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ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY
AND PALL MALL.

Round About Piccadilly

And Pall Mall ;

OR, A RAMBLE FROM

THE HA YMARKET TO HYDE PARK

CONSISTING OF

A RETROSPECT OF THE VARIOUS CHANGES THAT LIAVE OCCURRED
IN THE COURT END OF LONDON.

HENRY B. WHEATLEY.

" Piccadilly ! shops, palaces, bustle, and breeze,
The whirring of wheels, and the murmur of trees,
By daylight, or nightlight, — or noisy, or stilly,
Whatever my mood is, I love Piccadilly."

Frederick Lockkk.

LONDON :
SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE.

1870.

[The right of Translation is reserved.]

CONTENTS.

Preface j x xl

CHAP.

I. Introduction t 2 2

Piccadilly Hall— Origin of the name — Shaver's Hall —
Statuaries— Houses at Hyde Park Corner.

[I. Piccadilly Houses 23— 45

Early Inhabitants— The Albany — Mansions opposite the
Green Park — Apsley House — Egyptian Hall.

III. Burlington House 46— Si

Original Builder — The Earls of Burlington — The Old
Building — the New House and Colonnade — Duke of
Portland — Henry Cavendish — The Royal Society —
Royal Academy — Queensberry House — Uxbridge House
— Wade's House — Old Burlington Street — Cork Street —
Savile Row.

IV. Clarendon House 82 — 93

Lord Chancellor Clarendon — Duke of Albemarle — Sale of
the House and its Demolition.

V. Devonshire House 94 — 102

Berkeley House — Devonshire House — Lansdowne House
— Berkeley Square — Hay Hill.

VI. St. James's Church 103— no

The Church — Persons Buried there — Rectors.

VII. The Streets on the South Side of Piccadilly 1 11 — 173

The Haymarket — Theatre Royal — Suffolk Street — Her
Majesty's Theatre — St. James's Street — Berkshire
House — Cleveland House— Bridgewater House — Cleve-
land Square — Cleveland Row — Cleveland Court — St.
James's Place — Park Place — Bennet Street — Arlington
Street — Grosvenor Place.

a — 3

vi CONTENTS.

CHAP. HAGE

VIII. The Streets on the North Side of Piccadilly 174—212

Great Windmill Street — Regent Street — Swallow Street
— Sackville Street— Bond Street— Clifford Street-
Conduit Street— Bruton Street— Grafton Street — Albe-
marle Street — Dover Street — Berkeley Street — Stratton
Street — Bolton Street — Clarges Street — Half Moon
Street — May Fair — Chesterfield House — Down Street
— Park Lane — Hamilton Place.

IX. Hyde Park 213 — 254

Hyde Park Corner — St. George's Hospital — Deer — Races
—Sale of the Park— The Ring— Rotten Row— The Ser-
pentine — Encampments — Reviews — Duels — Trees —
Kensington Gardens — The Palace.

X. Green Park and St. James's Park 255— 2S3

Green Park — Constitution Hill — St. James's Park — Water
— Rosamond's Pond — Duck Island — Game of Pall Mall
— The Mall —Trees— Birdcage Walk— The Parade-
Horse Guards — Spring Gardens.

XL St. James's and Buckingham Palaces 284 — 317

St. James's Hospital — King's Manor House — Palace —
Chapel Royal — German Chapel — Royal Library — Stable-
Yard — Buckingham Palace — Mulberry Gardens — Goring
House — Arlington House — Buckingham House —Queen's
House — Palace — The King's Library — Marble Arch —
Tart Hall.

XII. Pall Mall 318—354

St. James's Field — The Rookery — Old Clubs — Early
Inhabitants — Marlborough House — Schomberg House —
New Clubs — Carlton House — Warwick House. — North
Side : Dodsley — Alderman Boydell — British Institution.

XIII. St. James's Square 355 — 385

First Called "The Piazza" — Early Inhabitants — Duke of
Ormond — Norfolk House — State of the Square — St.
James's Market — Charles Street — York Street — Jermyn
Street — King Street — "Willis's Rooms" — Bury Street
— Duke Street.

Index 387 — 405

LIST OF WOODCUTS.

Frontispiece. Hyde Park Corner in 1800.

A copy of Plate 95 in Thomas Malton's Picturesque Tour through
the Cities of London and Westminster.
1. Plan of part of the Parish of St. James's about 1720.

A reduction of a portion of the plan of the parish in Strype's edition
of Stovv's London, said to be taken " from the last survey, with cor-
rections." It is given in the edition of 1720, and, with a few
alterations, in that of 1755, but no date can be definitely fixed, as it is
not perfectly accurate. The Haymarket Opera House, commenced
in 1703, is not marked, but Carlton House, built in 1709, and not
so called until 17 14, is figured in it.

25. Melbourne or York House, now "The Albany."

33. Hertford House (formerly Barrymore House) before 1851.
From an etching by J. P. Malcolm, dated 1807.

38. Old Apsley House from Hyde Park.

Reduced from an engraving by F. Vivares, dated 1828.

46. The Front of Burlington House in 1868.
From a photograph taken in 1868.

46. Old Burlington House about 1700.

Copied from an engraving in Les Delices de la Grande Bretagne,
Leyden, 1707, which is the same on smaller scale as the print in
Kip's The'dtre de la Grande Bretagne.

52. The Colonnade of Burlington House (taken down in 1868).

From a photograph taken in 1868.

53. Piccadilly Wall of Burlington House (taken down in 1868).

Reduced from a drawing made by Mr. Joseph Eedes a few weeks

before the wall was pulled down.
74. QUEENSBERRY HOUSE.

From an engraving of the house, built in 1721 by J. Leoni, in the fifth

volume of the Crowle Pennant (British Museum Print Room).
76. Burlington Gardens and Uxbridge House.

From an undated engraving printed about 1800.
78. Marshal Wade's House in Old Burlington Street.

From Colen Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicus.

viii LIST OF WOODCUTS.

PAGE

82. Clarendon House, 1667-83.

From J. T. Smith's copy (published in 1798) of a rare contemporary

print.
94. Devonshire House, 1808.

From an etching by J. P. Malcolm, published in 180S.

116. Old Haymarket Theatre, closed in 1820.

Copied from an engraving in Robert Wilkinson's Londina Illustrate,
which is dated 1815.

125. Entrance to the Opera House previous to the year 1820.

Copied from an engraving in Wilkinson's Londina, which is dated

1816.
205. Chesterfield House, built in 1748.
216. St. George's Hospital, after R. Wilson, R.A., 1746.

233. The Cheesecake House, taken down about 1835.

From an engraving in the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1801.

259. Ranger's Lodge in the Green Park.

Copied from an engraving dated 1791.

260. Constitution Hill in 1748.

Copied from a portion of a curious contemporary view of the fireworks
exhibited in the Green Park on occasion of the Peace of Aix-la-
Chapelle, on November 7, 1748.

261. St. James's Park in the Reign of Charles II.

Reduced from the plan of the Park in Kip's Thedtre de la Grande
Bretag>ie, undated, but probably printed soon after 1700.

265. Rosamond's Pond, after Hogarth. .

From an engraving published for S. Ireland, in 1799.

284. St. James's Palace and Park.

Copied from an undated engraving, probably printed about 1700, or
soon after.

287 St. James's Palace.

This view of the gate and street front of the palace is taken from Leigh

Hunt's Tozun, vol. ii., 1848, p. 292, where it is dated 1650.
306. Buckingham House in 1748.

Copied from a portion of a curious contemporary view of the fireworks

exhibited in the Green Park on occasion of the Peace of Aix-la-

Chapelle on November 7, 174S.
332. Schomberg House.

Showing the house as it appeared before the east wing was rebuilt by

Messrs. Harding.
342. The Screen of Carlton House.

From an engraving published by Ackermann in 1809.
355. St. James's Square about 1727.

A reduced copy of an undated engraving by Sutton Nicholls.

PREFACE

Every large city has a history which is not apparent
to the men of business and of pleasure who frequent
its streets, but which will reveal itself to the diligent
seeker after unwritten traditions and documentary
records. London, the largest and busiest of cities, has
been for centuries the stage upon which the-chief acts
in the drama of England's history have been enacted,
and if all the actors could be brought before us, a
motley group of great and small would assuredly be
presented to our sight ; and even a record in detail
of these actors and their homes and deeds must
necessarily bear a miscellaneous character as well.

Every old house has a tale to tell to those who will
turn aside to listen, but the majority are too much
occupied with the present to care about these stories
of the past ; and to those who are constantly treading
on ground made sacred by the historical scenes which
have been enacted there, the influence of the daily
contact obscures all its interest. London has grown
and is growing to so huge a size, 1 that a complete

1 On all sides the town is daily extending before our eyes. With
Brompton marked in the South Kensington maps as the centre of London,

x PRE FA CE.

account of its history is more than one man can suc-
cessfully grapple with, and it is only by dividing it into
parts, and describing each part separately in detail,
that justice can be done to the subject as a whole.

London is an a^o-reo-ation of towns and villages
that have little in common the one with the other.
Each has its distinct history, and the west knows little
or nothing of the east, and the north as little of the
south. I have chosen for my subject a portion of the
aggregated mass which is second to none in the inte-
rest of its associations. It has been from its proximity
to the court, frequented by the ruling powers in state
and general society for about two centuries. In former
times society, or the " world," consisted of a small
circle of persons who were almost all known to one
another, and lived within this district. Society has
now overflowed these limits, but they still comprehend
one of the chief centres of London.

Theodore Hook was in the habit of saying that
London pa? r excellence was bounded on the north by
Piccadilly, on the south by Pall Mall, on the east by
the Haymarket, and on the west by St. James's Street.
This region, with the addition of the district to the
north of Piccadilly, extending through May Fair to
Hyde Park Corner, and with Hyde, the Green, and

it is difficult to bring ourselves to believe, that at the beginning of the
century Belgravia was a country place. The once popular writer Samuel
Pratt, the author of Sympathy, in a letter, dated 1813, speaks of " a retired
spot called Belgrave Place, Pimlico, the street containing hardly more than
a single house."

PREFACE. xi

St. James's Parks, is the one with which these pages
are concerned.

I have drawn my facts from many sources, and
have referred to almost every book published on
London topography. Nearly all these works, with
the exception of Strype's edition of Stow's Survey and
Cunningham's Handbook? are very untrustworthy and
misleading, more especially Pennant's London, which,
though a favourite authority, is full of blunders. As it
has been the fashion to copy Pennant, most of these
mistakes have been perpetuated by succeeding writers,
and, probably, some of them will never die.

The woodcuts that illustrate the book are mostly
delineations of places and buildings now altered or
passed away, and they have been copied from contem-
porary engravings. They are necessarily of varied
merit, but all are trustworthy records of a past that
would otherwise be forgotten.

It is my pleasing duty to thank those friends who
have kindly assisted me in my inquiries, more especi-
ally the Rev. Scott Surtees, Rector of Sprotburgh ;
Mr. W. H. Spilsbury, librarian of Lincoln's Inn ; and
Mr. George Buzzard, vestry clerk of St. James's
parish.

2 When we consider the vast amount of information, extending over so
large an area, contained in this valuable work, we cannot but greatly
admire its extreme accuracy. Every modern writer on London must
feel the benefits he has received from it, and I gladly acknowledge how
deeply I am indebted to it.

ERRATA.

Page 27, line 29, for " George II." read " George III.
■• J 59> n 33> dele "learned editor and."
.. 180, ,, 25, for " Gay " read " Gray. "
.. 216, ,, \, for" T\\xvc\o\v" read" Thurloe."

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ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

In the olden times a universal fear was felt, both by the
governors and the governed, that the large cities would over-
grow themselves ; and we find in the reign of Elizabeth, and
even as late as that of Charles II., that various Acts of
Parliament were passed in the vain attempt to prevent the
increase of buildings in London. The erection of new houses
was prohibited and new residents were not permitted to
arrive. Country gentlemen were forbidden by proclamation
to leave their family seats and take up their residence in the
City ; and these edicts were not allowed to become a dead
letter, for, in 1632, a squire from the county of Sussex, and,
moreover, a bachelor, was fined 1,000/. for stopping too long
in London. Thomas Fuller showed himself wiser than his
contemporaries when he wrote thus of the inevitable increase
of the metropolis : — " Some have suspected the declining of
the lustre thereof, because of late it vergeth so much west-
ward, increasing in buildings in Covent Garden, &c. But by
their favour (to disprove their fear) it will be found to burnish
round about to every point of the compass, with new struc-
tures daily added thereunto." x

The framers of these proclamations and Acts of Parlia-

1 Fuller's Worthies, ed. 1840, vol. ii. p. 333.

2 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

ment would have cause for surprise now if they were allowed
to walk again in the streets of London. If, in the sixteenth
century, when it consisted of little more than the present
" City," they thought it too large, what would their thoughts
of it be now in the nineteenth ? As some excuse for what
appears to us an absurd fear, we must remember that London
formerly was much larger in proportion to the other cities of
the empire than it is at present.

Notwithstanding these restrictive laws, London continued
to increase, and the City was gradually joined to Charing
Cross and Westminster. The highway of the Strand was
paved about 1385 from Temple Bar to the Savoy, but it went
no farther till the latter part of Elizabeth's reign, when the
grand old mansions by the side of the Thames were still
considered out of town.

We constantly express surprise at the present rapid
growth of the outskirts of London, but the transformation
of the fields of St. James's into squares and streets was not
less surprising ; and when the relative numbers of population
are considered, the increase of London in Tyburnia, Belgravia,
and the outskirts, during the present century, can hardly be
considered as exceeding in comparison the enormous growth
of the whole western part of London, which began soon after
the Restoration.

On the return of Charles II. to take possession of his
kingdom, the noblemen and gentlemen who followed him
found their old mansions unsuited to their wants, which had
been largely increased by long residence abroad, and at once
a strong tide set in towards the west. Lord Clarendon was
one of the first to change his habitation, and he built his new
house looking down upon the palace of St. James's. Large
numbers followed him, and streets arose as if by magic.

2 As shown by Macaulay in his History of England, the population of
London in the days of Charles II. was seventeen times greater than the
population of Bristol or Norwich, which towns were then second in im-
portance to the capital. It is now little more than six times the popula-
tion of Manchester or Liverpool.

INTRODUCTION. 3

The district chosen for illustration in the following pages
extends from the Hay market in the east, to Grosvenor Place
in the west, and Piccadilly may be considered as forming its
backbone or main thoroughfare. The whole of this part of
London was, previous to the Restoration, nothing but fields,
and the streets, which are now crowded with traffic, were
then but lanes or roads, running between green hedges.

If we look at Faithorne's map of London (1658), we
shall find a country road marked " from Knightsbridge unto
Piccadilly Hall," — this is the present Piccadilly. South of
this is a road from Charing Cross to St. James's Palace, now
called Pall Mall, with two rows of trees on its north side in
St. James's Fields, and an alley where was played the game
of Pall Mall. St. James's Park is shown with trees dotted
about it, and Goring House, and another house unnamed,
at its west end, with the Mulberry Garden behind them.
St. James's Street has a few houses at the south end of its
east side, and its west side is occupied by the gardens of
Barkeshire House. The Haymarkethas a hedge on the west
side, and walls on the east side. A few houses stand at the
south-west corner, where it joins Pall Mall, and the Gaming-
House is at the north-east corner. Opposite is Windmill
Street, with houses on both sides, all the way up to " the
way to Paddington," now Oxford Street.

We shall start upon our stroll along Piccadilly, turning
into the streets which lie to the north and south of it, and
then pass into Hyde Park and return along the Green and
St. James's Parks to Pall Mall and St. James's Square. From
this place we soon arrive again at the spot from which we
first set out.

Divisions of this sort must necessarily be arbitrary. The
boundaries of a parish cannot well be followed, because we
should then have to take one side of a street and to leave
out the other ; and so, when the arbitrary line has to be drawn,
the reader must not be too critical and severe upon the writer
who draws it.

Mr. Cunningham supposes that there were two places of

4 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

entertainment close together, namely, Piccadilly Hall and
Shaver's Hall, but this I think very improbable. I believe
that Piccadilly Hall was a private house and not a public
place, but that the district, having obtained the name of
Piccadilly, the Gaming-House was also called Piccadilly.
The following are my reasons for forming this opinion : —

Piccadilly Hall belonged to Robert Baker, of the parish
of St. Martin's -in -the -Fields, whose last will was dated
April 14, 1623, and the house was still in the possession of
his widow in 1641 ; but in June, 163 1, we find by the Calendar
of State Papers that Lady Shrewsbury occupied the house :
"June 24, 163 1. Richard Wainwright and others to Sec.
Dorchester. This day at Lady Shrewsbury's house, at
Piccadilly Hall, in the parish of St. Martin, there was mass
said by Capt. George Popham, priest. Richard Wainwright
apprehended him, with the assistance of Edward Corbett,
constable of the parish ; carrying him to the Attorney-
General at Somerset House, he made an escape, and was
received by the friars." 3 Piccadilly was originally the name
of a district, and not of a street ; thus the Haymarket was
described as being situated in Piccadilly, and so also was
Windmill Street.

The origin of the name appears to be wrapt in impene-
trable mystery, and the various attempts to solve it are nearly
all alike unsatisfactory. The earliest conjectural etymology
is to be found in Thomas Blount's Glossographia, of which
the first edition was published in 1656. The passage is as
follows : — " Pickadil (a Belg. Pickedillekens, i.e. Lacinia, Teut.
Pickedel), the round hem, or the several divisions set together
about the skirt of a garment, or other thing ; also a kinde of
stiff collar, made in fashion of a Band. Hence, perhaps, that
famous ordinary near St. James, called Pickadilly, took
denomination ; because it was then the outmost or skirt house
of the suburbs that way. Others say it took name from
this : that one Higgins, a tailor, who built it, got most of his
estate by Pickadilles, which, in the last age, were much worn
3 Cat. of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1631-33, p. 89.

INTRODUCTION. 5

in England." In the second and later editions of his work,
Blount omitted the passage which contained what was
apparently his own conjecture, viz., "because it was then the
outmost or skirt house of the suburbs that way." This is, I
think, the most probable of the two derivations, for Higgins
and his collars appear to have been a pure myth. We do
not find any mention of them elsewhere, and we know that
the house was built by Robert Baker, in whose possession,
and in that of his wife, it remained for some years. It is
possible, though not probable, that Baker may have had some-
thing to do with piccadils, but there is absolutely not a single
tittle of evidence to connect the name of the place with that
of the collar. Another theory has been started of late years,
which is, that the name relates to the position of the ground
on which the place is built, that it is, in fact, a peaked hill ;
and in support of this, it is said that the various places in the
country that bear the same name are all on high ground. 4
This is a very unsatisfactory derivation, although it is certainly
curious that there should be places in Wales, Lancashire,
and the Chiltern Hills, with so strange a name as Piccadilly.

A question of much importance in the discussion is
whether Piccadilly Hall took its name from the district, or
the district from the Hall. In Cunningham's Handbook it is
stated that the earliest mention of the place is to be found in
the first edition of Gerarde's Herbal, which is dated as early
as 1597. Now, had this been the case, it would have been a
strong argument in favour of the former of the two hypotheses,
because it is an earlier date than that of the first mention
either of the collar or of the Gaming-House. I have looked
for the passage referred to in the first edition of Gerarde ;
but it is not to be found there. It is, however, in the second
and third editions, edited by Thomas Johnson, which are
dated respectively 1633 and 1636, and occurs in the chapter
on the Buglosse, in the following words : — " These do grow
in gardens everywhere. The Lang de Beefe growes wilde in
many places, as betweene Redriffe and Deptford, by the
4 Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, vol. 9. 1 866.

6 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

waterie ditch sides. The little wild Buglosse grows upon the
drie ditch bankes about Pickadilla, and almost everywhere."
In the first edition, the only note of the plant's locality is
contained in the words, " These do grow everywhere." This,
of course, takes off nearly forty years from the recorded
antiquity of the name, and the passage is only interesting as
an early, though not the earliest, mention of the place. The
Gaming-House was opened about the year 1634 by the
barber of the Lord Chamberlain, Philip, Earl of Pembroke
and Montgomery. It consisted of a tennis-court, an ordi-
nary, and an upper and lower bowling-green, which were
frequented by most of the fashionable men of the day.
James Howell, on March 5, 1634, and George Garrard, on
June 24, 1635, both mention the place in their correspondence
with Thomas, Earl of Strafford, then Lord Deputy of Ireland.
James Howell writes, "There was a difference like to fly high
betwixt my Lord Chamberlain and my Lord of Leicester,
about a Bowling-Green that my Lord Chamberlain had given
his Barber leave to set up, in lieu of that in the Common
Garden, in the field under my Lord of Leicester's house ; but
the matter, after some ado, is taken up." 5 Garrard, speaking
of the same place, says : — " Since the Spring Garden was put
down, we have, by a servant of the Lord Chamberlain's, a
new Spring Garden, erected in the Fields behind the Meuse,
where is built a fair house, and two Bowling-Greens, made to
entertain Gamesters and Bowlers at an excessive rate ; for I
believe it hath cost him above four thousand pounds, a dear
undertaking for a Gentleman Barber. My Lord Chamberlain
much frequents that place, where they bowl great matches." 6
The Gaming-House got the name of Shaver's Hall, as is
described in the following letter from George Garrard to
Edward, Viscount Conway and Killultagh, dated May 30,
1636: — " Simme Austbiston's house is newly christened. It
is called Shaver's Hall, as other neighbouring places there-
about are nicknamed Tart Hall, Pickadell Hall. At first,

5 Strafford's Letters and Dispatches, vol. i., 1739, p. 377.

6 Ibid. p. 435.

INTRODUCTION. 7

no conceit there was of the builder's being a barber, but it
came upon my Lord of Dunbar's losing of ^3,000 at one
sitting, whereon they said a northern lord was shaved there ;
but now, putting both together, I fear it will be a nickname
of the place — as Nick and Froth is at Petworth — as long as
the house stands. My Lord Chamberlain knows not of [it]
yet ; but he'll chafe abominably when he comes to know it." 7
Here Garrard distinctly states that the Gaming-House was a
separate building from Piccadilly Hall. The last sentence of
the letter gains a meaning for us when we remember that the
Earl of Pembroke was a very quarrelsome man, of whom
Ant. Wood says : — " He did not refrain to break many wiser
heads than his own." In 1641, Lord Clarendon describes
himself as going to this place, by which time it appears to
have gained the name of Piccadilly, from its locality, for, as
the description answers so completely to the Gaming-House,
it can hardly have been Piccadilly Hall. " In the afternoon of
the same day (when the conference had been in the painted
chamber upon the Court of York), Mr. Hyde going to a place
called Piccadilly (which was a fair house for entertainment
and gaming, with handsome gravel walks with shade, and
where were an upper and lower bowling-green, whither very
many of the nobility and gentry of the best quality resorted,
both for exercise and conversation), as soon as ever he came
into the ground, the Earl of Bedford came to him." 8

About this time, Sir John Suckling, who poisoned himself
at Paris in 1641, was a constant visitor. Aubrey thus describes
him : — " He was the greatest gallant of his time, and the
greatest gamester, both for bowling and cards, so that no
shopkeeper would trust him for sixpence. (He was one of the
best bowlers of his time in England. He played at cards
rarely well, and did use to practise by himselfe a-bed, and
there studyed the best way of managing the cards. Mem.
His sisters comeing to the Peccadillo bowling-green crying,

7 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1635-36, p. 462.
b Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, ed. 1826, vol. i. p. 422.

8 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

for feare he should lose all [their] portions)." 9 Suckling wrote

of himself : —

" Who priz'd black eyes or a lucky hit
At bowls above all the trophies of wit."

Many men lost their fortunes at this place, and Richard
Flecknoe, in a poem dated 1656, "on the occasion of his
being left alone in the Mulberry Garden, to wait on all the
ladies of the times," complains that the men of London
neglected the women, so that he goes on to say, —
" Your country squire
I far more admire,
For he goes to the Park and the gardens."

He says of the Londoners : — ■
" But we behold
Them daily more bold
And their lands to coyn they distil ye,
And then with the money
You see how they run ye
To loose it at Piccadilly." l0

Phil. Porter, a spendthrift of the Restoration, laments his
separation from the pleasures of London life, and specially
mentions the Tennis Court, a place that existed up to the
year 1866 in James Street, Haymarket : —
" Farewell, my dearest Piccadilly,

Notorious for good dinners ;

Oh, what a Tennis Court was there !

Alas ! too good for sinners." "

In an undated map of London, by T. Porter, 12 in the library
of the Society of Antiquaries, the Gaming-House is marked
at the north-east corner of the Haymarket, and the house at
the corner of Windmill Street is called " Pecadilly Hall."
There is every reason to believe that, at this time, the district,
and not the hall merely, was known as Piccadilly. Mr. Cunning-

9 Aubrey's Lives (Letters from the Bodleian, 1813, vol. ii. p. 545).

10 Epigrams of all Sorts. London, 1670, p. 89.

11 Wit and Drollery : Jovial Poems. London, 1682, pp. 36-40.

12 " The newest and exactest mapp of the most famous citties : London
and Westminster with their suburbs and the manner of their streets. . .
By T. Porter." Its date is probably about 1640.

INTRODUCTION. 9

ham found the following entry in the Burial Register of
St. Martin's under the date of 1636 : — " 26 Aug. Mulier ignota
e Piccadilly sep ta - fait." In the following year certain houses
round about were ordered to be destroyed. Garrard writes
to Strafford, on February 7, as follows : — " A sentence in the
Star Chamber this term hath demolished all the houses about
Piccadilly ; by midsummer they must be pulled down, which
have stood since the 13th of King James ; they are found to be
great nuisances, and much foul the spring of water which pass by
those houses to Whitehall and the City." 13 In 1640 Mrs. Mary
Baker, widow, paid certain moneys to the overseers of St. Mar-
tin's parish, on account " of certaine groundes neere the Winde
Mill at the cawsey head, builded upon by her late husband
deceased, and now usually called Pickadilly." Mrs. Baker sold
the property to Captain Edward Panton, a successful gambler,
and also one of Titus Oates's infamous gang of false swearers,
whose name remains in Panton Street and Panton Square.

In a survey made in the year 1650 the Gaming-House is
fully described, and is said to be situated at Pickadilley: —
"All that Tenem 1 - called Shaver's Hall, strongly built w th -
Brick and covered with lead, consistinge of one Large Seller,
commodiously devided into 6 Roomes, and over the same
fower fair Roomes, 10 stepps in ascent from y e ground, at 3
seurall wayes to the goeinge into the said house, all very well
paved w tk Purbeck stone well fitted and joynted, and above
stayres in the first story 4 spacious Roomes ; also out of one
of the said Roomes one faire Belcony, opening w th - a pleasant
prospect southwards to the Bowling Alleyes ; and in the
second story 6 Roomes, and over the same a fair walk leaded
and inclosed w th - Rayles, very curiously carved and wrought ;
alsoe one very fay r stayr case, very strong and curiously wrought,
leadinge from the bottome of the said house, very conveniently
and pleasantly upp into all the said Roomes, and upp to one
Leaded walk at the topp of the said house ; as alsoe adioyninge
to a wall on the west part thereof, one shedd devided into 6
Roomes, and adioyninge to the north part, one Rainge consisting
13 Strafford's Letters and Dispatches, vol. ii., 1739, p. 150.

io ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

of 3 Large Roomes used for Kitchens, and one other room used
for a coale house, and over the Kitchens 2 Lofts devided into
faire chambers ; as alsoe one faire Tennis Court, very strongly
built w th - Brick and covered with Tyle, well accommodated
with all things fitting for the same ; as alsoe one Tenement
thereunto adioyninge, consisting of 3 Roomes below stayres
and 3 Roomes above stayres ; alsoe at the gate or comeing
in to the Upper Bowlinge Alley, one Parlour Lodge, consisting
of one faire Roome at each side of the gate ; as alsoe one faire
pair of stayres w th - 12 stepps of Descent leading down into the
Lower Bowlinge Alley, 2 wayes, and meeting at the bottom
in a faire Roome under the Highway or footpath leading
between the 2 Bowlinge Alleys, between two brick walls east
and west, and the lower ground, one fair bowling alley and
one orchard wall, planted w th - seurall choyce of fruite trees ;
as also one pleasant banquetting house and one other faire
and pleasant Roome, called the greene Roome, and one other
Conduit house and 2 other Turretts adioyninge to the walls,
consisting of 2 Roomes in each of them, one above the other.
The ground whereon the said buildings stand, together w th -
2 fayre Bowling Alleyes, Orchard gardens, gravily walks, and
other green walks and courts and courtyards, containinge, by
estimacon, 3 acres and \ lyeing betweene a Road way leading
from Charinge Crosse to Knightsbridge west, and a high way
leadinge from Charinge Crosse towards So-hoe, abutting on the
Earl of Suffolk's brick wall south, and a way leading from
St. Gyles to Knightsbridge west, now in the occupacon of
Captayne Geeres, and is worth per ann. clii." 14

The following extracts from the Interregnum Order Book
may either refer to Piccadilly Hall or to Shaver's Hall : —

"Aug. 1, 1650. — That the comonly called Pick a dillie
bee assigned unto Coll. Birkstead for the quartering of soe
manie of his souldiers as hee shall thinke fitt."

14 " A Survey [made in 1650] of Certain Lands and Tenements scituate
and being at Pickadilley, the Blue Muse, and others thereunto adioyninge "
(No. 73 of the Augmentation Records). Quoted in Cunningham's Hand-
book of London, vol. ii. p. 738.

INTRO D UCTION. 1 1

"Nov. 30, 1650. — That the house of the Lord of Thanett
in Aldersgate, and likewise the house Pickadilly, bee both
made use of for the quartering of 200 soldiers in each, for
which houses a reasonable rent is to be paid, and especial
care is to be taken that noe spoil bee done to the said houses
by the souldiers quartered in them." 15

In Howel's Londinppolis (1657) Piccadilly is referred to
as " full of fair houses round about ; " and Evelyn, in his
diary under date July 31, 1662, writes: — "I sat with the
Commissioners about reforming buildings and streets of
London, and we ordered the paving of the way from St.
James's north which was a quagmire, also of the Haymarket
about Piqudillo, and agreed upon instructions to be printed
and published for the better keeping the streets clean." In
the Calendar of State Papers l6 note is made under date
February 9, 1661, of" Information [given] by Sir Sam. Morland
of a meeting of 14 or 16 Fifth Monarchy Men held two or three
times a week at the Maiden Head Tavern, Piccadilly, and
request for a warrant for Capt. Wharton to apprehend them."

Eleven tokens, issued by shopkeepers living in Piccadilly,
are described in J. Y. Akerman's Tradesmen 's Tokens, 11 and
as there are considerable varieties in the spelling of the name,
it will be well to give them here : —

1662. Robert Beard in Pakadilla.

1665. Richard Groome in Pickadilly.

1666. Nathaniel Robins at the Hay Market in Pickadilla.
1666. Richard Thorp, grocer, in Pickadilly.

1668. John Vaughan in Pickadilly.
1670. William Hill in Pickadilly.

Four undated tokens are as follows : —

William Flindell in Peckadille.

Edw. Gillney in Pickedille.

Will. Vesey, at the Garden House, neare Piccadilly.

Joh. Walker, Sugar Loaf, Picadilly.

15 Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, VI. p. 229.

16 Domestic Series, 1660-61, p. 506.

17 8vo. London, 1849.

i2 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Piccadilly Street first occurs in the rate-books of St. Martin's
Parish in 1673.

In summing up the results of the inquiry, we find, from
the foregoing facts, that there was a district named Piccadilly,
and that the principal house in it was called Piccadilly
Hall. We also find that the Gaming-House or Shaver's
Hall was called Piccadilly from its locality. There is posi-
tively no evidence of the origin of the name, and nothing
satisfactory to connect it with the fashionable collar of the
early part of the seventeenth century ; but Garrard, in his letter
of 1636, seems to hint at some such connection when he speaks
of " Pickadell Hall " being a nickname.

The writers of the time are full of references to the pick-
adil, and the following quotations, extending from 161 1 to
1653, show how much attention was paid to this article of
dress : —

161 1. Cotgrave says: — " Piccadilles, the severall divi-
sions or peeces fastened together about the brimme of the
collar of a doublet," &c.

1614. Barnaby Rich, in his satire on The Honestie of this
Age, says : — " But he that some fortie or fifty yeares sithens
should have asked after a Pickadilly, I wonder who could
have understood him, or could have told what a Pickadilly
had beene, either fish or flesh."

161 5. In Overbury's New Characters : — "The next morn-
ing his man (in actu or potentia) enjoies his pickadels. His
landresse is then shrewdly troubled in fitting him a ruffe, his
perpetuall badge."

In this year, on a visit of James I. to the University of
Oxford, an order was issued by the Vice-Chancellor prohibit-
ing their use.

" Leave it, scholar, leave it and take it not in snuff,
For he that wears no pickadel, by law may wear a ruff." 18

Ben Jonson frequently mentions this collar, and spells it
picardill. Gifford supposes that he believed it to be derived

18 RUGGLE'S Ignoramus.

INTRODUCTION. 13

from the place Picardy, when it really is a diminutive of
picca, a spear-head, which it was supposed to resemble. In
the Devil is an Ass (1616) : —

" Pug. Although

I am not, in due symmetry, the man
Of that proportion — or, in rule
Of Physic, of the just complexion ;
Or of that truth of Picardill in clothes,
To boast a sovereignty o'er ladies ; yet
I know to do my turns, sweet mistress."

In the Underwoods : —

"Be at their visits, see them squeamish sick
Ready to cast at one whose band sits ill,
And then leap mad on a neat picardill."

Barnaby Rich, in The Irish Hubbub, or the EnglisJi Hue
and Crie (16 19), states that the Irish had no pride in their
apparel till they learned it from the English ; " they knew not
what to make of a Piccadilly."

Thomas Middleton, in his play The World Tost at Tennis
(1620), applies the name to some tool of the tailor, and not to
a collar : —

"Scholar. So likewise, by

His deep instructive and his mystic tools,
The tailor comes to be rhetorical.

*****

By his needle he understands ironia,
That with one eye looks two ways at once ;
Metonymia ever at his finger's ends ;
Some call his pickadill synecdoche,
But I think rather that should be his yard."

Fletcher refers to the collar in his play The Pilgrim
(1621):—

" First Outlaw. Do you want a band, sir?
This is a coarse wearing.

{Puts the halter on him.)
'Twill sit but scurvily upon this collar ;
But patience is as good as a French pickadel."

H ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Minsheu, in his Dictionary (1627), describes it as " pick-
adill, G. Piccadillee, a peece fastened about the top of the
coller of a doublet."

The piccadill was not merely a portion of man's apparel,
but was also used by women. Drayton thus speaks of
them : —

" And in her fashion she is likewise thus,
In every thing she must be monstrous ;
Her picadell above her crowne up beares,
Her fardingale is set above her eares." 19

In the first extract we see the time of their introduction, and
in the last, the date of which is 1653, that of their decline.

" 161 2. And among the rest, yellow starch, the invention
and foyl of jaundice complexions, with great cut-work bands,
and piccadillies (thing that hath since lost the name) crouded
in, and flourished among us, Mrs. Turner being nominated to
be the first contriver, happily in England, but the original
came out of France, which fashion and colour did set off their
lean and sallow countenances." 20

The humble name, Piccadilly, seems to have possessed a
great power of vitality, for it gradually superseded the other
names which had been given to different parts of the entire
road from the Haymarket to Hyde Park Corner. At first
it was confined to the present Coventry Street, which is
so called after Coventry House, then the residence of the
Right Hon. Henry Coventry, Ambassador to Sweden, and
Secretary of State in Charles II.'s reign. The garden wall
of this house ran along part of Panton Street and Oxenden
Street, and extended from the Gaming-House at the corner
of the Haymarket to Hedge Lane. In an advertisement in
the London Gazette, July 30, 1674, 21 Mr. Secretary Coventry's
house is referred to as in Piccadilly. In 1708 Hatton
describes Piccadilly as situated between Coventry Street and

19 Drayton's Poems (Mooncalf), p. 235.

*° Arthur Wilson's Life of James I. (Kennett's England, vol. ii.
p. 6S8.)

21 No. 908.

INTRO D UCTION i 5

the end of the Haymarket ; the rest of the road being called
Portugal Street, in honour of Queen Catharine of Braganza ;
but in the Act for erecting St. James's into a parish (1685),
the churchyard is described as fronting " towards Piccadilly
Street, alias Portugal Street." Portugal Street remained the
official name until about 1750, but many years previously
Piccadilly had popularly superseded it. As early as 1709
(April 18) the Tatler, in a notice of Mayfair, speaks of the
" upper part of Piccadilly." In Strype's edition of Stow's
Survey (1720) and in Seymour's Survey (1734) the whole
street is referred to as Piccadilly. In Cox's Magna Britannia
(1724) there is a little uncertainty — for Bond Street and Albe-
marle Street are described as near Piccadilly, but Berkeley
Street as in Portugal Street.

The turnpike which in 1721 was removed to Hyde Park
Corner was, previously to that time, situated at the end of
Berkeley Street, and all beyond was the great Western Road,
which was without a pavement. This portion of the street,
if such it might be called, was for years in a very bad and
dangerous state, coaches being frequently either overturned
in it or stopped by highwaymen. In 1692 Sir Robert
Atkyns, Chief Baron of the Exchequer and Speaker of the
House of Lords, was living at Kensington, and on the first
of March, the day appointed for a conference between the
Lords and Commons, he did not make his appearance, and
the Lords were obliged to choose a temporary Speaker in
the Duke of Somerset. Sir Robert Atkyns's non-atten-
dance is explained in the following passage from the Lords'
Journals : —

" A message was sent to the House of Commons by Sir
Miles Cook and Sir Adam Ottley : To let the Commons
know that the Speaker of the House of Lords, living two
miles out of town, and the badness of the roads at this present,
was the only occasion of their Lordships not coming to the
conference at the time appointed." 22

Forty years after this the passage seems to have been
w Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, vol. vii. p. 396.

16 ROUXD ABOUT PICCADILLY.

as difficult, for Lord Hervey, writing to his mother from
Kensington in November, 1736, says, "The road between
this place and London is grown so infamously bad that we
live here in the same solitude as we should do if cast on
a rock in the middle of the ocean, and all the Londoners tell
us there is between them and us a great impassable gulf
of mud. There are two roads through the park, but the new
one is so convex, and the old one so concave, that by this
extreme of faults they agree in the common one of being,
like the high road, impassable."

The overflow of waters after heavy rains was very great
in the hollow now occupied by the Marquis of Hertford's
mansion (No. 105). In December, 1726, the carriage of the
Ambassador from Morocco was nearly overturned at this
place, and the daughter of Baron Hartoff was almost killed
by the upset of the Baron's carriage. 23 The author of a
History and Present State of the British Islands, published in
1743, refers to the same state of things. He says : " This being
one of the great roads from Exeter and the west of England,
the pavement is for the most part miserably broken and
hazardous to ride upon, as it is in most of the streets leading
to the great roads." Horace Walpole, writing in 1750, says
that, as he was sitting in his dining-room in Arlington Street,
one night at eleven o'clock, he heard a loud cry of " Stop
thief ! " On inquiry, he found that a highwayman had attacked
a postchaise in Piccadilly not fifty yards from his house, and
adds that, although the attempt was unsuccessful, the man
escaped. 24

The present Piccadilly consists of two parts : the one from
the Haymarket to the Green Park is a street of shops ; the
other, from Berkeley Street to Hyde Park, is gradually
becoming a terrace of aristocratic mansions.

For many years no houses were built to the west of
Berkeley House, and the ground was occupied by the ware-
houses of various statuaries, as in the New Road of the present

23 Malcolm, Londinium Redivivum, vol. iv. 328.

24 Walpole's Correspondence, 1840, vol. ii. p. yrf.

INTRODUCTION. 17

day. Horace Walpole refers to this place in a letter to Sir
Horace Mann (June 6, 1746), when he writes : "I am much
obliged to you for the care you take in sending my eagle by
my commodore-cousin, but I hope it will not be till after his
expedition. I know the extent of his genius ; he would hoist
it overboard on the prospect of an engagement, and think he
could buy me another at Hyde Park Corner with the prize-
money ; like the Roman tar that told his crew, that if they
broke the antique Corinthian statues, they should find new
ones." 25 Ralph says : " Sorry I am that the shops and yards
of the statuaries in Piccadilly afford a judicious foreigner
such flagrant opportunities to arraign and condemn our taste.
Among a hundred statues, you shall hardly see one even
tolerable, either in design or execution ; nay, even the copies
of the antique are so monstrously wretched, that one can
hardly guess at their originals. 26 Robert Lloyd wrote, in 1757,
a short poem entitled The Cits Country Box, in which he
describes the progress of a citizen's new villa, and the taste
displayed in it, and closes the description of the garden
thus : —

" And now from Hyde Park Corner come
The gods of Athens and of Rome.
Here squabby Cupids take their places,
With Venus and the clumsy Graces :
Apollo there, with aim so clever,
Stretches his leaden bow for ever ;
And thus without the pow'r to fly,
Stands fix'd a tip-toe Mercury." n

Soon after this, certain mansions were built on the site of
some of these yards. " Piccadilly, the houses of which over-
look the beautiful Green Park, as well as that of St. James's,
bids fair to be in time a street of Palaces ; several fine houses
of persons of condition being built and building there, instead
of many very mean ones pulled down to give room for them ;

25 Walpole's Corresfionde?ice, 1840, vol. ii. p. 125.

26 Ralph's Crit. Review of Public Buildings, ed. 1783, p. 185.

27 Lloyd's Poetical Works, 1774, vol. i.

1 8 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

and the good taste for so happy a situation still increasing." 2S
The leaden figure yard of John Van Nost, a Dutch sculptor,
who came to England with William III., stood on ground
now occupied by number 105 Piccadilly, and other houses.
His effects were sold after his death on March 1, 171 1, and the
premises were described as standing near " The Queen's Mead
House," in Hyde Park Road. In 17 13 there is an advertise-
ment by the widow of Nost in the Guardian (No. 60, May 20,)
of this place — " Whereas, there remains several extraordinary
fine things belonging to the late famous sculptor Mr. John
Nost, viz. : fine inlaid marble tables, marble chimney pieces,
figures, &c, she designing to go beyond sea, will dispose
of them at reasonable rates, at her house near Hide Park,
where attendance will be daily given." Dickenson's manu-
factory stood on the site of Gloucester House (No. 137),
Carpenter's on the site of Cambridge House (No. 94), and
Manning's at the west corner of Whitehorse Street, on the site
of No. 96, Piccadilly. Walpole, writing to George Montagu
in 1759 (November 8), says, " I stared to-day at Piccadilly
like a country squire ; there are twenty new stone houses ; at
first I concluded that all the grooms that used to live there
had got estates and built palaces."

Between the years 1761 and 1764, the Dilettanti Society
projected a building in Piccadilly on the model of the Temple
of Pola. Two sites were proposed, the one between Devon-
shire and Bath Houses, and the other on the west side of
Cambridge House. The project, however, came to nought,
and the Society is still without a house. Horace Walpole
was rather satirical on the supposed qualification for member-
ship of this distinguished society. In a letter to Sir H. Mann
(April 14, 1743), he says, "For which the nominal qualifica-
tion is having been in Italy, and the real one being drunk :
the two chiefs are Lord Middlesex and Sir Francis Dashwood,
who were seldom sober the whole time they were in Italy."

The western end of Piccadilly was originally an outgrowth
from Knightsbridge, and several houses were built between
2a Defoe's Tour thrd Great Britain, ed. 1761, vol. ii. p. 103.

INTRODUCTION. 19

Hyde Park Corner and Park Lane during the Commonwealth,
the leases of which were afterwards granted to James Hamil-
ton. Mr. Cunningham found in the overseer's accounts for
St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, under the date of 1655, the following
entry : — " Received for the rent of the cottages at Hyde Park
Corner." For many years a cluster of mean houses existed,
where palaces have now arisen, one of these being the cele-
brated public-house called the " Pillars of Hercules," a sign
formerly much used for inns on the outskirts of towns, from a
supposed analogy of their position to the famous Hercules
Pillars which guarded the Straits of Gibraltar. This house is
mentioned in Wycherley's Plain Dealer (1676), and was in
great repute amongst country gentlemen visiting London.
Here Fielding makes Squire Western in Tom Jones put up,
on his visit to London. The Marquis of Granby, who died
in 1770, was a constant visitor, and many military men
patronized it. In 1772, when Sheridan had his first duel with
Captain Thomas Mathews about his future wife, then Miss
Linley, they went to Hyde Park, but, being observed, they
retired to the " Hercules Pillars," and afterwards went to
Covent Garden, where, at the " Castle " tavern, Henrietta
Street, the duel took place. The " Pillars of Hercules " was
standing as late as the year 1797.

Besides this public-house, there were several others, viz.
"The Golden Lion," "The Red Lion," "The Horse-Shoe,"
" The Running Horse," " The Swan," " The Barley Mow,"
and " The Triumphal Car." These houses were much visited
on Sundays, about the middle of the last century, and those
near the park were specially patronized by the soldiers on
review days.

At one of these small taverns Steele and Savage dined
one day, and, as the former had no money to pay the
reckoning, he dictated a pamphlet to Savage, who had to go
out and sell it, which he did with difficulty, and then only
obtained two guineas for it.

Besides these public-houses, there stood about this spot,
at the end of the seventeenth, and beginning of the eighteenth,

20 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

century, a place of entertainment called " Winstanley's Water
Theatre." Henry Winstanley, of Littlebury, Essex, its founder,
was a man of property, and would appear to have been a very
curious character. In 1696 he undertook to erect the first
Eddystone Lighthouse, which was a very whimsical structure.
This building was destroyed by the great storm on November
26, 1703, and Winstanley, who had gone there to superintend
some repairs, was lost in it. In his house at Littlebury he had
contrived a number of mechanical devices to astonish his visi-
tors : thus, if an old slipper lying in the middle of the floor
was kicked, a ghost started up before the kicker ; if a certain
chair was sat in, a couple of arms would immediately clasp
the sitter, so that he could not disengage himself ; if the
unfortunate visitor sat in an arbour by the side of a canal, he
was set afloat into the middle of the water. The waterworks
at Hyde Park were exhibited for some years after the death of
their contriver. In the Guardian for April 23, 17 13 (No. 37),
is the following advertisement of the performances to take
place: — "The famous Water Theatre of the late ingenious
Mr. Winstanly is now open'd, and shewn for the benefit of his
widow, every evening between 5 and 6 of the clock ; there
are the greatest curiosities in waterworks, the like never
perform'd by any ; and several new additions will be shewn
this evening that were never seen before. Box, 2s. 6d. ;
Pit, 2s. ; First Gallery, is. 6d. ; Upper Gallery, 6d. Con-
veniences for coaches to be out of the way. This is at the
lower end of Picadilly, towards Hide Park, and is known by
a windmill on the top of it." In the next month there were
great doings at this place, as will be seen by the following
advertisement : — " At the request of several persons of quality
that came on Thursday last to the mathematical Water
Theatre of the late ingenious Mr. Winstanly, when the house
was full that they could not come in, this present day (May 14)
between 5 and 6 a clock, will be given to the spectator as
before : 6 sorts of wine and brandy, to drink the queen's
health, all coming out of the barrel, with bisket and spaw
water ; and, as peace is inlarged, there will be added Claret,

INTRODUCTION. 21

Pale Ale, Stout, and water playing out of the head of the
barrel when it is in the pulley. The house will be par-
ticularly adorned this night with several new figures and
machines, playing of water, and fire mingling with water, and
a flying dragon, casting out of his mouth at the same time a
large stream of water with fire, and perfumes, and water
playing out of great burning flames, and a prospect of the
coaches going to Hide Park in cascades of water. . . . His
house at Littlebery, in Essex, is now in compleat order,
and both are shown for the benefit of his widow." {Guar-
dian, No. 55.) The several prices were raised on this
occasion.

Hyde Park Corner formerly extended farther than it does
at present. In J. Rocque's Plan of London and Westminster,
dated 1746, it reaches from the turnpike to Dover Street.

On the site of the mean houses formerly standing here, a
terrace was built from designs by the Adams, which originally
was raised some feet above the road, but was lowered soon
after the year 18 10.

Piccadilly, with its trees and views over the Green Park,
forms the most charming road in London. It is almost our
only " Boulevard," and its beauty should induce us to plant
more trees in the roadways of our streets. The view looking
from end to end is specially effective at night, from the
length and beautiful curve of the lamps that are presented
to the eye.

The author of the Beauties of England and Wales 29 thus
writes of it in 18 19 : — "The enchanting views which in every
quarter attract the eye, form such an assemblage of pictur-
esque beauty as is seldom to be met with at the entrance of
a vast and populous city. The toll-houses with their multi-
plicity of lamps add greatly to the variety of the scene."
Though this author considered the toll-houses as ornamental,
we may presume that the view is much improved by their
removal. In the last century the road was not lighted in the
summer, and there is a curious letter extant from the Board
29 Vol. 10 (cont. of Part 3, p. 619).

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

of Green Cloth to Sir Christopher Wren, in which he is
informed that William III. had bought a number of lamps
for the purpose of lighting the road from Whitehall to
Kensington, and Sir Christopher is directed to erect a shed
at Kensington in order that the lights might be taken down
and put away during the summer, so as to be ready for their
Majesties' use in the winter.

Having thus introduced our subject, we will, in the next
chapter make note of some of the inhabitants of the houses
in Piccadilly.

CHAPTER II.

PICCADILLY HOUSES.

" O'er Piccadilly's pavement glide,
With palaces to grace its side,
Till Bond Street, with its lamps a-blaze,
Concludes the journey of three days."

— W. Whitehead.

Most of the streets of London are rich in pleasant memories,
and Piccadilly is no exception to the rule, for it is especially-
associated with the names of celebrated men. Lord Chancellor
Clarendon, the Earl of Burlington, Lord Berkeley of Stratton,
Sir William Petty, the founder of political economy, and
Verrio, the painter, were among the earliest inhabitants.
Dr. Berkeley, the gentle Bishop of Cloyne, lived for a short
time in the street: of him Atterbury said : — " So much under-
standing, knowledge, innocence, and humility, I should have
thought confined to angels, had I never seen this gentleman ;"
and Atterbury was not his only admirer, for Pope ascribes —
" To Berkeley every virtue under heaven."

When young Fox and his friend Fitzpatrick lodged at
an oilman's named Mackie, in Piccadilly, a member of
Brookes's mentioned the fact at the club one day, and said
that the two young men would ruin the poor oilman in a
short time, but Selwyn answered : " On the contrary, so far
from ruining him, they will make Mackie's fortune, for he will
have the credit of having the finest pickles in his house of any
man in London." 1 In 1771 Fox's father, Lord Holland,
was living in the street. The magnificent William Beckford,

1 Selwy7i and his Contemporaries, vol. i. pp. 19, 20.

24 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

author of Vathek, and possessor of Fonthill, lived here for a
short time. The Margrave of Anspach, nephew of Queen
Caroline, who sold his State to Prussia, and married the
eccentric Lady Craven, possessed a house in Piccadilly, from
1796 to 1 8 10. John Closterman, the portrait-painter, who
was employed by Riley to paint the draperies to his pictures,
lived at Richardson's Hotel in this street.

The numbering of the street commences at the east end
of the north side, and after passing on to Hyde Park Corner,
returns on the south side to the Haymarket. We will, there-
fore, follow this numbering, and pass the celebrated silk-
mercers, Swan and Edgar, the head of which firm, Mr.
William Edgar, lately died worth 300,000/. ; Mr. Quaritch's old
book-shop ; and the office of Mr. Denman, the introducer of
Greek wines. About here was a house formerly numbered 22,
where, in 1780, Italian Fantoccini acted various pieces, mostly
of an operatic character. The programme states that " the room
is neatly fitted up, kept warm, and will be illuminated with
wax." 2 At the beginning of the century an important debating-
society called the " Athenian Lyceum " was held in the same
room. 3 No. 28 is St. James's Hall, the most elegant place of
entertainment in London. The first public dinner given here
was on June 2, 1858, to Mr. F. Petit Smith, as a recognition of
his services in bringing the system of screw propulsion into
general use, on which occasion Robert Stephenson occupied
the chair. On the 20th of July of the same year, a banquet
was given to the late Charles Kean, the Duke of Newcastle
being the chairman on the occasion. St. James's Hall is the
favourite home of miscellaneous concerts, the principal being
the " Monday Popular," which have done so much to improve
the public taste for music. The Christy Minstrels provide
all the year round a less refined, but extremely popular,
entertainment. Besides the exhibition of various celebrities,
such as General Tom Thumb, the hall has been the scene of

2 Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, V., pp. 52-3.

3 There is a picture of a meeting in Ackermann's Microcosm of
London, vol. i. p. 223.

PICCADILLY HOUSES.

many large meetings, one in particular being that held by
the Americans in London, in consequence of the assassina-
tion of President Lincoln. Numbers 38-39 are occupied by
Messrs. Leuchars, whose elegant new shop-front is worthy of
notice. Next door, at the corner of Sackville Street, is the
hat-shop of Messrs. Lincoln and Bennett, on the site of which
was formerly the house of Sir William Petty. A letter of his
to Pepys is dated, " Piccadilly, Sept. 1687," and he died in
the following December. No. 41, at the opposite corner of
Sackville Street, is occupied by Fores's print-shop and
sporting repository, which was long famous for its caricatures.
About here lived Verrio, the painter, in 1675 and 1676.
George Selwyn lived in Piccadilly in 1746-47. In July,
1746, a letter was directed to him "in Piccadilly opposite
St. James's Church," and in March, 1747, "at Mr. Lane's,
Piccadilly."

Melbourne or Tors: House, now " The Albasy."

In 1708 Hatton describes "Naked Boy Alley" as "on
the north-west side of Piccadilly, almost against St. James's

26 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Church." A few doors further on is the "Albany :" on the site
of which originally stood three houses, with agreeable gardens.
The one to the west was inhabited, in 1675, by Sir Thomas
Clarges, and is described in the London Gazette as " near
Burlington House above Piccadilly." In the year 1708, the
house which Hatton, in his Nczv View of London, calls " a
stately new building," was occupied by the Venetian Ambas-
sador, and in 17 15 Sir John Clarges lived in it. The house
to the east was inhabited by Lady Stanhope, and afterwards
by the Countess of Denbigh. The other house was to the
east of these two, and fronted the street. It was inhabited
by the Earl of Sunderland, and is referred to in an advertise-
ment in the Tatlcr (January 1709-10), of a coach "to be seen
at Mr. Carne's, at the ' Three Cornish Daws,' over against my
Lord Sunderland's, in Piccadilly." This was Charles Spencer,
third Earl of Sunderland, son of the treacherous Sunderland,
who is called by Queen Anne, in a letter to her sister (1688),
" the subtillest workingest villain that is on the face of the
earth," and of his wife, Anne Digby, whom Queen Anne also
calls "the greatest jade that ever was." It would appear that
subsequently Lord Sunderland bought the other two houses,
and united them into one with his own. Here he collected,
at a cost of at least 30,000/., a magnificent library, which
formed the nucleus of the famous one at Blenheim. He built
a grand room for the reception of his books, which is described
in the following passage : — " Next to Burlington House is the
Earl of Sunderland's, with a high wall likewise before it,
which hides it from the street, and tho' it be inferior to
the former in many other respects, yet the library is look'd
upon as one of the compleatest in England, whether we
regard the beauty of the building, or the books that fill it.
This edifice is an hundred and fifty foot in length, divided
into five apartments, having an upper and a lower range of
windows and galleries that go round the whole for the con-
veniency of taking down the books. It was collected chiefly
by the late Lord Sunderland, who left no place unsearched to
replenish it with the most valuable books, and among the

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 27

rest here is a greater variety of editions of the classicks than is
to be met with in any other library." 4 In 1733 the Earldom
of Sunderland was merged in the Dukedom of Marlborough,
and in 1734 Sunderland House was conveyed to the Hon.
John Spencer. " On Tuesday last the estates of his Grace
Charles, Duke of Marlborough, in Northamptonshire and
Bedfordshire, together with Sunderland House, in Piccadilly,
were in due form conveyed to the Hon. John Spencer, his
Grace's only brother, pursuant to the last will and testament
of the late Duke of Marlborough." 5

The house came subsequently into the possession of
Stephen Fox, second Lord Holland, and brother of Charles
James Fox, who sold it in 1770 to the first Viscount Melbourne.
Lord Melbourne rebuilt it from the designs of Sir William
Chambers, and spent large sums upon its decoration. The
ceiling of the ball-room was painted by Cipriani, and those of
other rooms by F. Wheatley and Rebecca. The house was
hidden from the street by a wall, which is thus noticed by
Ralph: — "The screen before Lord Melbourne's appears
diminutive beside that of Burlington House, but that is in
reality a merit, according to the proverb which prefers the
least of two evils. In fact, it is much less calculated than the
other to excite the ideas of murder and robbery in the pas-
sengers, and is much less productive of insult and danger to
unprotected females, who may pass that way after dark. The
pediment over the gate is heavy, and the house deserves
neither censure nor praise." 6

tLord Melbourne exchanged this house with Prince Frede-
rick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of George II.,
for the mansion of the latter at Whitehall, now Dover House.
After living here for some years, the Duke of York deserted
the place, and it was converted into chambers for fashionable
single men. The gardens were built over to add to the

4 History and Present State of the British Islands, 1743, vol. ii. p. 134.

5 Daily Courant, Jan. 21, 1734, quoted in Life and Correspondence of
Mrs. Delany, vol. i. p. 430.

6 Critical Review of Public Buildings, ed. 1783, p. 192.

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

accommodation, and the name of Albany was given to it
from the Duke's second title. The building was sometimes
styled Piccadilly House and sometimes Melbourne House.
In Horwood's Plan of London, dated 1809, the mansion is
called York House, and the buildings in the garden, the
Albany.

