. Vot's -the werry lowest figger you names for the werry best taters, takin a -lot--takin a quantity? I feels like patronizin you, I does." - -"Penny a-piece, all 'ot--'ot." - -"A penny a-piece for _baked taters_, and the Funds agoin down like -winkin! Vy, I 'ad a pine apple myself out of a Garden this mornin for -two-pence. Trade's unkimmon bad, guv'nor." - -"Penny apiece--all 'ot--all 'ot--I say, keep your dirty fingers away -from the can. You doesn't buy anythink, I know." - -"I doesn't buy hanythink, eh? There's a hopposition can, too, started -by a gentleman of my acquaintance"--here the young scamp put his -thumbs in his waistcoat armholes and inflated himself after the -supposed aristocratic fashion--"in the 'Aymarket. He calls the can the -'Gladstone,' and it's a werry spicy concern, I tell ye. Don't he give -prime taters neither? They're real nobby ones, and plenty o' butter, -and pepper, and salt. Oh! not at all! And its so werry respectable for -a cove comin from the Hopera to stop and have a bit of supper on his -road home. My heye, and haint the pro-pre-i-e-tor a makin of his fortin -neither? Of course not! Oh, no. But there 'ill be fun when he returns -to his willa with a postchay in Belgrawey in a few years." - -By this time the Baked Potato man is pretty mad, between the -pertinacity of his young tormentor and the highly colored picture of -his rival's prosperity, as depicted by the boy, and he tells him in an -angry way to "move hon, hif 'e doesn't want 'is preshis neck stretched." - -"Wot, wiolence to one of her Majesty's subjecks, and hin the hopen day, -too? Move hon, hey? Oh, werry likely. I'm a standin 'ere on my Sovrin's -kerbstone--a Briton's 'Ouse is 'is castle, and when an Englishman -hexpresses his hopinion hon the subjeck of baked taters he's to move -hon, is he? Consekevently I'll stay here." - -The "Baked Tater" man is now almost foaming at the mouth with rage, -which is not lessened by the cheers of the spectators, who are, of -course, on the side of the young orator. - -He is about to lay down his can and pitch into his tormentor, when -all at once that young gentleman assumes a pacific attitude, after -displaying so much public spirit, and says: - -"I don't want money nor credit, so look sharp ole feller and pick me a -stunner from the Can." - -At this moment the Potato Man's countenance relaxes, as the boy -produces a penny-piece, and while he extracts a mealy potato from his -can, the boy proceeds to amuse his audience further by going through -a series of sleight of hand tricks, such as shaking the coin out of -his cap after having swallowed it, or thrusting it into his eye and -bringing it out of his ear, assuring the spectators the while that he -had spent L20,000 in learning these tricks, and now, when the potato is -handed to him, smoking hot, he expresses his indignation at the fact -that the butter is "shaved too thin," and demands that what he loses in -butter shall be made up to him by an extra shake of the pepper-box. At -last he goes off to eat the potato, as the gray dawn breaks, and the -man at the Can says: - -"Oh, my eye--_he is a_ precious leary cove for such a young von." - -This market, as well as all the other London markets, is haunted with -beggars who appeal to the charity of strangers with great effect. - -[Sidenote: FRUIT AND VEGETABLES.] - -One of these sat up behind a pile of empty baskets, and I saw that his -trousers had rotted away at the bottom from long use and dirt. His -face was that of a prematurely aged young man, and his torn shirt and -worn features bespoke real misery. He was deaf and dumb it seemed, and -the manner in which he solicited alms was by pointing to the following -sentence, written on the flag-stone before him with a piece of chalk: - - +-------------------------+ - | I am Starving. Help me. | - +-------------------------+ - -A rental of about L26,000 a year is derived from Covent Garden Market -by its proprietor, the Duke of Bedford, and the shops and stalls -rent at from two to four hundred pounds a year. In the immediate -neighborhood is Covent Garden Theatre, and all the little old rookeries -of chop houses in this quarter have the smell of the greenroom and the -rehearsal lingering about them. Here was, formerly, the garden of the -Convent of Westminster. - -Before the construction of the present market this was one of the -most dangerous places in London with its tumble-down and crazy old -structures, where abounded people of both sexes herded together like -pigs. The Convent has become a play-house, and the monks and nuns have -been transposed into actors and actresses. Where the salad was cut for -the Lady Abbess in past times, drunkards now brawl and attack each -other, and the flowers that would have been in the olden time plucked -to adorn the statues of the Virgin or St. Peter, are now chosen to -grace the marble mantel of some proud dame of Belgravia, or some gaudy -and painted courtezan of Pimlico. The foreign fruit trade of Covent -Garden is very extensive in pine apples, melons, cherries, apples, and -plums. Pine apples were first cried in the London streets at "a penny -a slice," twenty-five years ago. To supply this market with vegetables -alone, 25,000 acres are required to be cultivated, and about 10,000 -acres of trees are necessary to supply its annual demand for fruit. The -trade in water-cresses is immense and they are chiefly hawked about -the markets by little girls, although, of course, every stall has -its own stock of cresses. They supply the same want as a relish for -the Londoners' table that the small red radishes do to an American's -appetite. - -A man, curious in such things, has estimated as follows the yearly -sales of this appetizing little green relish: - -Covent Garden Market, 2,000,000 bunches, Farringdon Market, 15,000,000 -bunches, Borough Market, (Southwark), 1,000,000 bunches, Spitalfield's -Market, 500,000 bunches, Portman Market, 260,000 bunches, and Oxford -Market, 200,000 bunches. It will be seen that Cockneys relish greens -very much. - -A little of everything can be procured at Covent Garden. Here are -peddlers of account books, lead pencils, watch chains, dog-collars, -whips, chains, curry-combs, pastry, money-bags, tissue-paper for the -tops of strawberry-pottles, and horse-chestnut leaves for garnishing -fruit-stalls; coffee-stalls, and stalls of pea-soup and pickled eels; -basket-makers; women making up nosegays; and girls splitting huge -bundles of water-cresses into little bunches. - -Here are fruits and vegetables from all parts of the world; peas, -and asparagus, and new potatoes, from the south of France, Belgium, -Holland, Portugal, and the Bermudas, are brought in steam-vessels. -Besides Deptford onions, Battersea cabbages, Mortlake asparagus, -Chelsea celery, and Charlton peas, immense quantities are brought by -railway from Cornwall and Devonshire, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and -Jersey, the Kentish and Essex banks of the Thames, the banks of the -Humber, the Mersey, the Orwell, the Trent, and the Ouse. - -The Scilly Isles send early articles by steamer to Southampton, and -thence to Covent Garden by railway. Strawberries are sent from gardens -about Bath. The money paid annually for fruits and vegetables sold in -this market is estimated at three millions sterling: for 6 or 700,000 -pottles of strawberries; 40,000,000 cabbages; 2,000,000 cauliflowers; -300,000 bushels of peas; 750,000 lettuces; and 500,000 bushels of -onions. In Centre-row, hot-house grapes are sold at 25s. per pound, -British Queen and Black Prince strawberries at 1s. per ounce, slender -French beans at 3s. per hundred, peas at a guinea a quart, and new -potatoes at 4s. 6d. per pound; a moss-rose for half-a-crown, and -bouquets of flowers from one shilling to two guineas each. - -Green peas have been sold here at Christmas when they are deemed a -luxury, for three pounds a quart, and asparagus has brought, in the -same season, a pound, and rhubarb, a pound and five shillings a bunch. - -The cries of the children peddling violets are sometimes almost -heartrending, as these little waifs are very often fasting for a whole -day before they can realize a few pennies to buy their food, to say -nothing of food for those who have sent them to peddle the violets. - -There is an Artesian well under Covent Garden Market, 280 feet deep, -which supplies 1,600 gallons an hour, sufficient for the needs of -the market people, most of which is consumed in watering flowers -and vegetables, or in giving horses to drink. There are elegant -conservatories over the colonnades of the market fifteen feet broad and -fifteen feet high, for the preservation of the more costly and delicate -plants and flowers. From this market nearly all the button-hole flowers -which are vended at from a penny to four-pence a piece are obtained for -the use of the London "swells." - -[Sidenote: THE JEWS' ORANGE MARKET.] - -One of the most curious places in London is the Orange and Nut Market, -in Houndsditch. This market is chiefly in the hands of the lowest -kind of Jews, men in greasy garments, and having frightfully hooked -noses. The Costermongers come here for oranges, nuts, and lemons, to -sell or hawk them around the suburbs or slums of London. The market is -called Dukes'-Place Market. There is a big, massive, Synagogue, a lot -of ancient-looking houses, the oranges themselves have a cob-webbed -appearance, and the people are all dingy here. The nuts are for sale -in sacks, and the baskets have a dilapidated look. The Jews, in all -countries, are an industrious and economical people, and in London, -as elsewhere, they monopolize the most profitable and least laborious -occupations. They are represented by lawyers, members of Parliament, -great bankers, like Rothschild, merchants, like Solomons, and men of -liberal taste, like Sir Francis Goldsmid. The number of Jews in London -is estimated at 48,000. - -[Illustration: THE ORANGE MARKET.] - -Each dwelling around this Orange Market seems as if it had been -partially consumed by fire, for not one of the shops have a window, -and they are comparatively empty, save where a crate of oranges, or a -bag of nuts, are exposed for sale. A few sickly fowls, looking as if -they were dyspeptic, wander here picking up crumbs among the orange -baskets and nut sacks, and dirty, ragged little Jewish children, play -around with great equanimity among the rubbish. The disputes among the -loud-voiced Costermongers who come here with their little wagons and -jackasses, to draw their fruit, and the Jews who have all glib-toned, -smooth voices,--at some times, when the oranges are changing hands from -sellers to buyers--are very amusing. - -There I saw slatternly-looking girls sorting the good from the bad -fruit, and one big, tall Jewish wench, was engaged over a barrel -of common black grapes, plunging her dirty arms down in the barrel -and pulling up the decayed fruit which she gave to a little child -who stood by her, and ate of them greedily from her hand. Some of -these Jewish fruit-traders take in as much as L200 in a day's sale of -oranges, from Costermongers. Most of these oranges are sent to the Jews -on commission. Years ago the Jew boys had a monopoly of the orange -peddling trade, but now the monopoly is in the hands of Irish boys, who -are more eloquent, more aggressive, and more popular, than the Jews, -and consequently sell they more fruit. - -[Sidenote: FARRINGDON MARKET.] - -Farringdon Market, near the Strand, on the sloping surface of the hill, -upon which the Holborn and Fleet street stand, is one of the principal -markets in London, though it covers but an acre and a half. The ground -and buildings cost about L200,000. The market building is 480 feet long -at the centre, 41 feet high, and 48 feet broad, and has a court-yard -in the centre of which the wagons, and baskets, and market lumber, are -placed. The court, or, as it is called, the quadrangle, is generally -filled with vegetables and fruit. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -SECRETS OF A RIVER. - - -IT had been a stormy night in the London streets. In the Strand the -shopkeepers' assistants were hurriedly fastening the shutters upon the -windows of their masters' shops, eager to escape the hurricane of rain -which swept over the London housetops, and tore through the lanes of -brick and mortar like an enraged fiend. Thirsty souls who were draining -huge mugs of malt liquor in the many publics along Thames street, -looked out with scared faces on the river which was beating its sides -angrily against the shipping and lesser craft. - -The waters of the Thames ran high and wild, and down in the Pool and by -Limehouse Reach, huge ships bearing the colors of many nations at their -peaks, swung and rocked in the seething tides, while black night and -the angry shades of the coming storm gathered around their twinkling -red and blue signal lamps, which lazily danced from their yards over -the surface of the river, leaving faint streaks of light that were -ever and anon swallowed by the angry waters. Boatmen were anxiously -securing wherries and fastening them under bridges and by water-stairs, -and all the while the clouds above lowered, and the sweeping gusts of -rain stung the faces of those who were unfortunate enough to be in the -streets without shelter. Shutters slapped and banged in and out, and -chimney pots were whirled about by the fierce and howling winds. - -I had been on a tour of inspection, with a friend and a police -sergeant, through London during the night, and had left the Alhambra -at midnight for Evan's Supper Rooms, in Covent Garden, where we passed -an hour listening to the music of the glee and madrigal boys, and on -leaving Evan's at one o'clock in the morning, my friend had parted with -me to go to bed, and I left him at the corner of Wellington street and -the Strand, he going westward to his residence in Westminster, while -the police Sergeant and myself called a cab, as I had a desire to see -London in the small hours, and Sergeant Scott had insinuated that a -stormy night was the best for seeing strange sights. He little thought -at the time how truly he spoke. - -After some discussion between this veteran of the Old Jewry office and -myself, it was decided that we should visit some of the thieves' haunts -in the Borough of Southwark, as it was about the hour when these night -birds came home to roost, and of a consequence the best time to see -their places of residence. - -The first place chosen for a visit was a den in the New Kent Road, and -to get there it was necessary for us to cross Waterloo Bridge. - -[Sidenote: THE STRANGER AT WATERLOO BRIDGE.] - -To cross some of the bridges in London it is necessary to pay a -trifling toll, which goes toward the repairs of the bridge. The charge -for each pedestrian on Westminster and Waterloo Bridges is half a penny -each--for a horse one penny. As the cab dashed up to the turnstile at -Waterloo Bridge, the toll keeper came out to take his dues, a gruff -looking fellow wrapped up in a big hairy coat. He took the two pence -grumblingly, and just at that moment I noticed a woman coming up to the -toll-house in a gaudy looking silk dress, and having a soiled velvet -wrapper about her shivering shoulders. The light from the toll-house -shone on her face, which was very pale, the eyes burning with a strange -light, and the garments which hung to her figure were dripping with the -rain. - -"Please let me pass," said she to the gruff toll keeper, with an -imploring glance, "I have not a penny in the world--please let me cross -the bridge?" - -"Please let yer cross the bridge--yer 'aint got a penny? Well wot -d'ye want ter cross the bridge for then? If yer 'aint got a h'apenny I -thinks yer as well on the one side of the bridge as the other? Well go -on with ye, I don't mind a h'apenny, and go to bed as soon as ye can," -the toll keeper shouted through the storm after the wretched woman as -she dashed through the turnstile on the bridge, and was lost in the -storm and darkness of the night. - -As she fled into the night, my companion caught sight of her face, and -a hasty exclamation escaped his lips. - -"My God, that's Mag S----, that we saw to-night at the Alhambra! D'ye -remember that pale faced girl who asked you to give her some liquor in -the Canteen?" - -"The woman who seemed out of her senses or crazed, and who danced and -swore?" I asked. - -"Yes sir, the same--well that's her, and what she can be doing here on -this bridge at this time I don't know. She used to be a highflyer once, -did Mag, but her fancy man has left her, and I'm afraid she's dead -broke now, at times. My eye, wot a temper she has to be sure, when she -blazes hup." - -By this time we had reached the end of the bridge at the Southwark -side, and the cab dashed madly by a female figure cowering in an alcove -of the structure, the cabby swearing an oath as the horse shied at it -going by. - -As the night advanced, it blew harder and harder, and the storm raged -with great violence. The waters under the bridge rebounded against -the base of the stone arches, but the rain had ceased. We were now on -our route back to the city, having inspected the dens of thievery to -my great satisfaction. While going and coming, until we reached the -bridge again, the mind of my companion, Sergeant Scott, seemed ill at -ease in regard to the woman whom we had met upon the bridge before -we had crossed. He was anxious and uneasy, and talked of the meeting -incessantly, to my surprise. - -"Some'ow or anuther I don't like meeting that gal on the bridge, Sir," -said he. "She looked a little desperate, and when they looks that way I -don't like to see 'em near water. Its touch and go with 'em then." - -"Do you fear that the girl will attempt to commit suicide?" said I to -him. - -"I do, Sir. You see there's twelve hundred suicides in London every -year, and half of 'em or more drowns themselves. The gals are more -fonder of the water than the men. A man will blow his brains out or -take pison, but a gal allers takes to the water. Why, bless you, -Sir, we have as many as a hundred and twenty suicides hoff this here -Waterloo Bridge every year. And this is their favorite bridge, this -Waterloo Bridge. When they haven't got a penny in the world, and no -friends, then they leap hoff the battelmints." - -By this time we had reached the toll gate again, and the cab horse was -walking slowly over the stone floor of the bridge, making echoes with -his feet. The bridge was quite dark, yet I could see the buildings and -spires on the London side piercing the skies, and the railway depot -at Charing Cross Bridge, the towers of the Parliament Houses, and the -square roofs of the St. Thomas' Hospitals rising vaguely and in shadows -above the river. - -There are stone alcoves on all the London bridges, which bulge out in -a semi-circular form over the water on either side, and they will each -accommodate a dozen persons, should such a number wish to sit down and -look at the river. There are eight of these alcoves on Waterloo Bridge, -and a raised sidewalk runs along on each side of the road, of solid and -smooth flagging. The middle of the bridge is taken up by a causeway -fifty or sixty feet wide, and this causeway is paved with a sort of -Russ, or rather large Belgian pavement. - -The cabby had stopped his horse to give me an opportunity to take a -look at the river. - -[Sidenote: THREE O'CLOCK.] - -One boom--two booms--three booms! The bell in the Clock Tower at -Westminster rolled out over the river. Three o'clock of a stormy -morning, and all London asleep. It was a grand and impressive sight, -the dark river, with bridge after bridge girdling it, and nothing to -be heard but the champing of the horse in the awful stillness of that -lone hour. Hark! There are voices on the bridge, voices passionate and -imploring, that seem to shudder over the water and to creep through -the arches of the bridge. - -"Let us get out of the cab and see what it is, Sir, if you please. -There's some cadgers a bunking in this vicinity, I imagines," said the -police officer. - -We walked along the bridge for a hundred feet or so, but could see -nothing, although we heard the voices still. - -"There's something wrong a-goin' on, but I don't know wot it is," said -he again. - -We advanced still further, and could see a woman's figure half hidden -by the alcove which was across on the other side of the bridge from us. -The woman was in earnest conversation with a man, who spoke in a clear, -manly voice to her. - -"This is the woman that begged the toll-gate man to let her cross -to-night cos she hadn't a tanner," said the officer to me. "Let's watch -'em," said he; and feeling that it was an adventure of some sort, I -silently acquiesced. We concealed ourselves in an alcove or embrasure. - -"Keep quiet, now, and we'll see something, sure," said the Sergeant. - -And we kept very quiet for a few minutes. The man was talking earnestly -with the woman, who seemed half crazy with drink or excitement, -we could not tell which, as we could only hear snatches of the -conversation now and then. - -It was the man's voice which we now heard. - -"Come home, for God's sake, Margaret, and all will be well. You will be -forgiven, and nothing will ever be cast up to you. I'll pledge you my -word to that. Your mother is in the city, and your father is dead. She -has come up from Glastonbury to see you, and I've spent eight nights -walking for you, and hoping to get a sight of a face that was once -dearer to me than life, and is now even still dear to me, if it only -was to see you reformed, poor, unfortunate girl. Come home, for God's -sake. Make the attempt, and it will be all well once more." - -[Sidenote: WEARY OF LIFE.] - -The girl was sobbing now very hard. The man seemed to implore her by -all that had ever been sacred or dear to the lost girl, and she was -evidently moved by his tone and earnestness, and the recollections that -he had called forth. - -"He's doin' of his best, and we can't do any think more--hany of us," -said the Sergeant, who seemed a little touched. - -"You talk to me of my mother, Harry? Why, I have not heard that name -in three years. I thought I'd never hear it again. I have thought of -her, too. But it's too late, Harry. The girl that my mother expects to -see is the bright little Maggie, the school-girl who never had a hard -word or an unkind look from her. I had an innocent face then, and was -not afraid to meet her kind old eyes. But now, to meet her in this -garb"--and she shook her flaunting silks--"I dare not--I dare not. -Harry, I tell you it is too late. Too late. Too late." - -"It's never too late, poor girl," said the stranger, "come home at -once, or if you'll wait here a moment I'll go and call a cab and take -you home to your mother at once. Wait here a moment and I will get a -cab. Wait a moment, Maggie, only a moment:" and the stranger ran across -the bridge, up King William street, and in the direction of the Bank, -where he expected to find a cab. - -The lost girl was left alone. Alone with night and solitude. Alone -with naught but her past life, which arose from the waters like a -shadow to keep her company. Alone and miserable, with the cruel sky -darkling above her as if to shut out all hope, while the river yawned -and gaped beneath, seeking an offering. God unheeded, her bosom cold as -a stone; no prayer to conquer her anguish; with memories of promises -broken and tender words unsaid; the passionate love of a fond mother -given in vain; and at last an atonement is to be made. The old, old -story--betrayal, dishonor, and the grave. - -We crept nearer by some unknown impulse, to where she stood, and could -hear her talking to herself, though we could not see her features, or -anything definite, but a weird figure looming up like a shadow against -the balustrade of the bridge. Her voice, which had fallen to a murmur -almost, was like some forgotten music, the strains of which are heard -in a dream. Who was this lone, wretched girl, and why came she here at -this hour? - -"My God, why should I go back to shame my poor old mother? I never -will. I cannot do it. The sight of her would blast me. And Charley, for -whom I lost all, where is he? In India, and no one here to-night, and -I alone with my black thoughts on this spot. Why am I here? What do I -live for? My life has been wretched enough. Why prolong it any longer? -I will settle the matter now and forever. Good-by, Mother," said the -wretched girl, looking up at the sky, and before she could be stopped -in her fearful purpose, she had mounted the parapet by the embrasure, -and leaped with a shriek into the devouring river beneath. - -"By Heavens," said the Sergeant, darting forward and making an effort -to catch at her clothes as her figure disappeared, "she has made a hole -in the water with herself." At this moment a patrolman, hearing the -girl scream and the shouts of the policeman, appeared upon the parapet. -All three of us dashed down the stairs of the old bridge, and it was -the work of a moment only to get a boat out, which, fortunately, had -the oars inside. In a minute we were all out on the river, and the tide -running very fast in the direction of the Pool--after pulling towards -the middle arch the Sergeant cried out: - -"Steady your rudder, there; what's that bobbing up and down on the -water? That's a woman's head, sure; she's got hoops, too; that's lucky. -Pull away, for your lives!" - -In a few moments we were alongside of the dark, floating object, and -the patrolman, drawing his lantern out, threw its reflection over the -waters, while the head of the boat was kept well up to the dismal -object. - -The policeman leaned over the gunwale of the skiff and caught at the -dress, and dragged in what he supposed to be a woman's body, but was -only a bundle of rags and straw, the refuse of some lodging-house bed. - -This was a severe disappointment to all in the boat, and we looked at -each other without speaking, for a minute. The Sergeant had a scared -look, and said aloud: - -[Sidenote: SADLY IMPORTUNATE.] - -"I'm afraid poor Mag's gone. She must have struck the bottom of the -arches when she went down, and if she did, all's over and settled. The -tide's running fast, too, and we will have hard work to find her." - -For half an hour the most diligent search was made for her body, but no -traces could be found of it but a bonnet and shawl, which were caught -in some floating wood below the bridge. - -We left the bridge, and the cab was driven home slowly, after the -nearest police station had been notified of the poor girl's death or -disappearance. The Sergeant of the Police District said that he would -have another search in the morning, and I remained at the station to -accompany the police in their visit. - -A little after daybreak we were on Waterloo bridge again, and even at -that hour a small assemblage had gathered around some object at the -Southwark end of the bridge, where we could see the tall helmets of two -policemen in the midst of the crowd of carters and market gardeners, -who were en route to Covent Garden Market, and had stopped to look upon -the body of a woman who had been fished up from the river. - -Yes, there lay the body of the girl whose toll to eternity had been -paid by her own rash act--stretched out on the cold stones, her -garments dripping, her fingers clinched, and her eyes stark wide open. -A young woman she was, but oh, how worn! The face was pinched, and the -long, silken lashes sunk into the eyebrows. - -The day was breaking in the East, but the policemen held their -lanterns, which they had not yet extinguished, over the poor, pale -features, and the grimy garments, revealing the long, matted, and -tangled hair, and the stark, cold body, which had once held an Immortal -Soul, but was now all that remained of the gay, merry-hearted, -lost girl, who had fully reaped the harvest of vice--the Wages of -Sin--called by the Evangelist, Death. - -Last year, the number of suicides in London amounted to 1,160, and of -this number 415 committed self-destruction by drowning. The Thames -Watermen fish many a ghastly body from the River, and for each -carcass--the result of their terrible trolling, they receive three -pounds from the City authorities. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH. - - -VERY singular is the appearance of Leicester square, where are the -resorts and lodgings of the foreign colonists of London. It is the -dirtiest and darkest square in the city, with the exception of some of -the fields in the outer suburbs. On every side you may behold traces -of the foreign element which centres here. The people whom you meet in -Leicester square, if you ask them a question, will be sure to answer -you in a strange tongue, or else in a strange gibberish of English or -Continental patois. There is an acre or two of sickly grass in the -middle of the square which is guarded from the footsteps of pedestrians -by a rickety and worn iron railing. In the middle of this patch of -scanty grass is an equestrian statue of one of the Georges on an iron -horse, the nose of which has been broken or has rotted off, and its -appearance is in keeping with the buildings that tower all round it. -The streets leading to and from the square are filled with foreign -restaurants, and they are narrow and from them all issue forth smells -such as the olfactories of a traveler encounter in the back slums of -Paris or Vienna. - -The buildings are shabby, the windows are shabby, and the people -sitting at the tables, whom you may see through the dusty windows, -rattling dominoes and playing cards at little tables, are shabby. -Were it not for the statue in the middle of the square, it might -be taken for the Gross Platz of a Continental town. Houses with -strange names rise on every side, having signs in their windows of -"Restaurant a la Carte," "Table d'hote a cinq heures," and are passed -in quick succession, and the linen-drapers and other shopkeepers in -the neighborhood take especial pains to inform all the passers-by that -their employees can speak German, French, and Italian, and occasionally -Spanish or Portuguese. - -[Illustration: FOREIGN CAFE IN COVENTRY STREET.] - -The loungers in the square give visible and olfactory demonstration -that they are not Cockneys; their tanned skins, long moustachios, -military coats, and brigand-like hats, their polite and impressive -bows,--all show the Frenchman, the Spaniard, the Polish exile, the -Italian revolutionist, and the Greek wine merchant. The mingled fumes -of tobacco and garlic, the peddlers who make desperate attempts to sell -you copies of the _Internationale_, _Patrie_, _Journal Pour Rire_, and -_Diritto_, all give ample evidence that you are in a strange quarter -of London. The lodging-houses here are on the Parisian plan, and are -let at five to ten shillings a week to mysterious men, who rise late, -and are away all day in the cafes or gaming-houses to come home singing -operatic airs at a late hour of the morning. Polish exiles, Italian -supernumeraries of the opera, French figurantes of the inferior grades, -German musicians, teachers and translators of languages, touters for -gambling-dens--all congregate here. This is their Arcadia--their place -of meeting, eating, drinking and sleeping--and for a hundred years past -it has been frequented by such parasites. - -[Sidenote: LEICESTER SQUARE.] - -Here in this very square in one of the houses which form the "Hotel -Sabloniere," lived Peter the Great and his boon companion, the Marquis -of Carmaerthen; and in this square they have reeled home night after -night; the master of all the Russias half-crazy with his potations of -strong brandy and red pepper, of which he was passionately fond. Up -yonder stairs passed Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, in her powder, -hoops, and patches, her train glistening under the glaring lights of -the link boys who preceded her sedan chair, to the wedding of John -Spencer, first Earl Spencer, and Miss Poyntz--bearing a case of jewels -valued at L100,000, and a pair of shoe buckles valued at L30,000, for -presentation to the beautiful bride. - -The old-fashioned house opposite was the abode of Sir Joshua Reynolds, -and the one at the corner of Sydney's Alley was the residence of -William Hogarth, the bitterest and yet the truest caricaturist of -his day. Here nightly came Samuel Johnson with his huge bulk and big -walking-stick, to dogmatize with Reynolds, and with him came his toady, -Boswell; and here came Goldsmith to read his "Deserted Village" to -his coterie of choice spirits--and here Frederick, the "Good Prince -of Wales," as he has been called to distinguish him from all the rest -of his title, came to die of a bad cold which he caught walking in -Kew Gardens in 1751; and here resided John Hunter, in the house now -occupied by a humbug keeping a Turkish bath. It is a place of strange, -quaint memories of good and brave, base and ignoble men and women in -the past; it is now the Alcedama of licensed vice, the festering spot -of all London. - -It is now a place where wantons expose their shame; where social -rottenness, winked at by the authorities, eats at the heart of a people -who publish and read books condemning the depravity of Paris; who, in a -pharisaical way, talk of the Mabille and the Quartier Breda, and yet in -this very square is the "Royal Alhambra Palace," as it is called in the -huge colored posters; and in the daily advertisements in all of the -morning and evening papers of the metropolis, you may read such notices -as these: - -"The Alhambra--This evening at 8 o'clock, 'Pierrot,' the grand ballet, -by Mr. Harry Boleno and troupe. - -"The Alhambra--At 9 o'clock, the Christy Minstrels, by Riviere. - -"The Alhambra--At 10 o'clock, the magnificent spectacular ballet, 'The -Spirit of the Deep;' 10:15, Pitteri, the graceful and world-renowned -danseuse, in a new grand pas seul; 10:30, 'The Home of the Naiads;' -11:15, grand Spanish ballet, 'Pepita.' 'God Save the Queen' at 11:45. -Prices: Promenade, 1s.; stall and balcony, 2s.; gallery, 6d.; reserved -seats, 4s.; new tier of private boxes, 2 guineas, 31s. 6d., and 21s. -Closes at 12." - -It was a rainy, unpleasant night--such a night as is often met with in -London--when I first paid a visit to the Alhambra. The streets were -deserted, and few persons were out of their houses, and those who were -out took to cover in the cabs, which went madly dashing by, or in the -busses, with their advertising signs, that were visible as they passed -a lamp--the horses steaming and sweating, and the passengers inside -grumbling and cursing their luck because of the bad air within and -worse weather without. - -[Sidenote: THE ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE.] - -Nothing in the streets looked pleasant or cheerful, excepting the -windows of the gin-shops with their bright brass and metal pumps, and -the gaudy placards giving a list of the beverages for sale in the -"publics," where men and women of the humbler class were consuming -large quantities of beer and spirits. Passing through the Haymarket, -I went down Coventry street, and in a few minutes stood before the -gorgeous, gilded facade of the Alhambra. The building is about five -stories high, painted of a cream-color, with minarets and gilt vanes -and turrets in imitation of the manner of Owen Jones. The attempt to -copy the Moresco style is rather absurd in the midst of common-place -London. Indeed, it would be hard to find a Court of Lions in the -building, and those who look for that most beautiful feature of the -real Alhambra will go away disappointed. There is, however, a Court of -Female Tigresses in the gallery up stairs which will compensate the -curious for the absence of the Court of Lions. Though the streets were -deserted, a large number of cabs stood at the front of the building and -crowds of people were getting in and getting out of them. - -The moon peeped just then from a bank of cloud, its rays breaking over -the disfigured statue in the square, and threw a faint dead glare on -the flaunting women who filled the passage leading to the Alhambra; -the helmeted policemen; the porters in their black caps trimmed with -red bands; the noisy, swearing cabmen disputing about their fares; the -horses champing and biting, and the beggar boys and match-women who -solicited languid swells to purchase their wares. It is the custom -to give a penny to the men or boys who eagerly rush to open the door -of your cab, and should you neglect them, they will follow until by -wearying you they have achieved their object. There was a little hole -in the wall, and a counter or desk, behind which was a sharp-looking -young man, whose face seemed hard and cynical under the glare of the -gas-jet over his head. Handing this man a shilling, I received a huge -circular piece of tin, with a hole and letters punched in its surface. -This was the ticket of admission, which I surrendered at the door to a -big man in a red uniform, who looked like a Life Guardsman, his breast -being all covered with service medals, but for what service I could not -tell, or where performed. - -Passing a wooden barrier, I caught a glimpse of lights, a stage, and -legs of ballet-girls--a noise of many voices came by my ears, a number -of young ladies smoking cigarettes opened a way for me to pass, and I -stood inside of the Alhambra. I found myself in the promenade, which -encircled the ground floor of the house, leaving a large space which -was railed in for the wives and families of decent people who wanted to -hear the music and see the dancing and pantomime. To walk in and around -the promenade costs one shilling. To go inside of the railing in the -space--which corresponds with the parquette at Niblo's, only that the -whole floor is level and there is no descent here--will cost another -shilling. - -I saw a bar and a bar-maid before I got actually into the place from -whence the stage could be seen; there was a bar and three bar-maids -half-way down the promenade, and there was a bar and two bar-maids down -before me in the alcove leading to the Canteen, with a corresponding -number of bars and bar-maids in the same positions on the other side of -the house. - -All these bars had splendid bottles, with various fluids in them, -arranged with an eye to effect, making it look like a vast apothecary's -window, and there were bright brass beer-pumps all in a row, and pewter -and silver and metal pots and tankards, and oval glass frames with -pies, sandwiches, and all kinds of lunches to satisfy the thirst and -appetites of the audience. The promenade was choked with men and women, -walking past each other, looking at the stage, drinking at the bars, -chaffing each other in a rough way, and laughing loudly. Although the -night was stormy without, the revelry was high within. - -Perhaps in this audience of three thousand people, who filled the -ground floor and galleries, standing and sitting, and eating and -drinking, there might have been fifteen hundred women, all well, and -many of them fashionably, dressed and gloved. A sergeant of police with -me said: - -"If there are 1,500 women here to-night, as I believe there are, you -may be sure that there are 1,200 women of the town among that number, -Sir." - -Twelve hundred unfortunate women in one place of amusement--and half a -dozen other places like this, but of an inferior class, are open this -rainy, unpleasant night, with a like complement of wretched females -recklessly passing the hours that intervene before the dens close at -midnight. The crash of sixty pieces of fine music falls on the ear, the -glare, the gas, the tinsel on the stage, the well-dressed, fine-faced -women around cannot shut out my thoughts of the "Legion of the Lost" -who are so merry, so thoughtless, so careless of the morrow--deep in -the fallacies of sin and despair. - -[Sidenote: THE SOCIAL EVIL.] - -The men who are conversing with these women seem to be of a good class, -and spend a good deal of money in refreshments and liquor upon their -fair, frail acquaintances. These last are not allowed to go inside -of the railing on the ground floor alone, but they do not care for -that privilege, as there is plenty to drink outside and more of the -company of the male gender. Whenever a woman on the stage capers more -vigorously, or flings her leg higher than the others, the applause is -loud, long, and continued, and pewter and metal pots are dented in the -surfaces of the tables that are ranged before each red-cushioned seat. - -The comic singers are the favorites of the audience, however, and are -always encored with vociferous enthusiasm. These singers get in a place -like the Alhambra as much as ten pounds a week, as the proprietors -know well the value of their services. The pantomimes are of the very -best kind I ever saw; the dancing is, of its kind, good; the orchestra -excellent and full in numbers, the acrobatic performances very fine, -and the picture at the close of the pantomime is really superb. -Yet with all these excellences combined, if the Alhambra and every -Music-Hall-Hell like it in London were suddenly scorched up by a fire -from Heaven, it would be the most incomparable benefit ever bestowed -upon the English metropolis, and a saving grace to thousands of young -English men and women--both in body and soul. - -And the reason for this is that women are allowed admission at the door -on payment of the price, without the escort of a man. Consequently it -is, with the exception of the Argyle, and Holborn Casino, the greatest -place of infamy in all London. It is convenient, in a central location, -and were women not admitted alone the business of the place would break -up. The men under twenty-five years of age, who comprise the largest -part of the male audience, would not come were these Formosas debarred -from admission. The performance--a first-class one--is not heeded. The -chief attraction is the women. - -And are these women calculated, by their manner, dress or appearance, -to shock or warn people by their degradation? On the contrary they are -cheerful, pleasant-looking girls, of quite fair breeding, and of a far -better taste in their dress than the honest wives and sweethearts of -the mechanics and shopkeepers, who sit in the place of virtue, within -the painted railing. These women are satisfied with their lot, and do -not repine so long as they have male acquaintances or "friends," as -they call them, to give them champagne, moselle, and late suppers of -game and native oysters in the Cafe de l'Europe, or at Barnes's in the -Haymarket. Despite the arguments of those who have sought to eradicate -the evil, these women, to any great number, never forsake their calling -for the life of an honest working-woman. They laugh at such an idea, -and will tell you that they could not do without wine, rich food, and -costly dresses, even at the fearful price they have given to obtain -them. - -Besides, there is no field open to them, and suspicion follows every -effort for reformation made by the few who have left the life of -prostitution to go to hard work or service. They look down upon -shop-girls and bar-maids with contempt, and many of them keep servants -from the gains of their infamy. Whenever one of these girls happens to -notice a stranger who does not seem to know the place, she will not -hesitate to walk up to him, take his arm, and ask him: "Come, won't you -give me my liquor?" - -Many of these women have had no education whatever; still they manage -to conceal the fact as much as possible, while others will tell you -that they came originally from the workhouse, where they were sent as -children, and being thrown on the streets when grown up, had no means -of making a living but that which they were compelled to adopt. I spoke -to one lady-like girl who seemed to be rather abstracted, and asked her -if she were not tired of her present life, and anxious to leave it. - -"Tired of my life? You may believe it that I am; but what of that. No -one would take me by the hand after leaving this life. I am not such a -fool as to jump from the frying pan into the fire. I get tight about -twice a week, and then I come here and talk and drink more, and that -serves to pass away the time. My friend is in Paris, and he sends me -money when I want it. My mother is dead and my father is in America. I -don't know where, and I don't care much, for he never bothered himself -about me. Are you going to treat?" - -I saw this girl walk up to the bar ten minutes after, pushing her way -through the crowd, and saw her toss off nearly half a pint of raw gin, -or "gin neat," as it is called here, without winking. Such is life. -The detective told me that the girl had been one of the flashiest and -best-dressed women who visited the Alhambra until a few months before, -when she began drinking, and rapidly descended, when she had to pawn -all her jewelry. - -[Sidenote: "WOTTEN WOW."] - -The songs sung in the Alhambra are not quite as low as those heard in -some of the music-halls, and chiefly derive their short popularity from -the fact that there is a comic vein in each one. Sentimental songs are -not so popular, and do not receive so many encores as the comic ones. -A man came on the stage, dressed in the exaggerated costume of a Pall -Mall lounger, who sang a song, of which the following is a verse, with -a very affected voice and lisp, keeping his body bent in a painful -position the while: - - THE BEAU OF WOTTEN WOW. - - Now evewy sumwah's day - I always pass my time away; - Arm in arm with fwiends I go, - And stwoll awound sweet Wotten Wow; - For that's the place, none can deny, - To see blooming faces and laughing eye; - And if your hawts with love would glow, - Why, patwonize sweet Wotten Wow. - - _Chorus_: - - So come young gents and dont be slow, - But stylish dwess and each day go, - And view the beauties to and fwo, - Who dwive and wide wound Wotten Wow. - -The chief merit in the singing of this song to the audience--was the -affected lisp and farcical airs of the singer, who did his best to -imitate the swells who lean over the railings in Rotten Row, when that -fashionable drive is crowded with equestrians and foot passengers in -the regular London season. The mob liked the satire on the aristocrats -and relished all the local hits of the speech and the dress of the -ideal do-nothing. Something of a more grotesque nature, and more -broadly funny, which was cheered to the echo, was a nonsensical song -called the "Royal Beast Show," that seemed to please the men and -women in the audience. This song was sung by a man in a blood-red -scarf, a pea-green body coat, and green glass goggles. The costume was -indicative of nothing under heaven or earth that I ever saw before, -but