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diff --git a/57372-0.txt b/57372-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..324ee37 --- /dev/null +++ b/57372-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8554 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57372 *** + + + + + + + + + + + + + + THE LITERARY HISTORY + OF THE ADELPHI AND + ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD + +[Illustration: + + _Allen & Co. (London) Ltd. Sc._ + +_The Terrace. York Buildings. 1796._ + +_From a water colour by J. Richards R.A._] + + + + + THE LITERARY HISTORY + OF THE ADELPHI + AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD + + _By_ AUSTIN BRERETON + + WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK: + DUFFIELD & COMPANY + 36-38 WEST 37th STREET + 1909 + + + + + _First Edition_ 1907 + _Second Edition_ 1908 + + (_All rights reserved._) + + + + +Note + + +This book is intended for the general reader, as well as for the +antiquarian and the lover of London. To this end, the history of the +Adelphi and its immediate neighbourhood to the west and on the south +side of the Strand has been related in--as far as possible--narrative +form. At the same time, it need hardly be said, every care has been +taken to present the multitude of details correctly and as a truthful +picture of one of the most interesting parts of the great metropolis. +I should be ungrateful if I did not take this opportunity of again--as +in the case of my chronicle of the Lyceum and Henry Irving--thanking +Mr. E. Gardner for so courteously placing at my disposal his unique and +invaluable collection of London records and engravings. The majority +of the illustrations were kindly lent by him; others were copied from +prints in the British Museum. I have also to thank the officials of St. +Martin's Library for their ready help in enabling me to consult, at my +leisure, some scarce books connected with the literature of historical +London. + + A.B. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +"The Literary History of the Adelphi" has journeyed from one side of +the neighbourhood to the other, from west to east. That is to say, its +publication has been acquired by Mr. Fisher Unwin, hence the removal +of the book from York Buildings to Adelphi--originally called "Royal," +and still so marked on the old plans--Terrace. This peregrination +gives me the opportunity of supplementing the original work with some +interesting particulars which have just come into my possession. +Who would think that within a short distance of the Strand, if not +actually within the proverbial stone's throw, there are "cottages," and +cottages, too, with trees and flowers and lawns, and a mighty river, +for prospect? Yet such is the case, although it is no wonder that the +rate collector who is new to this part of London has much ado to find +"Adelphi cottages." They belong to that mysterious region which lies +underneath the Strand level of the Adelphi and is vaguely known as the +"arches." If the reader will glance at the illustration which faces +page 32--"The Buildings called the Adelphi"--he will see, at the top of +the arches and under the terrace, some fifteen semi-circular recesses. +These are really capacious rooms, and from the windows thereof the view +of the Embankment Gardens and the Thames is considerable compensation +for the tediousness and deviousness of the approach. The "cottages" +were originally attached to the houses on the terrace above, and, until +recent years, they were inhabited. Now, however, the majority of them +are let separately and are used as stores or workshops. One of them, +however, is still occupied as a dwelling-place, and, whatever else it +may be, this habitation is certainly unique. + +Underneath the "Adelphi cottages," and extending below the houses of +the terrace, and John, Robert, and Adam Streets, are the famous arches, +which few people, either Londoners, who know nothing of their own city, +or Americans, who are versed in the lore of our ancient streets, have +ever visited. Truth to tell, the expedition to the Adelphi arches is +not to be undertaken with too light a heart. The gloomy recesses do not +conduce to joy, and, although the foot-pad has scant opportunity for +indulging in his nefarious practices, he would be a venturesome person, +a stranger to these parts, who would wander alone in this underground +world after the sun, which never enters these passages, had ceased to +illumine the earth above. This very darkness and dismalness has its +advantages at times. When Messrs. Coutts, for instance, moved from +their old premises in the Strand, there was much speculation as to the +manner in which they transferred their immense stock of securities, +deeds, and other valuables from one side of the road to the other. +There was great talk at the time of armies of detectives and the use of +the early hours of Sundays, and other vague suggestions were allowed to +be promulgated. It was assumed that the transference would take place +from one side of the road to the other, and it was thought that there +might be some audacious attempts at robbery. In reality, the matter was +quite simple and there was not the slightest danger of any attack upon +the priceless possessions. Far removed from the noisy Strand--in regard +to atmosphere and surroundings--there is an arch, dark indeed, and shut +off from the outer world by huge gates, which are some distance away. +Here, many feet below the surface of the streets, is a secret entrance +to the premises of the old bank. And here, in absolute security, never +dreamt of by the enterprising thief, the carts were loaded with their +treasures. + +The actual removal of these valuables was effected with great ease. The +carts wended their innocent way through the dreary arches, in front of +the "cottages," and passed out by a "right of way" underneath the Hotel +Cecil, towards Blackfriars. Thus, the would-be thief was deluded of his +prey. This "right of way" marks the bottom of Ivy Lane, which is still +in existence. It runs from the Strand and denotes the boundary of the +Duchy of Lancaster and the City of Westminster. Formerly, it was an +open thoroughfare, but there is now, at the Strand entrance as well as +at the bottom, a gate. At the river end, there was, in olden times, a +bridge, or pier, called Ivy Bridge. But I think that there must have +been, not only a bridge in the Strand, but that there was a stream +which ran hence into the Thames. John Stow, in his "Survey of London," +first published in 1598, speaks of "Ivy Bridge, in the High Street, +which had a way under it leading to the Thames, the like as sometime +had the Strand Bridge." Now, the Strand Bridge was over the stream of +St. Clement's Well, and Strand Lane, like Ivy Lane, ran down to the +river, and, like it, there was a pier at the end. I am the more certain +that there must have been a river of sorts at the junction of Ivy Lane +and the Strand, because to this day, as I found in the course of a +recent investigation, a stream trickles under John Street and renders +useless a large cellar. Nothing can stop it. It percolates now, just +as it has done ever since the excavations made by the Brothers Adam in +1768. It is drained away, but it is just sufficient to create a damp +atmosphere which is detrimental to the storing of wine. + +Hundreds of thousands of bottles of wine--chiefly port, claret, and +burgundy--are in bins here, and a most admirable place for the purpose +it is. The underground Adelphi is absolutely dry--save for the one +spot mentioned--and the temperature does not vary five degrees in the +course of a year. Here, also, are many hundreds of cases of champagne, +and here the jaded Londoner--if he be sufficiently favoured--might come +and feast his eyes on some few dozens of bottles of "white port"--a +wine which is not in fashion in these degenerate days, but which, I +rejoiced to learn, is still sent hence to a certain royal household. +Strange as it may seem, there is a strong air of royalty about these +dimly-lit vaults. What between the secret entrance to the old premises +of the great bankers--Messrs. Coutts are the bankers for his Majesty +and for the Queen[1]--and the "white port" which gives its benefit +to illustrious persons of royal lineage, there is a distinct feeling +that one is moving on an exalted plane when, paradoxical as it may +seem, we are in this subterranean place. The distinctly regal air +which pervades these caves of silence may have given rise to a certain +statement that hereabouts--half a dozen yards from the royal stock of +"white port"--Lady Jane Grey was cast into a dungeon deep and carried +thence to the dreaded Tower, there to be beheaded. But the "Nine Days' +Queen" knew only her gardens and her flowers when she lived in Durham +House--the predecessor of the Adelphi. Here, in May, 1553, the Duke of +Northumberland married his son, Lord Guildford Dudley, to Lady Jane, +in pursuance of his design for altering the succession from the Tudor +to the Dudley family. The unfortunate girl of scarce seventeen summers +certainly left Durham House for the Tower--but it was with great pomp +and circumstance, in order to be proclaimed Queen. Her execution +followed hard upon, but she knew not imprisonment in what is now the +Adelphi. On the other hand, the haunt of a wretched woman is still to +be seen in this gloomy spot. "Jenny's Holes" figure on the plan to this +day, and are not likely to be obliterated therefrom. Into one or other +of these places--recesses by the main arches--the outcast came to sleep +and, finally, to die; some say, indeed, that she was murdered here. +"Jenny" has no history, but the vague tradition of her misery still +haunts these "dark arches." Nor is the story at all improbable. The +"dark arches" are forbidding enough now, and, even in the day-time, the +sparse gas jets only serve to make darkness visible. So recently as the +early seventies, when Mr. George Drummond came into the property, cows +were kept in the underground passages of the Adelphi. + +Adelphi Terrace, Adam Street to the east, and John Street, which is +parallel with the terrace and the Strand, and in between, still retain +much of their old-world appearance. But at the western side of the +Adelphi changes are afoot. There is a new building, facing the river, +but stunted and barred from its proper height by that bugbear of the +modern builder, "ancient lights." Then, again, the Caledonian Hotel, +in Robert Street, has taken to itself a new storey, and has been +transmogrified into modern flats with--oh, shade of Adam!--bath-rooms. +The searcher after the picturesque in London architecture might do +worse than descend from the Strand, past the Tivoli. He will then be on +the site of one of the gateways of Old Durham House, and, turning to +the right, he will see a bridge of beautiful design. It was built, in +order to connect the Strand and Adelphi premises of the bank, by Thomas +Coutts, who procured a special Act of Parliament for the purpose. + +The entire Adelphi estate occupies a little over three acres and a +quarter, divided as follows:-- + + Superficial + feet. + Houses (only) 78,400 + Roadways, terrace, and areas 45,400 + Foreground 19,200 + -------- + 143,000 + +The names of two more noted inhabitants of the Adelphi have to be +included in this "History." The learned Vicesimus Knox (1752-1821), who +is best known to fame as the compiler of "Elegant Extracts" (1789), +lived at No. 1, Adam Street. The first floor of the same house was +the place of retirement, for a score of years, of George Blamire, +barrister-at-law, "of very eccentric habits, but sound mind." John +Timbs, in his "Curiosities of London," states that "no person was +allowed to enter his chamber, his meals and all communications being +left by his housekeeper at the door of his ante-room. He was found dead +in an arm-chair, in which he had been accustomed to sleep for twenty +years. He died of exhaustion, from low fever and neglect; at which time +his rooms were filled with furniture, books, plate, paintings, and +other valuable property." The eccentric habits are evident; but the +"sound mind" is a little doubtful. + +Finally, I may state that I have followed the fortunes of my book, +and, after a brief excursion into the noisy part of the world on the +other side of Charing Cross, have returned to the quiet and comparative +solitude of the Adelphi, where tubes do not trouble and motor buses do +not annoy. "Sir," said Dr. Johnson, "when a man is tired of London, he +is tired of life." And I think that there is no part of London of which +a man can be in less apprehension of tiring than the Adelphi. It is of +London, yet away from it; in the heart of the world, yet secluded. To +know it is to love it. + + Austin Brereton. + +_September, 1908._ + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: See page 212.] + + + + +Contents + + + CHAPTER I + + PAGES + + Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham--The Papal Legate and the Oxford + Clergy--Henry III. and the Earl of Leicester--Prince Henry--The + Author of _Philobiblon_--Edward III.--Thomas Hatfield--Henry + VIII.--Cuthbert Tunstall--Cranmer at Durham House--Anne + Boleyn--Henry VIII. and Anne of Cleves feast at Durham House--Dudley, + Duke of Northumberland--Lady Jane Grey--Queen Mary--Queen + Elizabeth--Philip Sidney--Sir Walter Raleigh--Elizabeth + Throgmorton--Glanville _v._ Courtney--Thomas Egerton--Fire at + Durham House--Raleigh and his Pipe 1-20 + + + CHAPTER II + + The New Exchange--The Earl of Salisbury proprietor--Opened by + James I.--Popular Allusions--The First Edition of _Othello_ published + Here--Samuel Pepys a Frequent Visitor--Henry Herringman--Otway + --Etherege--Wycherley--Dryden--Addison--Durham House + in Decay--Acquired by the Earl of Pembroke--Various Public + Offices in Durham Yard--Charles II. helps to extinguish a Fire + Here--Archbishop Le Tellier--Godfrey Kneller--David Garrick, + wine merchant--Dr Johnson--Voltaire--Murder in the New + Exchange 21-48 + + + CHAPTER III + + The Romantic Story of the White Milliner, otherwise the Beautiful Frances + Jennings, Duchess of Tyrconnel--Her Youthful Escapade--Her + Connection with the New Exchange the subject of a Play by Douglas + Jerrold--Its Failure and the Author's Disappointment--"Nan" + Clarges, afterwards Duchess of Albemarle, sells Wash-balls in the + New Exchange--Her Burial in Westminster Abbey--Sir William + Read, the Quack, cures "Wry Necks" in Durham Yard--Demolition + of the New Exchange--A Noted Book-shop--Ambassadors + reside Here 49-74 + + + CHAPTER IV + + Enter the Brothers Adam--Their Marvellous Transformation of the Ruins + of Durham House and Yard into the Present Adelphi--The Magnitude + of the Project--Opposition of the City--Defeated by Special + Act of Parliament--The Adelphi Buildings only completed by Aid + of a Lottery--The Adams explain their Position--Robert Adam: + His History--His Death--James Adam--Some Poor Wit, including + Walpole's, at the Expense of the Architects 75-99 + + + CHAPTER V + + The Society of Arts--Its Foundation--Its Removal to the Adelphi in + 1774--James Barry and his Famous Paintings--Visited in John Street + by Burke and Johnson--The Latter's opinion of his Genius--Description + of his Pictures for the Society--The Work of the Society--"Spot" + Ward, the Inventor of "Friar's Balsam"--Johnson speaks + in the Great Room--Forsaken by his "Flowers of Oratory" 100-122 + + + CHAPTER VI + + David Garrick--His Residence in the Adelphi--Founds the Drury Lane + Fund--His Last Appearance on the Stage--Honoured by Parliament--The + Friendship of Mr and Mrs Garrick for Hannah More--Their + Correspondence--Garrick helps the Production of _Percy_--Presents + his Buckles to Hannah More--The Production of _Percy_--Garrick's + Prologue gives Offence--Garrick brings Hannah More's Dinner from + the Adelphi to the "Turk's Head"--The Literary Club--His Last + Illness and Death 123-144 + + + CHAPTER VII + + Garrick's Funeral from the Adelphi--Johnson's Opinion of Garrick: "A + Liberal Man"--His Death "Eclipsed the Gaiety of Nations"--Topham + Beauclerk and Johnson--Mrs Garrick's famous Dinner + Party--Johnson and other Celebrities Present--Described by Hannah + More and Boswell--Johnson's Morning Visit to Adelphi Terrace--Hannah + More's Life Here--Another Dinner Party--Death of Mrs + Garrick--Shakespeare's Gloves sent to Mrs Siddons from the + Adelphi--Goldsmith writes from a Sponging-House to Garrick in + the Adelphi--Becket, the Bookseller 145-171 + + + CHAPTER VIII + + The celebrated Quack, Dr Graham--His Temple of Health in the + Adelphi--Satirised by Colman and Bannister--"Vestina, the Rosy + Goddess of Health"--Emma Lyon, Lady Hamilton--Osborn's Hotel--The + King and Queen of the Sandwich Islands--Their Death in the + Adelphi--Isaac d'Israeli--The Earl of Beaconsfield--Thomas Hill, + the Original of Paul Pry--Thomas Hood and Charles Dickens--_David + Copperfield_ and _Pickwick_--Ivy Lane--The Fox-under-the-Hill--The + Adelphi "Dark Arches" 172-191 + + + CHAPTER IX + + The First Bankers--Middleton & Campbell, predecessors of Coutts & Co., + "at The Three Crowns in the Strand"--Patrick and John Coutts--Patrick + and Thomas Coutts in London--Death of James Coutts--Enter + Thomas Coutts--Letter by Him--His Stern Character--Married + to Harriot Mellon--Susan Starkie and "The Three Graces"--Sir + Francis Burdett--Angela Georgina Burdett--The Duchess of + St Albans--Anecdotes of Thomas Coutts--His Personal Appearance--Interior + of the Bank--The Chinese Wall-Paper--The Adelphi + Chapel--Illustrious Customers of Messrs Coutts--Partners in the + Firm--The Wills of Thomas Coutts and the Duchess of St Albans--The + Savage Club--Thomas Hardy--E.L. Blanchard 192-217 + + + CHAPTER X + + York House--Francis Bacon--The Great Seal taken from Him--Lord + Keeper Egerton--The Duke of Buckingham, King James' "Steenie" + --Magnificence of his Entertainments--Contemporary Descriptions--Bishop + Goodman's Praise--The Second Duke--Dryden's Revenge--The + "Superstitious Pictures" of York House--Buckingham's Marriage--Spanish, + Russian, and French Ambassadors Here--Visits by Pepys + and Evelyn--Duke of Buckingham sells York House--His Curious + Condition of Sale--The Duke's _Litany_ 218-234 + + + CHAPTER XI + + The York Water-Gate--Inigo Jones' Beautiful Work--Built for the Duke + of Buckingham--The Proposal for its Removal--Satires on the + Subject--The Gate Neglected--Its Restoration--The Water Tower--The + West-end supplied with Water from Here--The Steam + Engine--Samuel Pepys resides in Buckingham Street--William + Etty and Clarkson Stanfield--Peter the Great Lodges Here--His + Love of Strong Drink--The Witty Earl of Dorset--David Hume and + Jean Jacques Rousseau--Moore writes to his Publisher Here--The + Father of Modern Geology--A Great Actor dies Here--The Original + of Smollett's Hugh Strap--David Copperfield's Chambers--Evelyn + lives in Villiers Street--Sir Richard Steele--Zara acted Here--Mrs + Cibber--Misstatement by "Anthony Pasquin" 235-248 + + + CHAPTER XII + + The Strand in 1353--St Mary Rounceval--Northampton House--Earl of + Surrey, the Poet--Suffolk House--Suckling's _Ballade upon a + Wedding_--Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland--The Restoration + planned at Northumberland House--Lady Elizabeth Percy--Her + Romantic Marriages--Murder of "Tom of Ten Thousand"--The + "Proud" Duke of Somerset--_Edwin and Angelina_--Goldsmith at + Northumberland House--Fire Here--Dr Percy's Library saved--The + Famous Lion--Demolition of the House--The Duke's Lament--Northumberland + Avenue--Craven Street--Benjamin Franklin--Sir + Joshua Reynolds--Heinrich Heine--The Author of _Rejected + Addresses_--J.S. Clarke 249-272 + + + APPENDIX + + Samuel Pepys and the Adelphi 273-284 + + Hannah More and Garrick's Funeral 284-285 + + + INDEX 286-294 + + + + +List of Illustrations + + + The Terrace, York Buildings, Adelphi _Frontispiece_ + + TO FACE PAGE + + The Adelphi (Durham Yard and the New Exchange) and Charing + Cross in 1755 8 + + Durham House. Salisbury House. Worcester House 16 + + The New Exchange, Strand 24 + + "The Buildings called the Adelphi," 1777 32 + + The Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi 40 + + Garrick's House, 5 Adelphi Terrace 56 + + Adam Street, Adelphi 64 + + Adelphi Terrace in Garrick's Time 72 + + The Thames, from the Water Works, York Buildings, Adelphi 80 + + York Stairs and the Water Tower 88 + + The Society of Arts distributing its Awards 96 + + The Strand Entrance to Durham Yard 104 + + Ivy Lane, Strand (the boundary of the Duchy of Lancaster and the + City of Westminster) 112 + + Entrance to the Adelphi Arches 120 + + The Fox-under-the-Hill 128 + + York House, York Stairs, and Durham House 136 + + York Stairs and Water Works 152 + + Pepys' Library, Buckingham Street, Adelphi 160 + + St Mary Rounceval, the Original Site of Northumberland House 168 + + Suffolk (subsequently Northumberland) House 176 + + The Strand Front of Northumberland House in 1752 184 + + Northumberland House, from the Gardens 208 + + The Ball-room, Northumberland House 224 + + The Drawing-room, Northumberland House 240 + + Charing Cross, before the building of Northumberland Avenue 256 + + The Lion, Northumberland House 272 + +[Illustration: AN ADAM DOOR.] + + + + +The Literary History of the Adelphi and its Neighbourhood + + + + +CHAPTER I + + Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham--The Papal Legate and the Oxford + Clergy--Henry III. and the Earl of Leicester--Prince Henry--The Author + of _Philobiblon_--Edward III.--Thomas Hatfield--Henry VIII.--Cuthbert + Tunstall--Cranmer at Durham House--Anne Boleyn--Henry VIII. and Anne + of Cleves feast at Durham House--Dudley, Duke of Northumberland--Lady + Jane Grey--Queen Mary--Queen Elizabeth--Philip Sidney--Sir Walter + Raleigh--Elizabeth Throgmorton--Glanville _v._ Courtney--Thomas + Egerton--Fire at Durham House--Raleigh and his Pipe. + + +IT is my pleasant duty to relate in these pages the romantic story +of kings and queens, of prelates and princes, of book-writers and +book-sellers, of artists, architects, and actors, and of other players +on life's fitful stage who, for six centuries and a half, have +contributed to one of the most interesting chapters in the history of +London. Within that small space which has been known as the Adelphi +since 1772, a district so confined that it is contained within five +hundred square yards, came, in its earlier years, several bishops and +other clerical dignitaries, then that prince who was afterwards the +fifth King Henry of England, anon, amid much pomp and pageantry, King +Henry VIII. Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were familiar with it, and +here lived, for twenty years, Sir Walter Raleigh, who inhabited one +of the towers which is seen in Hollar's engraving of Durham House. +Lady Jane Grey went hence to the Tower and thence to the scaffold. +Dryden alluded to it in one of his plays. Voltaire drank wine here, +and its memory is hallowed by Dr Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Sir Joshua +Reynolds, and a host of other celebrities. Here David Garrick began his +career, and here, curiously enough, he ended it, the funeral procession +of the "poor player" reaching from the Adelphi to Westminster Abbey, +those who followed him to the grave numbering many men of rank and +genius, including Johnson, and a large concourse of the general public +who grieved for the loss of the great actor. + +The history of the world-famous banking firm of Coutts & Co. is +indelibly associated with the Adelphi. Dickens, when a boy, prowled +about its dark arches--until lately, one of the most degraded spots in +London--and last, though not least, the brothers Adam, to whom London +owes several architectural triumphs, in addition to the Adelphi, claim +our attention. It is said that at a public dinner, at the beginning +of the last century, a worthy alderman whose knowledge of Greek was +very vague, was much struck by the toast, in reference to two royal +brothers--George IV. and the Duke of York--of "the Adelphi."[2] When it +came to the alderman's turn to speak, he said that, as they were on the +subject of streets, he would "beg leave to propose 'Finsbury Square.'" +In somewhat similar manner, before we get to the Adelphi, we must go +back to its origin, and this takes us to the thirteenth century. + +Durham House, which, with its grounds, formerly occupied the entire +site of the Adelphi, was the town residence of Anthony Bek (otherwise +Anthony de Beck or Bec), Bishop of Durham in the reign of Edward I. +So it is affirmed by Pennant, and there is no reason to doubt the +assertion. Some mistakes have arisen on this point, in consequence, +as it appears to me, of there having been two men of the same name, +both of whom were bishops. Their ancestor, Walter Bek, came to England +with William the Conqueror, and from his three sons sprang three +great Lincolnshire families: Bek of Eresby, Bek of Luceby, and Bek of +Botheby. Now, Bishop Antony Bek the second (1279-1343), son of Walter +Bek of Luceby, constable of Lincoln Castle, was at one time Bishop +of Lincoln, and, in 1337, Bishop of Norwich. But Antony Bek, son of +Walter Bek, baron of Eresby, was appointed to the see of Durham in +1283. He was intimately associated with Edward I., being one of his +chief advisers during the negotiations regarding Baliol, and of great +assistance to him in his Scottish expeditions of 1296 and 1298. Owing +to a dispute with the prior of the convent of Durham, he was deprived +of certain of his rights by the king (but regained them on application +to the Pope). As this, however, occurred in the year 1300, it may +safely be assumed that Antony Bek had occupied Durham House before that +event. + +But there was a Durham House even earlier than this of Antony Bek's, +if we are to credit an account given by Thomas Fuller. Here, in 1238, +the papal legate, Otho, was staying, and hither he summoned the English +bishops in order to debate as to what "further steps should be taken +respecting the churches and schools of Oxford, which he had laid +under interdict on account of the scholars having, when the legate +was staying at Oseney, killed his brother and clerk of the kitchen in +an affray,"[3] the legate himself being obliged to fly from the city. +At the intercession of the bishops, the legate assented to pardon +the university on condition of the clergy and scholars making their +"solemn submission" to him. As a result, the offenders "went from St +Paul's in London to Durham House in the Strand, no short Italian, but +an English long, mile, all on foot; the bishops of England, for the +more state of the business, accompanying them, as partly accessory to +their fault, for pleading on their behalf. When they came to the Bishop +of Carlisle's house, the scholars went the rest of the way barefoot, +_sine capis et mantulis_, which some understand, 'without capes or +cloaks.' And thus the great legate at last was really reconciled to +them."[4] + +Some of these old chronicles are not always to be relied upon in the +matter of dates: "This howse called Durham, or Dunelme Howse, was +buylded in the time of Henry 3, by one Antonye Becke, B. of Durham. It +is a howse of 300 years antiquitie; the hall whereof is statelie and +high, supported with lofty marble pillars. It standeth on the Thamise +veriye pleasantlie." So wrote one historian in 1593. But Henry III. +died in 1272, eleven years before Bek was made Bishop of Durham. That +there was a Durham House of sorts before Bek's time is pretty certain, +although it was not the one that is attributed to that bishop. The +story has often been told of Henry III., in 1258, being caught in a +thunderstorm on his way down the Thames on his barge. At that time, +the Earl of Leicester was the head of the barons who were opposed to +the king, and it is said that he was then in occupation of Durham +House (we have already seen that the papal legate was installed there +twenty years earlier). Be this as it may, the king sought shelter from +the storm, and, as the royal barge approached the shore, the Earl of +Leicester went forth and endeavoured to allay any fears that the king +might have felt, saying, "Your Majesty need not be afraid, for the +tempest is nearly over." But the king, being moved to wrath, fiercely +exclaimed, "Above measure, I dread thunder and lightning, but, by the +head of God, I am more in terror of thee than of all the thunder and +lightning in the world." Though this story may be doubted, one early +royal memory of Durham House is that of Prince Henry (Henry V.), who, +in 1411, "lay at the bysshoppes inne of Darham for the seid day of +his comming to towne unto the Moneday nest after the feste of Septem +fratum."[5] + +That most correct of London historians, John Stow, sets down the +fourteenth century as the date of Durham House. "On the south side of +which street" (meaning the Strand, which had no name in Stow's time), +he says, "in the liberties of Westminster (beginning at Ivy Bridge), +first is Durham House, built by Thomas Hatfield, Bishop of Durham, who +was made bishop of that see in 1345, and sat bishop there thirty-six +years." But we have already seen from Fuller, whose _Church History of +Britain_--from which the quotation in regard to the papal legate, Otho, +is taken--was written in 1655, fifty years after Stow's death, that +there was a Durham House in 1238. + +And this brings me to a curious point. Thomas Pennant, whose _Account +of London_ affords much entertaining reading, has an amusing +disquisition on the word "palace." He writes: "That the word is only +applicable to the habitations of princes, or princely persons, and +that it is with all the impropriety of vanity bestowed on the houses +of those who have luckily acquired money enough to pile on one another +a greater quantity of stones and bricks than their neighbours. How +many imaginary _Parks_ have been formed within precincts where deer +were never seen! and how many houses misnamed _Halls_ which never had +attached to them the privilege of a manor!" Leigh Hunt took the "lively +Pennant," as he dubs him, to task on this point: "Unless the words +_palazzo_ and _piazza_ are traceable to the same root, _palatium_ (as +perhaps they are), place does not of necessity mean palace; and palace +certainly does not mean exclusively the habitation of princes and +princely persons (that is to say, supposing princeliness to exclude +riches), for in Italy, whence it comes, any large mansion may be called +a palace; and many old palaces there were built by merchants."[6] But +the disquisition does not really alter the fact that the proper name, +that is to say, the original one, should be Durham House; we have the +excellent authority of Stow and Fuller on this head. The residences in +London of the bishops were almost invariably called "House"--certainly +not "palace." Thus, Worcester House, which is now marked by the Savoy, +originally belonged to the see of Carlisle, and is "the Bishop of +Carlisle's House" which is alluded to in the extract from Fuller. York +House, which stood to the west of Durham House, was originally the town +inn or residence of the Bishop of Norwich, and, subsequently, in Queen +Mary's reign, of Heath, Archbishop of York. In the Aggas map of London +in 1563, which is the frontispiece to Pennant's "Account," Duresme +Place and York Place are given, but that the name in its earlier years +was Durham House there is no doubt. The London County Council has +lately (1906) perpetuated the name by changing Durham Street to Durham +House Street. + +[Illustration: THE ADELPHI (DURHAM YARD AND THE NEW EXCHANGE) AND +CHARING CROSS, IN 1755.] + +One of the earliest of the literary inhabitants of Durham House was the +learned Richard de Bury (1281-1345), son of Sir Richard Aungerville. He +was tutor to Edward III., when Prince of Wales, and, subsequently, +was of the king's household. He was Dean of Wells and Bishop of Durham +in 1333, lord chancellor from September 1334 to July 1335, and lord +high treasurer in 1337. He was employed by the king in Paris and in +Hainault in 1336, and, in 1337 and 1342, in Scotland. It is pleasant +to think that he wrote his _Philobiblon_ during his residence by the +Thames. At any rate, we may be sure that so learned and so useful a +man, one who had the confidence of the king for so long, was visited +here by Edward III. + +Another name of note associated with Durham House is that of Thomas +Hatfield, already alluded to by Stow as having built that structure. +He probably added to it, or he may have rebuilt it. He was a great +prelate, and, in addition to the bishopric of Durham, which he held +from 1345 until his death in 1381, he was made keeper of the Privy Seal +in 1343, and, in 1346 and 1355, he accompanied Edward III. to France. +In Durham, he built part of the south side of the cathedral choir and +the hall of the castle, hence, possibly, the credit given to him by +Stow of building the Thames-side Durham House. His learned _Survey of +Durham_ was edited by the Rev. William Greenwell in 1856. + +It is a far cry from the joyous days of Prince Henry to the turbulent +times of Henry VIII., but the old chronicles do not contain any +mention of Durham House during that lengthy period. In the reign of +the latter king, the then Bishop of Durham "conveyed the house to +the King in fee"; in other words, the noble Henry appropriated the +property to his own uses. He had the saving grace, however, to give +to the see of Durham, in exchange, some houses in Cold Harbour (now +marked by Upper Thames Street), and elsewhere. The exact date of the +transfer is unknown. The history of this bishop, who was made to +surrender Durham House to King Henry, is curious. Cuthbert Tunstall, +or Tonstall, was Master of the Rolls, and bishop successively of +London and Durham. Extolled by Erasmus, and the friend of Sir Thomas +More, he was learned in Greek, Hebrew, mathematics, and civil law. +Harrow-on-the-Hill had him for rector in 1511, he was prebendary +of Lincoln in 1514, archdeacon of Chester in the year following, +ambassador to the Prince of Castile at Brussels, 1515-1516, Master +of the Rolls in 1516, prebendary of York in 1519, and ambassador to +Charles V. in 1519, and again in 1525. He was Bishop of London from +1522-1530, keeper of the privy seal in 1523, and Bishop of Durham in +1530. It must have been after the latter year that he transferred +Durham House to Henry VIII. Accused of inciting to rebellion, 1550, he +was deprived of his bishopric of Durham by Edward VI., in 1552. Queen +Mary, however, restored him immediately on her accession, and he +remained in possession of Durham House--which Mary had also restored to +the see--until, in the year of his death, 1559, he was again deprived +by Queen Elizabeth, to whom he had refused the oath of supremacy. + +A very interesting chapter in the history of Durham House came into +existence, thanks to its acquisition by Henry VIII., who granted it +to the Earl of Wiltshire (1477-1539), Thomas Boleyn, father of Queen +Anne Boleyn. It is not impossible that the Earl of Wiltshire was in +occupation of Durham House during the childhood of his daughter: at +any rate, it is certain that Anne's daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, +afterwards Queen, resided here. + +Through Henry VIII. we get a glimpse of Cranmer at Durham House, for +that worthy wrote to the Earl of Wiltshire bidding him "let Doctor +Cranmer have entertainment in your house at Durham Place for a time, to +the intent he may bee there quiet to accomplish my request, and let him +lack neither bookes, ne anything requisite for his studies."[7] Cranmer +attended the Earl of Wiltshire as ambassador to Charles V. in 1530, and +it is probable that he lodged in Durham House in 1533, for in that year +he returned to England, gave formal sentence of the invalidity of the +king's marriage with Catharine of Aragon, and pronounced King Henry's +marriage with Anne Boleyn to be lawful. So that it is easy to imagine +that the king's "request" occupied Cranmer's thoughts at Durham House, +and that Henry came here in order to confer with him. + +That Henry VIII. was familiar with Durham House there is no room +for doubt, for, as the pious chronicler, Stow, quaintly puts it, +"in the year of Christ 1540," that being the thirty-second year of +Henry's reign, "on May-day, a great and triumphant jousting was +holden at Westminster, which had been formerly proclaimed in France, +Flanders, Scotland, and Spain, for all comers that would undertake +the challengers of England; which were, Sir John Dudley, Sir Thomas +Seymour, Sir Thomas Ponings, and Sir George Carew, knights, and Anthony +Kingston and Richard Cromwell, esquires; all which came into the lists +that day richly apparelled, and their horses trapped all in white +velvet. There came against them the said day forty-six defendants or +undertakers--viz., the Earl of Surrey, foremost, Lord William Howard, +Lord Clinton, and Lord Cromwell, son and heir to Thomas Cromwell, Earl +of Essex, and chamberlain of England, with other; and that day, after +the jousts performed, the challengers rode unto this Durham House, +where they kept open household, and feasted the King and Queen, with +her ladies, and all the court. The second day Anthony Kingston and +Richard Cromwell were made knights there. The third day of May the said +challengers did tourney on horseback with swords, and against them +came forty-nine defendants--Sir John Dudley and the Earl of Surrey +running first, which at the first course lost their gauntlets; and that +day Sir Richard Cromwell overthrew Master Palmer and his horse in the +field, to the great honour of the challengers. The fifth of May the +challengers fought on foot at the barriers, and against them came fifty +defendants, which fought valiantly; but Sir Richard Cromwell overthrew +that day at the barriers Master Culpepper in the field; and the sixth +day the challengers brake up their household. In this time of their +housekeeping they had not only feasted the king, queen, ladies, and all +the court, as it is afore showed, but also they cheered all the knights +and burgesses of the common house in the parliament, and entertained +the Mayor of London, with the aldermen and their wives, at a dinner, +etc. The king gave to every of the said challengers and their heirs +for ever, in reward of their valiant activity, one hundred marks and a +house to dwell in, of yearly revenue, out of the lands pertaining to +the hospital of St John of Jerusalem, which he had confiscated." + +From the merry-makings of "bluff King Hal" we turn to the more sober +employment of Durham House. Here, in 1550, were lodged the French +ambassador to Edward VI., Mons de Chastillon, and his colleagues, the +house being "furnished with hangings of the kings for the nonce." In +this year, also, Edward VI. granted Durham House for life, or until +she was otherwise advanced, to the Lady Elizabeth, afterwards Queen +Elizabeth; but, "in some way, it passed from the Princess to Dudley, +Duke of Northumberland, and was the principal London house when Edward +VI. died." I do not think that it is very difficult to account for +the transition. During the short reign of Edward VI., we find it +stated in Pennant that "the mint was established in this house, under +the management of Sir William Sharrington, and the influence of the +aspiring Thomas Seymour, lord admiral. Here he proposed to have money +enough coined to accomplish his designs on the throne. His practices +were detected, and he suffered death. His tool was also condemned; +but, sacrificing his master to his own safety, received a pardon, and +was again employed under the administration of John Dudley, Earl of +Northumberland." + +This, I must confess, is a trifle vague. Sir William Sharington, or +Sherington--Pennant's Sharrington--vice-treasurer of the mint at +Bristol, assisted in the plots of Thomas Seymour, baron Seymour of +Sudeley, and was arrested and attainted, but subsequently pardoned. He +was sheriff of Wiltshire in 1552, and he died in 1553. Seymour was +found guilty of treason and executed in 1549, the second year of King +Edward VI. Is it not possible that the Duke of Northumberland received +Durham House in reward for his discovery there of the illegal mint? Be +this as it may, it certainly was the residence of John Dudley in May, +1553--the year of Edward's death. To quote once more from Pennant: +the Duke of Northumberland, in the month mentioned, "in this palace, +caused to be solemnised, with great magnificence, three marriages--his +son, Lord Guildford Dudley, with the amiable Lady Jane Grey; Lord +Herbert, heir to the Earl of Pembroke, with Catherine, younger sister +of Lady Jane; and Lord Hastings, heir to the Earl of Huntingdon, with +his youngest daughter, Lady Catherine Dudley. From hence he dragged +the reluctant victim, his daughter-in-law, to the Tower, there to be +invested with regal dignity. In eight short months his ambition led +the sweet innocent to the nuptial bed, the throne, and the scaffold." +It is, indeed, sad to think of the marriage rejoicings of Durham House +turned so speedily and so sadly into the sojourn in the dreaded Tower +and the execution of the bride-queen of seventeen summers. + +On the accession of Mary, Durham House was restored to Bishop Tunstall, +but Queen Elizabeth acquired it in 1559, the year of Tunstall's death. +"The queen," said Bishop Goodman (1583-1656), in his _Court of James +I._, "did not spare Cuthbert Tunstal, Bishop of Durham, though some +will not stick to say that he was her god-father; which, if he were +not, it is most certain that he was then present and did officiate +at her christening. But I think he was her god-father, because I am +certain he gave her Durham House in the Strand to dwell in, which she +kept during her life, and did not restore it to his successors, but +suffered Sir Walter Raleigh to live there. I remember when the Bishop +of Durham in the queen's time came up to Parliament, he was fain to +hire my schoolmaster's house" (Camden's) "in Westminster to lodge in." +It is a pity that we cannot agree with Goodman on this point, but, at +the time of Elizabeth's christening, 1533, Tunstall was faithful to +the Catholic dogma. It is also to be noted that Shakespeare makes the +Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer, pronounce the blessing on the infant +Elizabeth in _King Henry VIII._ + +[Illustration: + +_Hollár._ 1630. + + DURHAM HOUSE. SALISBURY HOUSE. WORCESTER HOUSE.] + +From Queen Elizabeth we obtain a picture of two of the most +distinguished of the literary occupants of Durham House--Philip Sidney +and Walter Raleigh. In March, 1567-1568, Sir Henry Sidney writes from +it to Archbishop Parker for permission to eat meat in Lent for "my +boy Philip Sidney, who is somewhat subject to sickness." The future +soldier, statesman, and poet was then but a child of thirteen, and +his presence there is one of the treasured memories of Durham House. + +Sir Walter Raleigh was given the use of Durham House in 1583, and he +held it until his fall from favour in 1603. A picturesque glimpse of +him is afforded by Aubrey, the antiquary, who, although he was not +born until eight years after Raleigh's death, knew the Durham House of +that period. It was "a noble palace," he says. "After he" (Raleigh) +"came to his greatness, he lived there, or in some apartment of it. +I well remember his study, which was on a little turret that looked +into and over the Thames, and had the prospect which is as pleasant +perhaps as any in the world."[8] Many a time and oft did the young +favourite of the queen set out from Durham House, by water, for the +court of Elizabeth, and it is not inconceivable that Elizabeth, in +her royal barge, should have journeyed on more than one occasion from +her palace at Westminster to Raleigh's residence on the Thames. For, +during his early years here, Raleigh was in high favour. Then there +came the influence of the new favourite, Essex, Raleigh's intrigue +with Elizabeth Throgmorton, the queen's jealousy, and his commitment +to the Tower. He then settled at Sherbonne, and in 1595, 1596, and +1597, he was abroad on various expeditions. But he appears to have +retained possession of Durham House until the end of Elizabeth's +reign--1603. In that year Tobias Mathew, the then Bishop of Durham, set +forth the claim of his see to the place, and Raleigh, in a letter of +remonstrance, states that he had been in possession of the house for +about twenty years, and that he had expended some two thousand pounds +upon it, out of his own purse. But James I. and the Council, on May 25 +of that year, recognised the right of the see of Durham, and restored +the house to the successors of Bishop Hatfield. + +Raleigh's letter, directed "to the Right Honorabell my verie good +Lords, the Lorde Keeper of the Great Seale and my Lorde Chiefe Justice +of Ingland, and to my verie good friende, His Majesties Atturney +Generall," is as follows:--"I received a warrant from your lordships, +my Lorde Keeper and my Lorde Chiefe Justice, and signed also by Mr +Atturney Generall, requiringe me to deliver the possession of Deram +House to the Byshoppe of Deram or to his Atturney before the xxiiiith +day of June next insuing, and that the stabells and gardens should be +presentlie putt into his hands.... This letter seemeth to me verie +strange, seeinge I have had the possession of the house almost xx +yeares, and have bestowed well neare 2000 L. uppon the same out of myne +owne purse. I am of opinion that if the King's Majestye had recovered +this house, or the like, from the meanest gentleman and sarvannt hee +had in Inglande, that His Majestye would have geven six monenths tyme +for the avoydance, and I doo not know but the poorest artificer in +London hath a quarter's warninge geven him by his landlord. I have made +provision for 40 persons in the springe ... and now to cast out my hay +and oates into the streates att an hour's warninge, and to remove my +famyly and staff in 14 dayes after, is such a seveare expulsion as hath +not bynn offered to any man before this daye." + +It is more than likely that Raleigh wrote several of his poems in +Durham House. His _Report of the Truth of the Fight about the Isles +of the Azores_ (1591), and his _Discovery of the Empire of Guiana_ +(1596), were published during his tenure of Durham House. Raleigh was +Lord Warden of the Stannaries, and, as such, many cases were brought +before him here, the most celebrated of them being that of Glanville +_v._ Courtney, which was heard at divers stages in 1591 and subsequent +years, Thomas Egerton (afterwards Baron Ellesmere), and Viscount +Brackley, lord chancellor, being counsel on one occasion. In 1600, when +Raleigh was away in Jersey, where he had been appointed governor, some +of the out-buildings of Durham House were destroyed by fire, and this +was the beginning of the end of the magnificence which had for so long +attended this palace on Thames-side. + +Oldys, in his _Life of Raleigh_, has described the "stalwart, +sour-faced" statesman during his residence at Durham House, as attired +in a suit of clothes surmounted by jewels to the value of six thousand +six hundred gold pieces. The well-known story of Raleigh's first pipe +applies--if there is any truth in the legend--to the time when he +resided here. In 1586, Drake brought tobacco to England from Virginia. +It is said that one day Raleigh's servant, carrying a tankard of +spiced ale to Raleigh in his study in the turret, found his master on +fire, as he thought, and, dropping the vessel, rushed for assistance, +shouting that his master "would be burnt to ashes if they did not run +to his assistance." Another version is that the clown dashed the ale +over his master's head. Be this as it may, the early use of tobacco is +intimately associated with Durham House, for, as is well known, Raleigh +smoked as he worked. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 2: From the builders of the Adelphi, the _brothers_ Adam, who +adopted the meaning of the Greek word, [Greek: adelphoi], for their +great work. Prior to this, however, Robert and James Adam had signed +their architectural drawings "Adelphi."] + +[Footnote 3: _London Past and Present_, vol. i., p. 540.] + +[Footnote 4: Thomas Fuller, _Church History_, B. III., cent. xiii., p. +20.] + +[Footnote 5: Nicolas, _Chronicle of London_, p. 94.] + +[Footnote 6: _The Town_, ed. 1859, p. 177.] + +[Footnote 7: Fox, ed. 1597, p. 1689.] + +[Footnote 8: Aubrey, vol. iii., p. 513.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + + The New Exchange--The Earl of Salisbury proprietor--Opened by + James I.--Popular Allusions--The First Edition of _Othello_ + published Here--Samuel Pepys a Frequent Visitor--Henry + Herringman--Otway--Etherege--Wycherley--Dryden--Addison--Durham House + in Decay--Acquired by the Earl of Pembroke--Various Public Offices in + Durham Yard--Charles II. helps to extinguish a Fire Here--Archbishop + Le Tellier--Godfrey Kneller--David Garrick, wine merchant--Dr + Johnson--Voltaire--Murder in the New Exchange. + + +LEAVING for a moment Sir Walter Raleigh in his vain endeavour to +uphold his claim to Durham House, let us glance at the Strand portion +of the establishment. It teems with romance and literary interest. +The stabling, which looked upon the Strand, had fallen into decay, +and, early in the reign of James I., it was converted by Robert, Lord +Salisbury, into the New Exchange. Its frontage extended from the +present George Court to Durham House Street. The foundation stone was +laid on June 10, 1608, and, in the following July, as we find from the +State Papers, "The New Burse proceeds apace." + +The allusion in the State Papers was due to a letter which the Lord +Mayor had written, on June 30, to the Lord Treasurer, enclosing a +petition from the shopkeepers of the Royal Exchange "concerning a +building in course of erection at Durham House in the Strand," which +they considered was meant to be employed as "a Pawne or Exchange for +the sale of things usually uttered in the Royal Exchange, and which, +being situated near to Whitehall and in the highway, would be injurious +not only to the shopkeepers and citizens at large," but would tend to +the destruction of trade. Another authority says: "The new Bourse at +Durham House goes up apace, where the Citizens, and especially the +Exchange men, begin to grumble ... and thereupon have made a petition +to the Lord Mayor to provide _ne quid detrimenti republica capiet_."[9] +Scant notice, if any, was taken of this petition from the City, and the +building of Britain's Burse proceeded without hindrance. The Exchange +consisted of four separate places: the Outward Walk below Stairs; +the Inner Walk below Stairs; the Outward Walk above Stairs; and the +Inner Walk above Stairs. Its opening, on April 11, 1609, was graced by +the presence of James I. and his queen, "when," according to Anthony +Munday, the poet and playwright and literary executor of Stow, whose +_Survey_ he produced in 1618, "it pleased his most excellent Majesty, +because the work wanted a name, to entitle it Britain's Burse." + +Stow also says: "Now to speak somewhat of later time concerning this +Durham House, it was well knowne and observed, for how many yeers I +know not, that the outward part belonging thereto, and standing North +from the houses, was but a low row of Stables, old, ruinous, ready +to fall, and very unsightly, in so public a passage to the Court at +Westminster. Upon which consideration, or some more especial respect in +the mind of the right honourable Robert, Earl of Salisbury, Lord High +Treasurer of England: it pleased him to take such order in the matter, +that (at his owne cost and charges), that deformed row of Stabling +was quite altered, by the erection of a very goodly and beautiful +building instead thereof, and in the very same place. Some shape of +the modelling, though not in all respects alike, was after the fashion +of the Royall Exchange in London, with Sellers underneath, a walk +fairly paved above it, and Rowes of Shops above, as also one beneath +answerable in manner to the other and intended for the like trades and +mysteries. + +"The work was not long in the taking down, nor in the erection againe: +for the first stone was laid on the 10. day of June, 1608, and also was +fully finished in the next ensuing November after. Also, on Tuesday, +being the 10. day of April following, divers of the upper shops were +adorned in rich and beautiful manner, with wares most curious to +please the eye; so ordered against his Majesties comming thither, to +give a name to so good a building. On the day following, it pleased +his highnesse, with the Queene, prince, the Duke of Yorke, and the +Lady Elizabeth to come thither, attended on by many great Lords and +choise Ladies. Concerning their entertainment there, though I was no +eye-witnesse thereof, yet I know the ingenuity and mind of the Nobleman +to be such, as nothing should want to welcome so great an expectation. +And therefore, what variety of devices, pleasing speeches, rich gifts +and presents as then flew bountifully abroad, I will rather referre +to your imagination, than any way come short of, by an imperfect +narration. Only this I adde, that it then pleased his most excellent +Majestie, because the worke wanted a name before, to entitle it +_Britaines Bursse_, or _Busse_."[10] + +A most interesting description of the Royal visit, on the occasion +of the opening of the Exchange, was given by Marc' Antonio Correr, +the Venetian Ambassador in England, in a letter of May 6, 1609, to +the Doge and Senate of Venice. The original document is preserved in +the Venetian archives, and the following is a translation: "Hard by +the Court, the Earl of Salisbury has built two great galleries, +decorated, especially outside, with much carving and sculpture. Inside +each of these galleries, on either hand, are rows of shops for the sale +of all kinds of goods. These will bring in an immense revenue. Last +month, he took the King, the Queen, and the Princes to see them. He +has fitted up one of the shops very beautifully, and over it ran the +motto: 'All other places give for money, here all is given for love.' +To the King he gave a Cabinet, to the Queen a silver plaque of the +Annunciation, worth, they say, four thousand crowns. To the Prince, he +gave a horse's trappings of great value, nor was there any one of the +Suite who did not receive at the very least a gold ring." + +[Illustration: + + _John Herries._ 1715. + +THE NEW EXCHANGE, STRAND.] + +The Exchange is thus described by Strype: "In the place where certain +old stables stood belonging to this house is the New Exchange, being +furnished with shops on both sides the walls, both below and above +stairs, for milleners, sempstresses, and other trades, that furnish +dresses; and is a place of great resort and trade for the nobility and +gentry, and such as have occasion for such commodities."