The divisions of this place are distinguished by letters
of the alphabet, of which A is given to the mansion. The
following shows the order in which the letters are arranged :

F G

H
I

Piccadilly.

Many celebrated men have lived in these chambers. The
set A 2 formerly belonged to Viscount Althorpe, who in 1830
convened here a meeting of the Whig party, at which Lord
Brougham spoke. In 18 14 Lord Byron wrote his Lara in
these chambers, the taking of which he thus mentions in his
Journal (March 28) : — " This night got into my new apart-
ments, rented of Lord Althorpe on a lease of seven years.
Spacious, and room for my books and sabres. In the house,
too, another advantage." In a letter to Moore, dated April 9,
1814, Byron thus writes: — "Viscount Althorpe is about to
be married, and I have gotten his spacious bachelor apart-
ments." He did not stay here long, for in March, 18 15,
having himself married, he moved to Piccadilly. At A 4
lived the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, the accomplished
Governor of Bombay, in 1843-46. George Canning lived at
A 5 in 1810. Thomas George Fonnereau, the author of the
Diary of a Dutiful Son, lived at A 11 in 1843-44. Lord
Webb Seymour was at D 5 in 18 10 ; and Lord Macaulay

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 29

wrote the earlier half of his History of England at E 1, in the
years 1843-46. The set F 3 was inhabited by Tom Dun-
combe in 1844-46, and by Lord Macaulay in 1847-50. Sir
Robert Smirke was at H 1 in 1807-10; and Lord Glenelg,
better known as Charles Grant, who was Colonial Secretary
and President of the Board of Control, lived at H 4 from 1845
to his death in i.866. Lord Valentia, the traveller, was at
H 5 in 1 8 10 ; and Sir William Gell, of Pompeii, at I 2 in the
same year. Henry Luttrell, the author of the once celebrated
Advice to Julia, lived at I 5 in 1822-29. The good-natured
" Monk " Lewis lived at K 1 for some years. At a dinner in
Lewis's chambers, Lord Byron told one of the authors of the
Rejected Addresses that he had determined not to go there
again, adding, " I never will dine with a middle-aged man
who fills up his table with young ensigns, and has looking-
glass panels to his book-cases." 7

Next door is Burlington House, which is separately de-
scribed in the next chapter. No. 6j is the " New Whitehorse
Cellar," the glory of which has departed since the introduc-
tion of railways. In the good old coaching days this place
presented a very gay and busy scene.

The "Three Kings " inn stood on the site of No. 75, now
the antiquarian book-shop of Mr. Hotten. From this inn-
yard General Palmer started the first Bath mail-coach. At
the gateway were two columns, which were supposed to be
the only remains of the once famous Clarendon House.

No. yy, at the corner of Berkeley Street, is now the
" St. James's Hotel," where the Royal Society Club met on
Thursdays to dine when they left the " Thatched House," and
before they went to " Willis's Rooms." It was built on the
site of the old " Gloster Coffee-house and Hotel," a famous
house, for many years kept by the family of Dale.

No. y8, on the opposite side of Berkeley Street, is Devon-
shire House, described in Chapter V.

Sir Francis Burdett was living at No. 80 in 18 10, when he
was taken to the Tower by the Serjeant-at-Arms. He barri-
7 Rejected Addresses, 1839, p. 18 (note).

30 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

caded his house for two days, but, on April 9, entrance was
obtained, and his captors found him going through the ridicu-
lous farce of teaching his child Magna Charta. In the riots
that ensued the Life Guards charged the mob, from which
they obtained the name of " Piccadilly Butchers." Windham,
in his Diary] refers to this occurrence, and says, " Found Life
Guards hunted by and hunting the mob ; good deal of dis-
turbance." On June 22 Sir Francis was released from the
Tower, and he managed, with the help of Henry Bickersteth,
afterwards Lord Langdale, to get away quietly by water,
thus greatly disappointing his ardent partisans, who had
formed themselves into a committee and announced the
ceremonial to be observed on his coming out of prison, for
the purpose of conducting him to his house. Towards the
afternoon of the day the whole line of streets from the Tower
to Stratton Street were filled with people, windows were
crowded, and scaffolding was erected in Piccadilly. Banners
with such devices as " Magna Charta," " Trial by Jury," " The
Constitution," and " Burdett for Ever," had been prepared,
and their bearers were naturally disappointed at the fiasco.
The people would not be done out of their sight, and the
procession reached Piccadilly about eight o'clock. The street
was cleared by ten o'clock, but the mob went about, exclaim-
ing, " Light up," and the result was a general illumination
by all those who wished to save their windows from being
smashed. Sir Francis Burdett died on January 23, 1844, of a
broken heart from the loss of his wife, who had died only
thirteen days before.

No 81 (at the corner of Bolton Row) was formerly occu-
pied by " Watier's Club." This club was originally established
by Messrs. John Maddocks and Calvert, and Lord Headfort,
in 1807, for harmonic meetings. It became the resort of all
the fine gentlemen of the day, and cards and dice superseded
catches and glees. High play at macao was gradually intro-
duced, and Raikes, in his Diary, speaks strongly of the ruin
produced. " None of the dead reached the average age of
man, and those who have survived may always look back to

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 31

the life at ' Watier's' as the source of their ruin." 8 The club
was kept by Watier, the Prince of Wales's cook, and Labourie
was the cook who made the place celebrated for its dinners.
Brummell was the supreme dictator. One day, when he had
lost considerably, he called to the waiter, with a tragic air, for
a flat candlestick and a pistol, upon which one of the mem-
bers (Bob Bligh, a madman) produced from his coat-pocket
two loaded pistols, and placing them on the table, said,
" Mr. Brummell, if you really wish to put a period to your
existence, I am extremely happy to offer you the means
without troubling the waiter." The Duke of York and Lord
Byron were members. The club did not endure for twelve
years altogether, and died a natural death in 18 19, when
the house was taken by a set of blacklegs, who instituted a
common bank for gambling.

No. 82, Bath House, was originally built by the celebrated
William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, who was living here in 1764.
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams wrote many bitter verses on
the Earl. One of them was the following epitaph : —

"Written on the Earl of Bath's Door in Piccadilly.

" Here dead to fame lives patriot Will,
His grave a lordly seat,
His title proves his Epitaph,
His robes his winding-sheet."

Horace Walpole, who had no love for his father's old
enemy, notes that grass grows " just before my Lord Bath's
door, whom nobody will visit." 9 General Pulteney, only
surviving brother of Lord Bath, and inheritor of his fortune,
died here on the 26th of October, 1767, three years only after
the Earl's death. Sir William Pulteney was the solitary
inhabitant of the house for many years, and at his death it
was let to the Duke of Portland for eight years. The garden
was large, with a stone basin of water in the centre, and
extended nearly into Curzon Street. The house was rebuilt

6 Diary, vol. iii. pp. 85-88.

9 Walpole 's Correspondence, 184.0, vol. ii. p. 123.

32 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

in 1 82 1 by Alexander Baring, who was created Lord Abh-
burton in 1835. He was for eighteen years the head of the
great house of Baring Brothers, of which the Due de Richelieu
said in 18 18, "There are six great powers in Europe, —
England, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Baring
Brothers." The mansion is now inhabited by the present
Lord Ashburton.

No. 89, the corner-house of Half-Moon Street, is now
Barrett's Brush Warehouse. Madame D'Arblay lived here at
the close of her life, when it was occupied by a linendraper.

No. 94, Cambridge House. This was originally Egremont
House, and afterwards Cholmondeley House. It is thus
noticed in the year 1761 : — "The last house built in Picca-
dilly is the Earl of Egremont's. It is of stone, and, tho'
not much adorned, is elegant, and well situated for a town-
house, having a fine view over the Green Park, which would be
still more extended if the houses on each side were set farther
back." 10 Charles, second Earl of Egremont, who had been a
member of George Grenville's administration, died in this
house on August 31, 1763. George, the third Earl, was still
living here in 1793, and the Marquis of Cholmondeley was in
possession in 1822-29. H.R.H. the late Duke of Cambridge
succeeded the Marquis, and died here on July 8, 1850, in
which year Lord Palmerston took the house, and lived in
it till his death. During his premiership it was the head-
quarters of the Liberal party and of the fashion of the
metropolis. Frederick Locker writes : —

" From Primrose balcony, long ages ago,
' Old 0.' sat at gaze, — who now passes below ?
A frolicsome statesman, the man of the day,
A laughing philosopher, gallant and gay ;
No hero of story more manfully trod,
Full of years, full of fame, and the world at his nod.
Heu annifugaces / The wise and the silly, —
Old P. or old Q., — we must quit Piccadilly."

There was at one time a talk of the house being destroyed,
10 London and its Environs Described. 6 vols. 8 vo. 1761.

PICCADILLY HOUSES.

and a Roman Catholic cathedral built on its site ; but it is
now transformed into the " Naval and Military Club."

No. 96 is at the corner of Whitehorse Street. Mr. Charles
Dumergue, Surgeon-Dentist to the Royal Family, lived in this
bay-fronted house at the beginning of the present century,
when it was called No. 15, Piccadilly West. 11

Hertford House (formerly .Bakrymuke House) before 1851.

No. 105, Hertford House. This handsome mansion was
originally built by Novosielski about the year 1780, on the
site of John Van Nost's figure yard, for the Earl of Barry-
more, and was left unfinished on the death of that nobleman,
after which Sir Robert Smirke added a Grecian Doric porch.
It was burnt, and, after being repaired, was opened as the
" Old Pulteney Hotel." Here, in 18 14, the Emperor of Russia
stopped during his stay in London, and on the 6th of June he
showed himself to the people from the balcony within a few
minutes of his arrival. The Emperor was accompanied by

" The double numbering of Piccadilly, and the distinction between
East and West, was continued down to about the year 1816.

34 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

his sister, the Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, who made it her
object to disgust the Princess Charlotte with the Prince of
Orange, then in England as a suitor for her hand. The
Duchess invited the Prince to dine with her when he was to
dance in public with the Princess, and made him drunk with
champagne. The Princess was naturally disgusted, and an
opportunity was soon found by the Duchess to introduce
Prince Leopold to her, and she was not long in making up
her mind to prefer him to the unfortunate Prince of Orange. 12
In 1823 the house was still the "Pulteney Hotel ; " but in 1829
it was in the possession of the Marquis of Hertford. In 185 1
the old building was partially pulled down, and rebuilt with
Portland stone. The character of the front was retained, but
much improved, and raised some fourteen feet, and the interior
was entirely re-arranged. Although still in the possession
of the Marquis of Hertford, the house is uninhabited.

On the site of No. 106 stood the old inn called "The
Greyhound," which was bought by William, sixth Earl of
Coventry, in 1764, soon after his second marriage, from Sir
Hugh Hunlock, for 10,000 guineas, subject to a ground-rent
of 75/. per annum. The Earl, whose first wife was Maria, the
eldest Miss Gunning, built on the old site a new house, in
which he died in 1809. George, seventh Earl of Coventry,
was living here in 1829. It afterwards became the "Coventry
House Club, which was closed in March, 1854."

No. 107 belonged to Nathan Meyer Rothschild, Austrian
Consul-General, who was the third son of Meyer Anselm, the
founder of the house of Rothschild. He gave grand banquets,
but his whole soul was in his business, and he cared for
nothing else. He told the great composer, Spohr, that the
only music he loved was the rattling of money. Prince
Puckler Muskau (whose travels were so amusingly cut up in
the Quarterly Review) called on him one day at his office, in
St. Swithin's Lane, when he was busy. Rothschild nodded
to the Prince, and asked him to take a chair, but he, not
thinking he was treated with sufficient consideration, observed :
'-' Kox. Amelia Murray's Recollections jrom 1S03 to 1837, p. 51.

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 35

" You did not, p3rhaps, hear that I am Prince Puckler
Muskau ? " " Very well," answered Rothschild ; " take two
chairs." He died in 1836, and left a life-interest in his house
to his widow, who lived here for some years after.

Sir Thomas Lawrence lived at a house numbered 22, in
1797. It was a few doors from the Earl of Coventry's, which
was then numbered 29.

Next door, then numbered 23, lived Sir William Hamilton,
from 1730 to 1803, when he died. Wraxall relates how
Lady Hamilton danced the Tarentella in the year 1801, at
this house, before a very select party.

No 135 stands back from the road, and is called Piccadilly
Square, a curious name for a single house.

The handsome corner-house of Down Street was the resi-
dence of the late Mr. Henry Thomas Hope, for whom it was
built in 1848-49, at a cost of 30,000/., under the joint superin-
tendence of Monsieur Dusillion and Professor Donaldson as
architects. The ornamental work was designed by a French-
man ; and the handsome iron railing was cast in Paris. The
angle where the Piccadilly and Down Street fronts meet is
cut off, and the whole building is faced with Caen stone, with
panels of decorative marbles in the piers between the windows.
It has been sold by the Duke of Newcastle, Mr. Hope's son-
in-law, to the "Junior Athenaeum Club," which has now
entered into possession.

No. 137, Gloucester House, at the corner of Park Lane, was
purchased by H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester, on his marriage
with his cousin the Princess Mary. It was formerly occupied
by the Earl of Elgin, who exhibited here the >Elgin marbles,
which were removed from hence to Burlington House, at a cost
of 1,500/. It is now the residence of H.R.H. the Duke of
Cambridge.

Nos. 138 and 139 were originally one house, in which
lived the late Duke of Queensberry. The door and hall of
No. 138 is level with the street, and there was formerly a
flight of steps from the first floor to the street, constructed
for the convenience of the Duke in his latter days, and they

36 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

were not removed for some time after his death. Jack
Radford, the Duke's faithful groom, remained on horseback
under his window, always ready to carry about messages to
any one he remarked in the street, as he sat with a parasol
over his head, ogling the female passers-by. He was one of
the last noblemen who kept a running footman. Once, when
he was about engaging one, he made the man put on his
livery and run up and down Piccadilly. The Duke watched
the proceedings from his balcony, and called out : " That will
do, you will suit me very well." The fellow answered : " And
so your livery does me ; " and then ran off, and was never
heard of again. Old Q. was very fond of London, and seldom
went into the country ; a friend asked him whether he did not
find town empty in September, and he answered : " Yes, but
it is fuller than the country." Horace Walpole was of the
same opinion, for, in a letter to Mann, he says : " Dull as
London is in summer, there is always more company in it
than in any one place in the country." The Duke died in
1806, at the great age of 86.

" The King, God bless him ! gave a whew /
Two Dukes just dead ! a third gone too !
What! What! Could nothing save old Q.,
The Star of Piccadilly ? "

Mr. Fuller, the surgeon of Piccadilly, for some years
attended the Duke, who paid him a large salary to keep him
alive, but did not leave him anything at his death, although
he left money to all the male members of his household.
Mr. Fuller, from 1803 to 18 10, slept 1,215 nights in the Duke's
room, and made 9,340 visits of two hours each. He commenced
an action against the executors for compensation, and laid
his claim at 10,000/. The jury gave him a verdict for 7,500/.

Lord Byron went to live at No. 139 in March, 1815, where
he spent his early married life, and composed Parisina and the
Siege of CorintJi. He dated his letters from " 13, Piccadilly
Terrace," and described the house as "the Duchess of
Devon's." He was living here when he was separated from
his wife.

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 37

No. 142 was the family residence of the late Lord
Willoughby d'Eresby. The lease, which is held from the
Crown for a term of forty years at a low rent, was sold, in
1866, for the large sum of 24,700/.

No. 145 is Northampton House, where the late Marquis,
as President of the Royal Society, gave his celebrated soirees
to the elite of London society.

Nos. 146 and 147 were thrown into one, and a handsome
building erected by Charles Alexandre de Calonne, the
celebrated Prime Minister and Comptroller of the Finances in
France, from which country he fled in the year 1787. He
furnished the house in a superb style, and was building a
magnificent gallery for his fine collection of pictures when the
Revolution broke out. He went at once to Coblentz to join
the French princes and nobility, and mortgaged his property
in order to assist them. His collection was sold by auction
in March, 1795. He was a good-natured easy man, willing
to oblige any one, and, it is said, that when Louis XVI. required
a certain thing of him, he answered, " If what your Majesty
requires is possible I engage it is already done, if it is im-
possible it shall be done." Calonne's house has been entirely
destroyed to make room for the new houses of Sir Edmund
Antrobus and Baron Lionel Rothschild. The latter is a hand-
some building of Portland stone, designed by Marsh Nelson,
which towers over and dwarfs the adjoining Apsley House.
The principal staircase and landings are of marble.

Apsley House was built by Henry Lord Chancellor Apsley,
afterwards second Earl of Bathurst, between the years 1 77 1
and 1778, from a design by the Messrs. Adam. The building
was not a very handsome one, but Lord Campbell considers
its erection as the most memorable act in the life of one of
the least distinguished of the Chancellors.

The site of the house was occupied by the old Ranger's
lodge and an apple-stall. It is reported that one day
George II. recognized an old soldier, named Allen, as having
served at the battle of Dettingen, and gave him this piece of
ground at Hyde Park Corner, where his wife kept a stall,

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

which is marked in a print dated 1766. Lord Bathurst had a
controversy with this woman, and she filed a bill against him,
on which he gave her a considerable sum of money to relinquish
her claim. It was observed at the time that " here is a suit
by one old woman against another, and the Chancellor has
been beaten in his own court ! " 13

OlD ArSLJ£Y HoU:E FRO.J HiDB PARE.

The Marquis Wellesley purchased the house and was living
in it in 18 10. Afterwards it came into the possession of the
Duke of Wellington, when it was remodelled and greatly
enlarged. The old red brick house was cased with Bath stone,
by S. and B. Wyatt, at a cost of 130,000/. for all the alterations.
During the Reform Bill riots, in 1832, the windows were
broken, and bullet-proof iron blinds were set up by the Duke,
who used to point to them as an evidence of the gratitude of
the mob.

The French Ambassador, Count d'Adhemar, lived in
Piccadilly, near Hyde Park Corner, in the year 1786.

13 Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors, vol. v. p. 449.

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 39

Sir John Irwin lived in an elegant house opposite the
Green Park, before his great extravagance obliged him to
fly to France. This general was a great favourite with
George III., who once observed to him, "They tell me, Sir
John, that you love a glass of wine." " Those," replied Irwin,
" who so informed your Majesty, have done me great injustice,
— they should have said a bottle." He was very magnificent in
his displays when Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, and at one
of the entertainments that he gave to the Lord-Lieutenant, in
1781, at Dublin, he provided as a principal piece in the dessert
a representation of the siege of Gibraltar, in which the
besiegers threw sugar-plums against the walls. This toy alone
cost 1,500/.

Following the numbering, we now cross the road and pro-
ceed from west to east. The Ranger's Lodge, in the Green
Park, which was cleared away in the year 1841, was formerly
No. 150, Piccadilly. It was for the pleasure of living in this
house, opposite to his friend, the Duke of Queensberry, that
George Selwyn was anxious to obtain the Deputy-Rangership
of the Park. 14

No. 155 is the old " Whitehorse Cellar." Strype, in 1720,
mentions a " Whitehorse Cellar " in this street.

No. 168 is now Reece's Medical Hall, which was formerly
in the western wing of the Egyptian Hall. This was the shop
of J. Owen, the publisher of Burke's Letter to a Noble Lord,
who acted very disgracefully towards the orator, and pirated
several of his tracts.

No. 169 is now Ridgway's, the publisher. Here was the
shop of Wright, the publisher of the Anti-Jacobin, and the
resort of the friends of the Ministry, as Debrett's was of the
Opposition. The bibliographer, Upcott, was an assistant in
Wright's shop, and is said to have been the amanuensis to the
writers in the Anti-Jacobin. When Owen failed, the editors
of the Anti-Jacobin took his house " and gave it up to Wright,
reserving to themselves the first floor, to which a communica-

14 See Chapter X., on the Green Park, for a further notice of the Lodge,
and for a view of it as it appeared from the Park.

40 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

tion was opened through Wright's shop." 15 Gifford, the editor
of the Anti- Jacobin, wrote an " Epistle to Peter Pindar, " ending
thus : —

" For me — why shouldest thou abortive toil,
Waste the poor remnant of thy sputtering oil,
In filth and falsehood ? Ignorant and absurd !
Pause from thy pains and take my closing word ;
Thou can'st not think, nor have I power to tell,
How much I scorn and loathe thee — so farewell."

Walcot was so galled at these lines that he rushed into
Wright's shop when he saw Gifford enter, and aimed a blow
at his head with a cudgel ; a stander-by seized Walcot's arm
and bundled him into the street, where he was rolled in the
gutter.

No. 170 is the Egyptian Hall. In 1812 this building was
erected at a cost of 16,000/., from a design by G. F. Robinson,
which was partly an imitation of the great Temple of Dendera,
Upper Egypt. It was decorated with figures of Isis and
Osiris by L. Gahagan. The Hall was built to receive Bullock's
Liverpool Museum, which had been exhibited since 1805 in
the room originally occupied by Astley for his evening per-
formance of horsemanship. Astley's Amphitheatre at Lambeth
was not roofed in until 1780, and, therefore, was not suited for
anything but day exhibitions. Bullock attempted to combine
instruction with amusement, and his exhibitions, among which
were those illustrating Lapland and Ancient and Modern
Mexico, were carefully got up. The following extract fully
describes the place : " This museum contains curiosities not
only from Africa but from North and South America,
amphibious animals in great variety, with fishes, insects,
shells, zoophytes, minerals, &c, ad infinitum, besides the
Pantherion intended to display the whole of the known
quadrupeds, in a state of preservation hitherto unattempted.
For this purpose the visitor is introduced through a basaltic
cavern, similar to the Giant's Causeway, or Fingal's Cave, in
the Isle of Staffa, to an Indian hut. This hut is situated in a
tropical forest, in which most of the quadrupeds described by
15 Edinburgh Review, vol. cviii. p. 111.

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 41

naturalists are to be seen, with models from nature of the
trees and other vegetable productions of the torrid climes,
remarkable for the beauty of their fruit or foliage." l6 In 18 16
Bullock purchased, of the Government, Napoleon's Travelling
Carriage (which was taken at Waterloo and is now at Madame
Tussaud's Exhibition), after it had been kept for some time
at Carlton House, and afterwards at the King's Mews. The
rush of visitors was very great, and as many as 800,000 people
are said to have gone to see it. The Museum of Natural
History was exhibited till 18 19, when it was sold for the small
sum of 9,974/. 1 3-r., although it originally cost 30,000/. Among
the various exhibitions which have been shown at this popular
place of entertainment are the following : —

The model of the Pyramids and other Egyptian monu-
ments, as described by Belzoni, in 1821.

Haydon's picture of the " Mock Election," which was bought
by George IV. for 800 guineas, to the great joy of the painter,
in 1828.

The Siamese Twins in 1829 ; who have again in 1869, after
forty years, exhibited themselves here.

Catlin's North American Gallery in 1841.
Sir George Hayter's Picture of the " First Reformed
Parliament" in 1843.

The Eureka, a machine for composing Latin hexameter
verses, in 1845.

General Tom Thumb (Charles S. Stratton), born in 1832,
was exhibited here in 1846, by Barnum, at the same time
that Haydon's two pictures, " The Burning of Rome by
Nero," and " The Banishment of Aristides," were being shown
in another room. On Easter Monday only twenty-two persons
went to see the pictures, and we find the following entry in
the painter's diary : — " They rush by thousands to see Tom
Thumb. They push, they fight, they scream, they faint, they
cry help and murder ! and oh ! and ah ! They see my bills,
my boards, my caravans, and don't read them. Their eyes
are open but their sense is shut. It is an insanity, a rabies,

16 Hughson'S Walks Through London, 1817, vol ii. p. 273.

42 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

a madness, a furor, a dream!" Again, on the 2ist of
April is another outburst of the disappointed man : — " Tom
Thumb had 12,000 people last week. B. R. Haydon 1335
(the 2- a little girl). Exquisite taste of the English people ! " 17

The "What is it ?" which turned out to be a dwarf dressed
in bear's skin, was exhibited in 1846.

In 1848, the first of the moving panoramas, " Banvard's
Mississippi," was brought here. It was " said " that the
canvas was three miles in length. In 1850 it was followed by
" Fremont's Overland Route to California," and by " Bonomi's
Nile."

On March 15, 1852, Albert Smith gave his entertainment
of the " Ascent of Mont Blanc," for the first time, and con-
tinued it for several years. He afterwards visited China,
and brought out a Chinese entertainment, but this was not so
successful as the popular " Mont Blanc." Albert Smith was
succeeded by various conjurors and miscellaneous entertainers.
In 1866 poor Artemus Ward came here for a short time, and
amused a large number of visitors by the account of his travels
in Mormonland. The Earl of Dudley very liberally exhibited
his magnificent gallery of pictures for several years in one of
the rooms free of charge to all who might walk in ; and of
late several picture and water-colour exhibitions have been
opened in the rooms.

Benjamin Stillingfleet, the celebrated naturalist, who is
described by Gray as living in a garret in order that he might
be able to support some near relations, died at his lodgings
opposite to Burlington House on December 15, 1771, at the
age of sixty-nine. It was his blue worsted stockings that
gave the name " blue stocking" to the ladies of Mrs. Montagu's
coterie.

Also opposite to Burlington House, Almon, the Whig pub-
lisher, carried on his business. He published the celebrated
Letters in Favour of Wilkes, on the Doctrine of Libels, War-
rants, and Seizure of Papers, in 1764, and was proceeded
against by Government for their publication. They are
17 Life of Haydon, 1853, vol. iii. pp. 308, 309.

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 43

usually attributed to Lord Temple, but Mr. Parkes supposes
them to be the work of Sir Philip Francis. During his stay
in India, Francis, according to an anonymous Letter to
Edmund Burke (1782) was "constantly furnishing his agents
here with myriads of lying squibs for the daily papers, and
overloading with pamphlets, that common sink of filth and
faction, the shop of Almon and Debrett, in Piccadilly." 18
Debrett succeeded Almon about this time.

No. 176 is Grange's well-known fruit-shop. The next door
(No. 177) was formerly the shop of William Pickering, the
publisher of many works which have done honour, in their
typographical beauty, to the Chiswick press of Whittingham.
It is now occupied by Mr. Toovey, the bookseller, whose
stock is rich in examples of magnificent binding. The
house was rebuilt in 1866, and is unquestionably the ugliest
building in Piccadilly, although it is inhabited by a fine-art
club (the Burlington). No. 178 was the shop of the well-
known bookseller Thomas Thorpe, who took it of Martin
Stockdale, the successor of the better known John Stockdale :

" For Stockdale's shelves contented to compose,
The humbler poetry of lying prose." 19

Mr. Thorpe was for many years one of the chief among the
small knot of booksellers who may be especially called dealers
in rare books, and the voluminous catalogues he published
remain a monument of the indefatigable industry of himself
and his sons. The house was pulled down a few years ago,
and incorporated with Miller's lamp warehouse.

Nos. 1 8 1- 183 are occupied by Fortnum and Mason's cele-
brated Italian warehouse, where was bought " the jar of
honey from Mount Hybla " that Leigh Hunt discoursed upon.
This house, which is a very creditable specimen of street
architecture, was built from a design copied from a mansion
at Padua.

No. 187 is in the occupation of Messrs. Hatchard, the
famous church-publishers and booksellers.

18 Parkes's Life of Francis, vol. ii. p. 204.

19 Political Eclogues (Rolliad), 1795, p. 202.

44 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

No. 191 was for many years occupied by an old-established
firm of auctioneers, first started by Stewart, who was suc-
ceeded by Wheatley and Adlard. It was then Wheatley
alone, Fletcher and Wheatley, Fletcher alone, and, lastly,
Puttick and Simpson. These auction-rooms were principally
devoted to the sale of books, and among the celebrated
libraries sold there may be mentioned Brand's in 1806, and
the Rev. Theodore Williams's choice collection in 1825. The
whole of the latter library was beautifully bound in morocco
by Lewis and Clarke, with the collector's monogram and crest
on the sides. Here also were sold the celebrated collection
of Rembrandt's Etchings belonging to the Right Hon. Reginald
Pole Carew, several parts of the famous Heber Collection of
Books, and the Anatomical Museums of Heaviside and Joshua
Brookes. The business of Messrs. Puttick and Simpson has
been removed to Leicester Square, to the house which some
years back was the Western Literary Institution, and had
been, in the last century, inhabited by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

The old Vestry Hall was found inadequate for the wants
of the parish, and a new hall was commenced in 1861. This
red brick building consists of two stories, and forms a good
equipoise to the Rectory House on the opposite side of the
church. The pump which stands here was erected in accord-
ance with the will of Barber Beaumont.

No. 197 is the Rectory House, built on the site of the old
rectory, where resided the celebrated men who have held the
living, one of the longest residents being the eminent Dr.
Samuel Clarke.

Nos. 203-6, the Museum of Practical Geology. This
admirable institution, with which is united the Royal School
of Mines, was removed from Craig's Court, Charing Cross, in
1 85 1, and the building was opened by the late Prince Consort
on Monday, May 12. The Piccadilly front, which is faced
with stone, has no entrance, — that is in Jermyn Street, where
there is a brick front with stone dressings. The large gallery,
which is filled with valuable geological specimens, is of very
noble proportions— 95 feet long by 55 feet wide, and 32 feet

PICCADILLY HOUSES. 4.5

high to the springing of the roof. The architect of this build-
ing was Mr. James Pennethorne, and the cost of its erection
was 30,000/.

No. 221. "The White Bear Inn " is a very old place of
entertainment, which was in existence with the same sign in
the year 1685, as is proved by the following extract from the
sexton's book of St. Martin's parish, under the date of June 8,
1685:— "Ann Hill, in Piccadilly, next the 'White Bear.'"
Here died Luke Sullivan, the engraver of Hogarth's " March
to Finchley." Another engraver, J. B. Chatelain, who was a
very improvident man, also died at this inn in 1744. He
etched and engraved for a Mr. Toms, and received one shilling
an hour for his work ; but he was so idle that, at the end of
the first half-hour, he frequently demanded his sixpence, and
then went to an alehouse to spend it. Benjamin West, the
Quaker President of the Royal Academy, who refused a
knighthood, because, according to some, his religious scruples
would not allow it, or, according to others, because he wished
to be created a baronet, lodged here on the first night of his
arrival in England from America.

Another old inn, the " Black Bear," existed nearly oppo-
site, but was taken down in 1820 to make room for the north
side of Regent Circus.

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

CHAPTER III.
B URLING TON HO USE.

Old Bdrlington House about 1700.

THE site of Burlington House, at the time of the Restoration,
was pure country, and consisted entirely of pasture-land ; but
between the years 1664 and 1667 a great change took place,
and three large mansions were built upon what was then a
portion of St. James's Fields. The Lord Chancellor Clarendon
erected a house opposite to St. James's Street, and Lords
Berkeley and Burlington built theirs on either side of him —

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 47

Lord Berkeley on the west, and Lord Burlington on the
east.

Although the Earl of Burlington was living at this house
in the year 1668, it is not quite clear whether it had not
previously been in the possession of Sir John Denham, the
poet of Cooper's Hill. The small amount of information
which we have regarding the earliest history of the house is
obtained from Pepys, and he twice speaks of Sir John Denham
as having built it. It is possible, as Sir John held the office
of Surveyor-General of his Majesty's Buildings, that he may
have superintended the building of the house for the Earl of
Burlington. On the other hand, it is not improbable that, as
Sir John was about to marry the pretty Margaret Brook, he
might have wished to build a mansion fit to receive her. A
sudden cloud, however, came over all his prospects. He
married the lady on May 25, 1665, but in the following year
we know that she was the mistress of the Duke of York, and
was scandalizing Evelyn and Pepys by her public behaviour
towards him. She did not long continue in this position, for
on November the 10th, 1666, she was taken dangerously ill,
and died on January the 6th, 1666-67. It was generally
believed at the time that her death was occasioned by poison,
but Pepys does not tell us by whom it was supposed to have
been administered. Hamilton, in his Memoirs of Grammont,
however, distinctly accuses Denham himself of the murder.
He says: — "As no person entertained any doubt of his having
poisoned her, the populace of his neighbourhood had a design
of tearing him to pieces as soon as he should come abroad ;
but he shut himself up to bewail her death, until their fury
was appeased by a magnificent funeral, at which he distributed
four times more burnt wine than had ever been drank at any
burial in England." Another slander of the time attributed
Lady Denham's death to the jealousy of the Duchess of York.
Denham himself did not long survive his wife, for in March,
1668, he died insane.

Richard Boyle, second Earl of Cork, and first Earl of
Burlington, otherwise Bridlington co. York, was the first

4§ ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

occupier of the house. He was son of the great Earl of
Cork, and brother of the celebrated Robert Boyle, but,
although little is known of his history, these relationships are
not his only claims to our notice, for we find him during the
civil wars loyal to his king, whom he supplied both with
money and with troops. He afterwards promoted the Restora-
tion with his utmost endeavours, for which he was rewarded
in the year 1664 by being created Earl of Burlington. He
married Elizabeth, the sole daughter and heiress of Henry
Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, and it was this lady that Pepys
describes as " a very fine-speaking lady."

" Thence to my Lord Burlington's house, the first time I
ever was there, it being the house built by Sir John Denham,
next to Clarendon House. . . . Here I first saw and saluted
my Lady Burlington, a very fine-speaking lady and a good
woman, but old, and not handsome ; but a brave woman. . . .
Here I also, standing by a candle that was brought for sealing
a letter, do set my periwigg a-fire, which made such an odd
noise, nobody could tell what it was till they saw the flame,
my back being to the table." 1

One of the Earl and Countess's daughters married
Lawrence Hyde, second son of the first Earl of Clarendon,
and another, Lord Hinchingbroke, the son of the celebrated
Earl of Sandwich. The Earl of Burlington died in 1697, at
an advanced age, and was succeeded by his grandson, Charles
Boyle, who only enjoyed the title seven years, and died in
1704. His son, then only nine years old^ succeeded him as
third Earl, and it is with his occupation that the chief historical
interest of the house commences.

He was a munificent patron of the arts, and genius of every
kind was sure of his support, but authors and artists more
especially found in him a steady friend.

" See generous Burlington." 2
Pope, Gay, and many others echo his praises, and Walpole

1 Diary, Sept. 28th, 1668.

- Gay's Congratulatory Poem to Pope (Carruther'S Life of Pope,
1S57, p. 199.)

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 49

says of him : " Never was protection and great wealth more
judiciously diffused, than by this great person, who had every
quality of a genius and artist except envy. . . . Nor was his
munificence confined to himself and his own houses and
gardens. He spent great sums in contributing to public
works ; and was known to choose that the expense should fall
on himself rather than that his country should be deprived of
some beautiful edifices." 3

The refined tastes of the Earl of Burlington were cultivated
in his earliest youth. Before he attained his majority he had
travelled much in Italy, and had there acquired his taste for
architecture by viewing and studying the grand relics of
antiquity, and the noble works of Palladio.

These foreign travels brought forth fruit soon after his
return to England.

" While you, my lord, bid stately piles ascend." 4

It was his desire to build in London a palace after the manner
of those he had seen in Italy, and for that purpose he instructed
Colen Campbell, the architect, to plan a new house for him.

Before describing what were the alterations intended, it
will be necessary to take a glance at the old building ; and
this we are able to do, as L. Knyff has sketched, and J. Kip
engraved, a very excellent representation of it. This engraving
is not dated, but as the house is stated to be in the possession
of Charles, Earl of Burlington, Lord High Treasurer of Ire-
land, it must have been printed somewhere between the years
1702 and 1704, and the drawing itself must have been made
at the very beginning of the century, little more than thirty
years after the house was first erected. 3 It was built of red
brick, and had two principal floors, the first floor with thirteen
windows along the front, and the ground-floor with twelve
windows, six being on either side of the entrance door. There

3 Walpole'S Anecdotes of Painters, ed. Dallaway, 1827, vol. iv. p. 216.

4 Gay's Epistle to the Earl of Burlington.

5 The woodcut at the head of this chapter is taken from a brilliant
copy of a reduction of this engraving in the Delices de la Grande Bretagne,
Leide, 1707.

50 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

was also a garret-floor, with nine windows in the roof. The
ends of the building projected forward, and formed two
wings : the whole appearing to have been a large comfort-
able old house. There were two small buildings in the front,
joining the house at one end and the Piccadilly wall at the
other. Before this wall was a row of trees, which, with the
addition of posts, divided the foot from the carriage-way.
The gardens, which extended back to a good distance, con-
tained a plantation of trees, and all the walls were covered
with fruit-trees. Beyond the garden wall at the back were
fields, in one of which stood Trinity Chapel. 6 This was a
chapel originally erected on wheels at the camp on Hounslow
Heath, in the reign of James II., in which mass was daily
performed. At the Revolution the chapel was removed to
this spot, and reconsecrated for the Protestant service. In
1725, when Conduit Street was built, the present chapel was
erected on its south side. The Frenchman, Misson, thus refers
to it: — "The late King James built a large handsome
chappel, all of carpenters' and joyners' work, with a very
pretty steeple, which might be taken to pieces and carry'd to
the camp, or anywhere else at his pleasure. At present 'tis
fixed, and the established form of service performed in it as
in other churches." 7

A silly story was promulgated by Horace Walpole, that
Lord Burlington built his house so far out of town because he
was determined to have no building beyond him. 8 This we
know is absurd, as Clarendon and Berkeley Houses were
built at the same time, and both were to the west of Bur-
lington House, and therefore farther in the country. Pennant,
and many other writers, follow Walpole in the dissemination
of this ridiculous fiction ; but Pennant is so unfortunate as to

6 This is shown in the woodcut at the head of this chapter.

7 MlSSON'S Travels over England, p. 31.

8 Anecdotes of Painting, ed. Dallaway, vol. iv. p. 218 (note). Walpole
makes another blunder when he says that Richard, Earl of Burlington,
" new-fronted his house in Piccadilly, built by his father." It was built by
his great-grandfather.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 51

fall into two blunders in one paragraph ; for he says that
Piccadilly was completed in 1642 as far as Berkeley Street,
and in the same breath that Lord Burlington built his house
because no one should build beyond him.

About fifty years after the first erection, the whole place
was altered as we now see it. 9 The old house was not
destroyed, but a coating of stone entirely changed the south
front. The design, which is very elegant and well-proportioned,
is taken from the palace of Count Viericati at Vicenza, by

Palladio.

" While Burlington's proportioned columns rise,
Does not he stand the gaze of envious eyes ?
Doors, windows, are condemn'd by passing fools,
Who know not that they damn Palladio's rules." 10

The credit of the improvements has been usually given to
the third Earl of Burlington, but evidently by mistake, for
Colen Campbell claims them as his own in the third volume
of his Vitruvius Britannicus, published in 1725, and if his
claim had been false, we cannot doubt but that the Earl
would have contradicted it. Campbell writes : —

" The following designs of my invention are contained in
two single and one double plate. In the first you have the
general plan of the House and Offices ; the Stables were
built by another Architect before I had the honour of being
called to his Lordship's service, which obliged me to make the
offices opposite conformable to them. The front of the house,
the conjunction from thence to the offices, the great gate and
street wall, were all designed and executed by me. In the
double plate you have the principal front, where a bold rustick
basement supports a regular Ionick collonade of f columns,
2 feet diameter. The line is closed with two towers, adorned
with two Venetian windows in front, and two niches in flank,
fronting each other, where the noble patron has prepar'd the
statues of Palladio and Jones, in honour of an art of which

9 The alterations appear to have been completed in the year 17 16, as
that date is still to be seen above the Earl's arms on the top of the leaden
rain-water pipes at each end of the building.

10 Gay's Epistle to the Right Hon. Paul Metkuen.

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

he is the support and ornament. In the next plate you have
the great Gate, adorned with 4! columns of the Dorick order,
2 feet diameter, agreeable to the colonade in the Court."

Walpole says that Campbell " assumes to himself the new
front of Burlington House and the gateway, but as he takes
no credit for the colonnade, which is in a style very superior
to his designs, we may safely conclude it was the Earl's own." 11

The Colonnade op Burlington Bouse (taken down in 1868).

This elegant colonnade has been the theme for much,
and perhaps exaggerated, praise. Walpole was enraptured
with it, and Sir William Chambers considered it and the
house as specimens of " one of the finest pieces of architecture
in Europe." It is the most characteristic portion of the
whole structure, and it is impossible not to regret that so
charming an erection should now be a thing of the past.
At the same time people of taste are greatly indebted to
Mr. Beresford Hope, who, by his timely appeal to Lord John
Manners, has saved it from being sold as old stone. 12 It is to

" Anecdotes of Painti7ig, ed. Dallaway, vol. iv. p. 218 (note).

12 The numbered stones are now deposited in Battersea Park ; but it
is to be hoped that they will not be allowed to remain there for ever, but
will be re-erected in some suitable place as soon as possible.

BURLINGTON HOUSE.

be hoped that it will be erected in a suitable position in one
of the London parks, where it would serve as a shelter from
rain and sun. Perhaps the most suitable position would
be the Kensington end of the Broad Walk in Kensington
Gardens.

Piccadilly "Wall of Burlington House (taken down in 1868).

The brick wall which fronted Piccadilly has not had
justice done to it, "ugly" and "old" being the favourite
adjectives applied to it. 13

" In London many of our noblemen's palaces appear from
the streets like prisons or gloomy convents ; nothing is seen
but high black walls, with one, two, or three ponderous castle
gates, in one of which there is a hole for the conveyance of
those who aspire to get in, or wish to creep out. If a coach
arrives, the whole gate is indeed opened, but this is a work
of time and hard labour ; the more so, as the porter exerts
his strength to shut it again immediately, either in discharge
of his duty, or for some other reasons. Few inhabitants of
this city suspect, and certainly few strangers ever knew, that
behind an old brick wall in Piccadilly there is, notwithstanding
its faults, one of the finest pieces of architecture in Europe ;
and many very considerable, some even magnificent, buildings
might be mentioned that were never seen by any but the
friends of the families they belong to, or by such as are
curious enough to peep into every out-of-the-way place they
happen to find in their way." 14

13 Malcolm was especially indignant with the wall, for he says : — " As
this noble family have fortified themselves within a most tremendous wall,
I have never had in my power to see the house fairly." — Londinium
Redivivitm, vol. iv. p. 330.

14 Sir William Chambers's Civil Architecture, ed. Gwilt, p. 350.

54 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Ralph, who calls Burlington wall "the most expensive
wall in England," praises it strongly, though he points out
as a defect that it diverged from the straight line, and that
the two sides of the central gate were on different angles ;
this, however, seems to me to have been its chief merit,
as it gave to the whole a distinctive character, and brought
out the gateway with great effect. Ralph's remarks- on
" Burlington's Palladian Gates," as Swift calls them, are as
follows : —

" We must now pass into Piccadilly, where we shall be
entertained with a sight of the most expensive wall in
England ; I mean that before Burlington House. Nothing
material can be objected to it, and much may be said in its
praise. It is certain the height is wonderfully well propor-
tioned to the length, and the decorations are both simple
and magnificent. The grand entrance is august and beautiful,
and by covering the house entirely from the eye, gives
pleasure and surprize at the opening of the whole front with
the area before it at once. If anything can be found fault
with in this structure, it is that the wall itself is not exactly on
a line ; that the columns of the gate are merely ornamental
and support nothing at all ; that the rustick hath not all the
propriety in the world for a palace ; and that the main body
of the pile is hardly equal to the outside. But these may be
rather imaginations of mine than real imperfections ; for which
reason I submit them to the consideration of wiser heads." 13

At the beginning of the eighteenth century this house was
the only one in London pretending to purity in its architecture,
and we know that when the buildings were finished they
attracted much attention. The iron railings in front of the
wall were painted with ultramarine, which at that time must
have cost a guinea an ounce, and they soon became one of
the sights of the town. Great was the praise lavished upon
the noble owner. Pope asks

" Who plants like Bathurst and who builds like Boyle ?"
15 Ralph's Critical Review of Public Buildings, ed. 1783, p. 191.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 55

And Gay, after lamenting the passing away of the great
houses that once lined the Thames, triumphantly sings —

" Yet Burlington's fair palace still remains j
Beauty within, without, proportion, reigns.
Beneath his eye declining art revives,
The wall with animated pictures lives ;
There Handel strikes the strings, the melting strain
Transports the soul, and thrills through every vein ;
There oft I enter (but with cleaner shoes),
For Burlington's beloved by ev'ry muse."

The animated pictures here referred to, still exist, but the
awkward naked figures of Marco and Sebastian Ricci, and Sir
James Thornhill, certainly do not adorn either the walls or the
ceilings. Although the house was greatly praised, satire was
by no means silent. The internal arrangement was much
criticised and severely censured in an epigram which has been
attributed to Lord Chesterfield and also to John Lord
Hervey : 16

" Possess'd of one great hall for state,
Without a room to sleep or eat ;
How well you build let flattery tell,
And all the world how ill you dwell."

In Dallaway's edition of Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting™
this epigram is said to have been made on the Earl's villa at
Chiswick, built in imitation of Palladio's chef-d'eeuvre, the
Villa Capra near Vicenza. It is merely a paraphrase of
Martial : 18

" Atria longa patent : sed nee ccenantibus usquam
Nee somno locus est : quam bene non habitas ! "

Blenheim Palace has also been ridiculed in a like imita-
tion :

" Thanks, sir, cried I, 'tis very fine ;
But where d'ye sleep and where d'ye dine ?
I find by all you have been telling,
That 'tis a house but not a dwelling."

16 Letters of the Countess of Suffolk, 1824, vol. i. p. 385.

17 Vol. 4, p. 220. 18 Book 12, Ep. 50.

56 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

There is no doubt that the house was open to this censure,
as it can have been little suited for the occupations and wants
of a comfortable private life.

The rooms on the ground-floor are small and common-
place, and those on the first-floor form a suite of show-rooms.
From the head of the staircase the visitor enters a richly
ornamented saloon, on the west-side of which there is a small
room leading into the banquetting-room ; on the east-side is
another room leading into the ball-room, which extends from
the front to the back of the mansion. All the rooms were
richly ornamented, and the ceilings of the banquetting and
ball-rooms were magnificently gilt. 19 The mahogany doors are
very massive and beautiful specimens of carpentry work, and
the marble mantel-pieces are distinguished by their elegant
proportions and sculptured ornaments.

In 1724 Hogarth attacked Lord Burlington and his friends
in a plate called the Taste of the Town, the title of which was
afterwards changed to Masquerades and Operas, Burlington
Gate, and is now known as " the small masquerade ticket." In
this, Burlington Gate is represented with Kent on the pedi-
ment brandishing pallet and pencils, and Michael Angelo and
Raphael below him. There are three figures in front of the
gate : the one in the middle, pointing up at Kent, is Lord
Burlington ; Campbell is on one side of him, but the other man
is not known. 20 Hogarth is supposed to have been urged to
make this sketch by Sir John Thornhill, who was annoyed at
Kent having been preferred to him as painter to George II.,
at Kensington Palace. Hogarth made a larger sketch of the
gate, which he entitled the Man of Taste. Kent is represented
in the same position, but the word Taste appears in large

19 Like everything else about the house, which is thoroughly well done,
the gold has been laid on very thickly ; and when the ceiling of the ball-
room was lately washed by the Linnean Society, it regained what must
have been its original brilliancy.

20 It is a curious coincidence, now that the Royal Academy of Arts
have opened their galleries at Burlington House, that Hogarth has written
on the front of the gate, " Accademy of Arts."

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 57

capitals on the pediment. In front is a scaffold, on which Pope,
with his back to the spectator, is seen vigorously whitewashing
the front and defiling the passengers beneath, more especially
the Duke of Chandos, who holds his hat above his head to
save himself. 21 The Earl of Burlington is represented as a
labourer going up a ladder.

The Earl was only twenty years of age when, in 17 15, he
invited Handel, who had been five years in England, to his
house. Handel accepted the hospitable invitation and
remained at Burlington House till 1718, when he undertook
the direction of the Duke of Chandos's Chapel, at Cannons.
At Burlington House Handel was able to dispose of his time
as he wished, and he here met some of the greatest men of
the day ; among whom Pope, Gay, and Dr. Arbuthnot, who
was himself a musical composer as well as an author, were
constant visitors. During these three years' sojourn Handel
composed three operas, viz. Amadis, Theseus, and Pastor
Fidor 2 With such guests around the Earl's well-spread table
the evenings must have passed rapidly by —

" Luxurious lobster nights, farewell
For sober studious days ;
And Burlington's delicious meal
For salads, tarts, and peas." 23

Lord Burlington sent Gay into Devonshire to regain his health,
and the poet addressed an epistle to the Earl, upon his journey.
In I7i6the Earl met William Kent, the painter, architect,
and landscape-gardener, in Italy, brought him to England,
and lodged him in his house, where he remained till his death
in 1748, when the Earl buried him in the family vault at
Chiswick. During these two-and-thirty years the Earl

21 This is a severe but just satire on Pope's example of false taste in
his Epistle on Taste, where he criticises the Duke as Timon. It appears
that Pope was afraid of Hogarth, for the painter is not alluded to in any
of the poet's works.

22 Hawkins's History of Music, vol. v. pp. 270-1.

23 Pope's Farewell to London, 17 15.

58 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

frequently assisted the architect in his designs, and Walpole
says of Lord Burlington, " though his own designs were more
chaste and classic than Kent's, he entertained him in his house
till his death, and was more studious to extend his friend's
fame than his own." 24 Gay, in his Epistle to the Right Hon.
Paul Methuen, thus lauds Kent —

" Why didst thou, Kent, forego thy native land,
To emulate in picture Raphael's hand ?
Think'st thou for this to raise thy name at home ?
Go back, adorn the palaces of Rome ;
There on the walls let thy just labours shine,
And Raphael live again in thy design.
Yet stay awhile ; call all thy genius forth,
For Burlington unbiass'd knows thy worth ;
His judgment in thy master-strokes can trace
Titian's strong fire, and Guido's softer grace ;
But oh, consider, ere thy works appear !
Canst thou, unhurt, the tongue of envy hear ?
Censure will blame, her breath was ever spent
To blast the laurels of the eminent."

In spite of this fine encomium his incapacity as a painter
was displayed in his altar-piece for St. Clement's Church, so
severely ridiculed by Hogarth.

In 1720-21 Lord Burlington married Lady Dorothy Savile,
daughter of William, Marquis of Halifax, and granddaughter
of the great " Trimmer." This lady seems to have entered
into her husband's feelings and love for the Fine Arts. " She
drew in crayons, and succeeded admirably in likenesses, but
working with too much rapidity did not do justice to her
genius. She had an uncommon talent, too, for caricature." 25
Swift says of her : —

" Pallas, you give yourself strange airs ;
But sure you'll find it hard to spoil
The taste and sense of one that bears
The name of Saville and of Boyle." 26

21 Walpole'S Anecdotes of Painting, ed. Dallaway, vol. iv. p. 217.

25 Ibid. vol. iv. p. 222.

26 Swift's Works, ed. 1824, vol. xiii. p. 380.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 59

There is a curious anecdote of Swift's first meeting with the
Countess. Being in London he went to dine with the newly-
married Earl of Burlington, who neither introduced his wife
nor mentioned her name, willing, it is supposed, to have some
diversion. After dinner the Dean said, " Lady Burlington, I
hear you can sing : sing me a song." The lady thought this
very unceremonious and refused, when Swift said she should
sing, or he would make her. " Why, madam, I suppose you
take me for one of your poor hedge parsons ; sing when I bid
you." The Earl laughed at this freedom, but the lady was
so vexed that she burst into tears and retired. Swift's first
words on seeing her again were, " Pray, madam, are you as
proud and as ill-natured now as when I saw you last." To
which she answered, with great good-humour, "No, Mr. Dean,
I will sing to you, if you please." From this time Swift
conceived a great esteem for the lady. 27

In the celebrated feud at the Italian Opera in 1727,
between the two female singers, Cuzzoni and Faustina, Lady
Burlington was the chief of the Faustina party, in opposition
to Lady Pembroke, the leader of the adherents of Cuzzoni,
who went so far as to catcall Faustina, on which proceeding
an epigram was made at the time :

" Old poets sing that beasts did dance
Whenever Orpheus play'd :
So to Faustina's charming voice
Wise Pembroke's asses bray'd." 28

Lord Hervey hated Lady Burlington, and lost no oppor-
tunity of damaging her reputation. He states in his Memoirs
of the Reign of George II., that she was in love with the Duke
of Grafton, and remained at Court as lady of the bedchamber
to Queen Caroline, when her husband threw up his appoint-
ments, in order to be near him. Lord Hervey alludes to this
in his Poetical Epistle to the Queen, thus : —

27 Mrs. Pilkington's Memoirs, Dublin, 1749, vol. i. p. 89.

28 Hawkins's History of Music, vol. v. p. 312.

60 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

" Let Pembroke still. . . .
And Dame Palladio, insolent and bold,
Like her own chairman, whistle, stamp, and scold ;
Her quiet still preserv'd, though lost her fame,
As free from ev'ry punishment as shame ;
Her worn-out huntsman frequent may she hold ;
Nor to her mason husband be it told
That she with capital Corinthian grac'd
Has finish'd his in the Ionic taste."

In 1744, Mademoiselle Eva Maria Violette, the celebrated
dancer, came to England, with the object of obtaining an
engagement at the Opera House. She brought with her
recommendations from the Empress Theresa, and an intro-
duction from the Countess of Stahremberg to the Countess of
Burlington, who treated her with great kindness, and soon
after invited her to take up her residence at Burlington
House. She soon became very popular, and her movements
were even mixed up with the politics of the day. On one
occasion she was advertised for three dances, and danced but
two. Lord Bury and some young men of fashion began a riot,
and wanted to send for her from Burlington House. On
her next appearance it was feared she would be hissed, and
Mr. Pelham, the Prime Minister, not wishing the Marquis of
Hartington, Lady Burlington's son-in-law, to be offended, and
in order that he might secure her a good reception, desired the
Duke of Newcastle to request Lord Bury, who was one of his
lords, not to hiss. 29 The tickets for Violette's benefits were
designed by Kent and engraved by Vertue. When she married
Garrick, in 1749, the Countess displayed her fondness for her
by presenting her with a marriage portion of 6,000/. Back-
biting busybodies, who could not understand the generous
characters of the Burlingtons, whispered and made themselves
believe that Violette was an illegitimate daughter of the Earl.
As, however, all who came in contact with the charming
dancer seem to have loved her, it is not wonderful that Lady
Burlington should have acted as she did.

29 Walpole'S Leitets, 1840, vol. ii. p. 289 (note).

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 61

The Earl and Countess suffered a severe affliction in the
unfortunate marriage of their eldest daughter, on whom Sir
Charles Hanbury Williams wrote the lines, —

" Behold, one moment, Dorothea's fate !
In fortune opulent, by lineage great ;
In manners gentle, rich in ev'ry grace,
And youth sat blooming in her heav'nly face.
By nature docile, and by art improv'd ;
Nay more, she lov'd, with tenderness she lov'd,
The faithless Polydore : yet all these charms
Could not one night confine him to her arms ;
But left in all the hell of love and grief,
From death, alone, she hop'd to find relief;
The milder tyrant, death, corrects her fate,
Receives her at his ever-open gate :
There dries her tears, and bids her sigh no more,
And shuts out life, and love, and Polydore."

Lady Dorothy Boyle married, in 1741, George, Earl of
Euston, the eldest son of Charles, second Duke of Grafton,
and a man of the most odious character. She died in 1742
from the effects of her husband's brutality, and her mother
distributed to the friends of the family, copies of the portrait
of her now at the Duke of Devonshire's at Chiswick, with the
following inscription, said to have been written by Pope : —

"LADY DOROTHY BOYLE.

Born, May the 14th, 1724.

She was the comfort and joy of her parents, the delight of all who knew
her angelick temper, and the admiration of all who saw her beauty. She
was married October the 10th, I74i,and delivered (by death) from misery,

May the 2nd, 1742.

This print was taken from a picture, drawn by memory seven weeks after
her death, by her most affectionate mother,

DOROTHY BURLINGTON." 30

The Earl appears to have lived very quietly during the
latter part of his life, and in December, 1753, he died in his

30 Walpole'S Letters, 1840, vol. i. pp. 78, 2S7, 361.

62 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

fifty-eighth year, when the title became extinct. He gained
the esteem and respect of all who knew him. Pope says, —

" You, too, proceed ! make falling arts your care,
Erect new wonders, and the old repair ;
Jones and Palladio to themselves restore,
And be whate'er Vitruvius was before :
Till kings call forth the ideas of your mind,
(Proud to accomplish what such hands design'd),
Bid harbours open, public ways extend,
Bid temples worthier of the God ascend :
Bid the broad arch the dangerous flood contain,
The mole projected break the roaring main ;
Back to his bounds, their subject sea command,
And roll obedient rivers through the land ;
These honours, Peace to happy Britain brings ;
These are imperial works and worthy kings."