the song was exactly suited to the comprehension of the people, as -their shouts of laughter testified: - - THE ROYAL BEAST SHOW. - - Come, stand aside, good people all, and hear vot I've got to say, - But let the little dears come hup, wot's going for to pay. - At all the coorts in Europe, we are reckoned quite the go: - Then pay yer sixpences, and see the Royal Wild Beast Show. - - _Chorus._ - - The cammomiles, the crockodiles, and all that you could wish; - The mice and rats, and tabby cats, and other kinds of fish; - A dozen sphinxes hupside down and standing hin a row; - Hits only sixpence heach to see the Royal Wild Beast Show. - - The first one is the Kangaroo, you ought to see him jump; - The next one is the Ippopotymus, you ought to see 'is hump; - The third one is the Halligator, and he's such a one to crow, - He wakes hus hevery morning in the Royal Wild Beast Show. - - The Donkey in the corner, with the Tiger hon 'is harm, - Comes from Hass-iriya, vere once his father kept a farm; - That Billy-Goat that's dressed in Pink and valking rayther slow, - He's wery _Horn_-imental in a Royal Wild Beast show. - - The cammomiles, &c. - -After these choice ballads had been sung, there was a ballet in which -about fifty young ladies capered and pranced in a Bower of Angels, -with a lot of dolphins, just like dolphins and angels in their mutual -festivities in the other world: and then the detective who accompanied -me, said: - -[Sidenote: IN THE CANTEEN.] - -"Would you like to see the Canteen? That's a werry 'igh old game is the -Canteen; sort of priveet like." - -[Illustration: CANTEEN OF THE ALHAMBRA.] - -The Canteen of the Alhambra is situated on the lower floor of the -building, under the stage, and has a dark entrance through a door -which is supported on swinging hinges. The descent is by a spiral -flight of stone steps, and on going through this door, the stranger -receives the idea that he is going behind the scenes, which is a great -mistake. The proprietors have made the entrance as dark and mysterious -as possible, in order to throw a kind of greenroom air about it, which -captivates simple people, and induces them to spend more money than -they would otherwise. It is, in fact (this Canteen), nothing more than -a subterranean bar-room, where men treat to Champagne wine and Moselle -cup, the ballet-girls who come down, wrapped in travelling-cloaks; -and after each ballet is concluded, flirt, drink, and make eligible -acquaintances. The bar is in the form of a half circle, and two very -largely framed women were behind it this night, serving the customers, -who sit around on wooden benches. The ceiling is supported by rude -posts, and everything is as uncouth as possible; and this gives it an -additional charm to countrymen. They feel that they are doing something -sinful, something indiscreet, which they would not like to have their -wives or relations hear of, and, with the natural perversity of human -nature, it is enjoyable to a corresponding degree. The waiters who -bring the drinks and cigars from the bar, wear black dress-coats and -red plush waist coats. - -When I descended to the Canteen, the ballet was still on above us, and -I could hear the tramping of the feet of the dancers as they bounded to -and fro on the stage boards over my head. There were no ballet girls in -the Canteen, but in a few minutes the strains of the dance music died -away and down came the coryphees, trooping by twos and threes, their -faces painted and chalked, and their white slippers and tights peeping -out from the bottoms of the gray waterproof cloaks which they wore. -They took their seats in the room on the wooden benches, and it was -not long until each ballet girl found her male affinity, and of course -the male affinity treated her to whatever the dear creature called -for--however expensive. In such a moment, when these angels in tissue -condescend to talk to mortals, who could think of expense. - -There were a number of soldiers in the room, wearing the uniforms of -different regiments, chiefly of the Household troops, with here and -there a line private in buff and blue; a rifleman in dark green, or -an artilleryman, with his gorgeous red facings and trimmings. But the -angels of the ballet never wasted their time on such low people as -common soldiers. Their game was much higher, and if they could not -get a drink from an officer holding her Majesty's commission, they -were content with stray Americans, who have a reputation for reckless -liberality. In fact, Americans rank above par in the Canteen market, -and are received with due honor. - -[Sidenote: THE OLD SINNER.] - -I saw one old gentleman, fully six feet high, with a venerable face -and white whiskers, evidently of a respectable position in society, -with his arm around the chalked neck of a girl of fifteen, whose light -brown curls fell in masses over her shoulders, and, while he talked -with her, he supplied her quickly-emptied glass with a sparkling wine. -The detective said, in explanation of the scene, to me: - -[Illustration: THE OLD SINNER.] - -"You see, sir, these gals as is down here in the Canteen only gets ten -to sixteen shillin' a week for their night's work, and that isn't much. -They is only the figurantys, and can't dance a bit; but they gets a bad -fashion from the swells who go behind the scenes a drinkin' champagne -and sich like, and that fashion leads them to wuss nor hannything that -you'll see 'ere. They comes down here and drinks between the balley, -and then goes hup on to the stage and dances again, and comes down -hagain after the next balley, and by the time the Alhambra closes -they are so blessed tight that they are ready for hanythink. I means, -of course, the gals as is innocent yet; but the old hands are werry -knowin' cards, so they is, bless you." - -"That little gal as is just now a takin' that gentleman's address is a -werry downy gal, she is. They calls her the 'Daisy,' because she has a -fondness for bokays, and she is hup to all sorts of games. She 'ad some -kind of a heddykation, when she was a little gal, and I thinks she was -a governess or sich like once, and went to the dogs through somebody's -fault; and she writes a beautiful hand, she does, and her little game -is to send letters to strangers who visit London for the first time and -don't know what to do with their money, and full of affekshun and such -gammon--and tells them, in the writin' as 'ow she seed better days and -axes their parding for givin' so much trouble--and 'opes they won't -think the wuss of her for such freedom or liberty; and then she gets a -few pun from the spooney, and she goes on a habsolutely hawful drunk -for a few days and doesn't come to the rehearsal--and when the money is -all spent she writes more letters and 'umbugs some other spoon. Oh, she -_is werry_ deep, is the 'Daisy.'" - -The "Tulip," the other young girl, according to the story of the -policeman, was famous for her aptitude in swearing and drinking -"Stout"; otherwise there was nothing of special interest in her -character, and her face, though a pretty one, was strongly marked -with lines of dissipation. By the time that I was ready to leave the -Canteen, having seen all that was worth seeing in the den (for it is -a den, and nothing else) which has been the cause of many a promising -youth's ruin, it was nearly eleven o'clock. - -[Sidenote: THE SIX PENNY GALLERY.] - -We paid another shilling to go up in the "Gallery," where there is not -the slightest disguise in the conduct of the females who throng the -place. Back of the gallery, in the corridors, where the performance -can be seen over the heads of the men who stand in front, are ranged -a number of bars, and at each end of this place, which forms a kind -of saloon, small tables with marble tops. At these tables a number of -men and women sat and drank and laughed, and told each other anecdotes -more pointed than polished in their application. The clamor and the -smoke made the place unbearable, and the strains of music from the -orchestra, playing Weber's "Last Waltz," filled the vast building with -its circular galleries, that were heaped one upon another, to the -ceiling. Up in the highest gallery of all, where the admittance is -only sixpence, the riff-raff were collected. When a woman goes to the -six-penny gallery in the Alhambra she is indeed lost beyond all hope of -rescue. - -I came down disgusted, and on going below stairs to the first tier I -found there a kid glove, fan, and bouquet stand. It is the fashion for -the young men of this pious city of London, who have more money than -brains, when they visit the Alhambra, to buy kid gloves or fans for -the unfortunates who throng the place. Quite a trade is done in this -way, as some of the swells are not satisfied, when intoxicated, unless -they can prevail upon their feminine friends to accept of a slight -trifle of their esteem in the shape of a dozen pairs of fine kids in -a gilt box. The man at the glove stand told me that business in the -season--when people came home from the Continent--was very brisk, and -he said that in one night he had sold as many as nineteen dozen kids to -be presented to the Formosas of the place. - -The detective said to me as we went down stairs: "Suppose we go to the -Argyle, in the 'Aymarket, and then finish with the Casino and Barnes's; -they'll be very lively just now, I warrant ye, and the fun grows -furious near midnight." I assented to this proposal, and we took a cab -and went to the Argyle Rooms. The cabby put his tongue in his cheek -when I said "Argyle Rooms," and drove us there. I gave him eighteen -pence, and he desired to know if I didn't want to borrow the price of -admission, because I refused to give him half a crown for a ride of a -thousand feet. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE "ARGYLE," "BARNES'S," AND "CASINO." - - -IT is a quarter past eleven o'clock and the Haymarket is full of -people--men and women jostling each other, many of both sexes being -intoxicated; and beggars solicit us at every crossing, doffing their -greasy caps and thrusting their dirty paws under our noses in their -persistency. The cafes are overflowing with Gauls from across the -channel, and when the crowds become too thick to leave the sidewalks -passable, the policemen, who are in great numbers here, have to -interfere to quell rows every few minutes. They clear the streets in a -mild, civil way, very different from the manner of the New York police -in like contingencies. - -A stranger cannot help being astonished at the vast, almost -incalculable, number of unfortunate women who haunt the London streets -in this quarter as the hour of midnight approaches. There must be a -great rottenness in Denmark where such a state of things can exist, and -exist without any surprise on the part of those who witness such scenes -nightly. I paid a shilling to enter the Argyle Rooms, and received a -tin check, which was given up at the door, as in the Alhambra. The -Argyle has not such high architectural pretensions as the Alhambra, but -the class of visitors are better in the sense of dress and position. -I entered through a side door, and found myself in a carpeted room, -handsomely and tastefully furnished and decorated. - -[Sidenote: THE "ARGYLE ROOMS."] - -The saloon is nearly as large as Irving Hall, in New York, but lit up -in a splendid manner with handsome chandeliers, which depend from the -lofty ceiling, the gas jets burning in a deep glow through the shining -metal stalactites that ornament the chandeliers. A splendid band of -fifty instruments is stationed in the gallery at the further end of -the room, and the music is of the best kind. The leader is attired in -full evening dress, as is also every fiddler in the band, and the wave -of the chef's baton is as graceful as that of Julien, when he was in -his prime. Women, dressed in costly silks and satins and velvets, the -majority of them wearing rich jewels and gold ornaments, are lounging -on the plush sofas in a free and easy way, conversing with men whose -dress betoken that they are in respectable society. A number of these -are in full evening dress, wearing their overcoats, and a few of them -have come from the clubs, a few from dinner parties, and a greater -number from the theatres or opera. - -They are not ashamed to be seen here by their acquaintances--far from -it; they think this is a nice and clever thing to do, and, as no -virtuous woman ever enters this place, there is no danger of meeting -those who own a sisterly or still dearer tie, and who might cause a -blush to redden the cheeks of these charming young men. Across the -lower end of the room an iron railing is stretched, and this keeps the -vulgar herd from mingling with the elite of the abandoned women who -frequent the Argyle. Three-fourths of the ground space is devoted to -dancing, and inside this railing sets are formed at a signal from the -band above. - -The charge for admission below, where I stand with the detective -surveying this strange scene, is but a shilling, while the entrance fee -to the gallery is two shillings, and this admits, as I am told by a -servant, to all the privileges of the place whatever they may be. Even -in vice the "horrid spirit of caste" prevails. It is chiefly clerks and -tradesmen who are dancing in the shilling place, and at the end of each -dance, be it waltz or quadrille, the man who has danced is expected -to refresh his partner with a copious draught of beer, or a glass of -plain gin. These women all take their gin without water, and smoke -cigarettes if some one will pay for them. Inside the railing it is -different. - -The bars here are furnished with great splendor, and the calls for -champagne are incessant. The women call champagne "fizz," and ale -"swill." All around the room cushioned seats or benches are placed so -that those who have done dancing may rest themselves and drink. There -are liquor counters in every corner of the room, and a good business -is done, the bar-maids being kept actively employed all the time -while the music is playing. Upstairs there is another gallery and a -fine bar, and here the really fast women congregate, to look over the -balconies, but never condescending to mix among the vulgar dancers, -excepting when their reason is gone through intoxication. These women -all carry expensive fans, and their trains are as long as the train of -a Countess in a reception at St. James's. There is a handsomely fitted -up alcove to the right of the bar, and this alcove is ornamented with -panels, on which are painted such pictures as "Europa and the Bull," -"Leda," "Bacchus and Silenus;" and here are a number of women and men -with Venetian goblets foaming full of champagne before them. Standing -at the entrance to the alcove, is a stout, florid-faced woman, vulgar -in appearance, with incipient moustachios at the corners of her lips. -She is covered with jewelry, and her fingers, fat, red, and unshapely, -glitter with diamonds. - -This is the famous "Kate Hamilton," who was at one time the reigning -beauty of her class, and has now degenerated into a vile pander. She -is surrounded by a cluster of girls, and they are all in an animated -discussion with her. The detective introduces me to this famous, or -rather infamous, Messalina, and her first question is, "Will you stand -some 'Sham?'" The next is to make inquiry about a number of New York -politicians and sporting men who have patronized her den, somewhere in -the Haymarket, while doing the foreign tour. She is most business-like -and brief, this fetid old wretch, and has a speaking acquaintance with -every man in the saloon. - -[Sidenote: THE HAYMARKET BY NIGHT.] - -While we are standing looking at her and her friends, the room -is darkened, the gas being almost extinguished, and a chemical, -light-colored flame irradiates the room like a twilight at sea, and -the entire female population rush below to join in the last, wild, -mad shadow-dance of the night. Around and around they go in each -other's arms, whirling in the dim, uncertain, graveyard light, these -unclean things of the darkness, shouting and shrieking, totally lost -to shame--their gestures wanton as the movements of an Egyptian Almee -and mad as the capers of a dancing dervish. Then the hall is darkened, -the band ceases playing, the waiters finish the remains of the uncorked -champagne bottles, the women dash madly down the carpeted stairs and -into the streets with their male companions, and are whirled away with -the cabs, which wait in long rows before the entrance of the Argyle, to -the purlieus of Pimlico and the sensual shades of St. John's Wood, at -Brompton. - -The night has closed, a full English moon floats silently in the -heavens, white snowy powder hangs over our heads like a film of -lace--the clock-tower at Westminster Palace booms out the hour of -midnight over the dark surface of the Thames, and we escape from the -bustle of that vile dancing hall with gladness. - -"Now," said my conductor, "let's go down in the Haymarket to Barnes's, -and look at that for a few minutes, and then we will go to the Casino, -in the Holborn, for a finish, if you please, sir." - -Down through Coventry street, past the cafes again, which are preparing -to close, and now we are in the Haymarket, one of the worst quarters of -London. This street is wide, beginning at Coventry street and running -down for a distance of about 1,400 feet to the "bottom," ending at the -line where Pall Mall begins. They always say the "bottom" or "top" of a -street in London, never "east" or "west." If there be a place in London -that is deserving of notice, it is the Haymarket. Hundreds of years -ago, the washerwomen of the village of Charing, just below us, and now -one of the great business centres of London, used to bring their dirty -linen here to cleanse it, and then dry it on the green fields in the -Haymarket. - -The green fields of the Haymarket have long ago been covered over -with theatres, opera-houses and palatial shops, and now not all the -washerwomen in England could cleanse the immoral sewage that streams -through the Haymarket night after night--through the snows of winter, -the heated nights of July, and August, and the fragrance of May. Here, -at this chemist's door, formerly a tennis court, Charles II., his -brother, the Duke of York, Sedley, Rochester, and the rest of the wild, -reckless lot, used to come to play their favorite game; and here sat -Mistress Gwynne, Portsmouth, Mrs. Hyde, Louise de Queroailles, Frances -Stewart, and other dissolute beauties of the merry monarch's court, -applauding the feats of skill performed by their lovers. In the theatre -formerly standing on the site of the present Haymarket Theatre, and -opposite to Her Majesty's Opera House, with its long, drab colonnades -and dark shops imbedded in the arcades, Foote and glorious Garrick woke -the passions of all who were intellectual and noble in the Addisonian -age of England. - -Here was the public house kept by Broughton, the champion of England, -who has been forever immortalized by Hogarth--just off Cockspur street; -and here was his swinging sign-board, having a portrait of himself, -battered and bruised, in a cocked hat and wig, with the legend on the -sign-board-- - - "Hic Victor Caestus artemque repono." - -Think of a modern prize buffer attempting to quote from the classics. -Cibber wrote a show-bill for Broughton once, which I reproduce, as a -specimen of advertising skill: - - "At The New Theatre - - "In the Haymarket, on Wednesday. The 29th of This Instant April, - -"The Beauty of the Science of Defence will be shown in a Trial of Skill -between the following Masters, viz., Whereas, there was a battle fought -on the 18th of March last, between Mr. Johnson, from Yorkshire, and -Mr. Sherlock, from Ireland, in which engagement they came so near as to -throw each other down. Since that rough battle the said Sherlock has -challenged Johnson to fight him, strapt down to the stage, for twenty -pounds; to which the said Johnson has agreed; and they are to meet at -the time and place above mentioned, and fight in the following manner, -viz., to have their left feet strapt down to the stage, within reach -of each other's right leg; and the most bleeding wounds to decide the -wager. N.B.--The undaunted young James, who is thought the bravest of -his age in the manly art of boxing, fights himself the stout-hearted -George Gray for ten pounds, who values himself for fighting at -Tottenham Court. Attendance to be _given at ten, and the Masters mount -at twelve_. Cudgel-playing and boxing to _divert_ the _gentlemen_ until -the battle begins. - -"N.B.--Frenchmen are requested to bring smelling bottles." - -Think only of these wigged nobles and their clients, the boxers, in -knee-breeches and wigs, going to a battle, and think of the Frenchmen -who were compelled to bring smelling-bottles to keep their stomachs in -order, and who will not say that even in prize-fighting the Nineteenth -century has brought progress, as in every other scientific matter? - -[Sidenote: AT "BARNES'S."] - -We are now at Barnes's, a famous night house, or, rather, an infamous -night house, in the Haymarket. When the dancing places and music-halls -of the metropolis close, this door remains open to catch all stray -night birds who can find no other resting place. The place is an -ordinary drinking saloon, with a confectionery and pastry counter, and -the attendants are five or six over-dressed young ladies, all of whom -have their hair dyed of a light color, and are very free and chatty in -their manner. These girls are well supplied with jewelry and lockets. -Their salary is not large enough to furnish them with the trinkets, -as they only get one pound five shillings a week; yet they manage to -dress expensively, and Champagne is so common to their palates that -they have become indifferent to it and it absolutely palls upon them. -Yet there is a percentage on every bottle that is consumed here, and -consequently they do their best to sell Moet & Chandon at ten shillings -a bottle to the customers--and will even drink with them. - -[Illustration: IN THE HAYMARKET.] - -This is a great place for rump-steaks and native oysters--late at -night, and a good business is done here in those articles of food. The -oysters are small, black, and have a bitter, copperish taste. A New -Yorker, used to Sounds and East Rivers, would leave them in disgust; -but Englishmen, whose throats are parched with the liquors they get -at the Argyle and in the Haymarket, prefer them to the most luscious -Saddle Rocks. There is a large screen in the center of the room, the -bar glitters with costly mirrors, and behind the screen are a number -of small boxes partitioned off, and having red plush seats. In these -are several noisy women, inflamed with liquor, eating and drinking and -hallooing at their male companions. One girl, in a black silk dress, -with her hair hanging down in disorder, is crying drunk at one of the -tables, and has just spilled a bottle of wine over her handsome dress. -She is cursing the waiter, who is also drunk, with much earnestness of -purpose, and as soon as she sees the detective she halloos at him in a -harsh voice: - -[Sidenote: THE "HOLBORN CASINO."] - -"I say, Bobby, you don't want me, do you?" I 'avent done nothink, -although I wos wonst in Newgate for taking a swell's watch, which he -guv to me for my wedding present, as was just four year ago, come -Micklemas Goose. I wish I could throw meself in the Thames, but I -'aven't got the 'art-- - - "'Hoh, my 'art is in the 'Ighlands - A follerin the vild roe. - My 'art is in the 'Ighlands, - Wheresomdever I--go--I go." - -"Ah! that's a rum customer," said the policeman; "she's fly to -heverythink. Now, hif that gal ain't watched this night, she is jest as -likely to go to London Bridge and throw her blessed body hoff into the -dirty water as not. They always goes to Lunnun Bridge when they want to -make way with themselves--it's so lively like." - -"Now," said the policeman, "I would hadvise you to make the finish at -the 'Casino,' in the 'Olborn, afore you go to your hotel, sir, and -then you may say you've seen the best of the bad places of Lunnun. The -Casino is hopen till one o'clock to-night, I think, and we'll just be -in time for the best dance." - -We took a cab again, which dashed up Coventry street, through -Cranbourne street, into Long acre, and up Drury Lane, past the old -theatre of that name, and in a few minutes we descended in the wide, -open space of the Holborn, before the entrance of the Casino, the -fashionable dance-house of London. The street was lined with cabs, and -policemen were thick in the vicinity of the entrance, ordering the men -and women just coming out to pass on, and keep the street clear, a duty -which gained for them a great deal of abuse from the intoxicated women, -who did not want to pass on by any means. The entrance to this place is -through a gaudy, gilded vestibule and down a descent of four or five -steps to a spacious marble floor, which was covered with dancers. The -whole interior was gilded, gold leaf and white predominating above all -other colors. - -The band, as at the other places of evil resort, was placed in the -farthest end gallery, and was an excellent one. The leader wore white -kids and the musicians white vests, and the crash of the instruments -was almost deafening, filling the large space with a wild and not -unpleasing harmony. Attendants in evening dress were on the floor, -making up sets and soliciting the habitues of the place to dance -with the female partners, which were easily found for them. A high -balcony ran all round the hall, which is 100 feet by 75 in dimension, -and in the corners of the saloon, up and down stairs, were cafes and -refreshment bars, which were crowded with customers. The entrance to -this place is only one shilling, and the class of visitors is of a -superior kind to those who go to any other dance-house in London. - -The saloon was really a magnificent one, rich and tasteful in its -decoration, and the women were well and neatly dressed, and very -quiet and well-behaved in their manner. Every woman wore nice gloves, -high-heeled boots, and all of them had the lace frill or ruff now -prevalent in London around their necks. They also wore charms and -lockets and gold watches, and every one was attended by a cavalier. The -men were smoking cigars and flirting, and a number of foreigners were -present and danced incessantly, just as they would at the Mabille or -any Continental garden. In fact, this is the only place in London, with -the exception of Cremorne Gardens, that in any way approaches the mad -gaiety of the Mabille. - -Still, there is a certain English decorum observed here, and any girl -who would get drunk or lift her skirts too high would be expelled -instantly by the master of ceremonies, assisted by the policemen who -are to be found scattered all over the place. Some of the girls will -go up and ask for partners to dance with them, and then, if the latter -wish to give them liquor,--well and good, but they will not solicit -it, because these women affect the fashionable lady as much as their -limited resources will allow. - -[Sidenote: GOOD NIGHT.] - -They are generally the mistresses of men of leisure, and when the -season is at its height a great number of men about town may be -seen here, as spectators, who come from the clubs or the Houses of -Parliament, bored by the ennui of the reading rooms at one place, or -the prosy speeches of members of the other. Some of the men dance with -cigars in their mouths, and whirl around in such a wild manner as to -cause collision with the other couples. Occasionally you will see two -girls waltzing, and men who have sat too long at the dinner-table will, -once in an evening, get up together and dance a "stag dance." But this -is not encouraged by the master of ceremonies, as the dancing of a pair -of male bipeds is not calculated to help the business of the place, and -it is instantly suppressed, amid cheers and laughter. - -The music strikes up for the last gallop, and there is a rush -for partners; the balconies and alcoves and luxurious seats and -marble tables are deserted, and in a moment everything is in a wild -hurly-burly and a confusion and uproar; men and women galloping and -bounding and yelling to the right, and to the left, and as the last -crash of the big drum beats on the ear the passages and doorways are -thronged with the dancers, every man crying for a cab to take himself -and partner somewhere, perhaps they care not where--it is no matter; -and now the place is in darkness, and the policemen having seen the -last of the women leave the doorway, begin their patrol duty, which -will last until day breaks and the stars fall from the London sky, -telling them that they are relieved from their night's watch. - -The detective shakes hand with and leaves me, he to go eastward to -Temple Bar, and I to bed in a remote quarter of the great Babylon, -whose noises and turmoil are now hushed into silence, excepting where a -solitary street-walker, famishing from hunger, or a drunken pedestrian -bars the way, and makes the night resound with insane shouts. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. - - -THE best expression of Protestant Ecclesiastical art in England, and -perhaps in the world, is manifested in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. It -is a stupendous temple rather than a church, and the religious effect -is lost in the interior by the number of tombs erected to admirals, -generals, colonels, and other military and naval heroes. - -When Nelson ordered the decks of the Victory cleared for action at -Trafalgar, he cried out to his lieutenant, Hardy: - -"Now for a peerage or Westminster Abbey." - -But Nelson lies in St. Paul's, and the tomb of England's greatest -soldier--Wellington, is quite near his, under the same lofty nave. -All the great Cathedrals and Abbies of England were built before the -Reformation, and, consequently, St. Paul's is the best and truest proof -of Protestant art in England. - -[Sidenote: WHEN ERECTED AND THE ARCHITECT.] - -The yearly revenues of this Cathedral are L23,422. This does not -include the salaries of the Bishop of London, the Dean of St. Paul's, -four Canons, a Precentor, a Chancellor, Treasurer, Archdeacon of -London, Archdeacon of Middlesex, 29 Canons who do nothing but draw -their salaries, a Divinity Lecturer, a Sub-Dean, 12 Minor Canons, -among whom are a Succentor, Sacrist, Gospeller, Epistolar, Librarian, -Almoner, and Warden, a Commissary, a Registrar and Chapter Clerk, a -Deputy Registrar, a Receiver and Steward, six Vicars, a Choral, and an -Organist; five Bishops' Chaplains, an Examining Chaplain, a Chancellor -of the Diocese, a Secretary to the Bishop of London, and a Registrar -to the Bishop of London at the Cathedral. Altogether about eighty -ecclesiastics who receive salaries from the Cathedral, besides a swarm -of vergers, choristers, and servants of all kinds the salaries of whom -amount to at least L50,000 a year. - -[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.] - -Sir Christopher Wren was the architect of St. Paul's, and the first -stone of the new Cathedral was laid on the site of the old St. -Paul's (which had been destroyed by fire in 1666), in June 1671, and -thirty-nine years afterward, the last stone was laid at the top of the -lantern in 1710, by the son of Sir Christopher Wren, who had succeeded -his father as the architect. - -As St. Peter's at Rome is considered to be the chief temple of Catholic -Christendom, so is St. Paul's entitled to hold the first place in -Protestant Christendom. The whole expense of rebuilding St. Paul's -was L736,752 2s. 3d. for the Cathedral, and L11,202 0s. 6d. for the -stone wall and railings around the Cathedral. The architect received -a beggarly L200 a year during its construction, for his services. The -same architect afterwards designed fifty churches to take the place of -those burnt down in the Great Fire, and they are all standing to-day, I -believe. - -The dimensions of St. Paul's as compared with St. Peter's at Rome, are -as follows: - - St. Paul's. St. Peter's. - Feet. Feet. - Length within 500 669 - Breadth at entrance 100 226 - Front without 180 395 - Breadth at cross 223 442 - Cupola clear 108 139 - Cupola and lantern high 330 432 - Church high 110 146 - Pillars in front 40 91 - Superficial area 84,025 227,069 - -The diameter of the gilt ball is 6 feet 2 inches; the weight 5,600 -lbs., and will contain eight persons; the weight of the cross is 3,360 -lbs. - -The ground on which the present Cathedral stands has, from time -immemorial, been sacred to Divine Worship. There was a Christian church -here as early as the Second century, built, as it is supposed, by the -Romans, which was destroyed during the persecutions of Diocletian, and -again rebuilt, and in the Sixth century it was desecrated by the Pagan -Saxons, who celebrated their Heathenish mysteries in the church. - -It was afterwards richly endowed with lordships by Athelstan, Edgar, -Ethelred, Canute, and Edward the Confessor. The Norman barons, when -they came, made a raid on the property of the church as they did upon -everything they saw in England, and the Saxon priests, half frightened -to death by such violence, had their property returned them by Duke -William, who gave it a charter on his coronation day, cursing all those -who should molest the property of St. Paul's, and blessing those who -should augment its revenues. - -[Sidenote: DESTRUCTION OF OLD ST. PAUL'S.] - -The enumeration of the jewels, and precious stones, and gold and silver -ornaments presented to St. Paul's by its various pious benefactors, -takes up twenty-eight pages of Dugdale's Monasticon. - -The dimensions of Old St. Paul's in the year 1315 were: - - Feet. - Length 690 - Breadth 130 - Height of nave 102 - Length of nave 150 - -The height of the gilt ball on the top of the dome, (which was large -enough to hold ten bushels of corn inside) from the ground, was 520 -feet and it supported a cross, which made the entire height to the top -of the cross, 534 feet. The area occupied by the edifice of Old St. -Paul's was three and a half acres, one and one-half rood and 6 perches. -The walls of the present Cathedral are 1,500 feet in circuit, and -enclose five-eighths of an acre, or about one-fifth of the space of the -old St. Paul's. In fine, the present Cathedral is in every way inferior -to the old one, and in some places it is very tawdy in decoration, -while the Old St. Paul's was in many respects a finer cathedral than -St. Peter's, and twenty feet deeper. - -In 1561 the steeple of Old St. Paul's was burnt down, a few years after -Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, and it was subsequently decided -to rebuild the Cathedral, and Inigo Jones, a far superior architect -to Wren, was chosen for the task. In 1633, Archbishop Laud laid the -first stone of Inigo Jones's Cathedral, which was destroyed by fire in -1666. In 1643 the building was finished at an expense of L100,000. This -Cathedral was architecturally and in every way superior to that built -afterward by Wren, but was as much inferior to the old Cathedral of the -Middle Ages, which Wren sought to improve upon. - -It is believed that modern European Freemasonry was first founded -among the workmen who were employed in rebuilding St. Paul's, from the -fact of a number of the stone masons meeting together during the work -in a social fashion, and from this casual association it is stated -that the Lodge of Antiquity, of which Sir Christopher Wren was Master, -originated, the occasion being the laying of the highest or lantern -stone of the Cathedral in 1710--and it is stated that from this Lodge -of Antiquity all the other Lodges of modern Europe have sprung. - -The Cathedral contains monuments to Nelson, who is buried in a wooden -coffin taken from the mainmast of the French Admiral's ship captured at -the battle of the Nile the very same ship in which the boy Casabianca, -the Admiral's son, "stood on the burning deck, whence all but him had -fled." Nelson lies close to Wellington, and other illustrious men. His -coffin is enclosed in a sarcophagus made by order of Cardinal Wolsey -for Henry VIII. - -Wellington is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral, in a sarcophagus -made of Cornish porphyry, and near him is his old subordinate, the -Irish Sir Thomas Picton, who commanded the Fighting Fifth Division at -Waterloo. Queen Anne, who used to come to St. Paul's in great state -and procession to thank God for the victories won for her by the Duke -of Marlborough, and whom she afterwards betrayed--has a bronze statue -erected in the pediment of the Cathedral. - -Besides these worthies, the tombs of Collingwood, Nelson's friend, -Wren, Rennie, the builder of London Bridge, and Mylne, of Waterloo -Bridge, Dr. Samuel Johnson, who expected to be buried in Westminster -Abbey, and was disappointed, like many others, Sir William Jones, Sir -Astley Cooper, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Turner, the greatest colorist -England has ever produced, Fuseli, Barry, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Opie, -West and other famous painters, John, of Gaunt, Vandyke, Dr. Donne, Sir -C. Hatton, Dean Colet, founder of St. Paul's School, and Sir Nicholas -Bacon are buried in the crypt under St. Faith's--the parish church of -St. Paul's--which is quite contiguous to the latter. - -There are monuments to Bishop Heber, Lord Cornwallis, Nelson, Reynolds, -Johnson, Sir John Moore, Elliott, who defended Gibraltar, Lord Howe, -Rodney, Ponsonby, Admiral Dundas, and a large number beside of their -country's defenders in the Cathedral. - -[Sidenote: PRICES OF ADMISSION.] - -To speak plainly the interior does not look like a church of God at -all. It is simply a huge Pantheon, with monumental effigies, and slabs -indicating the virtues, heroism, gallantry and acts in battle of -innumerable soldiers and sailors who have fought for Britain in times -gone by. The vast Rotunda and the gigantic Dome do not give the idea of -a church, and the pillars and cornices have little in their aspect to -make a spectator feel that he stands in the presence of the Almighty. - -Yet the monuments and the vastness of the Cathedral are worthy of -inspection, though the exterior of the Cathedral is far more imposing -than the interior, owing to the fact that the real height of the walls -of the body of the edifice is marked by a double row of pillars, which -are ranged on top of each other, giving to the spectator an impression -that the Cathedral walls to the roof, exclusive of the dome and cupola, -are twice as high as they are in reality. - -The following are the charges to see the different places in the -Cathedral:--to the body of the church, 2d.; to the Whispering Gallery -and the outside galleries around the dome, 6d.; to the Library, the -Model Room, the Geometrical Staircase in the south turret, and the -Great Bell, which weighs 12,000 pounds, 1s.; to the Ball at the top, -1s. 6d.; to the clock, 2d., and to the vaults 1s., in all 4s. 4d. from -each visitor; which is nothing less than a downright robbery. This is -playing Barnum with a vengeance. - -It was the great bell of St. Paul's which a soldier on the ramparts at -Windsor, twenty miles away, heard striking thirteen strokes one night, -instead of twelve. He was tried for sleeping on his post, found guilty, -and sentenced to death, and would have suffered had it not been for his -stout heart, and his persistent assertion that he heard the bell strike -thirteen instead of twelve strokes. It was proved that the bell did -strike thirteen on the night in question, by the mistake of the ringer, -and thus the soldier was exonerated. - -It was for this same bell that Henry VIII. and a dissolute nobleman -named Partridge, rattled the dice one night; and finally Henry lost the -stake. Partridge having won, died in the same year in an unfortunate -manner, just before he had made up his impious mind to have the bell -melted down. This was looked upon as a judgment of God, for in those -days judgments of God were of common occurrence. - -The grandest sight ever seen under the dome of St. Paul's was the -funeral of Nelson, which took place January 9, 1806. The body was -brought through the streets from Whitehall Stairs, with the King, -Lord Mayor, the Lords of the Admiralty, the Princes of the Blood, the -nobles, prelates and civic companies following, through densely packed -streets, which were almost impassable, for all England was there in -heart, if not in body. The bands played the "Dead March in Saul" during -the afternoon, and minute guns were fired from the Tower and along -the wharves as the body passed. Hardy, Nelson's post-captain, and -forty-eight sailors, who had seen the hero die, surrounded the corpse, -and when the body was taken from the hearse into the vast Cathedral, a -clear space was formed amid all that great sea of faces by the Highland -soldiers of Abercromby, who had been with Nelson in Egypt and at -Aboukir. Above was the immense dome, and from its dark and impenetrable -depths depended a huge octagonal lantern, encircled by innumerable -lamps. - -Then came the words from the lips of the prelate who officiated: - -"I am the Resurrection and the Life, and he who believeth in me -though he were dead, yet shall he rise again," the mighty organ -bursting forth--and out of all that vast multitude went forth a great, -tremendous sob as the body was lowered into the grave enshrouded by the -oak which came from the enemies' ship, and Nelson's flag, which he had -borne at his masthead in victory so often was also about to be lowered, -when suddenly the forty-eight sailors of his vessel, some of whom had -carried his lifeless body from the deck to the cockpit--as if moved by -one impulse, closed around the grave, rent the flag in pieces, each man -securing a piece of the sacred emblem upon his person, as a testament -of the greatest hero England ever saw, or ever will see again. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -GOING TO THE PLAY. - - -THERE can be no doubt but that London is a city much given to -amusement, and I question if there can be found another city which -spends more money and with a better grace, to support music and the -drama. - -It is very true that in a great degree the cheap amusement halls of -London are of the very lowest kind to be found anywhere, but then the -reader must understand that the greater number of theatre going and -music-loving people never enter these haunts, which have won so much -infamy among strangers. I refer, of course, to such places as the -Argyle, the Alhambra, Cremorne, the Casino, and other resorts of the -kind. - -I think that the Londoners as compared with the Parisians, give a great -deal more money for the amusements which they attend than the Parisians -do for theirs. - -Lately the French government has been compelled to build for the -delectation of the Parisians, a splendid opera house, and besides -the cost of this structure, which was two million of dollars, the -government of France pays the following annual subventions or donations -for opera alone: to the Italian Opera 120,000 francs, French Opera -900,000 francs and 250,000 francs to the Opera Comique, beside 200,000 -francs annually to the Conservatoire, where music is taught. - -In London, however, the support of such places is voluntary, and no -state interference is dreamed of, save that of the Lord Chamberlain -who is a sort of censor, and whose duty is chiefly to see that the -ballet-girls do not abbreviate their skirts too much. - -[Illustration: "BEAUTIFUL MISS NEILSON."] - -The most popular and lady-like actress in London is Miss Neilson, who -performs at the Lyceum, the Princess's and Queen's Theatres. This young -and charming actress is a favorite with all classes, owing to her -perfect skill as an artiste, and her reputation is without reproach. -She is known as "Beautiful Miss Neilson," and is of medium height, -with dark, languishing eyes, in which the fire of genius burns, with a -steady flame. Miss Kate Bateman, now Mrs. Dr. Crowe, is also a great -favorite with the Londoners, and most deservedly so, for she has not -her equal on the English stage in her distinctive line of characters. -Who that ever saw the last act of "Leah," or the "Prison Scene" in -"Mary Warner," will deny her terrible power as an actress. The English -capital is divided into two camps as to the merits of the rival -comedians--Lawrence, Toole and John Baldwin Buckstone. Alfred Wigan, -and our own "Dundreary Sothern," stand high in the ranks of their -profession, and no English comedian ever met with a more successful -triumph in his own land than that earned by John S. Clarke at the -Strand Theatre in 1869-70. French plays are very well received at the -St. James Theatre--and I had the pleasure of listening to Schneider, in -"Barbe Bleue" and "Orphee aux Enfer," who was supported by Dupuis, the -celebrated tenor. Having visited many theatres in England, I can safely -avow that I never saw an English comedy, or a play dealing with English -characters and English homes, performed in better taste, or with more -fidelity, than I have seen like plays produced at Wallack's Theatre, in -New York City. - -[Sidenote: FULL DRESS REQUIRED.] - -Nearly all London theatres except the Queen's, in Long Acre, are dark -and gloomy, and in the opera houses, the old style of erecting the -private boxes or loges tier over tier and then hanging them with red -velvet, gives a peculiarly heavy look to the interiors. Besides, prices -for reserved seats are awfully high, and unless a man is the possessor -of a pretty large private fortune, he cannot think of indulging in -opera at all. As a proof of this I will here subjoin the prices at -the Haymarket Opera House or "Her Majesty's," as it is called. The -performances were Italian, German, and French, Grand Opera, and ballet: - -Tariff of prices for private boxes: Pit boxes, 150 guineas for -the season; grand tier, 200 guineas; one pair, 150 guineas; two -pair, 100 guineas; orchestra stalls, 25 guineas; pit tickets, 10s. -6d.; amphitheatre stalls, 5s.; gallery, 2s. 6d. Opera on Tuesdays, -Thursdays, and Saturdays, and special extra nights. No extra charge -for booking places. Evening dress to boxes, stalls and pit. Gratuities -to boxkeepers optional. Doors open at eight; performance commences at -half-past eight. - -These prices, it will be seen, are simply frightful. Then, unless you -go in the gallery, you must be in full dress swallowtail and white -choker, which is not relished by Americans, and particularly by those -from the back-woods, who are not very familiar with evening dress -coats. Of course the large sums are the subscriptions for a season of -perhaps thirty nights. - -At the Covent Garden Opera House, the tariff of prices is as follows: - -Private boxes: Second tier, 2-1/2 guineas; first tier, near the stage, -3 guineas; ditto, at the side, 4 guineas; ditto, in the centre, 5 -guineas; grand tier, 6 guineas; pit tier, 5 guineas; pit stalls, 21s.; -pit, 7 s.; amphitheatre, 2s. 6d.; amphitheatre stalls, front row, -10s. 6d.; second row 7s.; all other rows, 5s. No extra charge for -booking places. Evening dress to all parts except the amphitheatre and -amphitheatre stalls. No gratuities allowed to boxkeepers. Doors open at -eight; performance commences at half-past eight. - -In most of the theatres in London hideous old women or shabby looking -men attend in the lobbies, and wait upon the people who have need for -their services during the night, demanding a fee for every trifling -errand, and in a first-class place of amusement, a boxkeeper would be -insulted if offered less than a shilling for turning a key. - -And then there are terrible young blackguards who insist upon the -stranger's buying oranges, walnuts or apples from them, or else he must -take their chaff as it is given. - -But the biggest swindle of all is, that a man must pay two pence for -the programme of the play, or three pence or four pence, as the case -may be, and yet I have heard Englishmen tell me with audacity that they -lived in a free country. - -And now before I proceed to tell anything of the London theatres, I -will give a table of the prices and the time of opening doors, with the -location of each place of amusement for the benefit of those who may -visit London: - -[Sidenote: ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE.] - -The Adelphi, 411 Strand; admission, seven o'clock--6s., 5s., 3s., 2s., -1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; Astley's, Westminster Road, Lambeth; seven -o'clock--5s., 3s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; Britannia, Hoxton Old -Town, will hold 3,400 persons; half-past six o'clock--2s., 1s., 6d., -and 3d.; City of London, 36 Norton Folgate; seven o'clock--2s., 1s., -and 6d.; Covent Garden, Bow street; eight o'clock--7s., 5s., 3s., 2s. -6d., 2s., and 1s. It was built in 1849, with Floral Hall adjoining. -Its size, 240 feet by 123 feet, and 100 feet high, equals that of La -Scala, the largest in Europe. Drury Lane, seven o'clock--7s., 5s., 2s., -1s., and 6d.; Grecian, City Road, seven o'clock--1s., 6d., and 3d.; -Haymarket, seven o'clock--7s. 5s., 3s., 2s., and 1s.; Her Majesty's, -corner of Haymarket, eight o'clock--7s., 5s., 3s., 2s. 6d., 2s., -and 1s.; Holborn, High Holborn, nearly opposite Chancery Lane, seven -o'clock--6s., 4s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; Lyceum, Strand, seven -o'clock--6s., 5s., 3s., 2s., and 1s.; Olympic, Wych street, Drury -Lane, half-past seven o'clock--6s., 4s., 2s., 1s.; Marylebone, Portman -Market, seven o'clock--3s., 2s., 1s., and 6d.; Pavilion, Whitechapel, -half-past six o'clock--2s., 1s., and 6d.; Prince of Wales, Tottenham -Court Road, seven o'clock--6s., 3s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and 6d.; Princess's, -Oxford street, seven o'clock--6s., 5s., 4s., 2s., and 1s.; Queen's, -Long Acre, formerly St. Martin's Hall, seven o'clock--6s., 5s., 4s., -2s. 6d., 2s., and 1s.; Royalty or Soho, Dean street, Oxford street, -half-past seven o'clock--5s., 3s., 1s., and 6d.; Royal Amphitheatre, -High Holborn, west of Red Lion street, seven o'clock--4s., 2s., 1s. -6d., and 1s.; Sadler's Wells, Clerkenwell, seven o'clock--3s., 2s., -1s., and 6d.; Standard, Shoreditch, half-past six o'clock--3s., 1s. -6d., 1s., 6d., and 3d., burnt down in 1866, is rebuilding; St. James's, -King street, St. James's Square, half-past seven o'clock--4s., 3s., -2s., and 6d.; Strand, Strand, seven o'clock--5s., 3s., 1s. 6d., and 6.; -Surrey, Blackfriar's Road, seven o'clock--3s., 2s., 1s. 6d., 1s., and -6d.; Victoria, New Cut, Lambeth, half-past six o'clock--1s. 6d., 1s., -6d., and 3d. - -Drury Lane, which was built in 1812, will seat 1,700 persons, and its -vestibule and saloons are as fine as any in Europe. Private boxes in -the London theatres range in price for a single seat at from one guinea -to four pounds, or from $5 to $20 a night. The Olympic seats 2,000; the -Adelphi 1,500; Astley's Circus 4,000, and the gallery of the Victoria -will seat 2,000, while the Pit of the Pavilion, a murderous hole in -Whitechapel, seats 1,500 roughs. - -Astley's is a sort of Hippodrome for spectacles, and is much loved -by young London for the prancing of its horses and its grand shows. -Astley's is at Lambeth, on the Surrey side of the Thames, and is in -the heart of the democratic quarter of London. The present building -is the fourth erected upon this site. The first was one of the -nineteen theatres built by Philip Astley, and was opened in 1773, -burnt in 1794; rebuilt 1795, burnt 1803; rebuilt 1804, burnt June 8, -1841, within two hours, the house being principally constructed from -old ship-timber. It was rebuilt, and opened April 17, 1843, and has -since been enlarged. There is only one other theatre in London for -equestrianism; and the stud of trained horses numbers from fifty to -sixty. - -Philip Astley, originally a cavalry soldier, commenced horsemanship in -1763, in an open field at Lambeth. He built his first theatre partly -with L60, the produce of an unowned diamond ring which he found on -Westminster Bridge. Andrew Ducrow, subsequently proprietor of the -Amphitheatre, was born at the Nag's Head, Borough, in 1793, when his -father, Peter Ducrow, a native of Bruges, was "the Flemish Hercules" -at Astley's. The fire in 1841 arose from ignited wadding, such as -caused the destruction of the old Globe Theatre in 1613, and Covent -Garden Theatre in 1808. Andrew Ducrow died January 26, 1842, of mental -derangement and paralysis, produced by the above catastrophe. - -Covent Garden theatre is the second one built on its site,--it being -a strange fact that nearly all the theatres in London have been burnt -down from time to time. It was here that the "O.P.," or "Old Prices," -riots took place in 1804, and continued for seventy-seven nights, the -management having made an attempt to raise the prices, but at last they -had to back down before the popular storm. Incledon, Charles Kemble, -Mrs. Glover, George Frederick Cooke, Miss O'Neill, Macready, Farren, -Fanny Kemble, Adelaide Kemble and Edmund Kean have strutted their brief -hours on its stage, but now the house is entirely devoted to opera. - -Drury Lane Theatre, or "Old Drury," as it is sometimes known, and was -at one time called the "Wilderness" by Mrs. Siddons, is situated in -one of the lowest quarters of London, where vice, crime, poverty and -drunkenness abound, but still it is frequented by the best classes of -the play-going public. Here, one night in August, 1869, I saw "Formosa" -played to a very full house, the excitement about the Harvard and -Oxford race having culminated about this time. It was then under the -direction of Mr. Dion Boucicault, who has made and lost two or three -fortunes in the management of theatres. All the famous disciples of -the histrionic art who live in English dramatic history, have appeared -during the last two hundred years on the boards of Old Drury. - -In 1799 sixteen persons were trodden to death in an alarm which took -place at the Haymarket theatre. - -There is a little theatre called the Adelphi, in the Strand, near Cecil -street where I had rooms for some time, and this little dirty theatre, -which has a vestibule like the entrance to a New York lager bier -saloon, has been very much frequented by Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. -This royal lady has some queer tastes, and among them is a fondness for -broad farce or low comedy. She is also fond of the piano, which she -learned from a Mrs. Anderson, and sometimes when she plays she likes -to be accompanied by two or three of the most distinguished violinists -that can be procured. The Queen used to sing, and in the old days, -when the world was new to her and before she had been widowed, it was -the custom at the nice little private parties which she gave, to have -Prince Albert sing with her, while the Hon. Mrs. Grey, wife of her -Secretary (and a lady who had a good deal of work in helping to compose -the Queen's memoirs), performed on the piano. - -In every place of amusement in London, be it high or low, there is -a place set apart for the Queen's family, so that should she take a -notion to visit the most out of the way place, she may be certain of -being able to secure a secluded nook or loge where she will not be -intruded upon. - -[Sidenote: A GIN PUBLIC IN THE NEW CUT.] - -In the vicinity of all the theatres of the lower grade in and about -London, I found nests of cheap public houses or drinking bars, and -toward nine or ten o'clock, while the performances are at the height of -dramatic agony, these resorts are crowded, with persons of both sexes, -who have slipped out of the amusement halls to get a pint of beer or -"tuppence" worth of "gin neat." Gin "neat" is gin without water or -sugar, and this drink is very popular among women of the lowest class -in London. - -[Illustration: A GIN PUBLIC IN THE NEW CUT.] - -In Waterloo Road, close upon the Victoria theatre, I saw one of -these "gin publics," the doors of which were choked with customers -passing in and out from the adjoining theatre. There were negroes, -Malays and Chinamen, with an overflowing majority of Cockneys, in the -"public," all of whom were busily engaged in assuaging their thirst, -or firing up their stomach furnaces. Not a little puzzled was I, to -see women with small children in their arms, drinking alongside of -sooty coal-bargemen--negroes, and young children, who had been driven -by their miserable parents to beg coppers wherewith to procure them -gin. It was a dreadful scene to witness, and the smiling fiend behind -the bar was positively fat and enjoying the haggardness in some of his -customers' faces. - -[Sidenote: IN THE GALLERY OF THE "VIC."] - -I had been told that there was a theatre on the Surrey side of the -river, in which, if I visited it, I might find all the unwashed -elements of the London democracy at home, and one evening I found -myself before its door, after a long journey. - -This was the "Royal Victoria Theatre," New Cut, Lambeth. The Bowery, in -its palmiest and most glorious days, could not hold a candle to this -histrionic temple. Its tragedies and dramas of the highway robber and -George Barnewell apprentice school are not, perhaps, to be equaled in -any theatre in the world. The Porte St. Martin, in Paris, is a mere -training-school of horror compared with this, the most bloodthirsty of -places of amusement. There were two entrances--one for the aristocracy -of Lambeth, the other for the underfed plough-holders, or, rather, -for the Costermongers. The aristocratic entrance had a dark, dirty -box-office, illumined by a pair of gas-jets that could hardly find air -to flutter in, so strong was the stench of men and filthy materialism. - -Over the door of the box-office was a sign, "Pit, 6d.; gallery, 3d.; -private stage boxes, 2s." The crowds pushed hard and fast to get an -entrance. They came in swarms of fustian and corduroys, with unkempt -hair, the bosoms of some of the costerwomen almost laid bare with -the shoving and crushing; the lads and men wearing heavy hob-nailed -shoes, such shoes as are never seen in America excepting on the feet -of emigrants, who stream through the gates of Castle Garden from the -waste of Atlantic waters--and these heavy hob-nailed shoes did wonders -in hurrying the progress of the front ranks, by repeated applications -to the calves and ankles of those who had the good or bad luck to stand -nearest the door of the theatre. - -After a severe struggle, in which some greasy corduroys are ripped and -several caps lost, and a number of babies squeezed--who are in the -arms of girls hardly old enough, one would think, to be their lawful -mothers--we get clear of the mob, shouting, screaming, and whistling, -and pass up the dirty, rickety stairs to the three-penny Gallery of -the "Vic," as the theatre is called by the class who frequent it; and -now a sight presents itself to the writer such as is seldom seen, and -never in any city but London. - -[Illustration: THE GALLERY OF THE "VIC."] - -I lost my hat on the stairs, and in the crush I discovered it in the -hands of a mutinous boy, about a dozen steps below me, who threatened -if I did not give him a sixpence "to kick the brains hout hof hit." I -give the truly amusing boy sixpence and the hat is flung up to me much -the worse for wear, while a young girl with a dowdy bonnet and a face -swelled with gin asks me in chaff if I am fond of "periwinkles." - -The gallery of the Victoria is one of the largest in the world, and -will hold, on a modest computation, 2,200 people. - -[Sidenote: THE CHORUS OF "IMMENSEKOFF."] - -Five minutes after I found myself in the gallery; it was crowded and -not a seat could be had, for these people gather at the theatre doors, -and fill the surrounding streets and lanes for an hour before the place -is advertised to be open. - -As I have no seat and look rather out of place, several cheerful young -ladies offer to let me sit in their laps, and facetious remarks are -made on the different articles of apparel which I have on me. Being -a very warm evening, nearly all of the males, men and boys, are in -their shirt-sleeves, and it grieves one to think that many of these -shirts are sadly in need of washing, and not a few want repairing. The -boys and men are hardly seated when they fall into something like the -Old Bowery tramp--only that here they all seem to be acquainted with -the same slang song, and it is sung by them in a loud, full, and not -unmelodious chorus, with a vehemence that shakes the old timbers of the -house. - -In the well-ordered pit of the Bowery theatre in other days, if I -remember right, such truly scandalous conduct would have instantly been -suppressed by the strong arm and heavy stinging cane of the brawny -fellow who stood with his back to the stage, immediately behind the -orchestra; his watchful eyes surveying every rugged face in the pit, -and ready with his powerful arm to rain blows like a storm on the -shoulders of the brawler. - -I should like to see a man with a brawny arm and cane try the same -thing on the audience in the gallery of the "Vic." I am sure he -would be thrown over the rail into the lower part of the theatre, -particularly if he were to interrupt a chorus. Many of the men and -lads, who have their entire week's earnings in their pockets, are -very drunk already, though it is only half-past seven o'clock of the -Saturday night. The chorus which they are singing is that of a popular -street and music-hall song, which every one is now humming in London. -They sung it as follows: - - "Ha! my dear frens, pray 'ow de doo, - Hi 'opes I sees yer well, - Peer'aps yer don't know 'oo I is; - Well, then, I'm the Heastern swell. - My chambers is in Shoreditch, - And I fancy I'm a Toff; - From top to toe I _really_ think - I looks--Immensekoff. - Immensekoff--Immensekoff, - Behold me a Shoreditch Toff-- - A toff, a toff, a Shoreditch Toff, - Hand I thinks myself--Immensekoff." - -"Come hup there, ye lazy fiddlers, and give us our thrip-pence worth," -shouts an irate lad to the orchestra, who are scraping and rosining -their instruments. - -"Yes, give us moosic for our money, old bald head," shouts another -young ruffian to the despised leader of the orchestra, who responds -with a wave, and then we have "God Save the Queen," done after the -style popular in the New Cut. - -When this is over a red-headed fellow, with his arms bare and -perspiring like the lower animal that he is, cries out loudly, "Now -for the next varse, and give us a good chorious," and then they all -commence again: - - "Vith the fair sec', bless 'em, need I say-- - That hi am 'number Von;' - Hits _really_ quite a bore to me - The way the gals do run-- - Not away from me--but hafter me. - Hah--you may laugh and scoff, - But I can tell yer--that the gals - Think me--Immensekoff. - Immensekoff--Immensekoff." - -And so on for five mortal verses the whole mad swarm of dirty, ignorant -wretches, keeping time with hands and feet until my head ached, and -I went down the narrow stairs, while a number of polite young ladies -inquired as I passed, "if I had been sea-sick." The descent to the -lower part of the theatre was about forty-feet, down a dimly lighted -stairs, and I found myself in the family circle, as it would be called -in America, the seats being of planed planks without cushions, while -the aisles were crowded with people, as above in the three-penny -gallery. - -[Sidenote: THE "TERROR OF LONDON."] - -Here the admission was, I think, a shilling, and the audience was a -little more select, yet not enough to cause remark from a stranger. -The doorkeeper told me he could get me a seat in a private box on the -stage for two shillings, and I followed him through another dirty, dark -passage, my feet crushing the shells of walnuts and filberts, which -here take the place of the old time peanuts. - -I was solicited to buy sandwiches of a very ancient aspect by several -men, and pigs' feet and sheep's trotters by a number of women, at a -penny and "tuppence" apiece; and a boy with a large flat basket offered -me a pint of periwinkles for "three ha'pence," "all fresh, sir;" and -finally I got into the box on the stage, which gave me a very good view -of the entire theatre and its sweltering audience. Pit, circle, and -"three-penny" gallery were packed with human heads, tier upon tier, in -a manner that seemed to defy description. - -The walls were rough, and in some places but poorly papered, and in -the corners of the upper gallery, flirtation, small-talk, and chaff -went on so audibly that I could hear almost what was spoken, or rather -cried out from the gallery, although I was at the other extremity of -the building. Great anxiety was manifested to have the curtain hoisted -by the unruly audience, and not a little shouting was done to make the -fiddlers hurry up their overture. - -The piece was called the "Terror of London," and it depicted the life -of an apprentice who had departed from the ways of honesty to take up -with bad companions in pot-houses, and was in four acts. The apprentice -was of course the hero of the drama, and the author of the piece -played the character of the abused apprentice. Whenever the apprentice -kicked a policeman or threw one of his pursuers down a dark trap-door, -there was great applause of his dexterity; but when the villain of the -piece, a snaky-looking wretch, unworthy to breathe the "a-i-r-r-r of -heving," slapped his hands after the commission of a fresh crime, he -was received with derisive shouts and yells, which he, however, took as -compliments to his histrionic skill. - -The heroine of the piece was in love with the unfortunate and -dissipated apprentice, and did nothing but clasp her hands and tear her -hair at his "goings on." But at last she was roused to fury when the -villain of the play followed the dishonest apprentice to his mother's -grave to give him up to the police. The apprentice was discovered lying -across a painted marble tombstone, and when the police entered, led on -by the heavy villain, the heroine threw her body between him and his -enemies, and drawing her form to its full height, she declaimed thus: - -"The fust m-a-n who places his polyuted touch on the form of my nobil -up-e-r-en-tis, though he were doubly armed with the king's authority, -shall find his fate on the point of this pon-yard." - -After this necessary outburst several more people were killed, and the -whole concluded with the dying scene at Tyburn, the gallows, and the -culprit, the bowl of ale, and the apprentice asking his friends if they -would not prevent him from dying a disgraceful death. Here he makes an -attempt to escape, and is pistoled admirably by the villain, who is -convenient, and who is in turn pistoled by the apprentice's sweetheart, -she being also ready at the proper moment for action. Then the curtain -went down, and a stout girl, with fat legs and a green pair of tights, -danced a hornpipe, which was loudly encored, the young lady being -encouraged by such remarks as: - -"Do you want some kidney pies?" - -"Kick up, Miss Jenny." - -"Don't mind the shoes; we pays for that." - -"Tell the fiddlers to give it to yer 'otter--vy, yer not dancing at -all!" - -[Sidenote: "DO YOU WANT SOME KIDNEY PIES?"] - -Every one in the theatre seemed to be on speaking terms with each -and all of the performers, and, in some instances, the latter would -answer the chaff back merrily, an incessant fire of replies and -counter-replies being kept up that was amusing, if not edifying. While -the dancing was going on an old woman made her entrance into the box -where I was sitting, and asked if "I didn't want some porter or kidney -pies." At the "Vic" it is the custom to eat during the performance, and -drink porter or beer, which is brought by old women and boys between -the acts, and sold at four-pence a bottle. Then the dancing girl -retired gracefully amid great applause. She was succeeded by a comic -singer, who sang, in a green coat and kerseys, a song, the burden of -which was: - - "Wait for the turn of the tide, boys, - For Rome wasn't built in a day: - Whatever through life may betide, boys, - Why, wait for the turn of the tide." - -This concluded the performance, and the curtain went down, and the -lights in the dirty lamps being extinguished, the roughest audience of -the roughest play-house in London wandered right and left, up and down -the New Cut to their homes, or else they stopped to drink and drain in -the pot-houses, or choke the thoroughfare to buy in the street market, -which was now--eleven o'clock--at the height of commercial prosperity. -Eleven o'clock tolled from St. Paul's as I repassed Waterloo Bridge -back to the city, and the Thames swam and bubbled calmly against the -stone piers of the massive bridge. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET. - - -WHEN a foot passenger crossing London Bridge looks down the river to -the left, he cannot help noticing a little cluster of masts tapering -upward from a series of small hulks and craft which lie quite near to -each other, in the shadow of a long building of part brick and stone, -the river side of which is open and crowded with people of both sexes -from an early hour of the morning. - -This is the famous Billingsgate Fish Market, which has given or -originated a synonym for blackguardism and low abuse all the world over. - -The market for many years consisted of a collection of wooden pent -houses, rude sheds, and benches, and the business formerly commenced -at three o'clock in the summer and at five in winter. In the latter -season it was a strange scene, its large, flaming lamps of oil, showing -a crowd of fish venders and fish buyers struggling amid a Babel din of -vulgar tongues, which has rendered Billingsgate a by-word for abuse -and foul-mouthed language. Addison has referred to the Billingsgate -fish-wives and to their quarrels as "the debates which frequently arise -among ladies of the British fishery." - -[Sidenote: PROFIT ON FISH.] - -The old style Billingsgate fish-woman wore a strong, stiff gown tucked -up, with a large quilted petticoat; her hair, cap and bonnet flattened -into a mass from carrying fish baskets upon her head; her coarse -cracked voice, her bloated face and her large brawny limbs completing -the picture of the old Billingsgate "fish fag." - -This virago has disappeared and a new market building was erected in -1849. A stone river-wall was constructed where an old mud bank formerly -existed and the surface was filled in and levelled to equalize the -grade in Thames street on which the market has its frontage. Within, -the ground was excavated and formed into a lower market, which has -two subterranean openings on the river, for the sale of shell-fish, -oysters, muscles, prawns, periwinkles, and whelks. These shell-fish are -kept in large half puncheons bound with iron hoops. The market has a -superficial area of 2,700 feet, but the drainage in the lower market -is very bad as it is below the level of the river. The upper market is -open to the public through two large arched apertures, 400 feet wide, -and below it is bounded by eighteen dark arches which are used by the -salesmen as depositories for their goods. These arches are entirely -without ventilation and even the market itself, thronged as it is for -twelve hours of the day, receives no air but that which comes in a -chance way from the already vitiated atmosphere of the neighborhood. -The market is covered on the side next to London Bridge by a roof of -rough glass. The light iron columns which serve to support the roof, -also serve to divide the market into a series of narrow gangways, and -within these gangways the dealers take their stand to vend and auction -the fish every morning, book and pencil in hand, and their aprons -hanging from their chests to their knees. There is a clock tower on -the building and a bell which is rung at five o'clock every morning to -announce the opening of the market, and then is witnessed a general -rush like the retreat of an army. The railways alone carry to this -market annually, 15,000 tons of fish, besides the amount which is -brought by water. - -Five hundred years ago this market produced a rental of forty-six -pounds per annum; to-day there is a firm which has a small stall whose -profits on fish amount to L10,000 a year, and the good-will of one -fish merchant in the market, I believe, was purchased last year for -the large sum of L30,000. About the same time that the market rental -was forty-six pounds a year, the best soles sold for three pence per -dozen, the best turbot for six pence each, the best mackerel one penny -each, the best pickled herrings one penny the score; fresh oysters -two pennies a gallon, and the best eels two pennies per quarter of a -hundred. William Wallace, the Scottish hero, was then a prisoner in the -Tower, and Bannockburn had not been won by Bruce, and the ink on the -Magna Charta was hardly dry. - -In 1548, although the king of England was a Protestant, and the -government a Protestant one, yet an act was passed which imposed a -penalty on those who ate flesh on fish days. This was to protect the -trade in the fisheries, however, and not to interfere with the private -religious opinions of the people. The consumption of fish in the -household of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in the year 1314, was 6,800 -stock fish, consisting of ling, haberdine, &c., besides six barrels of -sturgeon, the whole valued at L60 of the money of that period. - -It is four o'clock of a summer morning at Billingsgate market and all -London is as yet solitary, and the streets are unpeopled by traffic -or pedestrians. The sight from London Bridge is magnificent on such a -morning. In the words of the poet who looked upon this same scene: - - "This city now doth like a garment wear - The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, - Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie, - Open unto the fields and to the sky - All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. - Never did sun more beautifully steep - In his first splendor valley, rock, or hill; - Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! - The river glideth at its own sweet will; - Dear God! The very houses seem asleep, - And all that mighty heart is still." - -Riot, profligacy, want and misery have retired, and labor has scarcely -risen. As we approach Billingsgate, the profound silence of the dawn is -now and then broken by the wheels of the fishmonger's light cart, which -is proceeding to the market. - -[Illustration: AN AUCTION AT BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET.] - -The whole area of the market, brilliantly lighted with streaming -flames of gas, comes into view. One might fancy that the stalls were -dressed for a feast. The tables of the salesmen, which are arranged -from one side of the covered area to the other, afford ample space -for clustering throngs of buyers around each. The stalls appear to -form one table, but the portion assigned to each is nine feet by six. -Each salesman sits with his back to another, and between them is a -wooden shelf, so that they are apparently enclosed in a recess, but -by this arrangement they escape having their pockets picked, a common -occurrence where there is a large crowd. There are about 200 fish -salesmen in London and half of that number have stalls in this market -for which a pretty good rent is paid. - -Proceeding to the bottom of the market, we perceive the masts of the -fishing boats rising out of the fog which envelopes the river. The -boats lie considerably below the level of the market, and the descent -is by several ladders to a floating wharf, which rises and falls with -the tide, and is therefore always on the same level with the boats. -About fifty of these craft are moored alongside of each other. - -[Sidenote: THE OYSTER BOATS.] - -The oyster boats are crowded together by themselves. The buyer goes on -board the oyster boat, as oysters are not sold in the ordinary, morning -market. The fishermen and porters are busily engaged in arranging their -cargoes for quick delivery as soon as the market begins. Two or three -minutes before five the salesmen take their seats in the enclosed -recesses, watching each other eagerly. The porters with their dirty -canvass aprons and their huge scooped hats stand ready with their -baskets on their heads, but not one of them is allowed, however, to -have the advantage of his fellows by an unfair start, or to overstep -a line marked out by the clerk of the market. The instant the clock -strikes the melee commences and then woe to the bystander who blocks up -the way--he is knocked down and trampled on, and fish of all sizes are -spilled over his prostrate body, while his eyes, hands, limbs and other -members, are blessed with great fervor by the porters. - -Each porter now rushes at his utmost speed to the respective salesman -to whom his basket is consigned. The largest codfish are brought in -baskets which contain four; those somewhat smaller are brought in -boxes; and smaller sizes in dozens, and still larger numbers, but -always in baskets. All fish are sold by the "tail," or by number -excepting salmon, which are sold by weight, and oysters and shell-fish -by measure. The baskets are instantly emptied on the tables, and the -porters hasten for a fresh supply. It is the fisherman's interest to -bring his whole cargo into the market as soon as possible, for if the -quantity brought to market be large, prices will fall the more quickly, -and if they are high, buyers purchase less freely, and he may miss the -sale. As, for example, a boat load of mackerel from Brighton sold at -Billingsgate for forty guineas per hundred, or seven shillings each, -an extraordinary price--while the next boat load produced but thirteen -guineas per hundred. - -The majority of the fishing vessels are sloops and schooners under -fifty tons each, and of this number the greater part belong to ports on -the coast as follows: - - Yarmouth 630 - Faversham 416 - Brighton 60 - Dartmouth 357 - Southampton 193 - Maldon 218 - Rochester 363 - Colchester 318 - Dover 180 - Rye 80 - Ramsgate 170 - -Salmon is conveyed by rail in large boxes, covered with pounded ice, -which preserves them fresh for six days, and sometimes in the summer -months as many as 3,000 boxes of salmon are received at Billingsgate -in a day. The salmon are sent to agents to be sold on commission at -a profit of five to ten per cent., the agent taking the risk of bad -debts, and the price varies from fivepence to a shilling a pound, -according to the supply in market. - -[Sidenote: BREAKFAST AT BILLINGSGATE.] - -The best time to see Billingsgate is of a Friday morning between six -and seven o'clock. The regular fish merchants come first and are served -first, and then their places are taken by the Costermongers, or street -pedlars, who buy the refuse, or what is left. Lower Thames street, -above and below London Bridge, is sure to be crammed full of fish carts -and fish porters running hither and thither with baskets of fish upon -their shoulders, and it is noticeable that the lower part of every -building is open and the spaces filled with fish of all kinds, chiefly -smoked and preserved fish, which are exposed in large baskets and boxes -for sale. The proprietors of these places, some of whom do business in -salted and smoked fish with every part of the civilized globe, stand -at the doors of their wholesale shops with large aprons upon them, -although their bank accounts may amount to scores of thousands of -pounds. - -Up Fish street as far as the monument are long lines of carts waiting -for fish, drawn by asses and horses, and around the monument may be -seen a perfect circle of carts guarded by ragged boys, some of whom -contract to take care of a dozen carts at a time for a penny a cart, -while the Costers are purchasing the fish. - -Formerly the consumption of spirits here among the buyers of fish was -very great, but now at a very early hour in the morning a hot cup of -coffee with a slice of bread and butter can be procured at any of the -numerous coffee stalls for twopence-halfpenny. - -The men and women are shouting and hallooing at each other as if they -were mad. Old gentlemen who have a good appetite and come here to make -a market for their families, are very often seen to enter the tavern -called the "Three Tuns," which is in the market enclosure, and at which -a fish dinner or fish breakfast of three dishes can be procured for -eighteen pence. It is very puzzling at first to understand the cries, -which come hard and fast from the mouths of salesmen and hucksters, -costers and pedlars of newspapers, frequenters of coffee stands, and -other trades people. - -"Now, you mussel buyers," shouts one, "come along--come along--now's -your time for fine, fat, greasy, mussels." - -"All alive! al-ive oh--alive oh! Han-some cod! best in the market. All -alive oh!" - -"Y-e-o--y-e-o! Y-e-o--here's your fine Yarmouth Bloaters! Who's the -buyer?" - -"Here you are, guv'-ner; splendid whiting! some of the right sort." - -"M-o-rning _T-e-l-e-graph_, one penny. _Standard_ and _Times_." - -"Turbot! all alive--turbot." - -"Glass o' nice peppermint! this cold morning--ha'penny a glass!" - -"Here you are at yer hown price! Fine soles, Oh!" - -"W-oy, w-o-y! Now's your time--preguzzling sprouts--all large and no -small 'uns." - -"H-u-l-l-o, h-u-l-l-o, here, I say--bewteeful lobsters--good and -cheap--fine cock crabs, all alive, hoh." - -"Never mind 'im, guvner; he'll cheat yer; look at this 'ere -turbot--have that lot for a pound--come and see--now don't go away, -guvner--the're preshis cheap, and filling at the price." - -"Had-had-had-had-haddick--all fresh and good." - -"Here, this way--this way for splendid Skate--Skate O--Skate O." - -"Currant and meat puddin's, a penny each and werry 'ot." "Here's food -for the belly and clothes for the back, but I sell food for the mind" -(shouts the newspaper vender). "Here's smelt O!" "Here ye are, fine -Finney haddick!" "Hot soup! nice pea soup! a-all hot! hot! Ahoy! ahoy -here! live plaice! all alive O! Now or never! whelk! whelk! whelk! -whelk! Who'll buy brill O! brill O! Capes! waterproof capes! sure to -keep the wet out! a shilling a piece! Eels O! eels O! Alive! alive -O!" "Fine flounders, a shilling a lot! Who'll buy this prime lot of -flounders? Shrimps! shrimps! fine shrimps! Wink! wink! wink! Hi! hi-i! -here you are, just eight eels left, only eight! O ho! O ho! this -way--this way--this way! Fish alive! alive! alive O!" - -[Sidenote: THE CAPITAL INVESTED.] - -"Fresh do you call these?" says one who finds the price of a lot of -sprats too high for him. "Look a-how they rolls hup the vites of their -heyes, as hif they vanted a little rain. I should say they hadn't a -blessed smell of water for a week past." - -"Think I've been a robbin' of somebody?" says another. "Vy, bless you, -all the whole bilin' of my customers hasn't got so much among 'em as -would buy the lot--no, not if they sold their veskits." - -As many as two thousand persons breakfast at the coffee houses in the -neighborhood of Billingsgate every morning, all of whom are engaged in -the fish business. - -The following estimate has been made of the gross amount of fish of -different kinds, sold at Billingsgate market in the course of the year: - - Salmon 750,000 - Live Codfish 600,000 - Haddock 3,000,000 - Flounders 420,000 - Eels 12,000,000 - Yarmouth Bloaters 200,000,000 - Red Herrings 75,000,000 - Sprats 1,200,000,000 - Crabs 1,000,000 - Oysters 500,000,000 - Periwinkles 400,000,000 - Whiting 60,000,000 - Mackerel 30,000,000 - Shrimps 600,000,000 - Soles 120,000,000 - Lobsters 2,500,000 - -The capital embarked in this trade is something enormous to think of. -Salmon when scarce, have sold for twenty shillings a pound. The market -is the property of the Municipality of London associated with the -Company of Fishmongers, one of the most powerful and wealthy corporate -societies in London. Fifty per cent. of the gross amount of fish -received at Billingsgate market is purchased by the Costermongers and -sold from carts in the streets, at a small profit to the pedlars. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -THE INNS OF COURT. - - -THEREe are four Inns of Court in London and thirteen Inns of Chancery. -The Inns of Court are the Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Lincoln's Inn, -and Gray's Inn. The Inns of Chancery are Barnard's Inn, Holborn; -Clement's Inn, Strand; Clifford's Inn, Fleet street; Furnival's Inn, -between Brook street and Leather lane; Lyon's Inn, Strand; New Inn, -Wych street; Sergeant's Inn, Chancery lane; Staple Inn, Holborn; -Sergeant's Inn, Fleet street; Symond's Inn, Chancery Inn, and Thavie's -Inn, 56 and 57 Holborn Hill. - -These Inns of Court and Chancery are large boarding-houses or hotels; -and in the middle ages, they were called "inns" or "hostels," where -students in law and Chancery were taught the legal science and ate -their meals while living as students at a common table as in college. -This is called "dining in hall," and certain rules and regulations are -prescribed so that the aspiring student may not expect to have the -license of the American boarding-house, being in fact in a state of -pupilage as was intended by the founders of the splendid (for I cannot -use any other term) Inns of Court. - -In the old days of the York and Lancaster factions, the Sergeants and -"apprentices at law," as the students were called, each had their -pillars in Old St. Paul's, and at the foot of the pillar the student, -half kneeling, heard his client's case and jotted down the points on -his tablet. - -[Sidenote: GRAY'S INN GARDENS.] - -The four Inns of Court were frequented by sons of wealthy commoners and -the nobility, while the Inns of Chancery had for pupils and boarders, -the sons of merchants and tradesmen, who had not the means of paying -the expenses of the Inns of Court which amounted to twenty marks, -annually, a large sum in those days. - -About 8,000 students attend the Inns of Court and Chancery in London, -and it is a very strange sight to see the dark chambers in some of -these ancient Inns with their old fashioned, mediaeval architecture, -parapets, gate-ways, unillumined windows, courts, and passages, amidst -one of the very busiest spots in London. - -Go inside of one of these courts and you shall no longer hear the -sullen roar of the city, or the clatter of the omnibusses, nor the -incessant and deafening din of hawkers and street pedlars. A monastic -silence reigns, and in the grass-grown square of Lincoln's Inn, all -is silent as the grave, and in the dim passages of Clifford's and -Clement's Inns, it is very difficult to believe that the densely-packed -Strand and thronged Fleet street are so near. - -During Elizabeth's reign, alms were distributed twice a week at the -gate of Gray's Inn, and James I. signified that none but gentlemen of -descent and blood should be admitted to matriculate. The "Reader," a -lazy official of Gray's had a liberal allowance of wine and venison -for which sixpence and eightpence were paid per mess, and eggs and -green sauce were breakfast dishes on Lenten day. Beer was then only -six shillings a barrel. Caps were worn at supper by order, and hats -and boots and spurs, and standing with the back to the fire in the -hall were forbidden the students under penalty. Dice and cards were -only allowed at Christmas. Two students slept in a bed and Coke and -Littleton are said to have been at one time bed-fellows. - -Gray's Inn Gardens was one of the most pleasant places in London in -the old days long agone, and during the reign of Charles I., it was -frequented as a place of assignation. The principal entrance to Gray's -Inn is from Holborn by a gateway, a fine specimen of brick-work of -1542. The hall of Lincoln's Inn has an open oak roof, divided into -seven bays by gothic arched ribs, the spandrils and pendants richly -carved; in the centre is an open louvre, which is pinnacled externally. -The interior is richly wainscoted, decorated with Tuscan columns, and -the windows are of stained glass, gorgeously emblazoned. The library 80 -feet long, 40 feet wide, and 44 feet high has an open oak roof, with -separate apartments for study, and iron balconies running around the -book-cases. There are in this apartment five stained glass windows, and -a collection of valuable law books and MSS. to the number of 25,000. - -[Illustration: LINCOLN'S INN.] - -On either side of the dais of the dining hall beneath the lofty oriel -window in Lincoln's Inn, is a sideboard for the upper or "benchers" -table who are the high authorities of the place; the other tables are -arranged in graduation, two crosswise and five along the hall for -the barristers and students who dine here every day during term; the -average number is 200; and of those who dine on one day or another -during the term "keeping commons," there are about 500 students. - -[Sidenote: LINCOLN'S INN.] - -The new hall of Lincoln's Inn, just completed and equal to anything in -England, is situated on the site of the old hall, between Middle Temple -Cloister and Crown Office-row. It is of the Perpendicular Gothic style, -faced externally with Portland stone and internally with Bath. The -building projects towards the gardens 14 feet more than the old hall, -which measured 70 feet by 29 feet; the new hall being 93 feet by 41 -feet. Its floor above the pavement-level, and the basement is occupied -by the various offices required for the officials. In rebuilding -their hall, the "Benchers" have availed themselves of the opportunity -to extend and improve the domestic offices; to provide commodious -robing-rooms, and lavatories for the use of members and of students and -to obtain better clerks' offices. - -New offices have also been built for the treasurer, and the Parliament -Chamber has been increased in size. The interior of the hall is -panelled, to the height of nine feet, with a very handsome wainscot -dado; the panels with cinquefoil cusp heads, surmounted by an embattled -cornice--a magnificent specimen of joiner's work. The Parliament -Chamber, attached to the hall eastward, has been considerably altered -and improved--this is what may be called the drawing-room attached -to the hall, where the "Benchers" retire for dessert. The kitchen -is attached at the west end, and fitted up with the latest modern -appliances. The hall is to be heated with hot water and lighted with -sun-burners, and very handsome ornamental gas-brackets have also been -introduced on the side walls. - -Lincoln's Inn occupied the site of the Convent of Blackfriars, which -was built by Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. Among the famous students of the -Middle Temple, were Edmund Burke, Bulstrode Whitelocke, Wycherley and -Congreve, Sir William Blackstone, Lord Chancellors Eldon and Stowell, -Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and Oliver Goldsmith. - -The number of students in the reign of Henry VI. were: Four Inns of -Court, each 200--800; ten Inns of Chancery, each 100--1000; total 1800. -To-day there are in the four Inns of Court alone, 4500 students. - -In Gray's Inn lived Dr. Rawlinson, "Tom Folio" of the "Tatler," who -stuffed four chambers so full of books that he was compelled to sleep -in the passage. - -How to become a lawyer is the only science studied in the Inns of -Court, and the manner of doing it is as I shall describe. The four -Inns of Court, viz.: the Middle and Inner Temples, Lincoln's Inn, and -Gray's Inn, have exclusively the power of conferring the degree of -Barrister-at-Law, requsite for practising as an advocate or counsel in -the superior courts. Lincoln's Inn is generally preferred by students -who contemplate the Equity Bar; it being the locality of Equity Counsel -and Conveyancers, and of Equity Courts or Courts of Chancery. If the -student design to practise the common law, either immediately as an -advocate at Westminster, the assizes, and sessions, or as a special -pleader (a learned person who, having kept his terms, is allowed to -draw legal forms and pleadings, though not actually at the bar), his -choice lies usually between the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, and -Gray's Inn, though he may adopt Lincoln's Inn. The Inner Temple, from -its formerly insisting on a classical examination before admission, -became more exclusive than the Middle Temple or Gray's Inn. Gray's Inn -is numerously attended by Irish students, and has produced some of the -greatest luminaries at the Irish Bar, including Daniel O'Connell. - -To procure admission to either of these Inns, the student must obtain -the certificate of two barristers, coupled in the Middle Temple with -that of a Bencher, to the effect that the applicant is a fit person to -be received into the Inn, for the purpose of being called to the Bar. -Once admitted, the student has the use of the library, and is entitled -to a seat in the church or chapel of the Inn, and to have his name set -down for chambers. - -[Sidenote: "DINNER IN HALL"] - -He is then required to keep "commons," by dining in the hall for -twelve terms (four terms occur each year), on commencing which, he -must deposit with the treasurer L100, to be retained with interest -until he is "called"; but members of the Universities are exempt from -this deposit. The student must also sign a bond with sureties for the -payment of his commons and term-fees. In all the Inns no person can be -called unless he is above twenty-one years of age and of three years' -standing as a student. The "call" is made by the Benchers in council; -after which the student becomes a barrister, and takes the usual oath -at Westminster. In certain Inns, however, the student must, before his -call, attend certain lectures, which are a revival of the old readings, -without their festivities. - -To witness one of the "Hall Dinners" is enough to bring back the days -of chivalry to one's mind. There is the lofty, grand Gothic roof, the -long tables, the grace before meat, which is offered by the "Reader," -the magnificent windows of stained glass, which project a thousand -varied hues on the faces of the students, and the grave features of the -Benchers who sit aloft on the dais. - -At five or half-past five o'clock, the barristers, students and other -members, in their gowns, having assembled in the hall, the Benchers -enter in procession to the dais; the steward strikes the table three -times, grace is said by the treasurer or senior Bencher present, and -the dinner commences; the Benchers observe somewhat more style at -their table than the other members do at theirs; the general repast -is a tureen of soup, a joint of meat, a tart, and cheese, to each -mess consisting of four persons; each mess is also allowed a bottle -of port-wine. The dinner over, the Benchers, after grace, retire to -their own apartments. At the Inner Temple, on May 29, a gold cup of -"sack" is handed to each member, who drinks to the happy restoration of -Charles II. At Gray's Inn a similar custom prevails, but the toast is -the memory of Queen Elizabeth. The Inner Temple Hall waiters are called -"panniers," from "pan-arii" who attended the Knights Templars. At both -Temples the form of the dinner resembles the repasts of the military -monks; the Benchers on the dais representing the "knights;" the -barristers the "freres," or brethren; and the students, the "novices." -The Middle Temple still bears the arms of the Knights Templars, viz., -the figure of the Holy Lamb. - -The entrance expenses at the Inner Temple (the average of the costs at -other Inns), are L40 11s. 5d., of which L25 1s. 3d. is for the stamp; -on call, L82 12s., of which L52 2s. 6d. is for the stamp; total, L123 -3s. The commons bill is about L12 annually. - -Of Clement's Inn in the Strand which is just the same Clement's Inn as -it was when Shakspeare lived, that poet speaks as follows in the second -part of Henry IV.: - -_Shallow._ I was once of Clement's Inn, where, I think, they will talk -of mad Shallow yet. - -_Silence._ You were called lusty Shallow, then, cousin. - -_Shallow._ By the mass, I was called any thing; and I would have done -any thing indeed, and roundly too. There was I, and little John Doit of -Staffordshire, and Black George Barnes of Staffordshire, and Francis -Pickbone, and Will Squele, a Cotswold man; you had not four such -swinge-bucklers in all the Inns of Court again. - -Then Shallow tells of Sir John Falstaff breaking "Skogan's head at the -court-gate when he was a crack not thus high; and the very same day did -I fight with one Sampson Stockfish, a fruiterer, behind Gray's Inn." - -_Shallow._ Oh, Sir John, do you remember since we lay all night in the -Windmill in St. George's Fields? - -_Falstaff._ We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow. - -_Shallow._ I remember at Mile-End Green (when I lay at Clement's Inn), -I was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur's Show. - -Then Falstaff says of Shallow: "I do remember him at Clement's Inn, -like a man made after supper of a cheese-paring." - -Before a student can enter an Inn of Court and eat his first dinner, -he must deposit L100 as security that he will pay for the rest of his -dinners. No student is allowed to keep a "term" unless he has been -three days in "hall" when grace is said at dinner. - -[Sidenote: IRISH STUDENTS.] - -No person in trade or in deacon's orders, or one who has been a -conveyancer's clerk, can be admitted at all, so strict are the rules. -No gentleman can be called to the bar by any of these Inns which are -corporate and chartered bodies, before having been a member or student -of his Inn for five years, unless that he is a Bachelor of Laws, or a -Master of Arts of the Universities of Oxford, Dublin, or Cambridge, -when three years is the period required. No one can be called to the -bar until his name and description have been put up on the screen in -the hall of the Inn to which he belongs for a fortnight previous to his -call, and communicated to all the other societies. - -Irish students must keep eight terms in one of the English Inns, as -well as nine in the King's Inns, Dublin, before they can be called to -the Irish bar. - -Irish students may keep terms in London and Dublin alternately, or in -any other order they may think proper. Gray's Inn is the favorite Inn -of Irish students, for the reason that discipline is not so strict -as in the Inner or Middle Temple, or Lincoln's Inn, and, besides, no -charge is made for "absent commons," or being away from the dinners, -while in the other Inns the student is charged for his meals in any -case. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -THE BANK OF ENGLAND AND THE MINT. - - -THE Bank of England is the greatest moneyed institution in the world. -It is situated in the very heart of the City of London, opposite the -Royal Exchange and the Mansion House, and is composed of an insulated -mass of stone buildings and courts covering four acres of ground, -bounded by Princes's street, west; Lothbury, north; Bartholomew Lane, -east; and Threadneedle street, south. Its exterior measurements are 365 -feet south, 410 feet north, 245 feet east, and 440 feet west. - -Within this area are nine open courts, a magnificent Rotunda, numerous -public offices, court and committee rooms, an armory, engraving and -printing offices, a library, apartments for officers' servants, -beadles, detectives, porters, and messengers. - -During the No-Popery riots of 1780, the Bank was attacked by the -mob, when Wilkes rushed out of the building and seized some of -the ringleaders. The Bank was defended by the regulars, the City -Volunteers, and the Clerks of the establishment, who melted their -leaden inkstands into bullets. For ninety years since that terrible -night, the bank has been guarded by a company of foot soldiers, -detailed in regular rotation from the Horse Guards, under command of -one officer, for whom a sumptuous table is set every night, with the -privilege of inviting two friends, while servants are provided for him. - -[Sidenote: THE BANK ESTABLISHED.] - -In the political tumult of November, 1830, provisions were made at the -Bank for a state of siege, and when the Chartists made their great -demonstrations in 1848, the roof of the Bank was fortified by a company -of sappers and miners, cannon were planted, and a strong garrison held -every court and passage in the interior. - -The number of clerks and porters and other employees who are retained -by the Bank, is one thousand or more, and their salaries amount to half -a million of pounds, or two and a half millions of dollars annually. - -In 1808 an arrangement was made by the English Government with the -Bank, by which the latter undertook the management of the English -national Debt, at a rate of L340 for each million of the debt up to 600 -millions of pounds, and L300 for every additional million. - -The Bank of England was established (1694) chiefly by Mr. William -Paterson, the projector of the Scotch Colony of Darien, who commenced -by founding a National Bank, 1691. To carry on the war with France -(1694) Government required a loan of L1,200,000, and imposed new taxes, -expected to yield a million and a half. The subscribers to the loan -were incorporated under the title of the Governor and Company of the -Bank of England, and empowered to buy land, to deal in gold and silver, -and in bills of exchange. The interest on the loan was 8 per cent., -besides which Government agreed to pay L4,000 a year for the cost of -management, or L100,000 in all. - -In the vicinity of the Bank of England there is a dense traffic, and -it is necessary that suitable provender should be found for the large -number of bankers and bankers' clerks, who, living in cosy little -villas at Brompton, Paddington, and Maida Hill, and are compelled to -eat their warm lunches in the city during business hours. - -The Poultry, Bucklersbury, King William, Prince and Leadenhall streets, -are lined with these comfortable, pleasant looking eating-houses and -dining-rooms, where the moneyed men and their smart looking clerks sit -back in easy little boxes, with turtle soup, salad, and juicy rump -steaks before them, and long necked wine bottles in ice coolers between -their feet, chatting about stocks and Change and Turkish Loans. - -In the parlor lobby of the Bank is a portrait of Mr. David Race, who -was in the service of the institution over fifty years, during which -time he amassed a fortune of L200,000. - -[Illustration: BANKERS' EATING HOUSE.] - -The Bullion Office, on the western side of the Bank, consists of a -public chamber and two vaults--one for the open deposit of bullion free -of charge, unless weighed, the other for the private stock of the Bank. - -Here are employed a Principal, Deputy Principal, Clerk, Assistant -Clerk, and porters. - -The gold is kept in solid bars, each bar weighing 16 pounds and valued -at L800, or $4,000, and the silver in pigs and bars, while the dollars -are kept in bags. - -The value of the gold in the vaults of the Bank in 1869 was about -twenty millions of pounds, or one hundred millions of dollars. - -One day I received an order which was sent me by a friend, giving -me full authority to visit the Bank of England. I had not a little -curiosity to satisfy, and accordingly I arrived at the Bank as early as -eleven o'clock in the day. - -[Sidenote: LEDGERS AND MONEY-BAGS.] - -Passing through the central entrance, which is opposite the Mansion -House, I found myself in a spacious court well flagged, and here were -two boxes in which sat a brace of Old Jewry detectives, who are on duty -in this spot from one end of the year to the other. These men receive -gratuities from the Bank beside their regular pay. There were also in -the yard two big fat beadles in red coats and leggings, their garments -being covered with tinsel. These fat, logy looking fellows are the -footmen of the Bank, who are employed to watch for suspicious strangers -and to guide any visitors who may come. - -While an attendant was reading the order which I handed him, I could -hear the musical jingle of sovereigns and silver coins, being rattled -up and down in the interior of the building. - -I was taken by the guide into a large vaulted room with a cupola, in -which were a perfect army of clerks, some young and brisk, others old, -gray, and ponderous, ranged in long rows behind the desks, making up -accounts, weighing gold and paying it over the counters, or writing in -huge ledgers. - -Outside the circular railings, which run all around this very large -room, were stationed a vast crowd of depositors, men and women, or -persons drawing money in gold or silver. Continually from the throats -of the clerks arose the words: - -"How will you have it. Gold or silver? Sovereigns or halves?" - -Here is a lady who has traveled very far, perhaps, for her dividends. -She has taken a seat and a number of curious eyes are gazing at her as -she slowly takes a wing of a chicken and a piece of snowy white bread -from a napkin and commences to eat, in the midst of all this wealth and -confusion of the richest city in the world. - -The number of ledgers and account books behind these bars are enough -to frighten one. When the day's business is done all these huge books -are stowed away by the porters in the fire-proof room under ground, and -brought up again in the morning, for they are fully as valuable as the -large sums inscribed on their leaves. - -Machinery has been perfected so that these bulky account books may be -hoisted and lowered every day. - -Look at that young man with his banking case chained under his arm; the -rolls of checks and notes he holds in his hands will probably amount to -thousands of pounds; he catches the eyes of one of the clerks, calls -out the amount, hands the bulky bundle over the brass mounted railing -and quits the room, leaving the sum to be counted over at leisure. - -See how carelessly the cashier handles that heavy bag of gold; he has -no time to count it, but throws it into the scale as a coal heaver -would a sack of coals--so long as it is right weight, that's all he -cares about; he then shoots it into his large drawer and throws the bag -aside as if he did not mind whether a sovereign stuck in the bag or not. - -He counts sovereigns by twos and threes at a time; you feel confident -that he must have given you either too many or too few, he appears so -negligent; you count them, and there they are quite correct, and no -mistake whatever. - -The guide says to me: "Sometimes, Sir, the clerks are kept in the Bank -for hours when there's a sixpence wrong in the balance, and they have -to go over and over the books until they make the sixpence right. It's -awful work, to have to go over them long columns of figures and no -chance of getting away until everything is correct." - -"Was there ever any great forgery committed on the Bank?" I asked the -guide, who seemed to be a very intelligent man, having been in the Bank -forty years. - -"Ah, yes Sir, there was two great ones. In old times a great many men -were hanged for forging Bank of England notes. In one year, I think it -was 1820, there was over a hundred persons convicted of forgery, and -nearly nine hundred were convicted for having forged notes in their -pockets. Why, Sir, when I was a boy I remember as many as twenty-four -hanged in one year for forgery on the Bank. I think the year was 1818. -In 1803 there was a great forgery, committed by Mr. Astlett, who was -one of the chief cashiers of the Bank. The amount was so large it -frightened every body. Astlett done his work so well, by re-issuing -Exchequer bills, that he defrauded the Bank out of L320,000 before they -knew it. You may imagine what a row there was when it was found out. -The old Governor nearly went mad." - -"Was any other great forgery ever attempted?" said I, curious to hear -those details of forgotten crime. - -"Oh yes Sir," said the old man, "the biggest forgery of all was -Fauntleroy's, in 1816, that was a great deal bigger than Astlett's, for -it was for L360,000, and the way of it was this: You see Mr. Fauntleroy -was the head partner of a bank in Berners street that had dealing with -the Bank of England, and the bank that he belonged to was in a bad -state, so what does Fauntleroy do to keep up its credit, but he goes to -work quite cooly and forges powers of attorney of a lot of nobs and he -sells out their funds, and all the time he was a-working in the dark -this way, he wos a payin' of the divydends to them. Then the crash -came at last, and before he was caught, when the police broke into his -house, they found a note and on the note was written:-- - -"The Bank first began to refuse to discount our acceptances, and to -destroy the credit of our house; and by G--d the Bank shall smart for -it." - -"So, that's the way he did it, but he was hanged for it, and I saw him -swing. I never saw so many people in my life as was at that hanging. -All London was there, Sir, and when he got off the cart you would have -thought he was going to a party, he was so blessed cool." - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT PANIC OF 1825.] - -There was a "Great Panic" in the Bank of England in December, 1825, -caused by the redemption of interest on L215,000,000 of stock held by -the public. The Bank of England was acting as banker for the Nation, -and offered to advance money to holders of stock to pay off their -principal investment. This was an era of mad speculation, and no less -than L372,000,000 was invested in all kinds of bogus stock projects. In -some of these schemes shares of L100 on which only L5 had been paid, -rose to a premium of L40, yielding a profit of eight times the amount -of money paid. Everything went merry as a marriage bell for a time, and -large sums had been withdrawn from the Bank of England, reducing the -gold in its vaults from L8,750,000, in October, 1824, to L3,624,320 in -February, 1825. - -The panic began on the 5th of December, 1825, when a London bank -failed, at which the agency of above forty country banks was -transacted, and such a re-action was the necessary result of the -previous madness of speculation. Lombard street, and the vicinity of -the Bank, were filled with excited men and women, who were waiting -eagerly to withdraw their investments. Next day, a number of other -banks failed. The rush on the Bank of England was terrific, but the -clerks kept paying away gold in bags of twenty-five sovereigns each. -From nine until five, each day, twenty-five clerks were engaged, -counting out gold, and as it would take that number of clerks to count -out L50,000 in sovereigns, if counted by hand, a plan was made by -which the tellers counted 25 sovereigns into one scale and 25 into -another, and if the scales balanced, they continued until there were -200 sovereigns in each scale. In this way L1,000 were paid out in a few -minutes, the weight of one thousand sovereigns being 21 pounds, while -512 bank notes only weigh one pound. In this way L307,000, in gold, was -paid out in nine hours to the clamorous people. - -[Sidenote: THE PANIC CEASES.] - -Instead of contracting their issues the Directors of the Bank boldly -extended them. In one day they discounted 4,200 bills. December 8th, -the discounts at the Bank amounted to L7,500,000; on the 15th, they -were L11,500,000, and on the 29th, L15,000,000. December 3d, the -circulation of the Bank was L17,500,000, and the day before Christmas, -December 24th, it was L25,500,000, or, $127,500,000. Any kind of paper -that was not absolutely worthless, was discounted. Tremendous advances -on deposits of bills of exchange were made by the Bank, stock was -entered as security, and exchequer bills were purchased. The gallant -old institution weathered the storm, and, on the 26th of December, gold -began to come in slowly. During the latter part of the panic week a -forgotten box of one-pound notes, containing L700,000, was discovered, -and these were immediately issued, and the Directors acknowledged -that the forgotten box saved the commercial credit of the Bank and -of England. There was only L601,000 in bullion and L426,000 in coin -when the rush stopped. In February, 1797, when the Bank suspended cash -payments, there was L1,086,170 in coin and bullion remaining in the -vaults. - -[Illustration: THE BANK OF ENGLAND.] - -I saw, in a glass case, a bank note for one million of pounds -(canceled,) which had passed between the Bank and the government in -some transaction or another. Think of it, a piece of paper five by two -and a half inches in size, which was good on its face any place in -the world for Five Millions of Dollars. I saw also here, several other -bank bills for large amounts, such as ten, fifty, one hundred, and two -hundred and fifty thousand pounds each. These were the most valuable -strips of printed paper I ever saw. - -It must be recollected, that inside of the walls of the Bank of -England, which covers four acres, as I have observed, everything is -made, excepting the paper of which the bank notes are manufactured. -The gold, of course, is coined in the Mint on Tower Hill, but -everything else is done inside of the Bank walls, including paper -staining, engraving, making the steel plates from which the notes are -transferred, and other useful arts. Printer's ink is also made, the ink -having to be of a peculiar shade so as to prevent counterfeiting. Then -there are book binderies, where the ledgers and accounts are bound, and -a number of other rooms devoted to various purposes. - -It is a noticeable fact, that every Bank official whom we meet on our -journey through all these lofty apartments, halls and saloons, wears -full evening dress though it is not yet noonday. Swallow-tail coats, -white neck-cloths, and white vests, of the most spotless hues, seem to -be the Bank uniform. - -And what pleasant surprises there are in this institution. Now the -guide leading, and I following, we emerge into an open court-yard, of -very good size, which has lawns, shrubberies, and dainty little grass -plots, with the most cheering flower-beds, the colors of which are -very refreshing to the eye. Here are well-shaded and sanded paths, and -lofty, leafy trees, and all these rural delights are concentrated in -a space of one and a half acres, the dimensions of the grounds walled -in by the Bank. Here, in the heart of mighty London, is a green oasis, -like a diamond set in a pig's nose. - -These detached buildings, with white steps leading to their doors, and -neatly-ornamented porticoes, are the residences of the Governor and -Directors, and here they hold receptions, and levees, and the questions -and inquiries of angry stockholders are heard and answered at quarterly -meetings. The guide asks me if "I would like to see the workshops of -the Bank." I agree at once to his proposition, and on ascending a -flight of narrow stone steps, we find ourselves in a large room which -is used by the Bank mechanics to prepare the steel plates upon which -the Bank notes are engraved. - -A very powerful steam engine, which is used for other mechanical and -artistic purposes in the Bank, is the motive power by which the work -is done in this room. I can hear the sharp steel wedge scraping and -polishing the already bright sheets of steel, and the noise is a most -disagreeable one. All the workman has to do, however, is simply to -place the plate and spindle in the exact spot, when the machine, like a -stroke of vengeance seizes it, and in a second it is bright as silver. - -[Sidenote: MAKING INK FOR BANK NOTES.] - -Now we are in the room in which the printer's ink is manufactured with -which the Bank notes are printed. The ink has to be of a very peculiar -black shade, as counterfeiting would be easy were the materials used to -be the same as in other inks. - -Masses of black matter are being ground into a fine powder by rollers, -I think that the guide told me it was nutgalls; large lumps are placed -beneath the rollers, the cylinder revolves, and the powder is crushed -to a fine paste. - -The guide says, "If there's a bit of sand left in the paste, why then -the grinding hasn't been done right." The rollers are of strong steel, -and the smallest substance would be ground under them. A grain of sand -will cause the two rollers as they meet to recede from each other, so -sensitive are they to the finest hard substance. - -Now we are out in a court again and we can see the engine room, -and the huge coal fires burning, and the big boiler sweltering and -steaming away at a great rate. The man who attends the engine is in -his shirt-sleeves, and a little blackened, and I believe that, not -excepting the Beadle, this was the only man whom I saw inside of the -Bank who was not in full dress. - -Here is a large room where the Bank-paper is cut to the proper size for -notes, and a thousand pound note is exactly the same size as one for -five pounds, which is the smallest denomination issued by the Bank. - -Then there is the room for the compositors and binders, and in the -latter apartment, all the account books which the vast business of the -Bank make necessary, are paged, lined, and bound. Of ledgers alone, one -thousand are used yearly, in this fountain head of finance, and check -books innumerable are also printed and bound here. - -Now I am again in the court-yard, which is paved very neatly--but no, I -have not been here before. This fact I recognize as I look around me. -This _another_ court-yard. - -"This is the Library, Sir," said the guide. - -I began to think that the Bank officials were indeed a very literary -set of people, who could find time in business hours to read books, but -I was presently made aware of my mistake. - -The guide knocks quietly at a small iron door, which revolves on its -hinges with a noise, and a man in that same inevitable dress-coat, -cravat, and neck-tie, opens the door, and I gain an entrance to a place -which looks to me very like the casemate of a Monitor, or a sally-port -in a stone fortress. Iron doors, iron hinges, and iron windows, shaped -in a circular form, and embayed in the wall, are the most significant -signs around me. - -Although it is broad daylight outside, there is utter darkness within, -but for the single gas jet which burns as if suffering from some defect -in the pipe. - -I feel that some mystery is to be explained, or some strange sight -shown me--or else why this change from sunlight to this cribbed and -dungeon-like casemate. - -It would be impossible to break into this room; and to get out of it, -if the doors were locked, would be equally difficult, I imagine. - -Now the gentleman who has opened the door goes behind an iron railing, -and says: - -"This is the Library of the Bank, Sir, and these are the volumes -that compose the Library," he says to the writer, at the same time -taking a large package of notes from a shelf--on which there are many -hundred packages of like description--"we keep here the canceled notes -which are called in, and therefore they can never be used again. We -keep these old notes for twenty-five years, in case a forgery has -been committed, and when it becomes necessary to produce the notes -for evidence--why, here they are--we have notes here for millions of -pounds," said he, turning over bundle after bundle of ragged looking -papers, that had once been of incalculable value. - -These notes, after a certain time, are reduced to pulp, and again are -made into paper, from which in turn fresh bank notes are made, so that -these old rags have the property which Ponce de Leon's fountain gave, -of renewing their youth. - -Into another room now, where the notes are printed from the plates, and -to insure honesty in the printer--the machine registers the number of -each note printed--the registering being done in a distant part of the -establishment. - -[Sidenote: IN THE VAULTS.] - -And now we are in the Vaults, where the precious metals are kept, and -where I saw and handled riches such as would have bewildered Pizzaro, -or Cortez, even in their wildest imaginings. - -Here are the Bullion Vaults, in which are kept bars of gold and silver. -The gold bars weigh sixteen pounds each, while the silver bar varies. - -The Bank pays for gold seventy-eight shillings an ounce, while silver -is generally valued at about five shillings and two pence an ounce. - -It is enough to dazzle the eyes of a miser, or render him blind, to -look at the show of gold bars piled up behind the railings, in those -large glass presses. Thousands of them! And they are piled up just as I -have often seen the stacks of solder in a plumber or gas-fitter's shop -in America, without any seeming care as to how they are laid. - -Here a couple of men entered with kegs, and one of them, stepping up to -me, asks: - -"Would you like to handle a large sum of money, Sir?" - -"I don't care if I do," I said; and the very polite gentleman went to a -safe in the corner and opening one of the numerous black doors of iron -which ornament every portion of the room, he brought forth four medium -sized packages, and laid them on the counter before me, saying: - -"Please to hold open your hand. Now, Sir, there are four packages of -Bank of England notes, all ready for delivery, and in each package is -_one million of pounds_." - -[Illustration: "I BEGAN TO PERSPIRE."] - -I began to perspire and lose my sight and hearing. "Can there be," I -said, "so much money in the world?" and then I heard him say again: - -"Please to examine the packages--_one--two--three--four--millions_." - -I cried out, "stop, stop--give me breath--do you mean to say," said I, -"that there are four million of pounds in these four packages--_twenty -million_ of dollars?" - -"That is what I mean," said the polite official, and he smiled slightly -at the excitement which he saw in my features. - -At that moment I did not envy C. Vanderbilt, and I despised Jim Fisk. - -Dim thoughts of murder flashed across my brain--and yet, no--I banished -it from my mind. Twenty million of dollars! But then, the Tower! -Ha-ha--away, fell design. - -In one week the issue of bank notes amount to twenty-five million of -pounds, or one hundred and twenty-five million of dollars. During the -last twelve months the Bank has purchased three million and a half -pounds' worth of gold bars, and one million eight hundred pounds' worth -of silver bars. During the same period it sold six million pounds' -worth of gold bars, and a quarter of a million pounds' worth of silver' -bars. - -[Sidenote: MAKING SOVEREIGNS.] - -In the Weighing Office, established in 1842, to detect light gold, is -the ingenious machine invented by Mr. W. Cotton, then Deputy-Governor -of the Bank. About 80 or 100 light and heavy sovereigns are placed -indiscriminately in a round tube; as they descend on the machinery -beneath, those which are light receive a slight touch, which moves them -into their proper receptacle, and those which are of legitimate weight -pass into their appointed place. The light coins are then defaced by a -machine, 200 in a minute; and by the weighing-machinery 35,000 may be -weighed in one day. There are six of these machines, which from 1844 to -1849 weighed upwards of 48,000,000 pieces without any inaccuracy. The -average amount of gold tendered in one year is nine millions, of which -more than a quarter is light. The silver is put up into bags, each of -one hundred pounds value, and the gold into bags of a thousand; and -then these bagsful of bullion are sent through a strongly guarded door, -or rather window, into the Treasury, a dark, gloomy apartment, fitted -up with iron presses, supplied with huge locks and bolts. - -And now I was to behold the process. After leaving the Treasury vaults, -where I was shown the Bank notes, I was taken to a very large room on -an upper floor, in which was a small and elegant steam engine, with -other intricate machines, for weighing and defacing, or marking coins. - -There was a large table with a number of coin shovels, and its entire -surface was covered with sovereigns, heaped a foot high, the table -having a raised rim all around it. - -They were weighing these sovereigns--these officials with the finely -starched shirts and white neck-ties; and this was the manner of it: - -There were two open square boxes, which had connections with a number -of wheels and revolving cylinders, and from each of these boxes -projected the mouth of a scoop or highly polished funnel. A roll of -sovereigns passed into this box, sliding slowly down through the mouth, -and thence into a larger box below on the floor. - -The attendants fill the tubes, and at the lower end of the scoop the -work is done. Whenever a sovereign of light weight touches this spot in -the lower part of the tube, a small brass plate jumps out and pushes -the light sovereign into the left-hand aperture, while the full-weight -pieces drop without hindrance into the right-hand box. The small brass -plate does the business very quietly. - -The light sovereigns are then gathered, placed in a bag, and sent back -to the Mint to be re-coined. The man who was working the machine pulled -a crank and a number, perhaps a thousand, of these marked sovereigns -fell into the box. I took some of them in my hand, and found them -almost totally defaced, and a number had been slit in two halves by the -process, but no gold dust is lost the operation is performed so cleanly. - -On the very same spot where once stood the Monastery of the Cistercian -Monks, or Gray Friars, the Royal Mint of England is now located, and -here all the money in use in England is coined by the "Company of -Moneyers," as they are called. The building is situated on Tower Hill, -the Mint having for a thousand years been carried on in the Tower -itself. - -For many hundreds of years the coinage of England had been debased -by succeeding money-makers, who were entrusted by the Kings with the -coinage, and in the reign of King Edward I, 280 Jews, of both sexes, -were charged by this monarch with having debased the silver and -gold coins, and were hung in London for the offence. King John, in -1212, ordered all the prisoners in his custody, among whom were some -ecclesiastics, to be brought before him for instant judgment, at the -same time summoning Cardinal Pandulph, the Papal Legate, to appear also -to witness the judgment. Pandulph appeared, and King John thinking to -frighten that haughty prelate who had often humbled him, ordered a -priest among the prisoners, who had counterfeited money, to be hanged. - -Pandulph stepped forward and said: - -"Lord King, who so dares lay finger on yon clerk, though he were of -royal blood, him shall I excommunicate, and he shall be anathema of -Holy Church." - -Pandulph, who was indeed a very energetic person, left the apartment -to get a candle, so that he might curse John in due form, and the King -having been thoroughly frightened, delivered the priest to Pandulph -to have that prelate do justice on him, but the legate immediately -liberated the offender. - -During the reign of the Saxon Edgar, the penny had become scarcely -equal to a half-penny in weight, and St. Dunstan, who was a bishop and -confessor to the King, became so outraged at the debasement of the -coinage, that on Whit-Sunday he refused to celebrate the mass before -the King until justice had been done on three officials, or as they -were called "moneyers." They were at once taken out of the Church and -had their right hands struck off by order of the King. - -In those days even the gold coins were of square, longitudinal, and all -sorts of irregular and uncouth shapes. - -One of the prophecies of the Sage Merlin was to the effect that when -the money of England should become round, the Prince of Wales would be -crowned in London. Edward I, having ascertained that such a prophecy -was believed among the Welsh people, caused the head of their last -native Prince, Llewellyn, to be cut off and sent to the Tower in -London, where it was crowned with willows in mockery of the prophecy, -and since then no native Welshman has held the title of Prince of -Wales, with England's consent. - -[Sidenote: HENRY VIII A COUNTERFEITER.] - -Henry VIII, among his many acts of scoundrelism, was guilty of debasing -the coinage of his kingdom, and when his illegitimate daughter, Queen -Elizabeth, called in L638,000 of silver and gold money for the purpose -of re-coining it, she ascertained on going to the Mint in person, -(where she coined with her own hands several pieces of money) that -these monies, whose current value on the face had been L638,000, were -then only worth in reality L244,000. - -On the day that George the Third's first son and successor was -born--afterwards George IV--the captured treasure of the Spanish vessel -"Hermione," amounting to sixty-five tons of silver and one bag full -of gold, was carried in triumphant procession through the streets of -London--amid the acclamation of the citizens--borne by twenty wagons. -The value of the treasure was one million of pounds. This money was -taken to the Mint to be coined. - -In 1804 the English Government having determined to declare war against -Spain, some private parties under the leadership of a Captain Moore, -fitted out four ships to intercept some Spanish vessels on their way -home from the Indies with treasure, and this infamous act of piracy was -performed before the capturers of the Spanish galleons had heard of the -impending declaration of war, and in fact before war was declared. - -Some hundreds of persons were blown up in the Spanish Admiral's vessel, -and one rich Spanish merchant who was returning on one of the vessels -with his wife and daughters--having accumulated a great fortune--lost -their lives by this act of treachery. - -In 1804 the ransom payable to the British Government from the Chinese -Nation, amounting to sixty-five tons of silver, or two millions of -Chinese dollars, the price which China had to pay for not taking her -opium quietly, was brought home and transferred to the Mint to be -coined. - -The money paid by France to Charles II of England for the town of -Dunkirk, an immense treasure, was spent by that monarch in the worst -kind of debauchery, and the face of Britannia which remains to this day -upon English coins, is the likeness of Miss Frances Stewart, afterward -Duchess of Richmond, and at one time a mistress of this dissolute King. - -Guineas, which are valued at twenty-one shillings, while the sovereign -is valued at a pound or twenty shillings, were first coined from the -gold brought by the African Company from Guinea, and the coins had an -elephant stamped on them. - -In the same reign were struck the five guinea, the two guinea piece -and the half guinea pieces. The coinage of this monarch's reign, who -was only fitted to be the keeper of a bagnio, was so much depreciated, -that in the reign of William and Mary, when 572 bags of silver coin -were called in of Charles II's reign, it was found to weigh only 9,480 -pounds, although the proper weight should have been 18,450 pounds. - -The gold quarter guinea was coined by George I, and this coin is -remarkable for bearing for the first time the letters "F.D." (_Fidei -Defensor_,) or "Defender of the Faith." George III, an old blockhead as -the First George was an old blackguard, coined seven shilling pieces, -but these have been withdrawn, as have also the guineas and half -guineas, which are now replaced by the sovereign, half sovereign, and -crown, which latter coin is valued at five shillings. - -When the bad money of Henry VIII was called in, the workmen in the Mint -declared that it contained arsenic, and many of them "became sick to -death with the savor." For this sickness some venerable idiot ordered -them to drink from dead men's skulls, and a warrant was actually -obtained whereby the heads of several Catholic priests, which then -decorated London Bridge, were taken down and drinking cups were made -from them for the workmen. - -The present building in use by the Company of Moneyers for a Mint, -was erected in 1811 on Tower Hill, and cost with the construction -of machinery two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. If one hundred -thousand pounds worth of gold bars are sent into the Mint one morning, -on the next they will be ready for delivery in sovereigns. - -[Sidenote: HOW TO MAKE MONEY.] - -The gold is melted in pots made of black lead, which will not break -in annealing, and then the alloy of copper is added (to gold one -part in twelve; to silver eighteen pennyweights to a pound), and the -mixed metal cast into small bars. The bars then in a heated state -are first passed through the rollers, which are of tremendous power, -these reducing them to one fourth of their former thickness and -increasing them proportionally in length. Then the sheets of metal are -passed through the cold rollers, which laminates them to the required -thickness of coin. - -Now comes the work of the cutting-out machines. There are fifteen of -these elegant engines in the same basement, set apart for them. - -The bars having been cut into the required strips and thickness, -the protecting rim is next raised in the "Marking Room," and after -blanching and annealing, they are ready for coining. - -There are twelve presses for this purpose, each of which makes a -hundred strokes a minute, and at each stroke, above and below, a blank -is made into a perfect coin, stamped on both sides and milled at the -edge, each press coining about ten thousand pieces of money in one -hour. One little boy is alone needed to feed a press with blanks. - -The coin is tested before the Lord Chancellor or Chancellor of the -Exchequer and a jury of twelve goldsmiths, who are sworn to give a -fair judgment, once a year--this being a trial between the Company -of Coiners and the Government who own the coin. In a late trial of -two hundred pounds weight of gold coin, the bulk weighed just one -pennyweight and fifteen grains less than was correct--which is pretty -good workmanship. - -In a period of eighteen years the amount of money coined by the Company -was as follows: - - Gold, L55,000,000 - Silver, 12,000,000 - Copper, 250,000 - ----------- - Total, L67,250,000 - -Profit to the Company for coinage of above amount L214,000. - -Amount charged for coining L67,250,000--by the Company of -Moneyers--L421,000. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: LONDON BRIDGE.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -THE BRIDGES OF LONDON. - - -LONDON may well be proud of her bridges. Fifteen of the finest -structures of their kind in the world span with mighty and enduring -arches, the surface of the Thames; in a distance of seven miles on the -river from London Bridge, to the Suspension Bridge, at Hammersmith. -Paris alone can rival London in her super-aqueous structures, but in -massiveness and grandeur there is no bridge covering the Seine, and -having such a magnificent roadway and arches as Waterloo Bridge. - -Of all the bridges which span the Thames, none have a history like -that of London Bridge; although the present structure dates only from -1825. The history of old London Bridge is that of London itself, for -the bridge was coeval with the overthrow of the Saxon dynasty, and the -death of Richard Coeur de Lion. - -The first bridge erected on the site of the present London Bridge, -was a wooden one by Ethelred III., in 994, and the tolls were paid by -boats bringing fish to "Bylingsgate," which was then a water-gate of -the city. The next bridge here was constructed by the pious brothers of -St. Mary, Southwark, which house was originally a convent, established -by a young girl named Mary, daughter to a ferryman, who plied at this -point, and from the profits of the ferry the bridge was constructed. -This bridge was almost totally destroyed by the Norwegian King Olave in -1008, and was rebuilt by Canute in 1016, swept away by a flood 1091, -rebuilt 1097, burnt 1136, and a new one was erected of elm timber in -1163 by Peter, a priest and chaplain of St. Mary's, Colechurch, in the -Poultry. - -This bridge did not satisfy the pious architect, however, and he began -with great zeal to build a stone one, the first in England, a little to -the westward of the timber bridge in 1176, when Henry II. gave toward -the construction the proceeds of a tax on wool, from which originated -the saying, "London Bridge was built on woolpacks," a phrase that has -often been taken in its literal meaning. Priest Peter died in 1205 and -the bridge was finished in 1209. - -This bridge consisted of a stone platform 926 feet long, and 40 -feet wide, standing about 60 feet above the level of the water, and -comprehended a draw bridge and nineteen pointed arches, with massive -piers raised upon strong oak and elm piles covered by thick planks -bolted together, so that after all, the famous stone bridge had a -wooden platform. There was a gate-house, with turrets and battlements -at either end, and toward the centre, on the east side, was built -a beautiful gothic chapel of stone to the memory of St. Thomas (a -Becket), of Canterbury. In a crypt of the chapel was placed a stone -tomb over the body of Priest Peter, the founder of the bridge. This -bridge, in the time of Elizabeth, is described as having "sumptuous -buildings, and stately and beautiful houses on either side," making -one continuous street from end to end and having an archway under -the houses and dwellings through which vehicles, sedan-chairs, and -pedestrians passed. The river could be seen at intervals in the gaps of -masonry, and, in fact, this bridge was as much of a thoroughfare and -causeway besides, having all the characteristics of a street on solid -ground, as any open space in London. Some of the buildings had shops -and beer-houses in the lower stories. - -The chronicles of this stone bridge during six centuries, form, -perhaps, the most interesting episodes in the history of London. -The scenes of fire, siege, insurrection, and popular vengeance, of -national rejoicing, and of the pageant victories of man and of death, -of fame or funeral, which have transpired on and about the bridge, it -were vain for me to attempt to describe. In 1212, four years after the -completion of the structure, a terrific conflagration took place on -the bridge, and 3000 persons perished in the flames, both ends being -on fire at the same time. De Montfort repulsed Henry III., on this -bridge, and the populace attacked and stoned his Queen in her barge as -she prepared to shoot the bridge. Wat Tyler, the popular rebel entered -London by this road to be struck down by Sir William Walworth in 1381. -Richard II. was received here by the citizens in 1392. In 1415 Henry -V., fresh from Agincourt, passed the bridge, and seven years after his -corpse was carried over it to be buried at Westminster Abbey. In 1450 -Jack Cade attempted to storm London Bridge, but he was defeated and -his head placed on a pole over the gate-house. In 1477 the Bastard of -Falconbridge attacked the bridge, and fired several houses. In 1554 Sir -Thomas Wyatt crossed the bridge at the head of 2000 men, to dethrone -Queen Mary, and lost his head for it. In 1632 more than one-third of -the houses on the bridge were destroyed by fire, and in 1666 the whole -labyrinth of dwellings, shops, and edifices, were swept away by the -Great Fire; the entire street being rebuilt within twenty years after. -The houses were entirely removed and parapets and balustrades were -erected on each side in 1732, and one hundred years after, in 1832, -the venerable structure was demolished to make way for the new London -Bridge now standing. Holbein, the painter, lived on the bridge, book -publishers occupied shops on it, and the London tradesmen believed -it to be one of the Seven Wonders of the world. Hogarth lodged here, -and Swift and Pope visited Tucker, a bookseller who had a shop on the -bridge. - -[Sidenote: GRINNING SKULLS.] - -The most terrible reminiscence of the bridge is connected with the fact -that its gate-houses at either end were garnished for many hundreds -of years by the heads of many great and good men as well as of bad -and depraved villains, whose skulls were exposed on spikes to dry and -bleach in the sun. - -The heads of Sir William Wallace, 1305; Simon Frisel, 1306; four -traitor knights, 1397; Lord Bardolf, 1308; Bolingbroke, 1440; Jack Cade -and his rebels, 1451; the Cornish traitors of 1497, and of Fisher, -Bishop of Rochester (displaced in fourteen days after by that of Sir -Thomas More, 1335), have adorned this ghostly bridge. From 1578 to -1605, it was a common sight to see the heads of Roman Catholic priests -exposed on this bridge, their offence being that they sought to preach -their doctrines in London. Finally, in the reign of Charles II., this -display of bare, grinning skulls was transferred to Temple Bar. - -[Illustration: TEMPLE BAR, FLEET STREET.] - -Temple Bar, as it is called, is a large, gray archway, which spans -Fleet street in its busiest traffic and jam. The archway was formerly -the limit of the City of London, and when a sovereign came westward -from Westminster, or eastward from the Tower, to make a formal entry, -the Lord Mayor and the City Councils, in robes of state, were present -under its historic archway to offer the keys and admit the Sovereign. -The rusty gates were then rolled back, and on such occasions the -pageants were very fine. - -For over a hundred years the London traders and shopkeepers, and the -students of the Temple, were regaled with the daily and ghastly sight -of a row of grinning and socketless skulls, which were ranged in lines -on cruel spikes above the architrave of Temple Bar. There is an empty -room in the upper story which has a terrible history, for here heads -were boiled in pitch before being exposed. - -In 1737, Eustace Budgell, a cousin of Addison and a contributor to the -Spectator, when reduced to poverty, took a boat at Somerset Stairs, and -ordering the waterman to row down the river, threw himself into the -flood as the boat shot London Bridge. He had filled his pockets with -stones, and he left behind him a slip of paper on which was written, -"What Cato did and Addison approved cannot be wrong." This was a great -puff for Addison's tragedy. Edward Osborne, an apprentice of Sir -William Hewet, afterwards Lord Mayor, jumped from the window of one of -the bridge houses, in 1536, to save his master's daughter, an infant, -and years afterwards he was rewarded with her hand in marriage, and -became Lord Mayor himself. The grandson of the apprentice became Duke -of Leeds and the founder of the present ducal house of that name. No -bridge ever constructed had such a history as that of Old London Bridge. - -[Sidenote: THE TRAFFIC ON LONDON BRIDGES.] - -The flow of traffic on some of the principal bridges by actual -computation during twelve hours, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., was: -Pedestrians, London Bridge, 96,080; Southwark Bridge, 2,500; -Blackfriars Bridge, 48,095; Waterloo Bridge, 12,000; Westminster -Bridge, 38,015. Equestrian traffic: London Bridge, 211; Southwark -Bridge, 93; Blackfriars, 91; Waterloo, 38; Westminster Bridge, 311. -Vehicular traffic: London Bridge, 26,800; Southwark Bridge, 516; -Blackfriars Bridge, 6,384; Waterloo Bridge, 2,603; Westminster Bridge, -7,300. From these figures it will be seen that the traffic on London -Bridge which leads from the heart of the business portion of the city, -and is toll free, exceeded that on all of the others put together. Some -of the bridges are owned by companies and a toll of half a penny per -passenger is taken for revenue by them. - -London Bridge was designed by Sir John Rennie and built by his son. -The first pile was driven March 15th, 1824, government contributing -L200,000 toward the undertaking. Altogether the bridge cost L2,000,000 -before it was finished. It is built on coffer-dams, and the bridge has -five semi-elliptical arches. The centre arch has a span of 152 feet, -and a rise above high water mark of 24 feet 6 inches; the two arches -next the centre are 140 feet span, and the two abutment arches have 130 -feet of span. There is a parapet four feet high and the length between -the abutments is 782 feet, while the width between the parapets is 53 -feet. The bridge was nearly eight years in construction, and 120,000 -tons of stone were used in its erection. - -Southwark Bridge is constructed of iron with three colossal arches, and -was built by Rennie. The middle arch has a span of 240 feet and a rise -of 24 feet. Its height above low-water mark to the roadway is 55 feet. -The cost was L800,000 and the bridge was opened in 1819. Its length is -700 feet, and the roadway is 42 feet wide. - -The new Blackfriars Bridge is 1,000 feet long, 42 feet wide, and the -cost will be L300,000. - -Waterloo Bridge is the finest in the world. Its dimensions are: Length -between abutments 2,456 feet, water-way, 1,326 feet. The carriage-way -is 28 feet wide with a pathway on each side of seven feet. There are -nine arches, each of which are 120 feet in span with a rise of 35 feet. -Waterloo Bridge has a level grade from one end to the other. Canova, -the sculptor, said of this bridge, "It was alone worth a journey from -Rome to London to see it." The cost was L1,000,000. - -[Sidenote: WATERLOO BRIDGE.] - -As a set-off to what Macaulay has prophesied in regard to London Bridge -and the future New Zealander, Baron Charles Dupin, the great French -publicist, speaks of Waterloo Bridge as follows: - -[Illustration: THE NEW BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE.] - -"If from the incalculable effect of the revolutions which empires -undergo, the nations of a future age should demand one day what was -formerly the New Sidon, and what has become of the Tyre of the West, -which covered with her vessels every sea?