[11] + +The connection of the Earl of Salisbury with the New Exchange, and, +incidentally, with the Durham House property, is somewhat curious. As +already observed, there had been a fire in part of the buildings, in +1600, and, as Salisbury House was adjacent, the neighbouring ruins must +have been an unpleasant prospect for the "crook-backed" and thrifty +earl. So he bought the Strand part of the ground from Sir Tobie Matthew +(1577-1655), who had secured from his father, Bishop Matthew, "an +interest in certain outlying portions of Durham House and its purlieus, +which was valuable enough to be purchased by Robert Cecil, in the year +following the Bishop's translation to York, for the sum of 1200 L." +This was in 1607, and, in 1609, he obtained a lease of the courtyard +of Durham House, the rest of the property remaining in the possession +of the see of Durham until 1630. Cecil, who had been created Earl of +Salisbury by James I. in 1605, was in high favour with the King at this +period, so that he was able to reply to the petition of the citizens +against his building of the Exchange "that Westminster being the place +where he was born and of his abode, he sees not but that he may seek to +benefit and beautify it" (J. Chamberlain to Dudley Carleton). At the +same time, he seems to have behaved fairly enough in another matter, +for on September 25, 1609, the then Bishop of Durham, William James, +wrote to Thomas Wilson, Lord Salisbury's steward, thanking the Earl for +causing stables to be built for him at Durham House, and requesting the +delivery of the key to his servant "in order that hay and straw may be +provided there, against his coming up to Parliament." + +The New Exchange was never a great rival of the old--the +Royal--Exchange, and, in 1623, only fourteen years after its opening, +there were rumours that it was to be converted into dwelling-houses. +"Lady Hatton," it was stated, "is said to have bought Britain's Burse +for £6000, and means to make the upper part her dwelling-house; the +lower part lets for £320 a year." The rumour was wrong, however, for +the place, although it fell into disrepute, existed until nearly the +middle of the seventeenth century--until, as a matter of fact, 1737. +Its most flourishing period was during the Restoration, when London +had doubled in population as compared with the reign of James I., and +Covent Garden was the fashionable quarter. There is hardly a dramatist +of Charles II.'s time whose works do not contain some reference to +it, while one of the playwrights, Thomas Duffet, had been a milliner +in this very place before he took to burlesquing Dryden, D'Avenant, +and the contemporary writers. The Grand Duke Cosmo gives an accurate +picture of the place as it was in Charles II.'s time: "We went to see +the New Exchange, which is not far from the place of the Common Garden, +in the great street called the Strand. The building has a façade of +stone, built after the Gothic style, which has lost its colour from +age and become blackish. It contains two long and double galleries, +one above the other, in which are distributed, in several rows, great +numbers of very rich shops of drapers and mercers filled with goods of +every kind, and with manufactures of the most beautiful description. +These are for the most part under the care of well-dressed women, who +are busily employed in work, although many are served by young men +called apprentices."[12] + +The stage has a great claim upon the history of the Adelphi, not only +by reason of Garrick's residence here, but because the first edition +of _Othello_ was published within its precincts. This was in 1622, six +years after Shakespeare's death, and a year before the issue of the +first folio. The title-page of this quarto is as follows: + + The + Tragoedy of Othello, + the Moore of Venice. + + As it hath beene diverse times acted at the + Globe, and at the Black Friers, by + His Maiesties Servants. + + Written by William Shakespeare. + + London, + + Printed by N.O. for Thomas Walkley, and are + to be sold at his shop at the Eagle and Child, + in Brittans Bursse. + + 1622. + +A player and publisher of plays, Will Cademan, lived at the Pope's +Head, in the Lower Walk. Samuel Pepys was a visitor to the New Exchange +on several occasions. On June 22, 1668, the diarist went to the King's +playhouse and saw "an act or two" of Dryden's comedy, _An Evening's +Love, or the Mock Astrologer_, but "liked it not. Calling this day at +Herringman's, he tells me Dryden do himself call it but a fifth-rate +play." Henry Herringman, who was the principal publisher in London +before Jacob Tonson, had his shop "At the Sign of the Blue Anchor" +in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange. Here, in 1679, was published +Horace's _Art of Poetry_, "made English" by the Right Hon. the Earl of +Roscommon. Otway, in the character of Mrs Furnish, in _The Atheist, +or the Soldier's Fortune_, first acted in 1682, gives a good idea of +the cries in the Upper Walk of the New Exchange: "Gloves or ribands, +sir? Very good gloves or ribands. Choice of fine essences." The Strand +houses near the Exchange were let to "country gentlewomen newly come +to town, who loved to lodge in the very centre of fashion." Pert, in +Sir George Etherege's comedy, _The Man of Mode_ (1676), says: "That +place is never without a nest of 'em. They are always, as one goes by, +glaring in balconies or staring out of windows." In another play by the +same author, _She Would if She Could_ (1668), and _The Country Wife_ +(1675) of Wycherley, scenes are laid in the New Exchange. Dryden, who +was well acquainted with the place, makes Mrs Brainsick escape from her +husband by pretending to call at her tailor's here "to try her stays +for a new gown." + +Such a place, in such an age, was bound to deteriorate. In Addison's +day, the gallants of the town spent much of their time in lounging +about the stalls and indulging in ribald talk. "I have long letters," +he says in the _Spectator_, "both from the Royal and New Exchange on +the" subject of the indecent licenses taken in discourse. "They tell +me that a young Fop cannot buy a Pair of Gloves, but he is at the +same time straining for some Ingenious Ribaldry to say to the young +Woman who helps them on. It is no small Addition to the Calamity, that +the Rogues buy as hard as the plainest and modestest Customers they +have; besides which, they loll upon their Counters half an Hour longer +than they need, to drive away other Customers, who are to share their +Impertinencies with the Milliner, or go to another Shop."[13] + +The rules for the conduct of the New Exchange are very curious. Under +the heading of Orders for ye Burse, and dated November, 1609, they are +printed in the _State Papers_.[14] They are as follows:--"Imprimis +no shop to be lett within ye said new building to any art, trade, +science, or mistery, other than these following or such as shal bee +noe annoyance to ye rest of ye shopkeepers ther, and allowed by +writting under ye hand of the right honble the Erle of Salisbury +lord Treasurer of England, that is to say, Haberdashers of hatts, +Haberdashers of smale wares, stockinsellers, Linen-drapers, Seamsters, +Goldsmiths or Juellers but not to worke with hammer, such as sell china +wares, Milliners, Perfumers, Si(l)ck-mercers, Tyremakers or Hoodmakers +stationers Booksellers Confectioners, such as sell picktures, mapps or +prints, Girdelers &c. + +"Item no shopkeeper to open shop on Christenmas day the Purification of +the blessed virgin Easter hollidaies Whitson-hollidaies The nativity of +St Jo. Baptist the feast day of All saints nor upon any sabboth day +throughe out ye whole yeare. + +"Item from ye 25 day of March till ye 29 of September the dores & +windowes to bee opened by 6 in ye morning & to bee shut by 8 att night: +& from ye 29 of September till ye 25 of March, ye dores to bee open by +seven in ye morning and shutt by seaven att night. These houres to bee +duly kept except it bee upon some speciall occasion agreed on by the +shopkeepers, or ye greater part of them. + +"Item my lord to mentione one sufficient man of honest & good report to +bee housekeeper to make cleane & sweepe the house as often as shal be +needfull & to watch or keepe some to watch in ye nights & to see to the +opening and shutting of ye dores, every shopkeeper in ye house allowing +him 2s by ye yeare. + +"Item all ye dores saving one to bee made fast on ye Inner syde & that +one to have 3 locks and 3 keyes whereof the howskeeper to have one & +the other 2 to bee kept by 2 of the Tenants quarterly & they to see ye +shutting in of ye house themselves or in theyr absence to appoint some +other. + +"These 2 men to be chosen by ye shopkeepers & they to collect ye +forfeitures herafter imposed and mentioned. + +"Item a bell to bee kept & maintained within the said new building by +the said Erle & the same to bee rong by the howskeeper att xj of ye +clock before dinner and half an howre before ye shopkeepers are to +shutt up their shops att night & att ye ringing thereof in ye evening +every one to sweepe forth his shop & then ye houskeeper to sweepe & +make cleane ye whole house, upon payne of every one that shall make +default to forfait 4d for every default which shal be imployed to ye +use of ye pore, where and when ye Tenants of ye house shall think fitt. + +[Illustration: + + _Benjamin Green._ + +"THE BUILDINGS, CALLED THE ADELPHI," 1777.] + +"Item a paire of stocks or some other publique punishment for such +as shal be taken pilfering or stealing to be mayntained by the said +Erle. + +"Item no man to forstall his neighbour eyther by hanging forth any +thing or setting forth in his stalle upon payne of forfeiture of 5s +for every default to bee levyd to ye use aforesaid. + +"Item no man to call any man that is buying or selling from an other +mans stall, or to pull or hale any man as he cometh by to buy or sell +as hee is going along by his stall upon payne to forfait for every +offence 15d which shal be likewise levyd & employed to ye use of ye +poore. + +"Item if any strife or contention shal hapen betwixt any of the +Tenants ye same to bee referred to 4 or 6 of ye rest to bee ended & +both parties to stand to their award, hee that refuseth to pay for a +forfeiture 40s which shal be likewise employed to ye use afforesaid. + +"Item no signe that shal be hanged out to hang furder out into ye walk +then another. + +"Item wheras many Maisters are not resident there, by means wherof +there is great disorder by servants & apprentizes viz. hunting of +doggs with greate noise & howling, playing att foyles & cudgles +stricking ye balle (which breaketh ye windowes) buffitting & fighting +one with another, to ye greate reproache of ye place & hinderance of +traders there, bee it therfore by consent of my lord & every one of us +confirmed that if herafter any servant or apprentize in any of the +ranges wher shopps bee do comitt any such disorders that then the Mr +of such person or personnes so offending shall uppon complaint made by +ye 2 houskeepers for the tyme being in some private roome in the Burse +appointed for the said purpose correct or beate their said servantes, +in ye presence of ye said 2 houskeepers, or ells to pay presently for +every offender 12 to the use afforesaide. + +"Item if any shopkeepers eyther Maisters of (or?) Mrs do braule +scould or rayle on one an other with reproachfull words or speeches, +to the ill example of their servants, amazment of passengers & to the +greate disgrace of themselves & thier nieghbors than then both & so +many personnes so offending shall pay for every defalt 2s 6d ells to +have their theyr (_sic_) signe taken downe by the 2 howskeepers for +one weeke that such scould or scoulds may not be noted nor the Burse +disgraced. + +"Item that if any do throw or powre out into the walk or range or outt +att any of the windowes any noysome thing &c. that then that person so +offending shall pay for every default xijd if it bee a servant then +to have correction as afforesaid or theyr Mr or Mrs to pay 6d for +theyr default. + +"Item that all and every shopkeeper shall subscrib to these orders that +for the good of the house they may be performed without partiallity, +and that some course may bee to force the breakers of them to pay +theyr fynes wee humbly entreate may be taken. + +"Item if any sell or offer to sell any ware in the howse except it +bee to a shopkeeper the same party so offending to bee sett in the +stockes for 2 howres and to have his wares taken from him to bee kept +for a tyme to ye discretion of ye house or to be delivered to ye party +offending as they shall thinke good. + +"Item my lord to find lights for the stairs and walkes his Executors +and assignes. + +"Item whosever of the Tenants shall keepe ye key of ye dores if the key +bee not there ready by 6 a clock in ye morning they shall forfeit for +every default viijd to bee employed to ye use afforesaid. + + "Those things which ye keeper of ye Burse must have care of appointed + by my lord att the errection thereof. + +"To suffer none to fetch watter by ye staires or walks or carry coals +or other carying by ye watter gate to any of ye neghbours in ye streete +but only for the shopkeepers howses save Mr Wilsons. + +"To be obeydient to Mr Wilson's command in all things concerning ye +said buisines." + +Returning to Durham House, we recall that, on the death of Queen +Elizabeth, the property was restored to the see of Durham and that Lord +Salisbury had become possessed of the Strand portion. The history +shortly after this period is not particularly clear, for, although on +February 16, 1612, we find that the aforesaid William James, Bishop +of Durham, wrote to Lord Salisbury thanking him for his "honourable +dealings in the purchase of Durham House," on the other hand, John +Howson, who was Bishop of Durham from 1628 to the year of his death, +1632, was residing here two years prior to his decease. The "honourable +dealings," of course, related to that part of the grounds and stabling +of Durham House which had been transferred to Lord Salisbury in +1607 and 1609. Durham House itself fell into decay in the middle of +the seventeenth century. It--or a portion of it--was inhabited by +Lord-Keeper Coventry, who died here in 1640. + +Part of the ground was acquired by Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and +Montgomery, in consideration of his payment to the see of Durham of +£200 per annum, the grant being confirmed by Act of Parliament in 1640. +And, according to Strype, "It was by his son built into tenements or +houses, as now they are standing, being a handsome street descending +down out of the Strand." This was Durham Yard, which ran down to the +river, and is now covered by the buildings on the west side of the +Adelphi. In 1667-1668, the office of Commissioners for Accounts was in +Durham Yard, and we get an interesting word-picture of it from the +pages of Samuel Pepys. On January 31, "Up," he recorded, "by coach, +with W. Griffin with me, and our Contract-books, to Durham Yard, to +the Commissioners for Accounts; the first time I ever was there; and +staid awhile before I was admitted to them. I did observe a great many +people attending about complaints of seamen concerning tickets, and +among others Mr Carcasse, and Mr Martin, my purser. And I observe a +fellow, one Collins, is there, who is employed by these Commissioners +particularly to hold an office in Bishopsgate Street, or somewhere +thereabouts, to receive complaints of all people about tickets; and I +believe he will have work enough. Presently I was called in, where I +found the whole number of Commissioners, and was there received with +great respect and kindness; and did give them great satisfaction, +making it my endeavour to inform them what it was they were to expect +from me, and what was the duty of other people; this being my only way +to preserve myself, after all my pains and trouble. They did ask many +questions, and demanded other books of me, which I did give them very +ready and acceptable answers to; and, upon the whole, I do observe they +do go about their business like men resolved to go through with it, and +in a very good method, like men of understanding. They have Mr Jessop, +their secretary; and it is pretty to see that they are fain to find +out an old-fashioned man of Cromwell's to do their business for them, +as well as the Parliament to pitch upon such for the most part in the +lowest of people that were brought into the House for Commissioners. +I went away giving and receiving great satisfaction." Various other +public offices were in Durham Yard at this period. In 1664, the Coal +Meter's Office was here, and, in 1675, His Majesty's Office for +granting wine licenses. + +On April 26, 1669, Pepys records: "A great fire happened in Durham Yard +last night, burning the house of one Lady Hungerford, who was to come +to town to it this night; and so the house is burned, new furnished, +by carelessness of the girl sent to take off a candle from a bunch of +candles, which she did by burning it off, and left the rest, as it is +supposed, on fire. The King and Court were here, it seems, and stopped +the fire by blowing up the next house." The Merry Monarch, having +stopped the fire in Durham Yard, was up betimes next morning and off to +Newmarket. + +Several other side-lights on the subject are furnished by Pepys. +Thus, on February 1, 1663-1664, he notes that, "I hear how two men +last night, justling for the wall about the New Exchange, did kill +one another, each thrusting the other through; one of them of the +King's Chapel, one Cave, and the other a retayner of my Lord Generall +Middleton's." In the year of the Great Fire, 1666, he is "up by five +o'clock" on September 7, "and, blessed be God! find all well; and by +water to Pane's Wharfe. Walked thence, and saw all the towne burned, +and a miserable sight of Paul's church, with all the roofs fallen, +and the body of the quire fallen into St Fayth's; Paul's school also, +Ludgate, and Fleet Street. My father's house, and the church, and a +good part of the Temple the like. So to Creed's lodging, near the +New Exchange, and there find him laid down upon a bed; the house all +unfurnished, there being fears of the fire's coming to them. There +borrowed a shirt of him, and washed. To Sir W. Coventry, at St James's, +who lay without curtains, having removed all his goods; as the King at +White Hall, and everybody had done, and was doing." Three months later, +the "very good newes is just come of our four ships from Smyrna, come +safe without convoy even into the Downes, without seeing any enemy; +which is the best, and, indeed, only considerable good news to our +Exchange since the burning of the City; and it is strange to see how +it do cheer up men's hearts. Here I saw shops now come to be in this +Exchange; and met little Batelier who sits here but at 3 L. per annum, +whereas he sat at the other at 100 L.; which he says he believes will +prove as good account to him now as the other did at that rent." + +Dean Crofts of Norwich and various others of some standing were living +in Durham Yard in 1675, and in that year some waterworks, which are +not to be confused with those of the York Buildings company, were +established by Sir Robert Vyner and others. In 1677, Durham Yard had +gone to ruin, and was notorious as a place of ill repute. In April +of that year Le Tellier, Archbishop and Duke of Rheims, crossed the +Channel in order to "treat about a marriage with the Lady Mary, +daughter of the Duke of York, with the Dauphin." In some ribald verses +by the libellous Anthony Wood (or, as he dubbed himself, Anthony à +Wood, 1632-1695) we read that: + + "The Bishop who from France came slowly o'er + Did go to Betty Beaulie's"-- + +this Betty being a person of notorious character who lived in Durham +Yard. Dryden, in his 1667 comedy, _Sir Martin Marrall_, makes Lady Dupe +refer to Durham Yard as the customary landing-place for Covent Garden. +And _The Tatler_ of June 7, 1709, alludes to "a certain lady who left +her coach at the New Exchange door in the Strand, and whipt down Durham +Yard into a boat with a young gentleman for Fox Hall." + +[Illustration: THE SOCIETY OF ARTS, JOHN STREET, ADELPHI.] + +Durham Yard was the first residence in London (1675) of Godfrey +Kneller. David Garrick and Samuel Johnson are closely connected +with the place. It was here that the volatile Garrick, at the age +of twenty-three, was in partnership with his brother, Peter, as a +wine-merchant. I do not think that he lived here, but, certainly, +the brothers had their wine vaults in Durham Yard. But the union did +not last long. "Peter was calm, sedate, and methodical; David was gay, +volatile, and impetuous, and, perhaps, not so confined to regularity +as his partner could have wished." Therefore, as Garrick's biographer, +Thomas Davies, puts it, "to prevent the continuance of fruitless +and daily altercation," friends intervened, and the partnership was +dissolved amicably. Another most interesting memory of Durham Yard is +associated with Garrick's friend, Samuel Johnson, who, at the time +of the wine partnership, was living (March, 1741) "at the Black Boy +over against Durham Yard"--this is not to be confused with Johnson's +"garret," which was in Exeter Street, Strand. Samuel Foote, in his +ill-natured way, used to say that he remembered "Davy" in Durham +Yard "with three quarts of vinegar in the cellar, calling himself a +wine merchant." Thanks to wine, we have another notable association +with Durham Yard. Here was a wine merchant named Brisden, whose shop +was frequented by Voltaire. On his return to France, Voltaire wrote +to "Dear John," wishing him "good health and a quick sale to your +Burgundy." He knew this neighbourhood well, for, during his abode in +England, 1726-1729, he constantly visited his friend Congreve, the +dramatist, in Surrey Street, Strand. Voltaire lodged in Maiden Lane, +a few yards from the Adelphi, over a French barber's shop, which +was distinguished by the sign of the White Peruke. He was thoroughly +familiar with English, and, on one occasion, a mob of roughs assailed +him and twitted him for being--his appearance left no doubt as to his +nationality--a "Frenchy." Voltaire nimbly "mounted an adjacent doorstep +and addressed the crowd in good English, extolling the liberty of +England and the people. His speech was a success. The mob took on at +once, and cheered him; eventually they mounted him on the shoulders of +a couple of stout fellows and carried him in triumph to his lodgings. +Never after that was he molested in his walks."[15] + +Leigh Hunt, in _The Town_, describing Voltaire's visit to England, +says that he wrote to Swift from Maiden Lane, in English, but that the +language "seems a little too perfect." There is a second letter to +Swift "which looks more authentic. But there is no doubt that Voltaire, +while in England, made himself such a master of the language as to be +able to write in it with a singular correctness for a foreigner. He +was then young. He had been imprisoned in the Bastille for a libel, +came over here on his release; procured many subscriptions for the +_Henriade_; published in English an essay on epic poetry, and remained +some years, during which he became acquainted with the principal men +of letters--Pope, Congreve, and Young. He is said to have talked so +indecently at Pope's table (probably no more than was thought decent +by the belles in France) that the good old lady, the poet's mother, +was obliged to retire. Objecting, at Lord Chesterfield's table, to +the allegories of Milton, Young is said to have accosted him in the +well-known couplet: + + 'Thou art so witty, profligate, and thin, + Thou seem'st a Milton, with his Death and Sin.' + +But this story has been doubted. Young, though not so thin, was +as witty and profligate in his way as Voltaire; for, even when +affecting a hermit-like sense of religion, he was a servile +flatterer and preferment-hunter. The secret of the gloomy tone in +his _Night-Thoughts_ was his not having too much, and his missing a +bishopric. This is the reason why the _Night-Thoughts_ are overdone, +and have not stood their ground. Voltaire left England with such a +mass of subscriptions for his _Henriade_ as laid the foundation of +his fortunes, and with great admiration of English talent and genius, +particularly that of Newton and Locke, which, with all his insinuations +against our poetry, he took warm pains to extend and never gave up. +He was fond to the last of showing he had not forgotten his English. +Somebody telling him that Johnson had spoken well of his talents, he +said, in English, 'He is a clever fellow'; but the gentleman observing +that the doctor did not think well of his religion, he added, 'A +superstitious dog.'" + +An affair which had a tragic ending occurred in the New Exchange in +1653. The circumstances are fully related in the _State Papers_. In +the winter of that year there came to England an ambassador from the +King of Portugal, with a very splendid equipage; and in his retinue his +brother, Don Pantaleon de Sa, a Knight of Malta, and "a gentleman of a +haughty and imperious nature." One day in November, Don Pantaleon was +walking with two friends in the Exchange, when a quarrel arose between +them and a young English gentleman, named Gerard, who accused the +Portuguese of speaking in French disparagingly of England. One of the +Portuguese gave Mr Gerard the lie, and then began to jostle him; swords +were drawn, and all three fell upon Gerard, and one of them stabbed him +with his dagger in the shoulder. A few unarmed Englishmen interfered, +separated the combatants, and got the Portuguese out of the Exchange, +one of them with a cut upon his cheek. + +On the next evening, Don Pantaleon came to take his revenge, +accompanied by fifty followers; "two Knights of Malta led on by +a Portuguese Captain in buff; all having generally double arms, +swords and pistols, and coats of mail; two or three coaches brought +ammunition, hand-grenades, and bottles, and little barrels of powder +and bullets; and boats were provided ready at the water-side. They had +resolved to fall upon every Englishman they should find in or about +the Exchange. They entered all with drawn swords; the people fled for +shelter into the shops; there were few Englishmen present, but of +these four were severely wounded by the Portuguese." A Mr Greenaway, +of Lincoln's Inn, was walking with his sister and a lady whom he was +to have married. These he placed for safety in a shop; he then went +to see what was the matter, when the Portuguese, mistaking Greenaway +for Gerard, gave the word, and he was killed by a pistol shot through +the head. The crowd grew enraged, and Don Pantaleon and the Portuguese +retreated to the house of embassy, caused the gates to be shut, and put +all the servants in arms to defend it. Meanwhile the Horse Guard on +duty had apprehended some of the Portuguese, and Cromwell sent Colonel +Whaley in command, who pursued others to the ambassador's house with +his horse, and there demanded that the rest should be given up. The +Ambassador insisted upon his privilege, and that by the law of nations +his house was a sanctuary for all his countrymen; but finding the +officer resolute, and that he was not strong enough for the encounter, +desired time to send to the Lord General Cromwell, which was granted, +and he complained of the injury, and desired an audience. Cromwell +sent a messenger in reply, to state that a gentleman had been murdered, +and several other persons wounded, and that if the criminals were not +given up, the soldiers would be withdrawn, and "the people would pull +down the house, and execute justice themselves." Under this threat, +Don Pantaleon, three of his retainers, and an English boy, the Don's +servant, were given up; they were confined in the guard-house for the +night, and next day sent prisoners to Newgate, whence, in about three +weeks, the Don made his escape, but was retaken. + +By the intercession of the Portuguese merchants, the trial was delayed +till the 6th of July in the following year, when the prisoners were +arraigned for the crime of murder. Don Pantaleon at first refused to +plead, as he held a commission to act as Ambassador in the event of +his brother's death or absence from England. He was then threatened +with "the press," that horrible form of torture, pressing to death, or +_peine forte et dure_, whereupon he pleaded not guilty.[16] A jury of +English and foreigners brought in a verdict of guilty, and the five +prisoners were sentenced to be hanged. Every effort was made to save +Don Pantaleon's life; but Cromwell's reply was: "Blood has been shed, +and justice must be satisfied." The only mercy shown was a respite of +two days, and a reprieve from the disgraceful death of hanging; the +Ambassador having craved permission to kill his brother with his own +sword, rather than he should be hanged. + +A remarkable coincidence concluded this strange story. While Don +Pantaleon lay in Newgate, awaiting his trial, Gerard, with whom +the quarrel in the Exchange had arisen, got entangled in a plot to +assassinate Cromwell, was tried and condemned to be hanged, which, +as in the Don's case, was changed to beheading. Both suffered on the +same day, on Tower Hill. Don Pantaleon, attended by a number of his +brother's suite, was conveyed in a mourning-coach with six horses, +from Newgate to Tower Hill, to the same scaffold whereon Gerard had +just suffered. The Don, after his devotions, gave his confessor his +beads and crucifix, laid his head on the block, and it was chopped off +at two blows. On the same day, the English boy-servant was hanged at +Tyburn. The three retainers were pardoned. Pennant says that Gerard +died "with intrepid dignity; the Portuguese with all the pusillanimity +of an assassin." Cromwell's stern and haughty justice, and the perfect +retribution exacted on this occasion, have been much extolled. +His decision tended to render his Government still more respected +abroad; and it settled a knotty point as to "the inviolability of +ambassadors."[17] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 9: _Court and Times of James I._, Birch, vol. i., p. 75.] + +[Footnote 10: Stow, ed. 1633, pp. 494-5.] + +[Footnote 11: Strype, B. VI., p. 75.] + +[Footnote 12: _Travels of the Grand Duke Cosmo_, vol. iii., p. 296.] + +[Footnote 13: _The Spectator_, No. 155.] + +[Footnote 14: _Domestic_, James I., vol. xlix., p. 5.] + +[Footnote 15: Callow, _Old London Taverns_, p. 281.] + +[Footnote 16: "The press" was administered to prisoners who refused to +plead in answer to a charge. The sentence was as follows: "That you be +taken back to the prison whence you came, to a low dungeon, into which +no light can enter; that you be laid on your back on the bare floor +with a cloth round your loins, but elsewhere naked; that there be set +upon your body a weight of iron as great as you can bear--and greater; +that you have no substance, save on the first day three morsels of the +coarsest bread, on the second day three draughts of stagnant water +from the pool nearest to the prison door, on the third day again three +morsels of bread as before, and such bread and such water alternately +from day to day until you die." This barbarous law remained in force +until 1772.] + +[Footnote 17: _The Romance of London_, Timbs, vol. i., pp. 105-8.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + + The Romantic Story of the White Milliner, otherwise the Beautiful + Frances Jennings, Duchess of Tyrconnel--Her Youthful Escapade--Her + Connection with the New Exchange the subject of a Play by Douglas + Jerrold--Its Failure and the Author's Disappointment--"Nan" + Clarges, afterwards Duchess of Albemarle, sells Wash-balls in the + New Exchange--Her Burial in Westminster Abbey--Sir William Read, + the Quack, cures "Wry Necks" in Durham Yard--Demolition of the New + Exchange--A Noted Book-shop--Ambassadors reside Here. + + +THE romantic story of the White Widow, or the White Milliner, otherwise +Frances Jennings, Duchess of Tyrconnel, wife of Richard Talbot, Lord +Deputy of Ireland in the reign of James II., plays a large part in the +history of the Adelphi. In the Revolution of 1688 the duchess sold +small articles of haberdashery for a few days in the New Exchange. +According to Horace Walpole, "She wore a white dress wrapping her whole +person, and a white mask, which she never removed, and excited much +interest and curiosity." Her case becoming known, "she was provided +for." The association of Richard Talbot's widow with the Adelphi is +very curious. This lady, Frances Jennings, was sister to the celebrated +Duchess of Marlborough. By her first husband, George, Count Hamilton, a +member of the Abercorn family, and a _maréchal de camp_ in the French +service, she had three daughters: Elizabeth, afterwards the wife of +Viscount Ross; Frances, wife of Viscount Dillon; and Mary, wife of +Viscount Kingsland. On the death of Count Hamilton, she married Colonel +Richard Talbot, Baron of Talbot's Town, Viscount of Baltinglass, and +Earl of Tyrconnel. On March 20, 1688, James II. created him Marquess +and Duke of Tyrconnel. On his death, in 1691, his widow was left +with two daughters, one of whom became Princess of Vintimiglia.[18] +Walpole states that the duchess, on her arrival in England in 1688, +was reduced to absolute want, and, being unable to procure safe access +to her family, she adopted the disguise of the White Milliner as a +temporary means of livelihood. Be this as it may, the duchess must have +had money in her widowhood, for shortly after the death of her husband, +and despite the penal laws against the Roman Catholics, she established +a convent for Poor Clares in King Street, Dublin, and in this city, at +the ripe old age of ninety-two, she died, according to Horace Walpole, +"in consequence of falling out of bed upon the floor on a winter's +night. Being too feeble to rise or call for aid, she was found in the +morning so numbed by the cold that she lived only a few hours." She was +buried in St Patrick's Cathedral on March 9, 1730. Walpole describes +her as "Of very low stature, extremely thin, and without the least +trace of in her features of ever having been a beauty." + +Whatever she may have been in her old age, she was pretty and graceful +in her youth when at the court of Charles II. Count de Grammont states +that she was proof against all the wiles of the Merry Monarch, yet +her spirits were such that on one occasion she attired herself as an +orange-wench in order to have her fortune told in the neighbourhood of +St James's. + +While the beauty and unusual propriety of the new-comer were still +attracting the attention of the Court, the giddy girl was indiscreet +enough to embark in a wild frolic, which very nearly had the effect of +ruining her hitherto stainless reputation. The adventure in question, +which has been chronicled by more than one contemporary writer, is thus +recorded by Pepys: "What mad freaks," he says, "the Mayds of Honour at +Court have! That Mrs Jennings, one of the Dutchesse's maids, the other +day dressed herself like an orange wench, and went up and down and +cried oranges; till, falling down, or by some accident, her fine shoes +were discovered, and she put to a great deal of shame." The particulars +of the adventure are so interesting that they may be related in these +pages. + +"Lord Rochester, at this time in disgrace at Court, happened to be +consoling himself for the King's displeasure by performing, in an +obscure corner of the city, the character of a German empiric and +fortune-teller. The success of his celebrated frolic is well known. His +fame, which at first had been merely local, had gradually spread itself +abroad till at last it reached the ears of the Court. Rochester was of +course equally as well acquainted with the scandal of the day as with +the persons and characters of those who figured in the licentious Court +of his royal master. Accordingly, having recognised one or two of the +female attendants of the maids of honour, who had eagerly flocked to +consult him, he sent them back so amazed by his superhuman powers as +to excite the curiosity of their mistresses. The result fully answered +Rochester's expectations. Under the protection of the then fashionable +mask, there was more than one giddy maid of honour who made up her mind +to dive into the secrets of futurity by means of the German mountebank. +Who, indeed, could gravely blame them, when even the Queen herself had +set the example of risking her reputation, by indulging in similar +masquerading frolics? + +"Among those whose curiosity was thus excited were Miss Jennings and +Miss Price, the latter, a young lady of indifferent reputation, who had +formerly been a maid of honour to the Duchess of York. Miss Jennings, +young and indiscreet, believing that as long as she preserved her +virtue it mattered little how she obtained amusement, easily enlisted +her friend in her mad schemes. Accordingly, having provided themselves +with the dresses of orange-girls (a garb usually worn by the least +reputable members of society), they issued from St James's Palace, and, +crossing the park on foot, entered a hackney-coach at Whitehall. + +"They had nearly reached the theatre, where they knew the Duchess to +be in person, when Miss Price had the imprudence to propose their +joining the real orange-girls and selling their fruit in the face of +the Court. As they entered the theatre, they encountered 'the handsome +Sydney,' who was just alighting from his carriage. Miss Price offered +him her basket; but the dandy, either lost in the contemplation of his +own charms, or of those of his mistress, the Duchess of York, took no +notice of the masqueraders. Their next adventure was with Killegrew, to +whom Miss Jennings timidly held out her basket, while the other, in the +cant language of the place, requested him to buy 'her fine oranges.' +The challenge was met by the libertine in the kind of manner that +might have been expected. He even gave proof of his admiration of Miss +Jennings by so rude an homage as to bring the blush to her cheek and +the fire to her eye. Leaving Killegrew to enjoy a hearty laugh at the +preposterous notion of the existence of a virtuous orange-girl, Miss +Price hastily dragged away her friend, whom terror and indignation had +rendered nearly powerless. + +"Their fright, however, was insufficient to prevent their pursuing the +original frolic of the evening. Having entered another hackney-coach, +they were on the point of alighting within a few doors of the +fortune-teller's, when, to their consternation, they encountered a +far more dangerous person than Killegrew. This was no other than +the immoral and licentious Brouncker, who, having been dining with +a merchant in the neighbourhood, was on his way homewards, when the +novelty of seeing two orange-girls in a hackney-coach attracted his +attention. Perceiving themselves to be objects of curiosity to so +dangerous a libertine, they desired their coachman to drive on, and +to put them down in another part of the street. Brouncker, however, +stealthily followed them; nor was his astonishment diminished, when +he perceived that the shoes and stockings, that covered the pretty +feet and ankles which alighted from the vehicle, were of a quality +strangely at variance with the rest of the costume. Having contrived +to obtain a glimpse of their faces, which they vainly endeavoured to +conceal from him, he at once recognised the beautiful maid of honour, +on whose motives for disguise he naturally put the worst possible +construction. Believing that an assignation on the part of the chaste +Miss Jennings was at the bottom of the frolic, and delighted with the +tale of scandal with which he had it in his power to amuse the Court, +he continued to tease the frightened girls for a short time, without +betraying that he had recognised them, and then laughingly wished them +good-night. + +"Unfortunately the disagreeable adventures of the night were not yet at +an end. During the time that the two maids of honour had been enduring +the impertinences and libertine proposals of Brouncker, a crowd of +blackguard boys, not contented with collecting round their coach, had +made a violent attack on their orange baskets. The coachman had taken +the part of his fare; and, in consequence of his gallantly resisting +the attempts of the depredators, a fight had ensued and the street was +in an uproar. The fruit, of course, was only too gladly relinquished to +the mob, from whom, notwithstanding, the presumed orange-girls received +a volley of abuse and ridicule. Finally, though with some difficulty, +they contrived to re-enter their coach, and at last arrived, completely +frightened and dispirited, at St James's."[20] + +[Illustration: + + _I.S. Stover._ + +GARRICK'S HOUSE, 5 ADELPHI TERRACE.] + +It was to the Duchess of Tyrconnel, as she then was, that James II. +had to relate the melancholy story of his defeat at the battle of the +Boyne: "Soon after sunset, James, escorted by two hundred cavalry, rode +into the Castle [Dublin]. At the threshold he was met by the wife of +Tyrconnel, once the gay and beautiful Fanny Jennings, the loveliest +coquette in the brilliant Whitehall of the Restoration. To her the +vanquished King had to relate the ruin of her fortunes and of his +own."[21] Jesse regards the connection of the Duchess of Tyrconnel with +the New Exchange as "apocryphal." But we have the authority of Walpole +and Pennant for the anecdote, and I see no reason to doubt its accuracy. + +The romance of the White Milliner of the Adelphi afforded Douglas +Jerrold material for a two-act comedy, which Madame Vestris produced at +Covent Garden on February 9, 1841. The author of _Black-eyed Susan_ was +apparently suffering from some slight at the hands of the critics, for +he takes them to task soundly in his Preface to _The White Milliner_, +as his play was called. Having related the incident which gave rise +to the piece, he goes on to say: "In our day, the dramatist who keeps +aloof from a small faction--which almost avowedly adopts for its motto +the dogma of Molière,-- + + 'Nul n'aura de l'esprit, + Hors nous et nos amis,'-- + +may look for the most unrelenting opposition from two or three stalwart +critics, or, rather, literary vassals. Fortunately, however, the +despicable partisanship of these people is now too well known to be +hurtful. Whether they chronicle their injustice in bold falsehood, or +with an affectation of candour, examine a drama to find in it nothing +but what is contemptible, the disinterested motive is equally manifest. +However, the abuse of these folks, like certain poisons long exposed to +light, does not destroy--it only nauseates." + +The cast of _The White Milliner_ was remarkably strong. It contained, +in addition to Madame Vestris, who played the heroine, Albina, Charles +Mathews, James Vining, Robert Keeley, and William Farren. The opening +scene is the "Exterior of England's Burse." The last scene of the first +act is laid in the interior of the New Exchange. A crowd of milliners, +with Doddles, the Beadle of the Burse, in the centre, fill the stage: + + "_Doddles._ Silence! Silence! + + _Betty._ Hear the Beadle! + + _1st Milliner._ Attention for Doddles! + + _2nd Milliner._ Does it concern us all? + + _Doddles._ All: maids, wives, widows, and young women. Silence! + + _Betty._ Now, then; we're still as mice. + + _Doddles._ Yes--when the cat's dead. Silence! and no winking. + + _Betty._ La! Make haste. + + _Doddles._ Manners, Betty Furbelow, manners! When I was in the army---- + + _Betty._ We've heard all about that. + + _Doddles._ Before sleeping in wet blankets, I gloriously lost my voice + in the defence of my country---- + + _Betty._ I'm sure your country ought to be much obliged to you. But + the rules! the rules! + + _Milliners._ The rules! + + _Doddles._ Silence! Attention! Rear rank, take close order. Stand off! + Baggages, do you call smothering a man taking close order? Hear the + rules! + + _Milliners._ Silence! the rules! + + _Doddles._ 'Rules for the better regulation of England's Burse. + Whereas'---- + + _Betty._ Oh, skip that! + + _Doddles._ Skip it! + + _Betty._ Yes. I hate everything with a whereas. Come to the rules. + + _Doddles._ Well, the 'whereas' is long, and--the fortune of war--I've + lost my voice. But it means that these new rules are not only for the + morals of the Burse, but, above all, for the better transaction of + business. + + _Betty._ Now for it! Attention, ladies, this is business. + + _Doddles_ (_reads_). 'Rule the first. Any milliner who shall deal in + smuggled goods shall forfeit her stall for ever.' + + _Milliners._ Shame! Shame! + + _Betty._ Are the articles specified? No! Ladies, here's oppression of + the fair sex: for mayn't the most innocent of us smuggle a little, and + never know it? And then to forfeit, and for ever! + + _Doddles._ Not only eternally, but for ever. 'Rule second. No milliner + shall talk'---- + + _Milliners._ Ha! ha! ha! + + _Doddles._ 'Or laugh'---- + + _Milliners._ Ha! ha! ha! + + _Doddles._ 'Talk or laugh, under pain of--of'---- + + _Betty._ Opening her mouth. + + _Doddles._ Silence! Talk or laugh, under--under--my + breath!--'under'--somebody read it--somebody--(_Albina comes down the + Burse._) + + _Betty._ Here comes our white friend, she'll read it. Here--(_giving + Albina paper_)--read--read: they're new rules made to keep us in + order. To put down smuggling and--ha! ha!--talking and laughing, + and--ha! ha!--for all I know, all our other little privileges. Read, + for Doddles, having lost his voice, they made him beadle. Here: read + rule third, for the second's nonsense. + + _Albina_ (_reads_). 'Rule third. No milliner shall be allowed to + whisper to her customers, or titter, or blush.' + + _Betty._ That's a hit at you, Sally Sly. + + _1st Milliner._ What do you mean, ma'am? I whisper--I titter--I blush! + I scorn you, ma'am! + + _Doddles._ Silence! + + _Albina_ (_reads_). 'And whereas, divers sober people, purchasers of + gloves, have complained of certain pinching of the fingers by certain + persons, it is ordered that such unseemly practice be discontinued.' + + _Betty._ And very proper too. I don't sell gloves. + + _Albina._ 'Rule fourth. All strong waters, or other intoxicating + cordials'---- + + _Betty._ Attention, ladies! This may be important. + + _Albina._ 'Are rigorously prohibited.' + + _Betty._ You see, Miss Bitters, I warned you what 'twould come to. + + _2nd Milliner._ I! I! I defy you, ma'am! What do you mean? + + _Betty._ My meaning's plain, ma'am: that everybody's to suffer for one + person, ma'am. + + _2nd Milliner._ Do you insinuate? Mr Doddles, does she dare---- + + _Betty._ I insinuate nothing; but this I _will_ say: bottles are not + so dear that people should use tea-cups. + + _Doddles._ Silence! A very proper rule: not that I see any harm in + folks having comforts, but then they ought to be corked. Silence! + + _Albina._ Rule fifth. 'Henceforth no milliner shall presume + to--to--to'---- + + _Doddles_ (_reads_). 'Wear a mask.' + + _2nd Milliner._ A very excellent and moral regulation Now we shall see + who's who. + + _1st Milliner._ If some people never wore anything else, their faces + wouldn't be the losers. + + _Betty._ A mask, ma'am, may be good at a pinch--at a pinch, ma'am; but + as I've said, ma'am, I don't sell gloves, ma'am. + + _1st Milliner._ Why, you scandalising, wicked---- + + _Doddles._ Silence! Silence! + + _3rd Milliner._ Company! Company! To your stalls, ladies. (_All the + Milliners station themselves at their stalls. Albina retires among + them._) + + _Visitors come down the Burse from c. Enter Lord and Lady Ortolan, she + masked._ + +_Lord O._ My dear Lady Ortolan, you know I have the worst taste. I am +a very Vandal--a Hottentot. I know no more about gowns and petticoats +than an ancient Briton. + +_Lady O._ Oh, my lord, I will not have you libel your capacity; for, +certainly, no one has studied the subject with greater perseverance. I +_must_ have your judgment on a satin. + +_Lord O._ (_aside_). She has dragged me here. I had as lieve made a +journey on a hurdle. One comfort is, I don't see my enigma in white. + +_Lady O._ (_aside_). She is not here: yet I'll not stir till I confront +them. + +_Doddles_ (_bringing down Albina_). Here 'tis; rule fifth: no masks. So +you must conform: therefore, uncover your face and---- + +_Lady O._ She's here! + +_Lord O._ Confusion! + +_Doddles._ Rule the fifth, which forbids masks, and--and---- + +_Lady O._ Nay, poor girl, I'll answer for't she has good reason for her +mystery. Eh, my liege lord? a modest, excellent, worthy maid, no doubt? + +_Lord O._ (_aside_). When women _do_ praise women, what kind creatures! + +_Albina_ (_aside_). Surely there stands my tormentor. Her liege lord! +So, so, now for my revenge. + +_Lady O._ Come, we would see your merchandise. His lordship has forced +me here to buy a dress. + +_Albina._ And his lordship is such a judge of satin. + +_Lady O._ Indeed? + +_Albina._ Oh, yes, and so good to his mother. + +_Lord O._ (_aside_). Would I were hanged, now, in a skein of silk! + +_Albina._ Twenty gowns for his honoured parent. + +_Lord O._ Nay, the girl mistakes me for some other customer. +She--she---- + +_Lady O._ This insult, my lord, passes endurance. (_Unmasking herself_) +Tell me, woman---- + +_Albina_ (_aside_). Heavens! Olivia! You, _you_ his wife! + +_Lady O._ You see Lady Ortolan. + +_Albina._ Happy chance; I have much, indeed, to tell you--much to +reveal. + +_Lord O._ (_aside_). Was ever poor married rogue in such a plight?" + +In commenting on the failure of _The White Milliner_, Jerrold's son, +Blanchard Jerrold, wrote that the "author was bitterly disappointed +that its pointed and tender dialogue, and its brisk action, failed to +achieve success; more,--as may be gathered from his own words,--that +personal enmity, carried dishonestly into public criticism, sought to +put it aside as a thing in all respects worthless." It was not long, +however, before _Mrs Caudle's Curtain Lectures_ gave Jerrold a foremost +place as a wit and removed him far beyond the petty spite which had +helped towards the failure of _The White Milliner_. + +Another personage of greater note, although of lower birth, than the +Duchess of Tyrconnel, connected with the history of the New Exchange, +is "Nan" Clarges, subsequently Duchess of Albemarle. This remarkable +woman was the daughter of John Clarges, a blacksmith and farrier, +who lived in Drury Lane, at the Strand end, a spot now obliterated. +Her mother was one of five women-barbers of notorious disrepute. A +contemporary ballad has the refrain: + + "Did you ever hear the like, + Or ever hear the fame, + Of five women barbers + Who lived in Drury Lane?" + +In the _Lives and Adventures of Whitney, John Cottington_ alias +_Mul-Sack, and Thomas Waters_ (1753), there is a reference to these +women: "They were five noted amazons in Drury Lane, who were called +women-shavers, and whose actions were then talked of much about town; +till being apprehended for a riot, and one or two of them severely +punished, the rest fled to Barbadoes." Such an origin was not very +promising; but Anne Clarges, when she was married to General Monk, +upheld her position despite her personal disadvantages, for she was +ill-favoured in appearance and by no means cleanly in her habits. + +Anne Clarges was married, in 1632, to one Thomas Ratford, son to +a farrier who resided in the Royal Mews at Bloomsbury. She had a +daughter, who was born in 1634, and died four years later. She had been +instructed in the trade of a milliner, and this led to her taking up +her abode, after her marriage, at the Three Spanish Gipsies, in the +New Exchange. Here she sold wash-balls, powder, gloves, and similar +articles, and gave lessons to girls in plain needlework. In 1647, being +then sempstress to Colonel Monk, she was in the habit of carrying his +linen to him. This was the beginning of her intimacy with the famous +soldier. Her parents died in 1648, and, in the following year, she +quarrelled with her husband, who apparently left her. At any rate, from +that date nothing more was heard of him. When Monk was a prisoner +in the Tower--1644-1646--Anne Ratford became his mistress, and had a +child of which he was the father--hence, no doubt, the reason of her +separation from her husband. + +[Illustration: ADAM STREET, ADELPHI.] + +In an action for trespass, tried in the Court of King's Bench, on +November 15, 1700, William Sherwin being the plaintiff and Sir William +Clarges, Bart., being the chief defendant, it was proved that Anne +Clarges, or Ratford, was, in 1652, married in the Church of St George, +Southwark, to General George Monk, and further, that in the course of +the following year she was delivered of a son (afterwards the second +Duke of Ablemarle), who was suckled by one Honour Mills, a vendor of +apples, herbs, and oysters. The point of issue was the right and title +to the manor of Sutton in Yorkshire, and other lands--the plaintiff +claiming them as heir-at-law and representative to Thomas Monk, elder +brother to the first duke of Albemarle, and the defendant as devisee +under the will of Christopher, the second duke. The only material point +to be decided was, whether Ratford was actually deceased at the period +of the marriage of his supposed widow with Monk. On the side of the +plaintiff it was sworn by one witness that he had seen Ratford alive +about the month of July, 1660, as many as eight years after the second +marriage. Another witness affirmed that he had seen him as late as the +year 1665, and a second time after the Duke and Duchess of Albemarle +were both dead; and thirdly, a woman swore that she had seen him on the +very day that his wife (then called Duchess of Albemarle) was placed +in her coffin. On the part of the defendant, and in opposition to this +evidence, were alleged the material facts that during the lives of the +Duke of Albemarle and his son the matter had never been questioned, +and, moreover, that the defendant had already thrice obtained verdicts +in his favour in the Court of King's Bench. Some other presumptive +evidence was adduced, but of less weight. In summing up, the Lord +Chief-Justice told the Jury: "If you are certain that Duke Christopher +was born while Thomas Ratford was living, you must find for the +plaintiff. If you believe he was born after Ratford was dead, or that +nothing appears what became of him after Duke George married his wife, +you must find for the defendant." The verdict was in favour of the +latter.