Johnson is very unfair both to Lord Burlington and to
Pope when he says, " Except Lord Bathurst, none of Pope's
noble friends were such as that a good man would wish to
have his intimacy with them known to posterity : he can derive
little honour from the notice of Cobham, Burlington, or
Bolingbroke." The Doctor here, as on many other occasions,
did not know what he was talking about. Lord Burlington
deserves our respect and esteem, for though he had no taste
for Gothic architecture, and was insensible to the genius of
Vanbrugh, he loved and understood art at a time when few
knew anything about it, and whatever he did, he did well.
The building of Burlington House must have cost an immense
sum of money, and it doubtless crippled his resources, for
we find in a letter of Alderman Barber to Swift (dated
March 13, 1737-8,) that "My Lord Burlington is now selling
in one article 9,000/. a year in Ireland, for 200,000/., which
won't pay his debts." 31

On the death of the Earl of Burlington this house, together
with the villa at Chiswick, 32 came into the possession of the

31 Swift's Wo?-ks, ed. Scott, 1824, vol. xix. p. 129.

32 Fox died at this celebrated villa, as did Canning twenty years
afterwards.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 63

Cavendish family, owing to the marriage, in 1748, of William
Marquis of Hartington, afterwards fourth Duke of Devonshire,
to Charlotte, the youngest of the three daughters of the Earl
of Burlington. Thus were united the two great families of
the Cavendishes and the Boyles, families that have produced,
besides warriors, statesmen, and accomplished men and
women, two of the chief scientific men of the country, viz.
Robert Boyle and Henry Cavendish. Eighteen years subse-
quent to this marriage, William Henry, third Duke of Portland,
married Dorothy, the only daughter of the Duke and Duchess
of Devonshire, and in consequence of the marriage made this
house his residence for many years. On the death of the
Marquis of Rockingham, the Duke became, in 1782, the chief
of the Whigs. He was not much known when Fox chose
him as Prime Minister, and some wicked wit called him " A
fit block to hang whigs on." Byron in later times says : —

" And old dame Portland fills the place of Pitt."

Constant meetings of the Whig party were held at Burlington
House, and Burke, Fox, Francis, Windham and Sheridan
were frequent visitors. It was at a meeting in this house on
June the 9th, that Burke declaimed against Fox for his
Jacobin principles, but for some time before the final dis-
ruption of the party the Duke of Portland was very vacillating
in his conduct. When at last the old Whigs coalesced with
Pitt, a great change necessarily took place, and the names of
Pitt and his friends replace Fox and his, among the visitors.
The Duke lived here during both his ministries, the first in
1783, the second in 1807. In 1782 Burlington House was the
head-quarters of the Whig, and in 1807 of the Tory Party.
The Duke was a great sufferer, and when he became Premier
in 1807 he was only enabled to support the fatigues of office
by the use of opiates.

In the east wing, over what were then occupied as stables,
lived, during his early life, the great chemist Henry Cavendish.
At this time he was only allowed a small income by his father,
who was not himself a rich man, and it was said that when he

64 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

went to the dinners at the " Royal Society Club " he never
had more money in his possession than the exact five shillings
that was required to pay the reckoning, which amount was
given him by his father. By the time he arrived at middle
life he became the possessor of an immense fortune, but not
having the slightest notion of the value of money, he was
unable to use it. He died worth 1,157,000/., and Biot
epigrammatically calls him " Le plus riche de tous les savans,
et probablement aussi le plus savant de tous les riches."
Many anecdotes are related of his oddities, his shyness in the
presence of men, and his hatred of women. A boiled leg of
mutton was a favourite dish of his. He once ordered one
when he expected a few scientific friends to dine with him,
and on his housekeeper suggesting that he would want some-
thing more, he answered, " Then get two." The anecdotes
that evince his utter ignorance of the value of money are the
most numerous. He had a balance of many thousand pounds
lying for some years at his bankers', and they waited on him
to know whether he would not wish some of it to be invested,
but he only rather ungraciously said, " Do as you like, but
don't bother me, or I shall remove my account." A poor but
learned man was once recommended to him as deserving of a
small pension, when he asked, " Well, well, a cheque for ten
thousand pounds, would that do ? " He seldom went out
except to the " Royal Society Club," and now and then to the
christenings of his young relations at Burlington and Devon-
shire houses. On these occasions he was informed that it was
usual to give something to the nurse, so he would dive his
hand into his pocket and give her a handful of guineas without
counting them. This eccentric, however, made some of the
most brilliant discoveries of the eighteenth century, and Sir
Humphry Davy thus speaks of him in one of his lectures :
" Since the death of Newton, if I may be permitted to give an
opinion, England has sustained no scientific loss so great as that
of Cavendish. Like his great predecessor he died full of years
and of glory. His name will be an object of more veneration
in future ages than at the present moment. Though it was

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 65

unknown in the busy scenes of life, or in the popular discussions
of the day, it will remain illustrious in the annals of science,
which are as imperishable as that nature to which they
belong ; and it will be an immortal honour to his house, to
his age and to his country." 83

Burlington House with its blank wall has always been a
tempting object for the projector of " improvements." Gwynn
in the middle of the eighteenth century would thus deal
with it :

" The ground on which Burlington House stands is laid
out into elegant streets which form the following communica-
tions, viz. : from Burlington Street, to Pall Mall ; from
Piccadilly through Saville Row, into Conduit Street ; and
from Piccadilly through Cork Street, to Conduit Street
Chapel, (which chapel is disencumbered.) The demolition of
Burlington House may be thought an extraordinary proposi-
tion ; but when it is considered what a prodigious improve-
ment will be made in those streets about Burlington Gardens,
which are at present very inconveniently situated, that the
rents of those very streets will be considerably augmented,
and that the publick will lose nothing in point of elegance,
but the removal of the dead wall in Piccadilly ; every objection
that may be made to this alteration, it is imagined, will
entirely vanish." 3i

In the year 1815, the house was sold by the Duke of
Devonshire, to his uncle, Lord George Cavendish, for 75,000/.,
and rumour was rife as to the alterations that were about to
be made. The following appeared in the Gentleman's
Magazine at the time : — " Burlington House has been sold
by auction for 75,200/. The purchaser is supposed to be a
nobleman, who means to make this princely mansion his own
residence, without any alteration in its present magnificent
order or structure." 33 " A great number of workmen have
been of late employed in pulling down the offices and wings

83 Lecture, 18 10. Davy's Life of Davy, 1836, vol. 1. p. 222.

34 J. Gwynn's London and Westminster Improved, 1766, p. 82.

35 Vol. lxxxv. 1, p. 368 (April, 181 5).

66 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

of Burlington House, great part of which Lord G. Cavendish
is about to rebuild upon a new plan, with a view to greater
space in the apartments. The heavy wall of the Court Yard
in Piccadilly is to be removed, and a row of handsome houses
built in its stead. Streets are also to be formed at the sides of
the Court Yard." 86

" As Burlington House, Piccadilly, the chcf-cfceuvre of the
celebrated Lord of that name, who was so eminently skilled
in the ' fascinating ' study and practice of Architecture, has now
been disrobed of many of its internal adornments (preparatory,
some think, to the whole pile giving way ; others say no ;
and may the noes prevail !), it may be satisfactory to the
admirers of the noble pile, to be informed that the ' architect '
has lately taken every detail by sketches for the purpose of
carrying on the thread of his architectural progress in its due
order ; and at the same time, of preserving, in some degree,
this example of professional skill in high life, that it may not
wholly pass away unheeded and forgotten." 37

Lord George Cavendish did not make such a sweeping
change as was expected, and he left the wall and colonnade
as they were. However, he made great alterations in the in-
terior of the house, and converted the riding-house and stables
into a dwelling, and built other stables behind the east side
of the colonnade. The chief change was the building of the
Burlington Arcade, on ground at the west side of the site, and
the proposal for its formation is thus amusingly commented
on in the Gentleman's Magazine : —

" It is said that after numerous deliberations, Lord George
Cavendish has determined to appropriate a proportion of the
grounds connected with Burlington House for the gratification
of the publick, and to give employment to industrious females.
A line has been marked out at the west end, extending north
and south, in which will be a covered way or promenade from
Piccadilly into Cork Street. This covered way will contain
a double line of shops, for the sale of jewellery and other

36 Vol. lxxxv. i, p. 640 (June, 1815).
' J1 Vol. lxxxv. 2, p 231-2 Sept. 1815).

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 67

fancy articles, and above will be suites of rooms. What first
gave birth to the idea was the great annoyance to which the
garden is subject from the inhabitants of a neighbouring
street throwing oyster-shells, &c, over the wall. The intended
erections will prevent these nuisances in future and also block
out their view of so delightful a place." 38

Samuel Ware, the architect of Chesterfield House, who
had been apprenticed to a chimney-sweep, when a boy, was
the architect employed by Lord George Cavendish. The
arcade, which was built in 18 19, has been a good speculation,
and is said to produce 4,000/. a year to the Cavendish family,
and to be sub-let for more than double that amount.

At the time of the Napoleonic wars the St. James's
Volunteers mustered in the courtyard of Burlington House
by permission of the Duke of Portland. The corps were one
thousand strong, and Lord Amherst, afterwards Ambassador
to China, was their Colonel. Leigh Hunt was one of the
members, and he gossips about their doings in his Saunter
through the West End. The courtyard and garden have
been the favourite drilling-grounds of several of the rifle corps
of the present day.

On the eventful 20th of June, 18 14, this house was the
scene of a brilliant fete given by the members of " White's
Club " to the allied sovereigns then in London. The whole
of the garden was enclosed by tents, and in the evening of
that day these august personages and the Prince Regent sat
down to a banquet, at which nearly two thousand persons are
said to have been present. The cost was 9,489/. 2s. 6d., and
as large a sum was probably lost from the persons of the
guests, for certain of the swell mob obtained admission and
made a good harvest. On the eleventh of July of the same
year a dinner was given to the Duke of Wellington at this
house by gentlemen connected with India, and an address
was presented by them to him. Warren Hastings presided
on this occasion.

In 181 5-16 the Elgin marbles were sheltered in a large
M Vol. Ixxxvii. 2, p. 272 iSept. 1817).

63 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

shed in the courtyard during the debates in Parliament
respecting their purchase by the nation. The Earl of Elgin,
then Ambassador at Constantinople, had obtained a firman
from the Turkish Government in 1801, allowing him to remove
the remains of the Parthenon. In 18 16 they were purchased
by Act of Parliament for 35,000/., although their cost to Lord
Elgin had been more than double that amount, viz. 74,000/.
The great authority, Payne Knight, pooh-pooh'd them, but
Canova praised them ; Haydon got excited about them, and
wrote forcibly against what he called " a malevolent coterie of
classical despotic dilettanti." When Nollekens, the sculptor,
heard that the Government hesitated in the purchase, he
offered 30,000/. for them himself, rather than that they should
be lost to England.

In 18 18 Burlington House was again the head-quarters of
the Whig party, and Sir Samuel Romilly, when a candidate
for the representation of Westminster, addressed the electors
in the courtyard. After his election the whole of the super-
numeraries of Drury Lane Theatre came to form a procession
in order to chair him, but when he found out the object of
their visit he quietly left the house unobserved.

The earldom of Burlington was revived in 1831 in the
person of Lord George Cavendish, who was then seventy-one
years of age. He was the second son of the fourth Duke of
Devonshire, and grandson of the last Earl of Burlington.

In 1854 the Cavendishes sold the house and gardens to
Government for 140,000/., that is, double its price in 18 15, but
still a small sum when we consider the extent of the ground
and its situation.

It was at first doubtful to what purpose the house would
be applied, and rumours were circulated that one of the
Royal Family was to inhabit it.

An exhibition of designs for cavalry barracks was opened
in the rooms, and as this afforded the public an opportunity
of satisfying their curiosity regarding what was behind the
brick wall, crowds flocked to see it. A fancy-fair was after-
wards held in the grounds.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 69

The University of London was allowed the temporary use
of the building, but in 1857, the Government wishing to
obtain the whole of Somerset House for its own use as
offices, offered apartments in Burlington House to the Royal
Society, the Society of Antiquaries, the Geological Society,
and the Royal Astronomical Society. The Royal Society
alone accepted the offer, the other societies preferring to stay
where they were.

When the Royal Society took possession of the mansion
they found that there was more room than they required,
and, therefore, intimated to the Linnean and Chemical Socie-
ties that an application to Government for accommodation
would most probably be successful. On the occupation of
the house by the three societies, the University of London
was removed into the east wing. The west wing, which was
fitted up as kitchens and servants' bedrooms, was altered into
a meeting-room for the Royal Society, and another room,
connecting this with the house, was built. These rooms were
also used by the University for their examinations.

Ever since the first purchase of Burlington House by
Parliament, various schemes have been proposed for the
purpose of making the best use of the ground at its disposal.
Questions were continually being asked. In June, 1857, Sir
John Trelawney suggested that the " ugly screen " should be
pulled down, but Sir Benjamin Hall pointed out that the
public would then see the stables and out-houses. Mr.
Beresford Hope proposed to raise the house "two or three
storeys," and to build over the garden. 39 In July, 1858,
Sir William Fraser asked the First Commissioner of Works
whether he would consider a plan for removing the wall, when
Lord John Manners answered that Lord Elcho had submitted
a design which had for its object the removal of the wall, but
nothing could be done because of the larger question of
appropriation of the ground. In 1859, Lord Derby's Govern-
ment proposed to dispossess the Royal Academy of their

39 Hansard, vol. cxlvi. col. Si.

70 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

rooms in the National Gallery building, and Messrs. Banks
and Barry were appointed to prepare plans, showing how the
entire area of Burlington House and its gardens might best
be made available for the location of the representatives of
Science and Art. It was ascertained that the Royal Academy
were ready to accept a portion of the site, and would conform
to the general block plan, and erect a building at their own
cost, for which purpose they appointed Sir Charles Barry as
their architect. The whole area was to contain two great
courts with a grand thoroughfare through them from Piccadilly
to Burlington Gardens. The Academy were to have the
ground of two-thirds of the Piccadilly front, and the whole
of the western side of the first of the two great courts. The
eastern wing was to be occupied by the scientific societies.
The front was designed by Barry, and consisted of three parts
divided by turrets, and with turrets at each end of the facade.
The central wall space was occupied by three bays of windows,
and the wings by niches elaborately treated and occupied
by statues. The lower part of the central division was
occupied by three great archways for carriages leading into
the court. 40

A change of Government unfortunately put all these plans
aside. Lord Palmerston's Ministry proposed building a
National Gallery at the back of the present house, but the
House of Commons would not allow the pictures to be
removed from Trafalgar Square.

In 1866 Earl Russell's Ministry made arrangements for
the erection of a building for the University of London, to
front Burlington Gardens. Lord Derby's Ministry in the
same year leased the mansion to the Royal Academy, and also
the ground between it and the University, for the purpose
of erecting galleries which should adjoin the house. The
Academicians appointed Mr. Sydney Smirke as their architect
to carry out this proposal. A plan was designed by Messrs.
Banks and Barry for a building fronting Piccadilly, with wings

40 Life of Sir Charles Barry, pp. 282-3.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 71

in the courtyard, for the accommodation of those learned
societies which were already in occupation and of those
still remaining at Somerset House.

On the 5th of September, 1866, the destruction of the wall
fronting Burlington Gardens, and the digging of the founda-
tions for the new building of the University of London, were
commenced. At the beginning of 1867 the buildings for the
galleries of the Royal Academy were begun ; and in June,
1868, the east wing, the stables, and the bricks of the outer
wall in Piccadilly were sold by auction, preparatory to the
clearing of the site.

The present arrangement is unfortunately without that
unity of design which is so pleasing to the artistic eye, and it
is therefore impossible not to regret the failure of the plan of
1859, which appears to have been well devised. Either all the
buildings should have been swept away and the ground laid
out to the best advantage, or the house and courtyard should
have been left intact, and the buildings erected on the site of
the gardens should have been kept separate, with the front
towards Burlington Gardens. Nevertheless the building fronting
Piccadilly, when carried out according to the plans of Messrs.
Banks and Barry, will be handsome, and a great improvement
to the street ; and the building of the University, now that
it is finished, with its profuse ornamentation and handsome
statues of the great men of the past, is one of the most
striking architectural facades in London. The Royal Academy
intend to raise the centre of the main building by adding a
false storey to be occupied by seven niches for statues, in
order to make it harmonize with the front buildings. It is
difficult to say how this will look, but as the chief charm of
the house was its exquisite proportions, we cannot be very
sanguine of the effect of the proposed alterations. The
galleries which have been built behind the house are admir-
able in every way, and thoroughly suited to the purposes for
which they were erected.

Few mansions possess an interest equal to that which sur-
rounds Burlington House. It was one of the first in London

72 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

in which a true architectural taste was exhibited, and it has
remained as a monument of the magnificence of former times.
It is now nearly two hundred years since it was first built,
and during that time it has been associated with all that is
great in history, politics, art, literature, and science. The
historical characters of the reign of Charles II. and succeeding
sovereigns have been gathered beneath its walls ; the stars
of music and literature, the Handels and the Popes, have
congregated here ; the political leaders, the Burkes, the Pitts
and the Foxes, have here discussed the affairs of nations.
Here have been collected together the greatest philosophers
of the country, and in the future the spot is to become the
abode, not only of Science but of Art. The following lines
are an extract from a contribution to the Builder, the writer
of which was evidently interested in the associations of Bur-
lington House, and he has brought back to us in his lines the
names of some of those celebrities who in past times walked
in its once quiet precincts : —

"GHOSTS IN PICCADILLY.

" ' To be sold, the handsome Entrance Gateway, and admired Stone
erection of the Colonnades at Burlington House.' — Advertisement.

" 'Tis the place, — and all around it, as of old, the shadows fall
Upon colonnade and mansion with a smoke-begrimed wall.

Stalwart porter, looking gloomy, while reclining at the gate,
Dost thou muse upon the old time, or the future contemplate ?

' I for olden times care little, and at trifles am not daunted ;
The source of all my misery is to guard a house that's haunted

By the ghosts of the departed, who at eve, when I'm a-napping,
At my door and at my casement so continually are rapping.

Jostling, pushing, quick they enter, for they're all in wondrous haste
To revisit scenes so pleasant, where they met the " Alan of Taste."

With swords, gold lace and ruffles, and their coats of brilliant hue,
They lounge about the courtyard — a strange and motley crew.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 73

There's Pope, the wasp of Twickenham, with Arbuthnot and Gay,
Bygone times and scenes recalling, as arm-in-arm they stray.

Of Handel — mighty master — of his sad and solemn strain,

Of " Burlington's fair palace " and its famed " delicious meal,"
Of balls and routs and junketings, fond mem'ries o'er them steal.

Horace Walpole, smiling blandly, vows, " The colonnade, so bright,
Was the handiwork of fairies, and they built it in a night."

Mutters Swift, who's rather surly, " Manners put it up for sale,
Till Hope 41 came to the rescue and ' told a flattering tale '

Of its graceful form and beauty, and declared 'twould be a scandal
To destroy such an art-relic — he'd believe it of a Vandal ! "

So gravely walking, softly talking, every topic they recall

That reminds them of the mansion with a smoke-begrimed wall,

Until chanticleer he crows, — they vanish somewhat flutter'd,
And round about the gateway a chorus loud is uttered :

" Oh, Sydney Smirke and Barry ! oh, Banks and Pennethorne !
A worthy task's before you, to excel its present form." ' "

Ten Acres Field at the back of the gardens of Burlington
House was built over about the year 17 16, just previous
to the building of New Bond Street. The two principal
streets were named after the titles of the Earl of Burlington
and Cork. 4 ' 3

Queensberry House, one of the first buildings erected, was
designed by J. Leoni, in 172 1, for Charles Douglas, third

41 " He must protest against the Vandalism which, for the sake of a
few pounds, would destroy an interesting work of art."- — Speech of A. J.
Beresford Hope, M.P., in the House of Commons, June 5, 1868.

42 Burlington Street was at first called Nowell Street, as appears by
the rate-books of St. James's parish for the years 1729 and 173 1 ; but in
the book for 1733 the name " Burlington " replaces that of "Nowell."
This is a very curious fact, which has not, I think, been noted before. I
take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Buzzard, the vestry-clerk, for his
kindness in assisting me by a search in these books.

ROUXD ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Duke of Oueensberry, the patron of the poet Gay. It was a
handsome elevation, and is highly praised by Ralph : — -

" I can find no other fault with the late Duke of Queens-
berry's house in Vigo Lane, but that it is badly situated over
against a dead wall, and in a lane that is unworthy of so grand
a building. To which we may add, that it wants wings, and
must ever do so, because there is not room to make so neces-
sary and graceful an addition. This fabric is evidently in the
style of Inigo Jones, and not at all unworthy the school of
that great master. A beautiful imitation is of abundantly
more value than a bad original ; and he that could copy
excellences so well, could not want a great deal of his own." 43

■" Critical Review of Public Buildings, ed. 1783, p. 195.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 75

Here Gay lived for several years, and here he died on the
4th of December, 1732 :—

" Blest be the great, for those they take away
And those they left me, for they left me Gay ;
Left me to see neglected genius bloom,
Neglected die, and tell it on his tomb :
Of all thy blameless life the sole return
My verse, and Oueensberry weeping o'er the urn."

The Duchess of Oueensberry (Prior's Kitty), who was the
granddaughter of the great Earl of Clarendon, died in this
house in the year 1777. She was very odd and eccentric, both
in her dress and manners. She quarrelled with the Court
about Gay and gave herself great airs. At one of her balls in
1764, Lord Lorn, George Selwyn, and Horace Walpole, find-
ing the dancing room very cold, retired into a side-room and
sat down comfortably by the fire. When the Duchess saw
this she said nothing, but sent for a smith to take off the
hinges of the door. The little party took this tolerably broad
hint and left the room, when the smith discontinued his job. 44
She never changed her costume, but dressed according to the
fashion in vogue when she was young. W. Whitehead
addressed the following lines to her : —

" Say, shall a bard in these late times
Dare to address his trivial rhymes
To her whom Prior, Pope, and Gay,
And every bard, who breath'd a lay
Of happier vein, was fond to choose
The patroness of every muse ?

Say, can we hope that you, the theme
Of partial Swift's severe esteem,
You, who have borne meridian rays,
And triumph'd in poetic blaze,
Ev'n with indulgence should receive
The fainter gleams of ebbing eve ?

He will, and boldly say in print,
That 't was your grace who gave the hint ;
Who told him that the present scene

Of dress, and each preposterous fashion,

44 Walpole to Lord Hertford, March 11, 1764.

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Flow'd from supineness in the men

And not from female inclination.
That women were obliged to try
All stratagems to catch the eye,
And many a wild vagary play
To gain attention any way.
'Twas merely cunning in the fair. — -
This may be true — but have a care,
Your grace will contradict in part,

Your own assertion, and my song,
Whose beauty, undisguis'd by art,

Has charm'd so much, and charm'd so Ion?. "

«P*

i 3^»^^faii&

Burlington Gardens and Uxbridge House.

In 1764 the old Duchess, through her influence, obtained

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 77

a silk gown for Thurlow, who had not been seven years at the
bar, and was then undistinguished as a counsel.

Oueensberry House was afterwards purchased by the Earl
of Uxbridge, when it took the name of Uxbridge House. In
1792 it was rebuilt by John Vardy, of the Board of Works,
who was assisted in the south front by Joseph Bonomi, A.R.A.
Henry William Paget, Earl of Uxbridge, " the first cavalry
officer in the world," who was created Marquis of Anglesey
in 181 5, and died in 1854, was the last occupier of the house.
At his death it was sold to the directors of the Bank of
England, who opened here their Western Branch, and added
a portico to the doorway.

Uxbridge House is situated at the south-east corner of
Old Burlington Street, and on the west side of this same
street Lord Burlington built, in 1723, a house, which attracted
much attention, for Field-Marshal the Right Hon. George
Wade. Wade died on March 14, 1748, at the age of eighty, and
was buried in Westminster Abbey, where Roubilliac erected a
monument to his memory. It is said that the great sculptor
used to stand before this, his noblest work, and weep that it
was placed too high to be appreciated. Wade's house was
supposed to be handsomer without than comfortable within,
and Lord Chesterfield recommended the Marshal to take a
lodging over the way that he might see its beauties. The
other story which has been told of this house, about its being
too small to live in, and too large to hang to a watch-chain,
really belongs to the villa at Chiswick. Horace Walpole went
to see the house when it was sold after the' Marshal's death,
and he thus describes it in a letter to George Montagu (May
18, 1748) : — "It is worse contrived on the inside than is con-
ceivable, all to humour the beauty of the front. ... It is
literally true that all the direction he (Wade) gave my Lord
Burlington was, to have a place for a large cartoon of Rubens
that he had bought in Flanders ; but my lord found it neces-
sary to have so many correspondent doors, that there was no
room at last for the picture ; and the Marshal was forced to
sell the picture to my father : it is now at Houghton." The

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

house has been entirely altered, so as now to be undistinguish-
able. In Colen Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicas, where there

Marshal Wadis'^ Hon si. in Old .Boklington Street.

is a view of the front, 45 it is said to have been situated in
" Great Burlington Street," but Walpole and most other
writers tell us that it was in Cork Street. The rate-books of
the parish, however, prove Campbell to have been right, for
we there find Wade rated for a house in Burlington Street.

4j Vol. iii. plate 10. A reduction of this engraving is given above.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 79

Ralph thus describes the architectural effect : — " The late
General Wade's house in Cork Street is a structure which,
though small, is one of the best things among the modern
or lately erected buildings. The general design or plan is
pompous and expensive ; indeed, the whole house is one
continued cluster of ornament ; and yet there is nobody can
say there is too much, or that he desires to have any part
removed out of the way. Let me add, it is the only fabric
in miniature I ever saw where decorations were perfectly
proportioned to the space they were to fill, and did not, by
their multiplicity, or some other mistake, incumber the
whole." i6

In 1729 Colonel Ligonier and Charles Dartiquenave, the
well-known glutton, were living in Old Burlington Street.
The poet Akenside lived and died here. The great Whig,
Vassall, Lord Holland, lived in this street about the years
1831-37, and Cockerell, the architect, lived at No. 8, in 1829.
Other noblemen not much known to fame have at different
times occupied some of the houses.

Dr. Arbuthnot, of whom Swift said he could do everything
but walk, lived in Cork Street between the years 1729 and
1735. Here Mrs. Masham, the supplanter of the Duchess
of Marlborough in the favour of Queen Anne, died ; and
here in 1752, after the death of his wife, Dr. Johnson, with
Mrs. Williams, dined nearly every Sunday at the house of
Mr. Diamond, an apothecary. William Thomas Brande, the
celebrated chemist, lectured at Dr. Hooper's Medical Theatre
in this street in 1808. The old-established tavern of the
sign of the " Blue Posts " was long famous for its dinners,
chops and punch, and as the haunt of literary men. It was a
favourite resort of the publisher Blackwood, the famous Ebony,
where he saw the London contributors to Maga.

Burlington Charity School-house, situated in Boyle Street,
at the end of Old Burlington Street, was built about the
year 1720, on ground granted by Lord Burlington, whose

40 Critical Review of Public Buildings, ed. 1793, P- '94-

So ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

wife took great interest in the institution. The school was
originally founded in 1699, for the maintaining, clothing, and
educating sixty girls belonging to or residing in the parish of
St. James's.

Savile Row, named after Lord Burlington's wife, Lady
Dorothy Savile, was built about the year 1733. This was
once a very fashionable place, but is now almost entirely
inhabited by eminent physicians and surgeons, who occupy
nearly every house in the street. Sheridan died at No. 14, in
1814, and Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk, at No. 17, in 1816.
The large corner house of Savile Row and New Burlington
Street, lately rebuilt by Messrs. Landon and Gledhill, was
long occupied by Lord Braybrook, the editor of Pepyss Diary.
The row is occasionally roused from its quietness by the
crowds who come to see the handsome illuminations exhibited
by Messrs. Poole, the tailors.

At the end of Savile Row, with its front looking up the
street, is an old-fashioned brick house, with a centre and
wings built by Lord Burlington. Though the exterior is not
very pleasing to the eye, the interior is handsomely decorated
in the same style as Burlington House ; the egg-border, that
is so prominent in the large house, is here found surrounding
the doors and fireplaces. Lord Burlington built this as a
garden or tea-house at the end of his garden, which formerly
extended as far as here. The house afterwards came into the
possession of Messrs. Squibb, the auctioneers, who built out a
large auction-room, which was used at one time as a private
theatre. Horace Walpole, writing on July 23, 1790, says: —
" I went to carry my niece Sophia Walpole home last night
from her mother's, and I found Little Burlington Street
blocked up by coaches. Lord Barrymore, his sister Lady
Caroline, and Mrs. Goodall the actress, were performing the
Beaux Stratagem in Squib's auction-room, which his lordship
has converted into a theatre." 47 The court by the side of the
house, leading through into Mill Street and Conduit Street,

47 Miss Berry's Journal, vol. L, 1865, p. 206.

BURLINGTON HOUSE. 81

belongs to the house, and is called Savile Place. It was
originally a pathway to St. George's Church. 4S

Old Burlington Street was formerly called Great Burling-
ton Street, and the Little Burlington Street referred to by
Walpole is now called New Burlington Street. In the latter
lived for many years the famous old Lady Cork, widow of
Edmund, seventh Earl of Cork, who was, up to her death in
1840, one of the best-known people in town. She was often
to be seen walking slowly along Savile Row, laying hold of
the railings as an assistance to her progress. At her house
might be met all the lions of the season, and it mattered little
to her whether they were celebrated or only notorious. In
Miss Berry's Diary, under the date June 11, 181 1, occurs the
following entry : — " Went to Lady Cork's, a curious party,
where, by way of something to do, she had had Thelwall
reading Milton's Invocation to Light so abominably as to
amuse or shock all the company."

48 This house is now in the possession of Messrs. Rushworth, Abbott
and Co., the auctioneers who succeeded Messrs. Squibb, and I take this
opportunity of expressing my thanks to Mr. Rushworth, who very
courteously gave me the information which is contained in the above
description.

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

CHAPTER IV.

CLARENDON HOUSE.

Clarendon Hodse, 1667-1683.

THERE is not in the history of England a more melancholy
instance of the instability of human greatness than is to be
found in the fall of Lord Chancellor Clarendon ; and this
melancholy picture is heightened in its effect by the fate of
the house which that unfortunate man built at so great a
sacrifice of his fortune. The history of Clarendon House is

CLARENDON HOUSE. 83

perhaps unparalleled. Within the short space of twenty years
the ground upon which it was built was granted to the Earl —
the mansion rose from the surrounding fields a solid mass of
masonry — was inhabited by several noblemen — and, finally,
was totally destroyed to make room for rows of streets.

The Earl appears to have been infatuated in his wish to
build a palace for his residence, and his misguided proceeding
in this matter, more than anything else, hastened his fall. He
thereby made enemies of the populace, and under this cover
his unprincipled enemies at Court were enabled to gratify
their hatred of him.

A large tract of land was granted to Lord Clarendon by
letters patent (dated 13 June, 1664). " Our will and pleasure
is, That (upon surrender to be made to us by our most dear
Mother, y e Queene and her trustees, our right trusty and
right wellbeloved Cousin and Councellor, Henry Earle of
St. Albans, and his trustees, and S r William Poultney and
his trustees, of their severall and respective estates, trusts,
termes and interests of, in, and unto one close, called Stone-
bridge-close, containing eleven acres, abutting upon the high-
way leading to Hyde Parke on y e south, on a messuage or
tenement in y e occupacon of John Emblyn on y e north, on a
little brooke on y e west, and on a close called Pennylesse
Banke on y e east : one other close, called y e Pennylesse
Banke containing nine acres and a halfe, abutting on Stone-
bridge west, on a close called y e Stone Conduit on y e east, on
y e highway leading to Hyde Parke on the south, and y e said
messuage or tenement in y e - occupacon of John Emblyn north ;
and one other close called y e Stone Conduit Close, abutting
on y e said Pennylesse Banke on y e west, on a close called
Swallow Close on y e east, on y e highway leading into Hyde
Park on y e south, and on y e fields where y e citty conduit
stands, on y e north, containing nine acres, lying near St. James
in y e parish of St. Martin's in y e Fields, in our county of
Midd x , part of y e demeasne lands of our mannor or Bayliff-
wicke of St. James afores d , which surrender wee hereby
declare, will and doe attest ; ) you forthwith prepare a Bill for

84 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

our R 11 signa r , to passe our Great Seale, containing our Royall
Grant of all y e s d closes and premises, to bee surrendered as
afores d , with their appurtenances, unto our r c trusty and
r l well-beloved Cousin and Councellor Edward Earle of
Clarendon Our High Chancellor of England, and to Henry
Lord Cornbury, son and heire apparent to our s d High Chan-
cellor, and to y e heirs and assignes of our s d High Chancellor,
for ever to be hold of us, our heirs and successours, as of our
mannour of East Greenwich, in free and comon soccage.

" And you are [to] insert in y e s d Bill all such non-obstantes
and clauses as shall be requisite to make our s d grant most
full and effectual. And &c. y e 13th of June 1664.

" By &c. H. B. 1

" To S r Geoffrey Palmer."

It is difficult to say what was the extent of this grant. It
appears to have extended east as far as the present Swallow
Street, but we cannot guess how much of " the highway
leading to Hyde Park " to the westward was included in it.
The Chancellor chose a portion of the land directly opposite
St. James's Street as the site of his house, and the building
was at once commenced. On the 7th of March, 1666, a lease
of the Conduit Mead, on which were afterwards built New
Bond Street, Conduit Street, Brook Street, &c, was granted
by the City of London for ninety-nine years, at a nominal
rent of eight pounds a year. The Earl purchased the stones
which had been intended for the repair of the old Cathedral
of St. Paul's, and employed 300 men on the works. The
people, wearied by the plague and an unsuccessful war, were
incensed against him for this expenditure of money, and, in
truth, the building of Clarendon House was undertaken at an
unfortunate time. As the Prime Minister, the populace
singled him out to bear the whole brunt of their rage ; and
when the news came that the Dutch were at Gravesend, they

1 From the State Paper Office. Warrant Book, 7, quoted in Lister's
Life of Clarendon, vol. iii. pp. 525-6.

CLARENDON HOUSE. 85

broke the windows of Clarendon House, and painted a gibbet
on the gate, with the following lines beneath it : —

" Three sights to be seen,
Dunkirk, Tangiers, and a barren Queen."

It was particularly unjust to lay the blame of the Queen's
barrenness upon Clarendon, for he is known to have opposed
the marriage of Charles with Catharine of Braganza, on account
of the probability that she would not bear children. The
house was nicknamed Dunkirk House, because it was supposed
that Clarendon took payment from France, for negotiating the
sale of Dunkirk ; Holland House, because the people said he
had received a bribe from the Dutch ; and Tangier Hall,
because of their dissatisfaction at the acquisition of that
place. The small poets of the day were busy in writing
scurrilous verses upon Clarendon. The following are some
of them : —

"On the Lord Chancellor H — e's Disgrace and Banishment
by King Charles II.

" Pride, Lust, Ambition, and the People's hate,
The kingdom's broker, ruin of the State,
Dunkirk's sad loss, divider of the fleet,
Tangier's compounder for a barren sheet :
This shrub of gentry marry'd to the crown,
His daughter to the Heir, is tumbled down ;

God will revenge, too, for the stones he took
From aged Paul's to make a nest for Rooks."

Clarendon's House Wanning, by Andrew Marvell, is not
worth quoting, but the following are two of the stanzas : —

" And hence like Pharaoh that Israel prest
To make mortar and brick, yet allow'd them no straw,
He car'd not tho' Egypt's ten plagues us distrest,
So he could to build, but make Policy Law.
The Scotch forts and Dunkirk, but that they were sold,
He would have demolish'd to raise up his walls ;
Nay, ev'n Tangier have sent back for the mould,
But that he had nearer the stones of St. Paul's."

86 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

At the end are these lines : —

" Upon his House.

" Here lie the sacred bones
Of Paul beguilded of his stones :
Here lie golden Briberies,
The price of ruined families :
The Cavaliers Debenter Wall,
Fix'd on an eccentric Basis ;
Here's Dunkirk Town and Tangier Hall,
The Queen's marriage and all ;
The Dutchman's Tcmplum Pads."

In the following verses the author puns on the family
name of Clarendon : —

" Lo ! his whole ambition already divides
The sceptre between the Stuarts and the Hydes.
Behold, in the depth of our plague and wars,
He built him a palace out-braves the stars ;
Which house (we Dunkirk, he Clarendon names,)
Looks down with shame upon St. James ;
But 'tis not his golden globe that will save him ;
Being less than the custom-house farmers gave him ;
His chapel for consecration calls,
Whose sacrilege plundered the stones from Paul's.
When Queen Dido landed she bought as much ground
As the Hyde of a lusty fat bull would surround ;
But when the said Hyde was cut into thongs,
A city and kingdom to Hyde belongs ;
So here in court, church and country, far and wide,
Here's nought to be seen but Hyde! Hyde ! Hyde !
Of old, and where law the kingdom divides,
'Twas our Hydes of land, 'tis now land of Hydes." 2

We gain much information about Clarendon House from
the Diaries of Pepys and Evelyn. The following are extracts
from these books, arranged in chronological order : —

" Dined at the Lord Chancellor's, where was the Duke of
Ormond, Earl of Cork, and Bishop of Winchester. After
dinner, my Lord Chancellor and his lady carried me in their
coach to see their palace (for he now lived at Worcester House

2 MS. Poem quoted in Disraeli's Curiosities of Literature.

CLARENDON HOUSE. 87

in the Strand) building at the upper end of St. James's Street,
and to project the garden." 3

" Rode into the beginning of my Lord Chancellor's new
house, near St. James's, which common people have already-
called Dunkirke House, from their opinion of his having a
good bribe for the selling of that town. And very noble, I
believe, it will be. Near that is my Lord Barkeley beginning
another on one side, and Sir J. Denham on the other." 4

" Upon Wednesday last I went to London, and spent the
whole afternoon in viewing my Lord Chancellor's new house
[Clarendon House, built by Mr. Pratt ; since quite demolished
by Sir Thomas Bond, &c, who purchased it to build a
street of tenements to his undoing. — J. E.], if it be not a
solecism to give a palace so vulgar a name. My incessant
business had till that moment prevented my passionate desires
of seeing it since it was one stone advanced : but I was plainly
astonished when I beheld what a progress was made. Let me
speak ingenuously ; I went with prejudice and a critical spirit,
incident to those who fancy they know anything in art. I
acnowledge to your Lordship that I have never seen a nobler
pile : my old friend and fellow traveller (co-habitant and con-
temporary at Rome) has perfectly acquitted himself. It is,
without hyperboles, the best contrived, the most useful, graceful
and magnificent house in England, — I except not Audley-end ;
which, though larger, and full of gaudy and barbarous orna-
ments, does not gratify judicious spectators. As I said, my
Lord : here is state and use, solidity and beauty most symme-
trically combined together ; seriously there is nothing abroad
pleases better ; nothing at home approaches it. I have no
design, my Lord, to gratify the architect, beyond what I am
obliged as a professed honourer of virtue, wheresoever 'tis
conspicuous ; but when I had seriously contemplated every
room (for I went into them all, from the cellar to the platform
on the roof), seen how well and judiciously the walls were
erected, the arches cut and turned, the timber braced, their

3 John Evelyn's Diary, Oct. 15, 1664.

4 Pepys's Diary, Feb. 18, 1664-5.

88 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

scantlings and contignations disposed, I was incredibly-
satisfied, and do acknowledge myself to have much improved
by what I observed. What shall I add more ? rumpatur
invidia ; I pronounce it the first palace in England, deserving
all I have said of it, and a better encomiast. May that great
and illustrious person, whose large and ample heart has
honoured his country with so glorious a structure, and, by an
example worthy of himself, showed our nobility how they
ought indeed to build, and value their qualities, live many
long years to enjoy it ; and when he shall have passed to
that upper building not made with hands, may his posterity
(as you, my Lord) inherit his goodness, this palace, and all
other circumstance of his grandeur, to consummate their
felicity." 5

" Went to see Clarendon House, now almost finished, a
goodly pile to see to, but had many defects as to the architec-
ture, yet placed most gracefully. After this I waited on the
Lord Chancellor, who was now at Berkshire House, since the
burning of London." 6

" My Lord Chancellor showed me all his newly-finished
and furnished palace and library ; then we went to take the
air in Hyde Park." 7

" To my Lord Chancellor at Clarendon House. — Mightily
pleased with the noblenesse of this house, and the brave
pictures, which indeed is very noble." 8

" They all say that he is but a poor man, not worth above
3,000/. a year in land ; but this I cannot believe ; and all do
blame him for having built so great a house, till he had got
a better estate." 9

" To visit the late Lord Chancellor. I found him in his
gout wheel-chair, and seeing the gates setting up towards the

5 Letter from John Evelyn to Lord Cornbury, dated, " Sayes Court,
20 Jan., 1665-6." — Diary and Correspondence, \o\. iii. ed. 1852, pp. 177-8.

6 Evelyn's Diary, Nov. 28, 1666.

7 Ditto, April 26, 1667.

8 Pepys's Diary, May 10, 1667.

9 Ditto, August 26, 1667.

CLARENDON HOUSE. 89

north and the fields. He looked and spake very disconsolately.
After some while deploring his condition to me, I took my
leave. Next morning I heard he was gone ; though I am
persuaded that, had he gone sooner, though but to Cornbury,
and there lain quiet, it would have satisfied the Parliament.
That which exasperated them was his presuming to stay and
contest the accusation as long as it was possible ; and they
were on the point of sending him to the Tower." 10

" I dined with my Lord Cornbury at Clarendon House,
now bravely furnished, especially with the pictures of most
of our ancient and modern wits, poets, philosophers, famous
and learned Englishmen ; which collection of the Chancellor's
I much commended, and gave his lordship a catalogue of
more to be added." n

When the Grand Duke Cosmo III. travelled in England
in the year 1669, he went to see the mansion, and his secretary
thus describes it : —

" After dinner his Highness went to see the house lately
built by the Lord Chancellor, my Lord Hyde, Duke of
Clarendon, father-in-law of the Duke of York, to which the
people, with whom he has incurred great odium, have given
the name of Dunkirk House. ... It is in an advantageous
situation, which increases its magnificence, being in front of
a wide street leading down to St. James's Palace, which is
directly opposite to it. Its form is square ; on the outside,
from being embellished with stone ornaments, regularly dis-
posed according to the rules of architecture, it is extremely
light and cheerful, and in the interior, commodious and
sumptuous. From the inner part you descend into the
garden, surrounded, in its whole extent, by walls which
support flourishing espaliers, formed of various fruit-trees ;
these render the view very agreeable, although the garden
has no other ornament than compartments of earth filled
with low and beautiful parterres and spacious walks ; over
which, in order to keep them smooth and level, they roll

10 Evelyn's Diary, Dec. 9, 1667. " Ditto, Dec. 20, 1668.

90 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

certain heavy cylindrical stones, to keep the grass down. At
present this house, in consequence of the contumacy of the
Lord Chancellor, who has been banished from the kingdom,
is incorporated with the royal domains and is at the king's
disposal." 12

The architect, Pratt, deceived Clarendon in the expense
of building, for he estimated it at less than 20,000/., though
it really cost 50,000/. The Earl of Orrery, writing to
Clarendon on the 22nd of March, 1666, says : " But now that
Clarendon House is finished, be pleased (if at least you dare)
to let me know whether my L d Chancellor of England, who
sayd it should cost him 20,000/., or my L d Orrery, who said it
would cost him 40,000/., was more in y e right." It is difficult
to understand why even 50,000/. could cripple him so much
as it seems to have done, because the land granted to him
extended from Swallow Close towards Hyde Park, and he
must have received money from Lords Berkeley and Burlington
for the land on which they built. In Echard's History of
England is the following curious account of the building : —
" This house was built in the Chancellor's absence in the
Plague year, principally at the charge of the Vintners'
Company, who, designing to monopolise his favour, made
it abundantly more large and magnificent than ever he
intended or desired. And I have been assured by an unques-
tionable hand that when he came to see the case of that
house, he rather submitted than consented, and with a sigh
said, ' This house will one day be my ruin! " 13

When the house was finished, Clarendon was allowed
little time to enjoy it. In August, 1667, he was deprived of
the Great Seal, and soon after (November 29) was forced to
fly the kingdom. Evelyn has left us a melancholy picture
of the old man sitting moodily in the garden of his newly-
finished house just before his flight. Clarendon wrote an
affecting letter from Calais to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford
University, resigning his office of chancellor : —

12 Travels of Cosmo III, 1821, pp. 293-4.

13 Vol. iii. 1 7 18, p. 192.

CLARENDON HOUSE. 91

" Good Mr. Vice-Chancellor, —

" HAVING found it necessary to transport myselfe out
of England, and not knowing when it will please God that I
shall returne againe, it becomes me to take care that the
University may not be without the service of a person better
able to be of use to them then I am like to be ; and I doe
therefore hereby surrender the office of Chancellor into the
hands of the said University, to the end that they make
choyce of some other person better qualified to assist and
protect them than I am, I am sure he can never be more
affectionate to it. I desire you, as the last suite I am like to
make to you, to believe that I doe not fly my country for
guilt ; and how passionately soever I am pursued, that I
have not done anything to make the University ashamed of
me, or to repent the good opinion they had once of me ; and
though I must have noe farther mention in your publique
devotions (which I have alwayes exceedingly valued), I hope
I shall be alwayes remembred in your private prayers as,
" Good Mr. Vice-Chancellor,

" Your affectionate Servant,
" Calice, this ^ T Dec. 1667. CLARENDON." 14

The Earl's affairs were not at first considered desperate,
and hopes of his speedy return were entertained. In his
letters he continually refers to his house ; in one to his son,
Lord Cornbury, dated from Moulines, 1671, he talks of selling
it, but this was not done till after his death. The house was
leased to the Duke of Ormonde, who was living in it in the
year 1670.

Shortly after the death of Clarendon in exile (December 9,
1674), the house was sold for 25,000/. by his sons, Lord Corn-
bury and Lawrence Hyde, afterwards Earl of Rochester, to
Christopher, second Duke of Albemarle, who lived in it for
some time.

" Brave Abdael o'er the prophet's school was placed,
Abdael, with all his father's virtue graced." 15

14 Macray'S Annals of the Bodleian Library, 1868, p. 323.
13 Absalom and Achitophel, part 2.

92 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

When the Duke purchased it, he changed its name to
Albemarle House, and new letters patent were granted (dated
November 10, 1677), ratifying the ground to him and his
heirs and assigns for ever. 16 The young Duke, however, soon
ran through his old father's estate, and was obliged to sell
the house to the highest bidder. He ruined his health by
drinking, and was " burnt to a coal with hot liquor." 17 He
was sent out to Jamaica as governor, and Sir Hans Sloane
accompanied him as medical attendant. His object in getting
this office was to weigh up a rich Spanish galleon, sunk
near the island ; in which undertaking he was successful, and
exaggerated rumours came over to England of his having
discovered a silver mine. He died, however, in 1688, before
he could return home, and his widow is said to have cheated
the other partners in the scheme, and brought the whole of
the money to England. She went mad, and determined she
would marry no one but the great Turk. Ralph, first Duke
of Montagu, wooed and married her in the disguise of that
important individual, when he confined her, and made use of
her money to build Montagu House, afterwards the British
Museum. Sir Thomas Bond, of Peckham, and other specu-
lators, bought Albemarle House for 35,000/., and in its place
reared four new streets, viz., Dover Street, Albemarle Street,
Bond Street, called after the chief contractor, and Stafford
Street. It is said that a larger sum was realized by the sale
of the old materials than was paid for the house. One of the
last glimpses we get of the falling building is in Evelyn's Diary,
where we see that noble-minded man passing it with averted
gaze, so that there might be no need for conversation with his
companion, the second Earl of Clarendon, on the melancholy
record of his father's folly. " I returned to town in a coach
with the Earl 'of Clarendon : when passing by the glorious
palace of his father, built but a few years before, which they
were now demolishing, being sold to certain undertakers, I
turned my head the contrary way till the coach had gone

16 Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ixxxi. part 2, p. 601.

17 Ellis Correspondence, 1829, vol. i. p. 64.

CLARENDON HOUSE. 93

past it, lest I might minister occasion of speaking of it ; which
must needs have grieved him, that in so short a time their
pomp was fallen." ls

"After dinner I walked to survey the sad demolition of
Clarendon House, that costly and only sumptuous palace of
the late Lord Chancellor Hyde, where I have often been so
cheerful with him, and sometimes so sad. . . . The Chancellor
gone and dying in exile, the Earl, his successor, sold that
which cost 50,000/. building, to the young Duke of Albemarle
for 25,000/., to pay debts which how contracted remains yet
a mystery, his son being no way a prodigal. Some imagine
the Duchess, his daughter, had been chargeable to him. How-
ever it were, this stately palace is decreed to ruin, to support
the prodigious waste the Duke of Albemarle had made of
his estate since the old man died. He sold it to the highest
bidder, and it fell to certain rich bankers and mechanics, who
gave for it and the ground about it 35,000/. ; they design a
new town, as it were, and a most magnificent piazza (i.e.
square). It is said they have already materials towards it
with what they sold of the house alone, more worth than what
they paid for it. See the vicissitudes of earthly things ! I
was astonished at this demolition, nor less at the little army
of labourers and artificers levelling the ground, laying founda-
tions, and contriving great buildings at an expense of 200,000/.,
if they perfect their design." 19

The mansion was of great size, and consisted of a centre
with two wings. There were two principal floors and an attic
story surmounted by a balustrade, with a small tower in the
centre. The wall that ran along Piccadilly was a low one
with a handsome gateway. The house must have possessed a
certain grandeur from its very size, but its loss has been
more than compensated, and its site is better occupied, by the
streets that now fill its place.

18 Evelyn's Diary, June 19, 1683. I9 Ditto, Sept. 18, 1683.

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

CHAPTER V.

DEVONSHIRE HOUSE.

,.#**

Devonshire House, 1808.

The present mansion stands on the site of Hay Hill Farm
(the only remains of which are to be found in the names of
the streets near, viz., Hay Hill, Hill Street, and Farm Street),
and replaced, in 1733, an older house. This was Berkeley
House, which was erected in 1665, by Hugh May, 1 for Sir
John Berkeley, of Bruton, created Lord Berkeley, of Stratton,
and was the third mansion built in Piccadilly, in the middle
of the seventeenth century. Lord Berkeley was raised to the
peerage in 1658, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 1674,

1 The building is wrongly attributed to Inigo Jones in Defoe's Tour
through Great Britain, 2nd ed. 1738, vol. ii. p. 113.

DEVONSHIRE HOUSE. 95

Ambassador to France. Evelyn describes the old house,
which cost nearly 30,000/. building, but he is able to praise
little except the gardens, which extended over the ground
now occupied by Lansdowne House and Berkeley Square, and
appear to have been very beautiful. Evelyn thus writes : " I
dined at Lord John Berkeley's, newly arrived out of Ireland,
where he had been Deputy ; it was in his new house, or
rather palace ; for I am assured it stood him in near 30,000/.
It is very well built, and has many noble rooms, but they are
not very convenient, consisting but of one corps de Logis ;
they are all rooms of state, without closets. The staircase is
of cedar, the furniture is princely : the kitchen and stables are
ill-placed, and the corridor worse, having no report to the
wings they join to. For the rest, the fore-court is noble, so
are the stables ; and above all, the gardens, which are incom-
parable by reason of the inequality of the ground, and a pretty
piscina. The holly hedges on the terrace I advised the
planting of. The porticos are in imitation of a house described
by Palladio ; but it happens to be the worst in his book,
though my good friend Mr. Hugh May, his lordship's architect,
effected it." 3

Lord Berkeley died in 1678, and in 1684 two new streets
(Berkeley Street and Stratton Street) were built on a portion
of the gardens by his widow, under the directions of John
Evelyn : — " I went to advise and give directions about the
building two streets in Berkeley Gardens, reserving the house
and as much of the garden as the breadth of the house. In
the meantime I could not but deplore that sweet place (by
far the most noble gardens, courts, and accommodations,
stately porticos, &c, anywhere about the town) should be so
much straitened and turned into tenements. But that magnifi-
cent pile, and gardens contiguous to it, built by the late Lord
Chancellor Clarendon, being all demolished, and designed
for piazzas and buildings, was some excuse for my Lady
Berkeley's resolution of letting out her ground also for
so excessive a price as was offered, advancing near 1000/ per
2 Diary, Sept. 25, 1672.

96 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

annum in mere ground rents ; to such a mad intemperance
was the age come of building about a city, by far too dis-
proportionate already to the nation : I having in my time seen
it almost as large again as it was within my memory." 3

In 1695, the Princess Anne, who was then on bad terms
with her brother-in-law, William III., lived here with her
husband, till the death of her sister the Queen Mary, in the
same year. "After she removed to Berkeley House, the
minister of St. James's was commanded not to show her the
respect that was due to the royal family, which he refused to
obey in respect to their majesties (as he sent them word),
knowing the near relation she had to them." i

William, first Duke of Devonshire, bought the house at
the beginning of 1697, and on March 31st William III. dined
with him in it. The first and second Dukes both died in the
house ; the former in 1707, and the latter in 1727. Dr. White
Kennet, the Whig Dean of Peterborough, and afterwards
bishop of the same place, preached the first Duke's funeral
sermon, on September 5th, 1707, which gave great offence at
the time, and caused Pope to write those severe lines in the
Imitations of Horace : —

" When servile chaplains cry, that birth and place
Indue a Peer with honour, truth and grace,
Look in that breast, most dirty D — ! be fair ;
Say can you find out one such lodger there ? "

The Duke had offended public taste, the year before his
death, by erecting a monument in the church of Latimers, in
Buckinghamshire, to the memory of his mistress, Miss
Campion, the singer, with a Latin inscription, setting forth
her virtue and Christian piety.

The original mansion was burnt down through the care-
lessness of workmen, who were employed in its repair on
the 1 6th of October, 1733. Although the library, picture-
gallery, and much of the furniture was saved, the loss was

3 Evelyn's Diary, June 12, 16S4.

4 Burnet's Own Time, 1833, vol. iv. p. 164 (note by Lord Dartmouth).

DEVONSHIRE HOUSE. 97

estimated at above 30,000/. The Prince of Wales and many
persons of distinction were present at the fire, and a body of
guards, commanded by the Earl of Albemarle, helped to
save the goods from being plundered by the mob. A fine
statue of Britannia, in white marble, which cost 3,500/., fell
from the front of the house a few days after the fire, and
was broken to pieces.

The present mansion was erected after a design of
William Kent's, by William, the third Duke of Devonshire,
at a cost of 20,000/, including 1,000/. presented by the
Duke to the artist for his plans. The house does little credit
to the taste of the architect, and the public should be grateful
that a brick wall hides a portion of its ugliness from their
gaze. The following description is taken from a book
published in 1743, but it appears to refer to the old house : —
" Berkley or Devonshire House is situated on the north side
of Portugal Street, having a large court before it, and the
offices, with which it has communication by bending galleries
and piazzas, like those of Buckingham House, form the
wings. The front of the house is adorned with stone pilasters,
entablature, and pitch'd pediment of the Corinthian order,
under which is the figure of Britannia, fine carv'd ; the hall
and staircase are adorn'd with original paintings ; the apart-
ments well dispos'd, magnificent, and richly furnish'd." 3
Ralph's account refers to the new building : — " But the Duke
of Devonshire's is one of those which present a horrid blank
of wall, chearless and unsocial by day, and terrible by night.
It is strange that this taste should ever have obtained among
our nobility and especially in the present instance. Would
it be credible, if the fact did not put it out of controversy,
that any man of taste, fashion, and figure would prefer the
solitary grandeur of enclosing himself in a jail, to the enjoy-
ment of the first view in Britain, which he might possess by
throwing down this execrable brick screen ? The public, how -
ever, have nothing to regret in losing the sight of Devonshire

s History and Present State of the British Islands, vol. ii. p. 109.

9 8 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

House. It is spacious, and so are the East India Company's
warehouses ; and both are equally deserving praise." 6

The fourth Duke of Devonshire, K.G., Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland, died on October 2, 1764, at the early age of forty-
four. He was the chief of the coalition against Lord Bute,
and was called by the Princess Dowager of Wales, the " Prince
of the Whigs."

The fifth Duke of Devonshire, whom Horace Walpole
calls the first match in England, married the celebrated
Duchess Georgiana. Here she reigned over her brilliant
court, which consisted of nearly all the wit and fashion of the
day. All bowed down before her, and when she was pre-
sented at Court it was said that " a new grace " had arrived.
She set the fashion in dress, and introduced a simple and
elegant style in place of the ugly hoop. Her rank, beauty,
and fascination of manner all united to draw around her one
of the most brilliant of circles. Among the constant visitors
at her house were George IV. when Prince of Wales, Fox,
Sheridan, and Selwyn. When Fox was returned to Parlia-
ment for Westminster, it was principally owing to the exer-
tions of the Duchess of Devonshire, who visited, with her
sister, Lady Duncannon, afterwards Countess of Besborough,
the humblest of the electors, and dazzled them with her
beauty. The following ballad on her proceedings was sung
about the streets : —

" A Piccadilly beauty
Went out on canvassing duty
To help the great distresses

Of poor little Carlo Khan.

The butchers and the bakers,
The grocers, undertakers,
The milliners and toymen,

All vote for Carlo Khan."

When the Duchess gave a butcher a kiss in order to gain
his vote, the following was written : —

6 Critical Review of Public Buildings, ed. 1783, p. 183.

DEVONSHIRE HOUSE. 99

" Condemn not, prudes, fair Devon's plan
In giving Steel a kiss
In such a cause, for such a man
She could not do amiss."