--most of the edifices -devoured by a destructive climate will no longer exist to answer the -curiosity of man by the voice of monuments; But Waterloo Bridge, built -in the centre of the commercial world, will exist to tell the most -remote generations--'here was a rich, industrious, and powerful city.' -The traveller, on beholding this superb monument, will suppose that -some great prince wished, by many years of labor, to consecrate forever -the glory of his life by this imposing structure. But if tradition -instruct the traveller that six years sufficed for the undertaking -and finishing the work--if he learns that an association of a number -of private individuals was rich enough to defray the expense of this -colossal monument, worthy of Sesostris and the Caesars--he will admire -still more the nation in which similar undertakings could be the fruit -of the efforts of a few obscure individuals, lost in the crowd of -industrious citizens." - -Charing Cross is the next bridge on the Thames, being built of iron and -used by a railway company. It was built by Brunel, and is a graceful -structure, but does not permit of pedestrian traffic. - -Westminster Bridge is nearly level in its grade, and has seven arches. -It is 1,220 feet long. The cost was L400,000. - -Lambeth Bridge is of iron with three arches, each of 280 feet span, and -the width is 54 feet. Cost, L100,000. - -Vauxhall Bridge is of iron with nine arches of equal span--each 78 feet -wide. The breadth of the roadway is 36 feet, and the total length of -the bridge is 840 feet. - -Pimlico Railway Bridge is built of iron, with four openings or spans of -175 feet each. The bridge is 900 feet in length, and has a width of 24 -feet. - -Chelsea Chain Suspension Bridge is 922 feet long and 45 feet wide. -Cost, L75,000. - -Hammersmith Suspension Bridge is 841 feet long and 32 feet wide. Cost, -L180,000. - -Scott, the American diver, lost his life while performing acrobatic -feats on Waterloo Bridge. The season he chose for diving from a -height of twenty feet above the parapet of the highest London bridge -was during an intense frost, when the river was full of ice, and the -enormous masses floating with the tide scarcely appeared to leave a -space for his reckless plunge into the river or his rise therefrom. He -watched his moment, and the feat was performed over and over again with -perfect safety. But he had been told that the Londoners wanted novelty. -It was not enough that he should do day after day what no man had ever -ventured to do before. - -[Sidenote: DEADLY ACROBATICS.] - -To leap off the parapets of the Southwark and Waterloo bridges into -the half-frozen river had become a common thing; and so the poor -fellow must have a scaffold put up, and he must suspend himself from -its cross bars by his arm, his leg and his neck, in succession. Twice -was the last experiment repeated; but on the third attempt the body -hung motionless. The applause and laughter that death could be so -counterfeited was tumultuous; but a cry of terror went forth that the -man was dead. He perished for catering to a morbid public appetite. -Every one who saw this voluntary hanging went away degraded and -disgusted at the terrible result of the show. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - -AT WINDSOR CASTLE. - - -FROM Windsor Castle the view is one of the finest in England. A vast -panorama extending as far as the eye can reach. All flat--the faint, -bare, blue horizontal line, scarcely discernible from the clouds, so -distant is it, as straight as the boundary of a calm sea--and yet how -infinitely varied! What would such an expanse of land be in any other -country but England, which is, in itself, a huge landscape garden? - -A lovely river, to which the hackneyed illustration of "a stream -of molten gold" might well be applied, from the silent roll of its -glittering waters, as if impeded by their own rich weight, now flashing -like a strip of the sun's self, through broad meadows, whose green -is scarcely less dazzling--now lost in shady nooks of wondrous and -refreshing coolness. - -Trees of various species and growth, singly, in clumps, and in rows, -are everywhere. Little bright-looking villages, with their white -spires, or grey towers, are dotted all over the scene. Beyond where -I stand, on the ramparts of the Castle, I can see the Gothic turrets -and spires of Eton College, founded by Henry of Lancaster, flanked by -oak and birch trees, and above us, on this delightful day in autumn, -the banner of St. George is floating right saucily, denoting that this -Martial Keep is a royal fortress and a hereditary residence of the -Sovereigns of England. - -[Sidenote: THE DEMON HUNTSMAN.] - -Everything seems in perfect harmony around us, as the sun falls in -slanting and roseate beams on grass, tree, flower, castle, and river. -There are not many hours, in one's life, such as I enjoyed that -pleasant evening in September. The gentle hum of human life reaching me -from the distance, is no more injurious to the effect than the rustling -of the trees, or the chirping of the birds. The quiet bustle down at -the stone bridge, the shouts of the bargemen--heard several seconds -after their utterance,--the plashing of the oars of stray boats, the -cricketers over there in their play-ground, where reposes some of the -dust of Arthur's blood; all these have a charm for the drowsy senses. - -The sleepy-looking chimneys of the old, royal town, immediately beneath -me, fill up their place in the picture famously; even steam--that most -implacable enemy of romance--appears on the scene without injuring -it. The little toy-house-looking railway station, which I can see -from where I stand, on the battlements, is a harmless, nay a pleasing -object; and to watch the lilliputian train that has just left it, -disappearing fussily among the old trees, is a perfect delight. - -Windsor Castle has been the abode of royalty from the time of the -Saxon Kings. It was while King John lived at Windsor, that the barons -obtained from him Magna Charta. Cromwell has held his republican courts -in Windsor, and Charles I lies buried in its Chapel Royal. - -James, the Royal poet and King of Scotland, has visited here, and -David, another Scottish monarch, was a prisoner in its gloomy towers. -Here was instituted the Order of the Garter by Edward, who was "every -inch a King," and some of the most splendid pageantries and courtly -ceremonies of history have been enacted within the walls of Windsor -Castle. In its vast forests, Herne, the Diabolical Hunter, has chased -the Phantom Deer to the tally-ho of unearthly horns. This forest, or, -as it was called, "Windsor Great Forest," was of enormous extent, and -comprehended a circumference of one hundred and twenty miles. In the -time of James I, this great area had been reduced to seventy-seven and -a half miles. There were then three thousand head of deer, and fifteen -walks, in the forest, each about three miles long. The next reduction -of its size left the Forest only fifty-six miles in circumference, and -in 1814 an act of Parliament was passed to enclose its boundaries. -Since then villages, and detached buildings, and private residences, -have encroached upon this once magnificent demesne, until but 6,000 -acres of wood and dell have been left of all the great medieval acreage. - -Edward, the Confessor, held a court here, and assigned the Manor of -Windsor to the Abbot and Monks of Westminster. William de Wykeham, the -great philanthropist and scholar, who founded Winchester School and the -New College at Oxford, was appointed Clerk of the Works at Windsor to -superintend the reconstruction of the Castle, in 1356, and his fee from -Edward III for the service was one shilling a day while he remained in -the town, and two shillings a day when he went elsewhere upon business. - -The Castle is divided into a great number of apartments, many of which -are memorable for their historical recollections, and among them are -St. George's Chapel, Beaufort Chapel, the Round Tower, the North -Terrace, the Audience Chamber, the Vandyck Gallery, the Queen's Drawing -Room, the State Ante-Room, the Grand Vestibule, the Waterloo Chamber, -the Grand Ball Room, St. George's Hall, the Guard Chamber, the Queen's -Presence Chamber, the King's Closet, the Queen's Private Closet, the -King's Drawing Room, the Throne Room, the State Apartments, and the -Private Apartments. The Home Park attached to the Castle is a private -garden in which the Queen walks or rides while residing at Windsor. The -Queen seldom rides on horseback of late years, as she has become so fat -and pursy that she is in constant dread that she will have to take any -such exercise as walking in the open air, or even promenading upon the -Grand Terrace of Windsor. - -In St. George's Chapel, a beautiful little edifice, are hung the -banners of the Knights of the Order of the Garter, and under each -banner is the carved stall, made of wood, on which each Knight of the -Chapter sits, at the installation of a new member, or when any grand -ceremony may make their presence necessary. In the groined roof above -the banners, are worked the arms of Edward the Black Prince, Henry -VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and the succeeding English Sovereigns. The -helmets, swords, and mantles of the Knights, together with the brass -plates, recording their titles, are also to be seen here. In this -Chapel is buried the crumbled dust of poor Jane Seymour, one of Henry -VIII's unfortunate wives and the mother of Edward VI, who reformed the -Prayer Book and Liturgy of the Church of England. The body of Charles -I also lies here, but he was more fortunate than Jane Seymour, whose -memory is almost forgotten. - -In the Beaufort Chapel is the family tomb of that perverse old idiot -of a king, George III, in which repose the ashes of his children and -Queen; the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, Princess Charlotte, -William IV, uncle to Queen Victoria, the royal blackguard and scoundrel -George IV, the Princess Augusta, who was believed to have been insane, -and Queen Adelaide. - -It is in the Beaufort Chapel that the Poor or Military Knights of St. -George's College, assemble to pray and beseech the Almighty for the -health and welfare of the Queen of England, and for the Most Noble -Companions of the Order of the Garter, to whom the Poor Knights cling -as a species of indigent parasites. The Order of Poor Knights was -established by act of Parliament of Edward IV, in the name of the -"Poor Knights of St. George's College," and was to consist of a Dean, -12 Secular Canons, 13 Priests, 4 Clerks, 6 Choristers, and 24 "Alms -Knights." - -[Sidenote: PRAYING FOR CHEESE AND BEER.] - -At divine service in the Beaufort Chapel, these old, broken-down -looking men may be seen, on every festival, and on all occasions when -services are held, praying for the reigning Sovereign of England. For -this service they receive bread, cheese, beer, and meat, ten times a -week. I saw these worn, meek-looking men, who seemed to glide rather -than walk during service, but it seemed to me that very little prayers -were uttered by them for the Sovereign, as they all had a vacant, -absent look, with the exception of one or two who had the regular fixed -John Bull stare, and were evidently awaiting the hour when bread, -cheese, and beer, were to be announced. - -[Illustration: WINDSOR CASTLE.] - -In the Round Tower, which is 295 feet high, there were confined nearly -all the State prisoners whom despotism found it necessary to secure -in its dungeons, from Edward III to Charles II, and in the "Audience -Chamber," which is hung with Gobelin Tapestry, representing the story -of Queen Esther, are paintings of Mary, Queen of Scots, and William, -Prince of Orange. This is an "Audience Chamber" only in name, for the -Queen very seldom holds levees in this big, desolate-looking room. - -The "Waterloo Chamber" is 47 feet in length and 45 in height, and has -a gallery of magnificent portraits, by Lawrence, all of whom were, in -some fashion, connected either in the closets of diplomacy, or the -fields of strife, with the downfall of Napoleon; hence the name of -"Waterloo Gallery." Here are life-size portraits of Wellington, Lord -Castlereagh, Humboldt, Alexander I, Count Nesselrode, Capo d'Istria, -Prince Schwartzenburg, Archduke Charles, Blucher, Platoff, the Marquis -of Anglesea, Francis II, of Austria, Pope Pius VII, and others equally -famous. - -In the Grand Chamber is a piece of ordnance, taken from Tippo Saib, -at Seringapatam, a table made from the wreck of the Royal George, and -an elaborately worked shield of silver, inlaid with gold, made by -Benvenuto Cellini, which was presented by Francis I, of France, to -Henry VIII, of England, at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. - -The Throne Room has a fine ceiling, ornamented with the different -emblems of the Order of the Garter. Here the Queen sits enthroned on -occasions of State, and receives her guests habited in a scarlet velvet -mantle, trimmed with miniver. On one occasion, when her Majesty took -her seat here, her costume, including the jewels and Crown, was valued -at L150,000, a vast sum to be thrown away on such heartless vanities, -when it is recollected that myriads of people were dying of want and -starvation in her Kingdom at the time. - -The Throne is a very fine piece of work, and is covered with heavy -hangings of red velvet, and is ornamented with the rose, shamrock and -thistle. - -[Sidenote: IN THE QUEEN'S CHAMBER.] - -By special permission I had the pleasure of beholding the Queen's -bed-room, or Private Closet. This is a favor seldom shown to any -but foreign noblemen, or Embassadors, but by diligent efforts I had -succeeded in getting permission to look at this sacred place. - -On the day that I visited Windsor Castle, it luckily happened that -very few visitors had called, and as I had a note from a most high -personage, with permission to see the private apartments of Her -Majesty, I was glad that there was not a crowd to witness the result of -my mission. As a point of honor, I find it impossible to mention the -name of the great personage who gave me permission to visit the Queen's -Chamber, as I fear it might give him trouble, and perhaps deprive him -of his lofty position. - -Even the attendant, to whom I showed the note, was afraid to allow me -to enter the apartments, as the Queen had only left them early that -same morning to take a drive, and was expected back during the evening. -It was now two o'clock in the afternoon, and I began to fear that I -would not see the private saloons of her Majesty. - -The attendant said, in answer to my request: - -"I tell you, Sir, I'll lose my place and perkisites if I show the -hapartments to you. I dare not do it." - -"But," said I, "there is an order from Lord ----, will not that be -sufficient?" - -"Yes," said he, "his Lordship is a great friend of the Queen, but -I'm afraid this order is a mistake, and only refers to the public -apartments, which I have no hobjection, Sir, to your seeing." - -I began to think I would fail if I did not find a weak spot in the -gorgeous flunkey. - -Suddenly a thought struck me. I asked myself "who has been the most -popular and best loved American in England?" - -Echo answered, "George Peabody." - -And "why," the inward monitor asked. - -Echo answered again, "because he gave so much money away," for I was -positive that the English (servants at least) did not care for any of -his less showy virtues, in comparison with that of bestowing millions -from his private purse! Why, the Queen herself give him her portrait. -Did she not? - -The flunkey seemed to read my soul the while that I communed with -myself. - -I felt that I must throw myself in the breach. Suddenly I slipped a -bright new sovereign into the man's hand. His fingers closed on the -shining gold coin like the teeth of a vise and his eyes glistened. I -knew then from his look that I would have to pistol the flunkey on the -spot before I could get back my sovereign. We were going toward the -private apartments of her Britannic Majesty, who is also Defender of -the Faith. - -A long corridor lay before us, and the flunkey stopped and said to me: - -[Sidenote: THE SECRETS OF ROYALTY.] - -"I'll try it, Sir. You are indeed very generous, and I honor you for -it, but I don't know whether we can pass the Yeoman of the Guard. They -are always about here guarding Her Majesty's private apartments. This -is the Queen's Closet." - -He pointed to a lofty doorway, and I saw a big, bloated Britisher, -walking up and down with something on his shoulder that looked like a -meat-axe fastened upon a clothes-pole. He had a red tunic, and wore a -round flat hat, and his legs which were very noble and imposing, were -clad in red hose. - -The flunkey, who was also in tights, went up to him and spoke, and I -assumed a business-like air. He was telling the red-faced Beef-Eater, -as I afterwards ascertained, that I came to make some repairs in the -closet, but the Beef-Eater did not seem willing to admit any one; but -by some moral suasion he obviated his scruples, and I was allowed to -enter. I think he divided the sovereign with him. - -The flunkey beckoned to me, and I approached. The Beef-Eater--noble -fellow--looked the other way, as I entered the imposing apartment. - -The flunkey stood in silent awe, as I looked around on the splendors of -the lofty room. - -A magnificent bed stood in a corner of the apartment, hung with red -velvet and yellow silk. The arms of Great Britain were emblazoned on -the heavy red velvet, and the Lions and Unicorns, disported playfully -all over the room in their usual attitudes. There were large oil -paintings of George IV, King William IV, the Duke of Kent, father of -Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales as a Colonel of the British army, -and the Princess Louise, a marriageable daughter of Queen Victoria. - -The bed was large and would have held three persons of the size -of Queen Victoria. Elegant lounges were arranged around the lofty -apartment, covered with damask satin. A faint and delicious odor filled -the room, and I seemed to sink in the soft and luxuriant carpets. -Mystery, silence, and enchantment prevailed, and I trembled to think -that I stood in the presence of Royalty unbidden, and without the -permission of the Queen. - -There was a sideboard of most intricate carving at one end of the -room, with some green Venetian glasses on one of its shelves, but I saw -no decanters. The room was filled with a glory and power, reflected -in the possessor of three Kingdoms. From without, through the deeply -embayed windows, also hung with satin of the color of a morning sky, -I could hear the tramp of the sentinels on the battlements, and -the hoarse cry of the warders, going their rounds, demanding the -counter-sign of strangers. - -The charmed silence was broken by the voice of the flunkey in answer to -my enquiry as to how the aromatic odors of the chamber were procured. - -"Her Majesty is werry fond of perfumes, Sir," said he. "The carpets has -Cologne shook on them every morning, and if you will come here to the -bed, you will also get the smell of Patshooly." - -I walked to the bed and I found that there was an odor of cologne, -otter of roses, and musk, proceeding from the counterpane, which -was bordered with purple velvet and gold lace, and had the royal -arms embroidered in the centre. The pillow slips had trimmings of -Valenciennes lace, half a yard wide, hanging from their open ends. -The counterpane was of quilted blue and pink satin, and inside of the -velvet canopy that covered the bed, was a lining of blue and white -satin, from which hung down heavy folds of Mechlin lace. - -A little table of ivory, inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli, stood a -few feet from the bed, supported by a tripod elegantly worked in solid -silver. - -The flunkey explained to me the use of this table. "Sometimes Her -Majesty takes her breakfast in bed," said he, "when she is indisposed. -Her Majesty is werry fond of coffee, and often takes two cups of a -morning when she is stopping at Windsor. She is fond of veal cutlets, -well done, and sweet breads, for breakfast. Yes, Sir, I have heard -that Her Majesty, God bless her, when she had a good appetite, before -Prince Albert died, would eat a pound of veal at breakfast. The lady in -waiting places her coffee on that small table, and after handing Her -Majesty her breakfast in bed, she stands off at a respectful distance, -and waits until she is called again to offer Her Majesty a favorite -dish. The Duchess of Athole, who is a relation of Lady Mordaunt, is -greatly liked by Her Majesty, and when she waits on the Queen, Her -Majesty allows her to sit down, but all the other ladies in waiting, -excepting Lady Dianna Beauclerk, has to stand up. Sometimes, when -the Prince of Wales comes here, God bless him, he is awfully screwed -(drunk), and then the Queen makes a preshis row, and she wont speak to -him for a week after. - -[Sidenote: "WOT A PEOPLE THE HAMERICANS ARE."] - -"You are the only American ever was allowed to enter this ere room, -Sir; but I have heard that one of your countrymen once strayed in here, -and was astonished to find that there was no 'spittoons,' I think he -called them, in the Queen's bed-room. A preshis thing that would be, -to have sich things as 'spittoons' in the Queen's bed-room," said the -indignant and loyal flunkey. - -I informed the man that the story was incredible, and that my -countrymen were not such savages as he believed them to be. When I -informed him that in the old times in America, any free and unwashed -citizen might have inspected the President's bed-room at the White -House at Washington, he was greatly astonished, and said: - -"My God, what a strange people the Hamericans are! And they allowed -them to look at his bed, did they? My heyes, wot a people!" - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - -BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES. - - -THERE are two places well worth seeing in London. One is the Central -Criminal Court or "Old Bailey" as it is usually called, situated next -door to Newgate, and the "Lord Mayor's" Court, in the Mansion House. - -The Old Bailey is a famous criminal Court, and has had an eventful -history. The magistrates who sit here, are the Lord Mayor, who opens -the Court, the sheriffs of Middlesex and London, the Lord Chancellor, -who is never present excepting in a State trial, the Judges, Aldermen, -and Recorder, the Common Sergeant of London, the Judge of the Sheriff's -Court, or City Commissions, and others whom the Crown may appoint to -assist them. Of these dignitaries the Recorder and Common Sergeant -of London are most generally to be found presiding, as the common -law judges only assist when knotty points are to be decided, or when -conviction may affect the life of the prisoner. - -At the Old Bailey are tried crimes of every kind, from treason to -petty larceny, and even offences committed upon the high seas. The -jurisdiction comprises every part of the metropolis of London, together -with the county of Middlesex; the parishes of Richmond and Mortlake in -Surrey, and the greater part of Essex county, adjoining Middlesex. - -[Sidenote: THE "OLD BAILEY" COURT.] - -The Old Bailey Court is a square hall with a gallery for visitors, -below which is a large clock, that ticks in the prisoner's ears, like -a bell of doom. Below it is the dock for the culprits, with stairs -descending to the covered passage, by which they are conveyed to and -from Newgate. Opposite the dock in which the wretched prisoner stands -up to plead for mercy, is the bench for the judges, and here may be -seen day after day the Recorder of London sitting to try offenders, -in his blue cloth gown, with furred borders, and his neck encircled -with a gold chain, listening listlessly to the testimony, and now and -then making notes on a square piece of paper, while from the open -window comes the chirruping of birds; and before him are arraigned poor -wretches in rags and squalor, on trial for offences which may peril -their lives, reputation and happiness. - -There are three large square windows in this Court, through which -appear the ridge of the gloomy walls of Newgate, having on their left -a gallery close to the ceiling, with projecting boxes, and on the -right the Bench extending the whole length of the wall, with desks -at intervals, for the use of the judges, whilst in the body of the -Court are the witness-box and the jury-box, below the windows of the -Court, an arrangement that allows the jury to look clearly, and without -turning, on the faces of the witnesses and the prisoners. The strong -light from the windows enables the witness to identify the prisoner, -who stands shivering in the dock, at the same time that it permits the -judges on the Bench and the counsel below in the hollow space of the -Court to keep jury, witnesses and prisoners all at once within the same -perspective line. - -In the upper seats are the double rows of reporters, smart, -well-looking and well-dressed fellows, the majority of whom look bored -and disgusted, as well they may, when it is taken into account that -they have to sit here day after day, to look at the same horse-hair -wigs of the jabbering lawyers, the same gowns, the same blank ceiling, -the same stupid, harsh faced jurymen, and the same hard looking or -wobegone wretches who stand up in the dock to listen to sentence or -acquittal. Occasionally there is a little amusement for them when some -ass of an alderman attempts in a pompous way, to show the bearing -of a statute in a criminal case, and only succeeds in exposing his -turtle-fed ignorance to the merriment of the knowing ones. - -Look there now. A youth well-dressed and cleanly-looking is brought -into the dock and placed for trial on a charge of forgery on his -employer, for the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds. The young fellow -has a weak, pallid face, and seems rather dazed at all the preparation -and mysterious jabber on his account. A dozen of the counsel, in black -stuff gowns and with white wigs of horse-hair look around for a minute -at the dock, where the prisoner stands, merely out of curiosity, as if -he were a sheep or a calf brought in for slaughter. Their curiosity -satisfied, they turn away from him and dismiss his pale face from their -thoughts almost instantaneously. The judge on the bench--who is flanked -by a fat alderman on each side, in red robes--sits, looking at some -documents, with a far-away, abstracted look, as if the prisoner at the -bar was a thousand miles distant, and a free man. - -And meanwhile the case progresses, the counsel for the Crown opening -indignantly on the side of virtue and the law, and witness after -witness is called up and kisses the book, and there is much making of -affidavit and counter-affidavit, and through all this maze of swearing -and mist of statement, it appears that the young lad at the bar has -been wild and reckless, and has signed his master's name, beyond all -doubt, to a check, which he had cashed, the proceeds of which were -spent in the haunts of vice and shame. The case goes to the jury, who -pronounce him guilty without leaving their seats, and the sun streams -through the windows on the despairing face of the youth, and I am -awakened from a sort of a trance into which I have fallen, to hear the -voice of the Recorder of the good city of London, drone out at the -prisoner: - -"In this case I can find no extenuating circumstances. You are of age -to know better, and the sentence of the Court is, therefore, that you -suffer penal servitude, with hard labor, for the space of twelve years." - -Good God! twelve years! He is not yet eighteen, and the twelve best -years of his life are erased from his span of existence, by the breath -of the man in blue cloth gown and the fur tippet, and now the latter -goes up stairs to eat his dinner, the jury are dismissed, and a young -girl falls fainting in the Court as the prisoner is led out--however it -is only his sister. There is a little stir among the horse-hair-wigged -counsel and a buzz in the audience, and in three minutes another case -comes on to excite new interest, and make us forget the convict and his -sobbing, fair-haired sister. - -Upon the front of the dock is placed a sprig of rue, which dissipates -any infection that may proceed from the clothes of the prisoner, should -he be suffering from illness. The origination of this custom is worthy -of note. - -In 1750, when the jail fever raged in Newgate, the effluvia entering -the Court, caused the death of Baron Clarke, Sir Thomas Abney, the -judge of the Common Pleas; and Pennant's "respected kinsman," Sir -Samuel Pennant, Lord Mayor; besides members of the bar and of the jury, -and other persons. This disease was also fatal to several persons in -1772. Since that time a sprig of rue has always been kept in the dock -to drive away contagion. - -[Sidenote: THE JUDGES' DINNER.] - -Above the old Court is a stately dining-room, wherein, during the Old -Bailey sittings, the dinners are given by the sheriffs to the judges -and aldermen, the Recorder, Common Sergeant, city pleaders, and a few -visitors. Marrow-puddings and rump-steaks are always provided. Two -dinners, exact duplicates, are served each day, at 3 and 5 o'clock; and -the judges relieve each other, but aldermen have eaten both dinners; -and a chaplain, who invariably presided at the lower end of the table, -thus ate two dinners a day for ten years. Theodore Hook admirably -describes a Judges' Dinner in his _Gilbert Gurney_. In 1807-8, the -dinners for three sessions, nineteen days, cost Sheriff Phillips L35 -per day--L665; 145 dozen of wine, consumed at the above dinners, L450: -total L1,115. The amount is now considerably greater, as the sessions -are held monthly. - -Outside in the lobbies and hall rooms, passages and corridors adjacent -to and connected with the Old Bailey Court there is always a crowd -of lawyers, policemen, hangers-on, countrymen, cadgers, and persons -anxious to become spectators, females of the poorer class, members -of the aristocratic swell mob, sneak thieves and pickpockets, all -curious to know how matters are going on inside with their friends or -associates in crime or misfortune, and among them all, rushing hither -and thither, chatting and joking, conferring with his clients, and -nodding familiarly to the police and the officers of the Court, may -be seen the sharpest legal bird in the world. I mean the regular Old -Bailey practitioner, who could take a penny from a dead man's eyes, rob -an altar, or cheat the widow and orphan, and still prove to his own -satisfaction that it was done for a good and laudable purpose. - -[Illustration: LOADING THE PRISON VAN.] - -A not uncommon sight in the vicinity of police offices and petty -Courts, in London, is the noisy, brawling discharge of prisoners, -who are turned out on the streets in the morning, after having been -locked up all night for trifling offences, or disorderly conduct and -intoxication. - -Their unlucky companions, who have received sentences of imprisonment, -are taken from the Courts to the places of confinement in which they -are to pay the penalty of their indiscretion or crime. Every morning -there is a dreadful row and confusion at the Bow street police office, -when the prisoners are brought out to be placed in the prison wagon or -"van," in which they are transported to Holloway, Milbank or Newgate -prisons. A large crowd assembles daily to witness the embarkation of -these poor wretches for their new residences. Fighting women, squalling -children, patient policemen, and drunken blackguards are among the -details of these assemblages. There is a strong able bodied virago, -with her dress hanging to her form in shreds, who has just tossed her -soiled bonnet madly among the crowd, with a series of shrieks, and -three policemen are hardly sufficient to restrain her, while she is -being helped into the "Van." At last she is locked up with other unruly -personages inside of the iron door, in a dark box, where she may swear -away to her heart's content for a ride of five to ten miles. - -[Sidenote: THE MANSION HOUSE.] - -And now let us take a look at the Justice Room of the Mansion House, -which is only a few rods distant from the Old Bailey. - -Be it known to all my readers that the Mansion House, or Guildhall, -is to London what the City Hall is to New York--the Hotel de Ville to -Paris or Brussels--and the Stadt Haus to Amsterdam. It is here that -the Lord Mayor of London lives and here he deals out justice to his -constituents. The Guildhall or Mansion House of London is one of the -finest public buildings in the city, and has a noble gallery, dining -hall, and a service of municipal gold and silver plate, which is used -by the Lord Mayor on state occasions, besides a splendid collection of -paintings. - -But it is of the Justice Court, a small room in the Mansion House, that -we have to speak on this occasion, and not of the plate, or of the Lord -Mayor's annual show. - -The Mansion House is just opposite the Bank of England and the Royal -Exchange, in the very heart of moneyed London, Lombard street being -but a very short distance around the corner, with its horde of money -changers, bill discounters brokers, and bankers. - -This Court is not opened before noonday, as the Lord Mayor of London is -too mighty a magnate to be hurried in his daily duties for any command -or Court of Justice. - -Accordingly at noon, I find myself below the steps leading to the -Mansion House, and presently I begin to ascend the broad staircase -of stone, with a small crowd of policemen, officers of the Court, -witnesses, and lawyers. I am questioned as to my business by an officer -at the door, but being in company with detective Irving, of New York -City (who is about to appear before the Lord Mayor, in the case of -Clement Harwood, the celebrated forger, whom the former had captured -at New York on board of an English steamer, before she had touched her -dock, and had him brought back to London for trial), I am admitted, -and after one or two turnings, find myself in a well-lighted room of -moderate size, with a high ceiling and two windows looking out on the -Poultry and Threadneedle street. - -[Illustration: DETECTIVE IRVING.] - -Between those two windows is a throne or dais, gorgeous enough for -a monarch, and behind the throne are emblazoned the municipal mace -and sword, and the motto of the City of London, "Domine Dirige Nos," -surmounted by the lion and unicorn, the arms of Great Britain. This -is the Lord Mayor's Chair of Justice, but the awful being to whom it -appertains has not yet made his appearance, and I have leisure to look -around me. - -There are two rows of desks, for the reporters, and behind them sit -representatives of the _Times_, _Daily News_, _Daily Telegraph_, -_Standard_, _Morning Advertiser_, and other leading journals, the -evening papers, with the exception of the _Echo_, _Pall Mall Gazette_ -and _Globe_ not being represented, the others always copying their -police reports from the morning journals. - -[Sidenote: THE RICH RASCAL.] - -There are two or three high desks in the centre of the room, a square -iron railing, and a number of police waiting to make charges, but -the prisoners are kept below in the lockup and will presently appear -through a trap door in the floor when they are called to answer to the -charges on the sheet. - -The American detective has just finished his business regarding -Harwood's case, and saunters in carelessly with his hat in his hand to -take a look around him. - -Presently there is a bustle and commotion, and a man looking like a -drum major of a band, with scarlet and gold facings on his coat, whom -I am informed enjoys the dignity of Mayor's Marshal, marches into the -room like a peacock, with his big staff of office, and cries out: - -"Make way there, for the Right Honorable the Lud Mayor." - -Then enters the awful being himself, in a furred robe of heavy cloth, -like one of Rembrandt's burgomasters, a blazing gold chain depending -from his neck and covering his waistcoat, and having taken his seat, -the charge sheet is examined by him in a dignified way, and the first -case is called. - -This is the case of the forger Harwood, a young man, the son of the -senior partner of one of the largest banking firms in London, who has -forged his father's name for the amount of L15,000. - -The trap door opens and discloses a fashionably-dressed and -good-looking young fellow, with a police officer on each side. The case -had excited great interest in London, and the prisoner having fled to -New York was captured before the steamer got to her dock, and brought -back to London. Harwood had been brought to justice because the junior -member of the firm, to protect its interests, had been compelled to the -unwilling task of making the charge against his partner's son. - -[Illustration: BEFORE THE "LORD MAYOR."] - -Harwood has the air of a languid and haughty "swell," or exquisite, -and is most fashionably dressed. There is no flinching in his blonde -and whiskered face as he is brought up for sentence, having been -previously convicted. Out of L15,000, detective Irving recovered over -L11,000 from the forger, and it seems the charge is to be hushed up. -The father of the culprit is a wealthy citizen, and the counsel for the -prisoner makes his point that the greater part of the money having been -recovered, and the prisoner having "suffered much anguish of mind" for -his crime, has offered to go to America if released, and make amends -for his "fault" by leading a new and repentant life. - -I looked at the exquisite, who stood there as cool as a cucumber, and -it seemed to me rather doubtful that he had suffered much anguish of -mind. I also doubted if he would be willing to lead a very virtuous -life in America. As he stood there with his assured and rather -contemptuous look and insolent face, he was quite a contrast to the -pale, weak-looking lad, who stood the day before in the dock of the -Old Bailey to receive with trembling lips his sentence of twelve long -years penal servitude, and just as the thought struck me, Irving, the -detective, whispered to me: - -[Sidenote: THE POOR RASCAL.] - -"He looks very sorry, don't he? Of course! Cheese things." - -Then the Lord Mayor plucked up a proper spirit, threw back his -furred sleeves, put on a look of profound wisdom, consulted with the -prisoner's counsel, and making up his judicial mind that Harwood had -"suffered enough,"--poor young man--the forger was released and set -at liberty in order to allow him to become a virtuous citizen of the -United States. Nothing was said about the deficit of two or three -thousand pounds; the young man's family was wealthy and respectable. -But who is this poor rascal at the bar now, who appears as the friends -of the wealthy forger gather in a knot to congratulate him. Why it -is a low ruffian of a pickpocket who has been caught in the act of -abstracting a lady's reticule valued at fourteen shillings. The -villain! He has no wealthy friends, so let him take eighteen months -imprisonment at Hollaway prison, and there let him repent while on the -treadmill. - -I left the Lord Mayor's Court with mixed feelings, and the remarks of -the detective failed to reassure me as to the honesty of the method of -administering justice by his Worship, the Lord Mayor of London. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - -TWO RIVALS--CANTERBURY AND ROME. - - -METROPOLITAN Life has its religious phases, also. London contains about -410,000 dwelling-houses, places of business, and public buildings, and -in this vast agglomeration of brick, stone, and mortar--there are about -seven hundred edifices devoted to public worship. In this number are -comprised places of worship for all sects: Roman Catholics, Protestants -of the Established Church of England, Baptists, Presbyterians, -Independents, Jews, Greeks, Moravians, Quakers, Socinians, -Wesleyan-Methodists, and even Hindoos, who have a temple of their own. - -There are two hundred and eighteen parishes in the Metropolis, under -the jurisdiction of vestries and parochial bodies who, in turn, are -subject to the Bishop of London, sitting as a temporal and spiritual -peer in the House of Lords. He is Provincial Dean of Canterbury, and -Dean of the Chapels Royal at Whitehall and the Savoy. - -The Bishop of London ranks next to the Archbishop of York and -Canterbury, and has an income of L10,000, annually, and the free gift -of one hundred and nine livings, ranging in value from L2,000 to L30 a -year. As Dean of Canterbury his income amounts to L2,000 a year. The -clergymen of the Established Church receiving the largest salaries in -the City of London, whose livings are in the gift of the Bishop of -London, are those of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, L2,290, St. Olave's, -Hart street, Bloomsbury, L1,891, and St. Giles, Cripplegate, L1,580. - -The smallest salary is that received by the pastor of St. Bartholomew -the Less, who only gets L30 a year, although his work is far harder -than that of the Dean of Westminster, who receives L4,000 a year. The -salary of the Archbishop of Canterbury is L20,000, and he has half a -dozen palaces throughout the country. The Archbishop of York receives -about L15,000 a year, and has two Episcopal and palatial residences. - -[Sidenote: SPURGEON AND "APOCALYPSE" CUMMING.] - -Spurgeon, the great Baptist divine, who ranks somewhat like Henry Ward -Beecher, receives a salary of $18,000 a year for his preaching, and his -congregation, in 1860, erected for him a grand tabernacle at Newington, -on the Surrey side of the Thames near the Elephant and Castle, and in -one of the roughest districts of London, at a cost of L25,000. The -design is simple; the dimensions 85 by 174 feet, and here, every Sunday -evening, nearly six thousand persons assemble to listen to the vehement -eloquence of Spurgeon, who has his congregation drilled like a company -of infantry, and can move them to tears or laughter, as he chooses. - -[Illustration: SPURGEON.] - -In Crown Court, Strand, is the Free Church of Scotland, a well-built -and commodious edifice, where the Scottish Presbyterians attend. The -pastor of this church is known all over the world by his writings and -his prophetic denunciations of the coming destruction of the world, -as "Apocalypse" Cumming. Thousands of pages have been written by this -eminent divine, and hundreds of sermons have been preached by him, in -which he has identified the Pope of Rome with the "Scarlet Woman" and -the "Beast," having the mark on her forehead, yet at the call of the -Ecumenical Council, he was the first Protestant divine in England, who, -in a manner acknowledged the Pope's jurisdiction by writing to him for -admission to the Council as a Priest or "Presbyter." Dr. Cumming is a -very energetic preacher, and his services are always well attended by -the disciples of his church, as well as by strangers, in London, who -manifest a great desire to hear the illustrious Scotch divine. - -[Illustration: FATHER IGNATIUS.] - -One of the most talked-about people in London is the famous "Father -Ignatius," whose design is to bring over English Episcopalians to the -Roman Catholic Church, although he does not say so ostensibly. This -man is evidently sincere in his efforts to bring back the English -Church to the place of its departure, for the Reformation--as far as -the ceremonial goes. It is very little different, that old-fashioned -church of St. Mary-le-Strand--where I saw Father Ignatius officiating -one Sunday afternoon, in the midst of incense, ringing of silver -bells, and kneeling worshippers, who went through all the most devout -genuflections of Roman Catholicism--from the Mother Church, in its -ceremonial. Father Ignatius wore a vestment, with a huge cross down -the back, his head was shaved on the top like that of a monk, and -his face and eyes, as he descended the steps of the altar, which was -surmounted with a Gothic cross, covered with flowers, and blazing -with lights, had an ascetic aspect, which is not commonly seen in -the features or eyes of a clergyman of the State Church. At every -motion of the body he made a low reverence to the Crucifix over the -altar. This Father Ignatius does not believe in a married Clergy, or -in Lay or Congregational administration of a Church--in fact he does -everything that a Roman Catholic Priest does, including the hearing of -confessions, yet he dares not acknowledge the Supremacy of the Bishop -of Rome, excepting in a negative sense. He is an advanced soldier of a -large and growing party in the Church of England, who gravitate with -tremendous strides daily towards the Church of Rome, but do not know -that they are thus gravitating, or knowing, will not acknowledge the -fact. This puny, slab-faced, and livid-looking Priest, has suffered, -too, with steadiness, has been stoned and mobbed by angry crowds, yet -he perseveres in his work, and has many thousand followers, male and -female, among the brightest, best, bravest, and most cultivated of -England's aristocracy. - -[Sidenote: THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.] - -It is a strange, old-fashioned, and conservative Church, this State -Church of Great Britain. It has lasted three hundred years, with its -feasts and fasts, its liturgy, its prelates, spiritual peers, and -Thirty-Nine Articles. - -Englishmen have always, until of late days, been conservative, and -this old-fashioned Church, with its grave ceremonial, its Canons, and -Deaneries, with its Westminster Abbey, its St. Paul's Cathedral, and -its Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, has, in every way, satisfied -the English people--at any rate, it has served the purposes of the -ruling classes. - -But the Church of England, like all other things in this world, has -received some heavy blows in the course of its existence. - -First came the Great Civil War, in which Charles I lost his head, -and with him the Church of England lost its revenues, and its great -prestige departed when Laud ascended the scaffold. - -Then came the Restoration, which brought with it a dissolute King, -a dissolute nobility, and worst of all a dissolute clergy. The -horse-riding, beer-drinking, and gambling parsons of the reigns of -Queen Anne, William, and the Georges, such as Thackeray has so well -described, in his Parson Sampson, were morally unfit to join issue, -in a spiritual encounter, with such earnest, plucky, and aggressive -Christians as Wesley, Whitfield, and Bunyan, proved themselves, and -consequently the Established Church lost its hold on half of the -working men and the agricultural classes of England toward the first -decade of the Nineteenth century. In particular, the manufacturing -towns lost all respect for the faith of the King and court, and such -places as Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, and Birmingham, became -strongholds of Dissent, while the pews of the rural churches, where -the poor of the parishes had never been welcome, since the days of the -dissolution of the monasteries, by Henry VIII, were left untenanted, -and a brutal ignorance took the place of implicit faith among the -English masses. - -And to cap the climax, a year ago a bill was brought into Parliament -for the destruction of the Established Church of Ireland, a church -which never had been accepted by the Irish people, and though the -English Churchmen, the Ministers, and the Tory party, rallied to save -the doomed edifice, yet it was swept away in a night, despite the -maneuvers of the leaders of the House of Lords, who wisely fought the -bill as long as they could, believing it to be the first great blow -delivered at the Established Church and the English aristocracy since -Catholic Emancipation in 1829. - -At present there is a terrific struggle going on in the Established -Church. One half of the clergy, among whom are the best educated and -most scholarly divines, secretly lean to the Catholic Church, and -belong to the "Ritualistic" party, with its incense, flowers, banners, -and Protestant Sisters of Mercy and Nuns; and the other half are again -divided into those who doubt the inspiration of the Scriptures, and -openly denounce the entire books of the Bible as a tissue of fables, -with Colenso, and a third party, who having sprung from the people, and -having no connection with any of the great beneficed Church families, -and being incumbents of L100 livings, or less, cannot support their -families or educate their children properly. This last faction is a -growing one, and though less educated than the other two parties, they -are equally earnest, and eagerly await the day when they can join the -ranks of the Baptists, Independents, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, or -Methodists, for the purpose of forming a "Liberal" or "Broad" English -Church, such as Dean Stanley is supposed to represent in his theories. - -[Sidenote: ROMAN CATHOLIC STATISTICS.] - -In the mean time the Roman Catholic Clergy are sleepless, -indefatigable, and aggressive in their movements, and as they do not -hope to convert the middle classes of the English people, who are all -staunch Protestants, they have laid siege to the souls of the two -extreme bodies, the aristocracy and the very poor and destitute, as -well as the working classes. And they are making great progress--in -fact alarming progress, as I will show here. - -In 1380, when England and Wales had been Catholic countries for more -than seven hundred and fifty years, there were more than 14,000 parish -churches, and 2,000 religious houses in the kingdom; there was one -parish church to every four square miles throughout the kingdom, and -one religious house to every thirty square miles; and there were 40,000 -priests, monks, and friars. The whole of these churches and convents -were taken away or destroyed during the Reformation; and, as I have -said, when the church was at last again set free, she had to commence -her work anew. In the half century since her hands were fully untied, -she has built more than 1,000 churches and chapels, and something -like 300 monasteries and convents, and she has over 1,700 priests -ministering at her altars. If this be the work of fifty years, how much -less is it, proportionately, than the work accomplished by the same -church in the first seven hundred and fifty years of her life. - -Therefore, the Roman Catholics, while they held supreme sway in -England, built 14,000 churches, which is less than twenty in each year, -while during the last fifty years they have built 1,000 churches, -which is also twenty in each year; but during this period, it must -be remembered that the public sentiment of Great Britain had been -overwhelmingly Protestant, while in the previous period referred to, a -Protestant was unknown. - -And now for the social status and influence of the Romanists in -England. - -There are, in the first place, 33 Catholic peers, 48 Catholic baronets, -and 36 Catholic members of Parliament. There are lords and lords, -and one lord differeth from another in glory as one star differeth -from another. It is unquestionably true that the Roman Catholic peers -and baronets are the representatives of the oldest, most noble, and -most influential families in the kingdom. The reigns of Edward VI, -Elizabeth, James I, and William and Mary, were marked by the extinction -of the greater part of the Roman Catholic houses. The nobles, who clung -to the ancient faith, were slain by the axe of the executioner, driven -into exile, or beggared by the confiscation of their estates, which -passed into the hands of the comparatively mushroom aristocracy that -sprang up upon the ruins of these illustrious families. But a few of -the old nobility contrived to escape the fate of the majority. - -There are in the United Kingdom 27 dukes, 32 marquises, 194 earls, -55 viscounts, and 220 barons--in all, 528 noblemen. But as I have -ascertained by dint of patiently reading through Burke's peerage, 228 -of these are the holders of titles which are the "creations" of the -present century; 163 date back only to the eighteenth century; 89 -to the seventeenth century; 17 to the sixteenth century; 20 to the -fifteenth century; 3 to the fourteenth century; 4 to the thirteenth -century; and 1 to the twelfth century. This last is Baron Kingsale, -whose title dates from 1181, and who is the twenty-ninth of his name. - -The most ancient dukedom is that of the Duke of Norfolk, created in -1483. The Norfolks, throughout all their history, remained faithful to -the Roman Catholic church. The present Duke is the fifteenth of the -name, and is "Earl Marshal, Premier Duke, and Earl of England." Of the -three nobles whose creation dates back to the fourteenth century, two -are Roman Catholics; of the twenty who date from the fifteenth century, -six are of that religion; and of the seventeen who date from the -sixteenth century, three are of the old faith. Out of the four hundred -and eighty whose titles are less than 270 years old, only twenty-two -are Catholics. And of the forty-eight Roman Catholic baronets, about -half of the number are the descendants of gentlemen to whom this -hereditary rank was given in the early part of the seventeenth century. - -The ancient Roman Catholic hierarchy in England ended in 1584, with -the death of Thomas Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, who died in prison in -that year. The hierarchy was not restored until Sept. 9, 1850, when the -present Pope erected it by establishing all England as the "Province -of Westminster," embracing thirteen dioceses, and presided over by -an Archbishop. During this interval of 266 years, the Roman Catholic -Clergy in England were at first under the direction of an Archpriest. - -In Scotland the hierarchy has not yet been restored. It ended with the -death of the last Archbishop of Glasgow, who died in exile at Paris in -1603. Since then the Catholic Church in Scotland has been under the -charge of Vicars-apostolic. - -[Sidenote: A SKETCH OF "LOTHAIR."] - -The greatest conquest made by the Roman Catholic clergy, of late years, -is that of the young Marquis of Bute, the original of Mr. Disraeli's -"Lothair," in his social and politico-religious novel of that name. -This young and noble lord was born on the 12th of September, 1847, -and is now in his twenty-third year. His father, the second Marquis -of Bute, married Lady Maria North, eldest daughter and co-heir of -George Augustus, third Earl of Guilford. This estimable lady died -childless, in 1841, and the old Marquis married again in 1845, Lady -Sophia-Frederica-Christina Hastings, second daughter of the first -Marquis of Hastings. The young Marquis was unfortunate in losing his -mother when he was in his twelfth year. Lord Bute has been a great -traveler for a man of his age, and being an only child he has had the -best of tutors that Europe could afford. - -[Illustration: "LOTHAIR," (MARQUIS OF BUTE.)] - -Nearly every young lady of wealth and rank in England set her cap for -the young Marquis when he attained his majority; but this nobleman is -very unlike the Marquis of Waterford or the Duke of Hamilton, who by -the way are distant relatives of his. He is not fond of dissipation, -and since his boyish days he has been of a reflective turn of mind, -with deep religious yearnings--yet withal he is not guilty of cant, and -does not bore one with his religious views. He is good looking, but -is not showy in his dress, and just now he is the lion of fashionable -Europe from the fame which attends him everywhere as the hero of -Disraeli's novel. The Marquis was reared a Presbyterian with decided -Church of England leanings, and was converted one year ago, to the -Roman Catholic faith through the efforts of Monsigneur Capel, who has -also a niche in "Lothair," under the title of Monsigneur Catesby. He -is a most accomplished ecclesiastic, who unites with a fascinating -exterior the greatest ability and perseverance. - -[Sidenote: BUTE, MANNING, AND NEWMAN.] - -The income of the Marquis is about L380,000 annually, and he has -decided to give one year's income, which is nearly two millions of -dollars, toward the construction of a Catholic Cathedral at Oxford, in -which all the glories of the Medieval Gothic shall be renewed. The roll -of this young nobleman's titles is enough to startle an American. They -are as follows: John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, Marquis of Bute, Earl of -Windsor, Viscount Mountjoy in the Isle of Wight, Baron Mount-Stuart of -Wortley and Baron of Cardiff Castle, Wales, in the Peerage of Great -Britain. He is also Earl of Dumfries and Bute, Viscount of Ayr and -Kingarth, Baron Crichton, Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, Lord Mount-Stuart -of Cumbrae and Inchmarnock, and Hereditary Keeper of Rothesay Castle -(formerly a Royal residence). Besides, he is a Baronet of Nova Scotia -among the Blue-Noses. - -Through his mother he is a Crichton, which is a royal House, and by his -father he comes of the equally royal House of Stuart, and he holds the -title of "Lord of the Isles." The motto of his family is "_Avito viret -honore_." (He flourishes in an honorable ancestry.) The motto of the -Hastings family, with which Lord Bute is connected, is "Trust warrants -troth." - -The most beautiful woman of the English nobility is Lady Victoria-Maria -Louisa Hastings, who is now in her thirty-third year. This lady was -a great pet of Queen Victoria, and when a child Her Royal Highness, -the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the Queen, held the pretty baby -in her arms as sponsor at the baptismal font, for the sake of a dear -friend, Lady Victoria's mother, who was Stephanie, Duchess of Baden, -and a relation of the Emperor Napoleon. The young girl grew up, and is -now the wife of John Forbes-Stratford Kirwan, Esq., of Moyne, County -Galway, Ireland. - -The Marquis of Bute is a relation of the late Baron Stuart de Rothesay, -for many years English Ambassador at Paris. - -It has been variously hinted and rumored that the Marquis of -Bute was at one time engaged to the Lady Albertina Hamilton, a -daughter of the Duke of Abercorn, and also to a young lady of the -Sutherland-Leveson-Gower family, which has for its head the Duke of -Sutherland. It is said that the "Lady Corisande" of "Lothair," is none -other than a daughter of the Duchess of Sutherland, the former firm -friend of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. - -If the Marquis of Bute was indeed a suitor for the hand of a daughter -of the Duke of Abercorn, I am quite sure that he might have succeeded -in his endeavor, for I believe that that worthy nobleman has been -blessed with ten daughters and four stalwart sons, who can all answer -to the Slogan of the Hamiltons. - -The young Marquis has residences and castles, and immense domains, -at Mt. Stuart; Isle of Bute, at Cardiff Castle, Glamorganshire, at -Dumfries House, and he has a town house in London; besides, his name is -inscribed on the registers of four London and three Parisian Clubs. - -The ablest man in the English Roman Catholic Church is Archbishop -Manning, who has been such a firm supporter of the Papal Infallibility -in the Ecumenical Council. In due time, no doubt, this prelate will -have the Cardinal's red hat conferred upon him for his services. - -The greatest scholar in the Roman Catholic Church, in England, is Dr. -J.H. Newman, the celebrated Oxford Tractarian, or Puseyite, who became -a convert to Catholicism, with Manning, and since 1840 has devoted his -brains to the service of his new Mother Church with great learning and -zeal. His picture shows one of the most spiritual faces in England--it -is almost weird in its nature. - -There is a monument erected to a man named Dow, in St. Botolph's Church -(Church of England) Aldgate, who bequeathed a sum of money to the -clerk of the church, to pay him for ringing a bell at midnight, on the -occasion of the execution of a criminal at Newgate. This was to call -the attention of the condemned man to his soul. - -It was this same Robert Dow who left, by will, in the year 1612, the -sum of L1 6s. 8d., annually, as a fee to the Sexton of St. Sepulchres, -which is just opposite Newgate Prison, for pronouncing two solemn -exhortations to condemned criminals on the night preceding and on the -morning of their execution, as they passed the church-door on their way -to Tyburn-Tree. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - -THE LEGION OF THE LOST. - - -VERY different estimates have been made as to the extent of the Social -Evil in London, but that made some fifteen months ago by the Right -Reverend Dr. Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, from facts and figures -furnished him by medical men, the police returns, and the minor clergy, -places the number of abandoned or public women in London, at the -startling aggregate of eighty thousand unfortunates. - -This estimate of Vice and Sin is certainly calculated to intimidate and -terrify the Christian people of England, were it not for the fact that -a hundred agencies are constantly at work, upheld and supported by good -men and women, to lessen the number of these fair and frail members of -the Legion of the Lost. - -The great parade ground of the abandoned women of London, is the -Haymarket, when all London is at rest--when bed-room blinds are drawn -down, and street doors locked and chained--when lights are rarely seen -but in the windows of the sick wards of hospitals--then the Haymarket -is in its glory, gay and lively as a ball-room, and swarming with -gaudily dressed women sauntering and flaunting up and down its broad -pavements, crowding them as on an illumination night. The dissolute and -idle, the debauchee and the debauched, pour into this market of sin, -this Exchange of Vice and Harlotry, like moths attracted by the glare -that must sooner or later utterly destroy them. This street is always -at night full of cabs, drunken men, noisy women, jugglers, and thieves. - -The Haymarket is the Republic of Vice, where all who enter are hale -fellows well met, for every one knows why the other has come here, and -caution being cast off for the time, all ranks and stations mingle. - -[Sidenote: "SCOTT'S" IN THE HAYMARKET.] - -Outside the tavern doors are gathered clusters of swells talking to the -poor souls, who, disguised by some flash dressmaker, have hidden the -figure of the servant-maid under the toilette of the mistress. The heir -to a title stands bowing to some pretty faced girl, who mixes her bad -grammar with oaths. The door of a public house swings back to let the -hope of a family enter, who is about to sip wine at the counter with -the chip bonnet at his side. - -[Illustration: "SCOTT'S" IN THE HAYMARKET.] - -Let us enter "Scott's" in the Haymarket. "Scott's" is the great Oyster -House of London. It is a little cosy, crowded place, and not more -than fifty feet deep by half as many feet in width. At any hour of -the night and until two o'clock in the morning, it is possible to get -oysters, fried, roasted or raw, at "Scott's." They are also cooked -with cracker dust, which makes them taste as if they had been broiled -in sawdust. Oysters are quite dear at "Scott's," and will cost three -shillings a dozen, raw, which is a very high rate when compared with -the price of our American oysters. They are small and bitter, and -black, and the best of the bivalves come from Ostend in Belgium. - -There is a counter at the front of the shop, and behind this counter -are exposed all kinds of shell-fish, lobsters, prawns, crabs, -periwinkles or "winkles," and oysters, as well as mussels. The bounding -clam is unknown in England, however, and is not found amongst the -edibles. Behind this counter the proprietor and his wife, and three -or four male assistants in white aprons, are busily engaged opening -oysters and serving up lobsters and dressed lettuce, to the customers -who prefer to eat standing. To eat standing, however, is not the -common custom in England, and the majority who wish to eat oysters -take seats in the little stalls behind in the back room, which are -exactly like our American oyster stalls, only that they are furnished -with plush cushions. In these stalls are clerks, swells, men about -town, Englishmen and foreigners, eating oysters and drinking Stout, -or supping on lobsters and champagne, and as it is now after eleven -o'clock, nearly every man in these stalls has a girl of a certain class -with him, who is of course eating supper at his expense. - -Upstairs there is a room somewhat similar to the one below, which -is now densely crowded; but the upper room is more select. I went -upstairs, and here I found a number of couples lounging in a free and -easy manner, and some were calling loudly upon the waiters for brandy -and water. Seated in one of these stalls is a pink-faced boy, fresh -from his country home, helping with delicate attention the painted -woman beside him to costly viands. - -She laughs noisily as a man, flinging her arms about, and as the -Champagne foams in her glass, she tosses her head like a Bacchante. -But an action that by daylight would seem disgusting to the boy, is -charming in the blaze of the Haymarket gaslight, and the lad looks with -admiration upon the companion whom on the morrow he would pass without -a nod of recognition. - -The police returns for the year 1868-9, give the following figures as -to the number of public women, or prostitutes, who are known to the -police in the metropolitan district of London: - - Brothels. - Prostitutes. - Within the districts of Westminster, Brompton, and - Pimlico, there are, 153 524 - St. James, Regent-street, Soho, Leicester-square, 152 318 - Marylebone, Paddington, St. John's-wood, 139 526 - Oxford-street, Portland-place, New-road, Gray's-inn-lane, 194 546 - Covent-garden, Drury-lane, St. Giles's, 45 480 - Clerkenwell, Pentonwell, City-road, Shoreditch, 152 349 - Spitalfields, Houndsditch, Whitechapel, Ratcliff, 471 1,803 - Bethnal-green, Mile-end, Shadwell to Blackwall, 419 965 - Lambeth, Blackfriars, Waterloo-road, 377 802 - Southwark, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, 178 667 - Islington, Hackney, Homerton, 185 445 - Camberwell, Walworth, Peckham, 65 228 - Deptford and Greenwich, 148 401 - Kilburn, Portland, Kentish, and Camden Towns, 88 231 - Kensington, Hammersmith, Fulham, 12 106 - Waltham-green, Chelsea, Cremorne, 47 209 - ---- ---- - 2,825 8,600 - -For the one public woman here registered there are five who do not -reside in brothels, but live alone, hiring lodgings for which they -pay from eight shillings to five guineas a week, according to the -manner in which the apartments are furnished, and the character of the -neighborhood in which they are situated, so that it is calculated that -there are seventy to eighty thousand women in London whose names do not -appear in the official list of the Lost, yet lead immoral lives, and -whose sin is as great in the sight of God, but less in the sight of -man, as their infamy is not of that nature that the law can punish them -for it. - -[Illustration: THE MIDNIGHT MISSION.] - -[Sidenote: "MIDNIGHT MISSION."] - -God knows it is from no persistent desire to uncover the sores and -ulcers of the huge city, that I state these facts. - -Great and unceasing efforts are being made by the clergy and -philanthropic citizens of London to diminish this terrible Traffic in -Souls, which is the distinguishing mark of infamy that clings to the -Haymarket. - -For some years past these unfortunate women have been collected -together while plying their avocation, in an apartment in the vicinity -of the Haymarket, in which some slight refreshments are prepared for -them, ices and cooling but temperate drinks being served up gratis to -all who will attend and listen to the words of repentance and hope from -the mouths of clergymen who visit this place nightly for the purpose of -reclaiming these Lost Ones. This is called the "Midnight Mission," or -"Meeting," and the girls are gathered by having circulars presented to -them in the street as the hour nears midnight. A great number attend, -and they generally listen with patience and decorum. This Mission was -founded by the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, who first preached to the -unfortunate girls. - -A high officer of the London police informed me that there were in -that city about seven thousand lost women who are always well dressed, -well gloved, and well shod, who live comfortably, and many of them -elegantly. These women, of course, are all Free Lances, and prey upon -the fashionable young men of London and strangers who visit the great -Babylon. - -Of this number, he stated that three thousand five hundred were what -is called under protection, or kept mistresses. The remainder have -hired lodgings for themselves in Pimlico, Fitzroy square, Portman -street, Howard street, Winchester street, Sutherland street, Gloucester -street, and other respectable localities of the metropolis, paying two -or three sovereigns a week for a suite of apartments, and furnishing -them at their own expense. This latter class, as a general thing, live -individually apart from each other, and keep each a servant of all -work, to do their cooking and washing. - -Some of these girls have furnished their apartments at a cost of -from two to five hundred pounds, ordering the most costly articles -of furniture with the extravagance and profusion peculiar to their -class. Pictures, etageres, buffets, mirrors, ormolu clocks, tapestry -carpets, and the most luxurious articles of bijouterie and the -toilet are to be found in their apartments; and, unlike their frail -sisters in New York and Paris, these London girls act with complete -independence of their landladies, who in the cities mentioned, as a -rule, treat the unfortunate women placed in their power more like -dogs than human beings. In London, these girls are in the strictest -sense their own mistresses, and therefore do not come under any police -regulations; nor can they receive the designation of professionals, -as they never solicit men on the street, or live in what is called a -house of ill-fame. The persons who rent apartments to these girls in -the districts which I have thus enumerated, are not supposed to know -anything about the occupation or business of tenants, and they never, -by any possibility, attempt to interfere with them. - -One of the most frequented resorts of Lost Women in London is the -Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea, on the Thames river bank, and distant -about four miles from the Post Office and St. Paul's Cathedral. - -These Gardens comprise about four acres, which are covered with trees, -and ornamented with fountains, flower-beds, and statues. This is the -maddest place in London, after ten o'clock in the evening. Until that -hour, the middle class of London citizens, shopkeepers, tradesmen, -and clerks, and their wives and sweethearts, have possession of the -Gardens; but at that hour they leave the place, and from thence until -one and two o'clock in the morning Cremorne is in the possession of -Lost Women and their male friends and abettors. - -The Cremorne is in many respects very like the Mabille at Paris, but -decency is better enforced, and the women at Cremorne have not such a -debased look as their unfortunate sisters of the Mabille. - -At Cremorne there is a circular platform on which a band of music -is constantly stationed during the evening, and here the dancing is -principally done. Between the dances the girls promenade, or take -supper with their male friends in the numerous restaurants, which -are always crowded to excess by noisy people of both sexes, drinking -Champagne and Moselle, or eating lobster or devilled kidneys. Cold -suppers are provided for the girls in an upper saloon, for which they -are charged two shillings and sixpence a piece, without wine. Then -there are fireworks, two or three theatres and music halls, Japanese -jugglers, bowling alleys, shooting galleries, and other modes of -diversion and amusement. - -Swarms of young fashionables from the Opera, where they have been -listening to the enchanting strains of a Tietjens, a Nillson, or a -Patti, in evening dress with thin overcoats, may be seen here of a warm -night, or perhaps they may have come from the clubs in St. James or -Piccadilly, to kill time. - -[Illustration: "SKITTLES" AND THE PRINCESS MARY.] - -[Sidenote: "SKITTLES" AND THE PRINCESS MARY.] - -"Skittles," now dead, who was at one time the most famous woman of her -class in London, was very fond of attending Cremorne, where she was in -the habit of drinking large quantities of Champagne. "Skittles" was -at one time a great personage in London, and bore on her brougham the -crest of a Marquis. This audacious woman had the temerity to dispute -the way with the Princess Mary of Cambridge, while that member of the -Royal family was riding in Rotten Row. "Skittles" was on horseback, -being in full riding dress, and the Princess Mary was also on -horseback, when they met, and it is said that "Skittles" lifted her -dainty little riding whip at the astonished Princess, and demanded that -she should give her precedence in the Ride. - -Cremorne is a great place for rows between the women and the fast -young men who attend the amusements there. While promenading around -the Dancing Ring one evening, I noticed a crowd gathering, and heard -a female voice uttering screams of distress. The young lady with the -unearthly voice I ascertained was a habitue of the place, known as "Mad -Rose," and the offending biped was a certain fast baronet named Sir -Frederick Johnstone, who has since figured in the Mordaunt Divorce Suit. - -[Illustration: A ROW AT CREMORNE.] - -It seems that this "Mad Rose" had been at one time under the baronet's -protection, and the afternoon before the rencontre he had met her in -the Park, and passed her without recognition, although she sought it -from him. She was determined to have her revenge for this, besides -some old scores she had to settle with him; or it was that he had not -settled some old scores with her. - -The girl was tall, elegantly shaped, and dressed in a tasteful and rich -manner, becoming her blonde hair and complexion. Seeing the baronet -with his friends, she stepped up to him, and singling him out, struck -him across the face with her gloved hand, which was glittering with -diamonds. - -[Sidenote: A ROW AT CREMORNE.] - -Then she uttered a scream of feminine distress, and a crowd of swells -gathered around her. Then she knocked off his hat and screamed again. -The baronet uttered no remonstrance, but backed up against a railing, -his hat lying on the ground. Attempting to pick it up, she knocked -it off again and screamed. This thing went on for the space of ten -minutes, the girl, in a passion--whether fictitious or not, I cannot -tell--slapping the exquisite in the face at intervals, knocking off -his hat and screaming, but not forgetting to pour volleys of abuse -upon the baronet's head in the meanwhile. A great crowd collected and -enjoyed the fun. But I noticed that not a man in the assemblage offered -to interfere, and the baronet's friends refused to molest her, with -the exception of one, who caught hold of her wrists, and he had to let -go his hold of her in an instant, as he was attacked in a body by the -other girls, who put him to flight immediately. The baronet begged for -mercy, but got none; and, finally, a grand charge was made on the crowd -by the Cremorne police, and it was dispersed. - -This movement relieved the baronet from further persecution, and the -mad woman was taken away. One fact was noticeable--not a man in the -crowd even attempted to raise his hand to the girl during her repeated -assaults. Had it been in America, I am certain she would, under such -circumstances, have met with very rough, if not brutal treatment. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -SCARLET WOMEN. - - -WE were standing on the smooth, grassy lawn, at Goodwood, a wandering -American and the writer, strangers in a strange land, with the bustle -and uproar which are always adjuncts to a Race Course in any country, -and the Babel exclamations of a multitudinous assemblage sounding in -our ears. - -[Sidenote: GOODWOOD RACES.] - -It was the first day of the annual races, which are run for three days -in every year, at Goodwood, the princely residence and grounds of the -Duke of Richmond. This is the most aristocratic race meeting held in -England, and it is always frequented by the nobles and people of high -social position, with their wives, daughters, and lady friends. - -The meeting is divided into three separate days running, each day -having a distinctive title, and known to those familiar with equine -sport, as the "Stakes Day," the "Cup Day," and the "Duke's Plate Day." - -It was a beautiful and unclouded English July noon, and the smell of -the hawthorn hedges, and the faint breath of the hollyhocks made a -perfume in the air, which banished all humors and sulkiness from the -crowds of well dressed and well bred people who had been waiting to -hear the saddling bell rung before the start. Lithe and sinewy little -jockeys, clad in parti-colored silk shirts, and wearing kaleidoscopic -caps of the same material, walked the fresh-looking, silken-maned, and -symmetrical-limbed horses, up and down the velvety green sward, to give -the high bred English girls an opportunity to inspect their favorites, -whose colors predominated in the shades of their gloves, parasols, and -gracefully-hung robes, which rustled around their supple and elegant -figures. - -Under high, sheltering greenwood trees, cosy seats were arranged for -the ladies, who made the Lawn picturesque with their bright colored -dresses that shone with splendor as their owners gathered in brilliant -patches on the velvety turf, gossiping and chatting while Guardsmen, -and Clubmen, Heavy Swells, and noisy boys, from Eton and Harrow, -gamboled and shouted as if at cricket, and sedate gownsmen from -Cambridge, and Double Firsts, and Wranglers, from Oxford, made wagers, -and drew from their coat-pockets small betting books to record the sums -invested. - -The Embankment, a high, long, and well-kept mound of grass-covered -earth, was swarming with the fair sex, all of whom had their swan-like -necks encircled with white lace ruffs, which serve so well as a setting -for a well-shaped and milk-white throat. - -Afar off we could observe, through yawning gaps in the ancient and -stately trees, which were pierced by the ruddy beams of sunlight, the -tall towers and fair proportions of Goodwood House, the magnificent -mansion of the Duke of Richmond. Twenty to twenty-five thousand people -were gathered in the noble old Park whose vistas stretched off into -dells, copses, and woodland nooks, for thousands of acres. - -Here were gathered all the well-known aristocratic patrons of the turf -in England, men who would hardly be seen at Newmarket or Epsom, and -here again were the racing men, whose names are met with everywhere -in England, where the warning bell is rung to saddle, and where -thousands may be lost and won in an hour--the Westmorelands, the -Savilles, Chaplins, Anneslies, Prince Soltykoff, Count de Lagrange, -who owned "Gladiateur," Lord Vivian, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Lord -Roseberry, Sir Joseph Hawley, Admiral Rous, Captain Hall, Lord Wilton, -Lord St. Vincent, Lord Ailesbury, Sir C. Legard, Baron Rothschild, -the Duke of Beaufort, Mr. W.S. Crawfurd, Lord Poulett, Lord Falmouth, -Lord Calthorpe, Mr. E. Brayley, Lord Strafford, Mr. Bromsgrove, and -many others, titled and untitled, who are leaders among the racing -aristocracy. The Marquis of Hastings, and the Duke of Newcastle, that -day, were absent--the first in his grave, the other beggared by his -extravagance, and an outcast among his peers. - -As the day grew apace, the swarms of people became more densely packed -until all classes of the sporting multitude were represented. There -was the "Welcher," who makes bets and does not pay when he loses, a -low-sized, stumpy fellow, in cutaway frock coat and drab beaver hat, a -huge horse's head pin sticking out of his gaudy, blue scarf, which is -dotted with small white balls, and wearing a shaggy moustache, which he -twists with the head of his cane, that has for a knob a nag's head, in -bone-work. - -Yonder, stopping to ask for a noggin of gin from one of the proprietors -of the numerous ginger beer and refreshment stands, is the London prize -fighter--a model, in his way--thick set, broad in the loins, and having -a murderous forehead and a battered face, from some recent encounter, -one of those dangerous-looking, suspicious fellows, whom you may meet -with any night wandering about the docks in Wapping, or lounging at the -notched doorway of a tavern in Shoreditch, or Whitechapel. - -Sauntering this way, where I stand in a shady spot with my American -friend, are two "heavy swells," dressed in the height of fashion, and -mincing their vowels in a feminine manner; yet effeminate as their -language sounds, they are both massive-looking fellows, and now I -recollect having seen both leaning out of the bow window of the Guard's -Club, in Pall Mall, and one of the pair I have also noticed trooping -his company at St. James' Palace, at the unusually early hour--for -him--of nine o'clock, of a summer's morning. - -Men are gambling, and singing, and eating, and drinking, and betting -shillings and sovereigns all around us, and my companion seems stunned -by the noise and uproar which rises and swells in an indistinct way -this hot July day, as we move from place to place seeking a quiet nook -where we may commune together. - -[Sidenote: ENGLISH MINSTRELSY.] - -There is suddenly a discordant hum and a party of strolling minstrels -halt before a carriage and commence to serenade the fair lady -listeners, who fling sixpences to them languidly. These minstrels have -their faces blacked, and are appareled in hideous check coats with very -small bodies, and have very large buttons sewed to the skirts, which -are ornamented with ridiculously long tails. The songs generally sung -by those wretched minstrels, are slangy, and sound senseless to an -American's ear, as witness the following stanza which they chant with -wide-mouthed refrain:-- - - "Button up your waistcoat, button up your shoes, - Have another liquor and throw away the blues, - Be like me and good for a spree, - From now till the day is dawning. - For I am a member of the Rollicking Rams, - Come and be a member of the Rollicking Rams, - The only boys to make a noise, - From now till the day is dawning." - -The course was lined and packed with every known manner of vehicle and -equipage. There were drags, four-in-hands, dog-carts, landaus, tandem -teams, ladies' pony chaises, phaetons, carryalls, clarences, broughams, -and open barouches. Many of the turn-outs were adorned with the crests -of noble families, and some few bore the princely cognizances of great -Continental houses. - -One of these large, roomy, and handsomely-constructed, open barouches, -drawn by four grey horses, served as a focus for many glances drawn -toward it. Some of the glances bestowed on the female occupants of the -handsome barouche were very unfriendly--and when some proud patrician -girl rode by, her eyes shot fire at the borrowed splendor of the three -Scarlet Women, who reclined lazily upon the softly-cushioned seats, and -no less hostile were the glances thrown on the graceful wavy figure of -the handsome girl who sat her thoroughbred and silken-eared and shapely -chestnut bay mare by the side of the barouche, and who bent over like -a reed to chat with the principal female figure leaning back on the -cushions. - -I looked at these four gaily dressed, handsome women, with their loud -chatty manners, their indescribably bold flashes of the eye, their -familiar and free conversation with the titled fools and giddy young -lordlings, and baronets and rich young commoners, and as I looked I -saw that these four women represented the Great Social Plague Spot of -England. While I looked, a police inspector, from London, who had come -down to this ordinarily quiet, Sussex town, to keep an eye on some -distinguished pickpockets who were to attend the races, sauntered to -where I stood with my friend, and as I had made his acquaintance in the -English capital he was not long in informing me as to the character of -the magnificently attired women. - -"They are the four gayest women in England, Sir," said he, "Those four -ladies--_we_ call them _ladies_ because we dare not call them anything -else, they have so many protectors of rank and influence--are "Mabel -Grey," "Anonyma," "Baby Hamilton," and "Alice Gordon." - -"Mabel Gray?" said my friend enquiringly, "I think I've heard of her -before--which is she?" - -[Illustration: "MABEL GREY."] - -"That's her, Sir, as is sitting back in the front seat with a plate of -chicken on her lap, with the golden butterflies in her lace bonnet, -and the splendid diamond cross hanging from her neck--that's the gal -with the blue eyes and auburn hair. The gal that's holding the long -necked green glass for that swell to pour champagne into it, is "Baby -Hamilton"--ah, she is a wild one--many's the thousand pounds the young -Jook of Hamilton squandered on her, and so did the poor Marquis of -Hastings, poor fellow--wuss for him. The finest looking gal of all is -that "Anonyma" gal as some of these fellows that has book eddication -has called her--they say it means "No Name," but I know she has a -name, for it used to be Kate Bellingham when she came to London first. -Oh, she's a high blooded one--just look at how she sits that chestnut -mare--I'll warrant you that mare would bring six hundred guineas at -Tattersall's--if she'd bring a pound--ye won't ketch her drinking in -public, she's too proud of herself to do that--no, Sir, she wouldn't -be seen taking a drink from the Prince of Wales himself at a public -place like the Race Course. Now there's Alice Gordon," added the police -officer, who began to grow loquacious in his description of these fair -but frail and giddy beauties, "she's a quiet, orderly, young creature, -and as pretty as a peach, poor little thing--God help her--she never -knew a mother's care, and she was lost for want of a kind word and a -loving heart to guide her young steps." - -[Sidenote: "THEY ARE OFF."] - -Now the saddling bell has rung amid the greatest excitement, and the -multitude who have been flirting, eating, and drinking, betting, and -playing at divers games of chance, become suddenly hushed, and a great -quiet comes over the populated fields, stands, and tents, as the -jockeys ride forth to the starting point, five famous horses held in -the leash and straining their necks with avidity and equine eagerness -for the race. The ladies of the demi-monde settled themselves well -forward in their seats. "Anonyma" swept by on her chestnut to get a -good position for a look at the horses. "Mabel Grey" allowed her knife -and fork, which she had been using on the unoffending chicken, to fall -into her plate, and the tangled curls of "Baby Hamilton" reclined on -her shoulders as a fool of a Guardsman gave her his arm to assist her -to stand up in the drag, and handed her his glass to sweep the field. -The stately looking footman who is bustling among the dishes and wine -bottles, assisting "Anonyma's" butler in preparation for the coming -feast, stops in his occupation to listen to the thundering roar of the -crowd, and to look at the gallant animals as they come forward to the -stand. The butler, who is a grave and elderly personage, receives his -orders