[22] + +According to contemporary evidence, the Duchess of Albemarle was a low, +foul-mouthed creature, of exceedingly coarse habits. "Monk," says Lord +Clarendon in his _History_, "was cursed, after a long familiarity, to +marry a woman of the lowest extraction, the least wit, and less beauty. +She was a woman _nihil muliebris præter corpus gerens_," one who had +nothing feminine but her form. In the opinion of Bishop Burnet, she was +a "ravenous, mean, and contemptible creature, who thought of nothing +but getting and spending." Pepys could not endure her. On March 8, +1661, he met her in "high company," and put her down as "even a plain, +homely dowdy." On December 9, 1665, Pepys and "my Lord Brouncker" dined +with the Duke of Albemarle. "At table the duchess, a very ill-looked +woman, complaining of her lord's going to sea the next year, said these +cursed words: 'If my Lord had been a coward he had gone to sea no more: +it may be then he might have been excused, and made an embassador' +(meaning my Lord Sandwich). This made me mad, and I believed she +perceived my countenance change, and blushed herself very much. I was +in hopes others had not minded it, but my Lord Brouncker, after we were +come away, took notice of the words to me with displeasure." In the +following year, on November 4, he alludes to the duke as "a drunken +sot," who "drinks with nobody but Troutbecke, whom nobody else will +keep company with. Of whom he told me this story; that once the Duke +of Albemarle in his drink, taking notice as of a wonder that Nan Hide +should ever come to be Duchess of York: 'Nay,' says Troutbecke, 'ne'er +wonder at that; for if you will give me another bottle of wine, I will +tell you as great, if not greater, a miracle.' And what was that, but +that our dirty Besse (meaning his duchesse) should come to be Duchesse +of Albemarle?" Monk, it was said, was more in fear of his wife than +of an army, and it was reported that she did not hesitate to thrash +him at times, but the latter statement is probably an exaggeration. +There is no doubt about her loyalty to the Royalist cause; she exerted +great influence over Monk, and urged him immensely in his efforts in +bringing about the Restoration. In his _Curiosities of Literature_, +D'Israeli cites a passage from a manuscript of Sir Thomas Browne which +throws a strange light on Monk's conduct in regard to the Restoration +and the part played in it by the blacksmith's daughter: "Monk gave fair +promises to the Rump; but at last agreed with the French ambassador to +take the government on himself; by whom he had promise from Mazarin of +assistance from France. This bargain was struck late at night; but not +so secretly but that Monk's wife, who had posted herself conveniently +behind the hangings, finding what was resolved upon, sent her brother +Clarges away immediately with notice of it to Sir A. She had promised +to watch her husband, and inform Sir A. how matters stood. Sir A. +caused the Council of State, whereof he was a member, to be summoned, +and charged Monk that he was playing false. The General insisted that +he was true to his principles, and firm to what he had promised, and +that he was ready to give them all satisfaction. Sir A. told him if he +were sincere he would remove all scruples, and would instantly take +away their commissions from such and such men in the army, and appoint +others, and that before he left the room. Monk consented: a great +part of the commissions of his officers were changed; and Sir Edward +Harley, a member of the Council, and then present, was made Governor of +Dunkirk, in the room of Sir William Lockhart: the army ceased to be at +Monk's devotion: the ambassador was recalled, and broke his heart." + +Another authority, Dr Price, one of Monk's chaplains, speaking on +the same subject, says: "His wife had in some degree prepared him to +appear, when the first opportunity should be offered. For her custom +was (when the General's and her own work and the day were ended) to +come into the dining-room in her _treason-gown_, as I called it, I +telling him that when she had that gown on he should allow her to say +anything. And, indeed, her tongue was her own then, and she would not +spare it; insomuch that I, who still chose to give my attendance at +those hours, have often shut the dining-room doors, and charged the +servants to stand without till they were called in." The same writer +also relates a remarkable dream, in which the Duchess of Albemarle +foresaw the return of royalty to England. "She saw," says Dr Price, "a +great crown of gold on the top of a dunghill, which a numerous company +of brave men encompassed, but for a great while none would break the +ring. At last there came a tall black man up to the dunghill, took up +the crown, and put it upon his head. Upon the relating of this, she +asked what manner of man the King was. I told her, that when I was an +Eton scholar, I saw at Windsor, sometimes, the Prince of Wales, at the +head of a company of boys; that himself was a very lovely black boy, +and that I heard that, since, he was grown very tall." Fantastic as +this dream story may appear, it is "not impossible," says Jesse, "that +England owes the restoration of royalty to this and other similarly +trifling circumstances connected with the influence which Anne Clarges +exercised over the mind of her uxorious lord. Nothing, indeed, appears +more natural, than that an ignorant and uneducated woman should have +attached an undue degree of importance to an idle dream. The duchess, +moreover, is known to have been a zealous adherent of the House of +Stuart; and lastly, it is certain that she exerted all her influence to +induce him to restore Charles the Second to the throne." + +The Duke of Albemarle died on January 3, 1670, in his sixty-second +year. His body, after it had lain in state at Somerset House for +several weeks, was interred, with great pomp and ceremony, in +Westminster Abbey, on the north side of Henry the Seventh's chapel. His +wife survived him only a few days, and was buried by his side. Their +only surviving son--Christopher, who was born in 1653--succeeded to his +father's titles and enormous wealth. He died in Jamaica, where he was +Governor, in 1688, without issue. + +But to return to the New Exchange. In Gay's _Trivia; or the Art of +Walking the Streets of London_ (1716), there is an allusion to it:-- + + "The sempstress speeds to 'Change with red-tipt nose; + The Belgian stove beneath her footstool glows; + In half-whipt muslin needles useless lie, + And shuttle-cocks across the counter fly."[23] + +The place was on its downward path at this time. Quack doctors and +other charlatans flourished, and the most degraded of women frequented +its walks. If one may judge from contemporary advertisements, "Sir +William Read, Her Majesty's oculist in Durham Yard in the Strand," did +a large trade in the years 1709 and 1710. Thanks to his "long practice +and great experience, he has lately found out a medicine that clarifies +the eyes from suffusions and cures cataracts." He also professed to +"cure hair lips and wry necks, tho' never so deformed." Lady Read took +in hand the female customers. Their establishment was in "New Exchange +Row, near Durham Yard." This William Read was originally a tailor. +He became an itinerant quack, and, in 1705, was knighted for "curing" +blind sailors and soldiers without charge. Thanks to his appointment +as oculist to Queen Anne, he acquired a fortune. This empiric died in +1715. By 1737, the New Exchange had become so disreputable that it was +taken down, and a number of dwelling-houses and shops--the site of +which is indicated by the existing buildings between George Court and +Durham House Street--facing the Strand, were erected. + +[Illustration: ADELPHI TERRACE IN GARRICK'S TIME.] + +Before leaving this part of the neighbourhood, it should be observed +that at Durham Rents, which was at the back of Durham House, there was +a book-shop early in the sixteenth century, as we see by the following +announcement:--"The Myrroure of Owre Lady, Fynyshed and Imprynted in +the Suburbes of the Famous Citye of London, without Temple Barre, by me +Richard Fawkes, dwellynge in Durresme Rents, or else in Powles Church +Yard, at the Synge of the A.B.C., 1530." On December 9, 1614, Thomas +Wilson, traveller, author, and statesman, granted a lease to James +Bovy, Serjeant of the Cellar, of "the Sill House, in the Strand, near +Durham House." And, on October 1, 1618, there was recorded an indenture +of sale from "Sir Thomas Wilson, of Hertford, now residing in St +Martin-in-the-Fields, London, of a dwelling-house, garden, etc., in +St Martin's-in-the-Fields, between Durham House, Britain's Burse, York +House, and the River, to Wm. Roo, of London, for £374." Wilson, who was +knighted in this year, was employed in obtaining admissions, that were +sufficient to condemn him, from Sir Walter Raleigh, then a prisoner +in the Tower. Twenty-eight days after the date of the indenture of +sale of Wilson's property, near Durham House, Raleigh was executed. A +year later, Sir Thomas Wilson, in a letter to the Chancellor of the +Exchequer, writes from "my house in Duresme Yard," and sends a list of +ambassadors and other people residing there. Wilson, who was a man of +considerable learning, and a traveller, translated from the Spanish +the _Diana_ of George de Montemayor (the Portugese poet and romance +writer, 1520-1562), the source to which Shakespeare went for several of +the incidents in _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_. He entered the service +of Robert Cecil in 1605. He was the keeper of the records at Whitehall +from 1606 to the year of his death, 1629. He is the Wilson referred as +"ye keeper of ye burse," quoted in the rules for the New Exchange in +the preceding chapter. + +The overcrowding of the New Exchange was a source of much annoyance +to the inhabitants of Durham Yard, who made formal complaint of their +grievances. As a result, an Order in Council, dated May 4, 1638, was +made by the Inner Star Chamber, as follows:--"The Lords being made +acquainted that, over the New Exchange, called Britain's Burse, there +are divers families inhabiting as inmates, and that adjoining the +wall of the Court of Durham House, there are sheds employed as eating +rooms and for other uses, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, +and danger of infection. It was ordered that the Lord Privy Seal and +Lord Newburgh, Chancellor of the Duchy, should call before them the +inhabitants of the said places, and take order for their removal, and +if they find any of the said persons obstinate should certify their +names." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 18: "Richard, or Dick Talbot, as he was familiarly called, +was descended from an ancient family of English extraction, who had +early settled in Ireland. He commenced life as a profligate and ended +it as a bigot. Clarendon informs us that he was the person selected to +assassinate Cromwell, and that he willingly undertook to execute the +deed; at another time, we find him cruelly and impudently insisting on +his intimacy with Anne Hyde, in order to prevent her union with the +Duke of York. In person he was far above the common stature, and was +extremely graceful and well-made. He possessed considerable knowledge +of the world, and had early been introduced into the best society. To +his friends he is said to have been generous and obliging, and it was +much to his credit, that at the Revolution no offers could induce him +to desert the King's interests. His conduct in Ireland at that period +is a matter of history. He strenuously espoused the cause of James; +but, as his capacity was inferior to his zeal, and as he had more +personal courage than military genius, his services were of little +avail. 'From the time of the battle of the Boyne,' says the Duke of +Berwick, 'he sunk prodigiously, and became as irresolute in his mind as +unwieldy in his person.' He died at Limerick, 5th August, 1691. Andrew +Marvell says, in his _Advice to a Painter_[19]:-- + + 'Next, Talbot must by his great master stand, + Laden with folly, flesh, and ill-got land; + He's of a size indeed to fill a porch, + But ne'er can make a pillar of the church. + His sword is all his argument, not his book; + Although no scholar, he can act the cook, + And will cut throats again, if he be paid; + In the Irish shambles he first learnt the trade.'" +] + +[Footnote 19: _The Court of England under the Stuarts_, Jesse, ed. +1855, vol. iii., p. 237.] + +[Footnote 20: Jesse, vol. iii., pp. 233-236.] + +[Footnote 21: Macaulay's _History of England_, ed. 1863, vol. v., p. +272.] + +[Footnote 22: Jesse, vol. iii., p. 46.] + +[Footnote 23: Book II., verse 337.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + Enter the Brothers Adam--Their Marvellous Transformation of the Ruins + of Durham House and Yard into the Present Adelphi--The Magnitude + of the Project--Opposition of the City--Defeated by Special Act + of Parliament--The Adelphi Buildings only completed by Aid of + a Lottery--The Adams explain their Position--Robert Adam: His + History--His Death--James Adam--Some Poor Wit, including Walpole's, at + the Expense of the Architects. + + +ON a certain night in September, in the year 1768, "the Queen's Head +Alehouse, near Durham Yard in the Strand, fell down, but the family +being alarmed, happily no lives were lost." To such a neglected state +had Durham Yard and its surroundings become when, most opportunely, two +Scotch architects, the brothers Adam, arrived on the scene of decay. +All that was left of the former grandeur of Durham House consisted +of "a number of small low-lying houses, coal-sheds and lay-stalls, +washed by the muddy deposits of the Thames." The property was then in +the possession of the Duke of St Albans, from whom the brothers Adam +obtained a ninety-nine years' lease, dating from Lady-day, 1768. The +Duke, it seems, was in a parlous condition when he parted with this +property, for the small sum, be it said, of £1200 a year. For, in +a public print of January 13, 1770, it is stated that "the Duke of +St Albans, who is now confined for debt at Brussels, disposed some +time ago of the ground in Durham Yard in which the new square is now +building; but, before the money was remitted him, he created so many +fresh debts, that it is imagined he will remain there for life." + +The architects effected a marvellous change over the district. By +allowing the wharves to remain, and throwing a series of arches over +the entire declivity, they "connected the river with the Strand by a +spacious archway, and over these extensive vaultings erected a series +of well-built streets, a noble terrace towards the river, and a house +with a convenient suite of rooms for the then recently established +Society of Arts." So said Peter Cunningham. Older authorities were +even more enthusiastic. That fine architectural draughtsman, Thomas +Malton, the younger (1748-1804), who was an eye-witness of the vast +change effected, praised the brothers highly, in his _Picturesque +Tour through London and Westminster_, in 1792: "To their researches +among the vestiges of antiquity," he says, "we are indebted for many +improvements in ornamental architecture, and for a style of decoration +unrivalled for elegance and gaiety, which, in spite of innovations of +fashion, will prevail as long as good taste prevails in the nation. +This judgment of the Messrs Adam, in the management of their plans, and +their care in conducting the executive part, deserves great praise; +and it must be mentioned to their honour, that no accident happened in +the progress of the work, nor has any failure been since observed--an +instance of good fortune which few architects have experienced when +struggling with similar difficulties. This remark will make a very +little impression on the careless observer who rattles along the +streets in his carriage, unconscious that below him are the streets, in +which carts and drays, and other vehicles of business, are constantly +employed in conveying coals, and various kinds of merchandise, from the +river to the consumer, or to the warehouses and avenues inaccessible +to the light of day; but he who will take the trouble to explore +these depths will feel its force; and when he perceives that all the +buildings which compose the Adelphi are in front but one building, and +that the upper streets are no more than open passages, connecting the +different parts of the superstructure, he will acknowledge that the +architects are entitled to more than common praise. + +"The terrace is happily situated in the heart of the Metropolis, +upon a bend of the river, which presents to the right and left every +eminent object which characterises and adorns the cities of London +and Westminster; while its elevation lifts the eye above the wharfs +and warehouses on the opposite side of the river, and charms it with a +prospect of the adjacent country. Each of these views is so grand, so +rich, and so various, that it is difficult to determine which deserves +the preference. + +"The manner of decorating the fronts of the shops and houses in Adam +Street is equally singular and beautiful. It may be proper here to +remark, what some future writer may dwell on with pleasure, that in +the streets of the Adelphi the brothers have contrived to preserve +their respective Christian names as well as their family name; while +by giving the general appellation of The Adelphi to this assemblage of +streets and buildings, they have converted the whole into a lasting +memorial of their friendship and fraternal co-operation. + +"The building of the Adelphi was a project of such magnitude, and +attracted so much attention, that it must have been a period of the +utmost importance in the lives of the architects. In this work they +displayed to the public eye that practical knowledge and skill, and +that ingenuity and taste, which till then had been in a great measure +confined to private edifices, and known only by the voice of fame to +the majority of those who feel an interest in the art of building. The +extreme depth of the foundations, the massy piers of brickwork, and +the spacious subterraneous vaults and arcades, excited the wonder of +the ignorant and the applause of the skilful; while the regularity of +the streets in the superstruction, and the elegance and novelty of the +decorations, equally astonished and delighted all sorts and conditions +of people." The brothers had to contend with many difficulties ere +they accomplished their great work. In order to embank the river, it +was necessary to obtain a special Act of Parliament (12 Geo. III., c. +34, 1771). But, the Court and the City being then at variance, the +authorities of the latter vented their spite by opposing the bill, +the Lord Mayor, as conservator of the Thames, claiming the right to +the soil of the river on behalf of the citizens. The opposition was +very strong, but it was finally defeated, thanks, in large measure, +so Walpole states, to the influence of the Crown. Much acrimony was +displayed, and the newspaper press contained many arguments, mostly in +favour of the project. A curious and interesting letter on the subject +appeared in the _Morning Advertiser_ in May 1771:-- + +"Sir," it said, "I never was more astonished than upon reading in your +Paper the Petition of the City of London to His Majesty against his +giving the Royal Assent to the Bill for embanking the River Thames at +_Durham-Yard_, that there was not one Word in this dull Performance +against the Propriety or Utility of the Embankment. This was the only +Ground on which the City had any Title to interfere in this Business by +Virtue of their Right of Conservancy: But I find that though this was +what they originally let out upon in their Opposition. The Proof turned +out so strong against them, and the public Utility of the Embankment, +as well as of the Wharfs at that Part of the Town, was so clearly +demonstrated both to the Lords and Commons, that the City in this last +Stage of their Opposition think proper to pass over this very material +Circumstance in Silence, and are drove to rest their Complaints upon +two Circumstances totally new and different from what they originally +opposed it upon. + +[Illustration: + + _Dan'l Turner._ + +THE THAMES, FROM THE WATER WORKS, YORK BUILDINGS, ADELPHI.] + +"First, They allege that this Bill appears to be destructive of the +ancient and valuable Rights and Properties of the City of London, +enjoyed without Interruption through a Succession of many Ages; +insinuating at the same Time that they are denied an Appeal to that Law +which knows no Partialities, but strictly gives to every Man his Due. + +"Now, Sir, this Representation, if I were inclined to use as gross +and as harsh Epithets as the City of London do, might with very great +Truth be termed extremely false; for I myself heard Mr Lee the Council +for the City of London, fairly acknowledge at the Bar of the House of +Lords that the City knew nothing of their Right to the Soil of the +River till within these three Weeks; for this amazing Discovery was +fallen upon after this Bill had made a considerable Progress in the +House of Commons; and this valuable Property had passed unnoticed by +all the Magistrates of the City, as well as their Lawyers since the +Age of Henry VII. though now asserted to be enjoyed by them without +interruption since that Period: A very bold Assertion indeed after so +direct and so satisfactory a Proof of the contrary had been within +these few Days laid before the House of Lords: Yet this Assertion is +not more extraordinary than the Insinuation mentioned above; for all +the World may be convinced how groundless the latter is by having +Recourse to the Bill, in which they will find an express Clause, +reserving to the City a Liberty to try their Right at Law, and the +Value to be ascertained by a Jury: So very tender have Parliament been +in paying Attention to their Claim of Right, however frivolous and weak +it might appear to them. + +"A few Words in the saving Clause is the Foundation of the second +weighty Complaint in the City's Petition to the King, it being +there asserted that the City insist that the Persons who apply for +Liberty to embank ought to make Satisfaction for the same; and this +Allegation is stigmatised with the severe Terms of groundless, false +and contradictory to the City public Declarations in both Houses of +Parliament. Whether the City have not been rash in making these bold +Assertions, we leave the candid Public to decide, after reading the +following Extracts:-- + +"Extract from the Report of the New Bridge Committee, to whom the +Petition for Leave to embank Durham-Yard, &c., was refer'd; which +Report is signed by Sir Robert Ladbroke, and many others of the most +respectable Citizens of London, who, reported in Favour thereof, +provided that a Clause be obtained, 'subjecting the Ground taken +out of the River with the yearly Payment of a Farthing, a Square +superficial Foot, redeemable on Payment of twenty years Purchase, and +for appropriating the Quit Rent and Purchase Money to the Fund created +by Parliament for repairing, lighting, and watching the Bridge.' + +"Extract from the Case of the City of London printed by them, and +handed about to the Members of the House of Commons. At the second +reading of the Embanking Bill, which concludes thus: 'However a Bill +is now brought in to embank the River, and to vest in the Owners of +the adjoining Houses the Soil to be embanked not only against the +Representation of the City of London, the Conservators of the River, +but without any Regard to their Claim or Right to the Soil to be +embanked, and a Property of immense Value to be taken from the Public +without any Consideration': And this was the general Language held by +the few Advocates for the City in the House of Commons, until a new +Doctrine was broached by Mr Dunning, who discovered that this valuable +Property could not be estimated by any Jury at above Five Shillings +Value; and to this last Doctrine the Party have since adhered; for +Lord Camden, in his Speech to the Lords, declared, that no Jury could +value the Soil embanked at one Farthing; and these great Lawyers are +entirely right; for by the Usage of the River, the Proprietor of every +Wharf has an exclusive Right of Frontage or Water-way to Low-water +Mark. Therefore whether the King or the City are the Proprietors of the +Soil, neither the one or the other could have embanked to the Exclusion +of the Proprietors of the adjoining Wharfs; for in this Event no Wharf +upon the River Thames would be of the smallest Value; consequently no +Persons whatever could have made any advantage of this Embankment but +the Parties to the Bill. If this requires any Confirmation, the Bill +obtained by the City for the Embankment at Blackfriars establishes it +beyond a Doubt, for that Bill vests the Ground obtained off the River +in the Proprietors of the adjoining Wharfs and Houses. + +"When this is thoroughly understood, how ridiculous must the City +appear, and how much do they degrade themselves, by carrying a +Petition to the Throne, after having squandered their Treasure in an +Opposition, the Object of which is to acquire a Property not worth one +Farthing to them; setting up an ostentatious Parade of an Infringement +of that Property which they knew they have no Right to, and if they +had ought undoubtedly to be given a public Use, upon having a proper +Compensation allowed them for it, which is done every Day in Cases of +Roads, Navigations, and other Improvements of public Utility, even +where private Individuals are to be the principal Benefactors. + +"A great City ought not to act the Part of the Dog in the Manger, but +should encourage every Scheme of public Advantage. These formerly have +been the Sentiments of the City of London, when that City was under +the Guidance of grave, respectable and wise Magistrates, not heated by +Party, or misguided by violent or factious Views." The storm raised by +the projected building drew from Granville Sharp, the philanthropist, +a curious, but extremely dry, pamphlet entitled _Remarks Concerning +the Encroachments of the River Thames near Durham Yard_. It was dated +from the Old Jewry, August 10, 1771, but it was too late to be of any +service, for the Act allowing the embankment of the river had been +passed. + +Even then misfortune dogged the footsteps of the courageous brothers, +for they became involved in financial difficulties, and eventually +had to complete their buildings by raising money by means of a public +lottery. Some of these difficulties were alluded to by sympathetic +friends in the press. "The Adelphi buildings," one of them hears, "were +mortgaged for a loan of £70,000 previous to the late unhappy failures +of the banks, and it is said that the Messrs Adam had laid out as much +more upon them; so that, in the course of five years, these gentlemen +expended £140,000 to raise palaces upon an offensive heap of mud, and +circulated an immense sum to make a palpable nuisance a principal +ornament to the metropolis." Another defender wrote in a similar +strain: "Within a space of time, incredibly short for so magnificent +an undertaking, they have raised a pile of elegant buildings, noble, +convenient, and splendid, on a spot which was, two or three years +since, a mere dunghill, a receptacle for filth, obscenity, and +wretchedness, a scandal to a well-governed city and a disgrace to one +of the noblest rivers in Europe." + +Thanks, perhaps, to the publicity thus afforded them in the public +press, the brothers Adam obtained the necessary Act of Parliament +(13 Geo. III., cap. 75, 1773) for the disposal of the property by +lottery. It was as follows:--"An Act for enabling John, Robert, James +and William Adam to dispose of several houses and buildings in the +parishes of St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Mary-le-Bow, in the county +of Middlesex, and other their effects by way of chance in such manner +as may be most for the benefit of themselves and creditors." + +There were 4370 tickets at £50, making £218,500. The prizes numbered +108, and were thus arranged:-- + + 1 £50,080 + + 1 39,950 + + 1 29,980 + + 1 19,980 + + 1 9,960 + + 1 4,960 + + 100 of different values from + £100 to £760 33,500 + + The first drawn ticket was + entitled to 5,000 + + The last drawn to 25,090 + -------- + £218,500 + +The above facts are taken from a rare pamphlet, entitled _Particulars +composing the Prizes in the Adelphi Lottery_, published by the Adams +on January 18, 1774, in which it is stated that, "as the Messrs Adam +engaged in this undertaking, more from an enthusiasm of their own art +than from a view of profit; at the same time being eager to point out +a way to public utility, though even at an extraordinary expence; +they will be perfectly satisfied if they should only draw, from this +lottery, the money laid out by them on a work which, they readily +confess, they have found to be too great for their private fortunes.... +The Messrs Adam have thought it unnecessary to give so particular a +description of the houses in the Adelphi as they have done of the +houses in Queen Anne Street and Mansfield Street, as these buildings +are so generally known by persons who reside in town; but for the +information of those who live in the country, it may be satisfactory to +say, that they are remarkably strong and substantial and finished in +the most elegant and complete manner, much beyond the common stile of +London houses: they have all a double tier of offices, which gives an +uncommon convenience for the servants of the family.... The inhabitants +of the Adelphi buildings express the greatest satisfaction, not only +with regard to their houses, but with their situation, which is +remarkably dry, healthy and well-aired. + +"The principal houses in the Adelphi possess not only a superior degree +of convenience, in water laid in, from the top to the bottom of each +house, but the whole buildings have also an additional safety against +fire, much beyond any other houses in London. For, besides the use of +fire engines, which they have in common with other houses, there is a +water tower erected by the Messrs Adam, which communicates with the +river Thames; and the pipes are so constructed, that upon a minute's +notice, three engines, constantly supplied with water, can be played +upon any house in the buildings." + +In addition to the house property enumerated, pictures and drawings by +Teniers, P. Veronese, and Guercino, together with several statues, were +enumerated in the lottery paper, so that it appears that the Adams had +been compelled to put nearly everything they possessed into the fund +for the building of the Adelphi. Fortunately they were in such favour +at Court that they were able to obtain the necessary permission for the +lottery, otherwise they would have been ruined financially over the +speculation. + +On Thursday, March 3, 1774, the drawing up of the lottery began at the +great room, formerly Jonathan's Coffee House, in Exchange Alley, when +No. 3599 was drawn a blank, but being the first drawn ticket it was +entitled to £5000. Nine other prizes were drawn on Friday, and at this +rate the drawing continued for some time. The newspapers of the period +were full of information and advertisements respecting the lottery; and +the art of advertising appears to have been very thoroughly mastered +at that time. Tickets were sold in all parts of the town, as well as +at the Messrs Adams' office in Robert Street; intending purchasers +were told that there was a great demand and that early application was +necessary--in fact, that the demand began to be prodigious. Then +they were informed that "Messrs Adam propose to keep their office in +the Adelphi open till twelve o'clock on Wednesday night next (March +9) for the sale of tickets at £50 each, after which the price of the +small quantity remaining in the market must be considerably raised, +on account of the consumption of tickets by the wheel." Portions of +tickets were sold at the various lottery offices thus--a half cost +£25, 5s.; a thirty-second, £1, 13s.; and a sixty-fourth, 17s. Then +there are little bits of gossip in the papers, intended to whet the +appetite of the public. Thus we are told that No. 3599, the first drawn +ticket, entitled to an estate of the value of £5000, was sold by Messrs +Richardson and Goodenough not half an hour before the lottery began +drawing, and, what is very remarkable, was the only ticket they had +left unsold. Soon afterwards, the winner of this ticket disposed of it +by auction. + +[Illustration: + + _Samuel Scott._ 1750. + +YORK STAIRS AND THE WATER TOWER.] + +It is to be noted that the prizes were not instantly realizable, for +the buildings were to be divided among the prize-holders, and the +houses were not yet finished. Those who could not wait for their money +sold their prizes by auction, and it may be presumed that in course +of time the tickets got into a few hands.[24] The following is the +explanation by the Adams of their action:-- + +"The Messrs Adam having received a letter signed A.B.C., which the +writer says is sent to be inserted in the public papers, requiring +to know the state of the mortgages on the buildings which constitute +the Adelphi lottery, and also what security the public have for their +completing the unfinished buildings? In answer to these questions, the +Messrs Adam, desirous to satisfy the adventurers in the lottery, and +the public in all reasonable demands, think it necessary to inform them +that the mortgagees have already been paid one half of their money, but +as it is requisite that they should join in assigning the prizes to +the fortunate adventurers, they defer paying the other half till such +assignments are completed. The Messrs Adam, ever since the obtaining +of the Act for their lottery, have proceeded with an amazing rapidity +in finishing their houses, in the same substantial manner with those +formerly finished and sold in the Adelphi; they are happy to think the +whole will be completed, and ready to be assigned, by the time they +have ascertained in their scheme and allotment, as no attention and no +expense shall be spared for that purpose." + +Before proceeding further with the history of the Adelphi, the +indomitable brothers themselves call for notice. Robert Adam +(1728-1792) was the most noted of the four brothers--John, Robert, +James, and William. Their father, William Adam, of Maryburgh, N.B. +(died June 24, 1748), was the architect of Hopetoun House, and the +Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, in which city he held the appointment +of King's Mason. Robert, the second son, was born at Kirkcaldy, and +educated at Edinburgh University. Here he became on friendly terms +with several fellow students who also attained fame, including David +Hume, Dr William Robertson (the historian), Adam Smith (the political +economist), and Adam Ferguson (the philosopher). In his twenty-sixth +year Robert Adam visited Italy in the company of Clérisseau, a French +architect, and made a minute study of the ruins of the Emperor +Diocletian's palace at Spalatro, in Venetian Dalmatia. The journal of +his tour was printed in the _Library of the Fine Arts_, and, in 1764, +he published a folio volume with numerous engravings by Bartolozzi and +others, from his drawings of the palace. In this important work he +states that his object in selecting this ruin for special examination +was its residential character, as the knowledge of classical +architecture in England was derived exclusively from the remains of +public buildings. During his absence on the Continent, he was elected +F.R.S. and F.S.A. Soon after his return, he was appointed architect to +George III. This office he was obliged to resign in 1768, when he was +elected to Parliament as member for Kinross-shire. + +The date of Robert Adam's return to England is generally understood to +be 1762, but the architect himself makes mention of some work "done +since my return to England in 1758." The mistake has probably arisen +from the fact that James Adam did not leave his architectural studies +in Italy until the former year. Robert, it is certain, is solely +responsible for the screen of the Admiralty buildings in Whitehall, +built in 1760. "The Admiralty," says Horace Walpole, "is a most ugly +device, and deservedly veiled by Mr Adam's handsome screen." About this +time there was a pacific invasion of England by the Scots, art being +represented by William Chambers, Allan Ramsay--son of the poet--who, +in Walpole's opinion, excelled Reynolds as a painter of women, Robert +Strange, and the Adam brothers, Robert and James. Mr Clouston doubts +the statement that Clérisseau accompanied Robert Adam to Italy. The +young French architect was famous at the time of Adam's visit to the +Continent, "and one of his pupils, Sir W. Chambers, was making a name +in England. It is not altogether evident, therefore, how, a year later, +he should have accompanied Adam to Spalatro in the subordinate position +of assistant. Still, if any man had the capability of turning a master +into a pupil through sheer force of character and magnetic presence, it +must be admitted that that man was Robert Adam. His belief in himself +was so colossal as probably to approach conceit. The very fact that, +as a young man of twenty-nine, who had already had a most expensive +education, he spent a considerable amount of his patrimony in a costly +expedition, with the view of publishing a book which could not be +expected to pay, is enough to show us something of the character of the +man. + +"He had made up his mind that he was to take the world by storm, and +he proceeded to do so with the most absolute confidence, in spite of +disadvantages of which he must have been, at least partially, aware. + +"In his day in Scotland, and, indeed, for long after, the speech of +even the most educated was as a foreign language to English ears. +Anything 'Englishy' in accent was ridiculed. So much was this the case +that when, towards the end of the century, certain Scottish advocates, +who found their accent a serious drawback when arguing before the House +of Lords, employed an 'English master,' the movement was laughed out of +existence. + +"Adam may have been able to speak fairly fluently in both French and +Italian: but if his ordinary mode of speech was, as it must have +been, broad Fifeshire with a top-dressing of Midlothian, it could not +have constituted the best introduction to London society. Yet from +the first he was both a social and a professional success, and his +immediate reception, despite his Scotch speech and his new gospel, says +more for the immense power and personality of the man than any number +of words. Other men, even greater than he, have had both reverses and +doubts about themselves. Adam had neither. He was born to succeed, +and he knew it. Even his book on the Palace at Spalatro, instead of +being an expensive way of bringing him before the public, was a great +commercial success."[25] + +Thanks to their building of Lansdowne House for the Earl of Bute, +and Caen Wood House, Hampstead, for Lord Mansfield, as well as to +the fame which they obtained by the Adelphi, Robert and James Adam +acquired a great reputation as classical architects, and they enjoyed +the patronage of the aristocracy. Amongst the most important of their +other works were Luton House in Bedfordshire; Osterley House, near +Brentford; Keddlestone, Derbyshire; Compton Verney, Warwickshire; the +screen fronting the high road, and extensive internal alterations of +Sion or Syon House, Middlesex, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland; +the infirmary of Glasgow; the parish church at Mistley, Essex; the +Register House, Edinburgh; and the Admiralty screen. The number and +importance of their buildings in the metropolis materially influenced +and much improved the street architecture of London. They originated +the idea of giving to a number of unimportant private edifices the +appearance of one imposing structure. Portland, Stratford, and Hamilton +Places, and the south and east sides of Fitzroy Square, are instances +of the manner in which they carried this principle into effect. "An +innovation of more doubtful service," according to the _Dictionary of +National Biography_, "was their use of stucco in facing brick houses. +Their right to the exclusive use of a composition patented by Liardet, +a Frenchman, was the subject of two law-suits, which they gained." + +James Fergusson, in his _History of Architecture_, places their +knowledge of classical art below that of Sir William Chambers. He adds: +"Their great merit--if merit it be--is that they stamped their works +with a certain amount of originality, which, had it been of a better +quality, might have done something to emancipate art from its trammels. +The principal characteristic of their style was the introduction of +very large windows, generally without dressings. These they frequently +attempted to group, three or more together, by a great glazed arch +over them, so as to try and make the whole side of a house look like +one room." Mr Fergusson thinks the college at Edinburgh the best of +their works, and says: "We possess few public buildings presenting so +truthful and well-balanced a design as this." + +Whatever were the architectural defects of their works, the brothers +formed a style, which was marked especially in their interiors by a +fine sense of proportion, and a very elegant taste in the selection and +disposition of niches, lunettes, reliefs, festoons, and other classical +ornaments. It was their custom to design furniture in character with +their apartments, and their works of this kind are still greatly +prized. Amongst them may be specially mentioned their side-boards with +elegant urn-shaped knife-boxes, but they also designed bookcases and +brackets, pedestals and cabinets, clock-cases and candelabra, mirror +frames and console tables, of singular and original merit, adapting +classical forms to modern uses with a success unrivalled by any other +designers of furniture in England. They designed, also, carriages and +plate, and a sedan chair for Queen Charlotte. Of their decorative +work generally it may be said that it was rich but neat, refined but +not effeminate, chaste but not severe, and that it will probably have +quite as lasting and beneficial effect upon English taste as their +architectural structures. + +[Illustration: THE SOCIETY OF ARTS DISTRIBUTING ITS AWARDS.] + +In 1773, the brothers Robert and James commenced the publication of +their _Works on Architecture_, in folio parts, which was continued +at intervals till 1778, and reached the end of the second volume. In +1822, the work was completed by the posthumous publication of a third +volume, but the three bound up together do not make a thick book.[26] + +Robert Adam also obtained some reputation as a landscape painter. As +an architect, he was extensively employed to the last. In the year +preceding his death he designed no less than eight public works and +twenty-five private buildings. He died at his house in Albemarle +Street, from the bursting of a blood-vessel in his stomach, on March +3, 1792. Of the social position he attained, and the estimation in +which he was held, no greater proof can be afforded than the record +of his funeral in Westminster Abbey. His pall-bearers were the Duke +of Buccleuch, the Earl of Coventry, the Earl of Lauderdale, Viscount +Stormont, Lord Frederick Campbell, and Richard Pulteney (the botanist). + +His younger brother, James, died in the same street, on October 20, two +years later, from apoplexy. His work was so closely connected with that +of Robert as to be practically undistinguishable. It is thought, by +many, that he was solely responsible for the design of Portland Place. +At one time he was architect to George III., and was master mason to +the Board of Ordnance in North Britain. He published _Practical Essays +on Architecture_, and, at the time of his death, he was engaged on +a history of architecture. The eldest brother, John, inherited the +business of the father, and remained in Scotland. William Adam is said +to have died in 1748, in which case he could hardly have "assisted his +brother Robert in building the Adelphi" (_Dict. of Nat. Biography_). + +And Walpole, writing to Mason on July 29, 1773, says: "What are the +Adelphi Buildings? Warehouses, laced down the seams, like a soldier's +frill in a regimental old coat." Yet the author of _The Castle of +Otranto_ did not disdain from asking Robert Adam to design a room for +him. + +Apart from their financial troubles in building the Adelphi, the Adams +brothers had to stand much banter. It was said, with what truth I know +not, that they obtained their workmen, "with true patriotism," from +Scotland, and that the labours of the artisans were stimulated by +countless bagpipes; "but the canny men, finding the bagpipes played +their tunes rather too quick, threw up the work, and Irishmen were then +employed." In the _Foundling Hospital for Wit_,[27] the nationality of +the architects is rudely assailed:-- + + "Four Scotchmen, by the name of Adams, + Who keep their coaches and their madams, + Quoth John, in sulky mood, to Thomas, + Have stole the very river from us! + O Scotland, long has it been said, + Thy teeth are sharp for English bread; + What! seize our bread and water too, + And use us worse than jailors do: + 'Tis true, 'tis hard; 'tis hard, 'tis true. + + Ye friends of George, and friends of James, + Envy us not our River Thames; + Thy Princess, fond of raw-boned faces, + May give you all our posts and places; + Take all to gratify your pride, + But dip your oatmeal in the Clyde." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 24: _The Adelphi and Its Site_, 1885.] + +[Footnote 25: _English Furniture and Furniture Matters of the 18th +Century._ R.S. Clouston, 1906, pp. 84-86.] + +[Footnote 26: _Dictionary of National Biography_, vol. i., p. 88.] + +[Footnote 27: Ed. 1784, vol. iv., p. 189.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + + The Society of Arts--Its Foundation--Its Removal to the Adelphi in + 1774--James Barry and his Famous Paintings--Visited in John Street by + Burke and Johnson--The Latter's opinion of his Genius--Description + of his Pictures for the Society--The Work of the Society--"Spot" + Ward, the Inventor of "Friar's Balsam"--Johnson speaks in the Great + Room--Forsaken by his "Flowers of Oratory." + + +INSEPARABLY connected with the romance of the Adelphi, and very +interesting on its own account, is the history of the Society of +Arts, with its memories, not only of painters, but of Johnson and +other celebrities. The Society owes its origin to William Shipley +(1714-1803), a drawing-master of Northampton, and brother of Jonathan +Shipley, Bishop of St Asaph, the friend of Benjamin Franklin. It +was established at a meeting held on March 22, 1754, at Rawthmell's +Coffee-house, in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. Its first president +was Jacob, Lord Viscount Folkestone. Its complete designation is "The +Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce." +Smollett, in his _History of England_ (1757), says, somewhat +grandiloquently: "The Society is so numerous, the contributions +so considerable, the plan so judiciously laid, and executed with +such discretion and spirit as to promise much more effectual and +extensive advantage to the public than ever accrued from all the +boasted academies of Christendom." The Society had various homes +prior to settling in the Adelphi. Its first meetings were held over a +circulating library in Crane's Court, Fleet Street. A move was made +westward to Craig's Court, Charing Cross, and from there the Society +went to the Strand, in rooms opposite the New Exchange, and, in 1759, +to apartments in Beaufort Buildings, Savoy. + +In 1771, the brothers Adam entered into an agreement with the Society +for the erection of "a proper building in the Adelphi for the use +of the Society and the accommodation of its officers." The first +stone was laid by Lord Romney, on March 28, 1772, and the building +was opened in 1774. The Great Room, in which are the six famous +pictures painted by James Barry, R.A. (1741-1806), between the years +1777 and 1783, is 44 feet in width, 60 feet in depth, and 48 feet in +height. The painting of these celebrated pictures is one of the most +extraordinary episodes in the history of art. In 1774, the Society of +Arts suggested to certain members of the Royal Academy--then newly +instituted--that they should paint the interior of the Great Room, +and that they should be reimbursed by the public exhibition of the +completed works. This proposition was rejected by the academicians, at +whose head was Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Barry, as a member, refused the +offer. Three years later, however, Barry, having but sixteen shillings +in his pocket, applied for permission to execute the work, unaided, +and without remuneration. The Society's housekeeper told Benjamin +Haydon, the historical painter (1786-1846), that she remembered Barry +at work on his frescoes. His violence, she said, was dreadful, his +oaths were horrid, and his temper was like insanity. In summer, he +started painting at five o'clock, worked until dark, and then etched by +lamp-light until eleven at night. Burke and Johnson called once. But no +artist dared to brave his wrath. He had his tea boiled in a quart pot, +dined on porridge, and drank milk for supper. So poor was the painter +that he applied, but in vain, to the Society for a little money, and +"an insolent secretary even objected to his charge for colours and +models." Subsequently, the Society relented and advanced the artist +a hundred pounds. The Society "afterwards indulged him with two +exhibitions of his paintings, in 1783 and 1784, which brought him £503, +12s., the Society paying the cost of the exhibitions, which amounted +to £174." He was also "rewarded" by the Society with a gold medal. But +he had other, and, perhaps, more pleasing recognitions of his talent. +That sturdy traveller and philanthropist, Jonas Hanway (1712-1786), +came to one of the exhibitions, and the pioneer of the umbrella was so +pleased that he insisted upon leaving a guinea instead of the customary +shilling. The Prince of Wales gave Barry sittings, and Lord Aldborough +declared that the painter had "surpassed Raphael." Lord Romney gave +him a hundred guineas for a copy of the heads, and Dr Johnson thought +highly of Barry's imaginative powers. "Whatever the hand may have +done," he said to Boswell, "the mind has done its part. There is a +grasp of mind there which you find nowhere else." Poor, neglected, and +half-mad, Barry died at the age of sixty-five. His body lay in state in +the Great Room on March 7. He was buried in St Paul's. + +Some sixty years ago, said a writer towards the middle of the last +century, there might have been seen daily passing in a direction +between Oxford Street and the Adelphi, for years together, and +through all kinds of weather, one whose appearance told, to even the +most casual observer, he looked upon a remarkable man. Referring to +himself, in one of his letters to a friend, Barry had once said, +"Though the body and the soul of a picture will discover themselves +on the slightest glance, yet you know it could not be the same with +such a pock-fretted, hard-featured little fellow as I am also"; but +neither these personal characteristics, nor the mean garb in which +he usually appeared, could conceal the earnestness stamped upon his +grave, saturnine countenance, or the air of entire absorption in +some mental pursuit, having little in common with the bustle of the +everyday business of the world around him. He was a man to make or to +keep few friends, and to shun all acquaintances; it was not often, +therefore, that, in these passages to and fro, he had any companion; +but the event was noticeable when he had, from the striking change in +his demeanour. He became full of animation, and of a kind of sparkling +cheerfulness; his conversation was at once frank, weighty, and +elevating, and even the oaths, with which he made somewhat free, could +not spoil the delight of the most fastidious censor of words, whilst +borne along on the full and free current of the painter's thoughts. +No one but himself at such times would have called his countenance +"hard-featured"; its smile was inexpressibly sweet, its look of scorn +or anger, when roused, such as few men could have met unmoved. But +what was the employment that thus determined for so long a period his +daily movements? The answer will require a brief review of his past +career. Whilst a young student at Rome, Barry, annoyed by the absurd +taunts of foreigners as to the ungenial character of the British +soil for the growth of art, was often seduced into answering them in +such a manner as suited rather his fiery temper and indomitable will +than the cause which he so impatiently espoused. But a better result +was his own quiet determination to devote his life to the disproof +of the theory. He began admirably, by a strict analysis of his own +powers, and by inquiring how they were best to be developed. Here is +the result: "If I should chance to have genius, or anything else," he +observes, in a letter to a friend, "it is so much the better; but my +hopes are grounded upon an unwearied, intense application, of which +I am not sparing. At present I have little to show that I value; my +work is all underground digging and laying foundations, which, with +God's assistance, I may hereafter find the use of. I every day centre +more and more upon the art; I give myself totally to it; and except +honour and conscience, am determined to renounce everything else." But +the writer was without a shilling in the world to call his own; and +although he had friends, the best of friends, as they were--one of them +at least, Burke, the best of men--he had already received from them +the entire means of subsistence while he had been studying so long at +Rome, and was determined, therefore, to be no longer a burden to them +or to others; but how should he, renouncing all ordinary blandishments +of a young painter's career, the "face-painting" and other methods by +which genius condescends to become fashionable, or, in other words, +to lay down its immortality for the pleasure of being acknowledged +immortal--how was he to subsist? It was whilst this question remained, +we may suppose, not decisively answered, that the painter thus wrote +to another friend:--"O, I could be happy, in my going home, to find +some corner where I could sit down in the middle of my studies, books, +and casts after the antique, to paint this work and others, where I +might have models of nature, when necessary, bread and soup, and a +coat to cover me! I should care not what became of my work when it +was done; but I reflect with horror upon such a fellow as I am, and +with such a kind of art in London, with house-rent to pay, duns to +follow me, and employers to look for. Had I studied art in a manner +more accommodated to the nation, there would be no dread of this." But +from this state of despondency and dissatisfaction he was soon to rise +triumphant. Again and again he asked himself how he was to subsist +while the great things he meditated should be accomplished, and the +answer came: the conclusion was anything but attractive or cheering, +but he saw it was the conclusion: no cross, no crown; and he accepted +it ungrudgingly. It was not long before he could say, "I have taken +great pains to fashion myself to this kind of Quixotism; to this end I +have contracted and simplified my cravings and wants, and brought them +into a very narrow compass." There are few, we think, of those who may +have smiled with pity or contempt at the painter's mean garb, who would +not have honoured it while they reverenced him, had they known this. +The first apparent opportunity of achieving the object indicated was in +connection with the proposed decoration of St Paul's.