Another gallant poet sings : —

" Array'd in matchless beauty, Devon's fair
In Fox's favour takes a zealous part ;
But oh ! where'er the pilferer comes beware,
She supplicates a vote and steals a heart."

In the Rolliad, the beauties of the Duchess and her
attendant graces are duly chronicled : —

" Avaunt ye profane ! the fair pageantry moves :
An entry of Venus, led on by the loves !
Behold how the urchins round Devonshire press !
For orders, submissive, her eyes they address :
She assumes her command with a diffident smile,
And leads thus attended, the pride of the Isle.

Oh ! now for the pencil of Guido ! to trace,
Of Keppel the features, of Waldegrave the grace ;
Of Fitzroy the bloom, the May morning to vie,
Of Sefton the air, of Duncannon the eye ;
Of Loftus the smiles (though with preference proud,
She gives ten to her husband for one to the crowd),
Of Portland the manner, that steals on the breast,
But is too much her own to be caught or expressed ;
The charms that with sentiment Bouverie blends,
The fairest of forms and the truest of friends ;
The look that in Warburton, humble and chaste,
Speaks candour and truth and discretion and taste,
Or with equal expression in Horton combined,
Vivacity's dimples with reason refined." 7

It was said that these ladies were the most lovely portraits
that ever appeared upon a canvas.

During the panic that took possession of the world of
London at the time of the Gordon Riots of 1780, Devonshire
House was thought to be insecure, and was garrisoned by
soldiers. The Duchess did not, therefore, venture to remain
in it after dusk, and she took refuge at the house of Lord

7 Rolliad {Poetical Miscellanies), 1795, PP- io2 "3-

ioo ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Clermont in Berkeley Square, where she slept for some nights
on a sofa in the drawing-room. She died at Devonshire
House on March 30, 1806.

In 1840 the external double flight of stairs which led to
the first floor was cleared away, and the principal entrance
was replaced by a window. The house contains a magnificent
library, and a curious collection of clocks and watches, formed
by the late Duke.

Tn the ball-room of this house was acted before the Queen
and Prince Albert, on May 16, 185 1, for the benefit of the
Guild of Literature and Art, Lord Lytton's play, Not so bad
as zve seem. The actors were eminent literary men and artists,
among whom were Messrs. Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Augustus
Egg, R. Home, the author of Orion, (an epic originally pub-
lished at the small price of one farthing,) Douglas Jerrold,
Mark Lemon, Frank Stone, John Tenniel, &c. The tickets
were five pounds each, for which vouchers were obtained by
direct application to the Duke of Devonshire.

Lansdowne House, the gardens of which join those of
Devonshire House, was not built till the middle of the
eighteenth century. It was commenced by the Earl of Bute,
from the design of Robert Adam. In 1765 Lord Bute sold
the unfinished house to William, Earl of Shelburne, for
22,500/., by which he was supposed to have lost 3,000/. Lord
Shelburne covered it in and otherwise completed it, having
done which he gave a housewarming on Monday, August 1,
1768. Lord Shelburne was nicknamed " Malagrida " by
Junius, after the celebrated Italian Jesuit, who was strangled
and burnt at Lisbon in 1761. This gave rise to the blunder
of Goldsmith's, who expressed his surprise to the Earl that he
was thus called, " because Malagrida was a very good sort of
man." The Earl was generally considered insincere, and
George III. called him the "Jesuit of Berkeley Square."

Dr. Priestley was librarian and literary companion to the
Earl, with whom he lived at this house during the winters of
seven years. Lord Brougham, in his Life of Priestley, con-
siders this fact as the greatest glory of the house. " With

DEVONSHIRE HOUSE. 101

whatever difference of sentiment statesmen may at any time
view Lansdowne House, the lovers of science in the latest
ages will gaze with veneration on that magnificent pile,
careless of its architectural beauties, but grateful for the light
which its illustrious founder caused to beam from thence over
the whole range of natural knowledge ; and after the structure
shall have yielded to the fate of all human works, the ground
on which it once stood, consecrated to far other recollections
than those of conquest or of power, will be visited by the
pilgrim of philosophy with a deeper fervour than any that
fills the bosom near the Forum or the Capitol of ancient
Rome." 8

Talleyrand, ex-Bishop of Autun, when he came to Eng-
land, in 1792, was a constant visitor here, and the third
Marquis of Lansdowne told Sir Henry Bulwer, that he
remembered him dining at the house frequently, and the
impression he made on him was that of a particularly pale
and particularly silent man. 9

Berkeley Square, of which Lansdowne House is the chief
ornament, was built in 1698, and called after Lord Berkeley,
of Stratton. The centre of the square was planted about the
middle of the last century, with shrubs and trees. The
statue of George III., by Wilton, was erected in 1766, and
lately a drinking fountain has been placed at the south end
of the enclosure. Lady Mary Wortley Montague died in
Berkeley Square, in 1762, shortly after her return to England.
About 1782, Mrs. Robinson lived here under the protection
of C. J. Fox. Her affairs afterwards became involved, and
she was forced to leave the country to get out of the way of
her creditors.

The second Earl of Chatham lived at No. 6. At this
house his brother, William Pitt, then Prime Minister, received,
in 1784, a deputation from the City of London, who brought
him his letters of freedom, and attended him to a banquet
given in his honour, at the Hall of the Grocers' Company.

8 Brougham's Life of Priestley {Men of Letters, 1845, vol. i. p. 417).

9 Sir H. Bulwer's Historical Characters, 1867, vol. ii.

io2 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

No. 7 is occupied by the great confectioners, Messrs
Gunter.

Horace Walpole moved to No. n, in 1779, from Arlington
Street, and died here in 1797. He left the house to his niece,
Lady Waldegrave, who was living in it in 1800. Lord
Brougham lived at No. 21, from 1835 to 1837; and at No.
48, from 1 83 1 to 1833. No. 44 was built by Kent, for Lady
Isabella Finch. The staircase of the house is highly praised
by Walpole.

No. 45. Here on November 22, 1774, the great Lord
Clive, while a prey to depression of spirits, caused by his
sense of the ingratitude of his country, made away with
himself. Lord Clive was called by the elder Pitt " a heaven-
born general, who without experience surpassed all the officers
of his time." The house is now in the possession of the Earl
of Powis, Clive's descendant.

On Hay Hill, in 1554, there was a severe skirmish between
Queen Mary's troops and the insurgents, under Sir Thomas
Wyatt, the younger, who was defeated and beheaded on
Tower Hill. His head was brought to the scene of his
treason, and exhibited on the gallows, at Hay Hill, on the
1 ith of April, and was stolen from them soon afterwards. A
later piece of history connects this place with George IV.,
when Prince of Wales, and his brother, the Duke of York,
who were stopped here and robbed by highwaymen. In
1617 "the waste ground, called Hay Hill, near Hyde Park,"
was granted to Hector Johnston, for service to the Electress
Palatine. 10

10 Calendar of State Papers, James I, 1611-1618, p. 452.

( io3 )

CHAPTER VI.

ST. JAMES'S CHURCH.

DURING the reign of Charles II. the neighbourhood of
Piccadilly had grown so rapidly that a church was required
for the increased number of inhabitants.

St. James's Church was built by Sir Christopher Wren,
on ground belonging to Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans,
who married the Dowager Queen Henrietta Maria, and
died on January 2, 1683-4, before the building was finished.
He was far from being an estimable man, and in Grammont's
memoirs, he is said to have kept a good table at Paris,
" while his master was starving at Brussels, and the
Queen Dowager, his mistress, lived not over well in France."
The original cost of the church was 7,00c)/., 1 and 5,000/.
extra for finishing it, which expense was defrayed by Lord
St. Albans, and the other inhabitants. The letters patent
(dated May 31st, 1684) were issued by Charles II. ; but
before the church was finished, James filled his brother's
place, and it was consecrated on July 13, 1685, by Henry
Compton, Bishop of London. It was constituted by Statute
(1 Jac. II., cap. 22, A.D. 1685) a separate parish from St.
Martin's-in-the-Fields, and the rectory was built on the site

1 " The sum of seven thousand pounds or more hath been expended,
part whereof is yet a debt unpaid, and the said steeple is yet unfinished,
and no house [is] provided for the habitation of a minister to officiate in
the said church, which will occasion a greater expense." — Act I. Jac. II.
cap. 22.

104 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

of a house belonging to Lord Jermyn. The first rector was
Dr. Tenison, and the first churchwardens John Haynes,
carpenter, and William Nott, bookbinder.

The exterior of the church, which can hardly be con-
sidered as handsome, has been praised as well as abused.
Hatton, in his New View of London, says, " 'Tis a beautiful
structure, both in and outsides ; " and in Strype's edition of
Stow's Survey (1720) appears the following rather unde-
served praise : — "The steeple lately finished with a fine spire,
which adds much splendour to this end of the town, and
serves as a landmark." This steeple was not the work of
Wren, but was built a few years later than the body of the
church, from a design supplied by a carpenter in the parish
named Wilcox, and chosen in preference to that of Wren,
because the cost of its erection was estimated at 100/. less. 2
On the other, or depreciatory side, Malcolm observes, " The
walls, and even the tower, are brick : What more need be
said of their deformity ? " When the church was originally
built, it was made to front Jermyn Street, which was then a
superior street to Piccadilly; 3 and in the centre of the
building, opposite York Street, there was a handsome door,
with bold trusses and entablature. This was bricked up in
1856, but a gate in the railings, which still remains, shows its
position. There was originally a doorway on the north side,
but this was removed in 1803. I n a plate of St. James's
Square, printed about the beginning of the eighteenth century,
four pinnacles are shown at the corners of the tower, which
have now been swept away. 4 In 1856, a dingy wall fronting
Piccadilly was taken down, and replaced by the present dwarf
wall and iron railings.

The interior is the glory of the church, and Wren was
justly proud of what he considered to be one of his best works.
The Corinthian columns are not shams, as is so often the

2 The cost of its erection, according to Strype, was 397/.

3 " Whereas a church and steeple have been lately built in or near to
a street called Jermyn Street." — Act 1. Jac. II.

4 A reduced copy of this engraving is prefixed to chapter 13.

ST. JAMES'S CHURCH. 105

case, for the entire support of the roof is due to them. James
Elmes, in his Life of Wren, praises this beautiful principle
highly, and says: — "The construction of the roof . . . . is
singularly ingenious and economical, both of room and mate-
rial. It is not too much praise to say that it is the most
novel, scientific, and satisfactory as to results of any roof in
existence .... The simplicity, strength, and beauty of this
admirable roof is a perfect study of construction and archi-
tectural economy ; containing the principles of action and
counteraction, so necessary for durability in the greatest per-
fection." Sir Christopher Wren himself thus speaks of it in
a letter to a friend, dated 1708 : — " I can hardly think it
practicable to make a single room so capacious, with pews
and galleries, as to hold above two thousand persons, and all
to hear the service, and both to hear distinctly and see the
preacher. I endeavoured to effect this in building the parish
church of St. James's, Westminster, which I presume is the
most capacious with these qualifications that hath yet been
built ; and yet at a solemn time, when the church was much
crowded, I could not discern from a gallery that two thousand
were present. In this church I mention, though very broad,
and the nave arched, yet as there are no walls of a second
order, nor lantherns, nor buttresses, but the whole roof rests
upon the pillars, as do also the galleries ; I think it may be
found beautiful and convenient, and as such the cheapest of
any form I could invent." s

Here is what Evelyn says of the church : — " I went to see
the new church at St. James's, elegantly built ; the altar was
especially adorned, the white marble enclosure curiously and
richly carved, the flowers and garlands about the walls by
Mr. Gibbons, in wood ; a pelican with her young at her breast,
just over the altar, in the carved compartment and border
environing the purple velvet fringed with I. H. S., richly
embroidered ; and most noble plate, were given by Sir R.
Geere, to the value (as was said) of 200/. There was no altar

5 Wren's Pareiitalia, p. 320.

106 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

anywhere in England, nor has there been any abroad, more
handsomely adorned." 6

The subject of the principal group of Grinling Gibbons's
carving over the altar is " The Pelican in her Piety," typical
of our Saviour shedding his blood for sinners. It was
thoroughly restored by G. Lock and G. Kent, in 1846. The
enclosure of the altar is of white marble, as were formerly
the scrolls, which have been replaced by bronze. The marble
font, also by Gibbons, is a very beautiful work, and originally
had a cover, which is shown in Vertue's plate 7 of it ; but
about the year 1800 it was said to have been stolen, and was
subsequently seen hanging up as a sign to a spirit-shop. 8

The original altar furniture and communion plate were
given by Sir Robert Geer, and in the year 1738, the Prince
of Wales presented draperies of crimson velvet, embroidered
with gold, and trimmed with gold fringe, for the altar, pulpit,
and reading-desk, which were valued at 700/.

The great clock was given by Henry Massey, and the
clock within the church by Anthony Plewit. The original
dial of the clock, and the vane, were gilded and painted by
Mr. Highmore, his Majesty's Serjeant Painter. The organ
built for James II. 's Popish Chapel, at Whitehall, was given
by Queen Mary, to the church, in 1691. The carvings on
the case were by Gibbons.

Raphael Courteville, gentleman of the chapel, in the reign
of Charles II., was the first organist, in which appointment
he was succeeded by his son, also named Raphael, who was
the reputed author of the Gazetteer, a paper in defence of
Sir Robert Walpole's administration. The Opposition nick-
named him Court-evil, and in the Westminster Journal,
No. 54 (Dec. 4th, 1742), a fictitious letter is subscribed,
" Ralph Court-evil, Organ-blower, Essayist and Historio-
grapher." 9

6 Evelyn's Diary, Dec. 7th, 1684.

7 Vetusta Momtmcnta, vol. i. plate 3 (1747).

8 Brayley's Londiniana, ii. 282.

9 Hawkins's History of Music, vol. v. p. 16.

ST. JAMES'S CHURCH. 107

In January, 1762, a fire broke out in the vaults of the
church, and two hundred coffins and their contents were con-
sumed. In 1804, the building was "repaired and beautified,"
at a cost of 11,000/., when the pews, reading-desk, and pulpit,
were renewed.

In 1809, Mr. Blackler proposed a copy of Raphael's
"Transfiguration" for the handsome double-stoned window at
the end of the chancel, above the altar-screen. It was also
proposed to put up a glass-painting, after Mr. Martin's design,
representing the baptism of our Saviour in Jordan ; neither of
these schemes were carried into effect ; but in 1846, the east
window was filled with stained and painted glass by Wailes,
of Newcastle, at a cost of 1,000/. This is part of a design to fill
gradually all the windows with stained glass. In 1818, a monu-
ment was erected to Margaret Bruce, widow of James Hamilton,
which consists of a female reading, sculptured by Westmacott.

The church was greatly improved in 1856, at a cost of
3,000/. The old stairs and projections were cleared away and
the interior restored to its original state, by which room was
made for two hundred new sittings. In 1866, it was again
cleansed and redecorated, and two sun-burners were fixed in
the ceiling.

Being situated in one of the best parts of town, this church
has always been noted for its fashionable congregations. Van-
brugh makes Lord Foppington, in the Relapse, give as his
reason for attending it, that " there's much the best company."

" Saint James's noon-day bell for prayers had toll'd,
And coaches to the Patron's levee roll'd,
When Doris rose." l0

The author of the History and Present State of the
British Islands ("i 743) is very severe on the behaviour of
members of the congregation. "There is no church in town
to which so many of the nobility and people of quality resort
as this, where they make but too splendid an appearance,
for the congregation seem to be taken up more with viewing

10 Gay's Tea Table.

10S ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

and contemplating each other's dress and equipage, than in
paying their devotions to the Divine Being they pretend to
adore ; and (as has been frequently observed already) it is usual
to see this set of people bowing to their neighbours, with a Glory
be to the Father, or a Lord have mercy in their mouths : and,
indeed, our modern churches in general have more the air of
Theatres than Temples, surrounded with easy seats and
galleries, where the audience sit judges of the preacher's
oratory and action, or the fashion of each other's cloaths, an
amusement they give into, one day in seven, because it is the
custom of their country ; and there are then no plays or
operas ; no other places for the good company to assemble
and display their gallantry : the ladies shew surprizing
memories on this occasion, being able to relate at their return
home what cloaths every woman of figure had on from head
to foot, the fineness of the lace, and the colour of every
ribbon worn in the assembly, outdoing even that celebrated
prelate, who, 'tis said, could remember every sign in the longest
street he passed." 11

Many are the celebrated persons who have been buried
here, and the following is a chronological list of some of
them : —

1686-7. Charles Cotton, the friend of Isaac Walton.

1689. Dr. William Sydenham, the famous physician, who is buried in
the aisle near the south door.

1693. William Vandevelde the elder.

1696. James Huysman the painter.

1701. Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe.

1704. Henry Sydney, Earl of Romney, who is buried in the south aisle '
near the south door.

1707. William Vandevelde the younger.

1723. Thomas D'Urfey, the song writer, to whom a tablet, with the
inscription " Honest Tom D'Urfey," was erected on the Jermyn
Street entrance of the church by Sir Richard Steele. This
was, however, taken down some years ago as unsuited to the
sanctity of the place. D'Urfey was buried at the expense of
the Duke of Dorset.
J734-5- J orin Arbuthnot, M.D., the witty author of John Butt.

11 Vol. ii. p. 135.

ST. JAMES'S CHURCH.

109

1743. Michael Dahl the Swedish painter.

1749. Frederick William de la Rochefoucault, Earl of Lifford.

1770. Dr. Mark Akenside the poet.

1 771. Benjamin Stillingfleet. His monument, by John Bacon, in the

church, was erected by Edward Hawke Locker.

1 716. Matthias Vento, musical composer.

1788. Mrs. Delany.

1797. James Dodsley the bookseller.

1803. Christie the auctioneer.

1 8 10. Duke of Oueensberry, who was buried in the chancel.

18 15. James Gillray.

1819. G. H. Harlow the painter.

1833. Sir John Malcolm.

Besides the above who were buried here, two very celebrated
men were baptized in the church, — they were the polite Earl
of Chesterfield and the great Earl of Chatham.

The rectory of this church has always been considered a
prize, and many celebrated churchmen have enjoyed it ; several
of them have subsequently been created Bishops. The following
is a complete list of the fourteen rectors, from Archbishop
Tenison to the present occupier of the position : —

16S5. Thomas Tenison, D.D., who was made Bishop of London in 1691,
translated to the Archbishopric of Canterbury in 1694, and
died Dec. 14, 171 5.

1692. Peter Birch, D.D., the son-in-law of Waller the poet. He was
appointed by the Bishop of London, but Dr. Wake was presented
by the King, and, on a trial in the Court of King's Bench, Birch
was obliged to resign.

1695. William Wake, D.D., Bishop of Lincoln in 1705, and translated
to Canterbury in 1716. He died November 24, 1737.

1706. Charles Trimnell, D.D., Bishop of Norwich in 1707, translated to
Winchester in 1721. He died in 1723.

1709. Samuel Clarke, D.D., who died in 1729 in the fifty-fourth year of
his age. Dr. Clarke published a Collection of Psalms and
Hymns for the use of the Church, with an alteration in the
forms of Doxology which produced a great disturbance.

1729. Robert Tyrrwhit, D.D. He resigned in 1733.

1733. Thomas Seeker, D.C.L. He was made Bishop of Bristol in 1734,
and translated to Oxford in 1737, but he did not resign this
living till 1750, when he was made Dean of St. Paul's. In
1758 he was translated to the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
He died in 1768.

no ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

1750. Charles Moss, D.D. He resigned in 1759 on being transferred to

the Rectory of St. George's, Hanover Square. In 1766 he was

made Bishop of St. David's, and translated to Bath and Wells

in 1774. He died April 13, 1802.
1759. Samuel Nicolls, LL.D. He died Nov. n, 1763.
1764. William Parker, D.D. He died Nov. 18, 1799.
1802. Gerrard Andrewes, D.D. He was made Dean of Canterbury in

1809, and refused the Bishopric of Chester in 1812. He died

June 2, 1825.
1825. John Giffard Ward, M.A., made Dean of Lincoln in 1845.
1845. John Jackson, D.D.: Bishop of Lincoln 1853, and Bishop of

London 1868.
1853. John Edward Kempe, M.A., Prebendary of St. Paul's, Chaplain to

the Queen, and present Rector.

( III )

CHAPTER VII.

THE STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY.

The Haymarket derives its name from St. James's Market
for the sale of hay and straw, which was held here from the
reign of Elizabeth till the year 1830, when, by Act of Parlia-
ment, it was removed to Cumberland Market, Regent's Park.
The Haymarket was early built upon, and there is a token
of "James Warren in the Hay Market," with the date of 1664,
registered in Akerman's work on Tradesmen's Tokens, but the
street was not paved till the year 1692, previous to which date
the hay and straw carts had paid no toll. At this time, how-
ever, sixpence was levied on a load of hay, and twopence on
a load of straw. In Strype's edition of Stow's Survey (1720)
the Haymarket is described as " a spacious street of great
resort, full of inns and houses of entertainment, especially on
the west side." Among these were the " Black Horse,"
" White Horse," " Nag's Head," the " Cock," the " Phoenix,"
the " Unicorn," and the " Blue Posts." «The latter was one of
the most frequented, and we find that in February, 1685-6,
Henry Wharton, brother of Thomas, Marquis of Wharton,
killed Lieut. Moxon in a drunken squabble there, and in 1695
a Mr. Hurst and a Mr. Moon quarrelled in the same place.
They drew their swords as they came out, and Moon was
killed in the fray. 1

Men of quality also resided in the street : the Duke of
Florence's Minister was here in December, 1688, and the Earl
of Scarborough occupied a house in 1698. In the Tatler for
1 ELLIS Correspondence, 1829, vol. i. p. 40.

112 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

September, 1710, we find the following advertisement: — "A
small parcel of pictures belonging to a person of quality, lately
deceased, will be sold by auction at the late Dutchess of
Devonshire's house, in the Haymarket, near Piccadilly." In
171 1 a fire broke out in the house of Sir William Wyndham.
His family had a narrow escape, and he lost 10,000/., besides
6,000/. he had given for the house ; his wife, at the same time,
losing one thousand pounds' worth of clothes. The Duke of
Dorset's house was in this street, and here was born his son,
the celebrated Lord Viscount Sackville, one of those to whom
the authorship of the Letters of Junius has been attributed,
who was dismissed from the army for his alleged cowardice at
the Battle of Minden. Henry Croke, Professor of Rhetoric
at Gresham College, died in the Haymarket on November 17,
1680. Sir Samuel Garth, the physician and poet, lived on the
east side of the street, the sixth door from the top, from 1699
to 1703. Next door, lower down, lived Mrs. Anne Oldfield,
the celebrated actress, from 17 14 to 1726.

The Government of the day wanted a poem to be written
on the Battle of Blenheim, and Halifax mentioned Addison,
as one fitted to write it, to the Lord Treasurer Godolphin,
who sent Henry Boyle, afterwards Lord Carleton, to him.
Addison was then living in an attic over a small shop in this
street, and there he wrote The Campaign. Afterwards Pope,
filled with enthusiasm, took Walter Harte to see the room.

George Morland, the painter, the eldest son of Henry
Robert Morland, an artist and picture-dealer, was born in the
Haymarket on June 26, 1763. His father, who was a worth-
less creature, kept him a prisoner in a garret, and, trading
on his talent, set him to paint pictures while he was yet a
child.

John Broughton, for eighteen years the champion boxer of
England, kept a public-house between the Haymarket theatre
and Cockspur Street, with the sign of his own portrait. His first
patron was the Duke of Cumberland, who took him on the
continent and showed him the Grenadier Guards at Berlin,
all of whom Broughton expressed himself ready to fight.

STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 113

Lord Eldon was a frequenter of the "George" coffee-house,,
which was situated at the upper end of the street.

Several dark scenes have been acted in this street. Thomas
Thynne of Longleat, ancestor of the Marquis of Bath, was
murdered in his coach near the bottom of the Haymarket by
assassins hired by Charles John, Count Konigsmark, on
February 12, 1681-2. The wretched tools were caught, and
hanged near the spot on the 10th of March following, but the
principal was allowed to escape. He was the elder brother of
the Count Konigsmark who made love to the wife of George I.,
and thereby lost his own life, and rendered the remainder of
the princess's miserable. Thynne was called Tom of Ten Thou-
sand from his large fortune of ten thousand pounds a year ;
but although rich in money, he was not supposed to be over-
burdened with brains, and Rochester alludes to him thus : —

" Who'd be a wit in Dryden's cudgel'd skin ?
Or who'd be rich and senseless like Tom [Thynne] ? ''

He was at first a friend of the Duke of York, but, on a
quarrel between them, he attached himself to Monmouth.
When the latter made his progress, in 1GS0, through the west
of England, Thynne received him at his seat with great
splendour.

" But hospitable treats did most commend
Wise Issacher, his wealthy western friend.'' 2

The cause of Thynne's murder was this : Konigsmark,
being poor, wished to obtain the hand of the greatest match
in England, viz. Lady Ogle, Lady Elizabeth Percy's daughter,
and the sole heiress of the nth Earl of Northumberland, but
he was rejected for Thynne, a wealthy man and a member of
Parliament, and he thought by getting his rival out of the way
he might yet succeed in marrying her. Lady Ogle is supposed
to have repented her marriage with Thynne, and she fled from
him to Holland. As might be expected, this atrocious
murder created a great sensation at the time. Monmouth
had been driving with Thynne in Hyde Park, and had only
2 Absalom and Achitophcl.

U4 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

left his carnage about an hour before the outrage was
committed, and in a Grub Street broadside, " Murder un-
paralleled," quoted by Sir Walter Scott, 3 this fact is referred
to thus : —

" But heaven did presently find out

What with great care he could not do ;

'Twas well he was the coach gone out
Or he might have been murdered too ;

For they, who did this squire kill,
Would fear the blood of none to spill."

In the south aisle of Westminster Abbey there is a
monument to Thynne, with a bas-relief representation of the
event depicted upon it.

The widow afterwards married the proud Duke of Somerset,
and became a favourite of Queen Anne. She was hated by
the Tories, and Swift very unjustly hinted in his Windsor
Prophecy that she had had a hand in her husband's murder.

" And, dear England, if aught I understond,
Beware of carrots from Northumberlond :
Carrots sown Thynne and deep a root may get,
If so be they are in Somer set :
Their Conyngs mark thou ; for I have been told,
They assassin when young and poison when old."

The Duchess, naturally, never forgave this, and it is said
that when Swift was to have been made Bishop of Hereford,
she hurried to the Queen, and on her knees begged with tears
that she would refuse her consent.

The Haymarket was the scene of another outrage in the
same reign. Sir John Coventry made a remark in the House
of Commons, reflecting upon the king's conduct towards certain
actresses, which was said to have been the first time Charles
had been personally attacked, and he was irt consequence much
affronted. One day, when Coventry was passing the corner of
Suffolk Street, some creatures of the Duke of Monmouth set
upon him and slit his nose. Coventry stood up against a wall

3 Dryden'S Works, vol. ix. p. 292 (note).

STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 115

and defended himself bravely. Andrew Marvell wrote some
of his doggerel on the occasion : —

" Upon the Cutting of Sir John Coventry's Nose.

" I sing a woefull ditty,

Of a wound that long will smart-a,
And given (more is the pity)

In the realme of Magna Chart a.
Youth, youth, thou hadst better been slaine by thy foes
Than live to be hanged for cutting a nose.
*****

O ye Haymarket hectors,

How were you thus charmed
To turne the base dissectors

Of one poor nose unarmed ? " 4

Parliament at once set to work to pass the Coventry Act,
which made cutting and maiming a capital offence. This was
shutting the stable-door after the steed was stolen, and could
have given little satisfaction to Coventry ; but he was fortunate
in having his nose so sewn up that the scar was hardly to be
seen.

Thynne's murderers were hanged on the spot where their
crime was committed, and a Frenchman named Gardell, who
murdered a woman, was also hanged in the Haymarket.
Joseph Baretti, the author of the Spanish and Italian Diction-
aries, and friend of Johnson, nearly escaped hanging too. He
stabbed a man in a broil in this street on Oct. 3, 1769, and was
brought up to take his trial for murder, but was acquitted,
as having acted in self-defence. Johnson, Burke, Garrick, and
Beauclerk, came forward in his time of need, and bore witness
to his character.

In James Street, a small turning out of the Haymarket,
stands the ancient Tennis Court, which is the only remaining
portion of the old Gaming House, Shaver's Hall, and tradition
says that Charles II and James II. frequently walked up the
Haymarket on their way to play tennis there. In this street
was also Hickford's Great Dancing Room, described as "over

4 Marvell's Works, vol. i. p. xxxix.

n6 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

against the Tennis Court," where subscription concerts of
instrumental and vocal music were given, about the year 171 3.
The fame of the street has been much enhanced by the
two theatres for the lyric and regular drama, which stand
nearly opposite to one another at its lower end.

Old Haymarket Theatre, closed in 1820.

The Theatre Royal, or the little theatre in the Haymarket,
was built in 1720, at a cost of 1,000/., and 500/. for scenery,
by John Potter, a carpenter, who leased the " King's Head
Inn," for the performance of French plays. The following is
the original advertisement: — "December 15, 1721 : At the
new theatre in the Haymarket, between Little Suffolk Street
and James Street, which is now completely finished, will be
performed a French comedy, as soon as the rest of the actors
arrive from Paris, who are duly expected." It was opened on
December 29, 1721, and the company performed under the

THE HAYM ARRET THEATRE. 117

designation of " The French Comedians of his Grace the
Duke of Montague," but they were not very successful.

In January, 1723, an aged danseuse made her appearance
in a youthful part, as appears by the following advertise-
ment : — " At the new Theatre, right over against the Opera
House in the Haymarket, on Monday January 28, will be
acted the Half -pay Officers with Hobb's Wedding ; the Widow
Rich, performed by the celebrated Peggy Fryar, aged 71, for
her benefit, who dances the Bashful Country Maid and the
Irish Trot, and played but once since the days of King
Charles, and taught three queens to dance." 5

In 1726, Lavinia Beswick alias Fenton (the original Polly
of the Beggar's Opera, and afterwards Duchess of Bolton,)
played the parish girl in Gay's mock heroic piece, What dye
call it ? but little else is recorded in the history of the theatre till
1733, when Theophilus Cibber collected some of the principal
deserters from the Drury Lane Company, who styled themselves
the " Comedians of His Majesty's Revels." They acted for a
single season, after which they returned to the larger theatre.
During this short period the company gave a performance of
the Provoked Husband for the benefit of John Dennis, by
which he gained 100/. Poets whom he had ridiculed took
compassion on the veteran, and Pope wrote a prologue, in
which he likens the critic to Belisarius. Savage did his part
by returning thanks, but when the brutal old man heard his
lines he swore " they could be no one's but that fool Savage's."
The fool, however, revenged himself by a stinging epigram : —

" Say what revenge on Dennis can be had ?
Too dull for laughter, for reply too mad.
On one so poor you cannot take the law,
On one so old your sword you scorn to draw.
Uncaged, then, let the harmless monster rage,
Secure in dulness, madness, want, and age."

In 1735 Henry Fielding opened the house with what he
called The Great Mogul's Company, by whom were acted

5 Weekly "Journal, Jan. 26, 1723, quoted in Notes and Queries, 2nd
Series, vol. i. p. 466.

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

several of his own pieces. In the following year a great blow
was struck at this, and other minor theatres, by the passing
of the Licensing Act (10 George II., chap. 28), which caused
them to close. However, in 1738 the Haymarket Theatre was
opened by a French company, who were forced to give up
their attempt by the violence of the public. French plays were
again unsuccessful ten years afterwards. Various attempts
were made to perform plays in spite of the Act to the con-
trary : thus Theophilus Cibber opened the theatre as "Cibber's
Academy," and Foote successfully battled with the authorities,
being at last allowed to do as he pleased in peace. Macklin
and certain of the discontented actors from Drury Lane came
here, and as money could not be taken at the door, the public
were admitted by tickets delivered by Mr. Macklin. To
evade the provisions of the Licensing Act the entertainment
was commenced with a concert. Foote joined the secession
and appeared as Othello to Macklin's Iago. On February 6,
1744, was announced "A Concert, after which Othello, Othello
by a gentleman, being his first appearance on any stage.
The character of Othello will be dressed after the custom of
his country." Foote was not very successful, but he soon
discovered his special forte, by acting Bayes in the Rehearsal,
into which character he introduced imitations of people of con-
sequence. He now undertook the management of the theatre,
which he continued for thirty years, and on April 22, 1747,
announced : — " At the Theatre in the Haymarket this day
will be performed a Concert of Music, with which will be
given gratis, a new entertainment called the Diversions of the
Morning, to which will be added a farce taken from the Old
Batchelor, called the Credulous Husband, Fondlewife by
Mr. Foote ; with an Epilogue to be spoken by the B — d — d
Coffee House. To begin at 7." 6 The theatre was crowded,
but the constables arrived, and put the law in force by
stopping the performance. Foote, however, was not to be

6 General Advertiser, quoted by Forster in Quartcrty Review, vol. xcv.
p. 502.

THE HAYMARKET THEATRE. 119

daunted, and on the 24th instant appeared the following
advertisement: — " On Saturday noon, exactly at 12 o'clock,
at the new Theatre in the Haymarket, Mr. Foote begs the
favour of his friends to come and drink a dish of chocolate
with him, and 'tis hoped there will be a great deal of comedy
and some joyous spirits ; he will endeavour to make the
morning as diverting as possible. Tickets for this entertain-
ment to be had at George's Coffee House, Temple Bar,
without which no person will be admitted. N.B. Sir Dilbury
Diddle will be there, and Lady Betty Frisk has absolutely
promised." 7 The theatre was crowded, when Foote came
forward and said he would instruct some young performers
while chocolate was being prepared. The chocolate of course
never was ready, nor was the tea, that soon afterwards replaced
it in the bills : " At the request of several persons who are
desirous of spending an hour with Mr. Foote, but find the
time inconvenient, instead of chocolate in the morning,
Mr. Foote's friends are desired to drink a dish of tea with
him at half-an-hour past 6 in the evening." 8 In the following
season he brought out a new entertainment, in which he
introduced Orator Henley, Cock the auctioneer, and a justice
of the peace for Westminster. This he called an Auction of
Pictures : — " At his Auction Room, late the little theatre in
the Haymarket, Mr. Foote will exhibit a choice collection of
pictures," &c.

In January, 1749, the Duke of Montagu contrived a
monstrous hoax, which was completely successful. It was
announced in the papers thus : —

" At the new Theatre in the Haymarket, on Monday next,
the 1 6th instant, to be seen a person who performs the
several most surprizing things following, viz. : First, he takes
a common walking-cane from any of the spectators, and
thereon plays the musick of every instrument now in use, and
likewise sings to surprizing perfection. Secondly, he presents

7 Quarterly Review, vol. xcv. p. 503.

8 Ibid. vol. xcv. p. 505.

120 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

you with a common wine-bottle, which any of the spectators
may first examine ; this bottle is placed on a table in the
middle of the stage, and he (without any equivocation) goes
into it in sight of all the spectators, and sings in it : during his
stay in the bottle, any person may handle it, and see plainly
that it does not exceed a common tavern bottle. Those on
the stage or in the boxes may come in masked habits (if
agreeable to them), and the performer (if desired) will inform
them who they are. Stage, Js. 6d. ; Boxes, $s. ; Pit, 3.?. ;
Gallery, 2s. To begin at half an hour after six o'clock.
£3* Tickets to be had at the Theatre. ' . " The per-
formance continues about two hours and a half. N.B. If
any Gentlemen or Ladies, after the above performances
(either singly or in company, in or out of mask) are desirous
of seeing a representation of any deceased person, such as
husband or wife, sister or brother, or any intimate friend of
either sex, (upon making a gratuity to the Performer) they shall
be gratified, seeing and conversing with them for some minutes
as if alive. Likewise (if desired) he will tell you your most
secret thoughts in your past life, and give you a full view of
persons who have injured you, whether dead or alive. For
those gentlemen and ladies who are desirous of seeing this
last part, there is a private room provided. These perform-
ances have been seen by most of the crown'd heads of Asia,
Africa, and Europe, and never appear'd publick anywhere
but once ; but will wait of any at their houses, and perform
as above, for five pounds each time. JSr 7 There will be a
proper guard to keep the house in due decorum." 9

The man -who was engaged to perform the wonder was a
poor Scotchman, who had some office about the India Office. 10
The gullibility of the public appears to have no bounds, and
on the night fixed for the performance, the theatre was crowded
with people, among whom were a large number of lords and
ladies. As might be expected, the conjuror did not get into
the bottle, but ran away instead, and the audience were so

9 Foundling Hospital for Wit, No. vi., 1749, p. 49.
10 Quarterly Review, vol. xxxiv. p. 232 notej.

THE HAYMARKET THEATRE. 121

disgusted that they almost entirely destroyed the interior
of the theatre, and made a bonfire in the street of the pro-
perties. This affair, of course, created a great deal of talk, and
the disappointed audience had to bear much " roasting." The
following lines appeared in one of the papers : —

" When conjurors the quality can bubble,
And get their gold with very little trouble,
By putting giddy lies in publick papers —
As jumping in quart bottles, — such like vapours ;
And further yet, if we the matter strain,
Wou'd pipe a tune upon a walking-cane ;
Nay, more surprizing tricks ! he swore he'd show
Grannums who dy'd a hundred years ago : —
'Tis whimsical enough, what think ye, Sirs ?
The quality can ne'er be conjurors, —
The de'el a bit ; — no, let me speak in brief,
The audience fools, the conjuror a thief." "

Mozart, then a musical prodigy of eight years old, played
at the little Theatre in February, 1765, with his sister, who
was four years older. 12

Foote was a great favourite with the Royal Family. The
Duke of York, brother of George III., on his return from the
continent in 1766, is said to have gone first to his mother,
then to the King, and then to Foote, who accompanied him
to Lord Mexborough's seat. This was an unfortunate visit
for Foote, as he broke his leg while riding a too spirited horse.
Another of the actor's Royal friends was the foolish Duke of
Cumberland, who, coming one night into the Green Room at
the Haymarket, exclaimed, " Well, Foote, here I am, ready,
as usual, to swallow all your good things." The answer he
received was not flattering. " Really, your Royal Highness
must have an excellent digestion, for you never bring any up
again."

After his accident, Foote was so fortunate as to obtain,
through the influence of the Duke of York, a patent for his
theatre, by which he was licensed to act plays from the 14th

11 Foundling Hospital for Wit, No. vi., 1749, p. 52.

12 Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, vol. iv., p. 385.

122 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

May to the 14th September, during the term of his life.
The house was open during the winter months for entertain-
ments of all kinds, which were of such a character as not to
interfere with the patent rights of the winter theatres. It
was not until the Act (6 and 7 Vict.) destroying these rights
was passed, that the Haymarket was allowed to continue
open for the acting of plays all the year round. Foote
bought the lease of the house from Potter's executors, and
he then greatly improved and almost rebuilt it, decorating
the inside in the Chinese style, then much in vogue. The
house was opened on the 14th of May, 1767, having been
constituted a Theatre Royal. About this time, a play,
entitled The Tailors, a Tragedy for Warm Weather, which
thirty years afterwards was the cause of a riot at this theatre,
was sent from Dodsley's shop anonymously to Foote, who
acted it in July, 1767.

In 1768, Signor Spinacuta, the celebrated rope-dancer,
astonished the sightseers of London, and outdid the recent
achievements of Blondin, Leotard, and Olmar, by dancing on
a high rope, with two boys tied to his feet. Two years
afterwards, one Maddox performed some wonderful feats of
agility with such success, that he made 11,000/. in one season.

In 1772, Foote brought out the Nabob, which drew great
crowds, but greatly offended some of the wealthy East
Indians. Sir Matthew White and General Richard Smith
are said to have called in Suffolk Street, in order to chastise
the satirist ; but Foote exonerated himself so completely to
their satisfaction, and was so agreeable, that they stayed to
dine with him. A few years after this, a great trouble over-
took the actor. Jackson, a miserable creature of the Duchess
of Kingston, libelled him with inveterate frequency, and
stirred up a row in his theatre. Foote, however, appealed to
the audience, and summoned his libeller to the Court of
King's Bench. A discarded coachman brought charges,
which were no sooner stated, than they were demolished, and
Foote was completely exonerated. His friends rallied round
him, and rank and fashion crowded to his theatre. The

THE HAYMARKET THEATRE. 123

King himself came at this time, on which occasion one of the
plays {The Contract, by Dr. Thomas Franklin) was damned ;
and as Foote lighted his Majesty to his chair, he was asked
who was the unfortunate author, to which he answered,
" One of your Majesty's chaplains, and [it is] dull enough to
have been written by a bishop."

Owing to the burning down of the Opera House opposite,
Italian Operas were performed here in the spring of 1790,
as they had been in 1740 and 1745.

In 1793, the Drury Lane Company played here, while
their theatre was being rebuilt. It was during the period they
were acting that a terrible accident took place, which created
a great sensation at the time. On February 3rd, 1794, the
crowd at the doors being very great, three or four persons fell
down at the pit entrance, when sixteen men and women were
trampled to death, and twenty taken up with broken limbs.
The King was present at the time, but he and the majority
of the audience knew nothing of the catastrophe till they had
left the theatre. This melancholy accident may be repeated
at any time, for its cause still exists. The only means of
entering the pit is by a descent of several steps ; and if, when
there is a crowd, one of the first among them should fall,
those behind will be almost certain to fall over him.

In 1777, George Colman took Foote's lease. He died in
1795, and was succeeded by his son, George Colman, the
younger, who sold half his share in 1805. Colman was
succeeded in the management by Thomas Dibdin. On the
15th August, 1805, there was a great riot, occasioned by the
proposed performance of The Tailors, a Tragedy for Warm
Weather, which gave great offence to certain members of that
trade. When the entertainment was announced, Dowton,
for whose benefit the piece was to be acted, and Winston,
one of the proprietors, received numerous threatening letters ;
and on the night, the theatre was besieged without, and
crowded within by noisy mobs, who would allow nothing to
be proceeded with. A magistrate was summoned, who swore
in special constables to assist the Bow Street officers, and a

124 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

company of Life Guards was also sent for to give them
assistance. Between thirty and forty of the most riotous were
taken into custody, and, on examination, were all found to
be tailors.

The present theatre was built from the designs of Nash, in
1820, at a cost of 18,000/. It was opened on July 4, 1821, with
a performance of Sheridan's Rivals. The original building,
which was a queer old place, remained by the side of the
new one while it was building, and was closed on the 14th
October, 1820, with King Lear. The relative positions of the
old and new theatres are shown in a plate in Wilkinson's
Londinia Illustrata, vol 2.

This little house, although at various times struggling
against great difficulties, has always been able to hold its own
in competition with the larger theatres. A great number of
the most celebrated actors and actresses have made their
debut here. Mrs. Abington, John Edwin, Miss Farren, after-
wards Countess of Derby, Elliston, Liston, Henderson, and
Jack Bannister, all made their first bow to a London audience
at this theatre. William Thomas Lewis, more generally
known as Gentleman Lewis, acted here from 1776 to 1781.

Of late years the acting of Mr. Macready has added a
lustre to the house, and later still Mr. Sothern's successful
impersonation of the celebrated Lord Dundreary has increased
the repute of the theatre. Mr. Benjamin Webster concluded
his management in 1853, after sixteen years' tenancy, and was
succeeded by Mr. J. B. Buckstone, the present manager. It
is a curious fact, this theatre was not lighted with gas until
April, 1853, owing to a prejudice of the proprietor, the late
Mrs. Morris, who bound the lessee to continue the lighting
of the house with oil. 13

Suffolk Street is situated at the back of the Haymarket,
and contains the house of the manager of the theatre. It was
originally built about the year 1664, on ground upon which
stood a large house belonging to the Earls of Suffolk. The

13 Notes and Queries, second series, vol. v. p. 459.

THE HAY MARKET THEATRE.

125

present street has been rebuilt, but stands on the site of the
old one. Some of the houses have pretentions to architectural
elegance. Sir Philip Howard lived here from 1665 to 1672,
and Moll Davis from 1667 to 1674, when she removed to
St. James's Square. Thomas Stanley, the editor of sEschj'tt/s,
died here in 1678. Hester Vanhomrigh (Vanessa) lived in this
street with her mother when they were visited by Dean Swift.
Adam Smith lodged here in one of his London sojournings.
Lord Winchelsea was living at No. 7, in 1829, when he was
challenged by the Duke of Wellington. James Barry lived at
No. 29 from 1773 to 1776.

In George I.'s reign one Corticelli kept an Italian ware-
house at the upper end of the street, which was much frequented
by people of fashion for raffles, purchases, and gallant
meeting's. 14

Entrance to the Opera House previous to the Year 1820.

14 Horace Walpole, quoted in Miller's Fly Leaves, second series,
1855, p. 111.

126 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Opposite to the little Theatre stood, till the disastrous fire
of the sixth of December, 1867, the Opera House, known at
different times of its history as the Queen's Theatre, the
King's Theatre, and Her Majesty's Theatre. 15 At the
beginning of the eighteenth century the celebrated actor
Betterton and his company, who had been performing with
success at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, found that
building too small for them to compete with the Drury Lane
company. At this juncture Sir John Vanbrugh, backed by
the " Kit-Cat Club," proposed to build a grand theatre in the
Haymarket, on the site of White Horse Yard, and of the
" Phcenix " and " Unicorn " Inns, and for that purpose raised
a subscription of thirty thousand pounds from three hundred
persons of rank, each subscriber putting down one hundred
pounds, in return for which he was to be admitted without
payment at any time of performance. The first stone was
laid in 1703 by the celebrated toast, the beautiful Lady
Sunderland, second daughter of the great Duke of Marl-
borough, and on the stone was inscribed, in her honour,
the words : " The little Whig." The following lines were
engraved on one of the glasses of the " Kit-Cat Club : " —

" All nature's charms in Sunderland appear,
Bright as her eyes, and as her reason clear ;
Yet still their force, to men not safely known,
Seems undiscovered to herself alone."

Sir John Vanbrugh was the sole architect, and must have
pushed the works on with the greatest rapidity, for on Easter
Monday, April 9, 1705, the theatre was opened with a perform-
ance of Dryden's Indian Emperor. Congreve joined Vanbrugh
in the management, and it was thought that with two such
dramatists to write for it, and with such actors as Betterton and
his company to act for it, united to the site and elegance of the
building, no other theatre could possibly compete with it. But

15 The early history of the Opera House is chiefly taken from Burney's
History of Music, and differs in several particulars from Colley Cibber's
account in his Apology.

THE HAYMARKET OPERA HOUSE. 127

it was soon found that the house was totally unfitted for
hearing, as all principles of acoustics had been sacrificed to
architectural effect, and scarcely one word in ten could be
heard by the audience. On April 24 was performed The Consul-
tation, a farce, followed by an Indian Pastoral called the Loves
of Ergasto, set to music by Giacomo Greber. Betterton's
company returned to Lincoln's Inn Fields on July 20, and con-
tinued there till the Queen's Theatre was entirely finished. On
Oct. 30 they opened it with Vanbrugh's comedy, the Con-
federacy. Vanbrugh was soon sick of the whole affair, and
made over the management to Owen MacSwiney, who, how-
ever, did not retain it long, but became afterwards keeper of the
King's Mews, and died in 1754, when he left his fortune to his
mistress, Peg Woffington.

In January, 1708, Betterton and his company abandoned
the theatre, and joined their rivals at Drury Lane. In this
month the Opera company opened the theatre, under the
management of Owen MacSwiney. In December, the great
singer, Niccolini — who is praised by Steele and Addison in
the Tatlcr and Spectator — made his first appearance. At
this time the Italian singers sang Italian words, and the
English, English words, which absurd arrangement laid the
performers open to much just satire.

In September, 1709, a strong company from Drury Lane
(including Betterton, Wilks, Estcourt, Cibber, Doggett, and
Mrs. Oldfield,) was engaged to act till the end of October,
when the opera of Camilla was performed. In 17 10 the two
companies of comedians and singers continued to act and
sing alternately. In the January of this year was performed
Almahide, the first opera sung wholly in Italian.

In November the company of players returned to Drury
Lane, and left the Opera House entirely to the lyric drama.
Aaron Hill, a great projector, and one of those who are
" everything by turns, and nothing long," undertook the
management in the year 1710, when he applied to Handel
to write for the theatre, and the result was the opera of
Rinaldo, which the great composer finished within a fortnight.

128 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

This proved a great success, and was the first of a long series
of operas composed by Handel. Hill soon after quarrelled
with the Lord Chamberlain, which brought his theatrical
career to an end.

In 171 1, John James Heidegger, a native of Zurich,
usually called the Swiss Count, became connected with the
management, and remained so till about 1738. This man
was originally a domestic servant, but when nearly fifty years
of age he attended a nobleman to England as companion,
and was so fortunate as to insinuate himself into the good
graces of people of fashion. He was very successful in his
endeavours to add to their pleasures, and was the first to
introduce ridottos and masquerades. So high was his repu-
tation in these matters that the nobility were in the habit
of asking his advice in the arrangement of their own enter-
tainments.

" Thou, Heidegger ! the English Taste hast found,
And rul'st the mob of quality with sound.
In Lent, if masquerades displease the town,
Call 'em Ridottos, and they still go down.
Go on, Prince Phiz ! to please the British Nation,
Call thy next masquerade a convocation." 16

Heidegger, when asked in company what nation had the
greatest ingenuity, answered, " The Swiss ! I came to Eng-
land without a farthing, where I gain 5,000/. a year, and
spend it ; now I defy the cleverest of you to do the same in
Switzerland." Heidegger was an exceedingly ugly man, and
he laid a wager with Lord Chesterfield, which he won, that
the peer could not, within a given time, produce an uglier
face than his. He would not allow a portrait to be taken of
himself, but the Duke of Montagu obtained his likeness by
means of a trick. One day the Duke made Heidegger dead
drunk, and introduced the daughter of Mrs. Salmon, the
celebrated wax-figure maker, who took a cast of his face,

16 Bramston's Man of Taste (DODSLEV'S Collection of Poems, vol. i.
P- 2 93)-

THE HAYMARKET OPERA HOUSE. 129

from which a mask was made. The Duke carried on the
joke by engaging a man of Heidegger's figure to wear this
mask and to dress up like the manager, so as to appear at a
masquerade which was to be given before the King, under the
management of Heidegger. The consequent confusion, and
mirth to those in the secret, was great

The opera season was brought to a close on June 29, 17 17,
and no Italian operas were again performed till 1720. In this
year the principal nobility and gentry formed themselves into
a Royal Academy of Music, for the performance of operas,
to be produced under the direction of Handel. A fund of
50,000/. (to which George I. gave 1,000/.) was subscribed,
and the affairs of the society were managed by a governor
(Thomas, Duke of Newcastle), a deputy-governor (Lord
Bingley), and twenty directors, amongst whom were the Earl
of Burlington, Sir John Vanbrugh, and General Wade.
Handel, Bononcini, and Ariosti composed the operas, and a
violent feud divided society as to the comparative merits of
the two first composers. Dr. Byrom ridicules these dissensions
in the lines : —

" Some say, compar'd to Bononcini,
That Mynheer Handel's but a ninny ;
Others aver that he to Handel
Is scarcely fit to hold a candle.
Strange all this difference should be,
'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee."

Henrietta, Duchess of Marlborough, and daughter of the
great Duke, in 1723 settled 500/. a year on Bononcini, with
the provision that he should not compose for the Academy.
The Earl of Burlington observed to Dr. Arbuthnot that " after
the performance of an opera by Bononcini or Atillio, the
proceeding to one of Handel's may be compared to going
from Arabia Petraea to Arabia Felix, or from barren rocks
to spontaneous fertility." Bramston makes his Man of Taste
say : —

" Without Italian, or without an ear,
To Bononcini's music I adhere.''

130 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Another famous feud in 1727 greatly damaged the affairs
of the Opera. It was that between the friends of the two
rival female singers, Faustina and Cuzzoni, who were called
by Handel " the daughters of Peelzebub," which at last had
grown to such dimensions that it was necessary to put an end
to it at all risk ; so the directors devised a plan by which one
of the parties should be defeated. Lady Pembroke, the chief
of the Cuzzoni faction, had made that singer swear that she
would not sing for less than Faustina ; so when a new contract
was necessary, the directors offered her one guinea less than
they gave to Faustina, and she was thus forced to leave
England. Ambrose Phillips wrote the following lines on her
departure : —

" Little syren of the stage,

Charmer of an idle age,

Empty warbler, breathing lyre,

Wanton gale of fond desire ;

Bane of every manly heart ;

O, too pleasing in thy strain,

Hence to southern climes again ;

Tuneful mischief, vocal spell,

To this island bid farewell ;

Leave us as we ought to be,

Leave the Britons, rough and free."

On one occasion Sir Robert Walpole's wife gave a grand
concert at her house to all the rank and fashion of the town,
and among the singers were Cuzzoni and Faustina. The
difficulty of precedence soon arose ; if Faustina were asked to
sing first, Cuzzoni would not sing at all, and if Cuzzoni were
asked first, Faustina would not sing. In this dilemma Lady
Walpole adopted a ruse by which her company should hear
both singers, though she herself would be deprived of the
pleasure. She managed to inveigle Faustina out of the room
to a distant part of the house, by which time was allowed for
Cuzzoni to sing a song, and when she returned, she adopted
the same expedient with Cuzzoni.

In 1728 the whole of the money subscribed eight years
before was exhausted, and meetings were held to consider

THE HA YMA RKE T OPERA HO USE. 1 3 1

what should be done in order to continue the operas ; the
result of the deliberations, however, was that the Academy
was broken up, and the house closed till December, 1729.
Handel now engaged with Heidegger to carry on the opera
at their own risk. About this time Handel commenced the
composition of his oratorios, and on May 2, 1732, Esther was
performed here. In the following year there was a renewal
of the unfortunate misunderstanding between Handel and
Senesino. The nobility supported the singer, and opened a
subscription for Italian operas at the theatre in Lincoln's
Inn Fields : —

" By singing peers upheld on either hand." "

In 1732 Frederick Prince of Wales gave a grand entertain-
ment to the nobility at the Opera House.

In 1734 Handel's engagement with Heidegger terminated,
and in October he began a season in Lincoln's Inn Fields, the
opposition, with Farinelli, returning to the Haymarket. In the
next few years Handel lost a large sum of money, and in
1738 a performance was given for his benefit at the Opera
House, by which he gained 800/. Heidegger now was unable
to obtain sufficient subscribers to allow him to carry on the
opera, and in 1739 Handel hired the theatre for the perform-
ance of his oratorios.

In October, 174.1, the Opera was opened by the Earl of
Middlesex, as patentee and sole director, who was afterwards
joined by several noblemen and men of fashion. In 1742 a
new subscription was begun ; there were thirty subscribers
at two hundred pounds each, but they had to pay money
over and above the amount subscribed. Horace Walpole and
his friend Conway took a share between them.

In 1749 there was a magnificent masquerade, to which
George II. went, disguised in an old-fashioned English habit.
One of the masks, not knowing him, desired the King to
hold his cup of tea, which much pleased his Majesty. Lord
Delawarr was dressed as Queen Elizabeth's porter, and the

17 Ditnciad, Book iv. 1. 49.

132 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

notorious Miss Chudleigh appeared as Iphigenia, but with so
little clothing that Walpole thought she was more like
Andromeda. 18

In 1766, a new plan was adopted of having a double
company, one to perform serious, and the other comic operas.
On October 10th, 1768, a magnificent masquerade was given
by the King of Denmark, at which about 2,500 persons were
present, and the jewels worn by the visitors were estimated to be
worth two millions of money. The ball was opened by the
King of Denmark and the Duchess of Ancaster.. The Duke of
Richmond was dressed as a farmer, and his Duchess as the
beautiful Fatima, wife of the deputy to the Grand Vizier,
described in the letters of Lady Mary Montagu (April,
17 17). One lady was dressed to represent both night and
day. Her right side was gold and white, to represent the
sun, and on her left side were the moon and stars in silver,
on a black ground.

In 1 77 1, Mademoiselle Heinel turned the heads of the
town by her dancing, which totally eclipsed the glory of
the music. About the same time the elder and younger
Vestris, Le Picq, and other celebrated dancers, were also
performing here.

In 1778, Sheridan and Harris became joint purchasers of
the theatre, for the large sum of 22,000/., subject to a yearly
rent of 1,270/. In the following year, Harris assigned his
share to Sheridan, who shortly afterwards disposed of it to
Mr. Taylor.

In 1779, the Knights of the Bath gave a magnificent ball
to the nobility and persons of distinction, which was opened
by the Duke of Cumberland and Lady Augusta Campbell.
A hot supper, provided by Weltzie, the confectioner of St.
James's Street, was supplied at twelve o'clock ; the plate
used on the occasion being lent by the King and Queen.

In 1782, Novosielski altered the theatre, and shaped the
fiat sides to form a horse-shoe. Wraxall 19 relates that Lord

18 Walpole'S Correspondence, 1840, vol. ii. pp. 269-70.

19 Historical Memoirs, 1836, vol. i. p. 346.

THE HAYMARKET OPERA HOUSE. 133

North and Fox met behind the scenes one morning, to talk
over a Parliamentary junction between them. The former
was accompanied by Brummell, father of the Beau, and the
latter by Sheridan, then director of the opera. The theatre
was unfortunately burnt down on the evening of June 17th,

1789, between ten and eleven ; and, as is usual on such
occasions, the cause of the fire was not discovered. The
Authors of the Rejected Addresses attribute its destruction to
the national enemy, Napoleon I. : —

" Base Buonaparte^ fill'd with deadly ire,
Sets, one by one, our playhouses on fire.
Some years ago he pounced with deadly glee on
The Opera House, then burnt down the Pantheon."