from "Anonyma," with dignity, and he is lost to sight among -the game-hampers and the champagne bottles, and Moselle flasks, for a -moment. - -Listen to that cheer and long-continued shout! They are off, they are -off; and the whole vast swarm of human beings is aroused. The ladies -clap their hands and utter weak sounds of joy or distress, and the -cadgers, tramps, and more polished pickpockets, are now beginning to -reap their harvest in the midst of the excitement and momentary frenzy. - -The race is a two-mile stretch, and only five horses are entered. The -prize is the Goodwood Cup, valued at three hundred sovereigns. - -Two of the horses entered are four-year-olds, and the others are -three-year-olds. The great Jewish banker and member of Parliament, -Baron Rothschild, has entered "Restitution," a four year old, who is -ridden by Daley, an Irish jockey of fame. Sir Frederick Johnstone's -entry is "Brigantine," a three year old. Mr. Saville's "Blueskin," Lord -Calthorpe's "Robespierre," and Lord Strafford's "Rupert," make up the -number of horses who have darted by the Grand Stand in the storm of -wild huzzas. - -[Sidenote: "ANONYMA."] - -"Anonyma," whose chestnut was pawing the turf in a frisky manner, -grips the bridle of the blooded mare, and pulls hardily at her mouth. -A number of roughs around a booth salute her with not very choice -language, for she is known at the races, and the blood mantles in -her cheek and the crimson tide surges up to her temples as a coarse -blackguard repeats an opprobious epithet, and before he can draw -back she lays his cheek open with her dainty riding-whip, and giving -the mare more rope, the crowd opens wide for her with a cheer, and -she dashes across the Course on a canter, just as the Rothschild's -jockey, with his head bent down to the mane of "Restitution," and his -silken cap flying in the hot wind, sweeps by, "Blueskin" following -fast, and the great banker's jockey swerving aside from his course, -wins, by a miracle; "Restitution" having been for a moment blinded by -the long skirts of "Anonyma," in her mad canter across the turf, and -now there is a huzza, and a rending, wild hurricane of applause, as -Rothschild's colors go forward to the Weighing Stand, and "Restitution" -is pronounced winner of the Goodwood Cup of 1869, "Robespierre" being a -bad fourth, and "Rupert" coming in last of the field. - -Now the principal race of the day is ended, and great acclaim having -been given to the victor, the crowds disintegrate and separate into -little knots for refreshments, and hard-faced fellows, in flashy -costumes, may be seen pulling from capacious pockets, greasy wallets, -to settle their debts of "honor," and much beer is drank among the -humble people, and floods of costly wines are poured out in drags and -dog-carts, and bright eyes and smiling lips meet one everywhere, and -there is a clatter of knives and forks, and a popping of corks in the -vicinity of the carriages occupied by the Scarlet Women of London, who -are here to-day in swarms, and who are caressed and welcomed as if -their position was assured and the dark shadow of a Shameful Life had -not fallen upon them. - -[Illustration: "ANONYMA."] - -Leaning over the side of the drag, and talking to Mabel Grey, are three -of the "fastest" young men in England, Lord Arthur Pelham Clinton -(since dead), Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and the Duke of Newcastle, -brother to Lord Arthur. All three are bankrupt in fortune as well as -in morality. Lord Arthur's mother, a daughter of the former Duke of -Hamilton, dishonored her husband, and there seems to be a taint in the -blood of the young noble, who has been living on his wits for years. He -is a languid-looking fellow, and does not look as if he could fall-to -and saw a load of wood. - -Mabel Grey says to Lord Arthur, with a lisp: "Clinton, do take a bit of -chicken and a glass of fizz. No? Well then, take a glass of hock, like -a dear good boy. You look awfully cut. What can be the matter with the -man?" - -Just under the shadow of the wide-spreading beech-tree, where the drag -is stationed, an itinerant preacher is about to commence a phillipic -against Vice and Crime. He could not have chosen a better location than -this, where the ears of these Painted Women may be filled by him with -some truths that they seldom seek after. - -[Illustration: "ALICE GORDON."] - -"Alice Gordon," the fair-haired blonde, with the deep blue eyes, -condescends to bestow a glance at the preacher, who, now that he is -beginning to draw a crowd by his fiery invective, and denunciatory -language, directs a look of scorn and pity at the Lost Women in the -drag. The crowd, who naturally dislike women of the class of Lais and -Aspasia, give encouragement to the squat-figured and harshly-spoken -Boanerges. The swells around the drag, who are now joined by Sir -Frederick Johnstone, advise the Scarlet Women to tell the coachman -to whip up the horses and "dwive the dwag away from that beastly -preacher--the howid little boah." - -The preacher thunders at them, "Go, you gaudy libertines, with your -harlots and your women of Sodom, England is cursed with such as you. -But God will punish you all, and will smite you in your hour of pride. -For what says the Book, whose pages you never open: - -"_The ungodly are forward, even from their mother's womb; as soon as -they are born they go astray, and speak lies._ - -"_They are venomous as the poison of a serpent, even like the deaf -adder, that stoppeth her ears._ - -"_Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; smite the jaw-bones of the -Lions, O Lord; let them fall away like water that runneth apace; and -when they shoot their arrows let them be rooted out._" - -"Baby Hamilton," one of the women in the drag, shudders at these -Inspired Words and grows pale, while "Anonyma," who canters up easily -on her chestnut, asks Sir Frederick Johnstone: - -"Did you pull off a pot of money on "Brigantine," Sir Frederick?" - -"No, the doose of it was I lost two thousand on my own horse. But I -hedged and took 'Restitution' against the field, so I am not so badly -plucked." - -And this is the entertainment and conversation of some of the -hereditary rulers of England. Pardon me, reader, if I have brought you -into such loose and unprincipled company. I did it to show you who are -the female companions of a majority of the young English nobility. It -is this class of young men who patronise these Social Pariahs, and look -with contempt upon the manners of a respectable girl, and vote the -conversation of virtuous women as a bore. - -[Sidenote: "MABEL GREY."] - -That woman with the sunny smile, laying back in the drag, toying with -her fan--Mabel Grey--was, five years ago, a wretchedly-paid working -girl, who eked out an existence as a shoe-binder, in a shop in Oxford -street, London, on a pittance of seven shillings a week. Now, the -diamonds on her fingers would purchase a comfortable villa, and around -her throat, which is white as alabaster, is a necklace of pearls, that -cost the Prince of Wales five thousand pounds, it is said. She rides -every day in Rotten Row, the famous ride and fashionable drive in -Hyde Park, and her skirts often touch the garments of the Princess of -Wales as they pass each other in the crowded Row. And certainly the -Princess has no reason to look pleasantly at Mabel Grey. Mother to five -children, and daughter of the Vikings, with clear, unsullied Norse -blood in her veins, she may well question herself, when alone, "Why did -I marry a profligate and blackguard?" - -Mabel Grey is the original of Boucicault's "Formosa," and it was she -who gave a name to Dan Godfrey's famous "Mabel Waltz." Godfrey is the -leader of the Guard's band, and the musician thought that it would be -received as a delicate compliment by his aristocratic patrons, to call -a delicious piece of dance music by the Christian name of the chief of -England's Hetairae. - -In every shop-window the features of Mabel Grey are flaunted at one -along with the portraits of Nillson, Patti, the Queen, the Princess -of Wales, and other virtuous and good women. You may meet her and -"Anonyma" at the Opera, at the Chiswick Flower Show, at Kensington -Gardens, and other fashionable resorts, mingling unrebuked among -the noblest ladies in the land. She has a sumptous villa at St. -John's Wood, Brompton, a suburb of London, and in her stables are -constantly kept twelve to fifteen blooded animals for the saddle or -for driving--these horses being the gifts of her numerous aristocratic -admirers. She dines off dishes of silver and gold, and has a host of -servants. At Ascot she induced the Prince of Wales to bet on a certain -horse, whereby he lost the nice little sum of $100,000, or L20,000. - -And it is this bold, brazen, and bad woman, who divides the heart of -the Prince of Wales with the Princess Alexandra, his lawful wife and -the mother of his children, the other half being owned by Mabel Grey, -together with his pocket-book, which he is most apt to keep closed to -all others. - -She was the cause of the ruin of Captain Milbanke, of the Guards--a -distant relation of the deceased wife of Lord Byron, I believe--and she -has destroyed dozens of young men in their fortunes, social position, -and masculine character. - -[Sidenote: "MABEL GREY AT HOME."] - -And here, I suppose, I may be pardoned for giving a pen and ink -description of the interior of her palatial residence at St. John's -Wood, Brompton, where she resides, by one who saw and conversed with -her there: - -[Illustration: "MABEL GREY AT HOME."] - -The salon was about sixty feet long by thirty wide, and the ceiling -was probably fifteen feet from the velvet carpet. Velvet decorated -the walls, hanging in crimson folds somewhat like the arras hangings -that I had seen in some of the mildewed chateaux of the French nobles. -There was, in the front of the salon, an immense mirror framed in gold, -and inside of the golden frame was a sub-frame of crimson velvet. The -lounges, chairs, ottomans, and buffets, were trimmed with velvet of the -same warm color. The carpet on the floor was a Gobelin, in which was -worked a pictured design of the port of Marseilles, at a cost of two -thousand pounds. There were richly carved statues of Parian, bronzes, -antique and richly-painted vases, shells standing on golden tripods, -caricatures of dogs' heads, tigers' heads, and the bodies of serpents, -with glistening eyes--all of which articles had more or less of the -precious metals in their composition. Pictures of Diana of Poictiers, -Margaruite de Valois, Theroigne de Mericourt, Anna Boleyn, Louisa de -Valliere, and a supposed mistress of John Wilkes Booth, of whom I had -never before heard, adorned the walls of the salon. - -These were all done in oil, well painted, and magnificently framed. -The place of honor, however, was reserved for Ninon de l'Enclos, the -mistress of one of the Bourbon Kings. This picture was a beautiful -work of art, and represented the famous beauty of the old French -Court, reclining opposite a mirror. There was a small figure piece by -Meissonier, and a statue of Minerva of pure marble, from whose spear -head depended a small but richly chased gas-chandelier, of six burners, -that spread a flood of light all over the salon. A hundred thousand -dollars would not have purchased the furniture, carpets, statues, -paintings, and ornaments, in this gorgeous apartment, to say nothing of -the diamonds which covered the neck and arms of the beautiful but frail -mistress of the mansion. - -And now for Mabel herself. This distinguished personage, as she lounged -on the tiger-skin, looked to me a little above the medium height of -women; her hair, of a rich, silky brown, full and lustrous, was looped -in coils at the top of the back of her head a la Grecque, and was -trimmed with small red flowers. From her ears were pendant long, oval, -diamond ear-rings, and from her snowy neck was hung a necklace, of -pearl shells interwoven with diamonds, worth a monarch's ransom. Her -arms were bare and rounded, and her shoulders were decollete. She was -attired in a loosely flowing robe of pink velvet--the only thing pink -I saw in the apartment--and at her waist was a plain thin cincture of -gold. She wore her dress without hoops, which allowed the folds of her -costly robe to fall over her shapely limbs in studied yet artistic -confusion. On the different fingers of both hands were rings of topaz, -sapphire, ruby, emerald, amethyst, and opal, fastened by golden -keepers. She had crimson slippers, embroidered in gold, and in her -right hand she waved lazily, to and fro, a fan of costly feathers. The -woman herself was a magnificent animal to look at, with a spice of the -tiger shining out of her clear, lustrous eyes. - -[Sidenote: PERSONNEL.] - -The neck was well poised and finely cut, as were the face and -shoulders. The mouth was large and full of good, white, regular teeth, -which she displayed often during the conversation to advantage. The -nose was irregular, pert, and snubbish, and her chin was like the cone -of a ripe peach. Something there was brazen in this woman's face, -despite the magnificence reigning in the apartment. Her voice was loud -and sharp, and her gestures were unladylike, though she endeavored to -atone for these defects by a studied ease which occasionally lapsed -into a masculine freedom. She was continually showing her rings, her -fan, and her slippers--and seemed careless of the little prudential -details that go to make up the manner of a virtuous woman. - -"Anonyma" is, in many respects, a different woman from Mabel Grey. This -celebrated Lorette, unlike her frail sisters, has a taste, or perhaps -affects to have a taste, for literature. Originally a clergyman's -daughter, and born and bred in Sussex, she had, when she came first to -London, all the charms of a fresh country girl, and, although exposed -for a long time to temptation in her station as a governess in the -family of a rich commoner, whose name is now often before the public, -she held on her way firmly as she could, and would have succeeded had -not she met a man who outraged her by a false or mock marriage. - -The poor girl, whose real name is Brandling, when she found that she -was deserted with a few pounds in her pocket, went almost mad. But she -had to starve or else become what she is now. Her father, overworked -in his curacy at L150 a year, and having a family of five children, -refused to admit her to his home, and gave as a reason that it would be -setting a bad example to his parishioners, which he, as a minister of -the Gospel could not do. Driven from her birthplace, with despair in -her heart, she fled to London, and, sinking at once into the slough of -iniquity, was not heard of for a year, when she emerged in grandeur at -the opera in the company of a wealthy banker, who has since failed and -fled the country. - -The girl, from her reticent disposition, her lady-like manner, and -the mystery attending her appearance in the world--no one being able -to tell her exact position--received the name of "Anonyma" from the -_Saturday Review_. Unlike the other women of her sex, this girl was -never formerly seen in the company of any woman whose position was -affected by the slightest breath of reproach. In the Park she never -made acquaintances, and all notes sent to her were sent back to the -writers. To become acquainted with "Anonyma," though the seeker -after her intimacy were a prince, it was necessary to have a formal -introduction to the lady. - -The "Kitten" is a young lady well known at the Cremorne Gardens for -her expensive suppers, loud voice, and magnificent pony carriage, -before which she drives sometimes a brace of Shetland ponies, three in -a tandem. At the Cremorne she always puts ice-cream in her champagne, -and never drinks any light or thin wines, as she says that they do not -agree with her constitution. I saw her at the Ascot Races in company -with Mabel Grey, the "Kitten" being mounted on a splendid roan, which -she managed with the skill of an old army officer, and a dozen men -belonging to the best known clubs in London were clustering about her, -and assisting her to luncheon, looking after the wine, or doing a -hundred little errands which women of her character always find for men -to do in a public place. The "Kitten" is a blonde, with black eyes, a -pretty, babyish face, a dimpled chin, a profusion of golden hair which -is not dyed, and a capital seat in the saddle. She is always gloved -to a nicety, and her ensemble is of the best kind. She has a pert -fashion of saying sharp or impudent things, and this seems to be the -chief accomplishment of all this class of shameless women. They know -the stable-talk and the slang of the betting ring, and of the hunt, -but nothing more. The "Kitten," five years ago--she is now 22--was a -coryphee in the ballet of a London theatre, at the magnificent salary -of fifteen shillings a week, and now she has an annuity of L2,000 -settled upon her by a young fool of a lord, who has no better use for -his money. - -The wardrobe of Alice Gordon, another of the Hetairae, is valued at -L12,000. She is a brilliant horse woman. - -[Illustration: "BABY HAMILTON."] - -[Sidenote: "BABY HAMILTON."] - -"Baby Hamilton" is another celebrity of the Half-World. Many stories -are told about the recklessness of this girl. She forced her way to -a meeting in one of the shires when the hounds were all assembled, -and followed the hunt, despite the remonstrances of the master, and -regardless of the fact that more than half the ladies who were present -left the field on her appearance in a hunting costume. She made a bet -while in Paris with a wild young duke that she would get a recognition -from the Empress Eugenie. The stake was a thoroughbred of the young -duke's which she desired to have for her own use. The bet was made, and -while the Empress was riding in the Bois, the "Baby," magnificently -dressed and mounted, placed herself in the way of the Empress, and -bowed quite reverentially. The Empress looked at her for an instant, -and, thinking that it was some English lady of rank, bowed very -graciously in return. The young duke--who is, by the way, a relative of -the Empress by marriage--saw the salutation. It was too good to keep, -and accordingly, before the next night, the "Baby" had to leave Paris, -by order of the Prefect of Police. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - -CHEAP LODGING HOUSES. - - -ONE night, having made an appointment with one of the Scotland Yard -detectives, I met him as I had promised, punctually, at the India -House, which is situated at the junction of Victoria and Dean streets, -Westminster. - -Be it remembered, that Westminster is a borough, and sends two Members -of Parliament, yet it is a part and a portion of the metropolis of -London. - -He came muffled in his coat, and, having saluted me, asked me if I -was ready to accompany him, to visit some of the low lodgings houses -that abound in a certain part of Westminster, at the back of Millbank -Prison, which fronts the river between Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridges. - -It was the night before the great Derby Race, at which nearly all -England is represented, peer and peasant, tradesman, beggar, burglar, -and pickpocket. On such a night all the London lodging-houses were sure -to be full of tramps. - -Briefly, I said I was ready to accompany him and without further -conversation we penetrated to the darkest recesses of the borough of -Westminster, going down Dean into Orchard street, through Orchard -street into New-Pye street, down Great Peter street, through Holland -street, and so into a short, dark street, called Medway street, at the -back of the Greycoats School. - -All these streets which I have named have low lodging houses, and -were filled this night with tramps, vagrants, peddlers, itinerant -showmen, vagabonds, and thieves. Great Peter street is so called to -distinguish it from Little Peter street, and both streets being within -a stone's throw of the Abbey of Westminster, derive their names from -the dedicatory title of the ancient and world-renowned abbey which was -called, at one time, and is yet known in official documents, as the -"Abbey Church of St. Peter's, Westminster." - -Medway street leads into the Horseferry Road, which is at one end a -continuation of Lambeth Bridge, and at the other end is flanked by -Holland street. - -My blue-coated friend said to me, after pulling out a small dark -lantern, which he used in these dark rookeries and streets by the water -side: - -[Sidenote: THE WESTMINSTER SLUMS.] - -"The worst place I can take you to in Westminster, and perhaps in -London, Sir, barrin always 'Paddy's Goose,' in Ratcliffe Highway, is -the lodging house kept by 'Jack Scrag,' or 'Damnable Jack,' as he is -called on account of his swearin'--in Medway street. I can't guarantee -that you will bring your watch or pocket-book back, but I will save -your life if you get in a row, and that will be as much as I can do. If -there are any thieves there they will be afraid of me, but the roughs -and tramps, who are out of the law's reach, are up to anything, and -will break your leg or arms, or mine either, without talking twice -about it." - -On our way to the Slums of Westminster I entered a cheap lodging house, -in which the lodgers were preparing their evening meal, for which they -paid four-pence to the proprietor. A potato was given each person with -a small junk of broiled or fried meat, and a tin-skittle full of washy -tea or coffee, such as is given to steerage passengers at sea, was -handed to the tramps and beggars, who frequented the place. - -The room was large and lofty, with smoky rafters, and a number of men, -women, and boys, were sitting, standing, and reclining on the floor -or on chairs, but nearly all were eating like ravenous beasts from -tin-plates or earthen-ware platters. - -A man might purchase a herring for a half-penny at any of the refuse -sales in the markets, and bring it here and toast it over the huge -fire for an additional half-penny, and many of the occupants of this -gipsy-looking place were employed in the pleasing occupation of cooking -as we left the place on our journey after an adventure. - -Medway street, as I have before mentioned, is quite short, and -therefore it was not long before I saw a light of more brilliancy than -those around it, bursting from the window of the first story of a brick -building, the bricks being set off about the windows with trimmings of -dark blue stone. Above the door were painted the emblems of the Lion -and the Unicorn, which are everywhere displayed in English cities, -and a lamp of a square shape projected from the doorway, throwing a -dead and unwholsome-like light upon the street and sidewalk. In the -window a sign was painted, indicating that lodgings were to be had for -four-pence a night for single persons, and also a notification that -"boiling water" was "always ready." - -The house was probably a hundred years old, as near as I could tell -by its old beams, which were bare, the besmeared and notched lintels -on which names, effigies, and initials, had been carved, from time -immemorial, by lodgers, thieves, and cadgers. There was a bar, and -glistening beer-pumps, and pewter noggins, and copper measures, were -hung up behind the counter. Against the walls, which were environed by -brass railing to keep intruders from making too free or breaking the -glasses if a fight should occur, was inscribed on a tin plate of greasy -hue the words: - - John Scragg & Co., - Wine and Liquor Merchants. - Beds, 4d. a Night. - -The proprietor, a fellow with beetle brows, a furzy black beard, and a -fustian jacket well greased, sat on a worn bench near the beer pump. - -"Good evenin, Mr. Scragg," said the detective to the rascally-looking -fellow. - -[Illustration: A MEAL AT A CHEAP LODGING HOUSE.] - -[Sidenote: AT MR. SCRAGG'S.] - -"Good evenin--the same to you, Bobby--are you lookin for lodgins -to-night?" said he in reply. - -"Well, not exzackly--I came with a friend o' mine to take a look at the -Crib--have you many lodgers to-night, Jack?" - -[Illustration: "DAMNABLE JACK."] - -"Mayhap a matter o' fifty or more. So you wants to look at the Crib, -do ye? Well, I ha' no hobjections so as ye don't disturb my lodgers. -They are a precious set o' lambs, and belong to the best families in -the Kingdom, so I keeps heverythink quiet, sort a like, as they have a -great deal a money bet on the races at the Darby, to-morrow." - -"Could you give my friend a bed, to-night, and he'll pay you well. He -doesn't want to go back to his hotel it's so far at the West End, and -he might lose hiself in this big city. - -"Give yer friend a bed? D----n my heyes, I should think I could! A -dozen beds if he likes--and yourself, too, me hearty." - -"But no pocket-picking, Jack--no 'plant' agin him. Keep hoff yer -'Bug-hunters,' or ye'll get in trouble for it, Jack." - -"Do I look like a man 'ud permit sich goings on in my 'Ouse," said -Damnable Jack, indignantly, and looking with an injured face at the -policeman, "Wot, in my 'ouse, vich is patronized by the Nobility and -Gentry? I hopes not. Ye'll not find a man or woman 'ere as would 'crack -a case', or 'break a drum,' and the 'Kidsmen' are, all on them, as -perlite as young Swells, they is, on me 'onor." - -I followed Mr. Scragg through an unpaved hall-way or passage, and into -a small court, from which the lodging house keeper diverged to the -right, and knocking at a door in an extension of the main building, -it was opened to us, and we entered the apartment. The apartment had -a low roof, and the stench from the place was most terrible. In a -room about fifty feet long by thirty in width, at least sixty persons -were sleeping, or sitting up on their coarse, common flock beds, some -smoking, others eating and drinking, and a few were playing cards. - -There was a high, old-fashioned fireplace, in the apartment, without -coals, and the walls of plaster were very dirty, and broken in many -places, showing the bare laths. - -Prints of highwaymen adorned the walls, among which was conspicuous -Claude Duval leaping a five-barred gate on horseback, and a posse of -constables, in bobwigs, in full chase. There was also a daub of paint -representing the execution of a wife-murderer, at Newgate, and a copy -of the murderer's last speech, framed alongside of the other print. -These, with a cheap engraving of Sir Robert Peel, completed the list of -works of art in the place. - -There was a murmur which grew into quite a hub-bub as I entered the -apartment, and not a few of the lodgers vented their surprise or -disgust at my appearance, jointly with that of the "Peeler," as they -called the policeman. - -[Sidenote: THE DIRTY CADGER.] - -"Wot the blazes does that Swell want in 'ere," said an old cadger, who -was reclining on a bed on the floor, trimming his toe-nails with a -jack-knife preparatory to going to bed, much to the edification of a -young girl who sat by his side on the bed, and could not have been more -than fifteen years of age. - -"Mebbe he's a swell pickpocket, or fogle-hunter (handkerchief thief,)" -said the innocent young creature. - -"Hit stands to reason he can't be a fogle hunter, 'cos he's with the -blessed Peeler," said the Cadger. - -"Well, mebbe he's wiring for the perlice," said the young girl, "and -wants to ketch some on us for a 'dummy.'" - -"Never mind, Moll, he doesn't want us, and we'll go to sleep, cos we've -got to be on the tramp, early in the morning, for the Darby." - -This man was forty years of age, and the young girl, not more than -fifteen years old, was his mistress, as I afterward learned. - -The policeman signified to the proprietor, "Damnable Jack," that he -wanted to get a bed where we might sleep together for the night. - -"I hardly got a bed left but one and ye's are welcome to it, and for -that matter it will hold five men and women, if I wanted to put 'em in -it. Come here Phil, and give these gents a bed--they wants to taste the -blessed sweets of lodgin house life. Give them their fill of it. Put -them in the 'Lord Chancellor's' bed. Its the best in the house." - -Let it be understood, that all the beds in the apartment were placed -upon the bare floor, and that the mattresses were filled with dirty -straw, which bulged out of their sides, or rags, and gave the room a -close, fetid odor. For covering, there were dirty canvass quilts, made -of the same stuff from which sails or potato sacks are fashioned. There -were no sheets whatever, and the pillows and bolsters were stuffed as -were the mattresses with rags or straw. - -Near the fireplace was a bare space of smoothly laid brick, without -any pretence of bedding at all, which was chalked out in a number -of compartments, and each of these compartments was chalked out for -a human being to sleep upon. By reposing on the bare, cold floor, -the lodger saved a penny and got his bed for three-pence instead of -four-pence. - -Among the sixty persons present, there were at least twenty-five women, -composed of female tramps, vagrants, prostitutes, coster-girls, and -peddlers of different kinds of commodities, which they had to leave -in an adjoining room that was locked up by the Deputy Lodging Master -until the time of leaving their beds early in the morning, when the -merchandise was delivered to its owners. - -It was by the advice of an Inspector of Police that I made this essay -to sleep in a cheap lodging house. He informed me that it was the only -method of obtaining a clear knowledge of the habits and practices of -the lodgers. - -The "Lord Chancellor's" bed, as Damnable Jack called it, facetiously, -was the best, from its appearance, in the room, and was at the farthest -corner. It was generally used by the Deputy Lodging Master, and had -a little chintz screen around it, and the bed itself, which had -comparatively clean sheets and bed-furniture, was elevated a few feet -from the floor on a sort of trestle work. - -The charge for this bed was a shilling to each of us, and the policeman -and myself laid down upon it in our clothes, the policeman having a -revolver in his side pocket, upon which he kept his right hand during -the night, whether he slept or had his eyes open. - -I could not sleep in the terrible hole for several hours, and, in fact, -did not think of doing so, as I was eager to watch the proceedings of -the Scum of London, of which the lodgers were composed. - -Many of the young girls had not retired when we came in, and a few of -them now began to divest themselves of their clothing, without shame -or compunction on their part, or surprise on the part of their fellow -lodgers, excepting that now and then some low-bred ruffian would pour -forth a torrent of obscenity when some of the female lodgers exposed -portions of their filthy bodies. - -The place was swarming with vermin, bed-bugs, roaches, and body -parasites, in countless numbers, and this was one reason why many -of the female lodgers stripped themselves to lie down, for some -of the beds were so thickly packed that it was impossible for the -Deputy Lodging Master to pass through the room without treading upon -an exposed hand or foot, and in such a case, blasphemous and vile -execrations were heaped upon his devoted head by the lodgers. This he -bore with the greatest indifference as if he had never heard a word of -it. The lodgers hoped by stripping naked to avoid having any of the -vermin cling to their clothing--a wise precaution, as I found. - -[Sidenote: THE SCUM OF LONDON.] - -Men, women, and children, without regard to age, sex, condition, or -kindred, slept together in this room, and as the night advanced the -stench from their hot, loathsome bodies, rose like a hellish incense -and nearly smothered me with its fumes. There the breath of each lodger -was worse than the odor of a charnel house, so that I deemed it a -wonder as I sat up in bed looking through a rent in the chintz curtain -which enclosed our bed, a lamp burning faintly on a table the while, -that sixty of God's creatures could sleep this way night after night, -summer and winter, and yet be able to eat, drink, sleep, marry, beget -children, and still thrive like deadly nightshade, to poison London and -its neighborhood with their reeking effluvia. - -About three o'clock in the morning I heard a hammering, squashing -sound, and looking from under the chintz curtain, I was first -astonished and then disgusted to see a wan-looking, cadaverous -personage, from whom the most frightful snoring had proceeded during -the early part of the night, hammering with the heel of his shoe at -some dark moving objects, which he, every moment, scraped from his bed -and placing them on the floor smashed at them in a raging and furious -way with his shoe heel, taking care the while to keep up a steady -stream of curses from his lips. He saw me looking at him and said: - -"Well, neighbor, wot d'ye think of this. I pays four-pence for my -bed, and here I am a-fighting to keep off the blessed bugs, for my -life. I got myself gloriously drunk last night, to sleep, so that the -wipers might not wake me up, but all the gin in Lunnon couldn't make -a man sleep while the wermin are in the bed-clothes. I have took out -and killed a bushel, more or less, of 'em, in the last half hour, but -there's plenty more of 'em, Lord bless you." - -This was the keystone of the edifice of my disgust. Too much of a good -thing is said to be of no practical benefit to any one, and there was -such a richness of bed-bugs and body parasites to be found in "Damnable -Jack's" lodging house, that I thought I would not farther trouble his -hospitality, and touching the guardian of the place upon the shoulder, -who started up in a frightened way as if he were attacked, I left Mr. -Scragg's lodgings, and took a walk in the cool morning air as far -as Westminster Bridge, where I sat until daybreak, looking at the -Parliament House, and the silent river with its numerous craft. - -Before I left the accursed place, the policeman pointed to a pail of -foul water standing in a corner, that had been fresh over night, and -which had now had a thick scum on its top produced by so many poisonous -lungs. - -It is needless to say that I took a good warm bath early that morning, -more than satisfied with my experience of the previous night. - -Of this class of lodging houses, there are, in London, I believe, about -seventy-five, capable of accommodating any number of lodgers that the -proprietors may see fit to stow away in their dens. - -Some idea may be formed of the manner in which the poorer classes of -the London artisans are herded together from the fact that in the -Inner Ward of St. George's Parish the number of families apportioned -to the dwellings are so largely in excess of the room which they ought -to occupy that all kinds of frightful distempers are common in these -hell-dens. I give a table to show how human beings are crowded in this -district: - - Dwellings. No. of Families. | Beds. No. of Families. - Single room to each family, 929 | One bed to each family, 623 - Two rooms to ditto, 408 | Two " " 638 - Three " " 94 | Three " " 154 - Four " " 17 | Four " " 21 - Five " " 8 | Five " " 8 - Six " " 4 | Six " " 3 - Seven " " 1 | Seven " " 1 - Eight " " 1 | Dwellings without a bed, 7 - Not ascertained, 3 | Not ascertained, 10 - ----- | ----- - 1,465 | 1,465 - -[Sidenote: TEN IN A BED.] - -Among the most munificent philanthropists who have built model lodging -houses, for the poor and needy, I may enumerate Miss Burdett Coutts, -and George Peabody. The former has expended nearly L500,000 in erecting -model lodging houses for the poor, and the amount which was donated -for the same purpose by Mr. Peabody exceeded a million and a half of -dollars. - -[Illustration: STATUE OF GEORGE PEABODY.] - -In speaking of Mr. Peabody, I must not omit to state the fact that the -Londoners, to show their appreciation of his philanthropy, have erected -to him a magnificent bronze statue at the rear of the Royal Exchange in -their city, which was publicly uncovered by the Prince of Wales during -the life-time of the late philanthropist. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XLV. - -A TRAMP IN THE BY-WAYS. - - -GREAT as London may believe itself to be in works of benevolence and -philanthropy, there are spots in that mighty city which no one should -visit without an officer of the law in his company, to warn him from -the pitfalls and dangers which will beset his pathway. - -One evening, feeling rather dispirited and uncomfortable, while -sitting in the coffee-room of the Langham Hotel, a thought struck me -that I might find amusement or novelty in some way by taking a tour -through the city, and accordingly I called a cabman from the stand, in -Upper Regent street, and, determining to make an effort to dissipate -the blues, I jumped into the "hansom" and told the driver, an old -weather-beaten looking fellow, with a buttoned-up coat and dirty -neck-cloth, and wearing a black silk hat, which had once been quite -respectable, but was now utterly wrecked--to "drive me anywhere in -London--I don't care where as long as I can see something to interest -me." - -The driver, a well known character, who bore the title of "Old Smudge" -among his brethren on the cab stand, and who was always in trouble with -the police, replied: - -"Where shall I take you, Sir? Would you like to take a look at the -river? Or, mayhap you might wish to see a dog fight, or a ratting -match--the Americans are partial to ratting matches--I know some on 'em -are!" - -[Sidenote: THE LONDON CABBIES.] - -"Take me anywhere," said I from the recesses of the cab in which I had -ensconsced myself. - -These London Cabbies are, as a general thing, the most provoking and -abusive fellows in the world, but their usefulness cannot be denied by -any person who has experienced the delight of having a cab to hail when -attacked suddenly by the often recurring rain storms, which serve to -keep the atmosphere of Great Britain's capital in a state of perpetual -moisture. There are two kinds of Cabs--the "hansom," a two wheeled -vehicle, which falls back on its wheels, and is drawn by a single -horse, the cabman sitting over your head with the reins elevated in his -hands, and stretching through a metal ring in the roof to the collar of -the horse. Then there are folding doors which can be closed to keep mud -and dust from entering the cab, and a movable window fastened to the -interior of the roof that can be hoisted or let down at will, and is -most serviceable in case of rain or other inclement weather. - -[Illustration: "OLD SMUDGE"--THE CABBY.] - -Then there is the "four wheeler," as it is called, a cab which is also -drawn by one horse, but is built something after the fashion of the -American coupe or brougham. This vehicle has four wheels, and is more -comfortable and roomy than the "Hansom." The rates for transportation -are higher, however, and the four-wheelers are used by a better -class of people. There are six thousand one-horse cabs registered in -London, of which number 2,352 are "six day" cabs, whose proprietors -do not allow of their use on Sundays; and of "seven day" cabs, which -are constantly traversing the streets, there are as many as 3,366. -These cabs are all licensed, and their owners pay, annually, into the -Municipal Treasury as large a sum as L10,000. The legal rate of fare in -a "hansom," is sixpence a mile, and for a "four-wheeler," one shilling -per mile, but the cabbies charge strangers any fare they can get. - -[Illustration: "A HANSOM CAB."] - -"Leave me alone, Sir, and I'll show you some of the sights of Lunnon -town," said "Old Smudge," in a hoarse voice from the top of the cab in -reply to my anxious enquiry as to where we were traveling. We were then -some distance from the West End of the City, and from the noises which -every few minutes attracted our attention, I fancied that the cab was -being driven in the direction of the Thames. I saw, dimly, the masts of -the shipping and the Docks, with their adamantine fronts frowning down -upon me. - -The cab was stopped suddenly, and the horse was brought up on its -hind legs by a jerk of the reins from "Old Smudge," who was already in -conversation at the door of a beer shop, which was illuminated, and -had a large number of rough-mannered customers standing around its -entrance. They were a sufficiently hard looking set to make a stranger -think of his safety. - -"This is 'Jack Barley's "Convivial Pup,"' Sir," said the cabman to -me as I climbed out of the "hansom." "This is the finest rat-pit in -Lunnon, Sir." - -[Sidenote: A SOIREE AT A RAT PIT.] - -I had often heard of Mr. Barley before, and now I saw him face to face, -a most villainous and repulsive looking beast with a scarcely healed -cicatrice in his jaw, and a couple of bleary holes under his black -brows, miscalled eyes. Mr. Barley was famous in his way, and enjoyed -distinction among a certain class. None could tell the breed of a -dog, the age of a spaniel, the pluck of a terrier, or the gouging and -milling abilities of a middle weight bruiser, with Professor Barley. -In such matters his judgment was final and conclusive along the Thames -bank for some distance. - -The proprietor escorted us through a small bar, which was ornamented -with the usual sporting emblems found in low London tap rooms, and -after descending a stone stairs, I found myself in a room beneath the -ground floor, with small circular benches ranged in a cramped fashion -to the ceiling. On these seats about one hundred men, of all grades -in the sporting class, were seated. There were a few "gentlemen," -God save the mark, a brace of attorney's clerks, an officer of some -line regiment, and the rest of the audience were of a miscellaneous -character. - -There was a rat pit below the benches, a square enclosure with a board -fence about four feet high, enclosing it, the boards being whitewashed, -and the flooring of the pit having sawdust scattered over it. - -The only light in this dreary and subterraneous den came from six -greasy, unvarnished tin lanterns, in which half a dozen of cheap tallow -candles were fixed, and these flickered and sputtered with great -malevolence on the rascally faces of the men who swarmed around the -pit. - -I heard a squealing noise, and I saw a lad bring in a long and huge -flat wire cage, which was swarming with gray, black, and brown rats. -Way was made for the youth to enter the pit with his cage of live -rodents. Jumping in he opened the cage, and thrusting his forearm -fearlessly through the door he drew forth, one by one, over fifty large -and ferocious rats and threw them in a heap in the pit. These animals -ran about in a confused way for a few minutes, and looked with an -almost human and beseeching look into the murderous faces which were -gathered around the pit. Then another cage was handed to the young man, -and the same ceremony was performed again until there were one hundred -and five rats in the centre of the pit. - -[Illustration: "ONE HUNDRED RATS IN NINE MINUTES."] - -There was to be a match for fifty pounds, the proprietor of the pit -having matched his dog "Skid," a wiry and ferret-eyed little terrier, -to kill one hundred rats in nine minutes. Bets were now made against -and for the dog, that he would or would not kill the rats in the time -named, and the excitement ran high as the little venomous dog was -placed in the pit carefully by his master amid considerable applause -from the roughs. - -[Sidenote: "SKID'S" BATTLE WITH THE RATS.] - -It was simply disgusting to witness that dreadful little terrier run -at each rat, shake him for a second or two in the air and then drop -him quite dead on the floor of the pit, while the roughs encouraged -him to his work with shouts when the rat was destroyed quickly, but -occasionally when a big and ferocious rat was attacked and showed fight -in return, and when the terrier seemed to hang back for a moment, -a perfect storm of curses and obscene epithets were rained on the -unfortunate canine. Before five minutes had elapsed the whitewashed -board sides and flooring of the Rat Pit were daubed with splashes of -blood, and the little terrier was foaming at the lips, and his glossy -hide was flecked with dark smudgy stains. When eight minutes and forty -seconds had elapsed, "Skid" snapped the neck of the last rat, and now -there was nothing left in the pit but a large pool of blood on which -sawdust was quickly heaped, and a bleeding mass of heaving and dying -rats. - -Great cheering rewarded the efforts of "Skid," who was taken up -tenderly, almost lovingly by his master; and now being very sick at the -stomach from the disgusting sight I left the place and took the cab, -cogitating the while on what I had seen. - -Disgusting as the sight of the rat butchery had proved, I afterwards -learned that some two hundred men earn a living in London, and its -suburbs, in catching rats alive for the use of the rat-pits. Of this -number a great many, however, are paid extra by persons who wish to -drive the vermin from their dwellings, and have no means of doing so -but by calling in professional rat-catchers. - -Some fifteen or twenty of these professional rat-catchers pursue their -dangerous calling in the London sewers, preferring to catch those found -in drains to the house rats, who are not as ferocious as the former. -Beside, the sewer rat will fight a terrier longer and more savagely -than a house rat, and as this affords good sport, the sewer rat is at a -premium in the market. - -[Illustration: THE RAT CATCHER.] - -These rat-catchers traverse the sewers by night, and carry lanterns -and a long wire basket with lids and a handle of the same material. -They use ointment which they rub on their hands and with this same -composition they cover their arms, which is very distasteful to the -rats, who will not bite at any human flesh that is anointed with this -preparation. These men wear large slouch hats, and pursue their calling -in all seasons, to make a living. Often they have terrible battles with -the enraged colonies of rats, and not a few of the rat-catchers have -been over-powered in the sewers when attacked, and their bones whiten -many of the brick beds and slimy crevices of these dark and dismal -underground passages. - -[Sidenote: "PADDY'S GOOSE," RATCLIFFE HIGHWAY.] - -The cab driver now desired to know if I would like to visit "Paddy's -Goose," a den in "Ratcliffe Highway," one of the worst of the bad -districts of London. This place is frequented by sailors of all -nations, who visit the spot to dance with the abandoned women, that -are hired by the proprietors of these resorts to entice the foolish -seafaring men just discharged from their vessels, with