[28] But this fell +through, and it was not until the Society of Arts accepted his offer +that he was able to bring himself into line with his own convictions. + +[Illustration: + + _Nathaniel Smith._ 1790. + +THE STRAND ENTRANCE TO DURHAM YARD.] + +"Let us now ascend the stairs to the first floor, passing through the +little ante-room where the alto-relievos of Bacon and Nollekens are +mounted high upon the walls, and beneath the portrait of the founder +of the Society, which appropriately hangs over the door of the great +room, where the painter's works are to be found. The first glance shows +us in one way the magnitude of the undertaking; the upper portion +of the walls of the whole of the noble room, or hall, as it should +rather be called, is covered by the six paintings of which the series +consists; as we step from one to another, we perceive that these large +spaces have been wrought upon in a large spirit; and a still closer +examination opens to our view, pictures of surpassing beauty and +grandeur, and scarcely less remarkable as a whole for the successful +manner in which they have been executed than for the daring originality +of their conception." + +Barry's six pictures for the Society of Arts were designed on dignified +and important subjects, so connected as to illustrate this great +maxim of moral truth: "That the attainment of happiness, individual +as well as public, depends on the development, proper cultivation, +and perfection of the human faculties, physical and moral, which are +as well calculated to lead human nature to its true rank and the +glorious designation assigned for it by Providence." To illustrate this +doctrine, the first picture exhibits mankind in a savage state, exposed +to all the inconvenience and misery of neglected culture; the second +represents a Harvest Home, or thanksgiving, to Ceres and Bacchus; the +third, the victors at Olympia; the fourth, Navigation, or the Triumph +of the Thames; the fifth, the Distribution of Rewards by the Society; +and the sixth, Elysium, or the state of final Retribution. Three of +these subjects are truly poetical, the others historical. The pictures +are all of the same height, viz., eleven feet ten inches; and the +first, second, fourth, and fifth are fifteen feet two inches long; the +third and sixth, which occupy the whole breadth of the room, at the +north and south ends, are each forty-two feet long. + +_The Thames._--Personified and represented, of a venerable, majestic +and gracious aspect, sitting on the waters in a triumphal car, steering +himself with one hand, and holding in the other the mariner's compass. +The car is borne along by our great navigators, Sir Francis Drake, +Sir Walter Raleigh, Sebastian Cabot, and the late Captain Cook. In +the front of the car, and apparently in the action of meeting it, +are four figures, representing Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, +ready to lay their several productions in the lap of the Thames. The +supplicating action of the poor negro slave--or, more properly, of +enslaved Africa--the cord round his neck, the tear on his cheek, the +iron manacles and attached heavy chain on his wrists, with his hands +clasped and stretched out for mercy, denote the agonies of his soul, +and the feelings of the artist thus expressed, before the abolition +of slavery became the subject of public investigation. Overhead is +Mercury, the emblem of commerce, summoning the nations all together; +and following the car are Nereids carrying several articles of the +principal manufactures of Great Britain. In this scene of triumph and +joy the artist has introduced music, and, for this reason, placed +among the sea-nymphs his friend, Dr Burney. In the distance is a view +of the chalky cliffs on the English coast, with ships sailing, highly +characteristic of the commerce of this country, which the picture +is intended to record. In the end of this picture, next the chimney, +there is a naval pillar, mausoleum, observatory, light-house, or all of +these, they being all comprehended in the same structure. + +In this important object, so ingeniously produced by the sea-gods, +we have at last obtained the happy concurrence and union of so many +important desiderata in that opportunity of convenient inspection of +all the sculptured communications, the want of which had been so deeply +regretted by all who had seen the Trajan and Antonine columns, and +other celebrated remains of antiquity. + +_The Society._--This picture represents the distribution of the Rewards +of the Society. Not far advanced from the left side of the picture +stands the late Lord Romney, then president of the Society, habited in +the robes of his dignity: near the president stands His Royal Highness +the Prince of Wales; and sitting at the corner of the picture, holding +in his hand the instrument of the institution, is Mr William Shipley, +"whose public spirit gave rise to this Society." One of the farmers, +who are producing specimens of grain to the president, is Arthur Young, +Esq. Near him Mr More, the late secretary. On the right hand of the +late Lord Romney stands the present Earl of Romney, then V.P., and on +the left the late Owen Salusbury Brereton, Esq., V.P.[29] Towards the +centre of the picture is seen that distinguished example of female +excellence, Mrs Montague, who long honoured the Society with her name +and subscription. She appears recommending the ingenuity and industry +of a young female, whose work she is producing. Near her are placed the +late Duchess of Northumberland; the present Duke of Northumberland, +V.P.; the late Joshua Steele, Esq., V.P.; Dr Hurd, Bishop of Worcester; +Soame Jennings and James Harris, Esqrs.; and the two duchesses of +Rutland and Devonshire. Between these ladies, the late Dr Samuel +Johnson seems pointing out the example of Mrs Montague to their Graces' +attention and imitation. Further advanced is His Grace the late Duke +of Richmond, V.P., and the late Edmund Burke, Esq. Still nearer the +right-hand side of the picture is the late Edward Hooper, Esq., V.P., +and the late Keane Fitzgerald, Esqrs., V.P.; His Grace the late Duke +of Northumberland, V.P.; the Earl of Radnor, V.P., William Lock, +Esq., and Dr William Hunter are examining some drawings by a youth, +to whom a premium has been adjudged: behind him is another youth, +in whose countenance the dejection he feels at being disappointed +in his expectation of a reward is finely expressed. Near the right +side of the piece are seen the late Lord Viscount Folkestone, first +president of this Society; his son, the late Earl Radnor, V.P.; and Dr +Stephen Hales, V.P. In the background appear part of the water-front +of Somerset House, St Paul's, and other objects in the vicinity and +view of this Society, as instituted at London. And as a very large +part of the rewards bestowed by the Society have been distributed to +promote the polite arts of painting and sculpture, the artist has also +most judiciously introduced a picture and statue. The subject of the +picture is the Fall of Lucifer, designed by Mr Barry, when the Royal +Academy had selected six of the members to paint pictures for St Paul's +Cathedral; the statue is that of the Grecian mother dying, and in those +moments attentive only to the safety of her child. In the corners of +the picture are represented many articles which have been invented or +improved by the encouragement of this Society. In the lower corner +of this picture, next the chimney, are introduced two large models +intended by Mr Barry as improvements of medals and coins. + +[Illustration: IVY LANE, STRAND (THE BOUNDARY OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER +AND THE CITY OF WESTMINSTER).] + +_Elysium, or the State of Final Retribution._--In this sublime picture, +which occupies the whole length of the room, the artist has, with +wonderful sagacity, and without any of those anachronisms which tarnish +the lustre of other very celebrated performances, brought together +those great and good men of all ages and nations, who have acted as the +cultivators and benefactors of mankind. This picture is separated from +that of the Society distributing its rewards by palm trees; near which, +on a pedestal, sits a pelican, feeding its young with its own blood, a +happy type of those personages represented in the picture, who had worn +themselves out in the service of mankind. Behind the palms, near the +top of the picture, are indistinctly seen, as immersed and lost in a +great blaze of light, cherubims veiled with their wings, in the act of +adoration, and offering incense to that invisible and incomprehensible +Power which is above them, and out of the picture, from whence the +light and glory proceed and are diffused over the whole piece. By thus +introducing the idea of the Divine essence, by effect rather than by +form, the absurdity committed by many painters is happily avoided, +and the mind of every intelligent spectator is filled with awe and +reverence. + +The groups of female figures, which appear at a further distance +absorbed in glory, are those characters of female excellence, whose +social conduct, benevolence, affectionate friendship, and regular +discharge of domestic duties, soften the cares of human life, and +diffuse happiness around them. In the more advanced part, just +bordering on the blaze of light (where the female figures are almost +absorbed) is introduced a group of poor native West Indian females, in +the act of adoration, preceded by angels, burning incense, and followed +by their good bishop, his face partly concealed by that energetic hand +which holds his crozier, or pastoral staff--who may, notwithstanding +the word Chiapa, inscribed on the front of his mitre, be identified +with the glorious friar Bartolomeo de las Casas, bishop of that place. +This matter of friendly intercourse, continued beyond life, is pushed +still further in the more advanced part of the same group by the male +adoring Americans and some Dominican friars, where the very graceful +incident occurs of one of these Dominicans directing the attention of +an astonished Caribb to some circumstance of beatitude, the enjoyment +of which he had promised to his Caribb friend. The group below on +the left hand in this picture consists of Roger Bacon, Archimedes, +Descartes, and Thales; behind them stand Sir Francis Bacon, Copernicus, +Galileo, and Sir Isaac Newton, regarding with awe and admiration a +solar system, which two angels are unveiling and explaining to them. +Near the inferior angel, who is holding the veil, is Columbus, with a +chart of his voyage; and close to him Epaminondas, with his shield; +Socrates, Cato the younger, the elder Brutus, and Sir Thomas More; a +sextumbriate to which, Swift says, all ages have not been able to add +a seventh. Behind Marcus Brutus is William Molyneux, holding his book +of the case of Ireland; near Columbus is Lord Shaftesbury, John Locke, +Zeno, Aristotle, and Plato; and, in the opening between this group and +the next, are Sir William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of +the blood, and the honourable Robert Boyle. + +The next group are legislators, where King Alfred the Great is leaning +on the shoulder of William Penn, who is showing his tolerant, pacific +code of equal laws to Lycurgus. Standing around them are Minos, +Trajan, Antoninus, Peter the Great of Russia, Edward the Black Prince, +Henry the Fourth of France, and Andrea Doria of Genoa. Here, too, +are introduced those patrons of genius, Lorenzo de Medici, Louis the +Fourteenth, Alexander the Great, Charles the First, Colbert, Leo the +Tenth, Francis the First, the Earl of Arundel, and the illustrious +monk Cassiodorus, no less admirable and exemplary as the secretary +of state than as the friar in his convent at Viviers, the plan of +which he holds in his hand. Just before this group, on the rocks +which separate Elysium from the infernal regions, are placed the +Angelic Guards; and in the most advanced part an archangel, weighing +attentively the virtues and vices of mankind, whose raised hand and +expressive countenance denote great concern at the preponderancy of +evil. Behind this figure is another angel, explaining to Pascal and +Bishop Butler the analogy between Nature and revealed Religion. The +figure behind Pascal and Butler, with his arms stretched out, and +advancing with so much energy, is that ornament of our latter age, the +graceful, the sublime Bossuet, Bishop of Meux. The uniting tendency of +the paper he holds in that hand, resting on the shoulder of Origen, +would well comport with those pacific views of the amiable Grotius, for +healing those discordant evils which are sapping the foundations of +Christianity amongst the nations of Europe, where in other respects it +would be, and even is, so happily and so well established. + +Behind Francis the First and Lord Arundel are Hugo Grotius, Father +Paul, and Pope Adrian. Towards the top of the picture, and near the +centre, sits Homer; on his right hand, Milton; next him, Shakespeare, +Spenser, Chaucer, and Sappho. Behind Sappho sits Alcæus, who is +talking with Ossian; near him are Menander, Molière, Congreve, Bruma, +Confucius, Mango Capac, etc. etc. Next Homer, on the other side, is +Archbishop Fenelon, with Virgil leaning on his shoulder; and near them +are Tasso, Ariosto, and Dante. Behind Dante, Petrarca, Laura, Giovanni, +and Boccaccio. + +In the second range of figures, over Edward the Black Prince and Peter +the Great, are Swift, Erasmus, Cervantes; near them Pope, Dryden, +Addison, Richardson, Moses Mendelssohn, and Hogarth. Behind Dryden and +Pope are Sterne, Gray, Goldsmith, Thomson, and Fielding; and near +Richardson, Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Joshua Reynolds, +and Vandyke. Next Vandyke is Rubens, with his hand on the shoulders of +Le Soeur, and behind him is Le Brun: next to these are Julio Romano, +Dominichino, and Annibal Caracci, who are in conversation with Phidias; +behind whom is Giles Hussey. Nicholas Poussin and the Sicyonian maid +are near them, with Callimachus and Pamphilius; near Appelles is +Corregio; behind Raphaello stand Michael Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci, +and behind them, Ghiberti, Donatello, Massachio, Brunaleschi, Albert +Dürer, Giotto, and Cimabue. + +In the top of this part of the picture the painter has happily glanced +at what is called by astronomers the System of Systems, where the fixed +stars, considered as so many suns, each with his several planets, +are revolving round the Great Cause of all things; and representing +everything as affected by intelligence, has shown each system carried +along in its revolution by an angel. Though only a small portion of +this article can be seen, yet enough is shown to manifest the sublimity +of the idea. + +In the other corner of the picture the artist has represented Tartarus, +where, among cataracts of fire and clouds of smoke, two large hands are +seen, one of them holding a fire-fork, the other pulling down a number +of figures bound together by serpenting War, Gluttony, Extravagance, +Detraction, Parsimony, and Ambition: and floating down the fiery gulf +are Tyranny, Hypocrisy, and Cruelty, with their proper attributes; the +whole of this excellent picture proving, in the most forcible manner, +the truth of that maxim which cannot be too often inculcated: "That +the attainment of man's true rank in the creation, and his present +and future happiness, individual as well as public, depended on the +cultivation and proper direction of the human faculties."[30] + +In addition to the Barry pictures, there are, in the Council Room, +full-length portraits of the first president by Gainsborough, and of +the second president of the Society, Lord Romney, by Reynolds, together +with a portrait of Barry. Here, also, are portraits of the Prince +Consort (who was president from 1843 until his death in 1861), painted +by Horsley, and of the late Queen Victoria and the royal children, +painted by Cope. One of the first prizes of the Society was adjudged +to Richard Cosway, then a boy of twelve, and afterwards so eminent +as a portrait painter in oil and miniatures. But this was before the +Society had removed to the Adelphi. John Bacon, Joseph Nollekens, and +William Woollett, George Romney, John Flexman, J.M.W. Turner, Edwin +Landseer, William Mulready, J.E. Millais, and many other distinguished +artists were awarded premiums by the Society, which, says Mr Wheatley, +"has been active in promoting commercial and technical education by +means of examinations. Out of the technological examinations has grown +the wide-spreading action of the City and Guilds of London Technical +Institute. A large number of the chief questions of the day, such as +the amendment of the Patent Laws; the cheapening of letter, book, and +parcel postage; the improvement of musical education, etc., have been +dealt with by the Society in the form of discussion and by addresses +to the Government. Several conferences have also been held on sanitary +matters and on water supply. + +The ordinary meetings are held on Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m., from +November to May, when papers are read and discussed on subjects +relating to arts, manufactures and commerce. There are also connected +with the Society three sections: 1. Indian; 2. Foreign and Colonial; +3. Applied Art. These hold meetings for the reading and discussion of +papers on their respective subjects on other days of the week. Courses +of lectures on popular subjects connected with arts and manufactures +are delivered on Monday evenings, and are styled Cantor Lectures, by +reason that they owe their origin to a bequest of the late Dr Cantor. +The Albert Medal, founded in honour of the Prince Consort, is awarded +annually to some eminent man who has distinguished himself by promoting +arts, manufactures, or commerce. The first award was to Sir Rowland +Hill in 1864, and the list of recipients forms a noble roll of great +men."[31] Her late Majesty, Queen Victoria, was awarded the Society's +medal in her jubilee year, 1887. + +The notorious quack doctor Joshua Ward (1685-1761), who was caricatured +by Hogarth, allowed the Italian sculptor, Agostino Carlini, £100 a +year, so that he should work on his statue for life. The impudent +inventor of "Friar's Balsam" left this statue to the Society of Arts. +This quack, who was nicknamed "Spot" Ward, from a birth-mark on his +cheek, was the son of a London dry-salter. His skill was so extolled by +General Churchill and Lord Chief Baron Reynolds, that he was called in +to prescribe for George II. Despite his "remedies"--his famous "drop +and pill" was a dangerous compound of antimony--the King recovered, +and "Spot" Ward was solemnly voted the thanks of a credulous House of +Parliament and allowed the privilege of driving his carriage through +St James's Park. He tried to enter Parliament by fraud in 1717, and +fled to St Germain, where he maintained himself by his "universal +remedies." Pardoned in 1733, he had a wonderful career in London, and +amassed a fortune. + +[Illustration: + + _Gércault._ + +ENTRANCE TO THE ADELPHI ARCHES.] + +One of the most interesting of the literary associations of the Adelphi +is connected, in tradition, with Oliver Goldsmith, and, as a matter of +fact, with Samuel Johnson, both of whom appeared before the Society +of Arts. "The great room of the Society now mentioned," says Andrew +Kippis, the Nonconformist divine and biographer, at the close of his +memoir of Gilbert Cooper, in the _Biographia Britannica_,[32] "was for +several years the place where many people chose to try, or to display, +their oratorical abilities. Dr Goldsmith, I remember, made an attempt +at a speech, but was obliged to sit down in confusion. I once heard +Doctor Johnson speak there, upon a subject relating to Mechanics, with +a propriety, perspicuity, and energy which excited general admiration." +On the other hand, we have the testimony of Boswell that Johnson did +not distinguish himself as a speaker in the Adelphi. "I remember that +it was observed by Mr Flood, that Johnson, having been long used to +sententious brevity and the short flights of conversation, might +have failed in that continued and expanded kind of argument which is +requisite in stating complicated matters in public speaking; and, as +a proof of this, he mentioned the supposed speeches in Parliament, +written by him for the magazine, none of which, in his opinion, were at +all like real debates. The opinion of one who was himself so eminent +an orator must be allowed to have great weight. It was confirmed by +Sir William Scott [Baron Stowell, the great Admiralty lawyer], who +mentioned that Johnson had told him that he had several times tried +to speak in the Society of Arts and Manufactures, but 'had found he +could not get on.' From Mr William Gerard Hamilton, I have heard that +Johnson, when observing to him that it was prudent for a man who had +not been accustomed to speak in public to begin his speech in as simple +a manner as possible, acknowledged that he rose in that Society to +deliver a speech which he had prepared; 'but,' said he, 'all my flowers +of oratory forsook me.'" + +I am sorry to destroy a long-cherished illusion, but the worthy +Dr Kippis is in error in "remembering" Goldsmith attempting to +make a speech in "the great room" of the Society of Arts. This +room was not opened until 1774, and on April 4th of that year, +Goldsmith--unfortunately for the Kippis tradition--with a mind ill at +ease, departed life. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 28: J. Saunders, in Knight's _London_, vol. v., pp. 359-360.] + +[Footnote 29: Owen Salusbury Brereton (1715-1798), antiquary; recorder +of Liverpool, 1742-98; vice-president, Society of Arts, 1765-98; M.P. +for Ilchester, 1775-80.] + +[Footnote 30: The above descriptions of Barry's famous pictures in +the Adelphi are taken from Brayley's _Beauties of England and Wales, +Middlesex_, vol. iii., part ii., pp. 235-241.] + +[Footnote 31: _London Past and Present_, vol. i., pp. 71-2.] + +[Footnote 32: Vol. iv., p. 266.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + David Garrick--His Residence in the Adelphi--Founds the Drury Lane + Fund--His Last Appearance on the Stage--Honoured by Parliament--The + Friendship of Mr and Mrs Garrick for Hannah More--Their + Correspondence--Garrick helps the Production of _Percy_--Presents his + Buckles to Hannah More--The Production of _Percy_--Garrick's Prologue + gives Offence--Garrick brings Hannah More's Dinner from the Adelphi to + the "Turk's Head"--The Literary Club--His Last Illness and Death. + + +THE shades of David Garrick and Dr Johnson must haunt the Adelphi. +Johnson was a constant visitor here. The Adelphi buildings are very +much as they were in his lifetime, whereas most of his Fleet Street +habitations are either swept away or sadly marred. But, although the +Embankment and the Gardens below Adelphi Terrace have taken the place +of the unsightly wharves and the muddy river of Johnson's day, the +house occupied by David Garrick for some six or seven years before +his death, and wherein he died, is still standing. The great actor +purchased the property, and, consequently, we may look in vain for +any mention of it in the _Particulars_ of _the Adelphi Lottery_, to +which I have already made reference. During these last few years of +his life, Garrick--who spent the summer at his country residence at +Hampton--busied himself in the foundation of a great charitable bequest +for his fellow-players. At his suggestion, and upon his advice, the +Drury Lane Fund was established, a special Act of Parliament, for which +he provided all the necessary expenses, being obtained for the sanction +and support of the institution, in January, 1776. He also gave to it +all the money which he received on the occasion of his taking leave +of the stage. "It is computed that by the product of his labours, in +acting annually capital parts, and by donations of one kind or another, +he bestowed for this beneficial institution a capital of near 4,500 L." + +It was from his house in the Adelphi--No. 5, the centre house of the +Terrace--which, by the way, was then known as Royal Terrace--that the +great actor set out on the eventful 10th of June, 1776, for the stage +of Drury Lane Theatre, whereon he then made his last appearance. He +acted Don Felix, in Mrs Centlivre's comedy, _The Wonder, a Woman keeps +a Secret_. He had previously disposed of his interest in the patent, +for the sum of £35,000, to Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Richard Ford. +Before his actual farewell, he gave the public an opportunity of +seeing him in several of his other favourite characters, including +Hamlet, Richard III., and King Lear. He only acted Richard once during +his farewell season, and that was by command of George III. "His +Majesty," we are told, "was much surprised to see him, in an age so +advanced" (he was just then sixty years old) "run about the field of +battle with so much fire, force, and agility." On the conclusion of +his performance of Don Felix, Garrick approached the footlights, "with +much palpitation of mind, and visible emotion in his countenance. No +premeditation could prepare him for this affecting scene. He bowed--he +paused--the spectators were all attention. After a short struggle +of nature, he recovered from the shock," and thus addressed the +audience:--"Ladies and gentlemen, it has been customary with persons +under my circumstances to address you in a farewell epilogue. I had the +same intention, and turned my thoughts that way; but indeed I found +myself then as incapable of writing such an epilogue as I should be +now of speaking it. The jingle of rhyme and the language of fiction +would but ill suit my present feelings. This is to me a very awful +moment; it is no less than parting for ever with those from whom I have +received the greatest kindness and favours, and upon the spot where +that kindness and those favours were received." (Here he was unable to +proceed till he was relieved by a shower of tears.) "Whatever may be +the changes of my future life, the deepest impression of your kindness +will always remain here" (putting his hand on his breast), "fixed and +unalterable. I will very readily agree to my successors having more +skill and ability for their station than I have; but I defy them all to +take more sincere and more uninterrupted pains for your favour, or to +be more truly sensible of it than is your humble servant." The crowded +and brilliant audience rewarded the actor with renewed acclamations and +many tears; and, making a "profound obeisance," he left the stage. + +Garrick, despite his retirement from the theatre, still took great +interest in it. He read and approved the tragedy of _Percy_, which +had been written by Hannah More, the religious writer (1745-1833), +and was instrumental in its production, at Covent Garden, in 1777. He +also wrote the prologue and the epilogue to the play. He frequently +attended the debates in the House of Commons. In the spring of 1777, +he unwittingly provoked a marked compliment to his splendid position +in the great world of artistic and literary London. Happening to +be present in the Strangers' Gallery during a certain motion which +produced some bickering between two right honourable gentlemen, +"which proceeded to such a degree of warmth that the Speaker had +to interfere," an unhappy member for Shropshire, observing that +Garrick was seated in the Gallery, thereupon moved a resolution for +the clearing of the House. "Roscius," however, managed to withdraw +himself from further observation, and thus avoided the consequences +of the ungenerous suggestion. The same unfortunate member, on the +following day, essayed to address the House on the impropriety of +suffering players to hear the debates, whereupon no less a person than +Edmund Burke arose, and, appealing to the honourable assembly, asked +whether "it could possibly be consistent with the rules of decency and +liberality to exclude from the hearing of their debates a man to whom +they were all obliged, one who was the great master of eloquence, in +whose school they had all imbibed the art of speaking and been taught +the elements of rhetoric. For his part, he owned that he had been +greatly indebted to his instructions. Much more he said in commendation +of Mr Garrick, and was warmly seconded by Mr Fox and Mr T. Townshend, +who very copiously displayed the great merit of their old preceptor, as +they termed him; they reprobated the motion of the gentleman with great +warmth and indignation."[33] The House, with almost complete unanimity, +concurred in this eulogium, and the actor, returning to the Adelphi, +wrote the following lines on the subject:-- + + "Squire B----n rose with deep intent, + And notify'd to Parliament + That I, it was a shame and sin, + When others were shut out, got in; + Asserting in his wise oration, + I glory'd in my situation. + I own my features might betray + Peculiar joy I felt that day. + I glory when my mind is feasted + With dainties it has seldom tasted; + When reason chooses Fox's tongue, + To be more rapid, clear, and strong; + When from his classic urn Burke pours + A copious stream through banks of flowers; + When Barré stern, with accents deep, + Calls up Lord North, and murders sleep; + And if his Lordship rise to speak, + Then wit and argument awake: + When Rigby speaks, and all may hear him, + Who can withstand, _ridendo verum_? + When Thurlow's words attention bind, + The spell's of a superior mind. + Now, whether I were Whig or Tory, + This was a time for me to glory; + My glory farther still extends, + For most of these I call my friends: + But if, Squire B----n, you were hurt, + To see me, as you thought, so pert, + You might have punish'd my transgression, + And damp'd the ardour of expression. + A brute there is whose voice confounds, + And frights all others with strange sounds; + Had you, your matchless pow'rs displaying, + Like him, Squire B----n, set a-braying, + I should have lost all exultation, + Nor gloried in my situation." + +[Illustration: THE FOX-UNDER-THE-HILL.] + +The strong bond of friendship which existed between Hannah More and Mr +and Mrs Garrick is one of the most remarkable events in the history +of literature and the stage. On the one side, there was unbounded +admiration for the great actor; on the other, Garrick and his wife +evidently held the young writer in the highest esteem. The letters +written, and received by, Hannah More, from the time of her first +meeting with Garrick, until the death of his widow, form a charming +note in the lives of these three people. They bridge over the years +1776 to 1822. In the former year, it should be borne in mind, the +actor was nearly sixty years old, his wife a little younger, while +Hannah More was but thirty-one years of age. The affection of the +elderly couple for their young protégée is remarkable, and, curiously +enough, the career of the latter began with Garrick's leaving the +stage. On June 10, 1776, Hannah More writes to David Garrick: "I think, +by the time this reaches you, I may congratulate you on the end of +your labours and the completion of your fame--a fame which has had no +parallel, and will have no end. Yet whatever reputation the world may +ascribe to you, I, who have had the happy privilege of knowing you +intimately, shall always think you derived your greatest glory from the +temperance with which you enjoyed it and the true greatness of mind +with which you lay it down. Surely, to have suppressed your talents +in the moment of your highest capacity for exercising them, does as +much honour to your heart as the exertion itself did to your dramatic +character; but I cannot trust myself with this subject, because I am +writing to the man himself; yet I ought to be indulged, for is not +the recollection of my pleasures all that is left me of them? Have I +not seen in one season that man act seven-and-twenty times, and rise +each time in excellence, and shall I be silent? Have I not spent three +months under the roof of that man and his dear charming lady, and +received from them favours that would take me another three months to +tell over, and shall I be silent? + +"But highly as I enjoy your glory (for I do enjoy it most heartily, +and seem to partake it too, as I think a ray of it falls on all your +friends), yet I tremble for your health. It is impossible you can do +so much mischief to the nerves of other people without hurting your +own,--in _Richard_ especially, where your murders are by no means +confined to the Tower: but you assassinate your whole audience who have +hearts. I say, I tremble lest you should suffer for all this; but it is +now over, as I hope are the bad effects of it upon yourself. You may +break your wand at the end of your trial, when you lay down the office +of _haut intendant_ of the passions; but the enchantment it raised you +can never break, while the memories and feelings remain of those who +were ever admitted into the magic circle. + +"This letter is already of a good impudent length, and to the person, +of all others, who has the least time to read nonsense. I will not +prolong my impertinence, but to beg and conjure that I may hear a +little bit about your finishing night. The least scrap--printed or +manuscript--paragraph or advertisement--merry or serious--verse or +prose, will be thankfully received, and hung up in the temple of +reliques. + +"Pray tell my sweet Mrs Garrick I live on the hope of hearing from her. +And tell her further that she and you have performed a miracle, for you +have loaded one person with obligations, and have not made an ingrate." + +A few months later Hannah More beseeches Garrick to write her a +prologue to _Percy_. Garrick received her letter just as he was +about to leave the Adelphi for a trip on the river. But he replied +immediately, in the following characteristic way: "Write you an +epilogue! Give you a pinch of snuff! By the greatest good luck in the +world, I received your letter when I was surrounded with ladies and +gentlemen, setting out upon a party to go up the Thames. Our expedition +will take us seven or eight days upon the most limited calculations. +They would hardly allow me a moment to write this scrawl: I snatched up +the first piece of paper (and a bad one it is) to tell you how unhappy +I am that I cannot confer upon you so small a favour directly. If you +will let me know immediately, by a line directed to me at the Adelphi, +for whom you intend the epilogue, and what are her or his strong marks +of character in the play (for my copy is in town, or with Miss Young), +I will do my best on my return. I must desire you not to rely upon me +this time, on account of my present situation; I could as soon sleep +in a whirlwind as write among these ladies, and I shall be so fatigued +with talking myself, and hearing them talk, or I could sit up all night +to obey your commands." + +Garrick complied with the request, and Hannah More writes, on June +16, 1777, to thank him: "I beg to return you my hearty thanks for +your goodness in sending me your delightful prologue. That you should +think me not unworthy to possess so great a treasure flatters more +than my vanity. And that you should send it me so soon makes it doubly +gratifying. I have read and re-read it with all the malice of a friend, +and pronounce that I never read a sweeter or more beautiful thing.... +Many thanks, dear sir, for your good and wholesome advice about my +play. I do nothing, except regret my own idleness. I tremble for my +fifth act; but I am afraid I shall never make others tremble at it. My +love and duty to my sweet Mrs Garrick, and my thankful compliments to +the young lady to whose transcription I am so much obliged; she is +astonishingly correct, not the smallest error." + +Hannah More was then invited to visit the Garricks. "As soon as I got +to London," she writes to her sister, "I drove straight to the Adelphi, +where, to my astonishment, I found a coach waiting for me to carry me +to Hampton. Upon my arrival here, I was immediately put in possession +of my old chamber. Garrick is all good humour, vivacity, and wit. +While I think of it, I must treat you with a little distich which Mrs +Barbauld wrote extempore, on my showing my Felix Buckles (the elegant +buckles which Garrick wore the last time he ever acted, and with which +he presented me as a relic): + + 'Thy buckles, O Garrick, thy friend may now use, + But no mortal hereafter shall tread in thy shoes?'" + +Where, I wonder, are those "Felix Buckles" now, with their double +association of David Garrick and Hannah More! During this visit to +the Garricks, the company who "did honour" to the actor and his wife +included Dr Burney, Sheridan, Lord Palmerston, and others of note. +"Roscius" was in the best of spirits and "literally kept the table in +a roar for four hours. He told his famous story of 'Jack Pocklington' +in a manner so entirely new, and so infinitely witty, that the company +have done nothing but talk of it ever since. I have often heard this +story: it is of a person who came to offer himself for the stage, with +an impediment in his speech. He gives the character, too, in as strong +a manner as Fielding could have done." + +Hannah More was brought into very close relationship with the Garricks +in the autumn of 1777, through the play in which Garrick had interested +himself. On October 17, he sends a letter to her from the Adelphi: +"Shame! shame! shame! You may well say so, my dear madam; but indeed +I have been so disagreeably entertained with the gout running all +about me, from head to heel, that I have been unfit for the duties of +friendship; and very often for those which a good husband, and a good +friend, should never fail performing. I must gallop over this small +piece of paper; it was the first I snatched up, to tell you that my +wife has your letter, and thinks it a fine one and a sweet one. + +"I was at court to-day, and such work they made with me, from the +Archbishop of Canterbury to the Page of the Back Stairs, that I have +been suffocated with compliments. We have wanted you at some of our +private hours. Where's the Nine? We want the Nine![34] Silent was every +muse! + +"Cambridge said yesterday, in a large company at the Bishop of +Durham's, where I dined, that your ode to my house-dog was a very +witty production; and he thought there was nothing to be altered or +amended except in the last stanza, which he thought the only weak +one. I am afraid that you asked me to do something for you about the +parliament, which in my multitude of matters was overlooked; pray, if +it is of consequence, let me know it again, and you may be assured of +the intelligence you want. + +"The last new tragedy, _Semiramis_,[35] has, though a bare translation, +met with great success. The prologue is a bad one, as you may read in +the papers, by the author: the epilogue is grave, but a sweet pretty +elegant morsel, by Mr Sheridan; it had deservedly great success. Mr +Mason's _Caractacus_[36] is not crowded, but the men of taste, and +classical men, admire it much. Mrs Garrick sends a large parcel of +love to you all. I send mine in the same bundle. Pray write soon, and +forgive me all my delinquencies." Writing to her sister in November, +on the eve of the production of _Percy_, Hannah More says: "It is +impossible to tell you of all the kindness and friendship of the +Garricks; he thinks of nothing, talks of nothing, writes of nothing +but _Percy_. He is too sanguine; it will have a fall, and so I tell +him. When Garrick had finished his prologue and epilogue (which are +excellent) he desired I would pay him. Dryden, he said, used to have +five guineas a piece, but as he was a richer man he would be content +if I would treat him with a handsome supper and a bottle of claret. We +haggled sadly about the price, I insisting that I could only afford to +give him a beefsteak and a pot of porter; and at about twelve we sat +down to some toast and honey, with which the temperate bard contented +himself. Several very great ones made interest to hear Garrick read the +play, which he peremptorily refused. I supped on Wednesday night at Sir +Joshua's, spent yesterday morning at the Chancellor's, and the evening +at Mrs Boscawen's, Lady Bathurst being of the party." + +Then comes another note, from _Mr Garrick's study, Adelphi, ten at +night_: "He himself puts the pen into my hand, and bids me say that all +is just as it should be. Nothing was ever more warmly received. I went +with Mr and Mrs Garrick; sat in Mr Harris's box, in a snug dark corner, +and behaved very well, that is, very quietly. The prologue and epilogue +were received with bursts of applause; so indeed was the whole; as much +beyond my expectation as my deserts! Mr Garrick's kindness has been +unceasing." + +[Illustration: + + _Hollar._ 1630. + + YORK HOUSE. YORK STAIRS. DURHAM HOUSE.] + +_Percy_, it may be observed, was Hannah More's most important play. The +author had previously published a pastoral drama, _The Search after +Happiness_, for the edification of school children, and her tragedy, +_The Inflexible Captive_, was acted on one occasion in Bath. Her +fourth play, _The Fatal Falsehood_, failed, at Covent Garden, in 1779. +The success of _Percy_ was largely due to Garrick's friendly help. +Wroughton, "Gentleman" Lewis, and Mrs Crawford played the principal +parts. Garrick wrote the epilogue, as well as the prologue, and, by +the following lines from the latter, gave great offence to a French +lady, Mlle. D'Eon, a reputed natural daughter of Louis XV., who had a +"violent passion" for the military dress of an officer in preference to +the gown and petticoat of her own sex: + + "To rule the man our sex dame Nature teaches; + Mount the high horse we can, and make long speeches; + Nay, and with dignity, some wear the breeches. + And why not wear them?-- + Did not a lady-knight, late chevalier, + A brave smart soldier in your eyes appear? + Hey! presto? pass! His sword becomes a fan; + A comely woman rising from a man! + The French their Amazonian maid invite; + She goes--alike well skill'd to talk or write, + Dance, ride, negotiate, scold, coquet, or fight. + If she should set her heart upon a rover, + And he prove false, she'd kick her faithless lover." + +In January, 1778, Hannah More, flushed with the success of her tragedy, +was paying a round of visits in London. On one night she dined with +Mrs Delany, Mrs Boscawen, and the Duchess of Portland: on the next, +"at the Garricks with the sour crout party"--a weekly dinner in the +Adelphi of learned men (sour crout being one of the dishes), to which +Hannah More was always invited. She was taken ill during this month, +and Mrs Garrick tried to induce her to stay with her, an invitation +which was not accepted. Mrs Garrick "would have gone herself to fetch +me a physician, and insisted upon sending me my dinner, which I +refused; but at six this evening, when Garrick came to the Turk's Head +to dine, there accompanied him, in the coach, a minced chicken in the +stew-pan, hot, a canister of her fine tea, and a pot of cream. Were +there ever such people! Tell it not in Epic, or in Lyric, that the +great Roscius rode with a stew-pan of minced meat with him in the coach +for my dinner." The Turk's Head, by the way, was "a noted rendezvous of +painters" and the home of the Artists' Club before, in the year 1764, +Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds founded the famous "Literary Club," +the members of which met weekly for supper and conversation. Garrick +had been a member for three years when he brought the invalid's repast +from the Adelphi to the Turk's Head--which was in Gerrard Street, at +the corner of Greek Street and Compton Street. The actor was also kind +enough to invest the profit on _Percy_, on the best security and at +five per cent., so that it made a considerable addition to the income +of the young writer. + +On a certain memorable Thursday, in 1778, Hannah More dined with the +Garricks in the Adelphi, and, in the evening, Garrick accompanied his +guest to a reception given by Sir Joshua Reynolds; the party included +Gibbon, Johnson, Hermes Harris, Burney, Chambers, Ramsey, the Bishop of +St Asaph, Boswell, and Langton; "and scarce an expletive man or woman +among them. Garrick put Johnson into such good spirits that I never +knew him so entertaining or more instructive. He was as brilliant as +himself, and as good-humoured as any one else." + +The end of a great career was, unhappily, now approaching. Mr and +Mrs Garrick had been invited to spend the Christmas of 1778 at the +country seat of Earl Spencer, where they were honoured guests. In the +midst of the festivities, Garrick was seized with a return of an old +disorder--an affection of the kidneys. Early in January, however, he +had so far recovered that he was able to travel to London. He arrived +at his house in the Adelphi on January 15, and several physicians +were called in. One of them, seeing that the illness was serious, and +knowing that its course was certain, thought it necessary to tell the +actor that, if he had any worldly affairs to settle, "it would be +prudent to dispatch them as soon as possible." But Garrick made answer +that nothing of that sort lay on his mind, that he was not afraid to +die. About two days before his death, he was visited by an old friend, +who was persuaded to stay and dine with Mrs Garrick, who was greatly +fatigued by her long and constant attendance upon her husband, a duty +to which she invariably attended. While she was talking to the friend, +the dying actor came into the room; "but, oh! how changed! divested of +that vivacity and sprightliness which used to accompany everything he +said and everything he did! His countenance was sallow and wan, his +movements slow and solemn. He was wrapped in a rich night-gown, not +unlike that which he always wore in Lusignan, the venerable old king of +Jerusalem [in _Zara_]; he presented himself to the imagination of his +friend as if he was just ready to act that character. He sat down; and +during the space of an hour, the time he remained in the room, he did +not utter a word. He rose, and withdrew to his chamber. Mrs Garrick and +the Gentleman dined." What a sad dinner that must have been! + +Just before his death, Garrick confided to a friend that he did +not regret being childless, for he knew that the quickness of his +feelings was so great that, in case it had been his misfortune to have +disobedient children, he could not have borne such an affliction. +On seeing a number of gentlemen in his apartment a few hours before +the end, he enquired who they were, and, on being told that they +were physicians who sought to do him service, he shook his head, and +repeated the following lines from Nicholas Rowe's _Fair Penitent_:-- + + "Another, and another, still succeeds; + And the last fool is welcome as the former." + +He died, with great composure, at eight o'clock on the morning of +January 20, 1779. On Monday, February 1, the body was conveyed from the +Adelphi to Westminster Abbey, and interred in Poet's Corner, a spot +made still further memorable in the annals of the stage by the burial +here--and close by the graves of David Garrick and Samuel Johnson--of +the remains of Henry Irving. + +Before describing the magnificent funeral procession of David Garrick +from the Adelphi, let me glance for a moment at the widow of the +great actor and her deportment on this sad occasion. Thanks to Hannah +More--who had risen from a sick-bed, in Bristol, and had travelled +post-haste to London, at the express desire of her friend--we get a +most interesting account of Mrs Garrick at the time of her husband's +death:-- + +"She was prepared for meeting me; she ran into my arms, and we both +remained silent for some minutes; at last she whispered--'I have this +moment embraced his coffin, and you come next.' She soon recovered +herself, and said with great composure, 'The goodness of God to +me is inexpressible; I desired to die, but it is His will that I +should live, and He has convinced me He will not let my life be quite +miserable, for He gives astonishing strength to my body and _grace_ +to my heart!--neither do I deserve; but I am thankful for both!' She +thanked me a thousand times for such a real act of friendship, and +bade me be comforted, for it was God's will. She told me they had just +returned from Althorp, Lord Spencer's, where he had been reluctantly +dragged, for he had felt unwell for some time; but during his visit he +was often in such fine spirits that they could not believe he was ill. +On his return home he appointed Dr Cadogan to meet him, who ordered him +an emetic, the warm bath, and the usual remedies, but with very little +effect. On the Sunday he was in good spirits and free from pain; but as +the suppression still continued, Dr Cadogan became extremely alarmed, +and sent for Pott, Heberden, and Schomberg, who gave him up the moment +they saw him. Poor Garrick stared to see his room full of doctors, not +being conscious of his real state. No change happened till the Tuesday +evening, when the surgeon who was sent for to blister and bleed him +made light of his illness, assuring Mrs Garrick that he would be well +in a day or two, and insisted on her going to lie down. Towards morning +she desired to be called if there was the least change. Every time that +she administered the draughts to him in the night, he always squeezed +her hand in a particular manner, and spoke to her with the greatest +tenderness and affection. Immediately after he had taken his last +medicine, he softly said, "Oh! dear," and yielded up his spirit without +a groan, in his perfect senses. His behaviour during the night was all +gentleness and patience, and he frequently made apologies to those +about him for the trouble he gave them. + +"I paid a melancholy visit to his coffin yesterday, where I found food +for meditation, till the mind 'burst with thinking.' His new house is +not so pleasant as Hampton, nor so splendid as the Adelphi, but it is +commodious enough for all the wants of its inhabitant; and besides, it +is so quiet that he will never be disturbed till the eternal morning, +and never till then will a sweeter voice than his own be heard. May +he then find mercy! They are preparing to hang the house with black, +for he is to lie in state until Monday. I dislike this pageantry, +and cannot help thinking that the disembodied spirit must look with +contempt upon the farce that is played over its miserable relics. But a +splendid funeral could not be avoided, as he is to be laid in the Abbey +with such illustrious dust, and so many are desirous of testifying +their respect by attending." + +While the preparations were being made for the funeral, Mrs Garrick +stayed at the house of a friend. But after the funeral she returned +to the Adelphi. Hannah More, who came back with her, writes: "On +Wednesday night we came to the Adelphi--to this house! She bore it +with great tranquillity; but what was my surprise to see her go alone +into the chamber and bed in which he had died that day fortnight. She +had a delight in it beyond expression. I asked her the next day how +she went through it? She told me, 'Very well'; that she first prayed +with great composure, then went and kissed the dear bed, and got into +it with a sad pleasure." In reference to Garrick's death, the same +writer also says: "I can never cease to remember with affection and +gratitude, so warm, steady, and disinterested a friend; and I can +most truly bear this testimony to his memory, that I never witnessed, +in any family, more decorum, propriety, and regularity than in his: +where I never saw a card, or even met (except in one instance) a +person of his own profession at his table: of which Mrs Garrick, by +her elegance of taste, her correctness of manners, and very original +turn of humour, was the brightest ornament. All his pursuits and tastes +were so decidedly intellectual, that it made the society, and the +conversation which was always to be found in his circle, interesting +and delightful." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 33: Davies' _Memoirs of the Life of David Garrick_, 1784, +vol. ii., p. 356.] + +[Footnote 34: "The Nine," Garrick's favourite way of addressing Hannah +More.] + +[Footnote 35: Voltaire's tragedy, produced at Drury Lane.] + +[Footnote 36: A "dramatic poem," on the model of Greek tragedy.