An Italian, the husband of Signora Carnivali, who had
been in the employment of Gallini, the manager, was suspected
of having set the theatre on fire, to revenge a grudge, but it
is not probable that he had anything to do with it. 20

Walpole thought there was no occasion to rebuild it, as
the nation had long been tired of operas ; and, in a letter to
a friend, says, " Dancing protracted their existence for some
time, but the room after was the real support of both, and
was like what has been said of your sex, that they never speak
their true meaning, but in the postscript of their letters."
The theatre, however, was at once rebuilt, from a design by
Novosielski, and the,foundation-stone was laid on April 3rd,

1790, by the Earl of Buckinghamshire. This stone, the
dimensions of which were 2 feet 1 inch long, I foot if inch
wide, and 1 foot deep, was found by the workmen employed
in clearing the foundations in May, 1868, in the north wall of
the box corridor on the centre line of the auditorium, under
the opening, leading from the hall to the pit corridor, at a
depth of 2 feet 3 inches below the paving of the hall. The
inscriptions are: — On the top: — "The first stone of this
new theatre was laid on the 3rd of April, 1790, in the
30th year of the reign of King George III., by the Right

20 In Smith's Historical and Literary Curiosities, there is an engrav-
ing of the exterior from a drawing by Capon.

134 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Hon. John Hobart, Earl of Buckingham — Auctor pretiosa
facit." On the front: — "The King's theatre in the Hay-
market; first built in 1703." On the right end: — "But un-
fortunately destroyed by fire on the 17th of June, 1789." On
the back : — "Prevalebit justitia." In a cavity beneath the stone,
were also found the following coins: — a guinea, 1788, a half-
guinea, 1789; a shilling, 1787 ; a sixpence, 1787 ; a fourpenny-
piece, 17S6; a threepenny-piece, 1772; a twopenny-piece,
1786 ; and a silver penny-piece, 1786.

The new house, which was finished in 1791, was one of
the finest theatres in the world. The stage was too small and
very inconvenient, but the auditorium, as left by Novosielski,
was in reality larger than that of the celebrated Sea/a at
Milan, although the contrary is frequently stated. 21 Its
acoustic properties were unrivalled, thus contrasting favour-
ably with the first building. Michael Kelly said it was the
best theatre he had ever sung at, not excepting the St.
Carlos at Naples. This distinguishing feature was chiefly
obtained by constructing the ceiling and box-fronts of thin
boards, and thus none of the sound was lost. When the
building was finished the Lord Chamberlain would not license
it. In February, 1791, the Italian Opera company removed
to the Pantheon, in Oxford Street, which was converted into
a theatre, but in the next month performances took place in
the Haymarket, for William Windham writes, under date
March 26, 1791 : " From dinner we all went to the Opera
House in the Haymarket, where for the first time they per-
formed for money, the singers, to avoid the Act, coming in
their own dresses and confining themselves to the airs." ~ 2

On September 22, 1791, the Drury Lane company opened
the theatre. On January 26, 1793, operas were commenced
under the joint management of Michael Kelly and Signor
Storace, Sheridan being the lessee by arrangement with
Taylor. In the season 1795-6 part of the walls of the theatre
were blown down.

21 Builder, Dec. 14, 1S67. p. 903.

22 Diary, p. 219.

THE HAYMARKET OPERA HOUSE. 135

The ballet gave offence to many, and Windham, writing
on December 9, 1797, after seeing Bacchus and Ariadne, says :
" We have advanced to the point of seeing people dance
naked ;" and in March, 1800, he went with the intention of
hissing the dance. Others, however, approved of the dancing,
and in June, 1805, there was a riot in consequence of a part
of the ballet being omitted from the lateness of the hour on
Saturday night. The military were called in, and 5,000/.
worth of property was destroyed. The manager identified
some of the ringleaders and commenced actions against them
for damages.

In 1803 W 7 illiam Taylor, the sole owner, sold a third of
the property for 13,335/. to Francis Goold, an Irishman and
founder of the " Union Club," who was to be sole conductor and
manager. In 1804 Taylor assigned a further share to Goold,
who died in 1807, and then Taylor resumed the manage-
ment. Taylor, who had been originally a banker's clerk, was
a curious character, and very fond of practical jokes and
hoaxes. He was always in difficulties, and Ebers, the book-
seller, frequently advanced him money to carry on the opera.
For many years he never lived out of the rules of the King's
Bench, and was in the habit of saying that he never could
have managed the theatre if he had not been in prison. In
those days the discipline was not very strict, and Taylor con-
stantly stole away into the country. On one occasion he
even went to Hull, and stood for the borough.

Mr. Waters, the executor of Goold, took the management,
and, in 18 14, the house was sold, when it was bought by
Waters for 35,000/. In 18 16, however, it was resold by order
of the Lord Chancellor, and purchased by Waters for
70,150/., who mortgaged it to Mr. Chambers, the banker.
Chambers subsequently became the sole proprietor, and, as a
consequence, was soon afterwards a bankrupt. In 1821
Mr. Ebers became the tenant, and managed the opera till
1823, when he transferred his lease to Signor Benelli for the
season. In 1824-5 he again became lessee, but, finding it a
losing concern, he soon after, in 1827, relinquished it, and

136 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Laporte, the French actor, took the management of the
theatre. Nash and G. Repton decorated and improved the
house in 1820, when the colonnade was erected and the basso
relievo added on the Haymarket front by B. Bubb. In 1825
alterations and repairs were made at a cost of between four
and five thousand pounds, which included the rebuilding of
the north wall. In 1829 Donzelli, the magnificent tenor,
made his first appearance as Roderic Dhu, in La Donna del
Lago, and was received with rapture. In 183 1, the wonderful
Rubini, king of tenors, joined the company, and on June 3 of
the same year, Paganini gave his first concert at the Opera
House with great success. In 1832 Mr. Monck Mason rented
the theatre for 16,000/., with the hope of raising the character
of the opera ; but he failed, and in the following season
Laporte again resumed the management. In 1835 Benjamin
Lumley, a young solicitor just commencing business, assisted
Laporte, professionally, and obtained his release from the
Fleet prison. In the next year Laporte desired him to
undertake the financial department of the theatre, which he
did. In 1840 Laporte determined to break up the league
which the singers had entered into that they should all be
engaged together, and fixed on Tamburini as the scapegoat.
The case was taken up by the young men of fashion, especially
those who tenanted the omnibus-box, and a row was nightly
continued till Laporte was forced to give in.

" Then all the gentlefolks flew in a rage,
And they jumped from the omnibus on to the stage,
Lords, Squires, and Knights, they came down to the lights
In their opera-hats, and their opera-tights." 23

One of the Ingoldsby Legends, from which these lines are
taken, is entitled : " A Row in an Omnibus (Box) : a Legend
of the Haymarket."

" Doldrum the manager sits in his chair,
With a gloomy brow and dissatisfied air,

23 Ingoldsby Legends.

THE HAYMARKET OPERA HOUSE. 137

And he says as he slaps his hand on his knee,
I'll have nothing to do with Fiddle-de-dee !

But Fiddle-de-dee sings clear and loud,

And his trills and his quavers astonish the crowd ;

Such a singer as he

You'll nowhere see,
They'll all be screaming for Fiddle-de-dee !

Though Fiddle-de-dee sings loud and clear,
And his tones are sweet, yet his terms are dear.

The glove won't fit !

The deuce a bit.

Stalls, which have ever since been gradually encroaching
upon the pit, almost driving it out of existence, were introduced
by Laporte, but a space was left open from the back of the
pit to within a few feet of the orchestra, which was a favourite
lounge of the fashionables of that day, and was called " Fop's
Alley."

In the autumn of 1841 Laporte died, and Lumley, who
was one of his executors, became sole manager, his reign
commencing with the season of 1842. In 1845 Lumley
purchased the house from the assignees of Mr. Chambers for
105,000/., and in the following year the theatre was renovated
and the interior newly decorated, at a cost of 10,000/. The
drop-scene was painted by the late Clarkson Stanfield, R.A.
One of the chief features of the season of 1845 was the grand
Pas dc Quatre, danced by Taglioni, Carlotta Grisi, Cerito,
and Lucille Grahn, four great dancers, who were got together
at the cost of infinite trouble to the manager. Warning of the
troubles in the future was given by the resignation of Sir
Michael Costa in 1846. In the following year occurred the
great secession led by Mario, Grisi, Persiani, and Tamburini,
who migrated to the new Opera House at Covent Garden, and
left the old house scarcely any singer of note, except the great
Lablache, who stuck to it to the last. In 1847 Jenny Lind
came over to England, and made her first appearance before
an enthusiastic audience, who always crowded the theatre to
overflowing whenever she appeared. In 1848 the Jenny Lind

138 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

mania was renewed, but in the following year she retired from
the stage, and gave four farewell performances. In July, 1849,
the great Madame Sontag, Countess de Rossi, re-appeared
with the greatest eclat after twenty-one years' absence from
the stage. She also sang during the seasons of 1850 and
1 85 1. Madame Pasta also made a re-appearance in July,
1850.

Lumley lost 20,000/. by his management of the French
opera during the seasons 1850-51, 1851-52. The season of
1852 at Her Majesty's was a melancholy one, as it was spoilt
by the breaking off the engagement of Mdlle. Wagner.
The house was closed during 1853, and not re-opened till
1856, after Covent Garden Theatre was burnt down. Lord
Ward (now Earl Dudley) bought up the various encumbrances,
and at this time had acquired a larger interest in the theatre
than the proprietor himself. Lumley therefore made over the
lease to Lord Ward, who granted him an under-lease. The
theatre opened in 1856 with the favourite Piccolomini and
Mdlle. Wagner. In 1856 the magnificent tenor, Giuglini, was
added to the company, and in the following year the superb
prima donna Mdlle. Titiens strengthened the house by her
adherence to it. On the 10th of August, 1858, Mr. Lumley's
connection with the theatre ceased, and the establishment
passed wholly into the hands of Lord Ward. In i860 it was
opened by Mr. E. T. Smith, who was soon succeeded in the
management by Mr. J. H. Mapleson. This gentleman has
ever since catered for the public pleasure and amusement with
the greatest success. He has brought out several new singers,
the latest and greatest being the universal favourite Mdlle
Nillsson, and has introduced, among other things, Gounod's
Faust to an English audience.

On the evening of December 6, 1867, Her Majesty's
Theatre was entirely destroyed by fire. It has since been
rebuilt by Messrs. Trollope at a cost of 27,767/. The whole
history of this celebrated house has been an unfortunate one,
and almost every one who has been connected with the
management has been either ruined or has lost lanre sums of

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 139

money. The legal condition of the property, therefore, had
been for years in a confused tangle. It is astonishing, con-
sidering the difficulties of the post of manager of a theatre, to
find so many men of wealth and position who are willing to
undertake the onerous duty. By no means the lightest of his
tasks is to soothe the jealous feelings of the artists. Michael
Kelly complains of the difficulty he had in inducing Signora
Grassini and Mrs. Billington to sing together. Laporte had
similar trouble with Cerito and Taglioni. Cerito complained
one day of a box which had been given to her on the upper
tier, and said that she was " much too young to be exalted to
the skies before her proper time." Laporte, who had given a
box on the same tier to Taglioni, replied that he " had clone
his best, but possibly he had been wrong in placing the lady in
the same level (le mime rang) with Mademoiselle Taglioni." 24

After passing the Haymarket and Regent Circus, there
are four turnings off Piccadilly before we arrive at St. James's
Street. First comes Eagle Place, called by Hatton and Strype
Eagle Street, then Church Place called Church Lane by
Strype, who, writing in 1720, speaks of it as newly built, then
Duke Street, the notice of which concludes the chapter on
St. James's Square, and lastly Villiers Place.

St. James's Street has been the very heart of London life
for nearly two hundred years, and it would require the pen
of a Thackeray to do justice to the glories of this street of
streets. The road was in existence many years before the street
was built, and there were a few houses grouped at its south
end, opposite St. James's Palace. The Sieur de la Serre, His-
toriographer of France, who came over in the suite of Marie de
Medicis, in describing the palace says : " Its great gate has a
long street in front, reaching almost out of sight, seemingly
joining to the fields." " 5 Robert Seymour, in his Survey of
London and Westminster (1734), 26 describes St. James's Street
as " a spacious street with very good houses well inhabited by

24 Lumley's Reminiscences of the Opera, 1864, p. 8.

25 Pyne's Royal Residences, vol. iii. p. 8.

26 Volume ii.

I4Q ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

gentry : at the upper end of which towards the road are the
best, having before them a tarrass walk, ascended by steps,
with a freestone pavement." Some thirty years after, the
street was levelled, and the following remarks appeared in a
newspaper of the time : —

" Our sensible forefathers, in framing the streets of this
great city, preferred utility to ornament ; and in St. James's
Street they were very industrious that the paving of that
uneven ground should not prejudice the property of any
individual. Their wiser sons have wished to reverse this
practice, and have been full as industrious in conforming the
buildings to the Scotch paving. The descent from the upper
to the lower end of this street being so very steep, has brought
very whimsical distresses upon many of the inhabitants — some
of the ground-floors that were almost level with the street, are
now eight, nine, and some ten steps, and those very steep,
from the ground ; while others, to which you used to ascend
by three or four steps, are as many below the surface. Cellars
are now above the ground, and some gentlemen are forced to
dive into their own parlours. Many laughable accidents too
have happened from this new method of turning the world
upside-down : some persons, not thinking of the late altera-
tions, attempting to knock at their own door, have frequently
tumbled up their new-erected steps, while others who have
been used to ascend to their threshold have as often, for the
same reason, tumbled down ; and their fall had been the
greater from their lifting up their legs to ascend as usual.
An old gouty friend of mine complains heavily ; he has lain,
he says, upon the ground-floor for these ten years, and he
chose the house he lives in because there was no step to the
door ; and now he is obliged to mount at least nine before he
can get into his bed-chamber, and the entrance into his house
is at the one pair of stairs. A neighbour too complains he
has lost a good lodger because he refused to lower the price
of his first floor, which the gentleman insisted he ought, as
the lodgings are now up two pair of stairs. Many of the street
doors are not above five feet high ; and the owners, when

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 141

they enter their houses, seem as if they were going into a
dog-kennel rather than their own habitations." 27

From its first building this street has had a history, and
great people have inhabited it. Edmund Waller, the poet,
lived in his own house on the west side of the street from
1660 to his death, in 1687. William, Lord Viscount Brouncker,
an eminent mathematician, and the first President of the
Royal Society from 1662 to 1677, died at his house in
St. James's Street, on April 5, 1684. Brouncker was chan-
cellor to Charles II.'s Queen, and a commissioner of the
Admiralty. He is constantly referred to by Pepys, who did
not like him much, and calls him " cunning." Lord Rochester,
in one of his poems dated 1678, refers to a famous perfumer's
shop in this street with the sign of the Cross, where the ladies
flocked to buy gloves, powder, and essences. Charles, Duke
of Bolton, lived in St. James's Street in 1698-9, as did Henry
Somerset, second Duke of Beaufort, and Sir Thomas Thynne,
Lord Viscount Weymouth, in 1708. Sir Christopher Wren
died in the street on February 25, 1723, and Alexander Pope
lived " at Mr. Digby's next door to y e ' Golden Ball,' on
y e second terras." Sir Richard Steele lived in a house
opposite Park Place from 17 14 to 1724, when he retired to
Wales, as Swift says, "in peril of a thousand jails." It was
not, however, till the middle of the eighteenth century that the
street shone out with all its brilliancy. Here were to be met
all the rank, fashion, and beauty of the metropolis. Sheridan
sings of —

" The Campus Martius of St. James's Street,
Where the beaux' cavalry pace to and fro
Before they take the field in Rotten Row ;
Where Brookes's Blues and Weltze's Light Dragoons
Dismount in files and ogle in platoons." 28

Tickell's clever lines, supposed to have been written by
Charles Fox to his friend Lord John Townshend, in which he

27 Letter by Anti-Procustes in the Londoti Chronicle, Aug. 15, 1765,
quoted in Malcolm's Anecdotes of London, 1810, vol. ii. p. 398.

28 MOORE'S Life of Sheridan, ed. 1827, vol. i. p. 336.

H2 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

regrets " The long-lost pleasures of St. James's Street," are
well worth quoting here : —

" But come, dear Jack, all martial as thou art,
With spruce cockade, heroically smart ;
Come and once more together let us greet
The long-lost pleasures of St. James's Street.
Enough o'er stubbles have I deigned to tread ;
Too long wert thou at anchor at Spithead.
Come, happy friend ! to hail thy wished return,
Nor vulgar fire, nor venal light shall burn ;
From gentle bosoms purer flames shall rise,
And keener ardours flash from beauty's eyes.
Methinks I see thee now resume thy stand,
Pride of Fop Alley, though a little tanned.
What tender joy the gazing nymphs disclose !
How pine with envy the neglected beaux !
With many a feeble frown and struggling smile,
Fondly reprove thy too adventurous toil ;
And seem with reprehensive love to say, —
Dear Mr. Townshend, wherefore didst thou stray?

Soon as to Brookes's thence thy footsteps bend,
What gratulations thy approach attend !
See Gibbon rap his box ; auspicious sign
That classic compliment and wit combine.
See Beauclerk's cheek a tinge of red surprise,
And friendship give what cruel health denies.
Important Townshend ! what can thee withstand ?
The lingering black-ball lags in Boothby's hand.
E'en Draper checks the sentimental sigh,
And Smith, without an oath, suspends the dye.

That night, to festive wit and friendship due,
That night thy Charles's board shall welcome you,
Salads that shame ragouts, shall woo thy taste ;
Deep shalt thou delve in Weltjie's motley paste.
Derby shall send, if not his plate, his cooks,
And know I've bought the best champagne from Brookes,
From liberal Brookes, whose speculative skill
Is hasty credit and a distant bill ;
Who, nursed in clubs, disdains a vulgar trade,
Exults to trust, and blushes to be paid.

On that auspicious night, supremely graced
With chosen guests, the pride of liberal taste ;

ST. JAMES S STREET. 143

Not in contentious heat, nor maddening strife,

Not with the busy ills, nor cares of life,

We'll waste the fleeting hours ; far happier themes

Shall claim each thought and chase ambition's dreams.

Each beauty that sublimity can boast

He best shall tell, who still unites them most.

Of wit, of taste, of fancy, we'll debate,

If Sheridan for once be not too late.

But scarce a thought to ministers we'll spare,

Unless on Polish politics with Hare.

Good-natured Devon ! oft shall then appear

The cool complacence of thy friendly sneer.

Oft shall Fitzpatrick's wit, and Stanhope's ease,

And Burgoyne's manly sense unite to please.

And while each guest attends our varied feats

Of scattered covies and retreating fleets,

Me shall they wish some better sport to gain

And thee more glory from the next campaign."

Fox, who in his later days was negligent and slovenly in
his attire, was, when young, one of the greatest swells of the
day ; and Beau Fox was to be seen " strutting up and down
St. James's Street, in a suit of French embroidery, a little
silk hat, red-heeled shoes, and a bouquet nearly large enough
for a maypole." 29

St. James's Street has been the scene of half the anecdotes
of high life. Some of them are better left unrelated ; for
many of the habitues of this quarter were not very particular
in their conduct.

" And there insatiate yet with folly's sport,
That polish'd sin-worn fragment of the court,
The shade of Queensb'ry should with Clermont meet,
Ogling and hobbling down St. James's Street." 30

But although in the old times there was more open profligacy
than would be tolerated in the present day, there was also
more joyousness and abandon of spirit. What would now be
thought of our legislators acting as William Windham relates
that he and his friends acted one night as they returned from

29 B. C. Walpole's Life of Fox, 1806. p. 24.

30 Imperial Epistle from Kien Long, 1795 {School of Satire, p. 76).

144 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the House of Commons ? — " We were boyish enough to amuse
ourselves with throwing stones at each other during our pro-
gress through the Park, and oranges when we came in
St. James's Street." sl

It was in St. James's Street, on the evening of the 6th of
December, 1670, that the Duke of Ormonde was seized and
nearly murdered by the infamous Colonel Blood, as he was
riding home in his carriage to Clarendon House.

Maclean, the fashionable highwayman, was well known in
this street, where he had a lodging opposite " White's Club."
Amongst the numerous people he waylaid and robbed was
Horace Walpole. He was caught out at last, owing to his
selling a laced waistcoat to a pawnbroker, who happened to
carry it to the very person who had just before sold the lace.
He reaped the reward of his deeds by being hanged in 1750 ;
but he appears to have been so popular that 3,000 persons
went to see him on the first Sunday after his condemnation.
On this occasion he fainted away twice from the heat of
his cell.

Mrs. Letitia Pilkington, the wit and friend of Swift, after
separation from her husband, the Rev. Matthew Pilkington,
attempted to gain a living by opening a small shop opposite
" White's," for the purpose of selling pamphlets and prints,
which she bought with her last five guineas. She was soon,
however, obliged to leave, and take cheaper lodgings. 32

Ridley, the bookseller, sold some of the trumpery quack
medicines of the notorious Sir John Hill ; and the tincture of
sage and balsam of honey were so successful, that he took as
much as 30/. per week by their sale.

The jokes that have been uttered in St. James's Street
by the saunterers along its pavement would probably fill a
goodly volume, but, unfortunately, most of them have died
with their authors and utterers. Beau Brummell, when in
disgrace, was walking with a friend in St. James's Street. On
his companion bowing to the Prince of Wales, Brummell put

31 Diary, p. 135.

32 Memoirs. Dublin, 1749 ; vol. ii. p. 9.

ST. JAITESS STREET. 145

on an innocent look, and asked, in an audible whisper, who his
fat friend was. One of Lord Chelmsford's bon-mots is asso-
ciated with this street. He was walking here one day when
he was accosted by a stranger with, " Mr. Birch, I believe ? "
to which the noble lord answered, " If you believe that, sir,
you'll believe anything." We will now saunter up and down
the street, and chat over the houses that have a history.

No. 1, at the corner of Pall Mall, is Sams's well-known shop,
where are to be seen the portraits of celebrated men about
town. At No. 8 lived Lord Byron when the English Bards
and Scotch Reviewers was published. He went there in
October, 181 1, and remained till the middle of the next year.

No. 16 is the banking-house of Messrs. Herries, Farquhar,
and Co. Robert Herries, the founder of the bank, was the
originator of the useful system of circular letters of credit, for
the issuing of which he opened an office in St. James's Street.

Nos. 26, 27, are now occupied by the upholstery shop of
the famous Banting the corpulent. The house numbered 26
was, some years ago, a gaming-club, called the " Athenaeum,"
one of the chief hells in London. It was kept by Messrs.
Bond, who in a few years realized an immense fortune.

No. 28 is " Boodle's Club," which was named the " Savoir
Vivre." Gibbon and Wilberforce were both members. The
latter says that " the first time I went to ' Boodle's ' I won
twenty-five guineas of the Duke of Norfolk." Mason mentions
it in the Heroic Epistle to Sir Win. Chambers : —

" So when some John his dull invention racks
To rival Boodle's dinners or Almack's,
Three uncouth legs of mutton shock our eyes,
Three roasted geese, three butter'd apple pies."

The following lampoon was addressed to the Duke of
Oueensberry : —

" Consult the equestrian bard, wise Chiron Beever,
Or Dr. Heber's learned Sybil leaves :
And they, true members of the Scavoir vivre,

Will tell the wondrous things that love receives." 33

33 Selwyn and his Contemporaries, vol. iv. p. 375.

146 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

No. 29 was the print-shop of Miss Humphry, the good
friend and indulgent landlady of Gillray, whose caricatures
were exhibited in the window. These engravings attracted
so great a crowd that the pedestrian was usually forced to
quit the pavement for the carriage-way as he passed the
house. Gillray himself lived here, and from his window saw
the men he was so successful in caricaturing. In a state of
insanity he threw himself out of an upstairs window, and died
of the wounds.

No. 32 was inhabited for some years by the well-known
bookseller, Robert Triphook, who assisted Sir Walter Scott
in some of his literary work, and collected information for the
Pirate. Byron's friend, Cam Hobhouse, afterwards Lord
Broughton, lodged over his shop, which was a rendezvous of
literary men.

Nos. 37, 38, are now occupied by "White's Club-house."

" At White's the harness'd chairman idly stands
And swings around his waist his tingling hands." 34

The club was originally established as a chocolate-house,
about the year 1698, and was situated near the bottom of the
west side of the street, on the site of " Arthur's Club-house."
It was removed in 1755 to the present house, the front of
which was designed by James Wyatt. Various alterations
Avere made by Lockyer in 1850, when the four bas-reliefs of
the seasons were added, from the designs of George Scharf,
jun. " White's " continued to be a public resort for some
years. The Tatlcr (1709) opens with the information that
" all accounts of gallantry, pleasure, and entertainment shall
be under the article of ' White's Chocolate-house.' " In
another place the editor informs his readers that he cannot
send a man "to 'White's' under sixpence." On April 28,
1733, the house was entirely destroyed by fire, in consequence
of which, Arthur, the proprietor and founder of " Arthur's
Club," moved to " Gaunt's Coffee-house," next the " St.
James's Coffee-house," where he begged the noblemen and

34 GAY'S Trivia, Book 2.

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 147

gentlemen would " favour him with their company as usual."
George II. and the Prince of Wales were spectators of the
fire, which destroyed much valuable property, and the collec-
tion of paintings belonging to Sir Andrew Fountaine, valued
at 3,000/. Soon after the fire the house was rebuilt, and
turned into a private club, although the old name was con-
tinued for some years. In 1745 Selwyn's letters were directed
to him " at ' White's Chocolate-house.' " The place was
early notorious as the haunt of gamblers. Swift says it was
"the common rendezvous of infamous and noble cullies;"
and Pope introduces it into the Dunciad: —

" Or chain'd at White's amidst the Doctors sit,
Teach oaths to gamesters and to nobles wit."

Considering that the word " Doctors" was a cant term for false
dice, the lines do not rate highly the respectability of its
frequenters. Jansen, the gamester, cheated the Duke of
Bedford out of an immense sum of money ; and Pope
writes : —

" Or when a Duke to Jansen punts at White's."

Hogarth introduces a room at " White's " into the sixth
picture of the " Rake's Progress," where the fire is discovered
while the gamblers are busy at their cards. The party
present is not a select one, for a highwayman is seen sitting
by the fire. The outside of the house is brought into the
fourth picture, where the Rake is arrested as he goes to
Court. It was in order to keep out the common herd of
gamblers that the club was formed, but the change did not
result in a higher tone of morality. A contemporary hand
draws the Modern Fine Gentleman as a detestable creature,
who takes his recreation at this club : —

" From hence to White's our virtuous Cato flies :
There sits with countenance erect and wise,
And talks of games and whist, and pigtail pies :
Plays all the night, nor doubts each law to break,
Himself unknowingly has helped to make ;

148 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Trembling and anxious, stakes his utmost groat,
Peeps o'er his cards, and looks as if he thought ;
Next morn disowns the losses of the night,
Because the fool would fain be thought a bite." 35

Bramston makes his Man of Taste express himself
thus : —

" Had I whole counties, I to White's would go,
And set land, woods, and rivers, at a throw.
But should I meet with an unlucky run,
And at a throw be gloriously undone ;
My debts of honour I'd discharge the first,
Let all my lawful creditors be curs'd :
My title would preserve me from arrest,
And seizing hired horses is a jest." 36

The club was long noted as a gambling-house, the
games played being chiefly hazard and faro ; but when
Almack's was started the worst gamblers went off there, —

" From White's we'll move the expensive scene.''

Besides play, there was a rage for bets at the club. Walpole
relates a story that has often been repeated. A man dropped
down before the door and was carried inside ; the club at
once made bets whether he was dead or not, and when the
surgeon was about to bleed him, the wagerers for his death
interposed, and said it would affect the fairness of the bet.
Walpole calls this a good story, and we can only hope that,
like many another good story, it is not true. For some
years there appear to have been two clubs, the old and the
young ; but in what the difference consisted, and when the two
were united, I cannot find out. Mr. Cunningham says that
the earliest record in the club is a book of rules and list of
members " of the Old Club at White's." Dodington writes in
his diary, under date January 8, 1754, "I went to 'White's'
to a ballot for increasing the Old Club, which passed in
the negative, 34 to 10." The Right Hon. Richard Rigby,
writing to Selwyn 12th March, 1765, says, "The Old Club

35 Foundling Hospital for Wit, No. 4, 1763, p. 47.

36 DoDSLEY's Collection of Poems, 1770, vol. i. p. 294.

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 149

flourishes very much, and the young one has been better
attended than of late years ; but the deep play is removed to
' Almack's,' where you will certainly follow it." " White's
Club " appears to have been jealous of its new rival, for the
Earl of Carlisle writes to Selwyn (Jan. 9, 1768) : " I wish you
would put up the Marquis of Kildare at the Young Club, and
afterwards at 'Almack's,' but take care he is not put up
first at ' Almack's,' as that excludes him from ' White's.' If
you think you have not sufficient interest at the Young Club,
get some other person to do it." On February 15, 1769, the
following rule was made by the Old Club : " It was this night
agreed by a majority of nineteen balls, that every member
of this club who is in the billiard-room at the time supper
is declared upon table shall pay his reckoning, if he does
not sup at the Young Club." By the above extracts it
would appear that the two clubs were kept quite distinct,
although they seem to have been held in the same house.
Probably as the Old Club was very select and small in its
members, the Young Club was considered as an adjunct from
which it could be replenished as members died or resigned.
Again, it is probable that when, in 1780, the numbers were
raised to three hundred, the Young Club was swallowed up
and the distinction done away with.

Walpole and his friends Selwyn and Williams composed
a coat of arms for the two clubs at White's which is thus
described : —

" Vert (for card-table) between two parolis proper on a
chevron table ; (for hazard table) two rouleaus in saltire
between two dice proper in a canton sable ; a white ball (for
election) argent. Supporters : an old knave of clubs on the
dexter, a young knave on the sinister side, both accoutred
proper. Crest : issuing out of an Earl's coronet (Lord Dar-
lington) an arm shaking a dice-box, all proper. Motto
(alluding to the crest) : ' Cogit amor nummi! The arms
encircled by a claret-bottle ticket by way of order." 37

The Club was at one time almost exclusively Tory, and
37 Walpole s Letters, 1840, vol. iii. p. 214.

150 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the whipper-in of that party could always find his men here,
as the Whig whipper-in could find his at "Brookes's;" but
nevertheless the elite of the Whigs were always members.
The club lost its political character on the formation of the
" Carlton," and it is now only aristocratic. The famous bay-
window remains the chief fashionable morning lounge of
select London men.

Among its former celebrated members may be noted the
Earl of Chesterfield, Bubb Dodington, Henry Pelham, George
Selwyn, Colley Cibber, Fox, Wllberforce, Pitt, handsome Jack
St. Leger, and Lord Rodney. When the younger Crebillon's
infamous novel, The Sofa, was published, Lord Chesterfield
received three hundred copies, which he sold at the club.
Pelham, when Prime Minister, is said to have divided his time
between his office and this club. In 1752 Governor George
Morton Pitt's house in Arlington Street was broken into, and
Horace Walpole, then living next door, headed a party who
sought for the robbers. They found one, and Walpole, wishing
to share his glory with his friend, sent to the club for Selwyn, to
whom the drawer delivered the message in a hollow trembling
voice : " Mr. Selwyn, Mr. Walpole's compliments to you, and
he has got a housebreaker for you." S8 Charles Townshend
had an animated dispute one evening at Earl Gower's with
Selwyn, and after the party broke up he drove him in his
chariot to "White's." On bidding Townshend good-night
Selwyn said, " Remember this is the first set down you have
given me to-day."

Sir George Rodney, when in France, in great want of
money, was offered a post of rank in the French navy, by the
Duke de Biron, to which offer Rodney replied : — " Monsieur
le Due, it is true that my distresses have driven me from my
country, but no temptation can estrange me from her service ;
had this offer been voluntary on your part, I should have
considered it an insult ; but I am glad that it proceeds from
a source that can do no wrong." He sent Lady Rodney over
to open a subscription among his friends at "White's," but the
38 Walpole's Correspondence, 1S40, vol. ii. p. 424.

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 151

scheme failed. However, brighter days soon shone on him.
John Clerk, of Eldin, who had never been to sea, communi-
cated his celebrated invention of the manoeuvre for breaking
the line to Rodney ; by the use of which that great Admiral
gained his victory over the French fleet, commanded by
De Grasse, in 1782.

On George III.'s recovery in 1789, the club gave a ball
at the " Pantheon," when the price of tickets was three guineas
and a half. In 18 14, the club gave a fete to the Allies, at
Burlington House, which cost 9,849/. 2s. 6d., and a dinner to
the Duke of Wellington, over which 2,480/. 10s. gd. was spent.
The present members of the club are still the elite of society,
and among them, many of the bearers of aristocratic names
are the descendants of the old and original members.

Arthur was the first proprietor that we know anything
about, for White is a mere name to us. On the death of
Arthur, Robert Mackreth, the well-known " Bob," who married
his daughter, became the proprietor, but he soon gave the
club up to his relation, Mr. Chambers, nicknamed the " Cheru-
bim," and was elected a Member of Parliament, through the
influence of Horace Walpole's nephew, Lord Orford, who had
borrowed money of him. Bob was ten years member for
Castle Rising, and twenty-two years member for Ashburton,
and was knighted in 1795. It was said that Sir Thomas
Rumbold, Governor of Madras, was, in early life, a waiter at
" White's ; " but this could hardly have been the case, for, at
the age of sixteen, he began his career in India, as a writer
to Fort St. George. Nevertheless, an epigram, attributed
to Lord Camden, was written on the supposed circum-
stance : —

" When Bob Mackreth served Arthur's crew,
' Rumbold,' he cried, ' come, black my shoe.'
And Rumbold answered, ' Yea, Bob.'
But now returned from India's land
He scorns t'obey the proud command,
And boldly answers, ' Na, Bob.' "

No. 41, York Chambers. The poet Campbell lived here

152 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

during the years 1830- 1840, as also did Captain James
Mangles, R.N., from 1829 to 1836.

No. 50 was formerly " Crockford's Club." Crockford was
originally the proprietor of a fish-shop, on the Strand side of
Temple Bar, then a " leg " at Newmarket, then a keeper
of hells in London ; finally, he set up this great pande-
monium, " with a hazard bank, by which he won all the dis-
posable money of the men of fashion in London, which was
supposed to be near two millions." 89 It was a gorgeous hell,
where Crockford presided at a desk — ready to lend to the
losers. The house was built in 1827, B. and P. Wyatt being
the architects.

The Duke of Wellington, Prince Polignac, Talleyrand,
Pozzo di Borgo, Esterhazy, D'Orsay, and Horace Twiss were
all members, and the great Ude was the cook. This chef of
chefs was cook to the Duke of York, on whose death he
pathetically exclaimed, "Ah, mon pauvre Due! how much
you will miss me where you are gone ! "

Crockford retired in 1840, and soon after died worth
700,000/., after having lost as large a sum in mining and other
speculations. His death was accelerated by fears as to the
issue of the " Derby." The gambling set at " Crockford's,"
like that at " White's," gained a very unamiable reputation
for insensibility. Raikes relates how, in 1832, Mr. Robert
Smith was seized with cholera in the morning, and died at
eleven o'clock at night ; and adds, " Even the set at ' Crock-
ford's ' was for a moment electrified by the sudden cata-
strophe."

When Crockford died, in 1844, the club-house was sold,
and in 1849 the interior was redecorated, and opened for the
" Military, Naval, and County Service Club." This club had
but a short life, for the year 185 1 saw it brought to a close.
The house has since been occupied by the " Wellington
Dining-rooms " and the " St. George's Club," and is now
unoccupied.

Next door to "Crockford's" and the corner house of
39 Raikes'S Diary, vol. iv. p. 393.

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 153

Bennett Street, was, some thirty or forty years ago, a gaming-
house called " Raggett's Junior," kept by one Ephraim Bond.
This hell, which was founded in Duke Street, St. James's, was
afterwards moved to No. 26, St. James's Street, and then
transferred to this house, now occupied by the " Wellington
Dining-rooms."

In 1800, Lord Nelson lived at No. 54.

Nos. 57, 58. The "New University Club" was established
in 1864, to accommodate the waiters for election into the
older university clubs. This elegant Gothic building was
commenced in 1865, from the design of Mr. Waterhouse, and
was finished in May, 1868. It has two fronts, the one in
Arlington Street and the other in St. James's Street ; the
latter is built of Portland stone, with the arms of the various
colleges carved upon it ; and the former of white brick, with
stone dressings.

No. 60 is "Brookes's Club." This club was originally
established in 1764 by Almack, in Pall Mall, on the site lately
occupied by the British Institution. It was noted for its deep
play, and references to it are numerous in the memoirs of the
day. Horace Walpole says the members played only for
rouleaus of 50/. each, and 10,000/. in specie was generally on
the table. In 1770, when Fox was a Lord of the Admiralty
in Lord North's Government, he paid so much more attention
to play than to business, that the clerks were forced to wait
upon him at his clubs, where, with pen in one hand and cards
in the other, he signed warrants and orders. He lost immense
sums of money, and, in fact, preferred losing to not playing
at all. The following monorhymic verses give an amusing
picture of Fox : —

"At Almack's of pigeons I'm told there are flocks,
But it's thought the completest is one Mr. Fox.
If he touches a card, if he rattles the box,
Away fly the guineas of this Mr. Fox.
He has met, I'm afraid, with so many hard knocks,
That cash is not plenty with this Mr. Fox.
In gaming, 'tis said, he's the stoutest of cocks ;
No man can play deeper than this Mr. Fox.

154 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

ye hawks, sure your hearts must be harder than rocks,
If you win without pity from this Mr. Fox.

And he always must lose, for the strongest of locks

Cannot keep any money for this Mr. Fox.

No doubt such behaviour exceedingly shocks

All the friends and acquaintance of this Mr. Fox ;

And they wish from their souls they could put in the stocks,

And make an example of this Mr. Fox.

He's exceedingly curious in coats and in frocks,

So the tailor's a pigeon to this Mr. Fox ;

Nay, his clothes and his shirts, and her ladyship's smocks,

Would be pawned for a guinea by this Mr. Fox.

He delights much in hunting, though fat as an ox ;

1 pity the horses of this Mr. Fox.

They are, probable, most of them lame in the hocks,
Such a heavy-made fellow is this Mr. Fox." 40

One year after the opening of the club, Almack built the
Assembly Rooms in King Street (now " Willis's "), and in
1778, Brookes, a wine-merchant and money-lender, took
"Almack's," and removed the club to St. James's Street.
The old house still continued to be occupied as a club, and
was known as " Goosetrees." The new house was built at
Brookes's expense, from the designs of Henry Holland, the
architect. The Right Hon. Thomas Townshend, afterwards
Viscount Sidney, wrote to Selwyn, in October, 177S : —
" Brookes's new house is to be opened in a week or ten
days." Brookes retired from the club soon after it was built,
because it did not answer, and he died poor in 1782. Sheridan
wrote the following lines on seeing the funeral of the old
proprietor of the club : —

" Alas ! that Brookes, returned to dust,
Should pay at length the debt that we,
Averse to parchment, mortgage, trust,
Shall pay when forced, — as well as he.
And die so poor, too ! He whose trade
Such profit cleared by draught and deed,

40 Unpublished Verses, quoted in George Selwyn and his Contemporaries,
iii. p. 159. There is an incorrect version printed in the Notes and Queries,
vol. x. p. 123.

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 155

Though pigeons called him murmuring Brookes,

And dipped their bills in him at need.

At length his last conveyance see,

Each witness mournful as a brother,

To think that this world's mortgagee

Must suffer judgment in another !

Where no appeals to courts can rest,

Reversing a supreme decree ;

But each decision stands confessed

A final precedent in re." 41

Among the celebrated men who were members of the club
were Burke, Garrick, David Hume, Horace Walpole, Gibbon,
who rated highly the enjoyment to be had there, Sheridan,
Wilberforce, Pitt, Fox, Windham, Sir Philip Francis, George
Selwyn, Dunning, Lord Ashburton, Duke of Oueensberry,
George IV. when Prince of Wales, Topham Beauclerk, Sir
Joshua Reynolds. Beauclerk, in 1773, writing to the Earl of
Charlemont, says: — "Would you imagine that Sir Joshua
Reynolds is extremely anxious to be a member of ' Almack's ? '
You see what noble ambition will make a man attempt."
Lord Crewe, the husband of the celebrated Mrs. Crewe, was
an original member of Brookes's, and at the time of his death,
in 1829, had been connected with it for sixty-five years. The
number of members has always been strictly limited, and in
an election one black ball excludes. Selwyn took advantage
of this privilege to keep Sheridan out, and it was only by a
ruse of the Prince of Wales that the brilliant wit was elected.
On one occasion, Tarleton and Jack Payne, proposed by the
Prince of Wales, were blackballed, which so offended him
that, in 1788, in conjunction with his brother the Duke of
York, he founded " Weltzie's Club," on the west side of the
street, in opposition to the old club.

Brookes's has always been the special rendezvous of the
Whigs, and it still continues to be so. A few days after Pitt's
first speech on the 26th February, 1781, in the House of
Commons, Fox brought him to the club, where he was at

41 Richardson's Recollections of the Last Half Century, 1856, vol. ii.
p. 209.

156 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

once elected a member. After becoming Prime Minister, he
rarely went there, but he paid his subscriptions till his death.
Only three years after his election, that is, on the 28th of
February, 1784, he was attacked, as he returned from a city
banquet, by a body of ruffians and hired bullies outside the
club. He succeeded with great difficulty in escaping into
" White's."

" Ah ! why Mahon's disastrous fate record ?
Alas ! how fear can change the fiercest lord !
See the sad sequel of the Grocers' treat ; —
Behold him darting up St. James's Street ?
Pelted and scar'd by Brookes's hellish sprites,
And vainly fluttering round the door of White's." 42

Sir Philip Francis withdrew his name from the club on
the publication of Taylor's Junius Identified, although he had
been a member for many years. The talk frequently turned
upon Junius, and he did not like to be questioned on the
point. Sir James Graham withdrew in 1834, after having
been a member for twenty-four years.

Lord Palmerston having long been a Tory, was not elected
a member until 1830. There were never many radicals in the
club, but O'Connell was a member. He was not popular,
and was sent to Coventry when he vituperated the Whigs.

In 1788, when George III. was attacked with insanity, a
gloom was spread over the kingdom ; but at Brookes's exulta-
tions only were heard, and it was a frequent practice for the
card-players to cry out, " I play the lunatic," instead of, " I
play the King," even in the presence of the Prince of Wales
and the Duke of York. On the recovery of the King,
however, this club, as well as " White's," gave a ball. The
Opposition ladies would not go to "White's" ball, and the
ladies who supported Government doubted whether or not
to accept the invitations from " Brookes's."

The clubs of St. James's were hot-beds of gambling ; and
when, in 178 1, Mansfield, the Solicitor-General, brought in a
Bill for the prevention of certain abuses practised on Sunday,

42 Political Eclogues (Rolliad, 1795, P- 2 4°)-

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 157

Martin, M.P. for Tewkesbury, very justly asked why " the
Gaming-houses, which were open every Sunday, in the
immediate vicinity of St. James's, had not attracted the notice
of the learned framer of the Bill." Many of the members
were singularly unfortunate at play ; and " Lord Egremont
was convinced by reflection, aided by his subsequent ex-
perience of the world, that there was at that time some unfair
confederacy among some of the players, and that the great
losers, especially Mr. Fox, were actually duped and cheated." 43
In the year 1799, four players, whose united property was
supposed to be worth two millions sterling, lost every farthing
they possessed.

In May, 1781, when Lord Cholmondeley, the friend of
George IV., by whom he was made a Marquis, and Sir
Willoughby Aston, started a bank at Brookes's, Fox and
Fitzpatrick, considering them as intruders, attacked them,
broke their bank, and won 4,000/. Fox at once sent for his
tradesmen and paid them as far as the money would go ; but
other creditors hearing of his good fortune, beset him, and put
an execution into his house. Lord Cholmondeley was more
fortunate in later years ; for Raikes tells us that he was one
of four who set up the faro bank, which ruined half the town.
Mr. Thompson, of Grosvenor Square, and Lord Cholmondeley,
each realized between three and four thousand pounds. In
Ackermann's Microcosm of London, it is stated that there was
no billiard-table, and that hazard was seldom played, but that
" the present fashionable games are quinze, whist, piquet, and
maccaw."

Fox lived for several years in a house adjoining Brookes's,
from which, in May, 1 78 1 , one of his creditors seized and cleared
out his property, which Walpole did not think worth removing.
When Walpole returned, full of the scene which he had just
witnessed, he was surprised to find sauntering before his door
Fox himself, who chatted with perfect sang-froid on his
Marriage Bill. Fox was always in want of money, and
borrowed right and left ; even the waiters at the clubs became
43 Lewis's Administrations of Great Britain, 1864, p. 8 (note}.

158 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

his creditors for small sums, and the chairmen of St. James's
Street importuned him for the payment of arrears. 44 Fox was
still living here in 1788, when, on November 24th, he was sent
for from the Continent by his party, to take part in the
Regency debates. He at once returned to England, and
performed the journey of eight hundred miles in nine days,
which was then considered a great wonder. 43

No. 62 was long known as Betty's Fruit Shop, a favourite
lounge of the men of fashion and gossips of the day —

" There, at one glance, the royal eye shall meet
Each varied beauty of St. James's Street ;
Stout Talbot there shall ply with hackney chair,
And patriot Betty fix her fruit-shop there." 46

Mrs. Elizabeth Neale was the queen of applewomen ; she
knew all that was passing in the world, and had a wonderful
knowledge of family history. Her manners were pleasing,
and her conversation abounded with anecdote, so that there
is no cause for wonder at her popularity. When Walpole and
his party went to Vauxhall, in 1750, Betty accompanied them
with hampers of strawberries and cherries. She died on the
30th of August, 1797, aged 67, at her house in Park Place,
fourteen years after she had retired from business.

No. 63 was Peyrault, Pierault or Pero's Bagnio, set up
about the year 1699, when it became a very fashionable place.
The prices were 2s. 6d. for a cold bath, and $s. for a warm
one. The house is now occupied by " Fenton's Hotel."

No. 64, " The Cocoa Tree Private Club," was formerly
the famous chocolate-house of the same name, known in
Queen Anne's reign as the resort of the Tories and
Jacobites, and then situated in Pall Mall. Defoe writes,
"A Whig will no more go to the ' Cocoa Tree,' or ' Ozinda's,'
than a Tory will be seen at the coffee-house of St. James's."
The following extract from Mrs. Pilkington's Memoirs gives

44 Selwyn and his Contemporaries, ii. 224.

45 Wraxall's Posthumous Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 193.

46 Heroic Epistle to Sir Wm. Chambers, 1773.

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 159

a good picture of the life of a young man of the period : —
" Well then, said he, I'll tell you how I pass the day. . . I rise
about nine, drink coffee, not that I like it, but it gives a man
the air of a politician ; for the same reason I always read the
news. Then I dress, and about twelve go to the ' Cocoa Tree,'
where I talk treason ; from thence to ' St. James's Coffee
House,' where I praise the ministry ; then to ' White's,' where I
talk gallantry ; so by three I return home to dinner : after that
I read about an hour and digest the book and the dinner
together ; then I go to the opera or play, Vauxhall or Ranelagh,
according to the season of the year, and from thence home to
supper, and about twelve to bed." Soon after this the house
was turned into a private club. Gibbon thus describes the
appearance of the members in the year 1762.: — "This
respectable body, of which I have the honour of being a
member, affords every evening a sight truly English. Twenty
or thirty perhaps of the first men in the kingdom in point of
fortune and fashion supping at little tables covered with a
napkin in the middle of a coffee-room, upon a bit of cold
meat or a sandwich, and drinking a glass of punch. At
present we are full of kings' counsellors and lords of the bed-
chamber, who, having jumped into the ministry, make a very
singular medley of their old principles and language with their
modern ones." The club was a favourite resort of George IV.
when Prince of Wales, and Lord Byron also was a member.

Nos. 69, 70, is " Arthur's Club," which was rebuilt in the
year 1825, from the designs of Thomas Hopper. It was
founded by Arthur, the proprietor of "White's," who died in
June, 1761.

A great change has taken place of late years in the houses
on the west side of the Pall Mall end of the street. One of
the houses pulled down to make room for the " Conservative
Club " was formerly occupied by Elmsley, the learned editor
and bookseller. Gibbon lodged here, and he has left on
record that he "was proud and happy if [he] could prevail on
Elmsley to enliven the dulness of the evening." The great
historian died at these lodgings on the 16th of January, 1794.

160 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

At " Parsloe's Coffee-house" "Johnson's Club" was held
before it was removed to the "Thatched House." Here were
the head-quarters of the celebrated chess club of which the
great player, Philidor, was a member. He frequently played
blindfold two or three games at once.

The famous " Thatched House Tavern " stood on part of
the ground of the " Conservative Club," and also on that
occupied by the " Civil Service Club," the name of which,
in consideration of its position, has been changed to the
" Thatched House Club."

" If you have London still at heart,
We'll make a small one here by art ;
The difference is not much between
St. James's Park and Stephen's Green;
And Dawson Street will serve as well
To lead you thither as Pall Mall,
Nor want a passage through the palace
To choke your sight and raise your malice ;
The Deanery-house may well be match'd
Under correction with the Thatch'd."

The "Thatched House" was a favourite meeting-place for
convivial societies. The " Brothers' Club," a literary society
which preceded the " Scriblerus Club," consisting of Swift,
Arbuthnot, Harley, St. John, and the Tory magnates, met
here in 1713 ; they also met at " Ozinda's Coffee-house," and
removed to the " Star and Garter" in Pall Mall, on account of
the expense of the " Thatched House." The " Dilettanti
Society," established in 1734 by Viscount Harcourt, the
second Duke of Dorset, Sir Francis Dashwood, and other
noblemen and gentlemen, to the number of fifty, met here
until the house was pulled down. " The members dine
together six times a year, on Sundays, without guests ; and
one of the penalties is a fine of one guinea to any member
who calls the Society a club." Mathias says that " the pre-
sident (of the day) is invested with a Roman toga, in a sort
of consular pomp ; " i7 but if this ever really was the custom, it

47 Pursuits of Literature, 1798, p. 68 (note).

ST. JAMES'S STREET. 161

is not now in use. The Society has gained a great name,
although it has done little of late years. In 1764 it sent out an
expedition to Asia Minor, and in 18 14, another to the Levant.
The Society's beautiful collection of portraits by Reynolds,
Lawrence, &c, was formerly kept at the "Thatched House,"
but they are at present at " Willis's," in King Street, where
the Society now meet. The earlier portraits were painted by
George Knapton, who took Sir Francis Dashwood in the
habit of St. Francis, paying his devotions to a figure of the
Venus de' Medici.

The " Catch Club," established by the nobility and gentry
for the improvement of vocal harmony, and of which Lord
Sandwich was president, met at the " Thatched House " in
1762. "Johnson's Club" removed here from " Parsloe's " on
February 26, 1799. The "Royal Society Club " transferred
their dinners from " Freemasons' Tavern " to the " Thatched
House" in 1857, when the Royal Society removed from
Somerset House to Burlington House. The host of " Free-
masons' Tavern " was loth to lose the club, and offered to
supply carriages to drive the members and their friends to
Burlington House, in time for the evening meetings of the
Society.

Lord Campbell, in his Life of Lord Thurloiv, gives an
amusing anecdote of the rough Chancellor's wit. In the
debates on the regency, a certain prim peer, noted for his
attention to etiquette, having cited pompously some resolu-
tions passed by a party of noblemen and gentlemen at the
" Thatched House," Lord Thurlow, on rising, said, " As to
what the noble lord in the red riband told us he had heard in
the alehouse," &c. 48

Beneath the tavern front was a range of low-built shops,
including that of Felix Rowland, the fashionable hair-dresser,
who made a fortune by the sale of his macassar oil. Through
the tavern was a passage to Thatched House Court, where
Mrs. Delany lived from 1769 to 177 1, in which latter year she

48 Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, v. 643.

162 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

moved to St. James's Place. In a letter to the Viscountess
Andover, dated June 3, 1771, she writes: — "I suppose your
ladyship cannot be ignorant of so important a transaction as
the present possessor of the ' little Thatch ' having purchased
some old walls in St. James's Place, in order to remove
thither by the end of July." In a letter (January, 1769) she
speaks of " my hut in Little St. James's Street."

The " Conservative Club," designed by George Basevi
and Sydney Smirke, was opened on the 19th of February,
1845.

" Gaunt's Coffee-house" was the last house but one at
the south-west corner. Here Arthur moved when " White's "
was burnt.

" St. James's Coffee-house," the head-quarters of the
Whigs, as the " Cocoa-Tree " was of the Tories, was the
corner house opposite the Palace. Steele opens the Tatlcr
(1709) with the information that "Foreign and Domestic
News you will have from St. James's Coffee-house." This
place was the scene of one of those atrocious deeds so
common in the last century. The Baron de Lingsivy, in
1776, ran a French officer through the body, because he
laughed when the baron chose to be grave. Goldsmith and
some of his friends occasionally dined here, and the charming
poem Retaliation was originated at one of these meetings.

" Of old, when Scarron his companions invited,
Each guest brought his dish and the feast was united :
If our landlord supplies us with beef and with fish,
Let each guest bring himself, and he brings the best dish."

Dr. Joseph Warton frequently breakfasted here, when he was
surrounded by officers who listened with attention and plea-
sure to his remarks on military matters. The house was
burnt on January 23, 1813.

When certain required alterations are made in Pall Mall,
the two houses at the bottom of St. James's Street will be
cleared away, and the " Thatched House Club" will remain
the last house in the street.

STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 163

Opposite to St. James's Palace stood Berkshire House,
the residence of the Howards, Earls of Berkshire. It was a
large building, with outhouses and gardens, that extended
some way up the road afterwards known as St. James's
Street. Lord Chancellor Clarendon rented the house, and
lived in it in 1666, after he left Worcester House, and
before he took possession of Clarendon House in Piccadilly.
Charles II. bought the house in August, 1670, from the Earl
of Berkshire, and gave it to his mistress, the Duchess of
Cleveland, who built Cleveland House on a part of the site ;
the rest of the ground she sold, and houses were built upon
it. One of these was inhabited by the Earl of Nottingham,
whose chaplain was the celebrated Wm. Wotton. Charles
Fitzroy, Duke of Cleveland and Southampton, succeeded his
mother, who died in 1709, in the occupation of the house.
At his death in 1730 it was bought by Scroop Egerton, the
first Duke of Bridgewater, in whose family it has remained
since that time. It was at this time called sometimes Bridge-
water, and sometimes Cleveland House. Charles Jervas, the
portrait-painter and friend of Pope, died here in 1739. The
poet praises the painter highly in one of his Epistles : —

" Whether thy hand strike out some free design,
Where life awakes, and dawns at every line ;
Or blend in beauteous tints the colour'd mass,
And from the canvas call the mimic face,
Read these instructive leaves. . . .
*****

Free as thy stroke, yet faultless as thy line ;
New graces yearly like thy works display,
Soft without weakness, without glaring gay.''

Pope knew very little about painting, although he wished
to be a painter himself, and Walpole tells a different tale,
when he describes Jervas as deficient in drawing, colouring,
composition, and power of catching a likeness. He was,
however, the fashion, made money, and was characterized in
the Tatlcr as "the last great painter that Italy has sent us."

1 64 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Now his works are little esteemed, and he is best known
to us as the successful translator of Don Quixote. Cleveland
House was altered in 1795 by Francis, third Duke of Bridge-
water, who died unmarried in 1803. On his death the duke-
dom became extinct, but the house and magnificent gallery
of pictures was left to his nephew, George Marquis of Stafford,
afterwards Duke of Sutherland, with reversion to the Marquis's
second son, Lord Francis Egerton. Lord Francis was created
Earl of Ellesmere in 1846, and in the following year he built
the present beautiful mansion, known as Bridgewater House,
from the designs of Sir Charles Barry. Cleveland Row,
Cleveland Square, and Cleveland Court all take their name
from the old house. Bridgewater House is the chief building
in Cleveland Square; in the opposite house lived for some
years the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, first Lord of the
Admiralty in 1806. He here collected his superb library, so
rich in editiones principes, Aldines, and early printed books
generally, which he left to the nation, and which now, with
its elegant bindings, forms the choicest portion of the magni-
ficent library at the British Museum. The library was on the
first floor of the house and was contained in two handsome
rooms, the largest and principal facing the Green Park. Lord
Castlereagh lived in the Square in i8co.

The great Admiral Rodney lived in Cleveland Row in
1772, previous to his departure with the expedition to the
West Indies. Another great sailor, Sir Sidney Smith, lived
at No. 5 in 18 10, the same house in which Theodore Hook
was afterwards a resident. Lord George Gordon lived in the
Row in 1785. There is a letter of his to the Marquis of
Carmarthen, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in the
British Museum, dated from here on May 14, in which he
asks for the protection of Government against those who
threaten his life. The naval physician, Sir Gilbert Blane,
lived at No. 4 in 1809, and remained there till 1820, when he
removed to Sackville Street. Lord Grenville, the Prime
Minister, and brother of Thomas Grenville and the Duke of
Buckingham, lived at No. 15 from 1796 to 1801. Mr. Coppock,

STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 165

the great election manager of the Liberals, lived at No. 3
for some years.