more money than -they are able to take care of. - -[Illustration: "PADDY'S GOOSE."] - -"Paddy's Goose," or the "White Swan," as it is called by its owner, is -perhaps the most frightful hell-hole in London. The very sublimity of -vice and degradation is here attained, and the noisy scraping of wheezy -fiddles, and the brawls of intoxicated sailors are the only sounds -heard within its walls. It is an ordinary dance house, with a bar and -glasses, and a dirty floor on which scores of women of all countries -and shades of color may be found dancing with Danes, Americans, -Swedes, Spaniards, Russians, Negroes, Chinese, Malays, Italians, and -Portuguese, in one wild hell-medley of abomination. - -The proprietor of this den is undoubtedly the most desperate villain -I ever saw outside of a prison gate, a man whose face is scarred and -corrugated by the foot-prints of the Devil, whose servant he has -been for many years, and yet I was informed that this scoundrel was -tolerated, nay, encouraged by the government, from the fact that he -had great influence among English seamen. This man during the Crimean -War hired steamers, with bands of music, and served the Admiralty as a -"crimp" for enlisting sailors, or rather for trapping them by drugging -them first and then "burking" them off to the men-of-war, which needed -fresh complements of seamen. - -I did not stay long in this Devil's-Tavern, and I am sure my readers -will excuse me from going into particular mention of the beastliness -and orgies I saw there. - -[Illustration: "WAITING FOR THE TIDE."] - -Dismissing "Old Smudge" with a fee that seemed to meet his approbation, -I turned my steps in the direction of the river, not doubting for a -moment but that I should find further food for reflection. I came upon -the Thames suddenly as a vision, and saw it stretching out in all its -dark and terrible beauty, just above Shadwell. I had taken my seat on -an old dismasted hulk that lay some distance off in the river, and -which I had reached with considerable difficulty by clambering from -bowsprit to bowsprit among the silent shipping, on whose masts and -canvas God's silent stars shone brightly down. - -[Sidenote: WAITING FOR THE TIDE.] - -I had not been sitting long there when a clumsy-looking and -broad-bottomed boat passed me, directly below the hulk, one man pulling -in the boat while another leaned over and seemed to support something, -dark and bulky in shape, from the stern of the wherry. - -A chill came over me, and in a faint voice I asked the man what he had -in the skiff? - -"Oh, yer honor, we were Waiting for the Tide below Bridge. We goes out -every night, me and Tim, to look for bodies--we gets twenty shillings -a-piece for them, and all we can find, and Tim's got a dead 'un now, -and 'praps he's got a good haul, for there's a sparkling ring on Its -finger,--mayhap yer honor would like to buy it." - -Trailing slowly in the water was a lifeless corpse, and the boatman was -tearing a bright object from its stiff forefinger. - -Hastily I rose and turned my face away from the River which had given -up its dead in this startling manner. - -I went home thoroughly cured of the blues, and saw no more "sights" -that night. - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - -ENGLISH LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM. - - -ENGLISH literature is one of the mainstays of our present civilization. -Wherever the English language is spoken or understood, or wherever -English thought predominates, English books are read, and the names of -English authors are held in reverence. And second only to the power -of English books is the power of the English press, which immediately -after French journalism, represents the most trained culture and best -talent employed in the Fourth Estate of our times. - -London ranks, as I have said, in the second place, as far as her -journalism is concerned. London journalists have not yet attained that -high influence, both social and political, in the State, which is -freely yielded to young and middle-aged men whose services are known to -be of value on the Parisian journals of ability and circulation. - -But the men who think for England, and who write its books, do not need -to fear comparison with the same class in any other land in breadth of -thought or influence on the masses of mankind. I shall make but a brief -mention of a few of England's worthies in the paths of literature, and -shall only speak of those who are best known by their works in America. - -[Illustration: JOHN RUSKIN--ART CRITIC.] - -Twenty-eight years ago, articles of wonderful force, beauty, and -breadth of tone, began to appear from some unknown pen, in the -literary journals of London. These articles attracted notice from the -best minds as they advocated a new and startling theory in art--the -theory of Pre-Raphaelitism, as it has since been called. The author of -these articles was John Ruskin--since become so famous--then in his -twenty-fourth year. Ruskin was the son of a wealthy London merchant, -and, unlike most men of genius he has never known any of the bitter -struggles of poverty. From his boyhood he has been accustomed to -elegance and plenty, the society of refined men and women, and his -mind has been enlarged by almost incessant and instructive travel. He -was very fond of the true and beautiful in Nature, and it is recorded -of him, that when a child he had one favorite spot--Friar's Crag, in -Derwentwater, which overhung a lake,--and here he was brought daily -by his fond nurse, who secretly gratified the child's taste for the -picturesque by allowing him to hang over the brow of the cliff, and -when permitted to do so he would gaze for hours with intense joy and -mingled awe into the depths of the dark waters below, hanging on by -the grassy roots which bloomed on the surface of the cliff. He had -always a feeling of awe and heart hunger in the presence of mountains, -and, at fifteen years of age, he had ascended the summits of the most -elevated hills in England. A landscape delighted him, while belle -lettres and mathematics only wearied his retrospective soul. At twenty, -his reflective and practical powers had increased by the incessant -traveling which he undertook, having visited every European city of -note, but in all these travels Venice always remained dear to his -heart. At Oxford he was a gentleman-commoner of Christ Church, where -he carried off the Newdigate prize for a poem called "Salsette and -Elephanta," a fragment now forgotten, and was graduated double fourth -class in 1842. Among his teachers in landscape painting, which he loved -with all his great heart, he had such men as Copely Fielding, Harding -and Prout. His great admiration was for Turner, however, and this love -led him to the field of art criticism, in defence of that eminent -painter. - -[Sidenote: RUSKIN'S LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL.] - -In 1843, the first volume of Ruskin's "Modern Painters" appeared, -and created the greatest sensation. No art critic had yet appeared -with such a wealth of language, and such an affluence of imaginative -ideas combined with the most striking powers of observation, and -an earnestness bordering on enthusiasm. Never thinking beforehand -of the subject, his philosophy and criticism consists mostly of -brilliant invective, and he is continually involving himself by his -inconsistencies, yet, so great was his power, a new school in art -was founded by him, with such disciples as Millais, Holman Hunt, and -others, equally well known. - -He is sometimes diffuse and discursive, and is far behind Henri -Taine for perspicuity of style, though far more solid, concentrated, -and vigorous, in his blows. The first volumes of Ruskin's "Lamps of -Architecture" made their appearance in 1849, and were followed by the -first volume of "The Stones of Venice," in 1851, the illustrations in -the latter provoking much hostility, but displaying to great advantage -his artistic powers. Ruskin has lectured and written on Manufactures, -Gothic Architecture, and Painting, and he has said to have realized, by -his works the sum of L95,000. He has a careworn face, sloped shoulders, -and wavy silken hair. His habits are simple, and it is said that he is -Brahminical in his tastes, never touching butcher's meat. His large -private fortune enables him to extend his benevolence to struggling -students, and others who are in need of assistance. Ruskin has taken up -the cause of the workingmen of England with great zeal, and is now in -his forty-ninth year. - -[Sidenote: FROUDE, THE HISTORIAN.] - -Since the death of Macaulay, England has had no successor to that -eminent and great man in the field of history, until of late years -James Anthony Froude has risen like a meteor to irradiate the dark -places and bloody scenes of English history. The author of the "History -of England from the Fall of Wolsey," may well claim a niche among the -loftiest names who have searched the archives of empire and statecraft. -James Anthony Froude comes of a High Church clerical family, and was -born at Dartington, Devonshire, April 23, 1818. His father, the late -Venerable R.H. Froude, was Archdeacon of Totnes, and young Froude went -to Westminster School, the most aristocratic of its kind in England, -and afterwards was graduated with high classical honors at Oriel -College, Oxford, obtaining the Chancellor's prize for an essay on -"Political Economy," and was elected Fellow of Exeter College in 1842. - -[Illustration: JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE.] - -For some time he was connected with the High Church party led by the -Rev. J.H. Newman, and so much was he imbued by its doctrines, that he -wrote the "Lives of the English Saints," and took deacon's orders in -1844. He has also written "The Shadows of the Clouds," 1847, and "The -Nemesis of Faith," in 1849, both of which works had to undergo the -severest condemnation of the University authorities, for the Puseyite -opinions broached in their pages. - -In 1850, Froude laid the foundation-stone of his fame by a series of -articles, chiefly on English History, which were contributed to the -_Westminster Review_ and _Frazer's Magazine_, and in 1856 he published -the two first volumes of his "History of England." This is his -greatest work, in ten volumes, and for clearness of thought, powerful -intensity, and acute understanding of those stormy periods of Henry -VIII, Elizabeth and Mary, there are few passages in written history to -equal Froude's descriptions of the age, and his grand delineations of -character. He is, however, prejudicial in many things, and his view -of the characters of Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth, is -altogether different from the view which all modern historians have -taken of these two women. - -In 1867, a work entitled "Short Studies on Great Subjects," was -published by Mr. Froude, and the historical sketches in this volume -are of the most masterly kind in English literature. Mr. Froude is -now Editor of _Frazer's Magazine_, whose pages his powerful genius -illuminated some twenty years ago. This magazine had formerly for its -contributors some of the finest scholars and best thinkers in Britain. -_Frazer's Magazine_ is issued by Longmans, Green & Co., Paternoster -Row, one of the great publishing houses, and whose business is only -rivaled by that of John Murray, McMillan, Sampson, Low & Son, and Smith -& Elder, among London booksellers. - -Among the contributors to _Frazer_ are Max Muller, F.W. Newman, E. -Lynn Linton, Jean Ingelow, Shirley Brooks, R. A. Proctor, Moncure D. -Conway, a Massachusetts man, and a personal and intimate friend of -Carlyle,--I believe he is to write the biography of that dogmatic old -thinker, who has failed to prevent the earth from revolving on its -axis, when he is gathered to his fathers, in the little churchyard -in Dumfriesshire. William Howard Russell, James Spedding, Frederick -Denison Maurice, a liberal clergyman and a professor in London -University, and others whom I do not recollect, are contributors to -_Frazer_. This magazine contains 134 double-column pages of large -print, on fine white paper, and is sold for two shillings and sixpence. -The same matter and workmanship could not be sold in America for less -than one dollar and twenty-five cents, I am informed. Miss Ingelow, one -of its contributors, is by no means a Miss in her teens, being now in -her forty-first year, but it is tolerably certain that such delightful -verse as hers could not have been written by one who had not endured -sorrow and trial. The several editions of her poems have realized -for Miss Ingelow the comfortable sum of L8,500, and I was told by a -leading London bookseller, that Mr. Froude, whose last article was on -"Salmon Fishing in Ireland," sold the copyright on four of his books -for L39,000. Miss Ingelow is a Suffolk girl, and rumor says has never -married because of a blighted affection in early life. - -[Illustration: ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE--POET.] - -A worthy successor to Lord Byron, in my opinion, is Algernon Charles -Swinburne, the most passionate English poet who has lived for one -hundred years. Swinburne is in his twenty-eighth year, and at that -early age he has attained for himself a position among the poets of his -native land, surpassed by none. For wealth of language, beauteous and -fervent passion, and gorgeousness of imagery, Keats alone is his peer. -Swinburne is an earnest republican, and sympathizes with revolution in -every land. He is a great admirer of Italy. For a poem of one page in -an English magazine he received two hundred and fifty pounds, a larger -price than was ever paid before in England for a poetical fragment. - -[Sidenote: SWINBURNE'S BOYISH DAYS.] - -Swinburne, though a republican in sentiment, belongs to one of the -oldest Roman Catholic families of Northumberland, and comes from -ancestors who have followed the Percy in plate armor against the fierce -barons of the House of Douglas. I am sorry to say, however, that the -poet does not look like a man who would wear a steel jerkin and hang a -battle-axe at his saddle bow. He has long curling hair, a pair of weird -fascinating eyes, a loose and slender frame, and a face which does not -impress one favorably at first. Take him altogether he seems like a -man who might like to recline on a bed of roses, with an Amphora of -Falernian by his couch, and half a dozen Syrian damsels to wait on him -and hand him flowing bumpers of golden wine. - -His boyish days were spent at Eton, and here he was noticed only for -his utter dislike to athletic sports, including the darling amusement -of every Etonian--I mean the cricket field. He was finished at Oxford, -but did not receive his degree from Alma Mater. From the University -he went to Florence, and there he contracted a warm friendship for -that great gothic and rough-angled character, Walter Savage Landor, -which was ardently reciprocated by the latter. Returning to England -in 1861 he published the "Queen Mother," and "Rosamond," neither of -which attracted much attention. His first great and decided success -was in that classic poem "Atalanta in Calydon," published in 1864, -when Swinburne had attained his twenty-first year. This poem took the -cultivated minds of England by storm, and was followed by "Chastelard," -"Poems and Ballads," "Laus Veneris," and a biography of "William -Blake," the painter, in quick succession. Since then his copy-rights -have amounted to L27,000, so rapid has been the sale of his books. -This moneyed success does not, however, prevent the poet from being -afflicted with a very penurious spirit, and it is said that he is in -the habit of giving waiters and servants sixpences for the pleasure of -taking the gifts back. - -[Sidenote: JOHN STUART MILL.] - -The greatest publicist in England, at this juncture, and the man whose -views demand most attention from press and people, after Carlyle, -is John Stuart Mill, the eminent writer on Political Economy, who -was formerly a clerk in the India House, like Charles Lamb, as his -father had been before him. Mr. Mill is now sixty-six years of age, -and has lately taken up the cudgel for the Woman's Suffrage party, in -England, along with Miss Harriet Martineau, after having exhausted -Utilitarianism, Political Economy, Parliamentary Reform, Logical -Systems, Auguste Comte, Positivism, Philosophy, and other light and -airy subjects. Yet all his great powers of thought did not prevent -him from being badly beaten by a Mr. Smith, a news agent, for the -representation of the Borough of Westminster, in the late parliamentary -elections. Mr. Mill has a grand broad forehead, a pair of deep -steadfast eyes, a firm mouth, and is of studious habits. Like all -students his oratory in Parliament, when first elected, was more ornate -and logical than impressive or forcible. His English is vigorous and -sterling, and it must be said of this venerable old man, that his whole -life has been devoted to an idea. - -[Illustration: JOHN STUART MILL--POLITICAL ECONOMIST.] - -The very opposite of John Stuart Mill is Benjamin F. Disraeli, who -was born in Bradenham, Buckinghamshire, Dec. 21, 1805. It is more -than positive that Mr. Disraeli has never sacrificed any thing for an -idea. Mr. Isaac Disraeli, his father, was a Christian, and an author, -who had written the "Curiosities of Literature," and the "Amenities -of Literature," the latter being a book in which the misfortunes and -failings of authors occupy a large space. The grandfather of the -great politician was a Jew of the Jews, I believe, and he who is now -leader of the Conservative party in the House of Commons, and who was -Lord Chancellor of England, has ever had a deep feeling for and faith -in Judaism, although he has been for many years the Champion of the -Anglican Church. At twenty years of age, Disraeli, who was then as -fond of velvet shooting jackets and jewelry as he is now in his old -age, or as Dickens was in his prime, began to write novels, and from -1825 to 1881 he had written "Vivian Grey," "The Young Duke," "Henrietta -Temple," "Contarini Fleming," "Venetia," "Alroy," and "Coningsby." - -[Illustration: BENJAMIN DISRAELI--POLITICIAN.] - -In 1837, he entered Parliament, and made a miserable failure as a -speaker and was laughed down, but he was not of the stuff to be -frightened. Since then he has filled the greatest offices of trust -that it is possible for a commoner to fill in England, and at times a -radical revolutionist, and then again a most staunch monarchist, he -has had greatness of soul enough to refuse a title offered him by the -Queen, when he retired from the Cabinet in which he was Prime Minister. -The honor tendered him was politely refused with many thanks, but -he accepted the title of Viscountess Beaconsfield for his noble and -devoted wife, who enriched and has sustained him in all his severest -struggles. - -It is told of this brave lady, that while accompanying her husband in -a carriage to the House one night, Disraeli became lost in thought -about a great speech which he was going to make, and the carriage door -having closed on one of her fingers, she never uttered a sound of pain -until the equippage drove into the Palace yard at Westminster, when the -footman jumped down, and she fainted in her husband's arms. One hundred -and fifty thousand copies of Disraeli's "Lothair" have been sold, and -it is more than probable that the sale will not stop short of 250,000 -copies. The bitterest article in review of this book was written in -_Blackwood's Magazine_, by Lawrence Oliphant, author of the "Piccadilly -Papers by a Peripatetic," in London Society. Mr. Oliphant deserted -fashionable London society to found a Communistic association on the -shores of Lake Erie, and having accumulated a secretion of gall and -wormwood there he went back to England and poured it out on the head of -Disraeli. - -[Illustration: CHARLES KINGSLEY--NOVELIST.] - -[Sidenote: CHARLES KINGSLEY.] - -The Rev. Charles Kingsley, formerly rector of Eversley and Chaplain -in Ordinary to the Queen, and now Dean of Rochester, is the defender -of Muscular Christianity in English literature. He is the son of a -clergyman, and is descended from the ancient Saxon family of the -Kingsleys, of Kingsley, in the Forest of Delamere. He was educated at -Kings College, London, and Magdalen College, Cambridge, and is nearly -fifty years of age. From his advocacy of the cause of the workingmen he -has been called the "Chartist Parson." His chief works are, "Hypatia, -or New Foes with Old Faces," "Alexandria and Her Schools," "Westward, -Ho," "Two Years ago," and "Hereward, Last of the Saxons." He delivered -the "Roman and Teuton Lectures" while professor of Modern History at -Cambridge University. He has also written a series of children's books -on historical subjects, which are very popular in England. His brother, -Henry Kingsley, a novelist of considerable reputation, is eleven -years younger, and is a contributor to the _Gentleman's Magazine_, -the oldest periodical of its kind in England, which is sold for one -shilling. - -Anthony Trollope, the most voluminous English novelist now living, was -born in 1815, and comes of a literary family, his mother having made -a certain sort of fame by her book of American travels which did not -redound to her credit. Many years after the issue of Mrs. Trollope's -book, her son visited America and sought to redeem the unfavorable -impression made by his parent's villification of our people, in his -"North America," published in 1861. Anthony Trollope was educated at -Winchester and Harrow, and at thirty-two years of age wrote his first -novel, "The McDermotts of Ballycloran," a picture of Irish middle class -life. Since then he has furnished to the publishers of his works enough -material to fill a small library. Many of his genial novels appeared -in the _Cornhill Magazine_, which was edited by Thackeray at one time, -and subsequently by Frederick Greenwood, who was, during the former's -management, a proof reader on the Cornhill, and is now the editor of -the _Pall Mall Gazette_, the establishment of which journal was the -realization of the dream of Thackeray's life. - -James Greenwood, the "Amateur Casual," a brother of Frederick -Greenwood, has written a number of books of adventure of the most -stirring kind, and was attached to the London _Morning Star_, a penny -morning paper, which advocated the cause of the North during the Civil -War, and local sketches every alternate day were furnished by him to -its columns, for which he received sixteen guineas a week. - -Mr. John Morley, whom I have to thank for much courtesy, was editor -of the _Star_ during my sojourn in London. He is now editor of the -_Fortnightly Review_, with which he was formerly connected. The _Star_ -suspended publication about six months ago. I believe John Bright held -a stockholding interest in the _Star_ previous to its suspension, and -had, on some occasions, directed its editorial opinions. - -[Sidenote: THE MAGAZINES.] - -Mr. Trollope has an eminently literary look, and wears huge large -shaggy whiskers, and a pair of spectacles. His pictures of Irish middle -class society and English clerical characters, are the best and -truest ever drawn by an British novelist, his Irish characters being -infinitely superior to those of Charles Lever, whose heroes swagger -and strut in a most atrocious manner. Anthony Trollope has a brother, -Thomas Adolphus Trollope, who is also a literary man of considerable -note, and is five years the junior of Anthony. Adolphus Trollope -resides chiefly in Florence, and has written several works of fiction -connected with the very romantic history of that city. The younger -Trollope has been twice married. His first wife was an authoress, named -Miss Garrow, who died in 1865, and eight months after her decease he -was again married to a Miss Ternan, who is now living. That was what -an unprejudiced mind might call quick work for a novelist. Anthony -Trollope is the editor, and also, I believe, the proprietor of _St. -Paul's Magazine_, which is sold for one shilling a number. - -[Illustration: ANTHONY TROLLOPE--NOVELIST.] - -The circulation of the numerous London magazines and periodicals is -only to be computed by millions. Of course the cheap magazines have the -largest circulation, and the cheapest are not by any means the worst -edited. The _Temple Bar_ magazine, which was established by George -Augustus Sala, a well known correspondent of the _Morning Telegraph_, -sells for a shilling, and has among its contributors Mrs. Edwards, -Florence Maryatt, Miss Harriet Martineau, who is also a contributor -to the _Daily News_, H. Sutherland Edwards, John Holingshead, who was -formerly the dramatic critic of the _Daily News_, and is now manager -of a London Theatre. The _Brittania Magazine_ is well edited and has -original stories and sketches, and sells for sixpence. _Bow Bells -Magazine_ is a good local periodical, selling for eightpence, and -_Belgravia_, edited by Miss Braddon, sells for one shilling, as does -the _St. James_, which is well known for its clever Parliamentary -sketches. Cyrus Redding, the famous octogenarian writer on wine -culture, was for many years a constant contributor to _Colburn's -Monthly_, in which many of William Harrison Ainsworth's sensation -serial stories have appeared. Louisa Stuart Costello and her brother -Dudley Costello, and Mrs. Ward, for many years contributed to the pages -of _Colburn's Monthly_. _Blackwood's Magazine_ is too well known to -need any enumeration of its famous writers. _Blackwood's_ sells at -two-and-sixpence the number. - -_McMillan's Magazine_ is issued at one shilling a number by the -publishing house of McMillan & Co., Bedford street, Covent Garden, -having 78 double column pages of matter. Among its contributors are -Frederick W.H. Myers, Edward Nolan, S. Greg, Thomas A. Lindsay, Dr. -Boyce, Edward A. Freeman, Charles Kingsley, Jean Ingelow, Menella Bute -Smedley, Mrs. Brotherton, F. Napier Broome, Thomas Hughes, Godfrey -Turner, T.W. Robinson, and F.W. Newman. _Cornhill_ is published by -Smith, Elder & Co. _All the Year Round_ is edited by Chas. Dickens, -Jr., who is rated very high as a sketch writer, and is also well -known as a rowing and yachting man. _The London Society Magazine_ is -published at 217 Piccadilly, and the most aristocratic of all the -London magazines, being beautifully illustrated, and having excellent -social, club, and fashionable sketches. The _London Society_ is sold -for a shilling, and has a number of lady artists who make drawings for -its pages. Watson, W. Brunton, Lionel Henley, Adelaide Claxton, H. -Tuck, A. Thompson, and F. Walker, are among the best known artists on -this magazine. Walter Thornbury, author of "Haunted London," Lawrence -Oliphant, Edmund Yates, and Lascelles Wraxall, are contributors to the -_London Society_. The "_Graphic_," the finest illustrated weekly ever -published in London, is edited by Arthur Lockyer, who has succeeded -its former editor--H. Sutherland Edwards. The circulation of the -different magazines is computed as follows: - -_Cornhill_, 36,000; _McMillan_, 28,000; _Blackwood_, 39,000; _London -Society_, 24,000; _Frazer_, 17,000; _Colburn's Monthly_, 7,500; _Temple -Bar_, 19,000; _St. Paul's_, 16,000; _Gentleman's Magazine_, 25,000; -_Britannia Magazine_, 26,000; _St. James'_, 15,000, and _Belgravia_, -16,000. - -[Illustration: DELIVERING THE "TIMES."] - -The circulation of the principal critical Weeklies is: _Saturday -Review_, sixpence, 38,000; _Spectator_, sixpence, 22,000; _Athenaeum_, -sixpence, 29,600; _Examiner and London Review_, 13,000. The _Saturday -Review_ has forty pages of double-column matter, large print, twelve -of which are devoted to advertisements, the remaining pages being -taken up with editorials, book reviews, notices of the drama and fine -arts. The _Athenaeum_ has twenty-two quarto pages of three columns -each, ten of which are taken up by advertisements, and the remainder -by book reviews, and dramatic, fine art, and scientific notes. The -editor of this journal is Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, M.P., who wrote -an excellent book of travel, entitled "Greater Britain." Ruskin and -Huxley have been contributors to the _Athenaeum_. The _Spectator_ has -twenty-eight pages folio, and is chiefly noticeable for its valuable -historical studies, and its short and spicy paragraphs on the first -four pages of the paper. Any of these weeklies will be sent abroad for -the additional cost of a penny stamp. - -[Sidenote: THE LONDON TIMES.] - -The first number of the _London Times_ was printed January 1, 1788, by -John Walter, and the first newspaper printed by steam in Europe was the -_Times_ of November 29, 1814. Applegarth and Cowper's four cylindered -presses, printing five to eight thousand sheets an hour, were in use by -the _Times_ for many years. These were succeeded by Hoe's press with -Whithworth's improvement, and now the Bullock press modified, which -prints on an endless sheet, is used by the _Times_. The circulation -of this, the leading journal of Europe, varies from 57,000 to 65,000 -copies a day, and the owner is Mr. Walter, the son of its founder. John -Thaddeus Delane, the son of William F.A. Delane, the former financial -manager, who has been succeeded by Mowbray Morris, is the editor of -the _Times_. He is an Oxford man, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. -Since 1839 he has been connected with the _Times_, to whose editorship -he succeeded in 1841, on the decease of its then famous editor, Mr. -Thomas Barnes. The value of the _Times_ newspaper property has been -estimated at three million pounds, or fifteen million dollars. As -Thackeray said, its ambassadors are everywhere; one may be seen pricing -potatoes at Covent Garden, while another is committing to paper the -Cabinet intrigues at Berlin. Among its most celebrated writers have -been Barnes, Sterling, Horace Twiss, William Howard Russell, Thackeray, -Thomas Noon Talfourd, Baron Alderson, Louis J. Jennings, the American -correspondent, now editor of the New York _Times_, and others. Southey -was offered the editorial management at a salary of L2,000 a year, and -the same offer was made to Thomas Moore, the poet, but both declined -acceptance. The _Times_, with supplement, has seventy-two columns of -matter, on sixteen pages, and 2,250 advertisements have been inserted -in one day's issue, seven tons of paper, with a surface of thirty -acres, and seven tons of type, being used. - -[Sidenote: CIRCULATION OF JOURNALS.] - -The circulation and prices of the leading London journals, are as -follows: _Times_, 65,000, four pence; _Daily News_, 48,000, one penny; -_Daily Telegraph_, 175,000, one penny; _Morning and Evening Standard_, -80,000, one penny; _Morning Advertiser_ (rumseller's organ), 35,000, -one penny; _Pall Mall Gazette_ (evening), 30,000, one penny; _Echo_ -(evening), 75,000, one penny; _Globe_ (evening), 8,000, one penny; -_Punch_ (weekly), 55,000, six pence; _Illustrated London News_, 60,000, -four pence; _Graphic_, 80,000, six pence; _Bell's Life_ (sporting), -Wednesday and Saturday, 66,000, one penny; _The Field_ (sporting, -weekly), 18,000, six pence; _Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper_ (Sunday), -140,000, one penny; _Weekly Times_ (Sunday)--owned by _London Journal_, -which has a circulation of 200,000--110,000, one penny; _Cassell's -Weekly Magazine_, 90,000, _Weekly Dispatch_ (Sunday), 215,000, two -pence; _Reynold's Newspaper_ (Sunday), 280,000, one penny; _Jewish -Record_ (weekly), one penny, 7,500; _Tablet_ (Catholic weekly), four -pence, 36,000. - -[Illustration: SUB-EDITOR'S ROOM, "TELEGRAPH" OFFICE.] - -The _Morning Telegraph_ is the most popular daily newspaper in the -world. During periods of great excitement its circulation increases -to over 200,000 copies a day, and it takes four ten-cylinder, and -four six-cylinder Hoe's presses, to strike off its daily editions. -The correspondent of the _Telegraph_ at Paris, Mr. Whitehurst, is -hand and glove with Napoleon, and his salary amounts to L10,000, -with a horse and brougham thrown in. The editor of the _Telegraph_ -is Thornton Hunt, son of Leigh Hunt, who was for twenty years on the -staff of the _Spectator_. The sub-editor of the _Telegraph_, for -they have no managing editors in England, is Mr. Ralph Harrison, to -whom I am much indebted for courtesies received. The owner of the -_Telegraph_ is a Hebrew gentleman named Levy. The _Daily News_ is owned -by the Liberation Society, a Dissenters' association, and is edited I -believe, by Mr. Edward Dicey, formerly a special correspondent of the -_Telegraph_, who went to Suez for that journal. Tom Hood, son of the -poet, was editor of the _Tomahawk_ formerly, and lately of the _Latest -News_, a penny Saturday paper, and Arthur A. Becket has edited _Fun_. -James Grant is now editor of the _Morning Advertiser_, at a salary of -fifty pounds a week, and Blanchard Jerrold receives L800 a year for -editing _Lloyds' Weekly_. The salaries of editors on the London press -vary from fifteen to fifty pounds a week, according to the ability -displayed, and the circumstances of the journal on which they are -employed. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: HALF PENNY SOUP HOUSE.] - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - -THE POOR OF LONDON. - - -BEYOND comparison London exceeds all other cities of Europe for -the number of its poor, and the misery and suffering of those who -individually make up the gross totals in work-houses, back slums, and -miasmatic tenements. - -One of the most interesting--if not the most curious and cheerful -scenes in the metropolis--may be witnessed any day by a visit to the -East London "Half-Penny Soup House," an institution established by good -and merciful people, whereby the poor little castaways and waifs of the -city are provided with a dish of soup, a piece of meat, and a small -loaf of bread, once in each twenty-four hours. - -The children are gathered from the promiscuous juvenile assemblages -that may be, at any time, found in the London streets, and are taken -to the Soup House where large and steaming dishes of soup are given -them, by charitable ladies, after which they are dismissed until the -next twenty-four hours have elapsed, when again they assemble to -partake of the same plentiful and grateful food. This nourishment costs -but a half-penny per head, all the attendance and time being given -gratuitously by the good ladies who seek the little ones for their own -merciful purpose. - -The struggles of the London poor to keep soul and body together, -are very wonderful to understand or relate. Out of every five poor -families in London--it is known that at least three are compelled, -between Easter and Christmas, to denude their households of all the -most necessary articles of clothing and furniture, to take them to the -pawnbroker's shops in order that bread and meat may be procured for -their little ones. And what terrible scenes are witnessed in these -pawnbroker's shops, on Saturday nights when the goods are reclaimed by -dint of economy and hard scraping? None but God, the police, and the -pawnbroker, ever see such struggles. - -[Illustration: A PAWNBROKER'S SHOP.] - -One day I paid a visit to the Workhouse of St. Martin's, in the Fields, -which is not far distant from Trafalgar square. This workhouse looks -like a vast prison, stern, gloomy, and frowning, in the very busiest -quarter of the city. Opposite to its entrance was the barracks of some -regiment of infantry, and round the doors, were talking and smoking, -half-a-dozen of long-legged and slim-waisted private soldiers, in red -shell jackets, whose chief occupation seemed to be that of switching -their manly calves with slender rods which they jauntily carried in -their hands. - -[Sidenote: THE MASTER OF THE WORKHOUSE.] - -The workhouse door was shown to me by a squad of small boys who were at -play in the adjoining gutters, clad in a pauper's uniform of blue, and -on whose heads were dirty but comfortable caps of plaid pilot cloth. - -"Yes, master, there is the Workus, over yander. Will ye give us a -penny? We are all Workus," said they in chorus. - -I entered the low entrance and stood in a small vestibule, where stood -a shelf, or stand, upon which was placed an open blank or visitors' -book, in which each caller was to inscribe his name and residence, -together with his object for visiting the workhouse. On the opposite -page were blank spaces, on which an attendant entered the hours when a -visitor called and when he left the institution. - -A miserable, worm-eaten looking old man, devoid of teeth, and shambling -in his gait, a perfect wreck, shuffled up to me with a deprecating look -in his eye, as if he were asking pardon for being alive. Heavens! how -the iron of poverty, and the bitterness of dependence, must have eaten -away that poor wretch's soul before such enduring lines of degradation -could have been impressed on his features. - -This old pauper was detailed to wait upon the visitors, and to see that -their names were inscribed, with the warning that he should not attempt -to ask for or receive any gratuity. - -He faintly said in a childish voice: - -"What can I do for you, Sir? Do you wish to see the Workus? Ah, yes, of -course, a goodish bit of people comes to see the poor paupers, now and -then, but we are never allowed to take anything, Sir. No never, never. -Poor paupers, poor paupers," and so he mumbled away until the Master of -the workhouse was announced by his footsteps that came in echoes as I -sat in the little, poverty-stricken ante-room. - -To the Master, who is the supreme authority in the workhouse, under -the direction of the Board of Guardians of the parish, I explained my -motives for visiting the paupers' residence, and he welcomed me with -much politeness, offering me every facility to inspect the place. -He was a medium sized man, of middle age, plainly dressed, and after -having issued orders to several of the inmates of the establishment -he prepared to accompany me through the premises. Here and there, in -the walks and corridors, and courts of the workhouse, we met with an -occasional pauper, the males in a grey, rough, shoddy uniform, and the -women in check or plaid gowns, of a coarse cotton material, and wearing -caps of a faded whiteness upon their heads. - -They all had a vacant, listless look, and seemed lost in astonishment -to see a stranger with the Master, to whom they made the most servile -of salutations. - -I had seen, in my travels on the English railways, when I sought -the not very wholesome refuge of the third class carriages to study -character--just such poor, faded-looking people, among the families -journeying wearily to their various destinations, as these poor old -relics, who were now clustering around the workhouse tea tables. Oh, -God! how lonely they looked, and distant from all human kind. The same -wan, woe-begone faces, but more quiet and reserved than those I saw in -the close railway cars devoted to poor people. - -Smoking is a common thing in these crowded and close carriages, and -delicate women, and puny, weak children, are forced to travel for -hundreds of miles in these cattle boxes--I cannot call them aught -else--until they are sometimes known to vomit from the bad air and -worse stenches. - -Making inquiries of this gentleman as I went through the buildings, -I may as well give his explanations of workhouse life, and of the -condition of the poor and destitute of London. I freely admitted to him -that I had heard very strange stories in regard to the treatment, food, -and medical attendance of the paupers in the Unions, and that I would -be obliged to him if he could clear up my reasonable doubts on many -points. - -[Sidenote: SUGAR AND TEA.] - -In answer to one of these doubts the Master took me into a large, long -and clean-looking room, in which were about forty female paupers. These -women were engaged in getting supper for themselves, and were all -above middle age, and haggard-looking. - -[Illustration: A THIRD CLASS RAILWAY CARRIAGE.] - -"Now, Sir," said he to me, "you, of course, can see something of which -you speak, for yourself. Here is one of the busy wards of the Union. -Each of these old women is allowed an ounce of dry tea per day, and -enough sugar to moderately sweeten four cups of tea, which they make in -their own tea-caddies, or, sometimes they mess together--three or four -in a mess--and those who do not care for sugar will trade their surplus -sugar for the surplus dry tea with some other paupers." - -All the women arose from their low seats or benches, some of them being -clustered around a grate in which were a moderate stock of burning -coals, and bowed to the Master, who waved his hand and told them to sit -down again, which they did with courtesies and many feeble expressions -of thanks. - -"That old woman over there in the corner," said the Master, pointing -to a female of sixty years of age, who sat alone rubbing her bare -arms, and chatting to herself senselessly, "has lost her wits. She is -here forty-five years, and will die here in all probability. We have -about 400 in-door paupers in this workhouse, and perhaps twice as many -out-door poor, whom the parochial authorities assist as well as they -can. Every pauper whom we support in this house costs the rate-payers -of this parish about seventeen pounds six and ten-pence per head, which -does not include charge for rent, taking the interest of the value -of the property. For the children we have a school, and they get the -rudiments and that's all. It is an idea with some, and I am afraid, -with many poor people, "once a pauper always a pauper." The children -who are born in this place, would never become independent of the -parish if it were not that as soon as they grow up we send them to -schools of an industrial kind outside of London, where they learn a -trade, or are taught some occupation, such as gardening, blacksmithing, -carpentering, or, in fact, anything that will enable them to make a -living. The feeding and schooling of the children, with the nursing, -&c., costs more per head for them, strange to say, than it does for a -grown person's subsistence and clothing in London. - -[Sidenote: WORKHOUSE RATIONS.] - -"In this parish alone we have to take care of 478 children, and in some -of the London parishes in Bethnal Green, and Hackney, or Stepney, they -sometimes have to provide for from 1,500 to 2,000 children, of both -sexes. Of course, in the very large parishes they cannot afford to -educate the children, but have to content themselves with feeding and -clothing as many as they can inside the workhouse, while the majority -receive, with their parents, out-door relief, but the large and heavy -parishes could not afford to have such fine schools as we have in the -suburbs, with grounds attached, and sometimes goodish pieces of land, -where farming and gardening can be taught the children. It costs the -rate-payers of this parish twenty pounds a year to support and educate -the parish children, and, along with all the rest of the taxes, it is -no wonder that the people are grumbling and asking why we do not send -the beggars to America or Australia." - -"And why do you not?" said I to him, "if the sustenance of a pauper, -together with his clothing, costs the parish L21 annually." - -"Because, the people of London have an idea somehow or other, that the -Americans will not receive paupers, and then again, if L21 was given to -a pauper to go to America, they would raise a row in Parliament that -too much money was going out of the country. Why," said he, "down at -Birkenhead, near Liverpool, schools were built for paupers at a cost of -L15,000, with bath-rooms and fine dining-rooms, and the people there -raised an awful row because the cost to the rate-payers came to ten -shillings per head per annum to every inhabitant in the place. They -didn't want to give them bath-rooms or fine dining-rooms. They turned -a man away there who was frozen, and he had to lose all of his toes on -account of their neglect. In some of the work-houses, in the North of -England, they are beginning to let the children out to board by the -week, with farmers and families who can afford to take them, the parish -authorities allowing, for each child, three shillings per week for -board, with an outfit on leaving the workhouse, and six shillings and -sixpence a quarter for mending and repairing their clothes, an offer -which has been very cheerfully accepted by many families who are in -decent circumstances." - -"A 'Casual,'" said the Master, "is a pauper who is house-less and -destitute in a different parish from which he has lived. When he finds -himself in a strange place, as in London, he has to apply at the Police -Station for a ticket, which is given him as a reference to ask for one -night's lodging at the workhouse in the district. The ticket is shown -to the Master, who receives him, and I will send him down here, but -before he is sent down he gets a loaf of bread, weighing a pound and a -quarter. He must apply to the House for lodgings before ten o'clock at -night, or we will not let him in. Then he takes the loaf of bread and -eats half of it for his supper, and the other half he saves for his -breakfast. We give him, with the remaining half loaf of bread in the -morning, a half pint of coffee or tea. But before he goes he has got to -earn the breakfast which we give him, and is compelled to pick oakum -from six o'clock in the morning until nine, when he leaves the House." - -Before I left the workhouse the Master allowed me to inspect the beef, -bread, butter, and beer, which are served out daily to the paupers. -Each grown man and woman receives a twelve ounce loaf of bread, a pint -of the best beer, an ounce of butter, daily, and five days in the week -they receive six ounces of fresh meat, the other days being especially -devoted to beans, and a liquid compound known to seafaring men as -"skillagelee." - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: MAP of the CITY of LONDON.] - -[Illustration] - - - - -BELKNAP & BLISS, - -OF - -HARTFORD, CONN., - -Are engaged in the Publication of - -VALUABLE STANDARD WORKS, - -SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION. - -Old Agents, and all others who want the Best and most Popular Books, -and the Best Paying Agencies, will please send for their Circulars, -which are sent free, and give full particulars. - - -THE EXPOSE: - -OR, - -MORMONS AND MORMONISM. - -Giving its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition, with the Narration of - -Mrs. MARY ETTIE V. 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