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + Garrick's Funeral from the Adelphi--Johnson's Opinion of Garrick: + "A Liberal Man"--His Death "Eclipsed the Gaiety of Nations"--Topham + Beauclerk and Johnson--Mrs Garrick's famous Dinner Party--Johnson + and other Celebrities Present--Described by Hannah More and + Boswell--Johnson's Morning Visit to Adelphi Terrace--Hannah More's + Life Here--Another Dinner Party--Death of Mrs Garrick--Shakespeare's + Gloves sent to Mrs Siddons from the Adelphi--Goldsmith writes from a + Sponging-House to Garrick in the Adelphi--Becket, the Bookseller. + + +THE funeral procession which wended its way from the Adelphi Terrace, +through Adam Street to the Strand and thence by way of Whitehall +to Westminster Abbey, on that winter's morning in February, 1779, +was a lengthy and imposing one, though nowadays we should consider +such pomp and circumstance very lugubrious. First of all, came four +porters on horseback, their staffs, or wands of office, covered +with black silk and scarves. Then came six other men, with mourning +cloaks, followed by another official bearing a heavily-draped pennon. +Then came other six men carrying a surcoat of arms, a helmet with +crest, wreath, and mantlet. A state lid of black ostrich feathers, +surrounded by escutcheons, immediately preceded the hearse, which was +'full-dressed'--that is to say, it bore at each corner and on the sides +waving black ostrich plumes. A state coach, empty, and with a page on +each side, was followed by a mourning coach containing the clergy from +St Martin's-in-the-Fields. Then came six more mourning coaches "with +the pall-bearers, two in each coach, six pages on each side. A ditto, +with the chief mourners, a page on each side. A ditto, with three +family ditto. A ditto, with three physicians. A ditto, with surgeon +and apothecaries, a page on each side. A ditto, with Messrs Sheridan +and Harris, a page on each side. Three ditto, with a deputation of +twelve gentlemen, performers from Drury-Lane theatre, three pages +on each side. Two men in mourning, on horseback, with cloaks, etc. +Three ditto, with a deputation of twelve gentlemen, performers from +Covent-garden theatre, three pages on each side. Two men in mourning, +on horseback, with cloaks, etc. Four mourning coaches, with the members +of the literary club, four pages on each side. Two men in mourning, +on horseback, with cloaks. Seven coaches with intimate friends of the +deceased, seven pages on each side. Mr Garrick's coach, empty. All the +gentlemen's family coaches, empty."[37] The body was received at the +great west door of the Abbey, about three o'clock, by the Bishop of +Rochester, Dean of Westminster, who, attended by the clergy and choir, +preceded the corpse up the centre aisle, during which time Purcell's +funeral music was played and sung.[38] + +Among those who followed the mournful procession from the Adelphi +were Lord Camden, the Lord Chancellor; the Earl of Ossory; the +Duke of Devonshire; Earl Spencer; the Right Hon. Richard Rigby, +and Viscount Palmerston, who, with others, were the pall-bearers. +The mourning coaches also contained Dr Johnson; George Colman, the +elder, the dramatist; John Dunning, afterwards Baron Ashburton, whose +_Inquiry into the Doctrines lately promulgated concerning Juries, +Libels_, etc., was pronounced by Horace Walpole "the finest piece +... written for liberty since Lord Somers"; Edmund Burke; Colonel +Isaac Barré, the Irish soldier and politician; the Hon. Charles Fox; +Lord Charles Spencer; the deputy usher of the black rod; and many +other distinguished men. The committee from Drury Lane consisted of +Richard Yates, Tom King, Vernon, William Parsons, James Dodd--an actor +who, according to Charles Lamb, "was a man of reading, and left at +his death a choice collection of old English literature"--Aickin, +John Palmer--an incomparable Joseph Surface--W. Bensley--the great +Malvolio of his day--William Brereton, John Moody, and Robert Baddeley. +From Covent Garden, there came "Gentleman" Lewis, Lee Lewes, John +Quick--George III.'s favourite comedian--and some nine other players of +good repute. It was said at the time that a greater concourse of people +attended than was ever known on a similar occasion. + +Johnson, as all students of the stage are aware, had a sincere +admiration for Garrick, a fact that is proved by several references +in the pages of Boswell. A few months before the death of the player, +Johnson and Boswell dined with William Scott, in his chambers in +the Temple. The conversation turned upon fame, and Boswell "slily +introduced" the name of David Garrick, "and his assuming the airs of +a great man. _Johnson_: 'Sir, it is wonderful how _little_ Garrick +assumes. No, Sir, Garrick _fortunam reverenter habet_. Consider, +Sir,--celebrated men such as you have mentioned have had their applause +at a distance; but Garrick had it dashed in his face, sounded in his +ears, and went home every night with the plaudits of a thousand in +his cranium. Then, Sir, Garrick did not _find_, but _made_ his way +to the tables, the levees, and almost the bedchambers of the great. +Then, Sir, Garrick had under him a numerous body of people; who, from +fears of his power and hopes of his favour, and admiration of his +talents, were constantly submissive to him. And here is a man who has +advanced the dignity of his profession. Garrick has made a player a +higher character.' _Scott_: 'And he is a very sprightly writer too.' +_Johnson_: 'Yes, Sir; and all this supported by great wealth of his own +acquisition. If all this had happened to me, I should have had a couple +of fellows with long poles walking before me, to knock down everybody +that stood in the way. Consider, if all this had happened to Cibber or +to Quin, they'd have jumped over the moon. Yet Garrick speaks to _us_' +(smiling). _Boswell_: 'And Garrick is a very good man, a charitable +man.' _Johnson_: 'Sir, a liberal man. He has given away more money than +any man in England. There may be a little vanity mixed; but he has +shown that money is not his first object.' _Boswell_: 'Yet Foote used +to say of him, that he walked out with the intention to do a generous +action, but turning the corner of a street, he met the ghost of a +halfpenny, which frightened him.' _Johnson_: 'Why, Sir, that is very +true, too; for I never knew a man of whom it could be said with less +certainty to-day what he will do to-morrow, than Garrick; it depends +so much on his humour at the time.' _Scott_: 'I am glad to hear of his +liberality. He has been represented as very saving.' _Johnson_: 'With +his domestic saving we have nothing to do. I remember drinking tea with +him long ago, when Peg Woffington made it, and he grumbled at her for +making it too strong. He had begun to feel money in his purse, and did +not know when he should have enough of it!'" + +Shortly after Garrick's death, Johnson accorded the actor praise +that was even greater. The occasion was a dinner party, on April 24, +1779, at Topham Beauclerk's, at which Sir Joshua Reynolds, as well as +Johnson and Boswell, was present. Boswell mentioned that John Wilkes +had spoken of Garrick as a man who had no friend, a contention which +Johnson allowed to be right. "'He had friends, but no friend,' he said. +'Garrick was so diffused, he had no man to whom he wished to unbosom +himself. He found people always ready to applaud him, and that always +for the same thing; so he saw life with great uniformity.'" Whereupon, +Boswell, taking upon himself "for once, to fight with Goliath's +weapons, and play the sophist," said: "'Garrick did not need a friend, +as he got from everybody all that he wanted. What is a friend? One +who supports and comforts you, while others do not. Friendship, you +know, Sir, is the cordial drop "to make the nauseous draught of life +go down"; but if the draught be not nauseous, if it be all sweet, +there is no occasion for that drop.' _Johnson_: 'Many men would not +be content to live so. I hope I should not. They would wish to have +an intimate friend, with whom they might compare minds and cherish +private virtues.'" One of the company mentioned Lord Chesterfield as +a man who had no friend. "_Johnson_: 'There were more materials to +make friendship in Garrick, had he not been so diffused.' _Boswell_: +'Garrick was pure gold, but beat out to thin leaf. Lord Chesterfield +was tinsel.' _Johnson_: 'Garrick was a very good man, the most cheerful +man of his age; a decent liver in a profession which is supposed to +give indulgence to licentiousness; and a man who gave away, freely, +money acquired by himself. He began the world with a great hunger for +money; the son of a half-pay officer, bred in a family whose study was +to make fourpence do as much as others made fourpence halfpenny do. But +when he had got money he was very liberal.' I presumed to animadvert +on his eulogy on Garrick, in his _Lives of the Poets_. 'You say, Sir, +his death eclipsed the gaiety of nations.' _Johnson_: 'I could not have +said more or less. It is the truth: _eclipsed_, not _extinguished_; +and his death _did_ eclipse; it was like a storm.' _Boswell_: 'But why +nations? Did his gaiety extend farther than his own nation?' _Johnson_: +'Why, sir, some exaggeration must be allowed. Besides, nations may be +said--if we allow the Scotch to be a nation--to have gaiety--which +they have not. _You_ are an exception, though. Come, gentlemen, +let us candidly admit that there is one Scotchman who is cheerful.' +_Beauclerk_: 'But he is a very unnatural Scotchman.' I, however, +continued to think the compliment to Garrick hyperbolically untrue. +His acting had ceased some time before his death; at any rate he had +acted in Ireland but a short time, at an early period of his life, and +never in Scotland. I objected also to what appears an anti-climax of +praise, when contrasted with the preceding panegyric, 'and diminished +the public stock of harmless pleasure!' 'Is not _harmless pleasure_ +very tame?' _Johnson_: 'Nay, Sir, harmless pleasure is the highest +praise. Pleasure is a word of dubious import; pleasure is, in general, +dangerous, and pernicious to virtue; to be able, therefore, to furnish +pleasure that is harmless, pleasure pure and unalloyed, is as great a +power as man can possess.'" + +[Illustration: YORK STAIRS AND WATER WORKS.] + +Johnson was a frequent visitor to Adelphi Terrace, for not only was he +on intimate terms with Mr and Mrs Garrick, but another of his friends, +Topham Beauclerk, lived there at one time. From 1757 to 1780, there +are frequent and most kindly allusions to him in the pages of Boswell. +In the former year, he matriculated at Oxford. Here he met another of +Johnson's friends--"High, shy, and dry" Bennet Langton, the eminent +Greek scholar. Beauclerk was a man of culture and of great knowledge +of the world. And he had the good fortune to win the affectionate +regard of Dr Johnson. On March 10, 1768, Lady Diana Spencer, eldest +daughter of the second Duke of Marlborough, was divorced from her +husband, Lord St John and Bolingbroke, and, two days later, she was +married to Beauclerk, to whom "she made an excellent wife." Beauclerk +died, in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, on March 11, 1780. His +extensive library, which was particularly rich in English plays, +history, travel, and science, was dispersed by auction in 1781. + +On Friday, April 20, 1781, there was a memorable dinner party in +Adelphi Terrace, the first of the kind given by Mrs Garrick since the +death of her husband. "We begin now," records Hannah More, who was +staying with Mrs Garrick at the time, "to be a little cheerful at home, +and to have our small parties. One such we have just had, and the day +and evening turned out very pleasant. Johnson was in full song, and I +quarrelled with him sadly. I accused him of not having done justice +to the _Allegro_ and _Penseroso_. He spoke disparagingly of both. I +praised _Lycidas_, which he absolutely abused, adding, 'If Milton had +not written the _Paradise Lost_, he would have only ranked among the +minor poets: he was a Phidias that could cut a Colossus out of a rock, +but could not cut heads out of cherry-stones. + +"Boswell brought to my mind the whole of a very mirthful conversation +at dear Mrs Garrick's, and my being made by Sir William Forbes the +umpire in a trial of skill between Garrick and Boswell, which could +most nearly imitate Dr Johnson's manner. I remember I gave it for +Boswell in familiar conversation, and for Garrick in reciting poetry. +Mrs Boscawen shone with her usual mild lustre." + +Boswell, in recording this auspicious event in the history of the +Adelphi, says that it was "one of the happiest days that I remember to +have enjoyed in the whole course of my life. Mrs Garrick, whose grief +for the loss of her husband was, I believe, as sincere as wounded +affection and admiration could produce, had this day, for the first +time since his death, a select party of his friends to dine with her. +The company was, Miss Hannah More, who lived with her, and whom she +called her chaplain; Mrs Boscawen, Mrs Elizabeth Carter, Sir Joshua +Reynolds, Dr Burney, Dr Johnson, and myself. We found ourselves very +elegantly entertained at her house in the Adelphi, where I have passed +many a pleasing hour with him who gladdened life. She looked well, +talked of her husband with complacency, and while she cast her eyes +on his portrait, which hung over the chimney-piece, said, that 'death +was now the most agreeable object to her.' The very semblance of David +Garrick was cheering. Mr Beauclerk, with happy propriety, inscribed +under that fine portrait of him, which by Lady Diana's kindness is now +the property of my friend, Mr Langton, the following passage from his +beloved Shakespeare:-- + + 'A merrier man, + Within the limit of becoming mirth, + I never spent an hour's talk withal. + His eye begets occasion for his wit; + For every object that the one doth catch, + The other turns to a mirth-moving jest; + Which his fair tongue (Conceit's expositor) + Delivers in such apt and gracious words, + That aged ears play truant at his tales, + And younger hearings are quite ravished; + So sweet and voluble is his discourse.' + +"We were all in fine spirits; and I whispered to Mrs Boscawen, 'I +believe this is as much as can be made of life.' In addition to a +splendid entertainment, we were regaled with Lichfield ale, which had +a peculiar appropriate value. Sir Joshua, and Dr Burney, and I, drank +cordially of it to Dr Johnson's health; and though he would not join +us, he as cordially answered, 'Gentlemen, I wish you all as well as you +do me.' + +"The general effect of this day dwells upon my mind in fond +remembrance: but I do not find much conversation recorded. What I have +preserved shall be faithfully given. + +"One of the company mentioned Mr Thomas Hollis, the strenuous Whig, who +used to send over Europe, presents of democratical books, with their +boards stamped with daggers and caps of liberty. Mrs Carter said, 'he +was a bad man: he used to talk uncharitably.' _Johnson_: 'Poh! poh! +Madam; who is the worse for being talked of uncharitably? Besides, he +was a dull poor creature as ever lived: and I believe he would not have +done harm to a man whom he knew to be of very opposite principles to +his own. I remember once at the Society of Arts, when an advertisement +was to be drawn up, he pointed me out as the man who could do it best. +This, you will observe, was kindness to me. I, however, slipped away, +and escaped it.' + +"Mrs Carter having said of the same person, 'I doubt he was an +atheist.' _Johnson_: 'I don't know that. He might perhaps have become +one, if he had time to ripen (_smiling_). He might have _exuberated_ +into an atheist.' + +"Sir Joshua Reynolds praised _Mudge's Sermons_. _Johnson_: '_Mudge's +Sermons_ are good but not practical. He grasps more corn than he can +make into meal; he opens a wide prospect, but it is so distant, it is +indistinct. I love _Blair's Sermons_. Though the dog is a Scotchman, +and a Presbyterian, and everything he should not be, I was the first to +praise them. Such was my candour' (_smiling_). _Mrs Boscawen_: 'Such +his great merit, to get the better of all your prejudices.' _Johnson_: +'Why, Madam, let us compound the matter; let us ascribe it to my +candour and his merit.' + +"In the evening we had a large company in the drawing-room; several +ladies, the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Percy, Mr Chamberlayne of the +Treasury, &c., &c. Somebody said, the life of a mere literary man could +not be very entertaining. _Johnson_: 'But it certainly may. This is a +remark which has been made, and repeated without justice; why should +the life of a literary man be less entertaining than the life of any +other man? Are there not as interesting varieties in such a life? As +_a literary life_ it may be very entertaining.' _Boswell_: 'But it +must be better surely, when it is diversified with a little active +variety--such as his having gone to Jamaica; or--his having gone to the +Hebrides.' Johnson was not displeased at this. + +"Talking of a very respectable author, he told us a curious +circumstance in his life, which was, that he had married a printer's +devil. _Reynolds_: 'A printer's devil, Sir! Why, I thought a printer's +devil was a creature with a black face and in rags.' _Johnson_: 'Yes, +Sir. But I suppose he had her face washed, and put clean clothes +on her. (Then looking very serious and very earnest.) And she did +not disgrace him;--the woman had a bottom of good sense.' The word +_bottom_, thus introduced, was so ludicrous, when contrasted with his +gravity, that most of us could not forbear tittering and laughing; +though I recollect that the Bishop of Killaloe kept his countenance +with perfect steadiness, while Miss Hannah More slily hid her face +behind a lady's back who sat on the same settee with her. His pride +could not bear that any expression of his should excite ridicule, when +he did not intend it; he therefore resolved to assume and exercise +despotic power, glanced sternly around, and called out, in a strong +tone, 'Where's the merriment?' Then collecting himself, and looking +awful, to make us feel how he could impose restraint, and as it +were searching his mind for a still more ludicrous word, he slowly +pronounced, 'I say the _woman_ was _fundamentally_ sensible'; as if he +had said, hear this now, and laugh if you dare. We all sat composed as +at a funeral. + +"He and I walked away together; we stopped a little while by the rails +of the Adelphi, looking on the Thames, and I said to him, with some +emotion, that I was now thinking of two friends we had lost, who once +lived in the buildings behind us, Beauclerk and Garrick. 'Ay, Sir,' +said he tenderly, 'and two such friends as cannot be supplied.'" + +Hannah More spent many months with Mrs Garrick--the winter at Hampton, +the spring in the Adelphi--after the death of the celebrated player, +and from her letters written in the Adelphi, we obtain several passages +of note, apart from that of the famous dinner party of April 20, 1781. +Thus, early in 1779, soon after Garrick's decease, we find that the +widow and her friend were visited by various ladies: "Mrs Montague +and Mrs Vesey have spent one afternoon with us; and these with Ladies +Bathurst, Edgecombe, and Spencer, are all we have seen." She then goes +on to describe her way of life as being "very different" from what +it used to be in Garrick's time. "After breakfast, I go to my own +apartment for several hours, where I read, write, and work; very seldom +letting anybody in, though I have a room for separate visitors, but I +almost look on a morning visit as an immorality. At four we dine. We +have the same elegant table as usual, but I generally confine myself to +one single dish of meat. I have taken to drink half a glass of wine. At +six we have coffee; at eight tea, when we have, sometimes, a dowager or +two of quality. At ten we have sallad and fruits. Each has her book, +which we read without any restraint, as if we were alone, without +apologies or speech-making." During this visit, her play, _The Fatal +Falsehood_, was produced at Covent Garden, but, as already recorded, +was not a success. It lacked the guiding hand of her old friend. "We +have stolen away for a few days to town," she writes in 1781, "but I +am now so habituated to quiet, that I have scarcely the heart to go +out, though I am come here on purpose. As to poor Mrs Garrick, she +keeps herself as secret as a piece of smuggled goods, and neither stirs +out herself, or lets any body in. The calm of Hampton is such fixed +repose, that an old woman crying fish, or the postman ringing at the +door, is an event which excites attention." + +[Illustration: PEPYS' LIBRARY, BUCKINGHAM STREET, ADELPHI.] + +A little later on, Mrs Garrick and Hannah More were invited to an +assembly at Mrs Thrale's. "Just as my hair was dressed, came a servant +to forbid our coming, for that Mr Thrale was dead. A very few hours +later, and he would have died in this assembly. What an awful event. +He was in the prime of life, but had the misfortune to be too rich, +and to keep too sumptuous a table, at which he indulged too freely. He +was a sensible and respectable man. I am glad the poor lady has, in +her distress, such a friend as Dr Johnson; he will suggest the best +motives of consolation." A few days after this event, "we were a small +and very choice party at Bishop Shipley's. Lord and Lady Spencer, Lord +and Lady Althorpe, Sir Joshua, Langton, Boswell, Gibbon, and, to my +agreeable surprise, Dr Johnson, were there." This was the first meeting +between Johnson and Mrs Garrick since the latter's bereavement, and, +on the next morning, Johnson paid a lengthy visit to the ladies at No. +5 Adelphi Terrace. "On Mrs Garrick's telling him she was always more +at her ease with persons who had suffered the same loss with herself, +he said that was a comfort she could seldom have, considering the +superiority of his [Garrick's] merit, and cordiality of their union. He +bore his strong testimony to the liberality of Garrick. He reproved +me with pretended sharpness for reading _Les Pensées de Pascal_, or +any of the Port Royal authors; alleging that, as a good Protestant, +I ought to abstain from books written by Catholics. I was beginning +to stand upon my defence, when he took me with both hands, and with +a tear running down his cheeks, 'Child,' said he, with the most +affecting earnestness, 'I am heartily glad that you read pious books, +by whomsoever they may be written.'" Then came the famous dinner party +which Dr Johnson attended, and that was his last visit to the Adelphi, +for, during Hannah More's visits to town in the subsequent years, +prior to Johnson's death in 1784, the Doctor was ailing. So, with +this picture in the mind's eye of the worthy Doctor, in sentimental +mood, now lecturing Hannah More, anon entertaining Mrs Garrick and +her friends, and, finally, looking across the Adelphi railings at the +Thames, as he thought tenderly of his dead friends, we take leave of +Samuel Johnson. + +Mrs Garrick, who was a Catholic, be it said, was by no means +prejudiced, and she gave way to Hannah More's religious scruples: "It +is very considerate in Mrs Garrick, to decline asking company on Sunday +on my account; so that I enjoy the whole day to myself. I swallow no +small portion of theology of different descriptions, as I always +read, when visiting, such books as I do not possess at home. After my +more select reading I have attacked South, Atterbury, and Warburton. +In these great geniuses, and original thinkers, I see many passages +of scripture presented in a striking and strong light. I think it +right to mix their learned labours with the devout effusions of more +spiritual writers, Baxter, Doddridge, Hall, Hopkins, Jeremy Taylor (the +Shakespeare of divinity), and the profound Barrow in turn. I devour +much, but, I fear, digest little. In the evening, I read a sermon and +prayers to the family, which Mrs G. much likes." She frequently went +from the Adelphi to the Church of St Clement Dane's, in the Strand. +It gave her "peculiar pleasure to think" that she "there partook of +the holy sacrament with Johnson the last time he ever received it in +public." + +On a certain Wednesday in 1785, "we had a great dinner at home"--in the +Adelphi--"for the first time this year, Mrs Garrick disliking company +more and more. The party consisted of the Smelts, the Montagus, the +Boyles, the Walsinghams, Mrs Carter, Mr Walpole, and Miss Hamilton. +Though I like them every one separately, yet it was impossible to enjoy +them altogether; and I never desire to sit down with more than six, or +eight at the outside, to dinner." In 1786, she records, with a certain +amount of ingenuousness: "I am this day in the full enjoyment of a +most complete holiday--Mrs Garrick is gone to Hampton. I have refused +all invitations, and have ordered that nobody should be let in, that I +may have the luxury of one quiet uninterrupted day. I woke with great +delight in the very anticipation of it." + +It is a long jump from 1786 to 1814, but Hannah More had many +occupations during this period, and, apparently, but little time for +writing to her old friend, for, in December of the latter year, Mrs +Garrick sends to her, begging for some news of the world. Her letter is +addressed to "My dearest friend," and runs thus: "If you could imagine +how much pleasure a letter from you gives me, you would oftener favour +me with one. As writing is no trouble to you, you might now and then +bestow a moment upon me, to tell me what passes in London; for I am +quite unacquainted with the world of folly. I almost thanked God for +my illness, during all the time that every person ran mad to see for +six weeks together the same thing. Now, if I could have seen the royal +strangers with ease, I should have been glad to have seen them; but as +that was out of my power (if I had been in health), as I have almost +out-lived my London friends, I have seen nothing, so I must trust to +what I am told. + +"Indeed, my beloved friend, I have been very near parting for ever +from this world; but the great care taken of me set me up again +upon my feet, but not so high as my knees, for they are as yet very +_doddering_. But when you consider that I am six months past ninety, +you would say that I am a wonder still if you were to see me. I do not +often shew my teeth, as there is but one and a quarter left. God bless +you all! and love me, as I do you all, from my very soul." The death +of Mrs Garrick occurred on October 16, 1822--over forty-three years +after the death of her husband. She had been invited by Robert William +Elliston to a private view of Drury Lane Theatre, which he had just +redecorated, and, while preparing to leave her house in the Adelphi, +a servant handed her a cup of tea. She had hardly raised it to her +lips when she fell back in her chair, and passed away peacefully, in +her ninety-ninth year. She was interred in Westminster Abbey, close +by the remains of her husband, on October 25. The news of her death +reached Hannah More on October 20, and is thus alluded to by her: "I +was much affected yesterday with a report of the death of my ancient +and valued friend, Mrs Garrick. She was in her hundredth year! I spent +above twenty winters under her roof, and gratefully remember not only +their personal kindness, but my first introduction, through them, into +a society remarkable for rank, literature, and talents. Whatever was +most distinguished in either, was to be found at their table. He was +the very soul of conversation." David Garrick, it may be recorded, died +in the back-room of the first floor of his house, his widow in the +front drawing-room. + +Mrs Garrick was a native of Vienna, where, in her youth, she acquired +much celebrity as a dancer. Her maiden name was Eva Maria Violetta. +She was remarkably beautiful in her face and person, and it is said +that she retained, until the day of her death, that erect deportment +which she had acquired as a dancer. She was married to Garrick in June, +1749, first at a Protestant, then at a Roman Catholic Chapel. After +the testimony already given in these pages, it is almost superfluous +to say that the actor and his wife were a very happy couple. "It is +remarkable," said a public journal at the time of her death, "that +during the whole period of their marriage"--thirty years--"whatever +invitations they received, or excursions they took, they never once +slept asunder." On August 15, 1755, Walpole writes: "I dined to-day +at Garrick's; there were the Duke of Grafton, Lord and Lady Rochford, +Lady Holdernesse, the crooked Mostyn, and Dabreu, the Spanish minister; +two regents, of which one is Lord Chamberlain, the other Groom of the +Stole, and the wife of a Secretary of State. This being _sur un assez +bon ton_ for a player. Don't you want to ask me how I liked him? I +like _her_ exceedingly; her behaviour is all sense, and all sweetness, +too." In 1770, Mrs Delany, Queen Charlotte's friend, visited Garrick's +house at Hampton, and recorded her appreciation of its hostess: "As +to Mrs Garrick, the more one sees her, the better one must like her; +she seems _never_ to depart from a perfect propriety of behaviour, +accompanied with good sense and gentleness of manners." In her +widowhood, she twice refused the hand in marriage of Lord Monboddo, the +Scottish judge, and author of _The Origin of Language_. Dr Doran says +that Mrs Garrick held her own at the Bishop of London's table, "against +the clever men and women who held controversy under Porteus's roof." + +This gentle lady, by a codicil to her will, dated August 15, in the +year of her death, made a most interesting bequest: "I give to Mrs +Siddons a pair of gloves which were Shakespeare's, and were presented +by one of his family to my late dear husband, during the jubilee at +Stratford-upon-Avon." Information of this bequest was conveyed to the +great actress, with this note from Mrs Garrick's executors:-- + + "5 Adelphi Terrace, + _Oct. 30, 1822_. + + "Madam,--We beg leave to transmit to you the above extract from a + codicil to Mrs Garrick's will, and to acquaint you that we will have + the honour of waiting on you, for the purpose of delivering the relic + therein mentioned, whenever you may be so good as to inform us that it + may be convenient to you to receive our visit.--We remain, with much + respect, Madam, Your most obedient humble servants, + + "Thos. Rackett, G.F. Belty, + Executors." + +This connecting link between Shakespeare, Garrick, and Sarah Siddons is +one of the most interesting incidents in connection with the Adelphi. +Garrick is also responsible for a side-light on the life of Oliver +Goldsmith. Forster, in his _Life and Times of Goldsmith_, says that the +alteration of his first comedy for Garrick, even upon Garrick's own +conditions, seems to have suddenly occurred to the impecunious author +as a means of raising money. Goldsmith's two letters on the subject +by chance survived and were transcribed by Forster, who, in regard +to the first one, says that: "As well in the manner as in the matter +of it, the writer's distress is very painfully visible. It has every +appearance, even to the wafer hastily thrust into it, of having been +the sudden suggestion of necessity; it is addressed without date[39] or +place to the Adelphi; nor is it unlikely to have been delivered there +by the messenger of a sponging-house. + + "'My Dear Sir,--Your saying you would play my _Good-Natured Man_ makes + me wish it. The money you advanced me upon Newbery's note I have the + mortification to find is not yet paid, but he says he will in two or + three days. What I mean by this letter is to lend me sixty pound, + for which I will give you Newbery's note, so that the whole of my + debt will be an hundred, for which you shall have Newbery's note as + a security. This may be paid either from my alteration if my benefit + should come to so much, but at any rate I will take care you shall not + be a loser. I will give you a new character in my comedy and knock out + Lofty, which does not do, and will make such other alterations as you + direct.--I am yours, + + "'Oliver Goldsmith. + + "'I beg an answer.' + +"This letter is indorsed in Garrick's handwriting as '_Goldsmith's +parlaver_.' But though it would thus appear to have inspired but little +sympathy or confidence, and the sacrifice of Lofty had come too late +and been too reluctant, Garrick's answer, begged so earnestly, was +not unfavourable. He evaded the altered comedy; spoke of the new one +already mentioned between them; and offered the money required on +Goldsmith's own acceptance.... The second note exhibits such manifest +improvement in the writing as a sudden removal of a sore anxiety +might occasion; but the writer's usual epistolary neatness is still +absent. It is hastily folded up in three-cornered shape, is also sealed +with wafer, and also indorsed by Garrick, '_Goldsmith's parlaver_.' + + "'My Dear Friend, I thank you! I wish I could do something to serve + you. I shall have a comedy for you in a season or two at furthest, + that I believe will be worth your acceptance, for I fancy I will + make it a fine thing. You shall have the refusal. I wish you would + not take up Newbery's note, but let Waller' [probably a mistake for + Wallis, Garrick's solicitor] 'tease him, without, however, coming to + extremities; let him haggle after him and he will get it. He owes it + and will pay it. I'm sorry you are ill. I will draw upon you one month + after date for sixty pound, and your acceptance will be ready money, + part of which I want to go down to Barton with. May God preserve my + honest little man, for he has my heart.--Ever, + + "'Oliver Goldsmith.'" + +A final reminiscence of Garrick and this neighbourhood shows the +actor soliciting the Adam brothers on behalf of Andrew Becket, who, +when the Adelphi was being erected, had a bookseller's shop in the +Strand. He was the son of Thomas Becket, the Pall Mall bookseller, +whose establishment was frequented by Garrick. He must have been +a precocious youth, for, at the age of fourteen, he had written a +comedy founded on Rousseau's _Emile_, and a poem entitled _Theodosius +and Constantia_. Born in 1749, he died in 1843. He was a frequent +contributor to the chief magazines of his day. He had a great grievance +against Ralph Griffiths, the proprietor of the _Monthly Review_, +for having given him only forty-five pounds for nearly five years' +work--280 articles, the result of reading and condensing 590 volumes. +In _Shakespeare Himself Again_, Andrew Becket "released the original +text from much muddy nonsense of commentators."[40] + +[Illustration: ST MARY ROUNCEVAL (THE ORIGINAL SITE OF NORTHUMBERLAND +HOUSE).] + +Garrick besought the corner house of Adam Street for his friend, a +request that was granted. He asked for this "corner blessing," and +addressed the architects as his "dear Adelphi." The house was No. 73 +Strand, at the north-east corner of Adam Street. It was destroyed by +fire on June 28, 1822, but rebuilt according to the original plan. +Garrick, in the course of his letter to the Adams, said: "Pray, my dear +and very good friends, think a little of this matter, and if you can +make us happy, by suiting all our conveniences, we shall make his shop, +as old Jacob Tonson's was formerly, the rendezvous of the first people +in England. I have a little selfishness in this request--I never go +to a coffee-house, seldom to taverns, and should constantly (if this +action takes place) be at Becket's at one at noon and six at night." +Garrick, no doubt, meant what he said, but there is no trace of his +having visited Andrew Becket in this "corner blessing." The shop is now +occupied by a firm of silversmiths. + +Samuel Foote, who hated Garrick, is said to have related a story in +which I have little faith. But, as it concerns the great actor and the +Adelphi, I give it for what it is worth. "Garrick," said Foote, "lately +invited Hurd to dine with him in the Adelphi, and after dinner, the +evening being very warm, they walked up and down in front of the house. +As they passed and repassed the dining-room windows, Garrick was in a +perfect agony, for he saw that there was a thief in one of the candles +which was burning on one of the tables; and yet Hurd was a person of +such consequence that he could not run away from him to prevent the +waste of his tallow." This story was put into print by Samuel Rogers, +who was a boy of sixteen at the time of Garrick's death. Foote died in +1777, when Richard Hurd was Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 37: Davies's _Garrick_, vol. ii., p. 445.] + +[Footnote 38: See also Hannah More's description of the funeral in the +Appendix.] + +[Footnote 39: It was written in 1773, soon after Garrick had left +Southampton Street, Strand, for the Adelphi.] + +[Footnote 40: _Haunted London_, p. 99.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + The celebrated Quack, Dr Graham--His Temple of Health in the + Adelphi--Satirised by Colman and Bannister--"Vestina, the Rosy Goddess + of Health"--Emma Lyon, Lady Hamilton--Osborn's Hotel--The King and + Queen of the Sandwich Islands--Their Death in the Adelphi--Isaac + D'Israeli--The Earl of Beaconsfield--Thomas Hill, the Original of + Paul Pry--Thomas Hood and Charles Dickens--_David Copperfield_ and + _Pickwick_--Ivy Lane--The Fox-under-the-Hill--The Adelphi "Dark + Arches." + + +THE Adelphi has had its share of quacks, the most impudent of them +all being Dr Graham, a Scotchman, who flourished here from the summer +of 1780 until the May following, when he migrated to Pall Mall. He +occupied the middle house in Adelphi Terrace, and in this place Emma +Lyon--afterwards Lady Hamilton--posed as the Goddess of Health. James +Graham was then approaching the end of his extraordinary career, for, +born in the Cowgate, Edinburgh, on June 23, 1745, he died in 1794. +Although he studied medicine in the University of Edinburgh, it is not +certain that he took his degree, for, so late as 1783, he is described +as "the person calling himself Dr Graham." He passed his earlier life +in Pontrefact, being married there in 1770. Subsequently, he travelled +in America, as an oculist and aurist. Returning to England in 1774, he +practised at Bristol and Bath, and, a year later, established himself +in Pall Mall, nearly opposite St James's Palace. At Bath, in 1777, he +met Catherine Macaulay, who, a few months later, married his younger +brother, William. Through his treatment of her, he declared, he made +his first real start in life. Be this as it may, he gained the ear of +the public about this time, although he was denounced as a quack by the +medical profession. After a visit to the continent, during which he +received many testimonials from people in the first rank of society, he +came to the Adelphi in 1779. His house and apparatus, it was stated, +cost him £10,000. The entrance hall was adorned with crutches which +had been discarded by his "patients," and, in the rooms above, were +large, gaudily-decorated electrical machines, glass globes, marble +statues, and figures of dragons; the windows were of stained glass, and +the air was laden with the perfume of incense. The door was guarded by +huge footmen. One apartment was devoted to Apollo, and contained "a +magnificent temple, sacred to health." He lectured at enormous prices +and obtained fabulous sums for his quack remedies. For a night in the +"celestial bed," which ensured a beautiful progeny, his fee was £100; +his "elixir of life" brought him a fee of one thousand pounds, but his +"earth-bath" was only a modest guinea, while a magneto-electric bed +could be slept in for £50 a night. + +In August, 1780, Horace Walpole visited "The Temple of Health" in the +Adelphi, and pronounced it "the most impudent puppet-show of imposition +I ever saw, and the mountebank himself the dullest of his profession, +except that he makes spectators pay a crown apiece for admission only." +The place acquired notoriety so rapidly that, on September 2, George +Colman, the elder, produced at the Haymarket Theatre a skit entitled +_The Genius of Nonsense_, in which John Bannister, in the character +of the Emperor of Quacks, mimicked Graham. "His satin sofas on glass +legs, his celestial bed, his two porters in long, tawdry greatcoats and +immense gold-laced cocked hats, distributing handbills at the door, +while his goddess of health was dying of a sore throat from squalling +songs at the top of the staircase, were all hit off by a speaking +harlequin, who also caricatured the doctor's sliding walk and bobbing +bows."[41] The impostor was prevented from buying the "bill of the +play," a burlesque on his own handbill, so that he could not bring an +action for libel. + +The following is an exact copy of one of Graham's advertisements:-- + + + TEMPLE OF HEALTH, Adelphi. + + To their Excellencies the Foreign Ambassadors, + To the Nobility, Gentry and to Persons + of Learning and Taste, + + This Evening exactly at Eight o'Clock, + The Celestial Brilliancy of the + Medico-electrical Apparatus, in all the + Apartments of the + + TEMPLE, + + Will be exhibited by Dr Graham himself, + + Who will have the honour of explaining the true Nature and effects of + Electricity, Air, Music, and Magnetism, when applied to the human body. + + In the introductory Oration, the whole art of enjoying health and + vigour, of body and of mind, and of preserving and exalting personal + Beauty and Loveliness; or, in other words, of living with health, + honour, and happiness in this world, for at least a hundred years, is + pointed out and warmly inculcated. + + Previous to the display of the electrical Fire, the Doctor will + delicately touch upon the Celestial Beds, which are soon to be opened + in the Temple of Hymen, in Pall-mall, for the propagation of Beings + rational, and far stronger and more beautiful in mental as well as in + bodily endowments--than the present puny, feeble, and nonsensical race + of probationary immortals, which crawl and fret, and politely play + at cutting one another's throats for nothing at all, on most parts of + this terraqueous globe. + + This apparatus, which visibly displays, as it were, the various + faculties of the material soul of universal and eternal Nature, is + acknowledged by all who have seen it, to be by far the largest, most + useful, and most magnificent that now is, or that ever was, in the + world; and it may be inspected every day, from Ten o'clock in the + Morning till four in the Afternoon. Admittance at night, 5s.; in the + day, 2s. 6d. + +In another announcement he stated that "Vestina, the Rosy Goddess of +Health, presides at the _evening lectures_ at the Temple of Health, +Adelphi, assisting at the display of the Celestial Meteors, and of that +sacred Vital _Fire_ over which she watches, and whose application in +the _Cure of Diseases_ she daily has the honour of directing." Graham's +"Rosy Goddess of Health" was Emma Lyon, who, in the winter of 1780, +when she posed in the Adelphi, was barely twenty years of age. Young +as she was, she had lived a strange life, even then. The daughter of +a Cheshire blacksmith, she was quite a child when, in the capacity of +nurse-maid, she entered the service of Mrs Thomas, wife of a surgeon +practising at Hawarden; and she can hardly have been more than +fifteen or sixteen years of age when she first came to London. "Here, +for a short time, she is said to have been in service: first, with +Mrs Linley, of Drury Lane Theatre; secondly, with Dr Budd, one of the +physicians of St Bartholomew's Hospital; and finally at a fruiterer's +in St James's Market. One of the customers at this shop, 'a lady of +fashion,' attracted by the girl's manner, her beautiful face, and her +wonderful auburn hair, engaged her in the capacity of companion. But, +fortunate as the change at this time may have appeared to her, it +speedily put an end to her opportunities of earning an honest living. +No long time after, we hear of her as living for a time with Captain +(afterwards Admiral) John Willett Payne, who is by some surmised to +be the father of a girl to whom she gave birth about the end of 1779 +or the beginning of 1780. However this may be, it is certain that, +before she had completed her seventeenth year, she did give birth to a +child, and that, as soon as possible, it was transferred to the care +of her old grandmother at Hawarden."[42] Her poverty drove her to +the quack doctor of the Adelphi. Soon after her appearance here, she +"kept house," in extravagant fashion, for Sir Harry Fetherstonshaugh, +"a dissolute baronet," at Up Park, Sussex, and became "a daring and +accomplished horse-woman." At this time she called herself Emma Hart, +but on her marriage, in 1791, to Sir William Hamilton, she signed the +register as Amy Lyon. The subsequent career of Nelson's Lady Hamilton +is too well known for repetition. + +[Illustration: + + _Hollar._ 1630. + +SUFFOLK (SUBSEQUENTLY NORTHUMBERLAND) HOUSE.] + +In the spring of 1781, Graham removed from the comparative quiet of +the Adelphi to more aristocratic quarters in Schomberg House--part of +the existing War Office--in Pall Mall. His charges were slightly lower +than in the Adelphi, the use of his "celestial bed" costing but fifty +pounds. In November, 1782, his property was seized for debt, and was +advertised for sale on December 20, and the following days. He made +his misfortunes an opportunity for advertisement, bought in most of +his goods, and threatened one publication with an action for libel for +having published "an incorrect, mutilated, and nonsensical farrago, +which they impudently and falsely call Dr Graham's celebrated lecture +on generation." In March, 1783, he announced that the "High Priestess +of his Temple delivered lectures to ladies, and that the rosy, +athletic, and truly Gigantic Goddess of Health and of Hymen, on the +Celestial Throne," took part in the lectures. Graham's London career +practically ceased in 1783. Ten years later he described himself, in a +book on earth-bathing, as "formerly sole institutor, proprietor, and +director of the Temple of Health in the Adelphi and in Pall Mall." His +earth-bathing consisted of remaining without clothing in the earth six +hours at a time, for eight days in succession, and for twelve hours +on the ninth day. In 1791, Graham and a young woman, at Newcastle, +"stripped into their first suits," and "were each interred up to the +chin, their heads beautifully dressed and powdered, appearing not +unlike two fine full-grown cauliflowers." + +Graham subsequently became a religious enthusiast, took to opium, and +was confined in his own house in Edinburgh as a lunatic. A few months +before his death, he made an affidavit, in which he stated that from +the last day of December 1792, to January 15, 1793, he neither ate, +drank, nor took anything but cold water, sustaining life by wearing +cut-up turfs against his naked body, and by rubbing his limbs with his +own nervous æthereal balsam. He died suddenly at his house, opposite +the Archers' Hall, Edinburgh, on June 23, 1794. Graham, though a quack, +and possibly a madman, was not without some knowledge. He was against +flesh-eating and excess in alcohol, and believed in cold bathing, open +windows, sleeping on mattresses, and other points of severe hygiene; +at one time, he stated, he never ate more than the worth of four or +six pence a day. He asserted that all diseases were caused by wearing +too much clothing, and he wore no woollen clothes. Southey saw this +"half knave, half enthusiast" thrice, once in his mud-bath. He says +that latterly Graham "would madden himself with opium, rush into the +streets, and strip himself to clothe the first beggar he met."[43] + +At Osborn's Hotel, which still exists, under the name of the Adelphi +Hotel, at the corner of John and Adam Streets, the King and Queen of +the Sandwich Islands died, from small-pox, in 1824. Rhio-Rhio was +the son and successor of the first king, Tamehameha, who placed the +Islands under British protection. The Queen died on July 8. "The +King," said a contemporary print, "in the midst of this deep sorrow +manifests a firmness of mind which has penetrated everybody about him +with a feeling of respect. Though very anxious to express his grief in +the manner of his country, and to show the marks of deference which +are usually paid to the dead there, he submits, with good sense and +patience, to every suggestion which our habits dictate." The King died, +at the same place, on September 14. The visit of King Tamehameha and +his consort to England gave rise to the popular song, "The King of +the Cannibal Islands." This hotel was originally called "The Adelphi +New Tavern and Coffee-House," and was opened in October, 1777, "being +completely fitted up in the most elegant and convenient manner for +the entertainment of noblemen and gentlemen." Gibbon, writing to +Lord Sheffield on August 8, 1787, from the Adelphi Hotel, imparts a +piece of "Intelligence extraordinary. This day (August the seventh) +the celebrated E.G. arrived with a numerous retinue (one servant). +We hear that he has brought over from Lausanne the remainder of his +_History_ for immediate publication." In 1813, George Crabbe, the +poet, and his wife stayed in the Adelphi during a visit to London. Dr +Thomas Munro, Turner's patron, resided here, and on April 22, 1827, +Thomas Rowlandson, the famous caricaturist, died here. Isaac D'Israeli, +the author of _Curiosities of Literature_, and father of the Earl of +Beaconsfield, stayed at Osborn's Hotel after his wedding tour, in 1802. + +It is generally supposed that Benjamin Disraeli was born in the +Adelphi. The authority for this statement is Lord Barrington, who, +during the Earl of Beaconsfield's last illness, questioned him on the +point. "I was born in the Adelphi," was the reply, "and I may say in +a library. My father was not rich when he married. He took a suite +of apartments in the Adelphi, and he possessed a large collection of +books; all the rooms were covered with them, including that in which I +was born." Mr Wheatley, however, says that "careful investigation has +left little doubt that this was not the case, as Isaac D'Israeli had +left the Adelphi"--where he had a lease of the first floor of No. 2 +James Street--"for King's Road (now Theobald's Road) before the birth +of Benjamin." + +In James Street, on the second floor of No. 1, there lived and died a +celebrated character, Thomas Hill (1760-1840), the book-collector and +patron of Bloomfield and Kirke White. He was the fussy, good-natured +Hull of Theodore Hook's novel, _Gilbert Gurney_ (1836). More notable +still, he was the original of Paul Pry, in Poole's comedy (1825). +Paul Pry is an idle, inquisitive, meddle-some fellow who, without any +occupation of his own, is for ever thrusting himself upon other people +with the apology, "I hope I don't intrude." John Liston (1776-1846) +was the first stage representative of the character, and the part was +frequently acted by the late John Lawrence Toole. "Tommy" Hill, as he +was familiarly called, always boasted that he had whatever was wanted: +"Cards, sir? Pooh! pooh! Nonsense! thousands of packs in the house." +Planché says of him: "His _spécialité_ was the accurate information he +could impart on all the petty details of the domestic economy of his +friends, the contents of their wardrobes, their pantries, the number +of pots of preserve in their store-closets, and of the table-napkins +in their linen-presses, the dates of their births and marriages, +the amounts of their tradesmen's bills, and whether paid weekly or +quarterly. He had been on the press, and was connected with the +_Morning Chronicle_. He used to drive Mathews crazy by ferreting out +his whereabouts when he left London, and popping the information in +some paper." + +[Illustration: + + 1752. + +THE STRAND FRONT OF NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSE.] + +Two of the most celebrated literary names connected with the Adelphi +are Thomas Hood and Charles Dickens. Hood, soon after his marriage in +1824, lived in chambers at No. 2 Robert Street, his acquaintanceship +at that time including Charles Lamb, Hazlitt, and De Quincey. His +association with the Adelphi continued until the end of his career, for +his _Magazine_, established in 1844--the year before his death--was +published from No. 1 Adam Street. Dickens knew the Adelphi well. As +a boy he frequented its underground passages, and, later on, he used +Osborn's Hotel (the Adelphi Hotel) for a scene in _Pickwick_.[44] He +is recording his own experiences when, in _David Copperfield_, he says: +"I was fond of wandering about the Adelphi, because it was a mysterious +place, with those dark arches. I see myself emerging one evening from +some of these arches, on a little public-house close to the river, +with an open space before it, where some coal-heavers were dancing; to +look at whom, I sat down upon a bench. I wonder what they thought +of me!" This was also the scene of the meeting of the Micawbers and +Copperfield prior to the departure of the impecunious Wilkins for +Australia: "The Micawber family were lodged in a little, dirty, +tumble-down public-house, which in those days was close to the stairs, +and where protruding wooden rooms over-hung the river. The family, as +emigrants, being objects of some interest in and about Hungerford, +attracted so many beholders, that we were glad to take refuge in their +room. It was one of the wooden chambers upstairs, with the tide flowing +underneath.... I went down again next morning to see that they were +away. They had departed, in a boat, as early as five o'clock. It was a +wonderful instance to me of the gap such partings make, that although +my association of them with the tumble-down public-house and the wooden +stairs dated only from last night, both seemed dreary and deserted, now +that they were gone."