Out of Cleveland Row runs a small alley, by name Russell
Court, formerly occupied by Bulmer's celebrated printing-
office, which was opened for the express purpose of printing
Alderman Boydell's grand edition of Shakspeare. The first
number of this magnificent work appeared in January, 1791,
and may be considered as forming an era in the history of
the art of printing, an art which had sunk in England to a
very low level. By the production, however, of his fine
edition of Milton, William Bulmer placed his name by the
side of Didot, Bodoni, and Ibarra. Bulmer, and Nicol the
bookseller, were constantly annoyed by the connoisseurs who,
upon seeing the productions of the Shakspeare Press, would
say, " This is very well, but what is it to the printing of
Bodoni ? " so they concocted a hoax called the " Bodoni
hum." Bulmer set up four pages of Cicero's Offices in a large
octavo form completely resembling Bodoni's type, which Nicol
showed to some of his customers, who exclaimed at its beauty
and said, " To what a perfection does this man mean to carry
the art of printing. Why, this surpasses all his former
excellence." All were anxious to obtain copies, when Nicol
told them that Mr. Bodoni had an agent in town, and if they
would turn to the bottom of the last page of the specimen
they would find his address, which was as follows : " W. Bulmer
and Co., Shakspeare Press." 49

Bulmer was a friend of the critic Gifford, who was pay-
master of the Board of Gentlemen Pensioners of which Bulmer
was a member, and Gifford amused himself with writing notes
in verse to his friend when his salary was due ; the following
is one of these : —

"Dear Bulmer, "May 5, 1819.

" Did but the proofs of Shirley's Plays
Return as quick as Quarter-days,

,* 9 Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron, iii. 4S4.

166 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

How would my friend Tom Turner chuckle,
And you give thanks on either knuckle !
But pardon ! I will speed them faster ;
Meanwhile to appease your wrath, my master,
You shall receive (before the others!
Your April salary and your Brother's." ?0

The Right Hon. Sir Paul Methuen, son of Methuen the
negotiator of the famous Portuguese Treaty of 1703, lived in
Cleveland Court in 1734. Gay mentions him in his Con-
gratulatory Poem to Pope,

" First I see Methuen, of sincerest mind.''

Colonel John Sehvyn, aide-de-camp to the great Duke
of Marlborough and afterwards Treasurer of the Household to
George II. when Prince of Wales, had a house in the Court.
His wife was bedchamber woman to Queen Caroline, and
a great friend of Sir Robert Walpole. Their house was the
scene of the memorable quarrel between Sir Robert and
Lord Townshend, when the Prime Minister and the Secretary
of State became so excited that they seized each other by
the throat, and might have proceeded further if Henry Pelham
had not fortunately come in and reconciled them. The
celebrated wit, George Selwyn, lived in the same house as his
father, the Colonel, for many years. He is described in the
Ro Iliad as a man possessed of

" A plenteous magazine of retail wit
Vamp'd up at leisure for some future hit ;
Cut for suppos'd occasions, like the trade,
Where old new things for every shape are made.
To this assortment well prepar'd at home,
No human chance unfitted e'er can come :
No accident, however strange or queer,
But meets its ready well-kept comment here."

George James Williams, better known as Gilly Williams,
one of Selwyn's friends, died at his house in Cleveland Court,
on November 28th, 1805.

50 Nichols's Illustrations of Literature, vi. 37.

STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 167

It is to be hoped that most of these houses will be shortly
cleared away,, as a continued view from Pall Mall into the Green
Park is much wanted.. Among the late Sir Charles Barry's
schemes for the improvement, of London, was one in which he
proposed .to clear away the obstructions at the east end of
Pall Mall, in order to open up. a road into the Green Park,
through Cleveland Row. This plan was sketched out at the
time that the Marble Arch was about to be moved from
Buckingham Palace, and Barry proposed that it should be
placed in the Green Park, between Stafford and Bridgewater
Houses ; in fact, the position of the latter was fixed in distinct
relation to this plan. It is much to be regretted that the
scheme fell to the ground.

St. James's Place, one of the oddest built streets in London,
was commenced about the year 1694, and has been inhabited
by many celebrated men. Addison lived here in 1710, before
his marriage with the Countess of Warwick. Eustace Budgell,
who was his second-cousin and amanuensis, lodged with him.
ParnelL.the beloved friend of Swift, Pope, Gay, and Arbuthnot,
lived in this street for a short time. His wife, to whom he
wrote the song —

" My days have been so wondrous free,''

died soon after their marriage, and he did not long survive
her. Pope's friend, William Cleland, lived here, as did another
of his friends, James Craggs, the Secretary of State, who died
at his house in 1720. White Kennett, Bishop of Peterborough,
died here on December 19th, 1728.

John. Wilkes lived, in 1756, in "elegant lodgings at a Mrs.
Murray's." Colonel Bodens, an immense man, immortalized
by Junius's ironical reference to his agility, died in this street
in 1762. The Right Hon. Richard Rigby was living here in
1767, when he removed from the Pay Office. Mrs. Delany
lived in this place in 1749, and also from 1771 to her death
in 1788. Fanny Burney dates from Mrs. Delany's house, in
August, 1785. Among the brilliant circle of friends that
surrounded Mrs. Delany, were Mrs. Montagu ; Mrs. Chapone ;

1 68 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the Countess of Bute, daughter of Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu ; Mrs. Carter ; Hannah More ; Mrs. Boscawen ;
Soame Jenyns ; Lord North ; Horace Walpole, &c. Lady
Hill, the widow of the notorious quack, Sir John Hill, M.D.,
lived here in 1780, and Warren Hastings in 1787. Henry
Grattan was also an inhabitant of the place, and Sir Francis
Burdett died here in 1844.

Molly Lepel, Lady Hervey, built a house in 1747, looking
into the Park, from the designs of Henry Flitcroft, the
architect of the Church of St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, and Woburn
Abbey. She did not live long to enjoy her pleasant house,
but died in September, 1768. On her death, Lord Byron's
uncle, the Earl of Carlisle, took possession ; he writes to
Selwyn on the 19th of October, 1768 : — " I agree with you,
it is very extravagant to give two hundred a year to see a
cow under my windows, but still, I am very happy to have the
house, and hope you will like the present owner as well as you
did the last one." 51 It was subsequently the residence of the
Earl of Moira, afterwards Marquis of Hastings. Later the
house was divided into two. Spencer House is a handsome
stone building, designed by J. Vardy, about the year 1760, for
Mr. John Spencer, afterwards the first Earl Spencer. It has
two fronts, one in St. James's Place, and the other, which is
the principal one, facing the Green Park. On the pediment
of the latter front are figures by Michael H. Spong, a Dane.
George, second Earl Spencer, K.G., formed his magnificent
library, which Renouard calls " the richest private collection in
Europe," in less than twenty-four years. The greater number
of these superb books, so fully described by Dr. Dibdin, are
deposited at Althorpe. Captain Basil Hall, the author of
various popular books of travel, lived at No. 4, in 1831.
Roger Wilbraham, the book-collector, was at No. 1 1, from 1796
to 1800. The beautiful actress, Mrs. Robinson, who captivated
George IV. in the character of Perdita in the Winter s Talc,
lodged at No. 14, in 1796. No. 22 was for nearly fifty years

51 Selwyn and his Contemporaries, ii. 335-6.

STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 169

the residence of Samuel Rogers, the poet, during which time it
was one of the rendezvous of literary and fashionable society,
as most of the lions of the season were invited by the banker
poet to his celebrated breakfasts. When Rogers, in 1803, took
the house, which had formerly belonged to the Duke of St.
Albans, he had it altered and nearly rebuilt. He collected
around him during his long life a fine collection of pictures
and drawings, and other works of art, which were distributed
by auction after his death, in 1855. He patronized Stothard,
who charmingly illustrated many of his poems. When the
Duke of Wellington was showing the Waterloo Shield, he was
asked who designed it, to which he replied, " Ward and Green."
Rogers interposed " Stothard," on which the Duke said, " Ah !
yes ; Stoddart." 52

By the side of this house is a pathway into the Green Park,
which was formerly open. The gate is now locked, and a
writer in the Notes and Queries, who used it daily between
the years 18 10 and 1823, asks by "whose authority this con-
venient passage has been closed." 53

At No. 23 lived, from 1822 to 1832, Sir John William
Lubbock, Bart., the banker, and for some years treasurer to
the Royal Society.

Park Place was built in 1683, and it is mentioned as a new
street in the Act creating the parish of St. James's (1 Jac. II.
1685, cap. 22). David Hume, when Under-Secretary of State,
in 1769, lived in this street, and William Pitt retired to a small
house here in 1801, when he resigned the Treasury.

Lord Byron lived at No. 4, Bennet Street, in the years
1813-14, when he composed the Giaour, Bride of Abydos, and
Corsair. In his letters Byron sometimes called the street
Benedictine Street. Another poet, Richard Glover, M.P.,
better known as Leonidas Glover, dwelt at No. 9.

Arlington Street was built in the year 1689, on ground
granted in 1681 by Charles II. to Henry Bennet, Earl of
Arlington. Its name has deceived many writers on London,

52 Leslie's An tod. Recollections. 5 '' 2nd Series, vol. i. p. 356.

170

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

who have wrongly supposed that it was built on the site of
Arlington House. 54 Cunningham says that Lord Arlington
sold the ground to Mr. Pym, " who for many years inhabited
one of the largest houses in this street, and in whose family
the ground still remains!" The "high buildings," as Roger
North calls them, were at once inhabited by people of quality.
The neglected Duchess of Buckingham, widow of the profli-
gate Duke, and daughter of Fairfax, lived here from 1692 to
1694. The following noblemen were living in this street in
1698 : — Lord Brook, Earl of Kingston, Lord Guildford, Lord
Cholmondeley, and Earl of Peterborough. In 1708 all these
still remained, except the last named, and one of the natural
sons of Charles II., the Duke of Richmond, was added to
the number of residents. In 1706 the Earl of Kingston was
created Marquis of Dorchester, and in an advertisement in
the Tatler (August, 1710) his house is referred to : — " In
Arlington Street, next door to the Marquis of Dorchester,
is a large house to be let, with a garden and a door into the
park." This house remained in the family till 1770, when it
was sold by the second Duke of Kingston for 16,850/. It was
here that Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, then a fashionable
toast, lived with her father before her marriage. Lords Chol-
mondeley and Guildford, and the Duke of Richmond, were
still in the street in 1724. William Pulteney, Earl of Bath,
lived in a house on the west side of the street in 171 5, and
continued in it till he moved to his house in Piccadilly. Sir
Robert Walpole lived next door to his rival Pulteney, in 17 16,
and continued in the house till 1742, when he moved to No. 5.
It was afterwards rebuilt by Kent, and inhabited by Henry
Pelham. John Lord Carteret, Earl of Granville, lived for
some years in the last house on the west, or Green Park
side of the street. After enumerating the four last names,
which consist of two Prime Ministers and two Secretaries of
State, we see the force of Horace Walpole's remark, that it

54 Malcolm (London, vol. iv. p. 328) is greatly in error when he
writes, "Arlington Gardens comprised the ground now occupied by
Arlington Street, part of the Green Park and part of St. James's Park."

STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 171

was tlie Ministerial street. Writing to George Montagu
(December I, 1768), he says : — "I like your letter, and have
been looking at my next door but one. The ground story is
built, and the side walls will certainly be raised another floor
before you think of arriving. I fear nothing for you but the
noise of workmen, and of this street in front, and Piccadilly
on the other side. If you can bear such a constant hammering
and hurricane, it will rejoice me to have you so near me ;
and then I think I must see you oftener than I have done
these ten years. Nothing can be more dignified than this
position. From my earliest memory Arlington Street has
been the Ministerial street. The Duke of Grafton is actually
coming into the house of Mr. Pelham, which my Lord
President is quitting, and which occupies, too, the ground
on which my father lived ; and Lord Weymouth has just
taken the Duke of Dorset's; yet you and I, I doubt, shall
always live on the wrong side of. the way." 5S William Gerard
Hamilton lived here in 1779 ; and Walpole, in a letter to
Lady Ossory, referring to the effects of a storm on New
Year's day of this year, mentions that " one of the Gothic
towers at Lady Pomfret's house (now Single Speech Hamil-
ton's), in my street, fell through the roof, and not a thought
of it remains."

No. 5. Horace Walpole lived in this house from 1742
until 1779, when he removed to Berkeley Square. The first
four of these years he dwelt with his father, who left him the
house. A curious incident in Walpole's life occurred in 1771,
when his house was broken open without any of his servants
being disturbed. All the locks were forced off his drawers,
cabinets, &c, and the contents were scattered about, but
nothing was taken away.

No. 16. The Duke of Rutland, through whose influence,
brought to bear upon Sir James Lowther, Pitt was first
returned to Parliament, was living in this house in 1824. In
1826 it was lent to the Duke of York, who died in it on
January 5, 1827.

55 Walpole's Letters, ed. 1840, vol. v. p. 227.

i72 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

No. 17 was built by Kent, on the site of Sir Robert
Walpole's first house, and inhabited by Pelham, who was
succeeded by the Duke of Grafton. It afterwards came into
the possession of the Earl of Yarborough.

No. 20. The town house of the Marquises of Salisbury,
which is now being rebuilt. In April, 1786, George III.,
Queen Charlotte, and the Princess Royal, stood sponsors to
the daughter of the first Marquis and Marchioness, when a
grand christening took place at this house. The child was
named Georgiana Charlotte Augusta, and became afterwards
the second wife of Henry Wellesley, first Lord Cowley. The
Marchioness, well known as " Old Sarum," was for years one
of the leaders of fashion in the metropolis. For her Sunday
receptions and suppers, which attracted to her house all the
most distinguished society in London, no cards were sent out,
but verbal invitations were given. A writer in the New
llofitJdy Magazine for 1821, says: — "The man of fashion
.... lounges at the subscription house, and votes Sunday a
complete bore until it is time to drop in at the Marchioness's
in Arlington Street."

It is unnecessary to mention the numerous noblemen who
have inhabited the other houses, but it is worthy of note that
Charles J. Fox lived in the street for a short time, as did
Richard Rigby. Lord and Lady Nelson were here in the
winter of 1800-1, and the celebrated chemist Brande was born
in the street.

We now pass the Green Park, and come to Grosvenor
Place, which was built in 1767, much to the annoyance of
George III. The ground could have been bought for the
Crown for 20,000/., but George Grenville would not buy it,
and it fell into the hands of the builders. Anne, Countess of
Upper Ossory, the correspondent of Horace Walpole, died
here on February 23, 1804. She had been the wife of the
notorious Duke of Grafton, but was divorced from him on
account of his vicious life. George, third Earl of Egremont,
the patron of Haydon, who says of him, " Lord Egremont
goes about helping everybody who wants it," lived for some

STREETS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 173

years at No. 4. No 12 was the town house of the Earls of
Carlisle. Sir Henry Hardinge, afterwards Lord Viscount
Hardinge, and Commander-in-Chief, lived at No. 32 in 1824.
Sir James Graham, the " weathercock " Minister, lived for
many years at No. 46.

The appearance of this place has been completely changed
within the last few years by the extensive alterations made
by the late Marquis of Westminster, who has erected noble
blocks of houses in place of the old-fashioned buildings that
former! v stood on the ground.

174 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE STREETS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY.

Great Windmill Street is figured in Faithorne's map,
with houses on both sides, as far as the Oxford Road, and the
Windmill from which it derived its name, is there marked.
In 1671, the Windmill Fields are mentioned in a Proclamation
(April 7th). One of the early inhabitants of this street, was
Colonel Charles Godfrey, who married Arabella Churchill,
the mistress of James II., and was living here in the year 1683.
Sir John Shadwell, the physician, and son of the poet, was in
the street in 1729; but its most celebrated inhabitant was
Dr. William Hunter, who lived and died in a large house on
the east side. Having accumulated sufficient property to
secure his ease and independence, he devoted his wealth to
the foundation of an Anatomical School. For this purpose
he purchased ground, and built a house in Great Windmill
Street, to which he removed in 1770. The museum, besides
a large collection of anatomical preparations, contained fossils,
and other subjects of natural history, a noble library of
classics, and a cabinet of ancient medals, of which a catalogue
was published in 1783, by Dr. Combe. Dr. Hunter had an
attack of gout a few weeks before his death, on apparent
recovery from which he delivered a lecture, that exhausted
him, and brought on a paralytic seizure. He expired on
March 30th, 1783, and was buried in St. James's Church.
His museum was bequeathed by him temporarily to Dr.

STREETS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 175

Matthew Baillie, and ultimately to the University of Glasgow,
with money to augment and support it.

In 1773, John Hunter began to deliver lectures on surgery
at his brother's house, which the pupils of St. George's
Hospital were allowed to attend gratuitously. Anatomical
lectures were delivered, and dissections carried on here as late
as 183 1, in connection with the school of that Hospital.

The church of St. Peter, on the east side of the street,
which accommodates 650 persons, was erected in 1861, from
the designs of R. Brandon, at an outlay for the building and
furniture of 5,500/. The land on which it is built cost 6,000/.,
a large sum, which is at the rate of more than 50,000/ per
acre. The money was subscribed by the inhabitants of St.
James's Parish, principally by the aristocracy, the late Lord
Derby being a munificent subscriber.

Opposite to Carlton Palace were several low streets,
which were cleared away to make room for Waterloo Place,
and Regent Street, 1 as a grand vista in front of the Palace ;
but no sooner were they got rid of, and the new street
built, than the Palace itself was razed to the ground. The
largest of this nest was St. Albans Street, called after the
Earl of St. Albans, who occupied a house close by in St.
James's Square. Dean Swift lodged here in 1710, and Strype,
in 1720, describes it as a " handsome well-built street."
Here lived Holland the printseller, for whom James Gillray,
when young, made drawings, and at whose house he lived.
At the time of the great Westminster election, when Fox was
a candidate, many of his processions were formed in St.
Albans Street, in front of the heir-apparent's house. In these
demonstrations, the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire, and
other ladies of ' haut-ton,' took an active part. They were
each dressed in a blue riding habit, with tan gloves, and a
fox's brush in the hat or bonnet, from which costume they
were called the blue and buff squadron.

The building of Regent Street was commenced in 18 13,

1 As the larger part of Regent Street is to the north of Piccadilly, it
has been thought better to place it all in this chapter and not to divide it.

176 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

under the direction of John Nash. He was originally a car-
penter employed at the Brighton Pavilion, where he attracted
the favourable notice of the Prince of Wales, who gave him
the appointment of architect to the Board of Works. With
all its faults, Regent Street was an immense improvement to
the West End, which had long required such a street. It was
intended to have carried it straight down from Portland
Place, and the great sewer is so constructed, but owing to
a disagreement between Nash and Sir James Langham, the
crooked street named Langham Place was built to connect
them. 2 Portland Place was not originally a thoroughfare, but
was terminated at the south end by Foley House, and at the
north end by an open railing looking over the fields towards
the New Road. 3 Afterwards, Park Crescent was built, and
Upper Portland Place added. It required a bold man to
disturb the quiet of the aristocratic inhabitants, who used to
promenade the street in dishabille ; and Nash would not have
succeeded if he had not been backed by his master, the Prince
Regent. When Lord Foley built his house he stipulated with
the Duke of Portland, the ground landlord, that no other
building should be erected on the estate to the north. When
buildings were rising all around, the Duke found this prohibi-
tion distasteful ; but Adams, the architect, helped him out of
his difficulty by building Portland Place the width of Foley
House. This was in the year 1778.

The Quadrant grew out of a change of plan, owing to the
erection of the County Fire Office, by Robert Abraham, in
1 8 19, and was by far the most elegant portion of the whole
street. It is still a very beautiful street, although shorn of
its columns, which gave it so distinctive a character. The
view looking down the street has been marred by the in-
tensely ugly roof of St. James's Hall, with its numberless
ventilators, which towers over the houses. When the arcade

2 The Builder, 1S63, p. 703.

3 Horace Walpole calls it " the most regular square in London."
MS. Notes on Pennant^ quoted in Miller's Fly Leaves, second series,
1855, p. 111.

STREETS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 177

was destroyed, the columns were put up for sale on Novem-
ber 7, 1848, and a few of them sold to private individuals
for 7/. 10s. each, but the remainder were cleared away without
having found a purchaser. They were made of iron, and were
cast at the Carron Foundry — each weighed 35 cwt. 18 lbs.,
and cost thirty-five guineas.

Nash purchased the ground on which the Quadrant was
built at a very high rate, and was ruined, by the undertaking.
He inaugurated the reign of stucco, which is now, happily,
almost a thing of the past ; and some wit, at the time, made
the following epigram on his achievement : —

" Augustus, at Rome, was for building renowned,
And of marble he left what of brick he had found ;
But is not our Nash too a very great master?
He finds us all brick, and leaves us all plaster. 4

On the west side of Regent Street are two chapels, which
add to its architectural effect. The one in the upper portion
of the street is now called Hanover Church, and was built by
the late Royal Academician Cockerell, in imitation of the
Temple of Minerva Polias at Priene, at a cost of 16,180/. It
was consecrated on June 20th, 1825. Ruskin is unnecessarily
severe upon the pillars of the portico, which, from the intro-
duction of fillets between the rolls of the base, he says,
" look as if they were standing on a pile of pewter collecting-
plates. 5

St. Philip's Chapel, built after the designs of Sir William
Chambers, by G. S. Repton, is a copy of the choragic monu-
ment of Lysicrates, also called the Lantern of Demosthenes,
at Athens. Owing to the position of the chapel, the altar has
been placed at the west end, instead of the east.

All Souls' Church, in Langham Place, although nicknamed
the " extinguisher church " from its odd steeple, looks well,
and forms a finish to the upper part of the street, but its effect
has been injured by the erection of the " Langham Hotel,"
which has completely overshadowed it.

4 Quarterly Review, vol. xxxiv. (1826) p. 193.

5 Stones of Venice, vol. i. p. 275.

178 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

In the lower part of Regent Street Nash built two houses,
with a courtyard in front ; of these he kept the south one for
himself. The gallery, which is now occupied by the Gallery
of Illustration, was a very beautiful room when the house was
in his possession. After Nash left the house, Rainey, the
auctioneer and estate agent, took it. It was during his
tenancy that the plans and models for the Nelson Monument
in Trafalgar Square were exhibited. The Gallery of Illustra-
tion succeeded the auction-room, and the favourite moving
dioramas of the Overland Route and Ocean Mail were ex-
hibited here. The Gallery has still retained its name under
the succeeding reign of light drawing-room comedy and
vaudeville, which Mr. and Mrs. German Reed and Mr. John
Parry have made peculiarly their own. The other house was
formerly occupied by the " Parthenon Club," and has lately
been the temporary home of the " New Carlton Club."

Sir Robert Thomas Wilson lived at No. 18 in the years
1822-29. This celebrated general incurred the displeasure of
the Prince Regent by the part he took in the escape of
Lavalette, in 1 8 1 5 ; and was dismissed from the army for his
conduct at the funeral of Queen Caroline, in 1821. He was,
however, soon reinstated in his position.

The foundation-stone of the present " Junior United
Service Club-house," at the corner of Charles Street, was
laid on March 29, 1855, by the Earl of Orkney, on which
occasion he used the same mallet as that employed by
Charles II. to lay the foundation of St. Paul's. This mallet
was presented by Sir Christopher Wren to the " Masonic
Lodge of Antiquity," of which he was grand-master. The
building, which is faced with Bath stone, was erected by
Messrs. Nelson and Innes, architects, at a cost of about
50,000/. The former mansion, which stood on the same
ground, was raised as a portion of the general design of
Regent Street, when it was originally built, and was first
occupied by the " Senior United Service Club."

Waterloo Place, which forms the lower part of Regent
Street, is one of the handsomest openings in London. The

STREETS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 179

Guards' Memorial, consisting of the figures of three Guards-
men, surmounted by the statue of Honour by J. Bell, was
erected in 1859-60. Nash proposed to place here a fountain,
surrounded by columns, and covered with a dome, but he was
perhaps fortunately overruled in his design.

On returning to Piccadilly, we come to Air Street, which
was in existence in the year 1659, when, according to Mr.
Cunningham, it was the most westerly street in London.

Piccadilly Place is a short passage of no interest, leading
into Little Vine Street, where was the studio of the once
famous statuary Scheemakers, in which Joseph Nollekens was
placed in his thirteenth year. The Watch-house was pulled
down in 1868, and is now being rebuilt on a much larger scale.

Swallow Street was named from Swallow Close, a part of
the Crown lands granted to Lord Chancellor Clarendon. It
was formerly a long street, extending from Piccadilly to
Glasshouse Street, and then up to the Oxford Road, but the
greater part of it was included in the present Regent Street.
Major Foubert, in Charles II. 's reign, moved his Riding
Academy from the Military-yard, behind Leicester House,
where it had been founded by Henry Prince of Wales, to
Swallow Street, opposite where Conduit Street is situated, and
his name is still retained in Foubert Passage, Regent Street.
A small portion of the upper end of Swallow Street, by Oxford
Street, still remains as Swallow Passage, and Swallow Place.
The Presbyterian Chapel in this street is one of the oldest
Scotch Meeting-houses in London. It was founded early
in the eighteenth century, by the Rev. James Anderson,
who purchased the chapel from a congregation of French
Protestants, that had occupied it since 1692. Mr. Anderson
petitioned the Lords of the Treasury for a new lease in 1729,
which was granted, and the report of Phill. Gybbon, Surveyor-
General, dated April 25th, 1729, on the petition, is printed in the
Notes and Queries for January 19th, 1856. Gwynne proposed,
in his London and Westminster Improved (1766), to widen
Swallow Street, so as to terminate well with St. James's Church.

Near Sackville Street, and in Piccadilly, was Maggot's

i So ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Court, which is described in Seymour's Survey (1734) as " a
handsome place, with a freestone pavement ; and has a passage
into Little Swallow Street."

Sackville Street was built about the year 1679, and is
celebrated for being the longest street in London without a
turning. It has also another peculiarity, in that it does not
contain a single lamp-post ; the lamps with which the street is
lighted, spring from the walls of the houses instead. This
street has been inhabited by a large number of eminent men.
Sir William Petty, the earliest Political Economist, lived and
died in his house, which was at the east corner of this street
and Piccadilly.

The celebrated " Literary Club " of Johnson, Reynolds,
Burke, and other great men, met at Prince's in this street,
when they left the "Turk's Head " in Gerrard Street, in 1783,
on account of its being turned into a private house.

When Fox's property was seized at his lodgings in St.
James's Street, he was forced to take refuge for a few days or
weeks at the house of a friend in this street, a Mr. Moore. G

Miss Vansittart, Maid of Honour to the Princess Dowager
of Wales, had a house here, to which the Earl of Bute was
a constant visitor in 1766; from it he often went in Miss
Vansittart's sedan chair to Carlton House.

Mr. Hamilton Campbell, who had a house in this street,
was a friend of Gay, and was visited by him here. Dr. Joseph
W r arton had lodgings here in 1792 ; and in the following year
the Earl of Cavan, John second Lord Boringdon, Sir Thomas
Egerton, first Lord Grey de Wilton, and the Hon. Mrs.
Darner, were living here. Mrs. Darner was the only child of
Field-Marshal Conway, and cousin of Horace Walpole. She
married the Hon. John Darner in 1767, an extravagant man,
who scattered a princely fortune in a few years, and died by
his own hand in 1776. He left behind him a wardrobe, which
was sold by auction for 15,000/. Mrs. Damer was a most
accomplished woman, and was piqued to become a sculptor by
some remarks of David Hume. She studied in Italy and
6 Wraxall'S Posthumous Memoirs, vol. i. p. 239.

SACKVILLE STREET. 181

Spain, and is thus complimented by Dr. Darwin, on two of

her busts : —

" Long with soft touch shall Darner's chisel charm,
With grace delight us, and with beauty warm ;
Forster's fine form shall hearts unborn engage,
And Melbourne's smile endear another age.''

She was a devoted Whig, and assisted the Duchess of
Devonshire and Mrs. Crewe in their canvass of Westminster for
Fox, one of three men she adored, the other two being Nelson
and Napoleon.

Dr. Warren, the famous physician, lived in Sackville Street,
and Mrs. Inchbald, who loved him silently, often walked here
at night, in order to see the light in his window. Leigh Hunt
appears to have been as enthusiastic as the lady ; for he tells
us that he has walked up the street more than once, so that he
might tread in the footsteps of Mrs. Inchbald. 7 Charles
Kemble lived at No. 5, in 18 19; Lord Bloomfield at No. 6,
in 1829; and Lieut.-Colonel Robert Torrens, the political
economist, at No. 7, in 1831. Sir Gilbert Blane, the celebrated
naval physician, lived at No. 8, in 1822-29, after he left
Cleveland Row. In 1782 he was present with Rodney in the
Formidable, and by his side on April 12th, when that great
Admiral took the French vessel Ville de Paris. In the severe
duel between these two great ships, a bantam cock on board the
Formidable showed its interest in the scene by crowing and
clapping its wings as each broadside was poured into the Ville
de Paris. Sir Henry Hardinge, the great General, afterwards
Lord Hardinge, was at No. 16, in 1822 ; and Joshua Brookes,
the founder of the celebrated Medical Museum, lived at No. 18,
in 1 83 1. Sir Benjamin Brodie occupied No. 22, from 1802
till 18 1 8, when he removed to No. 20, Savile Row, where he
remained until his death.

Robert, Lord Hawkesbury, M.P., son of the first Earl of

Liverpool, and afterwards second Earl and Prime Minister,

was living at No. 29, in 1800- 1802, and Sir Everard Home

resided for many years at No. 30. Arthur Young, the cele-

7 Saunter Through the West End, p. 72.

182 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

brated agriculturist, occupied No. 32, in 1802 ; Dr. Blane,
No. 33^ from 1796 to 1802 ; and the Earl of Cavan, No. 39,
in 1796. Dr. Prout, the celebrated physician, was living at
No. 40, in 1825, and he stayed in the house till his death. We
thus see that Sackville Street has been greatly distinguished
by its inhabitants.

Bond Street was built in 1686, and called after Sir Thomas
Bond, of Peckham, Comptroller of the Household to the
Queen Mother, and one of the purchasers of Albemarle
House. He was a favourite of James II., whom he followed
into exile. In 1708, it is described by Hatton, in his New
View of London, as " a fine new street, mostly inhabited by
nobility and gentry, between Portugal Street. . . . and the
Fields," and Lords Abington, Anglesey, and Coningsby, are
noted as living here. These three noble lords were still in-
habitants in 1724.

It is curious that, as early as the year 17 17, " Bond Street
loungers" are spoken of in the Weekly Journal (June 1).

Many renowned people of all kinds, statesmen, fashionables,
and authors, have lived and died in this street. The cele-
brated Charles Jenkinson, afterwards first Earl of Liverpool,
dated from here in 1756, as did the elder William Pitt in 1766.

Grafton House was situated not far from where the Claren-
don Hotel stands now ; and here lived Charles second Duke
of Grafton, and Augustus Henry, third Duke, who had to
bear the hot invective of Junius. His mistress, the notorious
Nancy Parsons, was the daughter of a tailor in this street.
George Selwyn was in " lodgings opposite y e Duke of Graf-
ton's in Old Bond Street," in 175 1.

Sir Luke Schaub, a Swiss by birth, who had been English
Envoy at Madrid, and Minister in France, till superseded by
old Horatio Walpole, in consequence of the machinations of
Lord Townshend, lived in this street in 1746. At his death,
in 1758, his fine gallery of pictures was sold by auction, and
they fetched good prices. One of these pictures, Sigismunda,
painted by Furino, but attributed to Correggio, was bought
by Sir Thomas Sebright, for 404/. 5s. Its only interest to us

BOND STREET. 183

now is that its sale for so high a price provoked Hogarth to
paint his fine picture of " Sigismunda," in order to show that
he was a better painter than " an old master." Sir Richard,
afterwards Lord Grosvenor, ordered it ; but when it was
finished, refused to retain it, because he did not like to have it
always before his eyes. Hogarth therefore kept it and con-
tented himself with writing these lines : —

" Nay, 'tis so moving, that the knight
Can't even bear it in his sight :
Then who would tears so dearly buy
As give four hundred pounds to cry ?
I own he chose the prudent part,
Rather to break his word than heart :
And yet, methinks, 'tis ticklish dealing,
With one so delicate in feeling."

The notorious Countess of Macclesfield occupied a house
in Bond Street, where she was besieged by her reputed son,
Richard Savage. Here she died on the nth of October, 1753.

The Hon. Thomas Hervey, the half-cracked friend of
Johnson, who used his wife so badly, lived here in 1763. The
Doctor tried to mediate between husband and wife when they
were about to separate, and wrote a letter of expostulation to
Hervey. Boswell lodged in Bond Street, in 1769, and on the
16th of October gave a dinner to Johnson, Reynolds, Gold-
smith, and Garrick. This dinner he describes in his life of
Johnson, and Mr. Frith has lately painted the scene, taking
as his subject the time when the party is supposed to have
just assembled together. There is poor Goldsmith strutting
about in his bloom-coloured coat, made by John Filby at the
" Harrow," in Water Lane, and Garrick and Johnson joking
him on his absurd appearance.

The poet of the seasons lodged in this street. Mrs. Piozzi
says, " So charming Thomson writes from his lodgings at a
milliner's in Bond Street, where he seldom rose early enough
to see the sun do more than glisten on the opposite windows
of the street." 8

8 Journey Through Italy.

1 84 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Gibbon, when young and fresh from Lausanne, saw little
to enjoy in London, where he found " crowds without com-
pany, and dissipation without pleasure." In 1760 he lodged
in this street, and studied in the midst of the fashionable
world around him ; he says, " While coaches were rattling
through Bond Street I have passed many solitary evenings in
my lodgings with my books."

Richard West, the friend of Gray, moved here from the
Temple, when he wrote to the poet, " I lived in the Temple
till I was sick of it. It is certain at least that I can study
the law here as well as I could there." Archibald Bower, the
author of the History of the Popes, died in Bond Street, in
1766. The house of Mrs. Miller, described in Tom Jones,
was in this street, and here Mr. Allworthy lodged.

In 1700, the site of New Bond Street, and the adjoining
streets, Conduit Street, Brook Street, &c, was an open field,
called the Conduit Mead, containing twenty-seven acres, and
belonging to the City of London. Not many years before
that date, a thief, who had stolen a silver mug from Dr.
Sydenham's house, in Pall Mall, got away, and was lost in the
bushes about Bond Street.

About the year 1716, Lord Burlington commenced build-
ing on the ground at the back of his mansion, and the lessees
of the Conduit Mead followed his example, raising several
streets, in this open field. 9 On June 1st, 17 17, the Weekly
Journal announced that "the new buildings between Bond
Street and Mary-le-bone go on with all possible diligence ;
and the houses even let and sell before they are built.
They are already in great forwardness."

One of the earliest inhabitants was Austin, the famous
pieman, who is referred to by Henry Carey, in his Disser-

9 An Examination of the Conduct of several Comptrollers of the City
■of London, in relation to the City's Estate called Conduit-Mead now New
Bond Street, &r=c., wherein the reasoning of those officers to induce the
City to let new leases thereof now, being upwards of twenty years before
the expiration of the present lease, is refitted, and the true design of the
whole disclosed. By a Person acquainted with the Estate and Proceedings.
London, 1743. 8vo.

BOND STREET. 185

tation on Dumpling, as a disciple of Braund the cook. " The
plague and fatigue of dependence and attendance which calls
me to the Court end of the town were insupportable, but for
the relief I find at Austin's, your ingenious and grateful
disciple, who has adorned New Bond Street with your
graceful effigies."

Mrs. Delany, when Mrs. Pendarves, lived in New Bond
Street, in the year 173 1, soon after it was first built. Bennet
Langton, the friend of Johnson, lodged at Mr. Roth well's,
perfumer, in New Bond Street, in 1767. He was tall, thin,
and long-faced, and was likened to a stork standing on one
leg near the shore, in Raffaelle's cartoon of the miraculous
draught of fishes. 10 Johnson was proud of his accomplished
friend, and once said, " The earth does not bear a worthier
man than Bennet Langton."

The following memoranda relate to some of the houses in
Old Bond Street : —

The two houses, numbers 13 and 14, have been handsomely
rebuilt to form one architectural whole, by Mr. Truefitt, the
hairdresser of the Burlington Arcade, to whose shop they
form a front.

Robert Triphook, the bookseller, opened a shop at No. 23,
after he left St. James's Street. He died in 1868, at the
Charterhouse, in his eighty-seventh year. Sir Thomas Law-
rence lived at No. 24, which is now occupied by Messrs.
Atkinson, the perfumers, and by the Arundel Society.

No. 25, now Benson's the watchmaker, was formerly Sir
William Call's Banking-House. The new shop-front of Port-
land stone, with Lizard serpentine columns and pilasters, is
handsome.

No. 27 was formerly Ebers's Library. The late proprietor,
Ebers, lost 44,080/. by the Haymarket Opera in seven years.

Sir Thomas Lawrence, when he was elected president of
the Royal Academy, removed from No. 24 to a house then
numbered 29.

No. 41. Sterne used to lodge in Pall Mall, but in his last
10 Best's Personal and Literary Memorials, 1829-, p. 62.

1 86 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

two or three visits to London he lodged on the first floor of
this house, which was then occupied as a bag-wig maker's
shop, and here he died on the iSth of March, 1768, in the
presence of a hired nurse and a footman sent to inquire after
his health. The scene of his death is described in a work
written by this footman, which is quoted by Isaac Disraeli in
his Literary Miscellanies. The title of the book is as fol-
lows : — " Travels in various parts of Europe, Asia and Africa,
by John Macdonald, 1790." Sterne was quietly buried at
Bayswater, but his body is said to have been stolen, and was
recognized on a dissecting-table, at Cambridge, by a friend,
who fainted at the sight. It is also said that the landlady sold
it to pay the rent, but this is very improbable.

No. 16, New Bond Street, is " Long's Hotel." Sir Walter
Scott was here in 181 5. " Stevens's Hotel," at No. 18, was a
favourite haunt of Byron's.

Haydon's picture of " Napoleon at St. Helena," painted
for Sir Robert Peel, was exhibited at No. 21, in 1831. Words-
worth wrote a sonnet on it : —

" Haydon ! let worthier judges praise the skill
Here by thy pencil shown in truth of lines
And charm of colours ; / applaud those signs
Of thought, that give the true poetic thrill ;
That unencumbered whole of blank and still,
Sky without cloud — ocean without a wave ;
And the one man that laboured to enslave
The world, sole-standing high on the bare hill —
Back turned, arms folded, the unapparent face
Tinged, we may fancy, in this dreary place,
With light reflected from the invisible sun
Set, like his fortunes ; but not set for aye
Like them. The unguilty Power pursues his way,
And before him doth dawn perpetual run."

No. 29, now occupied by Messrs. T. and W. Boone, the
eminent booksellers, has been a book-shop for 136 years, that
is, ever since it was built. The first possessor of the premises,
in 1734, was John Brindley, the publisher of the well-known set
of Brindley's Classics. He was succeeded by J. Robson, who

BOND STREET. 1S7

bought a portion of the Evelyn Library about the year 1767.
In March, April, and May, 1789, he sold by auction the grand
library of Maffei Pinelli, which occupied sixty days in the
selling. The sale took place "at the Great Room, opposite the
chapel, in Conduit Street," but this room was connected
with the back premises of the Bond Street House. Messrs.
Robson and Clark were succeeded, about 1809, by Nornaville
and Fell, who, in 1830, made way for the Boones.

Nos. 34 and 35. Mr. Basil Woodd's wine-cellars have been
built on the site of an old hostelry, named the " Black Horse."
The workmen employed in digging the foundations came upon
the remains of the conduit, from which Conduit Street derives
its name. Lord Nelson lived at No. 96, in 1798, and at No.
141 the year before.

At No. 116, Miss Clark, the grand-daughter of Colonel
Frederick, son of Theodore, ex-King of Corsica, painted minia-
ture portraits about the beginning of the century. The dash-
ing general, Sir Thomas Picton, G.C.B., lived at No. 146, in
the years 1797- 1800. He fell at the head of the third division
of the British army, at the battle of Waterloo, on June 18th,
1815.

Thomas Pitt Lord Camelford, great-grandson of Governor
Pitt and great-nephew of the first Earl of Chatham, lived for
some years at No. 148, which was kept by a grocer. In 1804
he died at this house, after his duel with Mr. Best, in which he
was fatally wounded. Lord Camelford was almost a madman
and was a terror to quiet people. In 1801, when a general illu-
mination took place to celebrate the return of peace, he was
living in these lodgings, but nothing would induce him to
suffer lights to be put in his windows. The landlord argued
with him, but he remained inexorable, and the consequence
was that the windows were broken by the mob. This incensed
him and he went out with a cudgel and fought till he was
overpowered by numbers, rolled in the gutter, and forced to
retreat in a deplorable condition.

No. 156 is occupied by the famous goldsmiths and jewel-
lers, Hunt and Roskell, formerly the equally well-known

188 ROUXD ABOUT PICCADILLY.

firm of Storr and Mortimer; No. 160 is the warehouse for
the sale of Copeland's china, and No. 169 is the " Clarendon
Hotel."

There is a story which connects the name of Charles
James Fox with Bond Street. That statesman, when walk-
ing here one day with the Prince of AYales, laid him a wager
that he would see more cats than he did in their walk. Fox
knowing that cats like sunshine, took the sunny side of the
street and counted thirteen, while the Prince on the shady
side saw none. Cats may seem an odd link of association
between two great statesmen, but Lord Oxford, when travel-
ling in his coach with Swift, amused himself by counting the
poultry on the road, and whichever of the two first counted
thirty-one, or^saw a cat, or an old woman before the other,
won the game. On one occasion, when they were engaged in
this diverting occupation, Lord Bolingbroke overtook them
and got into Lord Oxford's coach, with the intention of talk-
ing over political questions, but Oxford interrupted him, and
cried out, " Swift, I'm up, there's a cat." Bolingbroke was so
disgusted at this levity that he returned to his own carriage.
Swift refers to these amusements when he writes, —

" Tis (let me see) three years and more,

(October next it will be four,)

Since Harley bid me first attend,

And chose me for an humble friend ;

Would take me in his coach to chat,

And question me of this and that ;

As ' What's o'clock ? ' and ' How's the wind ? '
' Whose chariot's that we left behind ? '

Or gravely try to read the lines

Writ underneath the country signs.

*****

Such tattle often entertains

My Lord and me as far as Staines."

Charles Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, a member of " John-
son's Club," and President of the " Society of Antiquaries,"
died at his house in Clifford Street, on December 22nd ;
1768. A " Debating Club" was held at the " Clifford Street

STREETS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 1S9

Coffee-house, at the corner of Bond Street, about the year
1788. Canning, Mackintosh, Richard Sharpe, and Lord
Charles Townshend, were among the chief debaters. William
Mitford, the historian, lived at No. 4, Clifford Street, for
many years. Dr. Addington, the father of Lord Sidmouth,
lived at No. 7, as did his son the Prime Minister. A letter
from the Duke of Wellington, when Sir Arthur Wellesley,
to the Right Hon. William Windham, is dated from No. 14.

Conduit Street was so called after a conduit of water
that was once on the ground. We are told that General
Oglethorpe, who died in 1785, frequently shot woodcocks in
the fields now covered by these streets. The reason why the
General's name always appears to this story, is because he
was known as the best shot of his day of birds on the wing.
George Canning lived in the street in the years 1802-3. The
" Princess of Wales Tavern " was the resort of literary men.
Here, in 1772, David Williams suggested a fund for the relief
of literary men, which, after great discouragement, was at last
started, and is now the " Royal Literary Fund."

Bruton Street was called after Sir John Berkeley, of
Bruton, the owner of Berkeley House, and has been a fashion-
able street for many years. The celebrated Duke of Argyll
died here in 1734.

" Yes, Sir, on great Argyle I often wait,
At charming Sudbrook or in Bruton Street." "

In later years Sheridan lived here. No. 16 is the town
house of the Earls of Granville.

Grafton Street takes its name from Grafton House in Bond
Street. Here Fox lived when he was Foreign Secretary in
1783, and here he entertained Ambassadors and distinguished
foreigners. The celebrated Admiral Earl Howe, known
among the sailors as " Black Dick," from his dark complexion,
lived and died at No. 3. He was a great favourite of
George III., and also a friend of Benjamin Franklin. The

11 Sir C. H. Williams' Works, 1822, vol. i. p. 31.

igo ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

latter visited him and held conferences on American affairs,
under the cloak of playing chess with Mrs. Howe, the sister
of the Earl. William Scott, Lord Stowell, the great Admiralty
Judge, and brother of Lord Eldon, lived at No. II. The
Right Hon. George Tierney lived at No. 20 in 18 10. He
fought a duel with Pitt in 1798, and became leader of the
"Whig opposition on the death of Mr. Ponsonby. Mrs. Fitz-
herbert occupied No. 24, in the year 1796.

Albemarle Street was named after Albemarle House,
which formerly stood on its site. It was commenced about
1684, but was not finished for some years. It is thus described
in the " Act for erecting a new Parish, to be called the Parish
of St. James" (I Jac. II., cap. xxii., 1685) : — "A certain piece
or parcel of ground whereon some stables and tenements are
erected, now or late in the tenure or occupation of Sir Thomas
Bond, of Peckham, in the county of Surrey, Baronet, and
Thomas Bond, Esq., youngest son of the said Sir Thomas
Bond, their assign or assigns, tenant or undertenants, con-
taining in front next the said street forty feet, and in depth
backward seventy-five feet, a little more or less, abutting on
the said street north."

Hatton, in his New View of London (1708), describes it as
" a street of excellent new building, inhabited by persons of
quality, between the fields and Portugal Street," and mentions
the following three noblemen as living there : Lord Orkney,
Lord Paulet, and Lord Portmore. The two first were still there
in 1724. Miss Anne Long, sister of Sir James Long, of
Draycot, and friend of Swift, was living here in 171 1. She
was a great beauty, and one of the toasts of the " Kit-Cat
Club." The Earl of Wharton wrote the lines for her glass,
which were as follows : —

" Fill the glass ; let hautboys sound,
While bright Longy ; s health goes round :
With eternal beauty blest,
Ever blooming, still the best,
Drink your glass and think the rest."

The Earl of Grantham, Chamberlain to the Princess of

ALBEMARLE STREET. 191

Wales, had a house on the east side, at which the Prince
of Wales (afterwards George II.) kept his Court in 1717,
after his quarrel with the old King, though his levees were
slenderly attended. In the next year he went to Leicester
House.

Dr. Berkeley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, lodged, when
in London in 1724, 1725, and 1726, at Mr. Fox's, an apothe-
cary. In August, 1726, he left this lodging.

In 1763, a man named Wildman kept a tavern at the
house formerly belonging to Lord Waldegrave, which was
much frequented by the Opposition, who subsequently
established a club called the " Coterie," for the purpose of
keeping the party united ; but no political business was trans-
acted at any of the meetings. In the History of the late
Minority (1766), a list is given of the members, in all one
hundred and forty-nine, among whom are the Dukes of Devon-
shire, Newcastle, Bolton, Grafton, and Portland, Marquis of
Rockingham, Earls Temple, Cornwallis, Albemarle, &c.
When the party was disheartened and broken up, the club
dwindled away. In 1764, Earl Temple published a pamphlet,
entitled A Letter from Albemarle Street, to the " Cocoa Tree"
The "Cocoa Tree" was the ministerial club in St. James's
Street.

Richard Glover, the author of Leonidas, died in Albemarle
Street, in 1785. Fox lived for a short time on the west side,
a little way up from Piccadilly. Gibbon visited the celebrated
Due de Nivernois, statesman and author, at his lodgings in
this street, in January, 1763. The Neapolitan Ambassador
was here in 1793, and in 1797 the following noblemen were
living in this street : — Lord Monson, Lord Gower, the
Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Thanet, Lord SufField, also
the Countess of Bective, Lady Archer, and the Bishop of
Winchester.

No. 7 was formerly Grillion's Hotel. Here Louis XVIII.
resided after his expulsion from France, in 18 14. The cele-
brated " Roxburgh Club," founded in commemoration of the
immense price realized for the Valdarfer Boccaccio, at the

192 ROUXD ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Duke of Roxburgh's sale, held their dinners here, as -well as
at the Clarendon, in 1817.

" Grillion's Club" was founded in 1805. The members
dined together every Wednesday during the Parliamentary
Session. The Earl of Dudley, Sir Robert H. Inglis, Agar
Ellis, Lord F. Leveson Gower, Sir James Graham, &c., were
among the members.

Nos. 19, 20, are occupied by the Clarendon Hotel, one of
the chief hotels in London, which extends over a large space
of ground, and has a handsome garden. Here "Johnson's
Club" held its centenary in September, 1864.

No. 21. This striking building is occupied by the Royal
Institution of Great Britain, which was indebted for its origin
to the noblemen and gentlemen composing the Society for
bettering the condition of the poor, at whose meetings the
plan of its foundation was first formed. The first meeting of
the founders of the Association took place at the house of
Sir Joseph Banks, on March 9th, 1799; and on the 13th of
January following, it was incorporated by Royal Charter.
Count Rumford was the original proposer of the Society, and
one of those most anxious for its success, to which he greatly
contributed. On its foundation its designs were much narrower
than those it afterwards included. It was to be an " Institution
for diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the general intro-
duction of useful mechanical inventions and improvements ; and
for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experi-
ments, the application of science to the common purposes of
life." The following extract shows that this mechanical and
practical view of its objects was carried out for some years : —
" Here is also the Society's house for the encouragement of
improvements in arts and manufactures, or the Royal Institu-
tion. The front of this house is barricaded by double windows,
to prevent the entrance of cold in winter, and heat in summer.
Here is a room for experimental dinners, and a kitchen fitted
up upon the late Count Rumford's plan. Adjoining this is a
large work-shop, in which a number of coppersmiths, braziers,
&c, are employed, and over this a large room for the reception

ALBEMARLE STREET. 193

of such models of machinery as may be presented to the
Institution. They have also a Printing Office, &c." 12

It is to the laboratory that the Royal Institution owes its
chief glory ; from the foundation of that, chemistry dates one
of its principal epochs. Since then the history of the insti-
tution has been the history of the discoveries of Davy,
Faraday, and Tyndall. Davy came to London in 1801, at
the request of Rumford, and gave his first lecture in the
same year. His appearance was uncouth, though his features
were good, and a lady is said to have observed that his eyes
were made for something besides poring over crucibles. The
connection of Faraday, one of the greatest philosophers of
any time, with this institution added a lustre to its already
high fame, which had been raised by Davy, Dr. Thomas
Young, Dalton, and Brande. Chemistry, although the chief,
has not been the only science fostered here, for Roget, Grant,
Rymer Jones, Carpenter, Gull, Wharton Jones, Huxley, Owen,
and Marshall have all filled the chair of physiology founded
by Mr. John Fuller in 1833. Besides science, literature has
not been forgotten — Coleridge delivered here his lectures
on Poetry, and Sydney Smith his, on Moral Philosophy.
The architectural character of the house, which consists in
fourteen fluted Corinthian columns, was added in 1838, by
Mr. Vulliamy, at a cost of 500/.

No. 23. "The Alfred Club House" was established in the
year 1808, and for some years was in a very flourishing condi-
tion, but it gradually decayed and was broken up about fifteen
years ago. Lords Byron, Valentia, and Ward, and Sir Robert
Peel were among the members. Byron mentions it as an
agreeable evening lounge in his early days. The clergy used
to muster in force here, and when Lord Alvanley, the joker,
was asked whether he was still a member, he replied, " Not
exactly : I stood it as long as I could, but when the seven-
teenth bishop was proposed I gave in. I really could not
enter the place without being put in mind of my catechism."
There was a story that Canning, whilst at the zenith of his
12 D. HUGHSON's Walks Through London, 181 7, vol. ii. p. 244.

194 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

fame, dropped in at a house-dinner of twelve or fourteen,
stayed out the evening, and made himself very agreeable
without any one of the party suspecting who he was.

Joseph Planta, the principal librarian of the British Museum,
lived at No. 25 in 1829. No. 26 was inhabited in 1800 by
the Earl of Bective, and in 1829 by Sir Richard Blagden.
Chevalier Brinkman, the Swedish Ambassador, occupied
No. 28 in 1 8 10.

No. 50. The great publisher, John Murray's, since 1812.

" Strahan, Tonson, Lintot of the times,
Patron and Publisher of rhymes,
For thee the bard up Pindus climbs,

My Murray."

His drawing-room was, for some years, the afternoon resort
of his literary friends, and Byron speaks of " Murray's four
o'clock visitors."

In January, 1807, and February, 1808, at the time of the
publication of his Hours of Idleness, Byron dated from
" Dorant's Hotel " in this street, and a few years later,
according to Mr. Jesse, he composed the greater part of the
Corsair while walking up and down the street. 13

Dover Street was named after Henry Jermyn, Earl of
Dover, nephew and heir of Henry, Earl of St. Albans, who
owned the ground, and had a house on the east side of the
street. This was the Jermyn so frequently mentioned in
Grammont's Memoirs, with whom most of the ladies of
Charles II's court were in love. Richard Flecknoe wrote
an epigram "To Mr. Henry Jermyn on their demanding
why he had no higher titles," —

" Still noble, gallant, generous, and brave,
What more of titles would these people have ?
Harry Jermin's name alone, affords
As great and lowd a sound as any Lord's." u

The following entry occurs in the Ellis Correspondence?*

13 Memorials of London, vol. i. p. 19.

14 Epigrams of all Sorts, Lond. 1670, p. 32.

15 Vol. ii. 1829, p. 187.

DOVER STREET. 195

under date September, 1688: "Two nights ago, the Lord
Dover's house, in Albemarle Buildings, was robbed, and a
great quantity of plate taken."

John Evelyn moved into a house on the east side in 1699.
Amongst his many claims to our gratitude is this one, that he
drew Grinling Gibbons out of obscurity and introduced him
to powerful patrons. The carving that attracted Evelyn's
attention went to Cannons. The Earl of Carbery lived in
this street in 1698, as did Lords Berkeley, Conway, Gore and
Wharton in 1708. The latter nobleman lived here till his
death, in 171 5, when he was succeeded by his son, the first
and last Duke of Wharton, a worthless genius, who was,
Pope says, —

" A tyrant to the wife his heart approves,
A rebel to the very king he loves."

He was outlawed for high treason in 1729, and died two
years afterwards.

Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, lived and died in Dover
Street. Here he collected his magnificent library, which was
largely added to by his son Edward, the second earl, who
raised the number of volumes to forty thousand. After the
latter's death in 1741 his widow parted with the library.
The manuscripts were bought by Government for the British
Museum for 10,000/., and Thomas Osborne, the bookseller,
gave 13,000/. for the books, which had cost at least 18,000/.
for the binding alone. The speculation, however, was far
from being a profitable one to the bookseller. Humphry
Wanley, author of the Wonders of the Little World, and
an assistant in the Bodleian Library from 1696 to 1700, was
librarian to the first Earl, and lived with him at this house.
Wanley was no favourite with Hearne, who, in his diary, calls
him " a very illiterate silly fellow."

" O Wanley, whence com'st thou with shorten'd hair
And visage, from thy shelves, with dust besprent ? " 16

The Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of George II.,
16 Gay's Epistle to Pope, ep. 18.

196 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

removed to this street when George III. went to St. James's
Palace in 1760. Dr. Arbuthnot, the witty author of the
History of John Bull, inhabited a house on the west side of
the street from 17 14 to 1721.

The " Literary Club " moved to Le Teller's in this street
from Prince's in Sackville Street, and remained until 1792,
when they went to Parsloe's in St. James's Street. Miss
Reynolds, the sister of Sir Joshua, dwelt here after her
brother's death. Lord Grenville and Admiral Sir Charles
Hardy, Master of Greenwich Hospital, were two other in-
habitants of note.

The Earl of Ormond lived at No. 20 in 1800. No. 21
was inhabited for some years by the celebrated physician,
Dr. William Heberden, who died at this house in 1801. The
Spanish Ambassador was here in 18 10. Dr. John Ayrton
Paris, President of the College of Physicians and author of
Philosophy in Sport made Science in Earnest, was at No. 28
in the years 1822-1844 ; and John Nash, the architect,
designed Regent Street and the Regent's Park, at No. 29,
where he was living from 1800 to 1823.

No. 30 is Ashburnham House, the mansion of the Earls
of Ashburnham. Prince Lieven, the Russian Ambassador,
lived here in the years 1 824-1 829.

Dr. Warren, the celebrated physician, lived at No. 35, and
was succeeded by Samuel and Lady Elizabeth Whitbread.
No. 2)7 is Ely House, the town residence of the Bishops of
Ely. Peter, seventh Lord King, the biographer of John
Locke, lived at No. 38.

Berkeley Street was one of the two streets built by Lady
Berkeley in 1684 under the directions of John Evelyn. It is
described by Hatton in 1708 "as the first street from Berkley
House toward Pickadilly." Pope lived at No. 9, and was
succeeded by General Bulkeley, who died about 18 15.
Mr. Chaworth was carried to a house in this street after
his duel with Lord Byron, the great-uncle of the poet, at
the " Star and Garter Tavern " in Pall Mall on the 24th
January, 1765.

STREETS OX THE NORTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 197

Stratton Street was the other street built by Lady
Berkeley of Stratton, and in an undated MS. plan among
the King's Prints in the British Museum it is called " Little
Barkley Street." In the list of London residences of the
nobility in 1698-9, printed in the Notes and Queries, is the
following : " Lord Willowby of Brook, in Stratton Street by
Devonshire House." The Hon. George Berkeley, the second
husband of Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk, dated from this
street in August, 1735.

Thomas Coutts, the banker, was living at No. 1, the large
corner house, in 1797, and bequeathed it at his death to his
widow, afterwards Duchess of St. Albans. It is now the
residence of his granddaughter, Miss Burdett Coutts. Coutts
married firstly, in 1760, a housemaid named Betty Starkey,
and secondly, in 1815, Miss Harriet Mellon, the actress.
This lady once dressed up as Morgiana, and, dancing into the
drawing-room, presented a dagger to every breast, but when
she confronted Nollekens the sculptor, who had acquired the
credit of being considered a miser, Fuseli cried out, " Strike,
strike, there's no fear ; Nolly was never known to bleed."

Coutts surrounded himself with a large circle of acquaint-
ances, and was famous for his good dinners. George III.
transferred his account from Coutts's bank when he found
that the banker had lent 100,000/. to his son-in-law, Sir
Francis Burdett, to pay the expenses of the Westminster
election. Coutts died in 1822, and left his immense property
to his widow.

William Gifford was living at No. 7 in 1797, and Roger
Wilbraham, the book collector, whose fine library was espe-
cially rich in Italian and Spanish works, at No. 11 in 1822-29.
Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch, G.C.B., the hero of Barossa,
lived and died at No. 12.

Bolton Street was built about the year 1699, and was
then the most westerly street in London. It is thus described
by Hatton : " Bolton Str., the most westerly in London
between the road to Knightsbridge south and the fields
north." The celebrated Earl of Peterborough lived here from

198 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

1 7 10 to 1724, when the poet Pope was one of his visitors.
The Earl, who gained battles against all the known rules of
warfare, was more like a hero of romance than an Englishman
of the eighteenth century. Walpole likens him to Amadis ;
but, besides his bravery and gallantry, he was a man of great
wit. He was so great a traveller that he was said to have
seen more kings and more postilions than any other man in
Europe. There is an amusing anecdote of Peterborough, in
which he contrasts himself with Marlborough. He was one
day mistaken by a mob for the Duke, who was then in
disfavour, and extricated himself from his awkward posi-
tion by calling out, " Gentlemen, I can convince you by two
reasons that I am not the Duke of Marlborough. In the first
place I have only five guineas in my pocket ; and, secondly,
here they are at your service," with which he threw his purse
among them. —

" So throwing sixpence to them, ' There, there, there,

Take that,' cry'd Peterborough, with a sneer, —
' Now if you think I'm he, the devil's in it.' " "

In 1762 Charles Edward, the young Pretender, is said to
have lain in concealment in one of the houses in Bolton
Street.

The Right Hon. George Grenville, the Prime Minister
who lost us America by his stubborn conduct in regard to
the Stamp Act, lived in this street, and died here in 1770.
His son, the first Marquis of Buckingham, lived here during
the time his house in Pall Mall was let to the Duke of
Gordon.

" George in whose subtle brain, if Fame say true,
Full-fraught with wars, the fatal stamp act grew ;
Great financier ! stupendous calculator ! —
But George the son is twenty-one times greater ! " 18

Clarges Street. Towards the close of the seventeenth
century Sir Thomas Clarges, the brother-in-law of Monk,

17 Peter Pindar's Works, vol. ii. p. 300.

18 Roiliad, 1795, p. 129.

STREETS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF PICCADILLY. 199

first Duke of Albermarle, let a considerable piece of ground
adjoining Clarges House to Thomas Neale, groom-porter to
the King, on condition that he laid out 10,000/. in building on
it. Neale, however, held the ground for ten years without
fulfilling his engagement and died insolvent, owing 800/. or
eight years' rent to Sir Walter, the son and heir of Sir
Thomas Clarges. When the ground returned to the posses-
sion of Sir Walter, he built the present street, of which twelve
houses were finished in 1717. Eleven were let, and Earl
Ferrers, Lord Archibald Hamilton, and Lord Forester were
among the inhabitants. Mrs. Delany, when Mrs. Pendarves,
and also after her marriage with Dr. Delany, lived in this
street from 1742 to 1744. The impetuous old admiral, Earl
St. Vincent, lived here, as did also Miss O'Neil, the actress,
on the west side. W. T. Brande, the celebrated chemist,
lived at No. 2 in 1822-23 ; and Lord Macaulay was at No. 3
in April, 1839, when he wrote his letter to Mr. Gladstone on
the question of Church and State. Lord Nelson's Lady
Hamilton lived at No. n in 1804, 1805 an d 1806, and the
Countess of Stanhope occupied the same house from 1807
to 1829. Edmund Kean lived at No. 12 from 18 16 to 1824,
and kept a tame puma in his house. William Mitford, the
Grecian historian, dwelt at No. 14, in the years 1810-22 ;
curiously enough he succeeded the Roman historian, Gibbon,
as Colonel of Hampshire Militia. Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, the
great linguist and learned translator of Epictetus, when in
London, lived on the first floor of No. 20 till the death of her
landlady, on which she took lodgings in Chapel Street, May
Fair. She then moved to No. 21 in this street, where she
lived during the various winters, till her death on the 19th
of February, 1806.

Half Moon Street was built in 1730, and takes its name
from a public-house at the corner, which was there in 1759.
In 1768 Boswell lodged in this street on his visit to London,
and here he entertained Dr. Johnson, Dr. Robertson, Baretti,
and other literati.

No. 1. t Madame D'Arblay lived at this corner house

200 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

during the last few years of her life. It was then a linen-
draper's shop, and is now a brush and mat manufactory.

Pope, the actor, lived at No. 5, and his first wife, the cele-
brated actress (formerly Miss Young), died at the house on
the 1 8th of June, 1803, aged 26. The celebrated physician,
Dr. Samuel Merriman, occupied No. 26 from 18 13 to 1825 ;
and John Gait, the novelist, was at No. 29 in 1830. William
Hazlitt, the essayist, lodged at No. 40 for a short time. He
came from Down Street in 1827, and went to Bouverie Street,
Fleet Street, in 1829.

From the end of Half Moon Street we are led into May
Fair. The site of this fashionable neighbourhood was for-
merly nothing but fields, in one of which, Brookfield, was
held annually for many years, the celebrated St. James's Fair,
which commenced on May-day, and continued for fourteen
days. Leave was granted to the Hospital of St. James's by
Edward I., to hold an annual fair, which was suppressed soon
after the Restoration, " by reason of the looseness and de-
bauchery which was there committed," and was afterwards
removed here in 1688. Eleven years after this the following
advertisement appeared in the Postman : —

"These are to give notice, that on the 1st day of May
next, will begin the Fair at the east end of Hide Park, near
Bartlet House, and continue for fifteen days after. The two
first days of which will be for the sale of Leather and live
Cattle ; and care is and will be taken to make the ways leading
to it, as well as the ground on which it is kept, much more
convenient than formerly for persons of quality that are
pleased to resort thither." 19

The playing, gaming, and drinking gave rise to quarrels
and disorderly tumults, and the grand jury of Westminster, in
November, 1708, presented it as a public nuisance. In the
Tatler of April 18th, 1709, we find — "advices from the upper
end of Piccadilly say that May Fair is utterly abolished, and
we hear Mr. Pinkethman has removed his ingenious company

19 April 6, 1699, No. 597, quoted in J. T. Smith's Streets 0/ London,
vol i. p. 14.

MA V FAIR. 20 1

of strollers to Greenwich." On April 21st, 1709, plays, gam-
ing-booths, and musical booths were all abolished by public
proclamation. The Tatler (May 25) makes himself merry
over the disperson of the properties of the fair : he says a tame
elephant can be obtained at a reasonable rate — " a tiger will
sell almost as cheap as an ox, and I am credibly informed a
man may purchase a cat with three legs for very near the value
of one with four." Houses were built about this time on part
of the ground, but they do- not seem to have answered at
first. In 1743 they are thus referred to, — "Between Portugal
Street in the south and Grosvenor Buildings in the north, was
a great open space, bordering on Hyde Park towards the
west, where, not long since, May Fair (now suppressed) was
held, and which still retains the name of May Fair. Here
some enterprising people ventured to build, hoping for the
like success as those met with, who had built more to the
eastward ; but most of the buildings are running to ruin,
some unfinished, and very few inhabited. But as this was
formerly the case with the new buildings in Little Lincoln's
Inn Fields and Red Lyon Fields, the first undertakers whereof
were ruin'd, I'm inclin'd to think that May Fair will e'er
long rise into buildings not much inferior to those of Gros-
venor Square and Hanover Buildings that lie to the north-
ward of it, having the advantage of the neighbourhood of
Hyde Park, and lying not so far from St. James's as Gros-
venor and Hanover Squares do." 20

The new streets soon, however, seem to have become
fashionable, for in Defoe's Tour it is said, " Several fine new
streets, as Hill Street, Charles Street, &c, are built near
Berkeley Square and May Fair, in a place which herds and
herdsmen, very few years ago, only inhabited. But now the
residence of many of the first gentry, equally splendid and
convenient." 21 Less respectable people than herdsmen once
lived here ; for in October, 1723, Jack Sheppard took a lodg-
ing in the house of a Mr. Charles, in May Fair. About the

20 History and Present State of the British Islands, vol. ii. p. 101.

21 Ed. 1 761, vol. ii. p. 103.

202 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

middle of the eighteenth century, the fair was revived with a
mountebank's stage and various other amusements ; here,
among other notorieties, was " Tiddy-doll," the peripatetic
seller of gingerbread, who is immortalized by Hogarth in his
representation of the " Idle Apprentice executed at Tyburn."

On the site of part of Carrington Street, stood the " Dog
and Duck," an old wooden public-house, noted for the sale of
" Right Lincoln Ale," behind which was a sheet of water
200 feet square, surrounded by a willow-shaded gravel walk
ten feet wide. This was the notorious ducking pond, to which
visitors were allowed to bring their dogs to assist at the
capture of some unfortunate duck. Twopence was charged
by the proprietor for a ticket of admission, but the amount
was allowed in the reckoning ; and in a handbill, dated 1748,
the reason of such charge is said to be in order to keep out
" such as are not liked."

The fair was not finally abolished until late in the reign of
George III., when the sixth Earl of Coventry, who lived close
by and was disturbed by the uproar, obtained its abolition.

The principal streets in May Fair are Curzon Street,
Chesterfield Street, Hertford Street, Great Stanhope Street,
and Queen Street. In Curzon Street, opposite May Fair
Chapel, was " the Rev. Alexander Keith's Chapel," where
marriages were performed (it is impossible to say solemnized)
in the same manner as that which has made the Fleet
Prison notorious. Here the Duke of Kingston married Miss
Chudleigh (her first husband being still alive), and in 1752,
James, fourth Duke of Hamilton, married the youngest of the
two beautiful Miss Gunnings, a bed-curtain ring being used
on the occasion. Keith was in the habit of advertising in the
newspapers, but the Marriage Act in 1753 put an end to his
iniquitous trade. Here is one of his advertisements — " To
prevent mistakes the little new chapel in May Fair, near
Hyde Park Corner, is in the corner house opposite to the city
side of the great chapel ; and within ten yards of it. The
minister and clerk live in the same corner house where the
little chapel is ; and the licence on a crown stamp, minister

MAY FAIR.

203

and clerk's fees, together with the certificate, amount to one
guinea, as heretofore at any hour, till four in the afternoon,
and that it may be better known, there is a porch at the door
like a country church porch." 22 It has been absurdly stated
that George, Prince of Wales, afterwards George III., was
married to Hannah Lightfoot by Keith at his chapel in 1759,
Edward, Duke of York, the Prince's brother, being a witness.

George, Lord Macartney, Ambassador to China, lived and
died in Curzon Street. Madame Vestris lived at No. 1, in
1822-23. No. 8 was for many years one of the chief rallying
points of literary society, when it was inhabited by the Misses
Berry. At No. 14 resided, from 1796 to 1800, Richard Stone-
hewer, private secretary to the Duke of Grafton, and Historio-
grapher Royal, in 1782. Through his interest his friend Gray
obtained the Regius Professorship of Modern History at Cam-
bridge in 1768. Sir Henry Halford lived for several years at
No. 16. He was the son of Dr. J. Vaughan, and changed his
name to Halford, in 1809, on the death. of a cousin of his
mother's. He was physician to four successive Sovereigns of
Great Britain (George III., George IV., William IV., and
Queen Victoria), and President of the College of Physicians
till his death in March, 1844. In an attic of No. 24 Sir
Francis Chantrey lived when a young man. H.R.H. the
Princess Sophia Matilda was living at No. 30 in the years
1822-29.

George Selwyn lived in Chesterfield Street in 1766, and
Beau Brummell occupied No. 4 in the same street for some
years. He was here visited by George IV., who often stayed
to dinner with him.

The Marquis of Wellesley, then Earl of Mornington,
lived in Hertford Street, in the years 1788-97, as did Mrs.
Jordan, when under the protection of the Duke of Clarence.
George III.'s brother, the Duke of Cumberland, was married
to Anne, widow of Colonel Christopher Horton, and daughter
of Simon, Lord Irnham, afterwards Earl of Carhampton, at the
lady's house, in this street. At No. 10 lived General Burgoyne,
22 J. H. Jesse's Memorials of London, 1847, vol. i. p. 55.

204 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

author of the Heiress ; after him Sheridan occupied the house
from 1796 to 1800, and he was succeeded by John Dent, the
great book collector. The Right Hon. Robert Dundas lived
at No. 23, in 18 10, and the Right Hon. Charles Bathurst, in
the same house in 1822. Charles, first Earl of Liverpool,
father of the Prime Minister, and better known as Mr.
Jenkinson, died at No. 25, in the year 1808. The Dowager
Countess of Liverpool was living in the same house in the
years 1822-24. Henry Bickersteth, afterwards Lord Lang-
dale, lived at No. 36, in 1829, and Granville Penn next door
(No. 37) in 1822-24.

Great Stanhope Street, a short but important and aristo-
cratic street, was built by the polite Earl of Chesterfield, on
ground belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.
Several celebrated persons have lived here ; two of the most
noted being Sir Robert Peel and Lord Palmerston. At
No. 1 lived Lord Southampton in 1796 ; the Duke of Bedford
in 1 8 10, and the third Earl of Bathurst in 1822. The latter
was the son of Lord Chancellor Apsley, the builder of Apsley
House, and grandson of the first Earl of Bathurst, who was
a friend of Pope. Viscount Cremorne lived at No. 3 for
several years. At No. 4, was the Earl of Mansfield in 1823 ;
the Marquis of Exeter in 1829 ; and Lord Brougham in 1834.
Lord Palmerston lived at No. 9, from 18 14 to 1843 ; and for
many years No. 10 was occupied by Bamber Gascoigne, the
maternal grandfather of the present Marquis of Salisbury.

" Fame says (but Fame a sland'rer stands confess'd)
Dick his own sprats, like Bamber Gascoigne, dress'd."

The great Minister, Sir Robert Peel, lived for a few years at
No. 12. In the drawing-room of this house he was married
in 1820, to Miss Floyd. Colonel Barre, the celebrated Whig
statesman, who was supposed by some to be the author of the
Letters of Junius, lived for a few years in this same house,
where he died in 1802. The street still keeps up its character,
and is at present inhabited by a Duke, an Earl, a Countess, a
Baron, and other titled personages.

CHESTERFIELD HOUSE.

105

Sheridan lived at No. 5, Queen Street, in 18 10, and Dr.
Merriman at No. 13, from 1796 to 18 10. At No. 20 lived, in
1824, the well-known Radical Member of Parliament, T. S.
Duncombe, called the pet of Finsbury and honest Tom,
though the publication of his Memoirs leaves it very doubtful
whether he was justly entitled to the latter honourable title.
The Right Hon. Sir Robert Adair, the celebrated diplomatist,
lived for some years at No. 22, where he died in 1855. Beau
Brummell, when he left Chesterfield Street, moved to No. 13,
Chapel Street, from which house he fled to France in 18 16.
Kitty Fisher, the notorious beauty, who made so much noise
in her own day but is only known to ours by her portrait,
painted by Reynolds, lived in Carrington Street.

Chesterfield Hods

Bdilt in 1746

The chief glory of May Fair is the fine mansion, Chester-
field House, in South Audley Street, which was built by
Isaac Ware for the great Earl of Chesterfield. Its present
position, surrounded by streets and houses, is very different
from what it was one hundred and twenty years ago. The
Earl's friends were surprised at his having chosen so desolate a

ao6 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

place, and he himself said that he required a house-dog, as he
had situated his house among thieves and murderers. This,
however, was soon changed, for Chesterfield House became
a centre, and the fashionable world came and settled round it.
Although the exterior of the house is pretentious and
without elegance, the interior is fine, and the Earl was justly
proud of it. He watched its progress with the greatest
interest, and wrote lovingly about it to his friends. In July,

1748, he wrote to the Marquise de Monconseil, and told her
that, he had then no house, as he had left his old one, and
his new one was not ready. In six weeks he hoped to be
in the new mansion, and he told the lady that all the rooms
were to be furnished a la Francaisc. In September he wrote
to the same lady and expatiated on the charms of his
boudoir, which, he told her, was so called "a non boudare" on
the same principle as hiais a non lucendo, for it was impossible
to be bored in such a room. He was proud of the large
courtyard in front and the large garden behind, two things
rare in London though then common in Paris. In March,

1749, he writes to his friend Solomon Dayrolles : "I have yet
finished nothing but my boudoir and my library ; the former
is the gayest and most cheerful room in England, the latter
the best." This library is a handsome room looking out
upon the garden. The bookcases, which do not exceed half
the height of the walls of the room, are painted white, and
above them were a series of portraits of celebrated authors
let into white ornamental frames in the walls. Over the fire-
place was Shakspeare, by Zucchero ; the others were Chaucer,
Sir Philip Sidney, Spenser, Ben Jonson, Milton, Sir John
Denham, Butler, Waller, Cowley, Earl of Dorset, Rochester,
Dryden, Wycherley, Congreve, Otway, Prior, Addison, Pope,
Rowe, and Swift. The suite of rooms was elegantly furnished
with silk hangings and ornamented in the French taste, but
each had its distinctive feature, and its special colour. One
room had a large looking-glass made up of pieces, but with
all the joins painted over with cupids and roses ; another had
its candle-branches constructed to represent gilt tasselled

CHESTERFIELD HOUSE. 207

ropes. The Italian drawing-room, besides its splendid glass
chandelier, had a noble marble mantelpiece with standing
figures. We can picture to ourselves the gay company who
came to the house-warming, in February, 1752, sauntering
through the rooms, and gazing at the pictures on the walls
by Titian, Guido, Rubens, Poussin, Caracci, Salvator Rosa,
Canaletti, Yoly, Lely, and Vandyke, and the numberless
other objects set before them for their admiration. The great
feature of the mansion still remains to be mentioned, and
that is the marble staircase with its grand columns, which
Lord Chesterfield purchased at the sale of Cannons when
that magnificent mansion of the Duke of Chandos was pulled
down. The iron-work of the staircase is very beautiful, and
the C monogram suiting the name of Chesterfield as well
as Chandos, the Earl's coronet only was required to be added
above the monogram. On the first floor is the music-room,
fitted up with an elegant organ and ornaments illustrative
of the beautiful art. The Earl's pride in his house is shown
in his will, where he enjoins that if any succeeding Earl
attempts to sell or let it, or any part of its offices and
gardens, the possession shall pass away from him to the next
heir. This entail has probably been broken, as, twenty years
ago, the house was let to the present Duke of Abercorn, who
lived in it up to 1869, in which year it was sold by Lord
Chesterfield to Mr. Magniac for 150,000/.

Lord Chesterfield built this house, as well as Great
Stanhope Street, on ground belonging to the Dean and
Chapter of Westminster, and he ever afterwards owed them
a grudge for what he considered their exorbitant demands.
This feeling is exhibited in his will, where he inserted the
following clause : " In case my godson, Philip Stanhope, shall
at any time hereinafter keep or be concerned in keeping
any racehorses or pack of hounds, or reside one night at
Newmarket, that infamous seminary of iniquity and ill-
manners, during the course of the races there ; or shall
resort to the said races ; or shall lose in any one day at any
game or bet whatsoever, the sum of 500/., then, in any of the

2o8 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

cases aforesaid, it is my express will that he, my said godson,
shall forfeit and pay out of my estate the sum of 5,000/. to
and for the use of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster."
Chesterfield declared that he inserted these names because
he was certain that if the penalty was incurred they would
be sure to claim it. 23

The Earl of Chesterfield, as well as Ambrose Phillips,
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and John Wilkes, were all
buried in Grosvenor Chapel. Lord Chesterfield desired in
his will that he should be buried in the next burying-ground
to the place where he should die, and that the whole expense
of his funeral should not exceed one hundred pounds. His
body was afterwards removed to the family burial-place in
Shelford Church, Nottinghamshire. General Paoli and Sir
W T illiam Jones both lived in South Audley Street, where
Louis XVIII. and Charles X., when at different times exiles
in this country, resided in the same house. Egalite, Duke of
Orleans, when he visited this country at an earlier period,
lived close by. Alderman Sir Matthew Wood had a house at
No. 7J ". Queen Caroline took up her abode here on her first
arrival from Italy, and showed herself to the mob from the
balcony.

Shepherd's Market is built on the spot where May Fair
was held, and takes its name from a Mr. Shepherd who lived
in the low white house on the north side of Curzon Street,
and was rated to the poor in 1708. This part of the town
was formerly so little esteemed that, in 1750, the freehold of
this mansion and gardens was offered for sale at the small
sum of 500/. On the death of Lady Reade, Lord Carhampton
bought it for 500/., and, after making improvements, sold it to
Lord Wharncliffe, then Mr. Stuart Wortley, M.P., for 1 2,000/. u

We now return to Piccadilly, and the next outlet is

23 Cunningham's Handbook of London. There is an article on
Chesterfield House in the Athenaum for August 28, 1869, but the writer
is mistaken in supposing that the place is to be pulled down.

24 J. T. Smiths Antiquarian Ramble in the Streets of London, vol. i.
pp. 14, 15-

PARK LANE. 209

Whitehorse Street, which has no history, and all that can
be said of Engine Street is that it is on the site of one of
the figure-yards. Down Street comes next. The corner
house of Piccadilly on the east side is occupied by the
"Junior Athenaeum Club," who have, perhaps, the most
elegant club-house in London. They bought it from Mrs.
Hope for 54,65c/., 25 and in addition they have to pay a
ground rent of 590/. When this house was in the possession
of Mr. Hope, who built it, he was very anxious to get rid
of the old public-house at the west corner of the street, but
the proprietor would not stir. It was pulled down with some
other houses in Piccadilly (Bramah's being one) in May, 1869,
and some handsome new buildings will probably rise on the site.
William Hazlitt moved to lodgings in this street from No. 9,
Southampton Buildings, in the year 1824. It was here that
Mr. Patmore met Charles Lamb for the first time.

Park Lane was long known as Tyburn Lane from its leading
to Tyburn turnpike. Gloucester House, the large corner house
of Piccadilly, which is very much in the way, and adds to the
inconvenience of the entry to Park Lane, was so called from
having been the residence of H. R. H. the late Duke of
Gloucester, and is now occupied by H. R. H. the Duke of
Cambridge. It was formerly inhabited by Lord Elgin, and
here were placed the Elgin Marbles on their arrival in this
country. Byron in English Bards and Scotch Revieivers calls
it " a stone shop " and —

" general mart
For all the mutilated works of art."

Wilkie obtained an order to see the marbles and Haydon
went with him. The latter says — " I felt the future ; I foretold
that they would prove themselves the finest things on earth,
that they would overturn the false beau-ideal, where nature
was nothing, and establish the true beau-ideal of which nature
alone is the basis." Haydon afterwards got a ticket for him-

25 At p. 35 it is incorrectly stated that the house was sold by the
Duke of Newcastle.

2io ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

self and hurried to Fuseli, whom he fired up with his enthu-
siasm. The two went together, and Fuseli strode about,
saying, " De Greeks were Godes ! De Greeks were Godes ! " 26

Lord Elgin, when ambassador at the Porte, in 1800, tried,
ineffectually, to obtain the co-operation of Government in his
aim to benefit art. He established, however, at his own ex-
pense, six moulders and artists at Athens, and finding how
the works were being destroyed by the Turks, who pounded
up the sculpture for lime to build houses, and by travellers,
who chipped off pieces to bring home, he applied to the Porte
to allow him to take the figures away. After five years of
constant anxieties and disappointments they were conveyed to
the Piraeus and embarked. In fair weather the pilot ran the ship
on a rock and all went down to the bottom. Hamilton, Lord
Elgin's secretary, did not despair even now ; he hired divers
from the coast of Asia Minor, and every case was recovered
and brought safely to England. Few visitors to the British
Museum who look at the marbles, think of the difficulties that
the public-spirited nobleman, to whom we owe them, had to
undergo. He was first maligned for disturbing them, and
Byron joined in this cry. Then the dilettanti tried to prove
that their antiquity and claims to art were not high, and lastly
the nation bought them at so small a sum that Lord Elgin
lost between 16,000/. and 17,000/. by them.

Charles William, third Marquis of Londonderry, Am-
bassador to Vienna, and half-brother of the celebrated Minis-
ter, lived at Holdernesse House in 1836.

Dorchester House was named after the Darners, Earls of
Dorchester. Francis Charles, Marquis of Hertford, the
favourite of George IV., who married Maria Fagniani, died
here in 1842. The present elegant mansion, which is one of
the chief ornaments of London, was built for R. S. Holford,
Esq., by Lewis Vulliamy. The interior is worthy of the exterior
and the grand staircase is entirely of marble. In this house
is preserved a most superb library of rare and costly books.

2(5 Haydon'S Autobiography, vol. i. pp. 85, S6.

HAMILTON PLACE. 211

The garden wall of the Marquis of Westminster, in
Upper Grosvenor Street (Grosvenor House), occupies a con-
siderable portion of Park Lane. It was formerly Gloucester
House, and inhabited by the Duke of Gloucester, brother of
George III. Among other celebrities who have lived in
Park Lane are Warren Hastings in 1790- 1797, and a succeed-
ing Governor of India, the Earl of Mornington, who was
created Marquis of Wellesley in 1796; Mrs. Fitzherbert, who
was married in her drawing-room to the Prince of Wales on
December 21st, 1785 ; the Hon. Mrs. Damer, during the
winter months, from 181 8 to her death in 1828.

Lord Lytton lived at No. 1 about the time of the publi-
cation of his Zanoni. Richard Sharp, the conversationalist,
lived at No. 23, from 1822 to 1834. Mackintosh termed him
the best critic he knew, and Byron always bore testimony to
his ability. He made a fortune in commercial pursuits, and
died worth 250,000/.

Hamilton Place was built in 1805, by Adams, on the site
of Hamilton Street, which was called after James Hamilton,
Ranger of Hyde Park in the reign of Charles II., and
brother of ' la belle ' Hamilton. The old street consisted of
twenty small houses and two or three larger ones, which were
all pulled down to make room for the present Place. The
following is a list of some of the various inhabitants of the
handsome houses in this impasse : —

No. 1. Lord Montgomery lived here in 18 10, but Lord
Chancellor Eldon built the present house and lived in it till
his death in 1838. It still remains the town mansion of the
present Earl of Eldon.

No. 2. John, sixth Duke of Bedford, K.G., was the first
inhabitant of this house ; he left in 18 19, and was succeeded
by Earl Gower, afterwards first Marquis of Stafford, and first
Duke of Sutherland. His widow, the Duchess and Countess
of Sutherland, still lived here in 1836. The Right Hon.
Thomas Grenville was here from 1840 to 1846, and the Duke
of Argyll from 1847 to 1850.

No. 3. Edmund Boyle, Eighth Earl of Cork and Orrery,

212 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

occupied this house from 1810 to 1850, but Lord Foley
lived here in 1822. The present inhabitant is the Earl of
Dalkeith.

No. 4. The Earl Lucan was here in 18 10 and the Duke
of Wellington in 18 14. On the 1st of July a deputation of
the House of Commons waited on the Duke with an address
of thanks. He afterwards went to the House to return his
thanks in person, and on his appearance all the members rose
and received him with cheers. Lord Grenville lived here in
1822, Messrs. P. C. and Henry Labouchere in 1823-29, and
Henry Bevan, the banker, from 1840 to 1848.

No. 5. The Earl of Buckinghamshire lived here from
1 8 10 to 1829, after which it became, and still remains, the
town house of the Marquises of Conyngham.

No. 6. The Right Hon. John Sullivan occupied this house
in 1 8 10, and was succeeded by the Earl of Belmore. Lord
Montague was here in 1829, the Earl of Home in 1843, Lord
Southampton in 1847, and W. A. J. Munro, who possessed a
fine collection of pictures, in 1848. The present inhabitant is
the Hon. Butler Johnston Munro.

No. 7. Richard Boyle, Earl of Shannon, lived here from
1 8 10 to 1822, and was succeeded by Philip John Miles, who
possessed a fine collection of pictures of the Italian School.
William Miles, M.P., was here from 1840 to 1850.

When Hamilton Place was first laid out, the leases from
the Crown were taken on the understanding that it should
never be made a thoroughfare, but owing to the want of a
better entry into Park Lane it has been proposed to open up
this place and carry the road through the gardens at the end.
An Act of Parliament has been passed to carry this scheme
into execution, and, at the same time, it is proposed to pull
down the houses on the east side in order to make the road
the requisite width.

( 213 )

CHAPTER IX.

HYDE PARK.

Having now walked to the end of Piccadilly, we arrive at
Hyde Park Corner. This is the great western approach to
London, and the Frenchman who directed his letter to the
Duke of Wellington at Apsley House to "No. I, London,"
hit off very happily its chief characteristic. London, however,
is increasing so rapidly, and in its increase is swallowing up
with such immense appetite, but so little digestion, all the
suburbs, that it is difficult now to say where it begins and
where it ends.

The " Corner " has long been a celebrated place. It was
here that Sir Thomas Wyatt planted his ordnance when he
made his unsuccessful attempt upon London in 1554 ; and in
the following century, when the citizens of London were resist-
ing their king with all the power they possessed, and when
even women,

" From ladies down to oyster wenches," '

assisted in the erection of ramparts round the metropolis, a
fort with four bastions was thrown up at Hyde Park Corner,
in order to oppose the threatened approach of the Royal
army in 1642.

The turnpike, which originally stood at the end of Berkeley
Street, was removed in 1721 to Hyde Park Corner, and here
it remained till October, 1825, when it was sold and cleared
away. 2

1 Hudibras, part ii. canto 2.

2 In Hone's Every Day Book there is a woodcut of the condemned
toll-gate as it appeared when sold by auction.

214 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

The present entrance to Hyde Park, which consists of a
triple archway combined with a fluted Ionic screen designed
by Decimus Burton, was completed in 1828 : the frieze is by-
Archibald Henning, and the gates by Messrs. Bramah. The
triumphal arch opposite was built about the same time, and
is an adaptation of the Arch of Titus at Rome. It was
originally intended as a private entrance to Buckingham
Palace, and in contemporary engravings is called the entrance
or lodge to the King's Palace ; and in the Penny Magazine for
1832 "George IV.'s gate;" but the road from Constitution
Hill was subsequently turned to allow of public access.

" This is the entrance, the triumphal arch
Which, 'tis said, will be probably finish'd in March,
(And compared with the elegant gates of Hyde Park
May justly be term'd tasteless, gloomy, and dark'." 3

It is now better known as the Wellington Arch, from
the colossal equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington,
by Matthew Cotes Wyatt, which was erected on its summit
in the year 1846. The old soldier was pleased to see from
the window of his house this monument of the estimation in
which he was held by his country, but all the art critics were
opposed to its being placed in so inappropriate a position.
As, however, the huge mass has been raised to so great a
height, it is likely to remain there for many years to come.
A little time before the completion of the statue, and while it
was still at the artist's studio, the body of the horse was fitted
up as a refectory, and twelve gentlemen sat down within it,
and drank to the health of Mr. Wyatt in what must have
been a rather uncomfortable position. 4

In the last century Sir John Soane made a design for an
entrance into Hyde Park from Piccadilly, the cost of which
was estimated at 10,000/. It was approved by George III. and
exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1796, but its erection was

3 The Palace that N\as]h Built, by I. Hume. i:mo. London (1829 ?).

4 Richardson's Recollections of the Last Half Century, 1856, vol. ii.
p. 209.

HYDE PARK. 215

postponed on account .of the expense. Sir John proposed a
similar entrance for St. James's Park on the opposite side of
the street, and afterwards designed a connection between the
two, the whole being intended as a monument to com-
memorate the victories of Trafalgar and Waterloo ; but the
present entrances are in every way superior to these elaborate
but rather ugly designs by Soane. 5 It has been proposed by
Mr. H. S. Snell that the entrance gateway to Hyde Park
should be shifted so as to open directly upon Rotten Row
and the Lady's Mile. By this means the gates would be
seen better from Piccadilly, and that pressing want, a relief to
Park Lane, would be obtained by the creation of a public
roadway passing by Apsley House and Hamilton Gardens,
and leading into Park Lane at Stanhope Gate. 6

Near by Hyde Park Sir Samuel Morland, the projector,
had a country house, which he called his hut, where he
exhibited all kinds of curious absurdities : —

"And dear Sir Samuel's next device ;
Whether it be a pump or table,
Glass house or any other bauble." 7

Some of his inventions were important and valuable, and
among these was the speaking-trumpet, which he called
Tuba Stentorphonica. Butler introduces it into Hudibras
as follows :- —

" I heard a formidable voice,
Loud as the Stentorphonic noise."

This trumpet, in length four and a half feet, was tried in
St. James's Park in 1670, and was heard at the distance of
nearly half a mile. A large one, sixteen feet long, was heard
over the sea at Deal, between two and three miles off. 8

5 Engravings of these designs are in Sir John Soane's Designs for
Public and Private Buildings, fol. Lond. 1832.

6 The Builder, 1867, pp. 153, 237.

7 Poems on Stale Affairs, ed. 1703, vol. i. p. 133.

8 Notes and Queries, 3rd series, x. p. 295.

:i6

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Sir Samuel was one of Thurlow's under-secretaries, and
was intrusted with secrets by Cromwell's government, which
he betrayed to Charles II. Pepys says he was looked on as
a knave though the king honoured him. 9

Two years of the early life of a more celebrated man than
Morland were spent at Mr. Dean's academy, which was
situated near Hyde Park Corner. This was the poet Pope,
who when here assisted at the getting up of a play founded
on an adventure in Homer, in which the gardener acted the
part of Ajax.

St. George's Hospital, aiier R. Wilson, H.A., 1746

On the site of St. George's Hospital, but fronting towards
Hyde Park, stood Lanesborough House, the country resi-

9 Morland wrote an autobiographical letter to Tenison, Archbishop
of Canterbury, in exculpation of his conduct. This letter is preserved
among the Lambeth MSS., and is printed in the Appendix to Letters on
Science in England, edited by J. O. HALLIWELL. 1841.

HYDE PARK. 217

dence of Theophilus, first Lord Lanesborough, who inscribed
on its front the following distich : —

" It is my delight to be
Both in town and country."

This nobleman was extremely fond of dancing, and Pope
ridicules him as —

" Sober Lanesborough dancing with the gout ;"

but if he was an absurd man in many respects, he did a
public benefit when he caused the upper gallery round the
dome of St. Paul's to be gilded at his own expense.

St. George's Hospital was founded by some dissentient
governors of the Westminster Infirmary, which was originally
founded in Petty France in the year 17 19, and was the first
hospital for the sick supported by voluntary contributions.
In 1724 the Infirmary was removed to Chappell Street, but
more room being required, two places were proposed ; the one
being some houses belonging to a Mr. Green, and the other
Lanesborough House. The majority of the governors were
in favour of the former, but the minority and the medical
officers seceded in 1733 and took Lanesborough House, which
was opened for the reception of patients on Jan. 1, 1733-34.
It was soon found to be too small, and wings were added to
the old house. In 1825 it was decided that an entirely new
house should be erected, and the rebuilding was forthwith
commenced by William Wilkins, R.A., in the rear of the old
hospital, and was finished in 1834. In 1851 the south wing
was extended at its western end, and in 1859 the north and
south wings were raised a story. Many of the most distin-
guished men of the profession have been connected with this
hospital. William Cheselden was surgeon from 1733 to 1738 ;
John Hunter from 1768 to 1793 ; Sir Everard Home from
1793 to 1829; Sir Benjamin Brodie from 1808 to 1840.
Dr. Benjamin Hoadly, the son of the well-known Bishop of
Bangor, and the author of the Suspicions Husband, was
physician from 1735 to 1 75 1 ; Dr. Mathew Baillie from 1787

218 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

to 1800; and Dr. Thomas Young from 181 1 to 1829. The
great physician Dr. William Hunter was a surgical pupil at
this hospital in 1741 ; and here died his still more celebrated
brother, John Hunter, of disease of the heart on the 16th of
October, 1793.

The world-renowned Tattersall's Repository was established
in 1793, in the rear of St. George's Hospital, by Richard
Tattersall, the Duke of Kingston's training-groom, who died
here in 1795. This place, so long known as " the Corner,"
stood on the verge of the Five Fields, now covered by the
fashionable district of Belgravia. When the Marquis of
Westminster made his extensive clearings, Tattersall's was
removed to a spot lying near the junction of the Brompton
and Kensington Roads, where an ugly building has been
erected for its reception.

Adjoining the Hospital at St. George's Place, at No. 4,
died, on November 9, 1809, Paul Sandby, one of the founders
of the English school of water-colour painting and an original
Royal Academician. John Liston, the celebrated actor, lived
for several years at No. 14, where he died on March 22, 1846.

As we now pass Hyde Park Corner and Knightsbridge,
it is difficult to picture to ourselves the retired country-place
which was formerly infested with footpads. Knightsbridge
(called after the manor of Neate or Neyte) was for many years
a very dangerous place, and the little inns round about were
frequented by highwaymen. In November, 1774, two men
were executed at Tyburn for robbing the Knightsbridge
stage-coach. 10 The popular estimation in which the place
was held is seen in the following extract from the MS. addi-
tions to Mr. Nichols's copy of Norden's Speculum Britannia} 1
" Kingesbridge, commonly called Stone Bridge, is near Hyde
Park Corner, where I wish no good man to walk too late,
unless he can make his partie good."

Hyde Park occupies the site of the ancient manor of

10 GcntlemcnCs Magazine, 1774, p. 592.

11 Quoted in Wilkinson's Londina Ilhisirata, vol. i.

HYDE PARK. 219

Hyde, 12 which formerly belonged to the monastery of St
Peter at Westminster, by whose chiefs the ground was en-
closed. In the year 1536, Henry VIII. exchanged the priory
of Hurley in Berkshire with the monks of Westminster for
the two manors of Hyde and Neyte.

From an early period the Park was fenced in for the pro-
tection of the deer, which were frequently hunted. In 1550
Edward VI. invited the French Ambassador and the Com-
missioners then in London to conclude the peace with France
to enjoy the sport ; 1S and in Elizabeth's reign, the Duke John
Casimir, K.G., son of Frederick III., Elector Palatine, and
brother of the reigning Elector Lewis VI., then visiting Eng-
land, was taken to divert himself in the Park. Here in
February, 1578, "he killed a barren doe with his pece ....
from amongst ccc. other deere." u

John Norden, the topographer, thus describes the place
about this time : — " Hyde Parke, substantially impayled with
a fayre lodge and princelye standes therein. It is a stately
parke, and full of fayre game. The right honorab. lo : Huns-
don, Lord Chamberlayne to her Majestie, maister of the
game." 15

The game was kept with great strictness, and in October,
1 619, some deerstealers were executed at Hyde Park Gate,
and with them a poor labourer, who was hired for is. 4c/. to
hold their dogs. 16

In January, 1625, a warrant was sent to the keeper of
Hyde Park to cause three brace of bucks to be taken to
Marybone Park, to supply the scarcity caused by the great
rain there ; and another warrant to the master of the toils for

12 There is a popular, but altogether erroneous notice, that Hyde Park
takes its name from Lord Chancellor Hyde (Lord Clarendon).

13 Tytler's England under Edward VI. and Mary, 2 vols. 8vo, 1839,
vol. i. p. 288.

14 Letter from Gilbert Talbot and his wife to the Earl and Countess
of Shrewsbury. — Lodge's Illustrations of Brit. Hist.\ 1791, vol. ii. p. 205.

13 Speculum Britannia?, Harl. MS., No. 570, fol. 30.

16 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1619-23, p. 88.

220 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the toils to be sent to Hyde Park, so that this might be
performed. 17

Charles I. wished the Park to be walled in, but his troubles
prevented him from carrying out his intention, and it was not
until after the year 1670 that a wall was erected round it.

On the return of James I. from Scotland, in September,
1 61 7, he was met in Hyde Park as he came from Windsor,
by the lord mayor and aldermen, and about 400 citizens. In
this reign the Park had become a public resort ; and Ben
Jonson, in the prologue to his comedy, The Staple of News,
which was first acted in the year 1625, thus refers to the scene
which was daily to be seen there : —

" Alas ! what is it to his scene, to know
How many coaches in Hyde Park did show
Last spring."

Henry Rich, a favourite of James I., and afterwards Earl
of Holland, was appointed Keeper in 161 2, and he apparently
suggested the subject of James Shirley's play, entitled Hyde
Park, a Comcdie, which was licensed in April, 1632, and first
printed in 1637. The author, in his dedication to Lord
Holland, says : — " The comedy in the title is a part of your
lordship's command which heretofore graced and made happy
by your smile, when it was presented after a long silence
upon first opening of the Park, is come abroad to kiss your
lordship's hand." 18

Several of the scenes are laid in the Park, and a pleasing
picture of its beauty is drawn by the author. The nightingale
is heard, and Lord Bonvile says (Act iii. scene 1) : —

" Lady, you are welcome to the spring ; the Park
Looks fresher to salute you : how the birds
On every tree sing, with more cheerfulness
At your access, as if they prophesied
Nature would die, and resign her providence
To you, fit only to succeed her."

The Park at this time was a country place, entirely cut off

17 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1623-25, p. 445.

18 Dramatic Works, ed. Dvce, 1833, vol. ii.

HYDE PARK. 221

from the town, and Charles I. and his nobility frequented it
on account of the freshness of the air. Horse and foot races
became frequent, and it was to witness one of these that the
characters in Shirley's play were drawn together. The following
song, in the fourth act, is curious as giving the names of some
of the race-horses : —

" Come, Muses all, that dwell nigh the fountain
Made by the winged horse's heel,
Which firk'd with his rider over each mountain ;
Let me your galloping raptures feel.

I do not sing of fleas or frogs,

Nor of the well-mouth'd hunting dogs.
Let me be just, all praises must
Be given to well-breath'd Jilian Thrust.

Young Constable and Kill Deer's famous,
The Cat, the Mouse, and Neddy Gray ;
With nimble Peggybrig, you cannot shame us,
With Spaniard nor with Spinola.

Hill-climbing White Rose praise doth not lack,

Handsome Dunbar and Yellow Jack;
But if I be just, all praises must
Be given to well-breath'd Jilian Thrust.

Sure-spurred Sloven, true-running Robin,
Of Young Shaver I do not say less,
Strawberry Soavi, and let Spider pop in,
Fine Brackley, and brave Lurching Bess.

Victorious too was Herring Shotteu,

And Spit-ill's- Arse is not forgotten ;
But if I be just, all honour must
Be given to well-breath'd Jilian Thrust.

Lusty George, and, gentlemen, hark yet,
To winning Mackarel, fine-mouth'd Freak
Bay Tarrall that won the cup at Newmarket,
Thundering Tempest, Black Dragon eke.

Precious Sweet Lips I do not lose,

Nor Toby with his golden shoes ;
But if I be just, all honour must
Be given to well-breath'd Jilian Thrust.

When this play was acted in 1668, Pepys tells us that horses
were brought on the stage ; so that the realistic practice in

222 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the sensational plays of the present day is not without old
precedent.

In March, 1635, articles of agreement were entered into
between John Prettyman and John Havers to run a match
with two of their horses for 100/. each, on April 25, between
nine and ten in the forenoon, to start together " at the upper
lodge in Hyde Park, and to run the usual way from thence
over the lower bridge unto the ending place at the Park gate. 19

The races are referred to in The Jovial Crew ; or, The
Merry Beggars, by Richard Brome, a play acted in 1641, and
printed in 1652.

Tyburn, situated at the north-east corner of the Park, was
for many years the chief place of execution for criminals, and
Roger de Wendover relates that William Fitzosbert or Long-
beard was executed there in the year 1196. There is in the
Crowle Pennant a representation of Queen Henrietta Maria
doing penance under the gallows at Tyburn ; and it was long
believed that she walked barefoot through the Park to that
place, in obedience to the direction of her confessor. The
Queen always denied the truth of this report ; and it does
seem exceedingly improbable that she should have demeaned
herself so far.

The Park being Crown property was sold by order of
Parliament in 1652, for about 17,000/., in three lots, the pur-
chasers being Richard Wilcox, John Tracy, and Anthony
Deane. Deane paid 9,020/. 8s. 2d. for what was called the
Banqueting House division, Tyburn Meadows, the middle
division, &c, " with that small portion of ground taken out of
the parke, and used as a fortification called Parke Corner."
Richard Wilcox gave 4,141/ lis. for the gravel-pit division,
and John Tracy 3,906/ js. 6d. for the Kensington division. 20

19 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1634-35, p. 605.

20 The full particulars of the three lots are printed in Thomas Smith's
Historical Recollections of Hyde Park, 1836, pp. 6-9. The origin of the
name Bayswater is found in the Inventory as " Bayard's Watering." In
A Plan of the Palace, Gardens, and Town of Kensington, by J. Rocque,
a place in the Oxford Road, nearly opposite the head of the Serpentine,
is marked as Bafs Watering.

HYDE PARK. 223

Although the Park was thus sold it still continued to be
frequented by the people, but all riders were made to pay for
the privilege of taking the air in it. To the great disgust of
those who were taxed, one shilling was charged for every
carriage, and sixpence for every horse, that entered the Park.
Evelyn calls the imposer of this fine " a sordid fellow." 21

The same author, in a little tract which he wrote under
the disguise of a Frenchman and entitled A Character of
England, 165 1, gives a very unflattering description of the
frequenters of the Park at this time. It is as follows : —

" I did frequently in the spring accompany my Lord N

into a field near the town, which they call Hyde Parke — the
place not unpleasant and which they use as our course ; but
with nothing that order, equipage, and splendour, being such
an assembly of wretched jades and hackney coaches as next
a regiment of carremen, there is nothing approaches the re-
semblance. This Parke was (it seems) used by the late king
and nobility for the freshness of the air and the goodly pro-
spect ; but it is that which now (besides all other excises) they
pay for here in England, though it be free in all the world
beside ; every coach and horse which enters buying his mouth-
ful, and permission of the publicane who has purchased it, for
which the entrance is guarded with porters and long staves." ~~

The following interesting letter shows the Park three years
later, when Cromwell and his family were among the visitors : —

"It is sayd on all handes y l Mrs. Garrard is very shortly
to marry her old servant Mr. Heveningham, whose son, they
say, died about f rs of a yeare since, and that is his incentive
to marriage ; all y l family is very well, as their freq 1 being in
Hyde parke doth verifie, where still also I see Mrs. Bard's faire
eyes. Yesterday each coach (& I believe there were 1500)
payd 2s. 6d., and each horse is., but y e benefit accrewes to a
brace of cittizens who have taken y e herbage of y e parke of
Mr. Deane, to w ch they adde this excise of beauty : there was
a hurlinge in y e paddocke-course by Cornish gentlemen for

21 Diary, April nth, 1653.

22 Evelyn's Miscellaneous Works, 1825, p. 165.

224 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

y e greate solemnity of y e daye w ch indeed (to use ray Lord
protectors word) was great : when my Lord protectors coach
came into y e parke w th Col. Ingoldsby and my lord's daughters
onely (3 of them all in greene-a), the coaches and horses
flocked about them like some miracle, but they galloped (after
y e mode court-pace now, and w ch they all use where-ever they
goe) round and round y e parke, and all y l great multitude
hunted them and caught them still at y e turne like a hare,
and then made a lane with all reverent haste for them, and
soe after them againe, that I never saw y e like in my life." 23

It is a great mistake to suppose that, during the Common-
wealth, there was no outward gaiety or frivolity. In 1656
was published a work entitled The Yellow Book : or, a Serious
Letter sent by a Private Christian to the Lady Consideration,
the first of May, 1656, which she is desired to communicate in
Hide Park to the Gallants of the Times a little after sun-set ;
also a brief account of the names of some vain persons that
intend to be there, whose company the new Ladies are desired
to forbear. Among the ladies expected to be present in
the park were " Mrs. Dust, Madam Spot, and my Lady
Paint." 2i

Cromwell was a frequent visitor to the Park, from which
he twice narrowly escaped with his life. In October, 1654,
he went there for a drive, accompanied by Thurloe and a few
gentlemen and servants. After dining at the lodge, he, on
his return, put the secretary inside and took a fancy to drive
the coach home himself. Henry Oldenburgh, agent to England
from the Republic of Lower Saxony during the Common-
wealth, who was afterwards, in Charles II.'s reign, Secretary
to the Royal Society, had presented Cromwell six German
horses, which, on this occasion, the Protector tried to drive.
He got on very well at first, but, using the whip too freely,
he irritated the spirited horses, and they ran away. He was
soon dashed to the ground, and, to add to his danger, a pistol

23 Letter of J. B. to Mr. Scudamore, London, 2 Maii, 1654. — Notes and
Queries, 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 187.

24 Notes and Queries, 2nd series, vol. vii. p. 395.

HYDE PARK. 225

went off in his pocket as he fell. He was taken home and
bled, and rapidly got well again.

" But Noll, a rank rider, gets first in the saddle,

And made her show tricks and curvate and rebound :
She quickly perceiv'd that he rode widdle-waddle,
And like his coach-horses, threw his highness to ground.'"-"'

About a year and a half after this escapade he wonderfully
escaped from a plot for his assassination, which had been well
arranged to be carried out within the Park.

Horse-races were not allowed during the Commonwealth,
but coach-races appear to have found favour with the people,
and Evelyn went to see one in the Park on May 20th, 1658.
Although the Puritans had the power to prohibit certain sports,
they were not able to make the mass of the people despise
amusements. All classes went a-maying, and in May, 1654,
a grand hurling match took place here at which Cromwell
and many of his Council were present. There were fifty
Cornish gentlemen on one side who wore red caps, and fifty
on the other who wore white. The ball used on the occasion
was silver, and became the property of the winning side. 20

At the Restoration the men who had purchased the Park
from the Parliament found themselves in an awkward predica-
ment, for of course the sale was held to be invalid. Among
the various petitions presented to the King was one from John
Tracy, who " was thirty-eight years a merchant in the United
Provinces, and returning in 1652 was drawn in to buy Crown
lands in Hyde Park worth 7,000/., and in Lord Craven's lord-
ship of Combe worth 2,100/., but was never engaged in
hostility, and preserved the timber and planted the ground
thus preserved [and he] begs therefore a grant of two houses,
which he built on the road at Knightsbridge to secure him
from ruin." 27

James Reade, servant to the Duke of Gloucester, petitioned

2-1 Political Ballads, ed. WlLKiNS, i860, vol. i. p. 160.

2ti Moderate Intelligencer, 26 April to 3 May, 1654.

27 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1660-61, p. 295.

226 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

" for a grant of the house and demesnes at Acton, formerly-
held by Mr. Barkstead, late Lieutenant of the Tower, worth
60/. a year, and of the keeping of lodge and gate of Hyde
Park now held by Deane, who was the cause of his sufferings.
[His claims are that he] has been often imprisoned, was fed
sixteen weeks on bread and water, and was two years and
three quarters in the Tower in heavy irons and without light." 28
Charles II. granted the office of keeper of the Park to his
brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who died on the 24th
September, 1660, only four months after the grant had been
made out. 29

In November of the same year the office of keeper or
ranger was granted to James Hamilton, one of the grooms of
the Bedchamber. The daily fee to be received by the ranger
was not large, in fact, was only eightpence, 30 but he made
money by the letting of certain houses and farms in the Park.

In December, 1664, Hamilton was granted a lease for
thirty-one years of certain messuages and tenements at a rent
of 1 as - ., "with the covenant that he shall make leases thereof
to purchasers to be appointed at half the improved rents." 31
In May of the following year a grant of fifty-five acres at the
north-west corner of the Park was made to Hamilton and to
George Birch, on condition that the land was planted with
choice apple-trees, and that half the apples were delivered for
the king's household. 32 In 1671 the "herbage and pannage,
and the conies," were granted to Hamilton, " and the wood cut,

28 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1660-61, p. 171.

29 George Roper, who was appointed in the reign of Edward VI., is
the first keeper on record. In 1554 the office was divided, and Francis
was appointed one of the keepers. In the sixteenth year of Elizabeth's
reign Henry Carey Lord Hunsdon was granted the office, in which he
was succeeded by Sir Edmund Carey. In 1607 Robert Cecil, Earl of
Salisbury, was given the custody of the Park, and on his death in 161 2 it
was granted for life to Sir Henry Rich, afterwards created Earl of Holland,
and beheaded in 1649.

30 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1660-61, pp. 77, 36S.

31 Ibid., 1664-65, p. 127.

32 Ibid., 1664, pp. 361, 383.

HYDE PARK. 227

or to be cut for the browes of the deer, commonly called
browsewood." 33

It was not till after the year 1670 that the Park was
surrounded by a brick wall, and replenished with deer. The
greater part of it was a wild and unfrequented waste. In
1675, when Charles II. resolved to found a royal observatory,
Hyde Park was one of the places proposed for its site, but
Wren recommended Greenwich, and his wish was carried into
execution.

The Ring, which was the constant resort of all the gallantry
of the court, and " the rendezvous of magnificence and
beauty," 34 was a small enclosure of trees, round which the
carriages circulated. When, therefore, we read that a foot-
race was run three times round the Park, it only means three
times round the Ring.

The writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
are full of allusions to the glories of Hyde Park. Phil. Porter,
when leaving London, with regret says —

" Farewell the glory of Hyde Park,
Which was to me so dear,
Ah ! since I can't enjoy it more,
Would I were buried there." 35

As Charles II. was fond of being out of doors, he spent
most of his time in walking in St. James's Park and riding in
Hyde Park, and wherever the King went his Court were sure
to follow. Evelyn speaks of the " innumerable appearance of
gallants and rich coaches," 36 and in a ballad of the year 1670,
entitled News from Hide Park, we are informed that,

" Of all parts of England, Hide Park hath the name
For coaches and horses and persons of fame." 37

But for all this praise the coaches were very clumsy and un-
comfortable, and the Count de Grammont gained great eclat

33 Thirtieth Report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Records, p. 367.

34 Grammont's Memoirs.

35 Wit and Drollery, 1682, pp. 36-40.

36 Diary, May 1, 1661.

37 Roxburgh Ballads, ii. 379 (B.M.)

228 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

by having an elegant and magnificent calash made in France
at a cost of 2,000 louis. When the coach came over he pre-
sented it to the King, and all the Court were lost in admira-
tion of its beauty. The Queen rode in it for the first time
in company with the Duchess of York. Lady Castlemaine
seeing them in it desired the King to lend it to her to appear
in Hyde Park on the first fine day. Miss Stewart entertained
the same wish, and required it on the same day. The King
was perplexed, but Miss Stewart gained the day, much to the
rage and mortification of Lady Castlemaine.

No doubt Gay accurately describes the behaviour of the
crowd of fashionables who slowly passed and repassed along
the dusty road which furnished Pope with a simile, —

" Sooner shall grass in Hyde Park Circus grow." M

Gay writes : —

" Was it for this I sparkled at the Play,
And loiter'd in the Ring whole hours away?
When if thy chariot in the circle shone,
Our mutual passion by our looks was known.
Through the gay crowd my watchful glances flew,
Where'er I pass thy grateful eyes pursue." 39

The Grand Duke Cosmo, when in England in 1669, was a
frequent visitor to the Park, and it is thus described in his
Travels : — " Hyde Park is a large and spacious meadow, in
which many carriages of ladies and gentlemen assemble in the
evening, to enjoy the agreeableness of the place ; which, how-
ever, was greatly diminished by the Protector Cromwell, who,
in order to render the vicinity of London more open, cut
down the elms which were planted there in rows. The king
and queen are often there, and the duke and duchess, towards
whom at the first meeting, and no more, all persons shew
the usual marks of respect, which are afterwards omitted,
although they should chance to meet again ever so often,
every one being at full liberty, and under no restraint

j9 r

Rape of the Lock, canto iv. 1. 117.
Gay's Araminta, an Elegy.