[45] + +This "little, dirty, tumble-down public-house" of Dickens was the +"Fox-under-the-Hill." It stood at the bottom of Ivy Lane. The +ram-shackle building disappeared with the formation of the Victoria +Embankment and Gardens, but the passage in question still remains, +and, although it is not noticed by the thousands of people who walk by +it daily, Ivy Lane is one of the most interesting bits of old London. +Stow, in his _Survey_, alludes to it thus: "Ivy Bridge, in the High +Street, which had a way under it leading to the Thames, the like +as sometime had the Strand Bridge, is now taken down, but the lane +remaineth as afore; or better, and parteth the liberty of the Duchy +(of Lancaster) and the city of Westminster on that south-side." Strype +adds that the lane was "very bad and almost impassable." As it was +very narrow, and the descent was steep, its inconvenience is easily +understood. The passage is still here, but, at the river end, it is +enclosed by gates. Ivy Bridge, or Pier, was the landing-place for the +halfpenny steamboats which plied between the Strand and London Bridge. +Here a lamentable explosion, by which many people were killed, occurred +in August, 1847, on the _Cricket_, and, soon afterwards, the "Fox" +landing-stage was disused. + +From the "Fox-under-the-Hill" it is an easy transition to the +"dark arches" which made such an impression on the mind of Charles +Dickens. They form a small town in themselves, and although tenanted +by wine-merchants, and other law-abiding people, they are still +"mysterious" enough to strike one with wonderment that such a dreary +spot can exist within hail of the busy Strand. "The Adelphi arches, +many of which are used for cellars and coal-wharves," wrote John Timbs, +half a century ago, "remind us, in their grim vastness, of the Etruscan +cloaca of ancient Rome. Beneath the 'dark arches,' as they were (and +are) called, the most abandoned characters used to lurk; outcasts and +vagrants came there to sleep; and many a street-thief escaped from his +pursuers, before the introduction of gas-lights and a vigilant police. +Even now tramps prowl in a ghastly manner down the dim-lit passages." +The condition of things has not changed much during these fifty years, +and a stranger would be well-advised in not venturing on a voyage of +discovery through this strange region, alone. Augustus Egg placed the +scene of one of his most tragic pictures on the banks of the river by +the Adelphi arches. In these caverns a battery of guns was held in +readiness in connection with the great Chartist meeting, on Kennington +Common, on April 10, 1848. The piers on which the arches rest having +shown signs of insecurity, the entire structure was underpinned, and +strengthened in other ways, in the years 1872-4. + +The Adelphi arches were a source of wonderment to Londoners in the +middle of the last century. Thomas Miller, the poet and novelist, +writing in 1850, gives a vivid description of them: "Thousands who pass +along the Strand never dream of the shadowy region which lies between +them and the river--the black-browed arches that span right and left, +before and behind, covering many a rood of ground on which the rain +never beats, nor the sunbeam sleeps, and at the entrance of which the +wind only seems to howl and whine, as if afraid of venturing further +into the darkness. Many of our readers will, no doubt, conclude that +such a dreary place as this must be deserted and tenantless: such is +not the case. Here many of those strong horses, which the countryman +who visits London looks upon with wonder and envy, are stabled--strong, +broad-chested steeds, such as may be seen dragging the heavily-laden +coal-waggons up those steep passages which lead into the Strand, and +which seem 'to the manner born.' + +"Cows are also kept here, which, rumour says, never saw any other light +beyond that of the gas which gleams through their prison-bars, or, by +way of change, the cheering rays from a lantern, when they are milked +or fed; that here many of them were calved, and have lived on, giving +milk to a good old age--buried like the main-pipe that supplies us with +water and finds its way into our houses without our once enquiring +how. We have often pitied the London cows, which we have seen driven +up one street and down another, and have fancied that what little milk +they had must have been churned into indifferent butter, as they ran +on, to escape the stones thrown after them by boys, while mongrels +were ever sallying out, and either biting or barking at their heels; +but we had not seen those which are doomed to dwell in the unbroken +darkness of the Adelphi arches, without ever breathing any other than +the sepulchral air which stagnates this murky purgatory. Assuredly they +ought to be taken out for a little fresh air now and then, and be led +by the horns to + + 'Fresh fields and pastures new'; + +for we can readily conceive how pleased and patiently they would go +'blinking' along, compared to those horned blackguards who come with a +butt and a 'boo' at us as they return from Smithfield, and, before we +have time to say 'Now, stupid!' pitch us over the battlements of one of +the bridges, and leave us to sink or swim. + +"The Adelphi arches form a little subterranean city; there is nothing +like it in England: in some places you catch a glimpse of the river, +a small loop-hole that lets in the light like the end of a railway +tunnel, yet seeming to diminish more than these tunnels, on account of +the steep descent, until one of the steamers, in passing, appears to +fill up the opening like a half-closed door. Beside these arches there +are narrow passages which go dipping down to the water-side, where on +either hand houses stand looking at one another in the openings between +the darkness. There is a dismal and solitary look about these tall +imprisoned houses; you cannot conceive how they are entered, for there +appears to be no way to them, and you conclude that they are empty. Or, +if they are inhabited, you wonder if the people ever look out of those +dim, dirt-ditched windows at the dead-looking walls opposite. We have +turned back, and hunted up and down looking from below, but nowhere +could we obtain a view of the entrance to those murderous-looking +houses. We once saw a butterfly which had lost its way, and got into +the little light which had stolen out to look at the entrance of these +arches: it went up and down, and hither and thither, seeming to become +feebler every moment, as if it had given up all hope of ever swinging +with folded wings, like a pea-bloom, on the flowers again, and we +doubted not but that it found a grave amid the green decay of some +rotten water-butt." The cows have disappeared, and the muddy wharves +have been replaced by pleasant gardens and the busy hum of workshops, +but the "subterranean city" is likely to exist in its present form for +many years to come. The embankment, the construction of which involved +the abolition of the Adelphi wharves, was opened in 1870 by the Prince +of Wales (Edward VII.), as the representative of Queen Victoria. This +magnificent example of engineering was begun in 1862, and the cost was +about £2,000,000. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 41: _Haunted London_, p. 103.] + +[Footnote 42: _Some Famous Women of Wit and Beauty_, John Fyvie, p. 40.] + +[Footnote 43: _Dictionary of National Biography_, vol. xxii., p. 323.] + +[Footnote 44: After the release of Mr Pickwick, Mr Wardle and his +family had apartments in the Adelphi Hotel. There Dickens laid the +scene of one of his best chapters: "Driving to the George and Vulture, +they found that Arabella and her maid had sent for a hackney-coach +immediately on the receipt of a short note from Emily announcing her +arrival in town, and had proceeded straight to the Adelphi. As Wardle +had business to transact in the city, they sent the carriage and the +fat boy to his hotel, with the information that he and Mr Pickwick +would return together to dinner at five o'clock. + + * * * * * + +"Now, whether the shake had jumbled the fat boy's faculties together, +instead of arranging them in proper order, or had roused such a +quantity of new ideas within him as to render him oblivious of +ordinary forms and ceremonies, or (which is also possible) had proved +unsuccessful in preventing his falling asleep as he ascended the +stairs, it is an undoubted fact that he walked into the sitting-room +without previously knocking at the door, and so beheld a gentleman with +his arm clasping his young mistress's waist, sitting very lovingly by +her side on a sofa, while Arabella and her pretty handmaid feigned to +be absorbed in looking out of a window at the other end of the room. +At sight of which phenomenon the fat boy uttered an interjection, the +ladies a scream, and the gentleman an oath, almost simultaneously. + +"'Wretched creature! what do you want here?' said the gentleman, who, +it is needless to say, was Mr Snodgrass. + +"To this the fat boy, considerably terrified, briefly responded, +'Missis.' + +"'What do you want me for?' inquired Emily, turning her head aside; +'you stupid creature.' + +"'Master and Mr Pickwick is going to dine here at five,' replied the +fat boy. + +"'Leave the room!' said Mr Snodgrass, glaring upon the bewildered youth. + +"'No, no, no!' added Emily, hastily. 'Bella, dear, advise me.' + +"Upon this, Emily and Mr Snodgrass, and Arabella and Mary, crowded into +a corner and conversed earnestly in whispers for some minutes, during +which the fat boy dozed. + + * * * * * + +"There was so much to say upstairs, and there were so many plans +to concert for elopement and matrimony in the event of old Wardle +continuing to be cruel, that it wanted only half an hour to dinner when +Mr Snodgrass took his final adieu. The ladies ran to Emily's bedroom +to dress, and the lover, taking up his hat, walked out of the room. He +had scarcely got outside the door when he heard Wardle's voice talking +loudly; and looking over the banisters, beheld him, followed by some +other gentlemen, coming straight upstairs. Knowing nothing of the +house, Mr Snodgrass in his confusion stepped hastily back into the room +he had just quitted, and passing from thence into an inner apartment +(Mr Wardle's bed-chamber), closed the door softly, just as the persons +he had caught a glimpse of entered the sitting-room. These were Mr +Wardle and Mr Pickwick, Mr Nathaniel Winkle, and Mr Benjamin Allen, +whom he had no difficulty in recognising by their voices. + + * * * * * + +"The wine came, and Perker came upstairs at the same moment. Mr +Snodgrass had dinner at a side-table, and, when he had dispatched it, +drew his chair next Emily, without the smallest opposition on the old +gentleman's part. + +"The evening was excellent. Little Mr Perker came out wonderfully, +told various comic stories, and sang a serious song, which was almost +as funny as the anecdotes. Arabella was very charming, Mr Wardle very +jovial, Mr Pickwick very harmonious, Mr Ben Allen very uproarious, the +lovers very silent, Mr Winkle very talkative, and all of them very +happy."--_The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club_, chap. liv.] + +[Footnote 45: _David Copperfield_, chap. lvii.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + The First Bankers--Middleton & Campbell, predecessors of Coutts & Co., + "at The Three Crowns in the Strand"--Patrick and John Coutts--Patrick + and Thomas Coutts in London--Death of James Coutts--Enter, + Thomas Coutts--Letter by Him--His Stern Character--Married to + Harriot Mellon--Susan Starkie and "The Three Graces"--Sir Francis + Burdett--Angela Georgina Burdett--The Duchess of St Albans--Anecdotes + of Thomas Coutts--His Personal Appearance--Interior of the Bank--The + Chinese Wall-Paper--The Adelphi Chapel--Illustrious Customers of + Messrs Coutts--Partners in the Firm--The Wills of Thomas Coutts + and the Duchess of St Albans--The Savage Club--Thomas Hardy--E.L. + Blanchard. + + +QUEEN ELIZABETH "was particularly kind to the citizens, and borrowed +money of them on all occasions." At first sight this may not seem a +compliment, since monarchs have not always been too particular in the +matter of the repayment of their loans. Queen Elizabeth, however, +was a good borrower, and the Goldsmiths Company--employed by her in +these transactions--drank annual libations to her memory, out of a +silver cup which she had presented to them, for many years after her +decease. But "the business of goldsmiths," as Pennant has pointed +out, "was confined to the buying and selling of plate, and foreign +coins of gold and silver, melting them, and coining others at the +mint. The banking was accidental, and foreign to their institution. +Regular banking by private people resulted, in 1643, from the calamity +of the time, when the seditious spirit was incited by the arts of the +parliamentary leaders. The merchants and tradesmen, who before trusted +their cash to their servants and apprentices, found that no longer +safe; neither did they dare to leave it in the mint at the Tower, by +reason of the distress of Majesty itself, which before was a place of +public deposit." In the year 1645, the goldsmiths added banking to +their business. The first regular banker was Thomas Child, goldsmith, +of Fleet Street, who began in this way soon after the Restoration. "He +was the father of the profession, a person of large fortune and most +respectable character."[46] + +The shops of the goldsmiths and bankers were, of course, situated in +the city of London until, in 1692, the firm of Middleton & Campbell was +established in St Martin's Lane. George Middleton and John Campbell +were the predecessors of the great banking firm known as Coutts & +Co., whose premises in the Strand occupied part of the New Exchange +and the Adelphi for one hundred and sixty odd years. Campbell, who +died in 1712, and was buried in the churchyard of St Paul's, Covent +Garden, left his "faithful and honest partner" as executor to his four +children until the coming of age of his eldest son, William. In 1729, +the youngest son of John Campbell became a partner. Until 1737, the +business was carried on in St Martin's Lane, then the centre of the +artistic world of London. In that year Messrs Middleton & Campbell +occupied the middle house of a row of eleven which had been built on +the site of "Britain's Burse." The firm did not become "bankers" until +1740, although it had transacted the usual banking business, together +with an army and commission agency, for many years previously. In +1712-13 Middleton & Campbell had acted as agents for Queen Anne's 4th +Troop of Guards. The name of the firm was changed to that of Coutts in +1760, and it is by this honoured name that it is likely to be known so +long as it exists--and that will be so long as banking flourishes as +an institution in this country. The original sign of the house, three +crowns, is still used on the cheques, surrounded by the words: "At the +Three Crowns in the Strand, next door to the Globe Tavern, A.D. 1692." + +The story of the change in the name of the firm is curious and +interesting. This history being more particularly concerned with Thomas +Coutts, and his establishment in the Strand, it is not necessary to go +further into his genealogy than to state that the great banker was a +descendant of William Coutts and his wife, Janet Ochiltree, of Montrose. + +One Patrick Coutts, desirous of making a name for himself, left +Montrose and went to Edinburgh, where he traded as a general merchant, +importing and exporting goods, in 1696. He died in 1704, a man of +probity and wealth. He left his great fortune to his son John, who +also flourished in Edinburgh as a merchant. "The business initiated by +John Coutts was a combination of general dealing and the negotiation +of foreign bills of exchange. He also imported and sold corn, either +on his own account or as a commission agent. But in proportion as +he advanced in business and acquired spare capital, as well as the +confidence of persons who deposited with him money at interest, he +appears to have laid himself out chiefly as a negotiator of bills, a +species of traffic which as yet had not been appropriated by banks, and +demanded much knowledge and shrewdness. Whether from family connections +or otherwise, he became acquainted with people of good social standing, +through whom he widened his base of operations. For some time he had +for a partner Thomas Haliburton, of Newmains (who through a daughter +became the great-grandfather of Sir Walter Scott); next we find him +taking as partner Archibald Trotter, son of Trotter, of Castleshiel; +then by another change of firm he was associated with his cousin, +Robert Ramsay, brother of Sir Alexander, of Balmain. As further +marking the esteem in which he was held by the aristocratic circles of +Edinburgh, he formed an intimacy with Sir John Stuart, of Allanbank, +whose sister he married."[47] + +John Coutts, who was Provost of Edinburgh in 1742-43, died in 1751, +leaving four sons, Patrick, John, James, and Thomas, who inherited +his business and great wealth. Thomas Coutts, with whom we are more +directly concerned, was born on September 7, 1735. Patrick and Thomas +Coutts, and their cousin, Thomas Stephen, opened a branch establishment +in London, in Jeffrey's Square, St Mary Axe, under the name of Coutts, +Stephen, Coutts, & Co.; John and James Coutts, remaining in the North, +acted as the correspondents of the London firm, and bought and sold +goods on commission. In his _Memoirs of a Banking House_, Sir William +Forbes says: "Some years they made large profits, which they as often +lost in others, owing to the fluctuation of the markets and the +bankruptcy of many of those with whom they dealt. Indeed, I have often +thought it not a little singular that a banking house, which of all +branches of business seems peculiarly to require caution, and which +ought, as much as possible, to be kept clear of hazard or speculation, +should have chosen to embark so largely in the corn trade, which is +perhaps the most liable to sudden fluctuation, and in which no human +prudence or insurance can guard the adventures from frequent loss." + +The house in the Strand was carried on under the style of Campbell & +Bruce, under the sole control of George Campbell from 1751 to July, +1755. James Coutts, the third son of Lord Provost John Coutts, having +become acquainted with George Campbell during one of his visits to +London--for his main business was with the Edinburgh house--married, in +1754, Campbell's niece, Mary Peagrim, and was taken into partnership +by the Strand banker, whereupon he withdrew from his old firm, and +Campbell & Coutts came into existence at No. 59 Strand. On the death of +his partner, in 1761, James Coutts took his brother, Thomas, into the +firm. James Coutts died in 1778, leaving Thomas in full control of the +business, and his only daughter inherited his fortune of £70,000. + +Thomas Coutts, who ultimately became known as "the richest man in +London," was a great character. He had received an excellent training +at the High School in Edinburgh, and this, together with his vast +experience in correspondence, "enabled him to appreciate literary +composition, and to express himself with accuracy." He survived all +his brothers, and became the first banker in London. His munificence, +no less than his wealth, admitted him to the highest circles. Together +with Sir Walter Scott, his friend, and kinsman, through the Stuarts of +Allanbank, he received the freedom of the city of Edinburgh. Although +he was always ready to lend a hand to genuine distress, he was very +keen in money matters, and sternly resented any attempt at what he +considered imposition. The following letter, written in his eightieth +year, is characteristic of his attitude when replying to those who +besought unwarranted favours. It was addressed to John Pinkerton, the +Scottish antiquary and historian, who had asked the banker to recommend +him as a travelling companion, and to forego the interest on a bond:-- + + "Strand, _January 31, 1815_. + + "I have received the favour of your letter, asking me to withdraw + the claim for interest on the sum I lent on the security of a house; + but the footing upon which you have put the request is one I have + uniformly, at all times, thought to be such as I ought to reject, and + have rejected accordingly. The bankers in Scotland and the county + banks in England are on a different plan from those of London. They + circulate their own notes and make payments in them. We give out no + notes of our own, and if we were to give interest at even one per + cent. per annum, we should be losers by our business. + + "We do not consider ourselves as being obliged to any one person who + places his money in our hands, however considerable. It is to the + aggregate and general mass of society that we owe our situation, and + to the credit our prudence and attention has obtained for us; and + people deposit their money in our hands for their own advantage and + convenience, not from favour to us, nor do we desire to have it on any + other terms. Probably you may not understand the explanation I have + spent time in making, which I can very ill spare, and it may therefore + answer no purpose, but it satisfies myself, and I wish to show equal + attention to all my employers, whether they have large or small sums + in my hands, which indeed hardly ever occupies my attention. + + "My attention is fully engrossed in doing business with honour and + regularity, leaving the rest to the common chance and course of + things. It surprises me that, though it every day appears that there + is very little truth published in the newspapers, yet people will + still believe what they read, especially abuse, or what they think is + against the character or prudence of the person treated of. I saw some + paragraphs, and heard of more, of what I had done for Mr Kean, in all + which there was not a word of truth; though I see no reason why I + might not, without offence to any one, have given Mr Kean anything I + pleased. In doing any little matter in my power for an individual, I + must add, I never had any view to celebrity, with the present age or + with posterity. + + "If I should know of any gentleman wanting a travelling companion + abroad, I shall mention you to him, but it seldom happens that I am + applied to in such matters." + +The Mr Kean alluded to in this letter is, of course, the great actor. +But, as Edmund Kean was at the zenith of his power and success in +1814-15, we may indeed readily believe that "there was not a word of +truth" in the rumour that "Mrs Coutts visited Kean and made him a gift +of fifty pounds," which was circulated at the time. Moreover, it was +not until March 2, 1815, that the marriage of Thomas Coutts to Harriot +Mellon was announced. Miss Mellon was the second wife of the banker, +and her marriage was a romantic one. Before dealing with it, however, +it is necessary to refer to the first Mrs Coutts, about whom a good +deal of mystery has been made. The simple truth is that she came of +"poor but honest parents" in Lancashire. Her name was Susan Starkie, +and we have it on the authority of the Earl of Dundonald (1775-1860) +that she was "a most respectable, modest, handsome young woman." +Another writer says that, even near the day of her death, although she +was then an old woman, with grown-up grandchildren, "she exhibited +traces of having possessed some personal advantages in her youth, her +large black eyes retaining their brightness, although rather stern +and wild in their expression." She is interesting, as far as this +story is concerned, inasmuch as Thomas Coutts met her in the house in +the Strand, where she was in charge of his brother's daughter. After +the marriage, Mr and Mrs Thomas Coutts resided in St Martin's Lane, +and there "my brother and myself have frequently called to visit" +them, wrote the Earl of Dundonald, who added that "her good sense, +amiable disposition, and exemplary good conduct endeared her to all +her husband's family, and commanded the respect of everyone who knew +her." Of this union there were three daughters, who were known as "the +Three Graces." The first, Susan, married the third Earl of Guildford; +the second, Frances, was the second wife of John, first Marquis of +Bute; while Sophia was married to Sir Francis Burdett, Bart., M.P., +the well-known politician, and hero of reform. Sir Francis and Lady +Burdett had six children, a son and five daughters, the youngest of +whom, Angela Georgina, born on April 21, 1814, became the Baroness +Burdett-Coutts, whose death, on December 30, 1906, has been so greatly +deplored. This lady received, on the death of the Duchess of St +Albans--Harriot Mellon, the second wife of Thomas Coutts--the entire +estate which the banker had, by his will, placed at the disposal of the +Duchess. + +The Duchess of St Albans, who, as Mrs Coutts, must have been a frequent +visitor at No. 59 Strand, made her first appearance on the stage +as Lydia Languish in _The Rivals_, on January 31, 1795, at Covent +Garden, she being then twenty years of age. Her first husband died +on February 24, 1822, and was buried at Wroxton Abbey, Oxfordshire, +"his funeral being attended by many of the nobility and gentry of the +district, while the carriages of their royal highnesses the Dukes of +York, Clarence, and Sussex accompanied the procession." She was then +importuned by William Aubrey de Vere, the ninth Duke of St Albans, to +whom she was married on June 16, 1827. The story of this courtship +has been told by Sir Walter Scott: "Mrs Coutts, with the Duke of St +Albans and Lady Charlotte Beauclerk, called to take leave of us. When +at Abbotsford his suit throve but coldly. She made me, I believe, a +confidant in sincerity. She had refused him twice, and decidedly: he +was merely on the footing of friendship. I urged it was akin to love. +She allowed she might marry the Duke, only she had at present not the +least intention that way. It is the fashion to attend Mrs Coutts' +parties, and to abuse her. I have always found her a kind, friendly +woman, without either affectation or insolence in the display of her +wealth; most willing to do good if the means be shown her. She can be +very entertaining too, and she speaks without scruple of her stage +life. So much wealth can hardly be enjoyed without ostentation." In +Lockhart's _Life of Scott_ there is a long account of a visit paid to +Sir Walter by Mrs Coutts, who arrived at Abbotsford with a train of +three carriages each drawn by four horses. Her retinue consisted of +her future lord, the Duke of St Albans, one of his grace's sisters, +a sort of lady-in-waiting, two physicians, and besides other menials +of every grade, two bed-chamber women for Mrs Coutts' own person--she +requiring to have this article also in duplicate, because in her +widowed condition she was fearful of ghosts. There were already +assembled at Abbotsford several ladies of high rank, who, witnessing +this ostentation on the part of an actress who, when a girl, had been +chased from her home by a vulgar virago of a mother, took it into +their heads to snub her. "The good-natured Sir Walter, pained at the +conduct of his noble guests, took the youngest and prettiest of them +aside, and lectured her on her manners. The beautiful peeress thanked +him for treating her as his daughter; and one by one the other ladies +being made to run the gauntlet of Sir Walter's rebukes, Mrs Coutts +was speedily set at ease. The narrative is curious as a typical +illustration of the sentiments with which the society to which Harriet +Mellon claimed to belong regarded her."[48] + +The anecdotes which have been related of Thomas Coutts are innumerable +and--unreliable. One of the most extraordinary of them is the +following:--"In the early part of his career, Mr Coutts, anxious +to secure the cordial co-operation of the heads of the various +banking-houses in London, was in the habit of frequently inviting them +to dinner. On one of these occasions the manager of a City bank, in +retailing the news of the day, accidentally remarked that a certain +nobleman had applied to his firm for the loan of £30,000, and had been +refused. Mr Coutts listened, and said nothing; but the moment his +guests had retired, about ten o'clock in the evening, he started off +to the house of the nobleman mentioned, and requested the honour of an +interview with his lordship next day. On the following morning, the +nobleman called at the bank. Mr Coutts received him with the greatest +politeness, and taking thirty one-thousand pound notes from a drawer, +presented them to his lordship. The latter, very agreeably surprised, +exclaimed, 'But what security am I to give you?' 'I shall be satisfied +with your lordship's note of hand,' was the reply. The 'I.O.U.' was +instantly given, with the remark, 'I find I shall only require for the +present £10,000; I therefore return you £20,000, with which you will be +pleased to open an account in my name.' This generous, or, as it may +more truly be called, exceedingly well-calculated, act of Mr Coutts +was not lost upon the nobleman, who, in addition to paying in within +a few months £200,000 to his account, the produce of the sale of an +estate, recommended several high personages to patronise the bank in +the Strand. Among new clients who opened accounts there was King George +III." + +This absurd story had its origin in the financial adventures of one +Alexander Trotter, Paymaster of the Navy, who, despite the facts that +his salary was a mere five hundred a year and that he had no other +means, passed some fifteen million pounds through Coutts' Bank and +speculated hugely on the Stock Exchange, his transactions amounting +in one day to £300,000. In giving evidence in the trial of Lord +Melville, the treasurer of the Navy, in 1806, he said: "I certainly +made use of that part which was not likely to be claimed for my own +benefit, generally by lending it at interest, and at times by investing +it in Exchequer or Navy Bills, or other Government securities. The +whole profit and emolument derived from that mode of laying out the +money were entirely my own." He gave as his reason for passing the +money through his private account, instead of through the Bank of +England, that, after the removal of the Navy Office from Broad Street +to Somerset Place, it was "safer and more convenient to give orders +on a bank in the Strand." He also affirmed that he never drew for +a million of money but once in his life, "And that money went into +the hands of Coutts, for I drew a draft, as usual, upon the Bank of +England, but instead of giving the draft to Coutts, I gave it to a +clerk, who carried it to the bank, and, the notes being divided into a +great number of small notes, he took them to Coutts"--a very singular +proceeding. Lord Melville stated that, to the best of his recollection, +"He never authorised the application of any of the Navy money for his +own benefit or advantage, but that, owing to the way in which the +pay-master had blended his own money and the public money, it was +impossible to ascertain with precision whether the advances he had made +to the treasurer were from one source or the other." An important point +in the trial turned upon the disposal of a certain sum of £30,000, and +it could not be determined as to whether the money came from the Navy, +or, as a loan, from Messrs Coutts. Hence arose the apocryphal story of +the staid banker, to whom caution was second nature, wishing to lend +this large amount on the frail security of an I.O.U. + +As for the stories about people who are supposed to have given +Thomas Coutts a guinea, as a consequence of his shabby appearance, +they are too numerous for repetition. The most circumstantial is the +following:--"Mr Coutts used to make periodical visits to a town in the +vicinity of the country seat of one of his married daughters. On one +of these occasions he had attracted the attention of a benevolent old +gentleman, who, noticing the neat but somewhat worn apparel of the +eminent banker, imagined that he had most probably seen better days, +but that his actual financial condition was not very flourishing. +The last time they met was Christmas time; and the benevolent old +gentleman, no doubt warmed up with the prospects of the festivities of +the season, dropped a guinea into the hand of Mr Coutts as he passed +quickly by him, bidding him get a good dinner. Having discovered +the name of his benefactor, Mr Coutts soon after invited him to his +house, where he made himself known to him, and related the anecdote +to his guests, letting them know how he had the guinea given to him, +and saying he intended keeping it." This story of the guinea gathered +strength with the years, one of the versions being that when the banker +was in Brighton, visiting the Prince Regent, to whom he occasionally +acted as financial adviser, he was sitting on the front when a lady, +observing "his dejected appearance and shabby apparel, gave him a +crown with which to get some breakfast, and promised to get her friends +to help to buy him a dinner. The crown, of course, proved to be a crown +token piece issued from the Coutts' Bank at the sign of 'The Three +Crowns in the Strand,' but when the lady returned with her friends, +and was just about to give the poor man his dinner money, the Prince +Regent ran out from the pavilion, and slapping him on the back, called +out, 'Tom Coutts, my boy, we have fined you a bottle for leaving your +glass!'" + +[Illustration: NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSE, FROM THE GARDENS.] + +According to Mrs Cornwall Baron-Wilson, Thomas Coutts was "a tall, +thin, spare figure, and his clothes, always ill-fitting, bore that +appearance of being rubbed at the seams, which reveals the 'business +coat' of an office. He was often mistaken for an indigent person, +and used to enjoy the mistake of all things." There is probably +some little exaggeration in this, but the banker, most certainly, +was not extravagant in his dress. Even if the following anecdote is +not strictly accurate, there is, no doubt, some truth in it:--"Mr +Coutts, from his too strict attention to the bank, felt his appetite +diminished; and, in order to afford him a little exercise, his +physician ordered him to walk daily after the bank closed to a +chemist's, who resided at some distance from the Strand, to have +some tonic preparation made up. So quiet and unassuming was he in +his manners, that he always made way for everyone who came while +he was at the shop, so that they might be served before him; and, +with his fair, delicate countenance, spare frame, and very simple +dress, no strangers guessed that they were pushing aside the opulent +Mr Coutts. A kind-hearted, liberal man, a merchant--who used to quit +his counting-house about the same time that Mr Coutts left the bank, +and who had chanced to be in the chemist's shop two or three times at +the hour when the latter came there--had remarked him, and from his +retiring, gentle appearance and actions, concluded he was a reduced +gentleman whose mind was superior to his means. Accordingly, this +charitable merchant resolved to administer to the necessities of the +shrinking, modest individual; and, one day, having sealed up a sum of +money for the purpose, he went to the chemist's shop, where he remained +a length of time, waiting anxiously for the appearance of the latter, +who, however, on that day did not come for the tonic, being probably +too much engaged in distributing thousands. The stranger, being at +length tired of waiting, and feeling ashamed of occupying a place +in the shop so long, told the chemist how the absence of the pale, +indigent, elderly gentleman had prevented his intended donation. The +chemist, in amazement, said: 'And you really meant to offer pecuniary +aid to that person, sir? Have you no idea who he is?' 'None,' said +the other, 'but I conclude he is some gentlemanly man in distressed, +or, at least, reduced circumstances.' 'You shall judge, sir, as to his +circumstances--that unassuming, quiet individual is Thomas Coutts!'"[49] + +Part of the premises of the bank has been occupied since the removal +of Messrs Coutts--in 1904, to No. 440 Strand--by the London County +Council. The number is 59, and the upper part is much the same as it +was in 1768, when it was erected by the brothers Adam. The house then +contained "some good marble chimney-pieces of the Cipriani and Bacon +school. The dining-room is hung with Chinese subjects on paper, sent to +Coutts by Lord Macartney, while on his embassy to China in 1792-95. In +another room is a collection of portraits of the early friends of the +wealthy banker, including the portrait of Dr Armstrong, the poet, by +Sir Joshua Reynolds. The strong rooms, or vaults of the house--'which +alone cost £10,000'--will repay an endeavour to obtain a sight of +them. Here, in a succession of cloister-like avenues, are stored in +boxes of all shapes, sizes, and colours, patents, title-deeds, plate, +etc., of many of the nobility and gentry of Great Britain."[50] The +Adams mantel-pieces and some of their doors were transferred to No. +440 Strand; and here the board-room--an apartment of drawing-room +appearance which is in strange contrast to the busy thoroughfare +below--is hung with the Chinese wall-paper which, despite its hundred +and more years of age, looks perfectly new. During the building of +the Adelphi, Coutts, in order to prevent the interruption of the +view from the back part of the premises, made a stipulation with the +Adams that Robert Street should be so planned as to form a kind of +framework for the fine view of the hills beyond the Thames. The land +beyond John and William streets was then occupied by the strong-rooms, +"connected underground with the office, and built only to the level +of the Strand. When it became necessary to enlarge" the premises, +Coutts "procured a special Act of Parliament for throwing an arch over +William Street. It was recognised as a good omen that, on the day of +opening these improvements, Nelson sent to Mr Coutts for security the +diamond aigrette which had been presented to him by the Sultan."[51] In +James Street--now covered, with William Street, in the general name of +Durham House Street, stretching from the Strand to John Street--was the +Adelphi Chapel, built by a congregation of Particular Baptists about +1777, and subsequently sold by them to the Calvinistic Baptists. Later +on, an Independent congregation occupied the building until it became +absorbed in the banking-house, and, until the removal of Messrs Coutts, +it was called "the chapel." + +Many names, famous in all ranks of life, are registered in the accounts +of the customers of Messrs Coutts. Taking them at random, they include +Pitt, Lord Londonderry, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir Walter Scott, the Duke +of Wellington, Nelson, Lord Bute, Dr Johnson, C.J. Fox, Lord Grenville, +Lord Macartney, Pope, Benjamin West, Lord George Gordon, Dr Armstrong, +Mrs FitzHerbert, Charles Dickens, Livingstone, Alfred Tennyson, and +Henry Irving. Kings George III. and IV., and William IV., banked here, +as did Queen Victoria. Messrs Coutts are also the bankers of King +Edward VII.--who also kept an account at No. 59 when he was Prince of +Wales--of Queen Alexandra, of the Queen of Spain, and of the King of +Portugal. + +The partners in the bank are, with the exception of the Hon. W.F.D. +Smith, of Scottish descent. On February 23, 1906, the capital was +registered as £600,000, distributed as follows:-- + + William Rolle Malcolm, Lord A. Campbell, + G.J. Marjoribanks, and the Earl of + Harrowby, as trustees for the persons + interested under the will of Harriot, + Duchess of St Albans £223,600 + Ronald Malcolm and G.J. Marjoribanks + (jointly) 82,900 + Archibald Dudley Ryder, Edward Dudley + Ryder, and the Earl of Harrowby 82,700 + William Rolle Malcolm 53,000 + The Earl of Harrowby 36,500 + George John Marjoribanks 40,000 + Lord Archibald Campbell 31,700 + The Baroness Burdett-Coutts 21,100 + The Hon. F.W.D. Smith 10,000 + Ronald Malcolm 10,000 + Archibald Dudley Ryder 4,250 + The Hon. Edward Dudley Ryder 4,250 + -------- + £600,000 + +Thomas Coutts left all his property to his wife. His personal estate +was valued at just under £600,000, but "as his own personal stocks +and shares and his interest in the stocks and shares held by the bank +were mingled, and it would be difficult for others than his partners +to distinguish which was the bank's property and which was his own, +he named as special trustees of such stocks and shares his partners, +Sir Edmund Antrobus, Mr Coutts Trotter, Mr Edward Marjoribanks, and Mr +Edmund Antrobus, and he appointed them executors, together with William +Adam the younger, of Lincoln's Inn, Andrew Dickie, of the Strand, and +Thomas Atkinson and John Parkinson, both of Lincoln's Inn Fields." +Harriot, Duchess of St Albans, widow of Thomas Coutts, made her will +on March 14, 1837, six months before her decease, her executors being +Sir Coutts Trotter, Edward Marjoribanks, Sir Edmund Antrobus, and +William Matthew Coulthurst, all of the Strand, with William George +Adam, Accountant-General of the High Court of Chancery, and John +Parkinson, of Lincoln's Inn Fields. She bequeathed to her husband the +use and enjoyment during his life of Holly Lodge, Highgate (which Mr +Coutts had bought for her at a cost of £25,000), the use and enjoyment +of rooms in the Strand, a legacy of £10,000 for furniture, a selection +of plate, not exceeding in value £2000, and an annuity of £10,000; but +the annuity and the use and enjoyment of Holly Lodge were to cease if +he should permit his uncle, Lord Amilius Beauclerk, or his brothers, +Frederick or Charles Beauclerk, to reside in these quarters for one +week or more in any one year. She left her jewellery to Angela Georgina +Burdett--subsequently the Baroness Burdett-Coutts--and she also gave, +devised, and bequeathed all her real and personal estate, including her +shares and interest of and in the banking-house and business in the +Strand, in trust to pay the income thereof to the said Angela Georgina +Burdett until she should marry or die, which should first happen, +and after such marriage to pay the same to her for her own sole and +separate use and benefit during the then residue of her life. + +At the southern end of Robert Street, through which Thomas Coutts +looked at the Surrey hills, there was, in modern times, the Caledonian +Hotel, which, with its hideous plaster front, was a blot upon the +surrounding architecture. This, in the late seventies of the last +century, was the meeting-place of the Savage Club. The "Savages" then +migrated to Lancaster House, Savoy, but in 1889 they returned to the +Adelphi, having taken the lease of their present premises, Nos. 6 +and 7 Adelphi Terrace. Excepting that the beautiful ceiling of their +principal room is covered with whitewash, the rooms still contain much +of the Adams imprint. Next door, however, Garrick's house is little +changed; the ceiling in his drawing-room was painted by Antonio Zucchi, +A.R.A., Angelica Kauffmann's second husband, and it is in a splendid +state of preservation, as is the magnificent marble chimney-piece, +which is said to have cost £300--the rooms in which Mr and Mrs Garrick +died are now in the occupation of the Institution of Naval Architects. +King Edward VII. was an honorary life member of the Savage Club +from 1882 until his Accession in 1901. Honorary life members of the +present year of grace include the Prince of Wales, Earl Roberts, Lord +Kitchener, Mr Whitelaw Reid, and Mr Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain). +The treasurer and secretary--both of which posts are honorary--are Sir +James D. Linton, R.I., and Mr Edwin E. Peacock respectively. The club +is limited to five hundred town and one hundred country members. + +One of the most notable residents of the Adelphi in modern times +was Mr Thomas Hardy, who, happily still with us, lived at No. 8 +Adelphi Terrace in the years 1863-67. During that time, "I sat there +drawing," he wrote to a friend, who has kindly given me the privilege +of reproducing his words, "inside the eastern-most window of the +front room on the first floor above the ground floor, occasionally +varying the experience by idling on the balcony. I saw from there the +Embankment and Charing Cross Bridge built, and, of course, used to +think of Garrick and Johnson." Mr Hardy, who was born in 1840, was +then practising architecture under Sir A. Blomfield, A.R.A. The room +in which the future author of _Far from the Madding Crowd_ and _Tess +of the D'Urbervilles_ worked "contained at that date a fine Adams +mantel-piece in white marble, on which we used to sketch caricatures in +pencil." + +The coming of the Savage Club to Adelphi Terrace occasioned much sorrow +to one of the kindest-hearted men who ever lived--E.L. Blanchard, who +had rooms in No. 6 from April 1876 until March 1889, a few months +before his death. Edward Litt Laman Blanchard--son of William Blanchard +(1769-1835), an actor who was celebrated for his Bob Acres, Sir Hugh +Evans, Fluellen, Menenius, and Polonius--was born on December 11, 1820. +He was a prolific writer, and for many years was the dramatic critic +and theatrical chronicler of _The Daily Telegraph_. He wrote the Drury +Lane pantomime for thirty-seven years--a marvellous record. On December +11, 1888, he writes in his _Diary_: "Am reminded, to my amazement, that +I am sixty-eight this day. Thank God for the many unexpected blessings +I have had." On the following day he hears "with inexpressible regret +that the Savage Club signed yesterday an agreement to take these +premises, and the adjoining house, No. 7." On the 15th he writes: +"Receive formal notice to give up possession of Adelphi Terrace on Lady +Day next, which troubles me greatly." His death occurred on September +4, 1889. Among the many shadows of the past which rise up before me +as I bring to a close this history of the Adelphi of the Brothers +Adam, there is none for which I have a greater reverence, or greater +affection, than that of gentle, sweet-natured E.L. Blanchard. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 46: Pennant's _Account of London_, ed. 1813, p. 537. It has +been stated recently that Messrs Martin & Co., of Lombard Street, the +direct successors of Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579), are the oldest +bankers in London. But I prefer to believe Pennant.] + +[Footnote 47: Robert Chambers, in his _Journal_ (No. 567, Nov. 7, +1874).] + +[Footnote 48: _Representative Actors_, W. Clark Russell, p. 322.] + +[Footnote 49: _Memoirs of Miss Mellon_, vol. i., p. 309.] + +[Footnote 50: Cunningham's _Handbook of London_, 1850, p. 476.] + +[Footnote 51: _London Past and Present_, vol. i., p. 6.] + + + + +CHAPTER X + + York House--Francis Bacon--The Great Seal taken from Him--Lord Keeper + Egerton--The Duke of Buckingham, King James' "Steenie"--Magnificence + of his Entertainments--Contemporary Descriptions--Bishop Goodman's + Praise--The Second Duke--Dryden's Revenge--The "Superstitious + Pictures" of York House--Buckingham's Marriage--Spanish, Russian, + and French Ambassadors Here--Visits by Pepys and Evelyn--Duke of + Buckingham sells York House--His Curious Condition of Sale--The Duke's + _Litany_. + + +LEAVING the Adelphi proper, but still within its precincts, we come +to the history of York House, the site of which is indicated by +Villiers Street, Buckingham Street, and York Buildings, Adelphi. "Next +beyond this Durham House," wrote John Stow, in 1598, "is another +great house, sometime belonging to the Bishop of Norwich, and was +his London lodging, which now pertaineth to the Archbishop of York +by this occasion. In the year 1529, when Cardinal Wolsey, Archbishop +of York, was indicted in the Premunire, whereby King Henry VIII. +was entitled to his goods and possessions, he also seized into his +hands the said archbishop's house, commonly called York Place, and +changed the name thereof into Whitehall; whereby the archbishops of +York, being dispossessed, and having no house of repair about London, +Queen Mary gave unto Nicholas Heath, then Archbishop of York, and to +his successors, Suffolk House in Southwark, lately built by Charles +Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, as I have showed. This house the said +archbishop sold, and bought the aforesaid house of old time belonging +to the bishops of Norwich, which of this last purchase is now called +York House. The lord chancellors or lord keepers of the Great Seal of +England have been lately there lodged." Our other great chronicler, +Strype, records that Archbishop Heath, on August 6, 1557, "obtained +a license for the alienation of this capital messuage of Suffolk +Place; and to apply the price thereof for the buying of other houses +called also Suffolk Place, lying near Charing Cross; as appears from a +register belonging to the Dean and Chapter of York." Archbishop Heath +did not occupy York House for long, and his successors appear to have +let it to the Lord Keepers of the Great Seal. + +Lord Chancellor Bacon, the son of Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper, was +born here in 1561, and here his father died in 1579. One of the most +interesting of literary associations is that of Francis Bacon with York +House. He built an aviary here at a cost of £300, and here Aubrey laid +the scene of his jesting with the fishermen, although Bacon himself +placed it at Chelsea: "His Lordship (Bacon) being in Yorke House garden +looking on Fishers, as they were throwing their nett, asked them +what they would take for their draught; they answered so much: his +Lop would offer them no more but so much. They drew up their nett, +and it were only 2 or 3 little fishes; his Lop then told them, it +had been better for them to have taken his offer. They replied, they +hoped to have had a better draught; but said his Lop, 'Hope is a good +breakfast, but an ill supper.'"[52] When the Duke of Lennox wished to +buy, or exchange, York House,[53] Bacon replied: "For this you will +pardon me: York House is the house where my father died, and where I +first breathed, and there will I yield my last breath, if so please +God and the King." In 1621, however, Bacon, charged before the House +of Commons with bribery, confessed that he was guilty of "corruption +and neglect," and, on May 21 of that year, the Great Seal was "fetched +from" the keeping of Lord Bacon of York House. A little later, Bacon +had "leave to repair to York House for a fortnight, but remained so +long that he had warning to repair to Gorhambury." Another keeper of +the Great Seal was Sir John Puckering, who died at York House in 1596. +Lord Chancellor Egerton also died here, in 1617. The commission of +enquiry into the death, in 1613, of Sir Thomas Overbury, was held at +York House, and resulted in the hanging of four of the agents of Lady +Essex. The Orders of October 17, 1615, to Somerset "to keep his chamber +near the Cockpit," and to his countess "to keep her chamber at the +Blackfriars, or at Lord Knollys's house near the Tilt yard," are dated +from York House. An attempt made, in 1588, to obtain the property from +Queen Elizabeth, has been attributed to the Earl of Essex, to whom the +custody of the house was subsequently committed. Edwin Sandys, when +Archbishop of York, wrote a "secret letter" to Lord Burghley entreating +his lordship to use his influence with the Queen for the refusal of +the request of the Earl of Essex, who, curiously enough, was under +surveillance at York House during the time--October 6, 1599, to March +20, 1600--that he was in the charge of Lord Keeper Egerton. + +In some manner, which is not very clear, York House passed to George, +the first Duke of Buckingham of the Villiers family. He "borrowed" it +from Archbishop Mathew till such time as he could persuade him "to +accept as good a seat as that was in lieu of the same, which could +not be so soon compassed, as the Duke of Buckingham had occasion +to make use of rooms for the entertainment of foreign princes." On +"Whitson-Eve," 1624, as recorded in Archbishop Laud's _Diary_, "the +Bill passed in Parliament for the King to have York House in exchange +for other lands. This was for the Lord Duke of Buckingham." The old +structure was destroyed, and a large, but temporary, building, erected +in its place, great mirrors covering many of the walls. Nothing remains +of this house; but the water-gate, at the foot of Buckingham Street, +still marks the stately approach to the York House of Buckingham's +time. "I am confident there are some that live," wrote Sir Balthazar +Gerbier, who was the keeper of York House and collector of pictures for +Buckingham, "who will not deny that they have heard the King of blessed +memory, graciously pleased to avouch he had seen in Anno 1628, close +to the Gate of York House, in a roome not above 35 feet square, as +much as could be represented as Sceans, in the great Banqueting Room of +Whitehall." The "sceans" were the pictures with which York House was +filled by Buckingham, who paid Rubens a hundred thousand florins for an +art collection "'more like that of a prince than a private gentleman' +with which the great painter of Antwerp had enriched his own dwelling. +Among the pictures were no fewer than 19 by Titian; 21 by Bassano; 13 +by Paul Veronese; 17 by Tintoretto; 3 by Raphael; 3 by Leonardo da +Vinci; and 13 by Rubens himself."[54] Buckingham did not live at York +House: he only used it on state occasions. He was assassinated, at +Portsmouth, by John Felton, on August 23, 1628. + +The entertainments given by Buckingham at York House were unrivalled in +their magnificence. A contemporary account of one of them is furnished +by the great courtier, François de Bassompiere (1579-1646), Marshal +of France, in his _Embassy to England_,[55] an account of his sojourn +here in 1626. "The King," he says, "supped at one table with the Queen +and me, which was served by a complete ballet at each course with +sundry representations--changes of scenery, tables, and music: the +Duke waited on the King at table, the Earl of Carlisle on the Queen, +and the Earl of Holland on me. After supper the King and we were led +into another room, where the assembly was, and one entered it by a +kind of turnstile, as in convents, without any confusion, where there +was a magnificent ballet, in which the Duke danced, and afterwards we +set to, and danced country dances till four in the morning; thence we +were shown into vaulted apartments, where there were five different +collations." D'Israeli extracted an account of the same entertainment +from the Sloane MSS.: "Last Sunday at night, the Duke's grace +entertained their Majesties and the French Ambassador at York House +with great feasting and show, where all things came down in clouds; +amongst which, one rare device was a representation of the French King +and the two Queens, with their chiefest attendants, and so to the life +that the Queen's Majesty could name them. It was four o'clock in the +morning before they parted, and then the King and Queen, together with +the French Ambassador, lodged there. Some estimate this entertainment +at five or six thousand pounds."[56] Sir Balthazar Gerbier, writing +to Buckingham on February 8, 1625, says: "Sometimes, when I am +contemplating the treasure of rarities which your Excellency has in so +short a time amassed, I cannot but feel astonishment in the midst of +my joy. For out of all the amateurs, and princes, and kings, there +is not one who has collected in forty years as many pictures as your +Excellency has collected in five. Let enemies and people ignorant of +paintings say what they will, they cannot deny that pictures are noble +ornaments, a delightful amusement, and histories that one may read +without fatigue. Our pictures, if they were to be sold a century after +our death, would sell for good cash, and for three times more than they +have cost. I wish I could only live a century, if they were sold, to be +able to laugh at those facetious folk, who say it is money cast away +for baubles and shadows: I know _they_ will be pictures still, when +those ignorants will be less than shadows." + +[Illustration: + + _H. Maund._ + +THE BALL-ROOM, NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSE.] + +Buckingham, as is well known, was the "Steenie" of King James, who +quoted the passage (Acts vi. 15), in which it is said of St Stephen: +"All that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face +as it had been the face of an angel." So the King called his favourite +Stephen, and the appellation became corrupted into Steenie. Buckingham, +undoubtedly, was a man of great personal attraction. Godfrey Goodman, +Bishop of Gloucester, who knew him well, says that, "Of all others +he was most active; he had a very lovely complexion; he was the +handsomest bodied man of England; his limbs so well compacted, and his +conversation so pleasing, and of so sweet a disposition. And truly +his intellectuals were very great; he had a sound judgment, and was +of a quick apprehension, insomuch that I have heard it from two men, +and very great men (neither of them had gotten so little as £3600 per +annum by the Court), whom of all men in the world Buckingham had most +wronged--yet I heard both those men say and give him this testimony, +that he was as inwardly beautiful as he was outwardly, and that the +world had not a more ingenious gentleman, or words to that effect."[57] + +His son, George, the second Duke of Buckingham, was born in Wallingford +House, which stood on the site of the Admiralty buildings, Whitehall, +the house having been purchased by his father from Lord Wallingford, +in 1621-22. At Wallingford House, "and at York House in the Strand," +says Leigh Hunt, "he turned night into day, and pursued his intrigues, +his concerts, his dabblings in chemistry and the philosopher's stone, +and his designs on the crown; for Charles's character, and the +devices of Buckingham's fellow quacks and astrologers, persuaded him +that he had a chance of being king. When a youth, he compounded with +Cromwell, and married Fairfax's daughter;--he was afterwards all for +the king, when he was not 'all for rhyming' or ousting him;--when +an old man, or near it (for these prodigious possessors of animal +spirits have a trick of lasting a long while), he was still a youth in +improvidence and dissipation, and his whole life was a dream of uneasy +pleasure".[58] Apart from his Court intrigues and his disordered life, +he is interesting to lovers of literature and the stage by reason of +his various satires and verses, and, particularly, for _The Rehearsal_, +brought out in 1671, in which he ridiculed contemporary dramatists, +including Dryden. But Dryden had his revenge, for, ten years later, he +made Buckingham the Zimri of his _Absalom and Achitophel_:-- + + "Some of the chiefs were princes in the land: + In the first rank of these did Zimri stand, + A man so various, that he seemed to be, + Not one, but all mankind's epitomê; + Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, + Was everything by starts, and nothing long; + But in the course of one revolving moon, + Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon; + Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking, + Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking. + Blest madman! who could every hour employ + With something new to wish or to enjoy. + Railing and praising were his usual themes; + And both to show his judgment, in extremes; + So very violent, or over civil, + That every man with him was God or devil. + In squandering wealth was his peculiar art; + Nothing went unrewarded but desert. + Beggar'd by fools, whom still he found too late, + He had his jest, and they had his estate. + He laugh'd himself from court; then sought relief + By forming parties, but could ne'er be chief; + For spite of him, the weight of business fell + On Absalom, or wise Achitophel; + Thus wicked but in will, of means bereft, + He left not faction, but of that was left." + +Buckingham, whose estates had been confiscated by Cromwell in 1648, +regained control of York House in a curious manner--by marriage with +the daughter of General Fairfax. Cromwell had bestowed this property +on Fairfax at the time of the Civil Wars. "Every chamber," says Brian +Fairfax in his _Memoirs_ of Buckingham, "was adorned with the arms +of Villiers and Manners, lions and peacocks. He (Lord Fairfax) was +descended from the same ancestors, Earls of Rutland." We have the same +authority for the statement that the "superstitious pictures in York +House" were ordered to be sold on August 20, 1645, but not before one +John Trayleman, an "old trusty servant," had smuggled some of the +treasures over to Holland, where they found a purchaser in the Archduke +Leopold. For one of these pictures, the Ecce Homo, by Titian, the first +Duke of Buckingham had been offered £7000, either in money or land, +by Lord Arundel. In this painting, likenesses of the Pope, Charles +V., and Solyman the Magnificent were introduced. The Duke returned to +England in 1657, and obtained an introduction to General Fairfax, who +gave a willing ear to the marriage proposition. The lady, we are told, +could not resist the fascination of "the most graceful and beautiful +person that any court in Europe saw," and the marriage took place +at Nun Appleton, near York--a seat of Lord Fairfax--on September 7, +1657. According to Jesse, Cromwell, "who was supposed to have intended +Buckingham for one of his own daughters, was greatly enraged when he +heard of the match, and immediately committed Buckingham to the Tower. +Fairfax demanded his release, which, being angrily and obstinately +refused by the Protector, a quarrel was the consequence." After the +death of Cromwell, Buckingham was permitted to remove to Windsor +Castle. At the Restoration he was restored to his property, and became +"the most reckless, unprincipled, and irregular character" at the Court +of Charles II. + +York House fell from its high estate on coming into the possession +of General Fairfax. On November 27, 1655, Evelyn "went to see York +House and gardens, belonging to the former greate Buckingham, but now +much ruin'd thro' neglect." In 1661, Baron de Batteville, the Spanish +Ambassador, was lodged there, a fact which affords us, through the +pages of Samuel Pepys, a curious peep into the past. On May 19, 1661 +(Lord's Day), this delightful chronicler walked in the morning towards +Westminster, and, seeing many people at York House, he went down from +the Strand "and found them at masse, it being the Spanish Ambassador's; +and so I got into one of the galleries, and there heard two masses +done, I think not in so much state as I have seen them heretofore. +After that, into the garden, and walked an hour or two, but found it +not so fine a place as I took it for by the outside." In September +of the same year, Pepys witnessed a strange encounter between the +retainers of the ambassadors of Spain and France, which terminated +at York House: "This morning, up by moonshine, at five o'clock, to +Whitehall, to meet Mr More at the Privy Seale, and ther I heard of a +fray between the two embassadors of Spaine and France, and that this +day being the day of the entrance of an embassador from Sweeden, they +intended to fight for the precedence. Our king, I heard, ordered that +no Englishman should meddle in the business, but let them do what they +would. And to that end, all the soldiers in town were in arms all +the day long, and some of the train bands in the city, and a great +bustle through the city all the day. Then we took coach (which was the +business I came for) to Chelsey, to my Lord Privy Seale, and there got +him to seal the business. Here I saw by daylight two very fine pictures +in the gallery, that a little while ago I saw by night; and did also +go all over the house, and found it to be the prettiest contrived +house that I ever saw in my life. So back again; and Whitehall light, +and saw the soldiers and people running up and down the streets. So I +went to the Spanish embassadors and the French, and there saw great +preparations on both sides; but the French made the most noise and +ranted most, but the other made no stir almost at all; so that I was +afraid the other would have too great a conquest over them. Then to +the wardrobe and dined there; and then abroad, and in Cheapside hear, +that the Spanish hath got the best of it, and killed three of the +French coachhorses and several men, and is gone through the city next +to our King's coach: at which it is strange to see how all the city +did rejoice. And, indeed, we do naturally all love the Spanish and +hate the French. But I, as I am in all things curious, presently got +to the water-side, and there took oars to Westminster Palace, and ran +after them through all the dirt, and the streets full of people; till +at last, in the Mews [Charing Cross], I saw the Spanish coach go with +fifty drawn swords at least to guard it, and our soldiers shouting +for joy. And so I followed the coach, and then met it at Yorke House, +where the embassador lies; and there it went in with great state. So +then I went to the French house, where I observe still, that there is +no men in the world of a more insolent spirit where they do well, nor +before they begin a matter, and more abject if they do miscarry, than +these people are; for they all look like dead men, and not a word among +them, but shake their heads. The truth is, the Spaniards were not only +observed to fight more desperately, but also they did outwitt them; +first in lining their own harnesse with chains of iron that they could +not be cut, then in setting their coach in the most advantageous place, +and to appoint men to guard every one of their horses, and others for +to guard the coach, and others the coachman. And, above all, in setting +upon the French horses and killing them, for by that means the French +were not able to stir. There were several men slaine of the French, and +one or two of the Spaniards, and one Englishman by a bullet. Which is +very observable, the French were at least four to one in number, and +had near one hundred cases of pistols among them, and the Spaniards had +not one gun among them, which is for their honour for ever, and the +others' disgrace. So having been very much daubed with dirt, I got a +coach and home; where I vexed my wife in telling her of this story, and +pleading for the Spaniards against the French." + +But the whirligig of time brings in its own revenges, and, in 1672, the +French Ambassador was installed at York House. On April 4, Evelyn "went +to see the fopperies of the Papists at Somerset House and York House, +where now the French Ambassador had caus'd to be represented our +Blessed Saviour at the Paschal Supper with his disciples, in figures +and puppets made as big as the life, of wax-work, curiously clad and +sitting round a large table, the roome nobly hung, and shining with +innumerable lamps and candles; this was expos'd to all the world, all +the Citty came to see it: such liberty had the Roman Catholicks at this +time obtain'd." In 1663, the Russian Ambassador was in occupation. +On June 6, of that year, Pepys journeyed "To York House, where the +Russian Embassador do lie; and there I saw his people go up and down +losing themselves: they are all in a great hurry, being to be gone +the beginning of next week. But that that pleased me best, was the +remains of the noble soul of the late Duke of Buckingham appearing in +his house, in every place, in the door-cases and the windows. Sir John +Hebden, the Russian Resident, did tell me how he is vexed to see things +at Court ordered as they are by nobody that attends to business, but +every man himself or his pleasures. He cries up my Lord Ashley to be +almost the only man that he sees to look after business; and with the +ease and mastery, that he wonders at him. He cries out against the +King's dealing so much with goldsmiths, and suffering himself to have +his purse kept and commanded by them." + +How the French Ambassador came to be in residence at York House in +April, 1672--as most certainly he was--is somewhat curious. For, by +a deed dated January 1, of that year, the Duke sold the house and +gardens in order to obtain money for his extravagances. The purchasers +were Roger Higgs, of St Margaret's, Westminster, Esq.; Emery Hill, of +Westminster, gentleman; Nicholas Eddyn, of Westminster, woodmonger; +and John Green, of Westminster, brewer; and the price of the property +was £30,000. In 1668, the rental of "York House and tenements, in the +Strand," had been fixed at £1359, 10s. The Duke made it a condition of +the sale that his name should be commemorated in the new buildings to +be erected on the site of York House; hence we have York Buildings, +Buckingham Street, Villiers Street, and Duke Street, at the present +day. There was even an "Of" Lane, but this has been converted into +George Court. It is said that, with part of the money thus obtained, +the Duke purchased land in Dowgate. Be this as it may, the nomenclature +of the York House estate caused much derision at the time, and brought +forth _The Litany of the Duke of Buckingham_, a merry satire containing +the following exhortation:-- + + "From damning whatever we don't understand, + From purchasing at Dowgate, and selling in the Strand, + Calling streets by our name when we have sold the land, + Libera nos Domine!" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 52: Aubrey's _Lives_, vol. ii., p. 224.] + +[Footnote 53: A brilliant entertainment given at York House in 1620 was +attended by Ben Jonson, who said that all things seemed to smile about +the old house--"the fire, the wine, the men"; he speaks of Bacon as:-- + + "England's high Chancellor, the destin'd heir, + In his soft cradle, to his father's chair, + Whose even thread the Fates spin round and full, + Out of their choicest and whitest wool." + +A few months later, the Committee of the House of Lords waited upon the +Chancellor at York House in order to enquire personally whether the +confession of guilt which he had sent them was really his. "My Lords," +he replied, "it is my act, my hand, my heart; I beseech your Lordships +to be merciful to a broken reed."] + +[Footnote 54: _London Past and Present_, vol. iii., p. 538.] + +[Footnote 55: P. 95.] + +[Footnote 56: _Curiosities of Literature_, vol. v., p. 223.] + +[Footnote 57: Bishop Goodman's _Memoirs_, vol. ii., p. 371.] + +[Footnote 58: _The Town_, ed. 1859, p. 362.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + The York Water-Gate--Inigo Jones' Beautiful Work--Built for the + Duke of Buckingham--The Proposal for its Removal--Satires on the + Subject--The Gate Neglected--Its Restoration--The Water Tower--The + West-end supplied with Water from Here--The Steam Engine--Samuel + Pepys resides in Buckingham Street--William Etty and Clarkson + Stanfield--Peter the Great Lodges Here--His Love of Strong Drink--The + Witty Earl of Dorset--David Hume and Jean Jacques Rousseau--Moore + writes to his Publisher Here--The Father of Modern Geology--A Great + Actor dies Here--The Original of Smollett's Hugh Strap--David + Copperfield's Chambers--Evelyn lives in Villiers Street--Sir Richard + Steele--Zara acted Here--Mrs Cibber--Misstatement by "Anthony Pasquin." + + +ALTHOUGH every trace of York House itself has been long ago +obliterated, there still remains the water-gate, one of the most +interesting historical relics in London. Peter the Great's house, +which formerly overlooked it, has given place only this year to a new +building, but the "stairs" which were erected for the first Duke of +Buckingham are still here to remind us of many celebrities who came to +this hallowed spot from the days of "Steenie" until the beginning of +the last century. The architect of this charming piece of work was +Inigo Jones (1573-1652), and the date of its erection can safely be +attributed to the year 1625. One Nicholas Stone (1586-1647) has been +wrongly credited with the design. In his _Account Book of Workes_, +which is in the library of Sir John Soane's Museum, it is said: "The +Water-gate at York House hee dessined and built; and ye right hand +lion hee did, fronting ye Thames. Mr Kearne, a Jarman, his brother +by marrying, did ye Shee lion." But Stone--whose best work was in +tombs, those of Bodley at Oxford and Donne in St Paul's being his +most celebrated--carried out many of the designs of Inigo Jones, and, +from this cause, I fancy, came his claim to the York water-gate. +These "stairs," as they were commonly called, have been described as +"unquestionably the most perfect piece of building that does honour +to the name of Inigo Jones--planned in so exquisite a taste, formed +of such equal and harmonious parts, and adorned with such proper and +elegant decorations, that nothing can be censured or added. It is at +once happy in its situation, beyond comparison, and fancied in a style +exactly suited to that situation. The _rock-work_, or rustic, can never +be better introduced than in buildings by the side of water; and, +indeed, it is a great question whether it ought to be made use of any +where else." The arms of the Villiers family--now the worse for wear, +but still visible--appear on the side facing the Thames, and, on the +reverse, is to be seen their motto: _Fidei Coticula Crux_--the Cross +is the Touch-stone of Faith. The terrace on this side was planted with +lime-trees, and, less than a century ago, was "supported by a rate +raised upon the houses in the neighbouring streets; and, being enclosed +from the public, forms an agreeable promenade for the inhabitants." + +This famous water-gate has had its vicissitudes. In 1767, there was +a proposal for its removal, but, fortunately, this act of vandalism +was not allowed to take place. The suggestion gave rise to various +protests, one of which took the following form:-- + + "Sacred + to the Memory and Reputation of + INIGO JONES. + Let no Hand attempt to remove me: + A Mind improved by Taste + Will consider me as a bulwark + To controul the Waves, + Repel the Flood, + And buffet the Western Blasts that annoy + The Inhabitant. + I am the only perfect Building of the Kind + In England; + An search Europe thro', none excell me. + Who + Seek to destroy me, + Repentance shall o'er-take. + Genius shall hunt them from Society, + Contempt shall mark them for her own." + +Whether the sinful souls who had thought to execute their fell purpose +ever repented or were hunted "from Society," is not recorded. Another +satire was in more lively strain:-- + + "A strange hubble bubble + Confusion and trouble + Has been about York Buildings Gate; + And some gentlemen swear + It shall not stand there, + It's a thing, above all, that they hate. + + Tho' 'twas Inigo Jones + Plan'd the piling these stones, + And superb is the architecture; + But alas! some so say + It does stand in the way + Of one that's a Terras director. + + Must this building at length + Render up all its strength, + That's withstood the tempestuous billows; + Even rain, storms of hail, + Stood secure from each gale, + To please some testy old fellows. + + Last Wedn'sday at night + With all malice and spite + Poor Inigo's fame they did sully; + Till a member arose + And opposed his foes + Verbatim he spoke like a Tully. + + Some the cause did maintain, + That it should there remain, + Or where can we go helter-skelter? + At a time when it rains, + Without trouble or pains + The ladies go there for a shelter. + + And from Phoebus's Rays, + In hot, sultry days, + To be free from intenseness of heat; + Such a prospect it gains + O'er the river of Thames, + There's not a more pleasing retreat. + + T.B." + +The gate had become so neglected in 1823 that it was necessary to +repair the roof and stone-work and to renew the iron-work. This was +done at a cost of £300, defrayed by a rate levied on the occupants of +York Buildings. Thirteen years later, however, I find a complaint that +the gate had been allowed "from neglect, to be almost smothered in +river mud." Again, in 1854, it was said to be "in a ruinous state"--a +view of the case which is somewhat exaggerated, for the gate is still +in wonderful preservation, considering its age and the destructive +nature of the London climate. The gate, and the terrace behind, are now +under the control of the London County Council. It is a pity that the +"stairs" are so hidden in the hollow of the gardens, but this cannot +be avoided. The terrace, which leads from Villiers Street to York +Buildings, with an entrance from Buckingham Street, is well-kept, and, +very properly, it is only open during the day. + +In the frontispiece to this volume, and in some of the other +illustrations, there is to be seen, to the left of the water-gate, a +strange-looking "octangular structure, about seventy feet high, with +small round loopholes as windows." This is the tower of some works +which were made in the twenty-seventh year of King Charles II. for the +supply of water from the silvery Thames to the inhabitants of the west +end. Many of the wooden pipes through which the water was conveyed have +been excavated from time to time in Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, and +other places. In 1688, there were forty-eight shares in the company. +After the Scotch rebellion in 1715, the company invested large sums +in purchasing forfeited estates, which no Scot would buy. Bankruptcy +followed, and, in 1783, the Scotch estates were sold for £102,537.[59] +A curious description of the works is given in the _Foreigner's +Guide to London_ for 1720: "Here you see a high wooden tower and a +water-engine of a new invention, that draws out of the Thames above +three tons of water in one minute, by means of the steam arising from +water boiling in a great copper, a continual fire being kept to that +purpose; the steam being compressed and condensed, moves, by its +evaporation, and strikes a counterpoise, which counterpoise striking +another, at last moves a great beam, which, by its motion of going +up and down, draws water from the river which mounts through great +iron pipes to the height of the tower, discharging itself there into +a deep leaden cistern; and thence falling through other large iron +pipes, fills them that are laid along the streets, and so continuing to +run through wooden pipes as far as Mar-bone fields, falls there into +a large pond or reservoir, from whence the new buildings near Hanover +Square, and many thousand houses, are supplied with water. This machine +is certainly a great curiosity, and though it be not so large as that +of Marly in France, yet, considering its smallness in comparison +with that, and the little charge it was built and kept with, and the +quantity of water it draws, its use and benefit is much beyond that." +This steam-engine was not in use after 1731, but it was shown for some +years later as a curiosity. The cost of working the machine, "and some +other reasons concurring, made its proprietors, the York Buildings +Waterworks Company, lay aside the design; and no doubt but the +inhabitants of this neighbourhood are very glad of it, for its working, +which was by sea-coal, was attended with so much smoke, that it not +only must pollute the air thereabouts, but spoil the furniture."[60] + +[Illustration: + + _H. Maund._ + +THE DRAWING-ROOM, NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSE.] + +Buckingham Street is hallowed by the memory of many celebrities. +Here, at the last house on the west facing the river (since rebuilt, +and now numbered 14), Samuel Pepys lived from 1684 to 1700. Pepys, +unfortunately, had finished his _Diary_ in 1669, or we should have had +some quaint observations from him in reference to his residence here. +The house had been occupied previously by his great friend, William +Hewer, at whose residence in Clapham the genial gossip died in 1703. +No. 14 was the home of William Etty, R.A., from the summer of 1824 +until shortly before his death in 1849. He first occupied the ground +floor, but he moved to the top rooms, as he loved to watch the sunsets +over the Thames. The ebb and flow of the river, he declared, was like +life, and "the view from Lambeth to the Abbey not unlike Venice. Here +he invited Thomas Stothard, the famous painter, to breakfast at nine +o'clock, when there is a good light to see my Venetian studies of +colour, which are all hung round the room where I breakfast." In these +rooms, "the artists of two generations have assembled--Fuseli, Flaxman, +Holland, Constable, and Hilton--then Turner, Maclise, Dyce, Herbert, +and all the younger race."[61] Clarkson Stanfield, the landscape +painter, who designed some beautiful scenery for Drury Lane and painted +a drop-scene for Dickens, occupied the lower rooms for some years. + +"Should my reader's boat ever stop at York Water Gate," wrote J.T. +Smith, in his _Book for a Rainy Day_, "let me request him to look +up at the three upper balconied windows of that mass of building +at the south-west corner of Buckingham Street. Those, and the two +adjoining Westminster, give light to chambers occupied by that truly +epic historical painter, and most excellent man, Etty, the Royal +Academician, who has fitted up the balconied room with engravings after +pictures of the three great masters, Raphael, Nicholas Poussin, and +Rubens. The other two windows illuminate his painting room, in which +his mind and colours resplendently shine, even in the face of one of +the grandest scenes in Nature, our River Thames and City edifices, with +a most luxuriant and extensive face of a distant country, the beauties +of which he most liberally delights in showing to his friends from +the leads of his apartments.... The rooms immediately below Mr Etty's +are occupied by Mr Lloyd, a gentleman whose general knowledge in the +graphic art I and many more look up to with the profoundest respect. +The chambers beneath Mr Lloyd's are inhabited by Mr Stanfield, the +landscape painter." + +In the house on the opposite corner--now demolished, as already +stated, but to be seen in the "view of Westminster from the Thames, +1750"--lived, for three months, in 1698, Peter the Great. Here he +returned from his work at Deptford, spending his evenings with his +cicerone, Lord Carmarthen, drinking a pint of hot brandy, further +warmed by the addition of cayenne pepper, after he had consumed +numberless draughts of wine. It is said that on one occasion he drank +a pint of brandy, a bottle of sherry, and eight flasks of sack, after +which he went to the theatre. While in Buckingham Street he "was so +annoyed with the vulgar curiosity of intrusive citizens, that he would +sometimes rise from his dinner and leave the room in a rage. Here the +Quakers forced themselves upon him, and presented him with _Barclay's +Apology_, after which the Czar attended their meeting in Gracechurch +Street. He once asked them of what use they were to any kingdom, since +they would not bear arms. On taking his farewell of King William, Peter +drew a rough ruby, valued at £10,000, from his waistcoat pocket, and +presented it to him screwed up in brown paper. He went back just in +time to crush the Strelitzes, imprison his sister Sophia, and wage war +on Charles XII. The great reformer was only twenty-six years old when +he visited England." + +Other famous inhabitants of Buckingham Street include, in 1681, Charles +Sackville, the sixth Earl of Dorset, the poet and wit; in 1706, Robert +Harley (afterwards Earl of Oxford), who received such high praise from +Pope and Swift; and, in 1727, James Wellwood, physician and author. A +very interesting literary association is that of David Hume and Jean +Jacques Rousseau, who, in 1766, were made welcome at his house in this +street by Hume's friend, John Stewart. Subsequently they "removed into +lodgings a few doors off. In one or other of these houses Rousseau laid +the scene of all the imaginary insults heaped upon him by his brother +philosopher, the crowning injury being inflicted at their parting in +Buckingham Street, which Rousseau describes with such comic vehemence. +Whilst here, Rousseau was the object of much curiosity."[62] Mr +Wheatley also states that No. 22 was the house of Power, the publisher +of the _Irish Melodies_, to whom Moore wrote so frequently, and that +"Strata" Smith, "the father of modern geology," lived in this street, +his young nephew, John Phillips (afterwards the Oxford professor), +being with him. One of the most noted representatives of Hamlet and +Falstaff died at his house in Buckingham Street in 1785. This was John +Henderson, who, although without many personal advantages, achieved a +great position. He was "the soul of feeling and intelligence." + +In the lodge of the terrace at the foot of Buckingham Street lived, +for several years before his death in 1809, Hugh Hewson, the original +of Smollett's Hugh Strap in _Roderick Random_, the simple, generous +adherent whose generosity and fidelity met with such a base return from +the heartless libertine. Another memory of this small street brings +us once more to Dickens and _David Copperfield_. For it was here that +Copperfield lodged when he was undergoing his month's probation with +Spenlow and Jorkins. Betsy Trotwood announced to her nephew: "'There's +a furnished little set of chambers to be let in the Adelphi, Trot, +which ought to suit you to a marvel.' + +"With this brief introduction, she produced from her pocket an +advertisement, carefully cut out of a newspaper, setting forth that in +Buckingham Street in the Adelphi there was to be let furnished, with a +view of the river, a singularly desirable and compact set of chambers, +forming a genteel residence for a young gentleman, a member of one +of the Inns of Court, or otherwise, with immediate possession. Terms +moderate, and could be taken for a month only, if required. + +"'Why, this is the very thing, aunt!' said I, flushed with the possible +dignity of living in chambers. + +"'Then come,' replied my aunt, immediately resuming the bonnet she had +a minute before laid aside. 'We'll go and look at 'em.' + +"Away we went. The advertisement directed us to apply to Mrs Crupp +on the premises, and we rang the area bell, which we supposed to +communicate with Mrs Crupp. It was not until we had rung three or four +times that we could prevail on Mrs Crupp to communicate with us, but +at last she appeared, being a stout lady with a flounce of flannel +petticoat below a nankeen gown."[63] For a further description of +Copperfield's life in Buckingham Street, I must refer my readers to the +pages of Dickens. + +The earliest mention that we have of Villiers Street is found in the +diary of the pious and amiable John Evelyn, who, on November 17, 1683, +sets down: "I took a house in Villiers Street, York Buildings, for +the winter, having many important concerns to dispatch, and for the +education of my daughters." Addison's friend, Sir Richard Steele, lived +here after the death of his wife, the jealous "Prue," in 1721, until +1724. While he was here, his last comedy, _The Conscious Lovers_, +was produced at Drury Lane, in 1722. There was a celebrated music +room in this street. The building, erected in 1680, was popular for +half a century, and was pulled down in 1758. It contained a beautiful +ceiling, painted by Verrio, which had been incorporated from York +House, and, as it could not be removed, it was, perforce, destroyed. +_The Fair Penitent_, _Jane Shore_, _The Beggar's Opera_, and other +well-known pieces were performed here. In the _Miscellanies_ of the +dramatist, Aaron Hill (1685-1750), is "A Prologue for the third night +of _Zara_"--which Hill had translated from Voltaire--"when first +played at the Great Musick Room, in Villars Street, York Buildings," in +1735. The representative of Lusignan--one of Garrick's best parts--a +gentleman named Bond, expired on the stage. At the first representation +of the piece, a young gentleman, a relation of the author's, attempted +the character of Osman, but without success, despite the great pains +taken at rehearsal by the adapter. _Zara_ was still more remarkable for +the appearance in it, at the age of twenty-five, of Mrs Cibber, who +subsequently achieved such great fame on the stage. Zara was her first +attempt in tragedy. On the sole authority of that wicked libeller and +scurrilous writer, "Anthony Pasquin," otherwise John Williams, "one +of the dirtiest and most disreputable fellows that ever disgraced the +literary profession," it has been related that Garrick, three years +before he appeared for the first time on the London stage, had acted +in the Duke's Theatre, and that "the ladies who were present were so +fascinated by Mr Garrick's powers that they offered him their trinkets +and their purses from the boxes." This is not so. Garrick did not play +before the public in London until October 19, 1741. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 59: _Gentleman's Magazine_, August 1783, p. 709.] + +[Footnote 60: _All Alive and Merry, or the London Daily Post_, April +18, 1741.] + +[Footnote 61: _Haunted London_, p. 136.] + +[Footnote 62: _London Past and Present_, vol. i., p. 296.] + +[Footnote 63: _David Copperfield_, chap. xxiii.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + The Strand in 1353--St Mary Rounceval--Northampton House--Earl + of Surrey, the Poet--Suffolk House--Suckling's _Ballade upon a + Wedding_--Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland--The Restoration + planned at Northumberland House--Lady Elizabeth Percy--Her Romantic + Marriages--Murder of "Tom of Ten Thousand"--The "Proud" Duke + of Somerset--_Edwin and Angelina_--Goldsmith at Northumberland + House--Fire Here--Dr Percy's Library saved--the Famous + Lion--Demolition of the House--The Duke's Lament--Northumberland + Avenue--Craven Street--Benjamin Franklin--Sir Joshua + Reynolds--Heinrich Heine--The Author of _Rejected Addresses_--J.S. + Clarke. + + +THE last of the great mansions of the Strand, Northumberland House, +which was swept away so recently as 1874, was a landmark of great +antiquity. For it terminated the palaces of the nobles which existed +for centuries on the north bank of the Thames from Blackfriars to +Charing Cross. It may be observed that in 1353 the Strand was an +open highway, with here and there a great man's house where gardens +stretched to the water's edge. It was then so impassable that Edward +III. directed the levying of a tax upon wool, leather, wine, and "all +goods" carried to Westminster from Temple Bar to the Abbey, for the +repair of the road; and he further ordered that all owners of houses +adjacent to the highway should repair as much as lay before their +doors. "There was no continued street here," says Pennant, "till about +1533: before that time it entirely cut off Westminster from London, and +nothing intervened except a few scattered houses, and a village which +afterwards gave name to the whole. St Martin's stood literally in the +fields. But about the year 1560 a street was formed, loosely built; +for all the houses on the south side had great gardens to the river, +were called by their owners' names, and in aftertimes gave name to +the several streets that succeeded them, pointing down to the Thames; +each of them had stairs for the conveniency of taking boat.... The +north side was a mere line of houses from Charing Cross to Temple Bar; +all beyond was country. The gardens which occupied part of the site +of Covent Garden were bounded by fields, and St Giles's was a distant +country village." + +The site of Northumberland House was that which had been previously +occupied by the "hospital" or chapel of St Mary Rounceval. "Then," says +Stow, "there was an hospital of St Marie Rouncivall by Charing Cross (a +cell to the priory and convent of Roncesvalles in Navarre, in Pamplona +diocese), where a fraternity was founded in the 15th year of Edward +IV., but now the same is suppressed and turned into tenements." On the +other hand, Pennant gives it a still greater antiquity, for he states +that the chapel was founded, by William, Earl of Pembroke, in the +reign of Henry III., repressed by Henry V. among the alien priories, +and rebuilt by Edward IV., "who fixed a fraternity in it." Dissolved +by Henry VIII., the property was granted by Edward VI. to Sir Thomas +Cawarden, a private individual who did not attain to fame. From him it +passed to Sir Robert Brett, and thence, by purchase, to Henry Howard, +Earl of Northampton, who, in the reign of James I., built the immediate +predecessor of Northumberland House. This Henry Howard, the first Earl +of Northampton (1540-1614) was the second son of Henry Howard, Earl of +Surrey, the poet. He was the most learned nobleman of his day. He may +have had some religious sentiment in purchasing the original site of +the chapel of St Mary, for he lived and died a Roman Catholic. + +In the building of his "sumptuous palace," which he called Northampton +House, he had for his architects Bernard Jansen, who was more a +stonemason than an architect, and another maker of funeral monuments, +Gerrard Christmas (Garret Christmas). The latter carved for himself +the initials C. Æ. (Christmas Ædificavit), in large capitals over +the old stone gateway, which was replaced by a new front towards the +Strand in the reign of George II. At that time the house consisted of +three sides of a quadrangle, the centre facing the Strand, and, of +course, with gardens down to the river. The Earl of Northampton died +here in 1614, and by his will bequeathed the house and garden to his +nephew, Thomas Howard, first Earl of Suffolk, the second son of Thomas +Howard the third, fourth Duke of Norfolk. As Lord Thomas Howard he +distinguished himself against the Armada in 1588. He completed the +quadrangle of Northampton House by building the front towards the +Thames, and he changed the name to Suffolk House. The Earl of Suffolk +died here in 1626, and his son, Theophilus, inherited the property. +On his death, in 1640, James, the third Earl of Suffolk (1619-1688), +inherited it. His sister, the Lady Elizabeth Howard, was married, in +1642, to Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland. By an indenture dated +a few days before the marriage, the property was conveyed by the Earl +of Suffolk to the Earl of Northumberland, a change which led also to +the nomenclature of the house, which has had such a long career, and +the destruction of which many Londoners still lament. + +Before coming to the history of Northumberland House as it appeared +from the middle of the seventeenth century--when great changes were +made in its structure--until its demolition in 1874, it is interesting +to note that one of the quaintest, and, in some respects, most charming +of the old English poems had its origin in the marriage of Roger Boyle, +Lord Broghill, the first Earl of Orrery, to Lady Margaret Howard, +daughter of the first Earl of Suffolk, the builder of Northampton +House. This is the event which called forth, in 1637, Sir John +Suckling's _Ballade upon a Wedding_, in which one of the prettiest +conceits in the English language occurs. The verses are too long to +quote _in extenso_, but some extracts may be given, as they are germane +to the matter of this particular history. The wedding is supposed to be +described by a rustic, writing to his friend in the country:-- + + "I tell thee, Dick, where I have been, + Where I the rarest things have seen. + + * * * * * + + At Charing-Crosse, hard by the way + Where we (thou know'st) do sell our hay, + There is a house with stairs; + And there did I see comming down + Such folk as are not in our town, + Vorty, at least, in pairs. + + * * * * * + + Her finger was so small, the ring + Would not stay on which they did bring, + It was too wide a peck. + And to say truth, for out it must, + It looked like the great collar, just, + About our young colt's neck. + + Her feet beneath her petticoat, + Like little mice stole in and out, + As if they feared the light. + But oh! she dances such a way, + No sun upon an Easter day + Is half so fine a sight. + + * * * * * + + Her cheeks so rare a white was on, + No daisy makes comparison, + Who sees them is undone; + For streaks of red were mingled there, + Such as are on a Katherine pear, + The side that's next the sun. + + Her lips were red, and one was thin; + Compared to that was next her chin, + Some bee had stung it newly; + But Dick, her eyes so guard her face, + I durst no more upon them gaze, + Than on the sun in July. + + Her mouth so small when she does speak, + Thoud'st swear her teeth her words did break, + That they might passage get; + But she so handled still the matter, + They came as good as ours or better, + And are not spent a whit." + +Algernon Percy, the tenth Earl of Northumberland, who was called +by Lord Clarendon "the proudest man alive," became guardian of the +two youngest children of Charles I. in 1645, and was one of the +commissioners appointed to negotiate with the King at Newport in +1648. He took no part in public affairs during the Commonwealth and +Protectorate. In the spring of 1660, George Monk--afterwards the +Duke of Albemarle, and the husband of "Nan" Clarges--was invited, +with the Earl of Manchester, Sir William Waller, and others to +Northumberland House, and here, "in secret confidence with them," says +Clarendon, "some of those measures were concerted which led to the +speedy restoration of the Monarchy." Algernon Percy, who was a privy +councillor after the Restoration, died in 1668. His son and successor, +Josceline Percy, dying in 1670, without male issue, the property passed +to his daughter, the Lady Elizabeth Percy (1667-1722). This lady had +a strange matrimonial career. At the age of twelve she was "married" +to Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle (son and heir of Henry, Duke of +Newcastle), but he died in his youth. Two years later--that is to say, +in 1681--she espoused Thomas Thynne, of Longleat, Wilts. + +Thynne, who was nicknamed "Tom of Ten Thousand," in consequence of +his great wealth, was the Issachar of _Absalom and Achitophel_. Lady +Elizabeth, soon after the death of Lord Ogle, had been given in +marriage by her grandmother to Thynne, who, however, had agreed, on +account of the youth of his bride, that the marriage should not be +consummated until a year had elapsed. The lady, however, took such a +dislike to Thynne that she fled for protection to Lady Temple at the +Hague. "In the meantime, the famous Count Königsmark--noted for his +beauty and intrigues in most of the Courts of Europe--had accidentally +met Lady Ogle in public, and had either fallen in love with her +person, or with the vast fortune of which she was the mistress. That +the feeling was reciprocal there is not the least reason to suppose. +Königsmark, however, equally daring and unprincipled, determined by +foul, if not by fair means, to make her his wife, and, as the first +step, projected the assassination of the unfortunate Thynne. The +persons whom he hired to commit the crime were three foreigners--one +Captain Vratz, a German; a Lieutenant Stern, a Swede; and one George +Borotski, a Pole. The two former seem to have been as daring and +reckless adventurers as any age could produce. Borotski, on the other +hand, was a quiet, uneducated man, who appears to have acted entirely +from a feeling of retainership, without any thought of the gold which +had induced his accomplices to undertake to commit the crime. The +night of Sunday, the 12th of February 1682, was fixed upon for the +perpetration of the foul deed. Accordingly, having had their several +parts assigned to them, between seven and eight o'clock the three +assassins, mounted on horseback, posted themselves in a part of Pall +Mall, nearly opposite to the present Opera Colonnade, through which +they had ascertained the equipage of Thynne was likely to pass. As +soon as the coach appeared in sight, they all three rode up to the +window, and, by their imposing attitude, compelled the coachman to +halt. One shot only was fired, which was from a musketoon, carried by +Borotski. So true, however, was the aim, that as many as five bullets +entered the body of his victim. Thynne was forthwith carried to his +own residence, where he lingered till about six o'clock the following +morning, when he expired."[64] Königsmark attempted to escape, but he +was arrested at Gravesend at the very moment that he was about to set +foot on a foreign vessel. He was immediately brought to trial, and, +after some delay, acquitted. His accomplices were condemned to death, +and, on March 10, executed in Pall Mall, on the spot where they had +committed the atrocious crime. Thynne was buried in Westminster Abbey, +and a monument in white marble, representing the tragedy in bas-relief, +was erected to his memory. + +Thus, in the language of Lawrence Echard, the historian, Lady Elizabeth +Percy had been a "virgin widow" twice ere, on May 30, 1682--at the age +of fifteen--she became a wife. Her third husband was Charles Seymour +(1662-1748), the sixth Duke of Somerset, commonly called "the proud +duke." By an arrangement made before the marriage, he assumed the +surname and arms of Percy, "but from that stipulation he was released +when her grace attained her majority." The duke and duchess lived "in +great state and magnificence" at Northumberland House. The duchess +died in 1722, and the duke, dying in 1748, was succeeded by his eldest +son, Algernon, Earl of Hertford and seventh Duke of Somerset, who, in +1749, was created Baron Warkworth of Warkworth Castle, Northumberland, +and Earl of Northumberland, with remainder, in default of male issue, +to Sir Hugh Smithson, Bart., a country gentleman of Stanwick, in +Yorkshire, who had married his only daughter, the Lady Elizabeth +Seymour. Sir Hugh Smithson was raised to the dukedom of Northumberland +in 1766, and the title remains with his descendants at the present day. +Algernon Seymour greatly improved the Strand front of Northumberland +House, and built the gallery, or great room, which formed the western +wing of the south side. In the cornice, or balustrading, on the top +of the south front he had inserted the letters and date: A.S.P.N. +(Algernon Seymour Princeps Northumbriæ), A.D. 1749. + +[Illustration: CHARING CROSS, BEFORE THE BUILDING OF NORTHUMBERLAND +AVENUE.] + +Goldsmith is connected with Northumberland House through his poem, +_Edwin and Angelina_. It was suggested in the course of discussions +on ballads with Dr Percy (1729-1811), editor of the famous _Reliques +of Ancient English Poetry_, first published in 1765. Percy, who had +rooms in Northumberland House, was visited here by Goldsmith, +and one result of this acquaintanceship was the poem in question, +which was privately "Printed for the amusement of the Countess of +Northumberland." Copies of this edition are extremely rare, and, apart +from their scarcity, they possess an independent value inasmuch as they +show Goldsmith's painstaking care in the preparation of his verse. By +comparing this edition with subsequent issues, "we perceive that even +the gentle opening line has been an after-thought; that four stanzas +have been re-written; and that the two which originally stood last have +been removed altogether. These, for their simple beauty of expression, +it is worth while here to preserve. The action of the poem having +closed without them, they were, on better consideration, rejected; and +young writers should study and make profit of such lessons. Posterity +has always too much upon its hands to attend to what is irrelevant or +needless; and no one so well as Goldsmith seems to have known that the +writer who would hope to live must live by the perfection of his style, +and by the cherished and careful beauty of unsuperfluous writing.[65] + + "'Here amidst sylvan bowers we'll rove, + From lawn to woodland stray; + Blest as the songsters of the grove, + And innocent as they. + + To all that want, and all that wail, + Our pity shall be given; + And when this life of love shall fail, + We'll love again in heaven.'" + +Goldsmith's own account of the blunder which he made on the occasion +of one of his visits to this old mansion is as follows:--"I dressed +myself in the best manner I could, and, after studying some compliments +I thought necessary on such an occasion, proceeded to Northumberland +House, and acquainted the servants that I had particular business with +the duke. They showed me into an antechamber, where, after waiting some +time, a gentleman, very elegantly dressed, made his appearance. Taking +him for the duke, I delivered all the fine things I had composed, +in order to compliment him on the honour he had done me; when to my +fear and astonishment, he told me I had mistaken him for his master, +who would see me immediately. At that instant the duke came into the +apartment, and I was so confounded on the occasion that I wanted words +barely sufficient to express the sense I entertained of the duke's +politeness, and went away exceedingly chagrined at the blunder I had +committed." + +To Sir John Hawkins, the Middlesex magistrate, who drew up Johnson's +will, and, in 1787-89, published Johnson's _Life and Works_, we are +indebted for a description of another meeting with the Duke of +Northumberland. "Having one day," he says, "a call to wait on the late +Duke, then Earl of Northumberland, I found Goldsmith waiting for an +audience in an outer room; I asked him what had brought him there: he +told me, an invitation from his lordship. I made my business as short +as I could, and, as a reason, mentioned that Dr Goldsmith was waiting +without. The earl asked me if I was acquainted with him. I told him +I was, adding what I thought likely to recommend him. I retired, and +staid in the outer room to take him home. Upon his coming out, I asked +him the result of his conversation. 'His lordship,' says he, 'told me +he had red (_sic_) my poem,' meaning the _Traveller_, and was much +delighted with it; that he was going lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and +that, hearing that I was a native of that country, he should be glad +to do me any kindness.' 'And what did you answer, asked I, to this +gracious offer?' 'Why,' said he, 'I could say nothing but that I had a +brother there, a clergyman, that stood in need of help: as for myself'" +(this was added for the benefit of Hawkins), "'I have no dependence on +the promises of great men: I look to the book-sellers for support; they +are my best friends, and I am not inclined to forsake them for others.' +Thus, adds the teller of the anecdote, did this idiot in the affairs +of the world trifle with his fortunes, and put back the hand that was +held out to assist him! Other offers of a like kind he either rejected +or failed to improve, contenting himself with the patronage of one +nobleman, whose mansion afforded him the delights of a splendid table, +and a retreat for a few days from the metropolis." + +The incident thus related, says Forster, "may excuse the comment +attached to it. Indeed, the charge of idiotcy in the affairs of the +Hawkins-world may even add to the pleasure with which we contemplate +that older-world picture beside it, of frank simplicity and brotherly +affection. This poor poet, who, incomprehensibly to the Middlesex +magistrate, would thus gently have turned aside to the assistance of +his poorer brother the hand held out to assist himself, had only a few +days before been obliged to borrow fifteen shillings and six-pence 'in +Fleet Street,' of one of those 'best friends' with whose support he is +now fain to be contented." The duke of these anecdotes was Sir Hugh +Smithson (1715-1786), the first Duke of Northumberland of the third +creation. He married, in 1774, Elizabeth Seymour, the heiress of the +Percy property. + +The front of Northumberland House was 162 feet in length, the court +being 81 feet square. The coping along the Strand front "was a border +of capital letters," and, at the funeral of Queen Anne of Denmark, in +May 1619, a young man in the crowd was killed by the letter "S," which +had been pushed off by the too eager spectators on the roof. There +were many famous pictures at Northumberland House. On June 9, 1658, +Evelyn records: "I went to see the Earl of Northumberland's pictures, +whereof that of the Venetian Senators was one of the best of Titian's, +and another of Andrea del Sarto, viz., a Madona, Christ, St John, and +an Old Woman, etc., a St Catherine of Da Vinci, with divers portraits +of Van Dyke; a Nativity of Georgioni; the last of our blessed Kings +(Charles I.) and the Duke of York, by Lely; a roserie by the famous +Jesuits of Bruxelles, and severall more. This was in Suffolk House: the +new front towards the gardens is tollerable, were it not drown'd by +a too massie and clomsie pair of stayres of stone, without any neate +invention." + +Fire threatened to destroy the house on more than one occasion. In +March, 1780, an outbreak occurred about five o'clock in the morning, +"and raged till eight, in which time it burnt from the east end, where +it began, to the west. Among the apartments consumed are those of Dr +Percy, Bishop of Carlisle. We are happy to inform our readers that +the greatest part of the doctor's invaluable library is fortunately +preserved." The famous lion which delighted Londoners for a century +and a quarter was placed in his proud position in 1752. It was cast +in lead, from a model by Carter, and was twelve feet in length. There +is a pleasant fiction to the effect that the noble brute, when first +placed upon his pedestal, had his head towards Carlton House and St +James's Palace, but afterwards upon some rebuff experienced by one +of the dukes of Northumberland turned his face towards the city of +London. The lion was subsequently removed to Syon House, Isleworth, +the Middlesex seat of the Northumberlands. "The vestibule of the +interior was eighty-two feet long, and more than twelve feet in +breadth, ornamented with Doric columns. Each end communicated with a +staircase, leading to the principal apartments facing the garden and +the Thames. They consisted of several spacious rooms fitted up in the +most elegant manner, embellished with paintings, among which might be +found the well-known 'Cornaro Family,' by Titian, a work well worthy +of its reputation, and for which Algernon, Earl of Northumberland, +is stated to have given Vandyck 1000 guineas, and a wonderful vase, +which now has a story of its own; 'St Sebastian Bound,' by Guercino; +'The Adoration of the Shepherds,' by Bassano; and others by well-known +masters. The great feature of the house was the ball-room, or grand +gallery, upwards of 100 feet in length, in which were placed large and +very fine copies by Mengs, after Raphael's 'School of Athens,' in the +Vatican, of the size of the originals; also the 'Assembly of the Gods,' +and the 'Marriage of Cupid and Psyche,' in the Farnesina; the 'Triumph +of Bacchus and Ariadne,' from Caracci's picture in the Farnese Palace; +and 'Apollo driving the Chariot of the Sun,' from Reni's fresco in the +Villa Rospigliosi, at Rome. These celebrated works, and the decoration +of the noble apartment, constituted it one of the landmarks of high art +in the metropolis. The grand staircase consisted of a centre flight of +thirteen moulded vein marble steps, and two flights of sixteen steps, +with centre landing twenty-two feet by six feet, two circular plinths, +and a handsome and richly-gilt ormolu scroll balustrade, with moulded +Spanish mahogany hand-rail. The mansion contained nearly 150 rooms for +the private use of the family."[66] + +The destruction of Northumberland House was due to the necessity of a +direct thoroughfare from Charing Cross to the Embankment. As early as +1866, the Metropolitan Board of Works--the predecessor of the London +County Council--had perceived the need, and had suggested a new street +through the site of Northumberland House and its grounds. "The Duke of +Northumberland of that day, however, set his face determinedly against +any interference with his ancestral mansion, and his opposition +received much support from members of both Houses of Parliament, and +from those who looked with disfavour on a proposal to destroy the last +of the palaces of the English nobles which three centuries ago stood +on the south side of the Strand now occupied by the streets leading +from it to the river. The Metropolitan Board was forced to yield to +the resistance which then and for several years after was offered to +every attempt to get power to take Northumberland House. Eventually +the necessities of the case were so strongly pressed that further +resistance was abandoned, and the Board having, in 1872, learned that +the present Duke of Northumberland was willing to sell his property, an +agreement was in the year 1873 concluded and ratified by Parliament, +under which the Board acquired his Grace's property upon payment of +£500,000, the Board at the same time obtaining power to make the new +street."[67] The opposition of the owner of Northumberland House to +the destruction of this historical property was natural enough, and +many otherwise uninterested persons lamented the proposed demolition. +The Duke of Northumberland--the sixth duke of his creation--writing +in 1866, said: "The Duke of Northumberland is naturally desirous that +this great historical house, commenced by a Howard, continued by a +Percy, and completed by a Seymour, which has been the residence of +his ancestors for two centuries and a half, should continue to be the +residence of his descendants; but the Metropolitan Board of Works +are desirous that this house, which, with its garden, is one of the +landmarks of London, and is probably the oldest residential house in +the metropolis, should be destroyed." + +The sale was concluded in June, 1874, and, in September and October +of that year, "the fine old mansion underwent its final stage of +degradation." Its materials were sold by auction. The lots consisted +of 3,000,000 bricks, the grand marble staircase, the elaborate +ornamentation of the various apartments and corridors, and lead to +the weight of 400 tons. The sale realised but £6500, and of this +sum the great staircase--subsequently removed to No. 49 Prince's +Gate--brought £360. Some of the pictures had been removed to Alnwick +Castle, Northumberland, others to the ducal town residence, No. 2 +Grosvenor Place. "The progress of wealth and luxury," said a writer +in the _Standard_ at the time of the projected demolition, "has long +since dimmed the splendours of what was once the proudest of the +London houses of the English nobility. The march of fashion westward +had left it isolated amidst an uncongenial neighbourhood of small +shops. Commerce had overtaken and overwhelmed it, so that it stood +somewhat abruptly in the full stream of London life, making it too +violent a contrast with the surrounding houses, and destroying whatever +of felicity there might have been in the situation. In the days when +the Strand was but a road between London and Westminster, lined with +private houses of the great and noble on either side, and with gardens +going down to the river, it might have been an abode fit even for the +proud Earls of Northumberland, to whom it descended. But with the +Thames Embankment on one side, and Trafalgar Square on the other, with +omnibuses perpetually passing its front door, Northumberland House was +a standing anachronism, if not an impediment, which was destined to +succumb to the influence of time and the Metropolitan Board of Works." +It may be added that during the Great Exhibition of 1851, the public +were admitted by ticket to view the house at the rate of ten thousand a +week. + +Northumberland Avenue was opened in March, 1876. It is 950 feet long +and 84 feet wide, the width between the pavements being 60 feet. +The Strand portion of the house is marked by the Grand Hotel, the +opening of which, in 1880, was considered of so much importance +that its initiation was attended by the Lord Mayor of the City of +London, who was accompanied by the sheriffs. Two other of the Gordon +hotels in this Avenue, the Métropole and Victoria, opened in 1885 +and 1887 respectively, indicate the site of the extensive gardens of +Northumberland House. The handsome building of the Constitutional Club, +the offices of the Royal Colonial Institute, and the headquarters +of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, are also in +Northumberland Avenue. + +Craven Street, which still retains much of its old-world air, is +chiefly notable for the fact that Benjamin Franklin lived here, at No. +7, at the house of Mrs Margaret Stevenson, during the entire period of +his visits to London as agent for the House of Assembly, Philadelphia, +and "other provinces." Leigh Hunt, speaking of this circumstance, says: +"What a change along the shores of the Thames in a few years (for two +centuries are less than two years in the lapse of time), from the +residence of a set of haughty nobles, who never dreamt that a tradesman +could be anything but a tradesman, to that of a yeoman's son, and a +printer, who was one of the founders of a great state!" He was visited +here in February, 1755, by William Pitt (the first Earl of Chatham, +1708-1788), and, wrote Franklin, "He stayed with me near two hours, his +equipage waiting at the door." The house, which is marked by a tablet, +is now a private hotel. + +Mark Akenside, the poet and physician, was visited in this street, on +January 22, 1761--at which time he was physician to Queen Charlotte--by +Sir Joshua Reynolds. Heinrich Heine, during his stay in England, April +23 to August 8, 1827, lodged at No. 32 Craven Street. A notorious +resident of this street was James Hackman (1752-1779), incumbent of +Wiveton, Norfolk. He fell in love with Martha Ray, who was the mother +of nine children, of whom Lord Sandwich was the father. His passion was +so great that, as the lady would not marry him, he shot her dead on +the night of April 7, 1779, in the piazza of Covent Garden Theatre. He +turned the pistol upon himself, but without fatal effect. He was hanged +at Tyburn twelve days later. + +A more interesting resident was James Smith, one of the authors of +the _Rejected Addresses_, who lived for many years at No. 27, where +he died on December 24, 1839. This remarkable literary character, +the son of a solicitor to the Ordnance, was born in 1775. At the +age of twenty-seven he had made his mark in Fleet Street, and, +from 1807 to 1817, the articles to the _Monthly Mirror_ entitled +"Horace in London" were written by him. In 1812, with his younger +brother, Horatio, he published the _Rejected Addresses_, in which +Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, and other +writers were parodied with admirable felicity. He wrote many of the +"Entertainments" for Charles Mathews the Elder, including _Country +Cousins_ in 1820, and the _Trip to France_ and the _Trip to America_ +in the two succeeding years. For the last two sketches he received a +thousand pounds. "A thousand pounds!" he used to exclaim, with a shrug +of the shoulders, "and all for nonsense."[68] He was lucky enough to +obtain a legacy of £300 for a complimentary epigram on Mr Strachan, the +King's printer. Being patted on the head when a boy by Chief-Justice +Mansfield, in Highgate churchyard, and once seeing Horace Walpole on +his lawn at Twickenham, were the two chief historical events of Mr +Smith's quiet life. The four reasons that kept so clever a man employed +on mere amateur trifling were these--an indolent disinclination to +sustained work, a fear of failure, a dislike to risk a well-earned +fame, and a foreboding that literary success might injure his practice +as a lawyer. His favourite visits were to Lord Mulgrave's, Mr Croker's, +Lord Abinger's, Lady Blessington's, and Lord Harrington's. Pretty Lady +Blessington used to say of him, that "James Smith, if he had not been +a _witty_ man, must have been a _great_ man. He died in his house in +Craven Street, with the calmness of a philosopher, on the 24th of +December, 1839, in the sixty-fifth year of his age."[69] It was on his +own street that he wrote the well-known epigram: + + "In Craven Street, Strand, ten attorneys find place, + And ten dark coal-barges are moor'd at its base; + Fly, Honesty, fly! seek some safer retreat, + For there's _craft_ in the river, and _craft_ in the street."[70] + +This satire led to a retort by Sir George Rose, the judge and +well-known legal writer, in extemporaneous lines written at a dinner: + + "Why should Honesty fly to some safer retreat, + From attorneys and barges?--'od rot 'em!-- + For the lawyers are _just_ at the top of the street, + And the barges are _just_ at the bottom." + +[Illustration: THE LION, NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSE.] + +Lawyers still have their offices in Craven Street, but the coal-barges +vanished in 1876. A few doors from James Smith's, in the house on +the left-hand side from the Strand, there lodged, in 1885, the +celebrated American comedian, John Sleeper Clarke (1834-1899). His +rooms overlooked the back of what was then the Avenue Theatre. This +house, opened on March 11, 1882, was rebuilt by Mr Cyril Maude, and, on +the eve of its re-opening, December 5, 1905, it was destroyed by the +fall of the roof of Charing Cross Station. Again rebuilt by Mr Maude, +it was opened, on January 28, 1907, as the Playhouse. The theatrical +associations of this part of London are, indeed, like Mr Weller's +knowledge of London, "extensive and peculiar." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 64: _The Court of England under the Stuarts_, Jesse, vol. +iii., pp. 356-7.] + +[Footnote 65: Forster's _Goldsmith_.] + +[Footnote 66: _Old and New London_, vol. iii., p. 140.] + +[Footnote 67: _London in the Reign of Victoria_, G. Laurence Gomme, pp. +156-7.] + +[Footnote 68: _Memoirs of James Smith_, vol. i., p. 32.] + +[Footnote 69: _Haunted London_, pp. 140-141.] + +[Footnote 70: _Gothic Miscellanies_, James Smith, vol. ii., p. 186.] + + + + +Appendix + +SAMUEL PEPYS AND THE ADELPHI + + +_January 31, 1668._--Up, and by coach, with W. Griffin with me, and our +Contract-books, to Durham Yard to the Commissioners for Accounts. [See +page 37.] + +_May 10, 1668._--From church home with my Lady Pen; and after being +there an hour or so talking, I took her ... and old Mrs Whistler, her +mother-in-law, by water ... as far as Chelsy, and so back to Spring +Garden ... and so to water again, and set down the old woman at home at +Durham Yard. + +_April 26, 1669._--I am told by Betty, who was all undressed, of a +great fire happened in Durham Yard last night, burning the house of one +Lady Hungerford. [See page 38.] + + * * * * * + +_February 11, 1660._--My wife and I ... went out again to show her the +fires, and after walking as far as the Exchange, we returned and to bed. + +_March 12, 1660._--My wife and I to the Exchange, where we bought a +great many things. + +_July 7, 1660._--Thence to the 'Change, where I bought two fine prints +of Ragotti from Rubens. + +_July 18, 1660._--After a little stay we all went by water to +Westminster as far as the New Exchange. + +_September 3, 1660._--Up and to Mr ----, the goldsmith, near the New +Exchange. + +_September 22, 1660._--From thence by coach home (by the way, at the +new Exchange I bought a pair of short black stockings to wear over a +pair of silk ones for mourning ...). + +_November 12, 1660._--Mr Comptroller and I sat a while at the office to +do business, ... and from thence by coach (setting down his sister at +the New Exchange) to Westminster Hall. + +_April 20, 1661._--With Mr Creed to the Exchange and bought some +things, as gloves and bandstrings, etc. + +_September 2, 1661._--My wife ... met at the 'Change with my young +ladies of the Wardrobe, and there helped them to buy things. + +_March 24, 1662._--Thence by water to the New Exchange.... Thence at +the New Exchange and so home. + +_April 15, 1662._--With my wife, by coach, to the New Exchange, to buy +her some things; where we saw some new-fashion pettycoats of Sarcenett, +with a black broad lace printed round the bottom and before, very +handsome, and my wife had a mind to one of them, but we did not then +buy one. + +_October 7, 1662._--So towards the New Exchange, and there while my +wife was buying things I walked up and down. + +_January 12, 1663._--After dinner to the 'Change to buy some linen for +my wife. + +_February 26, 1663._--From the New Exchange home to the Tower. + +_April 10, 1663._--Then to my Lord's lodgings, met my wife and walked +to the New Exchange. There laid out 10s. upon pendents and painted +leather gloves, very pretty and all the mode. + +_May 4, 1663._--She and I to Mr Creed to the Exchange, where she bought +something. + +_May 7, 1663._--Up ... with my wife, leaving her at the New Exchange. + +_May 30, 1663._--Creed and I ... walked to the New Exchange, and there +drank our morning draught of whey, the first I have done this year. + +_June 12, 1663._--So to the Exchange, to buy things with my wife; among +others a vizard for herself. + +_August 24, 1663._--Walked to the New Exchange, and there drank some +whey. + +_August 29, 1663._--Thence to my wife, and calling at both the +Exchanges, buying stockings for her and myself. + +_October 5, 1663._--So to the New Exchange, and there met Creed. + +_October 12, 1663._--To the Old Exchange, and there cheapened some +laces for my wife.... I was resolved to buy one worth wearing with +credit, and so to the New Exchange, and there put it to making. + +_October 14, 1663._--So to fetch my wife, and so to the New Exchange +about her things. + +_October 16, 1663._--Then to the Exchange and to several places. + +_October 19, 1663._--Took up my wife at Mrs Harper's ... and so called +at the New Exchange for some things for her. + +_October 21, 1663._--I to the Exchange.... From my brother's with my +wife to the Exchange, to buy things for her and myself, I being in the +humour of laying out money, but not prodigally, but only in clothes, +which I every day see that I suffer for want of. + +_October 30, 1663._--Then by coach with my wife to the New Exchange, +and there bought and paid for several things. + +_November 4, 1663._--I to the New Exchange and several places to buy +and bring home things. + +_November 19, 1663._--Thence with Sir G. Carteret by coach, and he set +me down at the New Exchange. + +_January 9, 1664._--I took coach and called my wife and her mayd, and +so to the New Exchange, where we bought several things of our pretty +Mrs Dorothy Stacy, a pretty woman, and has the modestest look that ever +I saw in my life. + +_February 1, 1664._--I hear how two men last night, justling for the +wall about the New Exchange, did kill one another, each thrusting the +other through; one of them of the King's Chappel, one Cave, and the +other a retayner of my Lord Generall Middleton's. + +_February 13, 1664._--Walked to the New Exchange, and after a turn or +two and talked, I took coach and home. + +_April 1, 1664._--Setting my wife down at the New Exchange, I to White +Hall.... So with Creed to the 'Change, and there took up my wife and +left him. + +_April 6, 1664._--Bought a pretty silke for a petticoate for my wife, +and thence set her down at the New Exchange.... To the 'Change for my +wife. + +_April 9, 1664._--With my wife by coach to her Tailor's and the New +Exchange. + +_April 26, 1664._--So walked to the New Exchange, and there had a most +delicate dish of curds and creame, and discourse with the good woman of +the house.... Thence up, and after a turn or two in the 'Change, home +to the Old Exchange. + +_May 9, 1664._--After dinner, in Sir W. Pen's coach; he set my wife and +I down at the New Exchange, and after buying some things, we walked to +my Lady Sandwich's. + +_May 21, 1664._--So abroad with my wife by coach to the New Exchange, +and there laid out almost 40s. upon her. + +_June 21, 1664._--So to the New Exchange, meeting Mr Moore, and he with +us. + +_June 22, 1664._--At noon to the 'Change and coffee-house. + +_July 7, 1664._--Thence to the New Exchange to drink some creame, but +missed it. + +_August 11, 1664._--However, abroad, carried my wife to buy things at +the New Exchange. + +_September 12, 1664._--So I to Mr Creed's lodgings, and with him walked +up and down in the New Exchange, talking mightily of the convenience +and necessity of a man's wearing good clothes, and so after eating a +messe of creame, I took leave of him. + +_January 16, 1665._--Povy and I walked together as far as the New +Exchange, and so parted. + +_January 20, 1665._--Abroad with my wife about several businesses, and +met at the New Exchange, and there to our trouble found our pretty Doll +is gone away. + +_March 9, 1665._--Abroad with my wife, left her at the New Exchange. + +_May 12, 1665._--Thence called my wife at Unthanke's to the New +Exchange and elsewhere to buy a lace band for me, but we did not buy. + +_June 7, 1665._--We to the New Exchange, and there drank whey, with +much entreaty getting it for our money, and (they) would not be +entreated to let us have one glasse more. + +_July 11, 1665._--Had Mary meet me at the New Exchange. + +_March 10, 1666._--To the New Exchange, and there I did give my +valentine, Mrs Pierce, a dozen payre of gloves, and a payre of silke +stockings. + +_April 18, 1666._--Thence to the Exchange, that is, the New Exchange, +and looked over some play books, and intend to get all the late new +plays. + +_April 20, 1666._--To the New Exchange, there to get a list of all +the modern plays, which I intend to collect and to have them bound up +together. + +_May 4, 1666._--To the New Exchange about play books. + +_May 14, 1666._--I left my wife at the New Exchange.... At the New +Exchange took up my wife again. + +_May 23, 1666._--After dinner Creed and I and wife and Mercer out by +coach, leaving them at the New Exchange. + +_May 29, 1666._--Set Mrs Pierce in at the New Exchange. + +_June 6, 1666._--Away go I by coach to the New Exchange. + +_June 17, 1666._--Wanting a coach to carry us home I walked out as +far as the New Exchange to find one, but could not. So downe to the +Milke-house, and drank three glasses of whey, and then up into the +Strand again. + +_July 17, 1666._--I did take my wife out to the New Exchange to buy +things. + +_August 8, 1666._--I met with Mrs Burroughs by appointment, and did +agree ... for her to meet me at the New Exchange, while I by coach to +my Lord Treasurer's, and then called at the New Exchange, and thence +carried her by water to Parliament stayres. + +_August 21, 1666._--Dined at home and sister Balty with us. My wife +snappish because I denied her money to lay out this afternoon; however, +good friends again, and by coach set them down at the New Exchange. + +_September 7, 1666._--So to Creed's lodging, near the New Exchange, and +there find him laid down upon a bed; the house all unfurnished, there +being fears of the fire's coming to them. [See page 39.][71] + +_September 11, 1666._--So with Sir W. Batten to the New Exchange by +water. + +_October 27, 1666._--I took them out to the New Exchange, and there my +wife bought things, and I did give each of them a pair of jessimy plain +gloves and another of white. + +_November 12, 1666._--So great a stop there was at the New Exchange, +that we could not pass in half an houre, and therefore 'light and +bought a little matter at the Exchange, and then home. + +_November 26, 1666._--Among others with Mrs Burroughs, whom I appointed +to meet me at the New Exchange in the afternoon.... I took coach to the +New Exchange.... Having staid as long as I thought fit for meeting of +Burroughs, I away and to the 'Change again, and there I do not find her +now. + +_December 31, 1666._--I did take money and walk forth to several places +in the towne as far as the New Exchange, to pay all my debts.... Thence +to the New Exchange to clear my wife's score. + +_January 23, 1667._--To the New Exchange, there to take up my wife and +Mercer. + +_January 25, 1667._--I away by coach with my wife, and left her at the +New Exchange. + +_February 5, 1667._--Thence by coach to the New Exchange, and there +laid out money, and I did give Betty Michell two pair of gloves and a +dressing-box. + +_February 11, 1667._--My Lord carried me and set me down at the New +Exchange, where I stayed at Pottle's shop till Betty Michell come. + +_February 14, 1667._--Thence away by coach to Sir H. Cholmly and +Fitzgerald and Creed, setting down the two latter at the New Exchange. + +_March 9, 1667._--Carried Mrs Pierce and wife to the New Exchange, and +there did give her and myself a pair of gloves. + +_March 13, 1667._--Sent my wife to the New Exchange. + +_March 20, 1667._--So to the New Exchange, where I find my wife. + +_April 5, 1667._--So by coach to the New Exchange and Mercer's. + +_April 17, 1667._--My wife being sent for by me to the New Exchange, I +took her up, and there to the King's playhouse. + +_April 25, 1667._--Thence by coach to my Lord Treasurer's, and there +being come too soon to the New Exchange, but did nothing. + +_May 13, 1667._--I away to the New Exchange, and there staid a little. + +_July 5, 1667._--To the New Exchange to buy gloves and other little +errands. + +_July 13, 1667._--After dinner my wife and I to the New Exchange, to +pretty maid Mrs Smith's shop, where I left my wife.... I home by coach, +taking up my wife at the Exchange. + +_July 17, 1667._--Then by coach, set my wife down at the New Exchange. + +_July 26, 1667._--I then abroad with my wife and left her at the New +Exchange. + +_August 10, 1667._--To the New Exchange, to the bookseller's there, +where I hear of several new books coming out. + +_August 12, 1667._--Then walked to the New Exchange, and there to my +bookseller's, and did buy Scott's _Discourse of Witches_.... Thence I +to the printseller's over against the Exchange towards Covent Garden, +and there bought a few more prints of cittys. + +_August 16, 1667._--Thence to the New Exchange with my wife, where at +my bookseller's I saw _The History of the Royall Society_, which, I +believe, is a fine book, and have bespoke one in quires. + +_August 20, 1667._--Thence, with my Lord Brouncker to the Duke's +Playhouse (telling my wife so at the 'Change, where I left her). + +_August 21, 1667._--My wife and I mighty pleasant abroad, she to the +New Exchange, and I to the Commissioners of the Treasury. + +_August 27, 1667._--My wife and I, with Sir W. Pen, to the New +Exchange, set her down.... Having done here, I to the Exchange, and +there find my wife gone with Sir W. Pen. + +_September 16, 1667._--So parted at the New Exchange, where I staid +reading Mrs Phillips' poems till my wife and Mercer called me. + +_October 2, 1667._--Then by coach to the New Exchange, and there met my +wife and girl. + +_October 28, 1667._--Calling at the New Exchange, and there buying _The +Indian Emperour_, newly printed. + +_January 2, 1668._--I took my wife and her girl out to the New +Exchange, and there my wife bought herself a lace for a handkercher, +which I do give her, of about £3, for a new year's gift, and I did buy +also a lace for a band for myself. + +_January 17, 1668._--So home, and there alone with my wife and Deb. to +dinner, and after dinner comes Betty Turner, and I carried them to the +New Exchange. + +_February 21, 1668._--Thence with Lord Brouncker and T. Harvey as far +as the New Exchange. + +_February 25, 1668._--Thence set my wife at the New Exchange, and I to +Mr Clerke, my solicitor ... so I by water with him to the New Exchange +and there we parted, and I took my wife and Deb. up, and to the +nursery.... Thence to the New Exchange, to take some things home that +my wife hath bought, a dressing-box and other things for her chamber +and table, that cost me above £4. + +_April 9, 1668._--I to the New Exchange, there to meet Mrs Burroughs, +and did take her in a carosse and carry her towards the Park, kissing +her. + +_April 28, 1668._--Thence to the New Exchange to pay a debt of my +wife's there, and so home. + +_April 30, 1668._--Thence to the New Exchange, and then home. + +_May 1, 1668._--I back again to the New Exchange a little. + +_May 6, 1668._--Thence by water to the New Exchange, where bought a +pair of shoe-strings. + +_May 9, 1668._--I towards the New Exchange and there bought a pair of +black silk stockings at the hosier's that hath the very pretty woman to +his wife, about ten doors on this side of the 'Change. + +_May 20, 1668._--Down to the New Exchange, and there cheapened ribbands +for my wife, and so down to the Whey house and drank some and eat some +curds, which did by and by make my belly ake mightily. + +_May 27, 1668._--So homeward toward the New Exchange, and meeting Mr +Creed he and I to drink some whey at the whey-house, and so into the +'Change and took a walk or two. + +_May 28, 1668._--By coach to the New Exchange, and there by agreement +at my bookseller's shop met Mercer and Gayet. + +_May 30, 1668._--Thence to the New Exchange, and there met Harris and +Rolt, and one Richards, a tailor and great company-keeper.... Thence +set Rolt and some of (them) at the New Exchange. + +_May 31, 1668._--I by water to the New Exchange. + +_June 20, 1668._--Took my wife up, and calling at the New Exchange at +Smith's shop, and kissed her pretty hand. + +_July 29, 1668._--So to the New Exchange. + +_July 30, 1668._--Out with my wife to the New Exchange. + +_July 31, 1668._--My wife and Deb. and I, with Sir J. Minnes, to White +Hall, she going hence to the New Exchange. + +_August 31, 1668._--So to the New Exchange and paid for some things. + +_September 21, 1668._--This day I met Mr Moore in the New Exchange, and +had much talk of my Lord's concernments. + +_October 20, 1668._--So to my tailor's and the New Exchange, and so by +coach home, and there, having this day bought _The Queene of Arragon_ +play, I did get my wife and W. Batelier to read it. + +_October 21, 1668._--So I away to the New Exchange, and there staid for +my wife. + +_November 23, 1668._--So to the looking-glass man's by the New Exchange. + +_January 1, 1669._--Up, and with W. Hewer, to the New Exchange, and +then he and I to the cabinet-shops, to look out, and did agree, for a +cabinet to give my wife for a New Year's gift, and I did buy one cost +me £11. + +_January 11, 1669._--Calling at the New Exchange for a book or two to +send to Mr Shepley and thence home.... Thence to the New Exchange, +to buy some things; and among others my wife did give me my pair of +gloves, which, by contract, she is to give me in her £30 a year. + +_February 4, 1669._--So to the New Exchange, and thence home to my +letters. + +_February 15, 1669._--Thence to my cozen Turner's, where, having ... +been told by her that she had drawn me for her Valentine, I did this +day call at the New Exchange, and bought her a pair of green silk +stockings and garters and shoe-strings, and two pair of jessimy gloves, +all coming to about 28s. + +_March 3, 1669._--After the play we to the New Exchange. + +_March 8, 1669._--I had walked to the New Exchange and there met Mr +Moore. + +_April 7, 1669._--I to the New Exchange to talk with Betty, my little +sempstress. + + +HANNAH MORE AND GARRICK'S FUNERAL + + Adelphi, _Feb. 2, 1779_. + +We (Miss Cadogan and myself) went to Charing Cross to see the +melancholy procession. Just as we got there, we received a ticket from +the Bishop of Rochester, to admit us into the Abbey. No admittance +could be obtained but under his hand. We hurried away in a hackney +coach, dreading to be too late. The bell of St Martin's and the +Abbey gave a sound that smote upon my very soul. When we got to the +cloisters, we found multitudes striving for admittance. We gave our +ticket, and were let in, but unluckily we ought to have kept it. We +followed the man, who unlocked a door of iron, and directly closed it +upon us and two or three others, and we found ourselves in a tower, +with a dark winding staircase, consisting of half a hundred stone +steps. When we got to the top there was no way out; we ran down again, +called, and beat the door till the whole pile resounded with our cries. +Here we staid half an hour in perfect agony; we were sure it would be +all over: nay, we might never be let out; we might starve; we might +perish. At length our clamours brought an honest man--a guardian angel, +I then thought him. We implored him to take care of us, and get us into +a part of the Abbey whence we might see the grave. He asked for the +Bishop's ticket, we had given it away to the wrong person, and he was +not obliged to believe we ever had one: yet he saw so much truth in +our grief, that though we were most shabby, and a hundred fine people +were soliciting the same favour, he took us under each arm--carried +us safely through the crowd, and put us in a little gallery directly +over the grave, where we could see and hear everything as distinctly +as if the Abbey had been a parlour. Little things sometimes affect the +mind strongly! We were no sooner recovered from the fresh burst of +grief than I cast my eyes, the first thing, on Handel's monument and +read the scroll in his hand, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Just at +three the great doors burst open with a noise that shook the roof; the +organ struck up, and the whole choir advanced to the grave, in hoods +and surplices, singing all the way: then Sheridan, as chief mourner; +then the body (alas! whose body), with ten noblemen and gentlemen, +pall-bearers; hardly a dry eye--the very players, bred to the trade of +counterfeiting, shed genuine tears. + +As soon as the body was let down, the bishop began the service, which +he read in a low, but solemn and devout manner. Such an awful stillness +reigned, that every word was audible. How I felt it! Judge if my heart +did not assent to the wish that the soul of our dear brother now +departed was in peace. And this is all of Garrick! Yet a very little +while, and he shall say to the worm, "Thou art my brother"; and to +corruption, "Thou art my mother and my sister." So passes away the +fashion of this world. The very night he was buried, the playhouses +were as full, and the Pantheon was as crowded, as if no such thing had +happened: nay, the very mourners of the day partook of the revelries of +the night--the same night too! + +As soon as the crowd was dispersed, our friend came to us with an +invitation from the bishop's lady, to whom he had related our disaster, +to come into the deanery. We were carried into her dressing-room, +but being incapable of speech, she very kindly said she would not +interrupt such sorrow, and left us; but sent up wine, cakes, and all +manner of good things, which was really well-timed. I caught no cold, +notwithstanding all I went through. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 71: This was the Great Fire which destroyed nearly every +building of importance in the City, including one hundred and seven +churches and the Royal Exchange. The second Royal Exchange was opened +on September 28, 1669. The recorded visits of Pepys to the New Exchange +ended in April, 1669. Pepys was then busy with state affairs, and his +eyesight was failing. On the latter account he brought the Diary to a +close on May 31 of that year. Of course, he may have visited the New +Exchange after the last entry recorded in his Diary. Indeed, it is +probable that he did so. When we consider what enjoyment he derived +from his various meetings here, from his purchases of play-books and +silk stockings, and from his drinking of whey, the last words in his +Diary become doubly pathetic: "And thus ends all that I doubt I shall +ever be able to do with my own eyes in the keeping of my Journall, I +being not able to do it any longer, having done now so long as to undo +my eyes almost every time that I take a pen in my hand; and therefore, +whatever comes of it, I must forbear: and therefore resolve, from this +time forward, to have it kept by my people in long-hand, and must be +contented to set down no more than is fit for them and all the world to +know; or if there be anything, I must endeavour to keep a margin in my +book open, to add here and there a note in short-hand with my own hand, +and so I betake myself to that course, which is almost as much as to +see myself go into my grave: for which, and all the discomforts that +will accompany my being blind, the good God prepare me!"] + + + + +Index + + + _Absalom and Achitophel_, 227, 255. + + Adam, the brothers, call themselves "Adelphi," 3; + obtain a lease of the Durham House property, 75-76; + they effect a marvellous transformation, 76-79; + opposed by the City, they obtain an Act of Parliament for embanking + the river, 79; + interesting letter on the subject, 79-84; + Granville Sharp's strictures, 84; + the brothers in financial difficulties, 85; + they obtain another Act of Parliament, 85; + the Adelphi Lottery, 86-90; + history of the brothers, 90-98; + Robert Adam, 90-97; + James Adam, 97-98; + John Adam, 98; + William Adam, 98. + + Adam, the brothers, call themselves "Adelphi," 3. + + Adam, James, 90, 92, 97. + + Adam, John, 98. + + Adam, Robert, 90-97. + + Adam, William, 98. + + Adam, William (father of the brothers), 91. + + Addison, Joseph, 30. + + Adelphi, origin of the name, 3; + the brothers Adam obtain the lease of the property, 75-76; + transformation of the property, 76-79; + fruitless opposition of the City, 79-84; + the Adelphi Lottery, 86-90; + Scots workmen succeeded by Irish, 98. + + Adelphi Chapel, the, 211-212. + + Adelphi Hotel (Osborn's), 180-181, 183-185. + + Adelphi Arches, 187-191. + + Aggas' Map of London, 8. + + Aickin (actor), 148. + + Akenside, Mark, 269. + + Albans, Duchess of (Harriot Mellon), 200, 202-204, 213-214. + + Albans, Duke of, 75-76, 202. + + Albemarle, Duchess of ("Nan" Clarges), 63-71. + + Albemarle, Duke of, 255. + + Albert, Prince Consort, 118. + + Aldborough, Lord, 103. + + Alexandra, Queen, 212. + + Armstrong, Dr, 210, 212. + + Arts, Society of, in the Adelphi, 100-122; + description of the paintings in, 108-118. + + Ashburton, Baron, 147. + + _Atheist, the, or the Soldier's Fortune_, 29. + + Aubrey, the antiquary, 17, 220. + + Avenue Theatre, 272. + + + Bacon, Francis, 219-221. + + Baddeley, Robert, 148. + + _Ballade upon a Wedding_, 253-254. + + Bannister, John, 174. + + Baron-Wilson, Mrs, 208. + + Barré, Isaac, 147. + + Barrington, Lord, 181. + + Barry, James, 101-118. + + Bassompiere, François de, 223-224. + + Bathurst, Lady, 159. + + Batteville, Baron de, 229. + + Beaconsfield, Earl of, 181. + + Beauclerk, Lady Diana, 153, 155. + + Beauclerk, Topham, 150-153, 158. + + Becket, Andrew, 169-171. + + _Beggar's Opera, The_, 247. + + Bek, Anthony, Bishop of Durham, 3-4. + + Bek, Anthony, the second, 3-4. + + Bek, Walter, Bishop of Lincoln, 4. + + Belty, G.F., 167. + + Bensley, W., 148. + + Blanchard, E.L., 216-217. + + Blanchard, William, 216. + + Boleyn, Anne, 11-12. + + Boleyn, Thomas, Earl of Wiltshire, 11. + + Boscawen, Mrs, 154-155. + + Boswell, James, 103, 121, 152-160. + + Boyle, Roger, 253. + + Brackley, Viscount, 19. + + Brandon, Charles, 219. + + Brereton, Owen S., 111. + + Brereton, William, 148. + + Brett, Sir Robert, 251. + + Brisden, John, 41. + + Britain's Burse (the New Exchange, which see). + + Broghill, Lord, 253. + + Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, supplied with water from the Adelphi, 240. + + Buccleuch, Duke of, 97. + + Buckingham, Duke of, the first ("Steenie"), 222-226. + + Buckingham, Duke of, the second (Dryden's "Zimri"), 226-229. + + Buckingham Street, 241-247. + + Burdett, Sir Francis, 201. + + Burdett-Coutts, the Baroness, 201, 202, 214. + + Burghley, Lord, 221. + + Burke, Edmund, 147. + + Burney, Dr, 154. + + Bury, Richard de, author of _Philobiblon_, 9. + + Bute, Lord, 212. + + + Cademan, Will, 29. + + Caledonian Hotel, 214. + + Camden, Lord, 147. + + Campbell, John, 193-194. + + Campbell, Lord Frederick, 97. + + Campbell & Coutts, 197. + + Carew, Sir George, 12. + + Carmarthen, Lord, 243. + + Carter, Mrs Elizabeth, 154, 156, 162. + + Cavendish, Henry, 255. + + Cawarden, Sir Thomas, 251. + + Chamberlayne, 157. + + Charles the First, 223-224. + + Charles II., 38. + + Chastillon, de, French Ambassador, 14. + + Chinese wall-paper in the Strand, 210-211. + + Christmas, Gerrard, 251. + + Cibber, Mrs, 248. + + Clarendon, Lord, 254-255. + + Clarges, "Nan," Duchess of Albemarle, 63-71. + + Clarke, John S., 272. + + Clemens, Samuel L., 215. + + Clinton, Lord, 12. + + Clouston, R.S., 92-94. + + Coal Meter's Office, 38. + + Colman, George, the elder, 147, 174. + + Commissioners of Accounts, office of, 36. + + _Conscious Lovers, The_, 247. + + Constable, John, 242. + + Constitutional Club, 269. + + Cosmo, the Grand Duke, 27. + + _Country Wife, The_, 30. + + Coutts, the house of, 192-214. + + Coutts, James, 196-197. + + Coutts, John, 195-196. + + Coutts, Patrick, 195-196. + + Coutts, Thomas, 196-213. + + Coutts, William, 195. + + Covent Garden Theatre, 57, 126, 137, 159, 270. + + Coventry, Earl of, 97. + + Coventry, Lord Keeper, 36. + + Cows in the Adelphi, 189. + + Crabbe, George, 181. + + Cranmer, Thomas, 11-12. + + Craven Street, 269-272. + + Creed, John, 39. + + _Cricket, The_, 187. + + Crofts, Dean of Norwich, 39. + + Cromwell, Oliver, 48, 228-229. + + Cromwell, Lord, 12. + + Cromwell, Richard, 12. + + Cunningham, Peter, 76. + + + _Daily Telegraph, The_, 217. + + Danes, St Clement, 162. + + _David Copperfield_, scenes from, in the Adelphi, 184, 246-247. + + Davies, Thomas, 41. + + Delany, Mrs, 166. + + Devonshire, Duke of, 147. + + Dickens, Charles, frequents the Adelphi when a boy, 182-183; + scenes from _David Copperfield_, 184, 246-247; + from _Pickwick_, 184-185; + banks with Coutts & Co., 212. + + Disraeli, Benjamin, 181. + + D'Israeli, Isaac, 181, 224. + + Dodd, James, 147. + + Dowgate, 234. + + Drury Lane Theatre, 124-126, 164, 247. + + Drury Lane Fund, 124. + + Dryden, John, 29, 30, 40, 227. + + Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, 14-15. + + Dudley, Lady Catherine, 15. + + Dudley, Lord Guildford, 15. + + Dudley, Sir John, 12. + + Duffet, Thomas, 27. + + Dundonald, Earl of, 200-201. + + Durham House, its origin in the thirteenth century, 3-4; + Otho, the papal legate, the Oxford clergy and scholars make + "solemn submission" to him here, 4-5; + Henry III. shelters here, 6; + Prince (Henry V.) stays here, 6; + Richard de Bury, author of _Philobiblon_, lives here, 8; + Hatfield, Thomas, Bishop of Durham, 7, 9; + Henry VIII. appropriates the house, 10; + grants it to Thomas Boleyn, 11; + Anne Boleyn and Princess Elizabeth, 11; + Cranmer resides here, 11; + great festivities attended by Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, the Court, + the Mayor of London, etc., 12-13; + Chastillon, the French Ambassador to Edward VI., lodges here, 14; + Edward VI. grants the house to the Princess Elizabeth, 14; + a mint here, 14; + Lady Jane Grey married here, 15; + Queen Elizabeth acquires the house, 14; + grants it to Walter Raleigh, 15; + Raleigh's residence here, 16-20; + Philip Sidney, 16; + Raleigh dispossessed, 18; + his letter of remonstrance, 18; + the case of Glanville _v._ Courtney, 19; + a fire here, 19; + tobacco at Durham House, 20; + falls into decay, 36. + + Durham House Street, 8, 21, 72. + + Durham Rents, 72. + + Durham Yard, 36-37, 71-73, 75. + + Durham Yard, fire in, 38-41. + + Dyce, William, 242. + + + Edgecombe, Lady, 159. + + Edward III. at Durham House, 9. + + Edward IV., 251. + + Edward VI., 14, 251. + + Edward VII. King, 212, 215. + + _Edwin and Angelina_, 258. + + Egerton, Lord Chancellor, 221. + + Egerton, Thomas (Baron Ellesmere), 19. + + Elizabeth, Princess (Queen), 11, 14, 15-16, 17, 221. + + Elliston, William, 164. + + Embankment, Victoria, the, 191. + + Essex, Earl of, 221. + + Etherege, Sir George, 29. + + Etty, William, 242-243. + + Evelyn, 229, 232-233, 247, 263. + + Exchange, the New, the laying of the foundation stone, 21; + the Earl of Salisbury proprietor, 21; + opposition of the City, 22; + its interior, 22; + opened by James I. as "Britain's Burse," 22; + Stow's description, 23-24; + the Venetian Ambassador writes about it to the Doge and State of + Venice, 24; + the Earl of Salisbury, 25-26; + Tobie Matthew, 26; + its most flourishing period, 27; + various allusions to it by the dramatists of Charles II. period, + and others, 27-30; + the first edition of _Othello_ published here, 28; + Henry Herringman, the publisher, 29; + Dryden, Otway, Etherege, 29; + Samuel Pepys, 29, 37, 38, 39, [see also Appendix]; + Addison, 30; + Rules for the New Exchange, 30-35; + murder here, 44-48; + the "White Milliner," 49-63; + Douglas Jerrold's play on the subject, 57-63; + "Nan" Clarges, Duchess of Albemarle, 63-71; + Gay's _Trivia_, 71; + quack doctors, 71; + overcrowding of the Exchange, 73; + order of the Inner Star Chamber, 74. + + + Fairfax, General, 226-229. + + _Fair Penitent, The_, 141, 247. + + Farren, William, 58. + + _Fatal Falsehood, The_, 159. + + Fergusson, James, 95-96. + + Fire at Northumberland House, 263. + + FitzHerbert, Mrs, 212. + + Flaxman, John, 242. + + Foote, Samuel, 41. + + Forbes, William, 154. + + Fox, C.J., 147, 212. + + "Fox-under-the-Hill," the, 186-187. + + Franklin, Benjamin, 269. + + Fuller, Thomas, 5. + + Fuseli, Henry, 242. + + + Garrick, David, wine merchant in the Adelphi, 40; + purchases No. 5 Adelphi (then Royal) Terrace, 123; + his London home, 1773, until his death in 1779, 123-141; + his last appearance on the stage, 125; + helps in the production of _Percy_, 126; + his friendship for Hannah More, 126, 128, 129; + eulogised by Edmund Burke and Fox, 127; + Hannah More writes to Garrick, 129-131; + his answer, 131; + her thanks, 132; + Garrick presents her with his "Felix Buckles," 133; + he writes to her again and encourages her in regard to her + tragedy, 134-135; + "Mr Garrick's study, Adelphi, ten at night," 136; + the "sour crout party," 138; + Garrick carries Hannah More's dinner from the Adelphi to the + Turk's Head, 138; + his illness and death, 139-141; + his burial in Westminster Abbey, 141, 145-148; + his funeral, 145-148, Appendix; + Johnson's praise of him, 148-152; + Johnson's lament--"two such friends," 158; + Shakespeare's gloves presented to him, 167-169; + he solicits the brothers Adam on behalf of Andrew Becket, the + bookseller, 171; + a doubtful anecdote, 171; + "Anthony Pasquin's" misstatement, 248. + + Garrick, Mrs, 128-132, 138-144; + her famous dinner party, 153-158; + her life in Adelphi Terrace, 158-161; + her consideration for Hannah More, 161; + "a great dinner" at her house, 162; + her last letter to Hannah More, 163; + her death and burial in the Abbey, 164; + memoir of, 165-166; + bequeath's Shakespeare's gloves to Mrs Siddons, 166. + + Gay, John, 71. + + George III., 125, 212. + + George IV., 212. + + George Court, 21, 72. + + Gerbier, Sir Balthazar, 222, 224. + + Gibbon, Edward, 181. + + _Gilbert Gurney_, 182. + + Glanville _v._ Courtney, 19. + + Goldsmith, Oliver, 121, 122; + his pathetic letters to Garrick, 167-169, 258-262. + + Goodman, Bishop, 16. + + Goodman, Godfrey, 225. + + Gordon, Lord George, 212. + + Graham, James ("Dr"), 172-181. + + Grand Hotel, 268. + + Great Exhibition of 1851, 268. + + Grenville, Lord, 212. + + Grey, Lady Jane, 15. + + Guns in the Adelphi, 188. + + + Hackman, James, 270. + + Hamilton, Lady (Emma Lyon), 176-178. + + Hamilton, Mrs, 162. + + Hanway, Jonas, 103. + + Hardy, Thomas, 216. + + Harley, Robert, 244. + + Hastings, Lord, 15. + + Hatfield, Thomas, Bishop of Durham, 7, 9. + + Hawkins, Sir John, 260. + + Haydon, Benjamin, 102. + + Haymarket Theatre, 174. + + Hazlitt, William, 183. + + Heath, Archbishop of York, 8, 219. + + Hebden, Sir John, 233. + + Heine, Heinrich, 270. + + Henderson, John, 245. + + Henry III. shelters at Durham House, 5, 251. + + Henry V. at Durham House, 6, 251. + + Henry VIII. appropriates Durham House, 9-10; + instals Cranmer here, 11; + feasts at Durham House, 12, 251. + + Herbert, J.R., 242. + + Herbert, Lord, 15. + + Herbert, Philip, Earl of Pembroke, 36. + + Herringman, Henry, 29. + + Hewson, Hugh, 245. + + Hill, Aaron, 247. + + Hill, Sir Rowland, 120. + + Hill, Thomas ("Paul Pry"), 182. + + Hilton, William, 242. + + Holland, James, 242. + + Hood, Thomas, 183. + + Hook, Theodore, 182. + + Horace's _Art of Poetry_, 29. + + Hôtel Métropole, 269. + + Hotel Victoria, 269. + + Howard, Henry, 251. + + Howard, Lady Elizabeth, 252. + + Howard, Lord William, 12. + + Howard, Thomas, 252. + + Howson, John, Bishop of Durham, 36. + + Hume, David, 244-245. + + Hunt, Leigh, 7, 42, 226, 269. + + + Irving, Henry, 141, 212. + + Ivy Lane, 186-187. + + + James I., 18, 22, 26, 225, 251. + + James, William, Bishop of Durham, 26, 36. + + _Jane Shore_, 247. + + Jansen, Bernard, 253. + + Jerrold, Douglas, 57-63. + + Jesse, J.H., 229. + + Johnson, Samuel, 103, 121-123, 138, 141, 147, 148; + his praise of Garrick, 152; + he attends Mrs Garrick's famous dinner party, 153-158; + his first meeting with Mrs Garrick after her husband's death, 160; + he pays a morning visit to her house and gives advice to + Hannah More, 161; + banks with Coutts, 212. + + Jonathan's Coffee House, 88. + + Jones, Inigo, 236. + + Jonson, Ben, 220. + + + Kean, Edmund, 200. + + Keeley, Robert, 58. + + Killaloe, Bishop of, 157. + + King, Tom, 147. + + Kingston, Anthony, 12. + + Kippis, Andrew, 121, 122. + + Kitchener, Lord, 215. + + Kneller, Godfrey, 40. + + Königsmark, Count, 255-257. + + + Lamb, Charles, 183. + + Lancaster, Duchy of, its Adelphi boundary, 186. + + Laud, Archbishop, 222. + + Lauderdale, Earl of, 97. + + Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 212. + + Leicester, Earl of, 6. + + Lennox, Duke of, 220. + + Lewes, Lee, 148. + + Lewis, "Gentleman," 148. + + Linton, Sir James D., 215. + + Liston, John, 182. + + Livingstone, David, 212. + + London, the city of, opposes the New Exchange, 22; + opposes the embankment of the Adelphi, 79. + + London, the Mayor of, the aldermen and their wives entertained at + Durham House in 1540, 13. + + Londonderry, Lord, 212. + + Lyon, Emma (Lady Hamilton), 176-178. + + + Macartney, Lord, 210, 212. + + Maclise, Daniel, 242. + + Malton, Thomas, 76. + + Manchester, Earl of, 255. + + _Man of Mode, The_, 29. + + Maria, Queen Henrietta, 223-224. + + Mary, Queen, 10, 219. + + Mathew, Archbishop, 222. + + Mathew, Tobias, Bishop of Durham, 18. + + Mathew, Tobie, 26. + + Mathews, Charles, the Elder, 271. + + Mathews, Charles J., 58. + + Maude, Cyril, 272. + + Mellon, Harriot (Duchess of St Albans), 200, 202-204, 213-214. + + Middleton, George, 193-194. + + Miller, Thomas, 188. + + Monk, Colonel George (Duke of Albemarle), 64-71, 255. + + Montague, Mrs, 159. + + Moody, John, 148. + + More, Hannah, Mr and Mrs Garrick's friendship for her, 126, 128-138; + begs Garrick to write her the prologue to _Percy_, 131; + his gracious reply, 132; + presented by Garrick with his "Felix Buckles," 133; + visits Hampton with the Garricks, and meets many celebrities at + their house, 133; + Garrick writes to her, 134-135; + production of _Percy_, 136; + dines with Garrick's "sour crout party" in the Adelphi, 138; + Garrick carries her dinner to her, 138; + meets many celebrities in company with Garrick, 139; + her first visit to Mrs Garrick after the death of the great + actor, 141-144; + her description of a famous dinner party, 153-154; + her life with Mrs Garrick, 158-163; + Johnson's advice to her, 161; + attends St Clement Dane's, 162; + her "complete holiday" in the Adelphi, 163; + Mrs Garrick's letter to her, 163; + her gratitude to Mr and Mrs Garrick, 164. + + _Morning Advertiser_, the (1771), 79. + + _Morning Chronicle_, the, 183. + + Munday, Anthony, 22. + + Munro, Dr Thomas, 181. + + + Naval Architects, Institution of, 215. + + Nelson, Lord, 211, 212. + + Northampton House, 251-253. + + Northumberland Avenue, 265-269. + + Northumberland House, 250-268. + + Norwich, Bishop of, 8. + + + Ogle, Earl of, 255. + + Oldys, William, 19. + + Osborn's Hotel, 180-181, 183-185. + + Ossory, Earl of, 147. + + _Othello_, the first edition published in the New Exchange, 28. + + Otho, the papal legate, 4. + + Otway, Thomas, 29. + + + Pall Mall, murder in, 256. + + Palmer, John, 148. + + Palmerston, Viscount, 147. + + Parsons, Wm., 147. + + "Pasquin, Anthony," 248. + + _Paul Pry_, 182. + + Peacock, Edwin E., 215. + + Pembroke, Earl of, 251. + + Pennant, Thomas, his account + of London referred to, 7, 8, 14, 15, 48, 250. + + Pepys, Samuel, 29, 37, 38, 39, 52, 67, 229-233, 241. + + Percy, Algernon, 252, 254. + + Percy, Dr, 157, 259, 263. + + _Percy_, Hannah More's tragedy, 126, 131, 133, 135-138. + + Percy, Josceline, 255. + + Percy, Lady Elizabeth, 255, 257-258. + + Peter the Great, 243-244. + + Phillips, John, 245. + + _Pickwick_, scene in the Adelphi, 183-185. + + Pictures at Northumberland House, 263-265. + + Pictures at York House, 223. + + Pinkerton, John, 198. + + Pitt, William, 212, 269. + + Playhouse, the, 272. + + Ponings, Sir Thomas, 12. + + Poole, John, 182. + + Pope, Alexander, 212. + + Portugal, King of, 212. + + Power, Moore's publisher, 245. + + Puckering, Sir John, 221. + + Pulteney, Richard, 97. + + + Quacks, 71, 120, 172-181. + + Quick, John, 148. + + Quincey, De, Thomas, 183. + + + Rackett, Thomas, 167. + + Raleigh, Sir Walter, 16-20, 73. + + Ratford, Thomas, 64. + + Read, Sir William, 71-72. + + _Rehearsal, The_, 227. + + Reid, Whitelaw, 215. + + _Rejected Addresses_, the, 270. + + Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 102, 138, 150, 154-157, 210, 270. + + Rigby, Richard, 147. + + Roberts, Earl, 215. + + Romney, Lord, 101, 103, 110. + + Rose, Sir George, 272. + + Rounceval, St Mary, 250-251. + + Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 244-245. + + Rowlandson, Thomas, 181. + + + Sa, don Pantaleon de, 44-48. + + Sackville, Charles, 244. + + Salisbury, Robert (Lord), 21, 23, 25, 26. + + Sandwich Islands, King and Queen of, 180-181. + + Savage Club, 215, 217. + + Scott, Sir Walter, 212. + + Scott, Sir William, 122. + + Seymour, Algernon, 258. + + Seymour, Charles, 257-258. + + Seymour, Sir Thomas, 12, 14-15. + + Sharp, Granville, 84. + + Sharrington, Sir William, 14. + + Sheffield, Lord, 181. + + _She Would if She Could_, 29. + + Shipley, William, 100. + + Siddons, Mrs, Shakespeare's gloves bequeathed to her by Garrick, 166. + + Sidney, Philip, 16. + + Sidney, Sir Henry, 16. + + _Sir Martin Marrall_, 40. + + Smith, Horatio ("Horace"), 270. + + Smith, J.T., 242. + + Smith, James, 270, 272. + + Smith, "Strata," 245. + + Smith, W.F.D., 212. + + Smithson, Sir Hugh, 258, 262. + + Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 269. + + Somerset, Earl of, 221. + + Spain, Queen of, 212. + + _Spectator_, the (Addison's), 30. + + Spencer, Earl, 147. + + Spencer, Lady, 159. + + Spencer, Lord Charles, 147. + + _Standard, The_, 267. + + Stanfield, Clarkson, 242. + + Starkie, Susan, 200. + + State Papers, the, 21, 30, 44. + + Steele, Richard, 247. + + Stephen, Thomas, 196. + + Stone, Nicholas, 236. + + Stormont, Viscount, 97. + + Stothard, Thomas, 242. + + Stow, John, his Survey referred to, 6, 12, 22, 186, 218, 250. + + Stowell, Baron, 122. + + Strand, the, its ancient state, 249-250. + + Strype, John, 36, 187, 219. + + Stuart, John, 245. + + Suckling, Sir John, 253. + + Suffolk, Earl of, 252. + + Suffolk House, 252. + + Surrey, Earl of, 12. + + Syon House, 94, 264. + + + _Tatler, The_ (1709), 40. + + Tennyson, Alfred, 212. + + "Three Crowns in the Strand," the, 194, 208. + + Three Graces, the, 201. + + Thynne, Thomas, 255-257. + + Timbs, John, 187. + + Toole, John Lawrence, 182. + + Trayleman, John, 227. + + _Trivia_, Gay's, 71. + + Tunstall, Cuthbert, Bishop of Durham, 10, 15. + + Turk's Head, the, 138. + + Turner, J.H., 242. + + Twain, Mark, 215. + + Tyrconnel, Duchess of (the "White Milliner"), 49-63. + + + Venetian Ambassador, the, 24. + + Vernon (actor), 147. + + Vesey, Mrs, 159. + + Vestris, Madame, 57, 58. + + Victoria, Queen, 120, 212. + + Villiers Street, 247-248. + + Vining, James, 58. + + Voltaire, 41-43, 248. + + + Wales, Prince of (1874), 103. + + Walkley, Thomas, the first publisher of _Othello_, 28. + + Waller, Sir William, 255. + + Walpole, Horace, 49, 51, 79, 92, 98, 162, 174. + + Ward, Joshua, 120. + + Wellington, the Duke of, 212. + + Wellwood, James, 244. + + Westminster, city of, its Adelphi boundary, 186. + + West, Benjamin, 212. + + Wheatley, Henry B., _The Adelphi and its Site_, 89, 245. + + "White Milliner," the (Frances Jennings, Duchess of Tyrconnel), 49-63. + + _White Milliner, The_, Douglas Jerrold's play, 57-63. + + William IV., 212. + + Wilson, Thomas, 26, 35, 72-73. + + Wine licenses granted in the Adelphi in 1675, 38. + + Wood, Anthony, 40. + + Worcester House, 8. + + Wycherley, William, 30. + + + Yates, Richard, 147. + + York, Archbishop of, 8. + + York House, 8, 219-234. + + York Water-Gate, 235-239. + + York Water-Works, 239-241. + + + _Zara_, 247-248. + + Zucchi, Antonio, 215. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Literary History of the Adelphi +and its Neighbourhood, by Austin Brereton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57372 *** |