HYDE PARK. 229

whatever ; and to prevent the confusion and disorder which
might arise from the great number of lackies and footmen,
these are not permitted to enter Hyde Park, but stop at the
gate waiting for their masters." 40

The Frenchman Misson, writing in the reign of William
III., thus pictured the place and the company: — "Here the
people of fashion take the diversion of the Ring ; in a pretty
high place which lies very open, they have surrounded a
circumference of two or three hundred paces diameter with
a sorry kind of ballustrade, or rather, with poles plac'd upon
stakes, but three foot from the ground ; and the coaches drive
round and round this. When they have turn'd for some time
round one way, they face about and turn t'other : so rowls the
world." 41

Although the Ring has disappeared, the polite world of
the reign of Queen Victoria acts in the same way as did the
world of the last century. It has the whole Park spread out
for its use, but it fixes on one portion only, and amuses itself
day by day by riding backwards and forwards along this
social treadmill. A later writer describes the same scene : — ■
" When the spring advances and the summer comes on, as it
usually does before the Parliament rises, which keeps the
quality in town, they grow weary of their winter diversions,
and we see most of them assembling on a fine evening, either
at the Ring in Hyde Park, or in the Mall at St. James's, and
it is not unusual for them to come from the Ring to walk in
the Mall. The Ring in Hyde Park is shaded by fine lofty
trees, and the dust laid by water-carts, when the dryness of
the season requires it ; and here we frequently see four or five
lines of noblemen's and gentlemen's coaches, rolling gently
round the Ring in all their gayest equipage, some moving
this way, others that, which makes a very splendid shew.
Here they have an opportunity of being personally known to
each other, of enquiring after each other's health, and of
forming an opinion of what is most decent and becoming in

40 Travels of Cosmo III., 1821, p. 174.

41 MlSSON's Travels over England, 1719, p. 126.

230 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

life ; at the same time they have an opportunity of taking the
air, enjoying the beauty of a fine evening, and improving their
healths : and thus we observe the animal and vegetable world
as well as the human species, at the return of the spring,
displaying all their charms ; plants and flowers discovering a
thousand beauties to our eyes, while the feather'd race gratify
another sense with their harmonious notes. But to return to
the company at the Ring : after they have driven round about
an hour or two, and taken a particular view of the whole
company, they are frequently set down at the Mall, in
St. James's Park." 42

Colley Cibber tells us in his Apology that ladies of quality
frequently fetched Kynaston, the famous actor of female parts,
when the theatre was over, and drove him in the Park in his
stage costume as one of themselves. Many of the ladies were
not very prudish in what they said and did here. The Duchess
of Cleveland once cried out to Wycherley that he was a rascal,
using at the same time some very strong language. Tom
Brown tells of the gallant ladies in gilt coaches with rich
liveries, who laughed and sung and tickled each other as they
rode along. 43

It would appear that the company often remained in the
Ring till after dark, for Dr. William King, in his Art of Love,
speaks of the lights that were to be seen at a distance : —

" Sometimes in wilder groves by chariots drawn
They view the noble stag and tripping fawn.
On Hyde Park's circles, if you chance to gaze,
The lights revolving strike you with amaze." 44

In 1695 hackney coaches were prohibited from entering
the Park, owing to some persons having driven there in masks
and annoyed the more aristocratic company. The restriction
has been continued to the present day.

The Ring has now entirely disappeared, though its name is
still retained in that of the Ring Road. The place itself

42 1743, History and Present State of the British Islands, vol. ii. p. 339.
4i Tom Brown's Works, ed. 1760, vol. iii.
44 King's Works, vol. iii. p. 126.

HYDE PARK. 231

remained till the beginning of the present century, and is
shown in the plans of the Park. 43

Rotten Row and the Lady's Mile have replaced the Ring.
In Rhodes's plan of the Park 16 these two roads to the south of
the Serpentine are marked ; the one is called the " King's Road,"
and the other the " Coach Road," through the Park. When
William III. bought Kensington House, he had a royal road
made through St. James's and Hyde Parks, straight to his
Palace. In 1734 it was made, as now, of loose material, to
prevent the annoyance experienced by the royal family at
Kensington from the dust of the road. This road was after-
wards specially kept for the convenience of riders ; but in
1764, Rhodes delineates one or two coaches among the horse-
men. Many absurd etymologies have been proposed for the
name, but the most probable is the apparent one, that it is
called after the rotten soil of which it is composed. Sheridan's
lines on one of the " habituees " of the Row are as applicable
now as when he wrote them :

" Then behind, all my hair is done up in a plat,
And so like a comet's, tucked under my hat.
Then I mount on my palfrey as gay as a lark,
And follow'd by John take the dust in Hyde Park.'' 47

Of its kind, perhaps there is no finer sight anywhere to be
seen than the company in Rotten Row on a fine morning in

45 Mr. Peter Cunningham supposes the Ring to have been partly
destroyed at the making of the Serpentine, but I believe he is mistaken,
for the place, as shown in the plans, was some little distance from the
water. The Ring is marked in a Plan of Hyde Park as it was in 1725,
copied from a Plan of the Parish of St. George, Hanover Square, and
printed in Lysons' Environs of London (vol. ii. pt. 2). Either this plan
is wrongly dated, or it was intended to show how the piece of water was
to be made, for the Serpentine, which was not commenced until about
1730, is laid down in it.

46 Plans and Elevations of the Royal Palace and Gardens at Kensing-
ton, Hyde Park, Gr'e., Surveyed in the year 1762, by Joshua Rhodes, and
engravd by George Bickliam, 1764. This fine map, in eight sheets, is
among the King's maps in the British Museum.

47 MOORE'S Life of Sheridan, vol. i. p. 239.

232 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the season, unless it is the company in the drive a little later
in the day. Here are the beauty, rank, and fashion of the
kingdom, mixed with representatives of a lower stratum of
society. Some are riding, some are walking, and men are
leaning on the railings and ogling their friends and ac-
quaintances. Rotten Row is deserted on a Sunday, but the
Ring Road usually has its complement of carriages on that
day, though it was formerly more frequented than now. An
engraving of 1804 by Pugh, shows a very great concourse of
horsemen and promenaders ; and Gay, in his Epistle to the Earl
of Burlington, writes : —

" 'Twas on the day when City dames repair
To take their weekly dose of Hide Park air,
When forth we trot ; no carts the road infest,
For still on Sundays country horses rest."

The road on the north of the Serpentine, which now leads
to Kensington Gardens, formerly turned off and passed to the
east of a small cluster of cottages, which, with the old Powder
Magazine and Guard House, still remain, and led round and
back to Cumberland Gate. Where the road now runs in front
of the Receiving House of the Royal Humane Society, stood,
till about the year 1836, a picturesque cottage and garden,
which was long famous as a refreshment house. 48 It was
called the " Moated House," " Minced Pie House," the
" Cheesecake House," or the " Cake House," and was most
probably Mrs. Price's, " where are incomparable syllabubs ; " 49
Price's Lodge, which is mentioned in the evidence at the
Coroner's inquest on the Duke of Hamilton's and Lord
Mohun's duel ; the lodge house, and farther back the "Grave
Maurice's Head," 50 was famous in James I.'s reign for cheese-

48 In the Vernon Collection there is a small picture of this cottage by
Nasmyth. It has been engraved in the Art Journal, 1853, p. 282.

49 Journey to London in 1698 : Dr. William King's Original Works,
ed. 1776, vol. i. p. 194.

30 This Grave or Count Maurice was Maurice of Nassau, son of William
the Silent, and great-uncle of our William III. He was popular in England,
and, curiously enough, there are still two public-houses in London with
the siirn of " The Grave Maurice."

HYDE PARK. 233

cakes, tarts, and syllabubs. In Shirley's Hyde Park, one of
the characters says (Act 4, sc. 1) : —

" I have sent my footman
To the Maurice for a bottle ;"

The Cheeseoj

iUbE, IAE.BN DOWN 4.BOT3T 18o5.

and another (Act 4, sc. 3) believes the wine is good, because
" it comes from his Excellence' head." Although it is probable
that " Price's Lodge " and the " Grave Maurice's Head " were
the same as the " Minced Pie House," which was not destroyed
till some thirty years ago, a doubt is thrown over the matter
by a quotation from the Daily Post (April 20th, 1733) in
CiinningJiam's Handbook, which is as follows : — " The old
Lodge in Hyde Park, together with part of the grove, is to be
taken down in order to compleat the Serpentine River." In
the garden of this old timber and plaster cottage, and also by
the water, stood the Receiving House of the Royal Humane
Society (built in 1794), which was destroyed about 1834, when
the present classic building was erected by D. Burton. A
little cluster of buildings still remains, and by them is a slight
eminence, which is dignified with the name of Buckden Hill.

234 ROUXD ABOUT PICCADILLY.

One of these buildings is an old-fashioned house (Hyde
Park Lodge), which some seventy years ago was occupied
during the summer months by Mr. T. Bidwell, deputy-ranger
of Hyde Park. At that time this part of the Park was very
secluded, and Mr. Bidwell was in the habit of walking to and
from town with a blunderbuss under his arm. He would get
up early in the morning, and with his gun, and attended by
three large dogs, proceed to turn all tramps out of the Park.
Fishing-parties were frequently made up here, but it was not
safe for any one to walk from the Lodge late in the evening
without an escort of soldiers from the barracks situated close
by. The soldiers, however, had the credit of nearly murdering
Mr. Bidwell's nephew. Mr. John Bidwell was returning one
night from the Lodge, when he was seized, robbed, bound
hand and foot, and thrown into the Serpentine. Fortunately,
the perpetrators of the deed were disturbed, and did not
throw Mr. Bidwell far enough into the water to drown him.
Thomas Hearne, the water-colour artist, was a friend of
Mr. Bidwell's, and often stayed with him, or at the cottage
close by, where he made some charming drawings of these
houses. 51

The Park abounds with springs, which for many years sup-
plied the inhabitants of Westminster with water. On May 22,
1 63 1, these people petitioned, and complained that the keeper
of the Park had withdrawn the supply from them : —

" Petition of all the Inhabitants of the City of Westminster
to the King. — All the water which serves the said city, as well
for the use and health of the people, as also for cleansing and
clearing the city, has its beginning from the springs and wastes
of the park of Marylebone and Tyburn, and is thence con-
veyed in pipes through Hyde Park. This water is now taken
from them by the keepers of Hyde Park, under pretence that

51 These drawings are in the possession of Mrs. N. Surtees, the
daughter of the late Mr. Thomas Bidwell, of the Foreign Office, and
granddaughter of the deputy-ranger. To this lady and her family I am
greatly indebted for their kindness in lending me the drawings, also for
the information contained above.

HYDE PARK. 235

the ponds there lack water for the king's deer, which ponds
petitioners know to be full [They] pray that the examina-
tion thereof may be referred to the Lord Chamberlain, High
Steward of Westminster." 52

In 1663 all the waters and conduits in the Park were
granted to Thomas Haines on a lease of ninety-nine years,
but in George II.'s reign, when it was decided to form one
large piece of water, the lease was repurchased by the Crown.
In 1708, when Hatton published his New View of London,
the author thus describes Hyde Park Water as " a fine water
rising in Hide Park near Kensington Gravel-Pits, whence it
runs to a conduit near the Duke of Buckingham's garden wall,
and from thence 'tis conveyed in wood pipes to the several
houses in the part of the town which they serve." S3 The
curious old conduit which stands within the Park railing near
Knightsbridge, is the only remaining relic of these structures
that once supplied London with its water.

In 1730, at the suggestion of Queen Caroline, all the ponds
were united into the handsome piece of water called the
Serpentine River. It was contrived by Charles Wither,
Surveyor-General of his Majesty's woods, &c, who employed
200 men in the works. After his death it was continued by
Mr. Kimberley, and completed by him in 1733. Its name
seems inappropriate to us now, because it does not answer to
our notion of a winding stream : —

" Through the open plains out-stretching wide,
In serpent error rivers flow ;''

but when it was projected it was considered a great innova-
tion, for heretofore all canals had been perfectly straight.
Daines Barrington, in a letter printed in the A rcJiccologia, u on
the progress of gardening, relates how Lord Bathurst told
him that he was the first to deviate from the straight line in
a brook which he had widened near Colebrook, and that Lord
Strafford, who was plenipotentiary at the peace of Utrecht,

52 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1631-33, p. 53.
bi Page 7S6. 34 Vol. vii. p. 127.

236 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

when paying him a visit, asked him to own fairly that it
would have cost very little more to have made it quite
straight. A small stream of water, which rose at Hampstead
and passed through Bayswater, was led into the Serpentine,
near the " Cake House," but when that was cleared away, and
the present road made, the stream was cut away, and the loss
of water supplied by the Chelsea Waterworks from the
Thames. There was formerly a small piece of water at the
east end of the Serpentine, extending to the place where
the " Albert Gate " is now situated, and the road in the Park
passed over a bridge which crossed this water. The waterfall
at the east end of the Serpentine was made in 1820 ; and the
handsome stone bridge which divides Hyde Park from Ken-
sington Gardens was erected in 1826, by Rennie. Great
complaints of the state of the Serpentine have been made at
various times, and in 1869 the water was drawn off in order
that the bed of the lake might be improved. It was intended
at first to reduce the depth and lay down concrete over the
bottom, as has been done to the ornamental waters in
St. James's and Regent's Parks, but the expense of this was
found to be too great, and, moreover, the numerous springs
interfered with the carrying out this intention. It is now
proposed to divert certain drains which ran into the water,
and to put down a layer of gravel over the whole bed.

In August, 1814, during the rejoicings of the grand jubilee
for the peace, there was a mimic fleet on the Serpentine.
The vessels were made to perform several manoeuvres, one
of which was a naval engagement, in imitation of Nelson's
stratagem in the battle of the Nile ; there was also an action
between the British and American frigates, and at night some
of the vessels were blown up and others disabled. Shows and
drinking-booths were erected in the Park, and the fair was
kept up for some days. In one of the tents was a press, at
which certain pamphlets were printed, one of which was a list
of crowned heads and other distinguished persons who visited
London in June, 18 14. The following is a facsimile of a ticket
given at one of the drinking-booths : —

HYDE PARK

= 37

iHnnorantJum.

Glory to him that caiiscth Peace.

Bought on the Memorable 1st of August, 18 14,

by Public Auction, at Hyde Park Fair, of

Giles He.mens, No. 5, Denmark Street, Soho,

Lot *• d -

A Pint of Beer included, which was drank at his Booth,

THE HAND AND HAMMER,

NEAR THE HORSE RIDE,

Top of the Nortli side of the Serpentine River.

DUTY PAID BY THE BUYER.

N.B. Most Money for HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE.

- Smith & Davy, Printers, 17, Queen Street, Seven Dials.

In 1838, at the Queen's Coronation, another fair was held
in the Park. In 185 1, at the time of the Great Exhibition,
there was a handsome vessel at anchor, which was called the
Prince of Wales's frigate.

The size and convenient position of Hyde Park have pointed
it out as peculiarly suited for the encampment of troops at
times when the city was supposed to be in danger. In
December, 1648, the army under Fairfax marched on to
London in opposition to the wish of the Parliament, who were
about to come to terms with Charles I. When the army
arrived it was separated about the town, but the larger part
were encamped in the Park. In 1665, during the time of the
plague, the troops, under the command of Monk, were en-
camped here ; and if we can believe the ballads of the time,
the soldiers suffered from disease, cold, and damp, and were
ill-fed into the bargain. They were heartily glad to get out
of the Park and back again to the city. One of the ballads
is thus entitled, " Hide Park Camp Limn'd out to the life,

238 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

truly and impartially for the information and satisfaction of
such as were not eye-witnesses of the souldiers sad sufferings
in that never-to-be-forgotten year of our lord God one thousand
six hundred sixty-five. Written by a fellow-souldier and
sufferer in the said camp." 55

In July and August, 171 5, there were fears of an invasion
by the Pretender, and the horse and foot guards were, there-
fore, encamped here, and a train of artillery was sent from
the Tower to join them. In the Crowle Pennant™ there is a
plate entitled " A Prospect of the Camp at Hyde Park,"
dedicated to the Earl of Cadogan by J. Cole, the engraver,
which is curious in that it shows the string of ponds that were
in the Park before the Serpentine was made. On August 1st,
the anniversary of the accession of George I., there were
rejoicings, and the soldiers appear to have had plenty of
opportunities for refreshing themselves, as in the Prospect
mentioned above, there are 154 sutlers' booths marked.

In May, 1722, George I. received information from the
Regent Orleans of France of a conspiracy against his throne,
in consequence of which —

" Orders are given that a camp be form'd,
Least by surprize the city should be storm'd. rs7

The household troops were ordered out for encampment : —

" Our warlike sons their prancing coursers stride,
And to Hyde Park with martial fury ride,
Where, joyn'd to th' foot, a glorious camp they make,
Whose very sight wou'd make the enemy quake." 57

Pope, in a letter to his friend the Hon. Robert Digby, pictures
the amusements of the camp : — " Women of quality are all
turned followers of the camp in Hyde Park this year, whither
all the town resort to magnificent entertainments given by the
officers, &c. The Scythian ladies that dwelt in the waggons

55 British Museum, -

1,6 Vol. xiii. {British Museum Print Room).

57 A Rambtc thro' Hyde Park; or, the Humours of the Camp. A Poem.
London, 1722.

HYDE PARK. 239

of war were not more closely attached to the luggage. The
matrons, like those of Sparta, attend their sons to the field,
to be witnesses of their glorious deeds ; and the maidens, with
all their charms display'd, provoke the spirit of the soldiers :
tea and coffee supply the place of Lacedemonian black broth.
This camp seems crown'd with perpetual victory, for every
sun rises in the thunder of cannon to set in the music of
violins."

A few years after — in March, 1739 — troops of horse and
foot were encamped here ; but the chief encampment was
that in 1780, when the country was in a panic on account
of the Gordon Riots, and when about 30,000 men of the
marching regiments and militia were brought together. Paul
Sandby made several sketches of the humours of the place.
Amongst them is the Filbert Merchant, who is selling his fruit
out of the panniers of his donkey ; and the Tormented Collier
— but the joke of this is not apparent.

Besides the encampments, and sometimes in connection
with them, there have been held here many reviews. On
March 28, 1569, the Pensioners on horseback were mustered
before Queen Elizabeth.

Cromwell reviewed his celebrated Ironsides in this Park,
and in April, 1660, the militia and auxiliaries of the City of
London were exercised before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen,
who were in the Park in all their official finery. On the 4th
of July, 1663, a spectacle was got up to do honour to
Mons. Comminges, the French Ambassador, which is thus
referred to by the rival diarists, Evelyn and Pepys : —

" I saw his Majesty's Guards, being of horse and foot 4,000,
led by the general, the Duke of Albemarle, in extraordinary
equipage and gallantry, consisting of gentlemen of quality
and veteran soldiers, excellently clad, mounted and ordered,
drawn up in battalia before their Majesties in Hyde Park,
where the old Earl of Cleaveland trailed a pike and led the
right hand file in a foot company commanded by the Lord
Wentworth his son ; a worthy spectacle and example, being
both of them old and valiant soldiers. This was to show the

240 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

French Ambassador, Monsieur Comminges, there being a
great assembly of coaches, &c, in the park." 58

Pepys takes another view of the same sight : " Yet me-
thought all these gay men are not the soldiers that must do
the King's business, it being such as these that lost the old
King all he had, and were beat by the most ordinary fellows
that could be." 39

In September, 1668, the guards were mustered under the
command of their colonel, the Duke of Monmouth. The King
and the Duke of York attended, and with them were about
1,000 coaches. On the 21st of May, 1669, there was a review,
at which Charles II., James, and Prince Rupert were present.
The grand Duke Cosmo was among the visitors on this occa-
sion. 60 In March, 1686, about 6,000 horse and foot were re-
viewed by James II. On June nth, 1722, the household
troops, who were then encamped, were reviewed by George I.
After the review the King was magnificently entertained by
the commanding officer, the Earl of Cadogan, in a pavilion
which had been formerly taken from the Grand Vizier by
Prince Eugene.

Besides these reviews there have been many others that
are not worthy of note; but in 1799 and 1803, when, in the
great struggle with Napoleon, the enthusiasm of the country
was at its height, George III. had the proud satisfaction of
reviewing large bodies of volunteer soldiers, then called Armed
Associations. Of the first review, on the King's birthday
(June 4th, 1799) Lord Eldon spoke in his old age as the finest
sight that he had ever beheld. The great lawyer was not also
a great soldier, for on this occasion, as he had not risen out of
the awkward squad, he was present in " mufti." Thomas
Erskine, afterwards Lord Erskine, was colonel of the Temple
Corps, and on the King asking him the name of his regiment
answered, " The Devil's Own," a name given to them by
Sheridan. The Lincoln's Inn Corps were nicknamed by the

58 John Evelyn's Diary, July 4, 1663.

59 Pepys' Diary, July 4, 1663.
cu Travels, 1821, pp. 304-307.

HYDE PARK. 241

mob, "The Devil's Invincibles." In the volunteer movement
of our day the lawyers of all the inns have been wise enough
to unite, and have taken to themselves the old name of
" Devil's Own," of which they seem to be specially proud.
There is a picture of this review, in which the troops are
shown as passing in front of the King, who was stationed with
his staff looking towards Park Lane.

On May 15th, 1800, George III. reviewed the Grenadier
Guards in the Park, when a gentleman near him received a
musket- ball in his thigh, which was supposed to have been
intended for the King, who was shot at again on the evening
of the same day at Drury Lane Theatre. On July 22nd,
1 801, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York reviewed
some of the volunteers. On October 26th, 1803, the King
reviewed 12,400 volunteers in presence of about 200,000
spectators ; and on the 28th another review took place, of
15,000 men.

These frequent reviews much injured the grass, and in
consequence the open part of the Park became little better
than a sandy plain. The reviews were therefore discontinued,
and the ground was covered with mud from the bed of the
Serpentine, and grass sown over it. Since the revival of the
volunteer movement the Queen has reviewed several large
bodies of riflemen here, but there is again a strong feeling
prevalent as to the inexpediency of putting the Park to such
a use.

One of the most interesting events that Londoners have
been privileged to witness during recent years has been the
passage of the Princess of Wales through their city. On this
occasion, March 10th, 1863, Hyde Park was filled with
volunteers waiting to salute the young Princess and her
husband.

Hyde Park was a favourite resort of duellists from the
reign of Henry VIII. to the year 1822, and Fielding calls it,
in his Amelia, " the field of blood." Most of the duels fought
here have had no record left of them, but a few are worth a
passing word. In February, 1685-6, Henry, Duke of Grafton,

242 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the natural son of Charles II., fought with the Hon. John
Talbot, second son of the eleventh Earl of Shrewsbury and
his infamous wife, the paramour of the Duke of Buckingham.
The Duke killed Talbot, who had commenced the quarrel
by using very irritating language.

The most • important duel was fought on November 15,
17 1 2, between James, Duke of Hamilton, the chief of the
Tories, and Charles, Lord Mohun, who had both married
nieces of Gerard, Earl of Macclesfield ; and the quarrel grew
out of a lawsuit between them. The principals were both
killed, and Colonel Hamilton, the Duke's second, accused
General Macartney, the other second, on oath, of having
stabbed the Duke over his (the Colonel's) shoulder, and there
is a drawing in the Crowle Pennant 61 in which Macartney is
delineated so doing. Mohun's death was no loss to the world,
but Parnell says of Hamilton : —

" What courage, sense, and faith with Brandon fell."

The Duke left a widow, so that Thackeray, who introduces
the duel in his Esmond, wanders from historical accuracy when
he makes him about to marry the heroine Beatrice.

On November 16, 1763, John Wilkes and Samuel Martin,
Secretary of the Treasury, met here on account of a para-
graph in the North Briton, in which Martin was stigmatized
as a " low fellow and dirty tool of power." Churchill, the
friend of Wilkes, gibbets him in his poem, the Duellist : —

" Should some villain, in support
And zeal for a despairing court —
Placing in craft his confidence,
To do a deed of deepest shame ;
Whilst filthy lucre is his aim —
Should such a wretch, with sword or knife,
Contrive to practise 'gainst the life
Of one who, honoured through the land,
For freedom made a glorious stand,
Whose chief, perhaps his only, crime
Is (if plain truth at such a time

61 Vol. v. (British Museum.)

HYDE PARK. 243

May dare his sentiments to tell^,
That he his country loved too well :
May he — but words are all too weak
The feelings of my heart to speak —
May he — oh, for a noble curse
Which might his marrow pierce,
The general contempt engage
And be the Martin of his age ! "

Martin went to Paris after the duel, and Wilkes followed
him soon afterwards, called upon him, " and talked with his
usual freedom for an hour, as if their acquaintance had never
been interrupted by a quarrel." 62

Lord Thurlow, then the leading counsel for the appellant in
the great Douglas trial, fought a duel in 1770 with Mr. Andrew
Stewart, agent for the Duke of Hamilton. The cause of
quarrel was the severe manner in which Thurlow had spoken
of Stewart, who called him to account for his animadversions.
The encounter was bloodless, and was thus reported in the
Scots Magazine : "On Sunday morning, January 14, the
parties met with swords and pistols in Hyde Park, one of
them having for his second his 'brother Colonel S., and the
other having for his, Mr. L., member for a city in Kent.
Having discharged pistols at ten yards distance without
effect, they drew their swords, but the seconds interposed
and put an end to the affair." Thurlow did not lose his
appetite on the morning of his duel, for he is reported to have
stopped at a tavern at Hyde Park Corner and there eaten an
enormous breakfast.

The same cause, its secluded character, which made the
Park popular with duellists, pointed it out as a good field for
highwaymen. In 1749 Horace Walpole was here robbed by
the notorious McLean, and narrowly escaped being killed by
the accidental going-off of the highwayman's pistol, which
stunned him and grazed the skin from his cheek-bone. 63

Before taking leave of these tales of blood it will be

62 Walpole's Letters, 1859, vol. ix. p. 506.
6a Ibid., 1840, vol. ii. p. 307 (note).

244 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

necessary to mention the place of execution for military
criminals, which was situated close to where the Marble Arch
now stands and opposite Tyburn gate, which stood on the site
of Connaught Place. In an old map the spot is marked with
this grim legend — " where soldiers are shot."

Several of the erections in the Park are no great ornament
to it, though we should, perhaps, be sorry to see some of them
swept away, as they are relics of old times. In 1768 the Duke
of Gloucester, brother of George III., erected a Riding House,
which retained his name till it was taken down about 1824.
In 1806 it was purchased from the Duke by the nation for
1,000/. and was occupied as the head-quarters of the West-
minster Volunteer Cavalry. This building stood near
Grosvenor Gate, and as it was not handsome in itself and
had a number of wretched sheds attached to it, it offended the
eyes of the public, and especially those of the Earl Grosvenor,
who, in 1807, petitioned the Lords of the Treasury to allow
him to take it down, and build at his own expense a lodge
according to any plan prescribed by the Government. A Report
was made, but the Earl's generous proposition was rejected.

The absurd statue known as the Achilles, on which the
large sum of 10,000/., subscribed by the ladies of England to
do honour to Wellington, was wasted, is no ornament to
the Park. It is eighteen feet high, and was cast from twelve
twenty-four-pounder cannon taken at Salamanca, Vittoria, and
Waterloo. It was copied from one of the antique statues on
the Monte Cavallo at Rome, and the name of Achilles is a
complete mistake. It was erected in 1822.

As the scaffolding still surrounds the National Memorial
to the Prince Consort, it is difficult to say whether it will be
an ornament to the Park or the reverse. Its position is
appropriate however, as it looks over the ground where stood
the great Exhibition of 185 1. This has been the parent of
a wearying train of exhibitions, but it was in itself, from its
novelty and from the mixture of nations among the crowds
that thronged it, a most enchanting place, the visit to which
will never be forgotten by those who were fortunate enough

HYDE PARK. 245

to enjoy it It seemed as if "the Palace made of windows"
had risen out of the earth by magic.

" But yesterday a naked sod

The dandies sneered from Rotten Row
And canter'd o'er it to and fro ;
And see 'tis done !
As though 'twere by a wizard's rod
A blazing arch of lucid glass
Leaps like a fountain from the grass
To meet the sun ! " 64

A very handsome Gothic drinking-fountain has been lately
erected on the north side of the Park near the little gate
opposite Stanhope Place. It is from the design of Mr. Robert
Keirle, and cost 1,200/., which sum was defrayed by the
munificence of the Maharajah of Vizianagram.

Of late years much attention has been paid to the improve-
ment and ornamentation of the parks and the gardens that
run along the Park Lane side of Hyde Park ; and those
between Rotten Row and the Lady's Mile, from Prince's
Gate to Hyde Park Corner, are beautiful to look at in all
seasons of the year, but all must regret the little attention
that is paid to the timber. Trees wear out and die, but they
are either not replaced or replaced by a plantation of wretched-
looking twigs. The study of forest-trees is too much neglected
in England, for it is not adapted to the spirit of the nineteenth
century. The man who plants, as Cicero says, works for his
successors : " Arbores serit diligens agricola, quarum aspiciet
nunquam ipse baccam ; " and Dr. Johnson, following him,
amplifies the idea thus : — " There is a frightful interval
between the seed and timber. He that calculates the
growth of trees, has the unwelcome remembrance of the
shortness of life driven hard upon him. He knows that he is
doing what will never benefit himself; and when he rejoices
to see the stem arise, is disposed to repine that another shall
cut it down." Besides their incalculable value, trees form
the chief beauty of nature, and we want another Evelyn to

6 * Thackeray's May-Day Ode {Miscellanies, 1855, vol. i. p. 39)

246 ROUXD ABOUT PICCADILLY.

arise, to teach us how to plant. This man was one of the
worthiest of England's worthies, and we now feel the benefit
of his lifelong endeavour to encourage the plantation of trees.
Woods had been destroyed to an alarming extent, more
especially during the time of the civil wars. Fears were
entertained for the continued supply of timber for the use of
the navy, and Evelyn was requested by the Royal Society to
draw up answers to some queries propounded by the Govern-
ment. The result was Sj'ha, or Discourse of Forest Trees,
a work which had immense influence on two centuries of
England's history. Evelyn was an enthusiastic planter, and
believed that the blessing of long life would be given to the
man who planted trees ; in proof of which view he quoted
from Isaiah the verse —

" The days of a tree are the days of my people." M

He wrote in 1661 : — Fumifugium : or tlie Inconvenience of
the Aer and Smoak of London dissipated, in which work he
proposed the plantation of trees and fragrant shrubs so as to
counteract the evils of the smoke, which had even then begun
to make themselves felt.

There was formerly a magnificent double avenue of walnut-
trees on the Park Lane side of the Park, which extended from
Cumberland Gate nearly to Hyde Park Corner. This was
formed and planted in 1724, at the same time that Grosvenor
Gate was erected. Nearly opposite to Mount Street the
avenues were joined by a double ring of trees, which surrounded
the reservoir of the Chelsea waterworks. When the great war
was at its height there was a large demand for wood to make
stocks for the soldiers' muskets, and about eighteen hundred
of these fine trees were ruthlessly destroyed for this purpose.
Avenues have been since planted south of the reservoir, which
is now laid out as a garden. A part of the avenue had been
previously threatened with destruction, by a plan in which it
was proposed to build a huge pile of buildings for the Foot-
Guards on the ground near Apsley House.

65 Chap. lxv. v. 22.

HYDE PARK. 247

We cannot better conclude this account of Hyde Park
than with a notice of its gates. In 16 10 30/. was paid to
George Baynard, for the repairs of lodges and pales, 06 and in
1635 a new lodge was built at the cost of the large sum of
800/. CT

Grosvenor Gate was opened in 1724, Stanhope Gate about
1760, and Cumberland Gate about 1774-5. The marble arch
was moved to the latter place when the alterations were made
in Buckingham Palace.

Several new gates have more recently been opened on the
south side. Albert Gate was made in 1841, on the site of the
Cannon Brewery, at Knightsbridge. The iron gates were set
up in 1845, and the two stags brought from the Ranger's
Lodge in the Green Park. The immense mansion on the
east side of the gate formerly belonged to Hudson, the
railway king, and is now occupied by the French Embassy.
Queen's Gate, Prince's Gate, and Alexandra Gate have been
since opened to accommodate the owners of the mansions that
have grown up since the exhibition of 185 1, on the South
Kensington or Gore House Estate.

About the year 1826, the old brick walls along Piccadilly,
Park Lane, Knightsbridge, and the Bayswater Road were
taken down and replaced by iron railings. These remained
till 1866, when they were destroyed by the mob, who at-
tempted to get into the Park, in the July of that year. New
railings of a handsomer and more substantial kind have now
been erected, and if the mob ever feel inclined to break the
law again, they will find the destruction of them rather a
difficult matter.

No other city can boast of such beautiful public walks as
are to be found in Kensington Gardens. When the fine trees
are in leaf in the fresh spring it is almost impossible for the
visitor to imagine himself so near the metropolis as he really is.
The Gardens had been gradually enlarged by encroachments

66 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1603-10, p. 617.

67 Ibid., 1635, p. 492.

243 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

upon Hyde Park, and the public at the time had just cause of
complaint, but their descendants have been the gainers since
these encroachments have been restored to them by the throw-
ing open of the gardens. In 1652, the house and grounds
belonged to Heneage Finch, who became Solicitor-General
at the Restoration, and was afterwards Lord Chancellor
and Earl of Nottingham. He was called by his contempo-
raries Old Dismal from his tediousness and rueful counten-
ance. His character, said to be drawn by Dryden, is not
very flattering : —

" At the bar abusive, on the bench unable ;
Knave on the woolsack, fop at councill table." 68

In March, 1662, a grant was made to Finch, "of that
ditch or fence which divides Hyde Park from his own lands,
with the trees, &c. thereto belonging, 10 feet by 150 roods,
from the south highway leading to Kensington, to the north
highway leading to Acton, with the disparking the same. 69

This was not a very great encroachment, and the house
and gardens then only occupied about twenty-six acres.

William III. purchased Nottingham House, as it was then
called, from Daniel, second Earl of Nottingham, the son of
the Chancellor, in 1 691, on account of the burning of part of
Whitehall. The gardens were laid out by order of the King,
in the artificial taste then in vogue ; the yews were cut, and
holly hedges taught to imitate the lines, angles, bastions,
scarps, and counterscarps of regular fortifications, and the
result was known as the Siege of Troy. In an account of
London Gardens, written in 1691, by J. Gibson, and printed
in the Archceologia,™ those at Kensington are thus described :
" Kensington Gardens are not great nor abounding with fine
plants. The orange, lemon, myrtles, and what other trees
they had there in summer were all removed to Mr. London's
and Mr. Wise's greenhouse, at Brompton Park, a little mile

68 From a fly-leaf, Notes and Queries, 3rd series, xii. p. 224.
r ' 9 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1661-62, p. 320.
70 Vol. xii., 1796, pp. 181-192.

HYDE PARK. 249

from them. But the walks and grass laid very fine, and they
were digging up a flat of four or five acres to enlarge the
garden." George London was apprentice to Rose, the Royal
Gardener, and at the Revolution, was appointed Superinten-
dent of the Royal Gardens. His reputation was very great, and
he acted as a kind of Director-General of the Gardens of
England, most of which he visited once or twice a year.
Henry Wise was gardener to Queen Anne, and Deputy-
Ranger of Hyde Park, and he laid out the grounds at
Blenheim. The Brompton Nursery was a very large and
celebrated establishment, and was founded by London in
connection with Cooke, Lucre, and Field. Two of the part-
ners died and the third sold his share to Wise. The stock of
plants was immense, and was estimated to be worth more
than 40,000/., even if the plants were only valued at one
penny a piece. 71

Queen Anne and Prince George of Denmark were as
attached to the palace and gardens as William and Mary had
been : —

" Or Kensington, sweet air and blest retreat
Of him that owns a sovereign though most great." n

Anne added to the gardens, and a contemporary writer 73 says,
" Her Majesty has been pleased lately to plant near thirty
acres more towards the north, separated from the rest by a
stately greenhouse not yet finished ; upon this spot is near
100 men dayly at work." The Temple or Banqueting House
to the north of the palace was built by order of the Queen
from the designs of Sir Christopher Wren.

It is to Queen Caroline, the wife of George II., that we
owe the gardens as they are at present. She added 300 acres
of ground and formed the round pond and the beautiful vistas
of trees that radiate from it. Each of these avenues had its
distinct name, as Old Pond Walk, Bayswater Walk, &c-

71 BOWACK'S Antiquities of Middlesex, 1705.

72 Dr. William King's Art of Love {Works, vol. hi. p. 126).

73 Bowack.

250 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

The groves were filled with squirrels, and a large number of
tortoises, presented to the Queen by the Doge of Genoa, were
distributed about the grounds.

Bridgman was the gardener employed in planning out the
alterations, and we cannot too highly praise the result of his
labours. He invented the sunk fosse that divides the Park
from the Gardens ; the novelty became very popular, and was
called a ha-ha, from the exclamation of surprise that was
supposed to issue from the lips of the pedestrian as he came
upon so unexpected a stoppage to his walk. This fosse was
partly filled up at its southern end in 1868. The gardens
were opened to the public on Saturdays when the court went
to Richmond, but the company were expected to appear
in full dress. On Sundays the Queen held a court after
morning service, and an elegant rendezvous took place upon
the green or lawn in front of the palace. On the death of
George II. the court ceased to reside here and the gardens
were thrown open to the public. Tickell thus describes the
garden and the promenaders in his poem entitled Kensington
Garden : —

" Where Kensington high o'er the neighb'ring lands,
Midst greens and sweets, a regal fabric stands,
And sees each spring, luxuriant in her bowers,
A snow of blossoms and a wild of flowers,
The dames of Britain oft in crowds repair
To groves and lawns, and unpolluted air.
Here, while the town in damps and darkness lies,
They breathe in sunshine and see azure skies ;
Each walk, with robes of various dyes bespread,
Seems from afar a moving tulip -bed,
Where rich brocades and glossy damask glow,
And chints, the rival of the show'ry bow.'' 74

Faulkner, in his History of Kensington™ says, " The great
south walk leading to the palace is crowded on Sunday
mornings in the spring and summer with a display of all the

74 Uodsley's Colkction of Poems, 1770, vol. i. pp. 41-60.

75 Page 571.

HYDE PARK. 251

beauty and fashion of the great metropolis, and affords a
most pleasing spectacle not to be equalled in Europe."

If we are to believe the following lines by Sheridan,
the bcau-monde considered the beauty of the gardens as a
disadvantage, because it made them think of the " odious "
country : —

" In Kensington Gardens to stroll up and down,
You know was the fashion before you left town :
The thing's well enough when allowance is made
For the size of the trees, and the depth of the shade ;
But the spread of their leaves such a shelter affords
To those noisy impertinent creatures called birds,
Whose ridiculous chirruping ruins the scene,
Brings the countiy before me, and gives me the spleen.
Yet though 'tis too rural — to come near the mark,
We all herd in one walk, and that nearest the Park ;
There with ease we may see, as we pass by the wicket,
The chimneys of Knightsbridge and footmen at cricket.
I must tho', in justice, declare that the grass,
Which, worn by our feet, is diminish'd apace,
In a little time more will be brown and as flat
As the sand at Vauxhall or as Ranelagh mat.
Improving thus fast, perhaps by degrees,
We may see rolls and butter spread under the trees,
With a small pretty band in each seat of the walk,
To play little tunes and enliven our talk."

Kensington Gardens still continue to be a favourite place
of resort, and a more charming spot for promenading it would
be impossible to find. When the garden of the picturesque
ivy-covered lodge near the bridge is rich with flowers it is
especially attractive.

Alterations and improvements have been made in the
Gardens at various times by Capability Brown, Humphry
Repton, and W. Aiton ; but the greatest change has been
made of late years by the alterations at the head of the
Serpentine, where a stone terrace with ornamental figures and
balustrades comprising several basins and fountains has been
erected. The statue of Dr. Jenner, which was originally put

25 2 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

up in Trafalgar Square, has been removed to the east side of
this place.

Unfortunately every change is not an improvement, and
one of the beautiful alleys has been spoilt by the erection of
an ugly obelisk to the memory of the great African traveller,
Speke. If the quiet beauty of Kensington Gardens is to be
destroyed, and they are to be transformed into a sort of
walhalla of monuments, it would be well for us to know its
destination ; but if this obelisk is the only one to be allowed,
it is difficult to guess why Speke should be singled out for
the honour.

Deer remained in the Gardens for some time after the
commencement of the present century, and we cannot but
express surprise when we are told by Mr. Thomas Smith 7li
that foxes were hunted here at the end of the last century.
Mr. Smith found a minute of the Board of Green Cloth, dated
1798, in which a pension is granted to Sarah Gray, widow,
in consideration of the loss of her husband, who was acci-
dentally shot by the keepers while hunting foxes.

Kensington Palace was the favourite residence of William
III., who held his court here. As he suffered from asthma, he
required to live in a pure air, and Kensington was " the only
retreat near London [that] he was pleas'd with." Queen
Mary died of small-pox in the palace in December, 1694,
when her body was embalmed and conveyed from Kensington
to her apartments at Whitehall. King William died here
himself also in March, 1702, and Queen Anne and her husband,
Prince George of Denmark, came to live here on the death of
the King. The Palace and Gardens were settled upon the
Prince, but he died in October, 1708, six years before his wife.
Sir Richard Steele, as one of the Prince's attendants, sat by
his corpse, and received an annuity of 100/. from the widowed
Queen. Here died Queen Anne on August 1st, 17 14, Queen
Caroline on November 20th, 1737, and George II. on October
25th, 1760. George was the last king who inhabited the
palace.

76 Recollections of Hyde Park, 1836, p. 39.

HYDE PARK. 253

William III. made great alterations in the house, and
nearly rebuilt it from the designs of Sir Christopher Wren,
surveyor-general, and Nicholas Hawksmoor, clerk of the
works. Kent designed the east front, the cupola room, and
grand staircase, the walls and ceilings of which he also
painted. The good fortune of Kent raised the ire of the com-
petitors whom he passed in the race. He was the fashion, and
was allowed to exhibit at Kensington his talents as an
architect, a painter, and a landscape gardener. In the last
capacity he was accomplished, in the first he was passable,
but in the second he was positively beneath contempt, and
was successfully ridiculed by Hogarth, who caricatured his
absurd altar-piece for St. Clement's Church.

When Kensington was given up as a palace, it was in-
habited by various members of the royal family. The late
Duke of Sussex for many years occupied apartments in the
palace, where, as President of the Royal Society, he gave
receptions to men of science and scholars. Here he collected
his magnificent library, which was so specially rich in Bibles.
Queen Caroline, the unfortunate wife of George IV., lived
here for a short time, as did the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
Her present Majesty was born here in 18 19, and Lord Eldon's
official duties as Lord Chancellor called him to Kensington
Palace in order to be in attendance at the birth of the
Princess. On his return home he took down Shakspeare and
recited these appropriate verses from Henry VIII.: —

" This royal infant — heaven still move about her ! —
Though in her cradle, yet now promises
Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings,
Which time shall bring to ripeness : — she shall be,
But few now living can behold that goodness —
A pattern to all princes living with her,
And all that shall succeed. . . . " 77

The Princess was privately christened by the Archbishop of
Canterbury on June 24, 1819. "It was believed that the

77 W. H. Bennet'S Note-Books of a Law Reporter.

254 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Duke of Kent wished to name his child Elizabeth, that being
a popular name with the English people ; but the Prince
Regent, who was not kind to his brothers, gave notice that
he should stand in person as one godfather, and that the
Emperor of Russia was to be another. At the ceremony of
baptism, when asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to
name the infant, the Prince Regent gave only the name of
Alexandrina ; the Duke requested one other name might be
added — ' Give her the mother's also then ; but,' he added, ' it
cannot precede that of the Emperor.' The Queen on her
accession commanded that she should be proclaimed as
Victoria only." 78

The Princess was still living here with her mother the
Duchess of Kent, when, at the death of her uncle William IV.,
the throne devolved upon her, and here she held, in 1836, her
first Council.

We now return to Hyde Park Corner, and crossing
Piccadilly, enter the Green Park, concerning which we shall
discourse in the next chapter.

78 Hon. Amelia Murray's Recollections from 1803 to 1837, p. 63.

255 )

CHAPTER X.

GREEN PARK AND ST. JAMES'S PARK.

PREVIOUS to the Restoration the Green Park, sometimes
called Upper St. James's Park, was nothing but a large
uncultivated meadow, and it remained little more for many-
years after that event.

The Park was originally much larger than it is now : for
when Buckingham House came into the possession of
George III., he reduced the size of the public park in order to
add to that of his own gardens. In an old view of Constitu-
tion Hill in the year 1 735, it is shown as a grass mound with
cows and deer grazing upon it. In a view of the fireworks of
1748 the Hill is delineated as a road right across the Park, so
that about a quarter of the entire area must have been taken
off by the King in 1767. There was at this time a fence
between St. James's and the Green Parks, with a gate opening
upon Constitution Hill.

There is now no water in the Green Park, but previous to
the year 1856 (when it was filled up) there was at the north-
east corner one of the reservoirs of the Chelsea Waterworks,
which contained 1,500,000 gallons of water. In 1725 there
were two rows of trees closely planted round this basin,
which was called the Queen's Walk ; and in 1735, when the
famous Rosamond's Pond in St. James's Park was cleaned
out by a Welshman named Hugh Robarts, those who were
disappointed in their desire to drown themselves there were
recommended to go to the piece of water in the adjoining

256 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

park. The following placard was affixed to one of the trees :
" This is to give notice to all broken hearts, such as are unable
to survive the loss of their lovers, and are come to a resolution
to die, that an engineer from Flintshire having cruelly under-
taken to disturb the waters of Rosamond's Pond in this Park,
gentlemen and ladies cannot be accommodated there as
formerly. And whereas certain daughters of Eve have been
since tempted to make use of the Serpentine and other rivers,
some whereof have met with disappointments ; this is therefore
to certify all persons whatsoever labouring under the circum-
stances aforesaid that the basin in the Upper or Green Park is a
most commodious piece of water, in admirable order, and of a
depth sufficient to answer the ends of all sizes and conditions.
Wherefore all persons applying themselves thereto, will be
sure to meet with satisfaction." * This was a sorry jest on
what, sad to say, often did take place. On November ioth,
1816, the unfortunate Harriet Westbrook, Shelley's first wife,
put an end to her poverty and misery by throwing herself
into this basin. The poet, whose soul, according to his friends,
was all purity and beauty, basely deserted her, and leaving
the poor girl to starve, went off with Mary Wolstonecroft
Godwin. 2 At the west end of this piece of water there was a
wretched spout, intended to do duty as a fountain. At the
beginning of the present century the spout was very small,
but about the year 1825 it was raised to a much greater
height. In 1839 the basin was reconstructed ; the whole was
cemented, and an iron railing set up in order to prevent people
from falling in, and at a later date, viz. in 1856, already
mentioned, the whole was filled up and made part of the
grassy slope of the Park. Besides this there was a small
pond in the hollow opposite Coventry House, and behind the
Ranger's Lodge, which, as well as the more noted piece of
water in St. James's Park, was called Rosamond's Pond.
There was formerly a wall along the Piccadilly side of the
Park, against which ballads were sold by day and robberies

1 Malcolms London, iv. 243.

2 Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, vol. v. p. 374.

GREEN PARK. 257

committed by night ; Pennant says, " but in many places are
rows of benevolent railings which afford a most elegant view." 3

At the time the Ranger's Lodge was cleared away, various
alterations were made. The Park was thoroughly drained,
and its use by cattle, which up to that time grazed there, was
no longer allowed. At the same period the Government
desired to widen the roadway of Piccadilly ; and Sir Charles
Barry, being consulted on the subject, carried out the idea
by bringing into the street the row of plane-trees, which now
so much improve the west end of the road. 4 It was his wish
to have made other changes, and especially to have constructed
a broad flight of steps leading direct down to the Park. This
Park, although it is so well situated, has not been laid out with
the taste that might with advantage have been expended upon
it. It ought also to have a grand opening towards Pall Mall,
and Sir Charles Barry proposed a scheme by which this could
be done, and made a design, in which the Marble Arch was
to form the entrance to the Park. It was proposed in the
Builder? to lay out the whole Park, as a monument to the
late Prince Consort, with terraces, fountains and statues. The
writer thought that thus we might obtain a " grande place," in
lieu of what he is pleased to call an ugly meadow. He would
have had placed here the statues of all the great men of the
nation, with the monument to the Prince dominating over them.

The Green Park has been a favourite place for the display
of fireworks at times of national rejoicings. One of the
grandest of these took place at the conclusion of the peace of
Aix-la-Chapelle. A handsome building was erected for the
purpose, in the centre of which was a music-gallery, led up to
by a flight of steps, and on each side was an arcade, connecting
it with two pavilions. On the 7th of November, 1748, it was

3 London, 1790, p. 120.

4 An Act was passed— 7 & 8 Vict. c. 88, 9 August, 1844— "To widen
and improve Piccadilly" (between Bolton Street and Park Lane). The
portion of the Green Park added to the street was severed from the parish
of St. Martin's and added to St. George's.

5 March 22, 1062, p. 201; April 12, p. 2S6.

258 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

seen in all its glory ; there were various allegorical devices,
such as Peace, attended by Neptune and Mars, and an illumi-
nation of the King giving Peace to Britannia. On the summit
of the centre of the erection was a pole fifty feet high, on
which was a burning light, thirty-two feet in diameter, made
to represent the sun. It unfortunately happened in the course
of the proceedings that one of the pavilions caught fire, and
all hands were required to pull down the arcade, or the music-
gallery would have been burnt.

In 1 8 14 was erected the revolving Temple of Concord,
invented by Sir William Congreve. It was a large block build-
ing with transparencies by the Royal Academician Howard.
It was surrounded by a circle, in which were scaffolding and
stands erected for the convenience of the visitors. Over these
were painted the names of Wellington and the other great
generals of the period. The whole was illuminated, and fireworks
were shown from it on the great day of rejoicing— August 1st.

On May 29th, 1856, handsome fireworks were exhibited in
the Green, Hyde, and Victoria Parks, from half-past nine
to twelve o'clock at night, in commemoration of the peace at
the termination of the Crimean War.

The upper part of the Green Park, just behind Arlington
Street, was the scene of the celebrated duel between William
Pulteney, Earl of Bath, and Lord Hervey, which took place
on January 25th, 1 73 1, when both the combatants were
slightly wounded. The cause of the duel was a pamphlet,
which contained a violent personal attack upon Pulteney,
who, believing it to be written by Hervey, answered it, and
remarked malignantly upon the poor lord's personal appear-
ance. Sir C. Hanbury Williams refers to the encounter in his
Ode to the Earl of Bath :—

" Lord Fanny once

Did play the dunce,
And challenged you to fight ;

And he so stood

To lose his blood,
But had a dreadful fright.''

GREEN PARK.

259

Near the bottom of the east side of the Park formerly stood
an old one-storied brick building-, which was called " the
Queen's Library." It was built about the year 1736, for Queen
Caroline, and was pulled down when the Duke of York built
his mansion in the stable-yard, which is now Stafford House,

Ranger's Lodge in the Green Pars

and the town residence of the Duke of Sutherland. Another
building in the Park, which has passed away, was the Deputy-
Ranger's Lodge. It stood opposite Down Street, and was built
in 1768 by Robert Adam. In 1773, Selwyn was in hopes that
he might have been appointed to the Deputy-Rangership, and
the chief cause of his wishing for the position was that he
might be near his friend, the Duke of Queensberry, who lived
nearly opposite to the lodge. Lord William Gordon, second
son of the third Duke of Gordon, and brother-in-law of Jane,
Duchess of Gordon, Pitt's beautiful ally, was appointed
Deputy-Ranger of St. James's and Hyde Parks in 1778, and
lived in the lodge till his death, in 1823. He made much of
his garden, which was laid out with taste, and contained a
small hermitage. At Lord William's death this lodge was

>6o

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

doomed to destruction ; but his widow was allowed to keep
possession of it during her life ; and when she died in 1841, it
was taken down, and the space occupied by the house and
gardens was added to the Park. The building was not hand-
some ; in fact Ralph says that " the enormity of balcony which
environs it looks like the outriggers to an Indian canoe, to
prevent it from oversetting ; " the large view, however, of the
south front, published in 1778, has a pleasing effect, though
for this it is perhaps indebted to the rural surroundings.

On the east side of the Park are three handsome mansions
that give it an additional beauty : these are Spencer House,
which stands well on its rustic basement, Bridgewater House,
and Stafford House. The gardens of these and all the other
houses on this side join the Park.

m*&£

Constitution Hill in 1748.

Constitution Hill formerly ran across the Green Park, but
it is now a fine road between the gardens of Buckingham
Palace and the Park. It was the scene of the meeting
of Charles II. and his brother James, when the former made
his happy reply to the expression of the Duke of York's fears
for his safety : — " No kind of danger, James, for I am sure no
man in England will take away my life to make you king."
In the same place the life of her Majesty has been three times
attacked by cowardly ruffians: by Oxford on June 10, 1840;

ST. JAMES'S PARA'.

261

by Francis on May 30, 1842 ; and by Hamilton on May 19,
1849.

The great statesman, Sir Robert Peel, was thrown from
his horse at the upper end of the road on the 9th of June,
1850, and received the injury that caused his death shortly
afterwards.

---'IP

\srHh, / : e'f^if; •^•~- ;?;•■»*'.

i Cleveland House.

2 St. James's Palace.

3 The Mall.

4 The Canal. 7 Horse Guards.

5 Rosamond's Pond. 8 Tilt Yard.

6 Decoy and Duck Island. 9 Cock Pit.

10 Admiralty.

St. James's Park in the Reign of Charles II.

The south side of the Green Park joins St. James's Park.
This was first formed, walled in, and stocked with deer by
Henry VIII., previously to whose reign it was little better
than a wild undrained field, with a few huts scattered about
it. The Park was gradually improved in subsequent reigns,
but it was not laid out with any taste till after the Resto-

262 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

ration, when its true history begins ; nevertheless it has its
interesting associations of an earlier date.

On May 8, 1539, when fear was entertained of an invasion,
fifteen thousand citizens mustered at Mile End and passed
through London to Westminster, where they marched round
the Park, returning through Holborn.

In Queen Elizabeth's reign there was a Keeper of the
Ponds " in the Park at Westminster," 6 and water-fowl appear
to have been kept in them from that time.

In James I.'s reign there were several orange and other
fine trees in different parts of the Park. Prince Henry, when
living at St. James's House, took pleasure in planting, and
Charles I., as he walked on the eventful 30th of January
from St. James's to his scaffold at Whitehall, is said to have
pointed out to those who attended him, one of the trees
planted by his brother. In 1658, on the night that Cromwell
died, there was a fearful storm in London, when several of
the Park trees were torn up by their roots. When Charles II.
was restored to his kingdom, one of the first things he took
in hand was the beautification of St. James's Park. The canal
was made, with a decoy for the water-fowl at the east end of
it, avenues of trees were planted, and the Mall formed. John
Evelyn, in his Fumifugium (1661), particularly recommends
the plantation of lime-trees as an antidote to the evils of
London smoke on account of their fragrance, and it is sup-
posed that the limes in St. James's Park were planted in
consequence of his suggestion. Tom Brown speaks of the
odoriferous park of St. James's.

When these various alterations were made, the Park
assumed an entirely different appearance to that which it had
before, and probably Dr. King was right when he wrote —

" The fate of things is always in the dark :
What cavalier would know St. James's Park ? ''

Charles II. made the Park, and no one is so completely

6 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1 547-1 580, p. 458.

ST. JAMES'S PARK. 263

associated with it as he is ; he was fond of sauntering about,
and was here able to find most of his amusements ; he' could
play at pall-mall, or talk with his mistresses at their windows,
or feed his ducks at the decoy. This easiness and accessibility
made the King a favourite with his subjects, and at his death,
so universal was the grief, that North, in his Examen, tells us
that it was rare to see a person walking in the streets with
dry eyes.

The formation of the canal was the greatest improvement,
and we will therefore notice it first. The works were car-
ried on with great spirit, and some three hundred men were
employed in making it. Rows of trees were planted on its
banks, and the sight of the general change in the appearance
induced the poet Waller to write some lines " on St. James's
Park, as lately improv'd by his Majesty," in which he likens
it to the garden of Eden : —

" For future shade, young trees upon the banks
Of the new stream appear in even ranks :
The voice of Orpheus, or Amphion's hand,
I n better order could not make them stand.
May they increase as fast, and spread their boughs,
As the high fame of their great owner grows !
May he live long enough to see them all
Dark shadows cast, and as his palace tall."

The poet then imagines he sees gallants dancing by the
river side, ladies angling, and lovers walking in the shade, and
hears music from the boats. He concludes his poem with an
address to Charles, thus —

" Reform these nations, and improve them more
Than this fair park, from what it was before ! "

In the winter, when the water of the canal was frozen over,
there was a good opportunity for the cavaliers to introduce
the pastime of skating, which they had learnt in Holland.
Evelyn and Pepys went to marvel at the new sight : the former
admires " the strange and wonderful dexterity of the sliders
on the new canal, in St. James's Park, performed by divers

264 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

gentlemen, and others, with schects after the manner of the
Hollanders ; with what swiftness they pass, how suddenly they
stop in full career upon the ice ;" 7 and Pepys says he "did
see people sliding with their skeates, which is a very pretty
art." 8 This recreation does not seem to have spread very
rapidly at first, for Swift, writing to Stella, in 1710, tells her
of the rabble " sliding with skates, if you know what they
are." One day Pepys follows the Duke of York, and is
grieved to see him go on to the unsafe ice — " though the
ice was broken and dangerous, yet he would go slide upon
his scates, which I do not like, but he slides very well." 9

At the south side of the west end of the canal was the
once famous Rosamond's Pond, long known as the favourite
scene for the suicide of unfortunate lovers. The origin of the
name is unknown, but we find it thus called in 161 2. On the
3rd of October, in that year, 400/. was paid out of the Ex-
chequer " towards the charge of making and bringing a
current of water from Hyde Park, in a vault of brick arched
over, to fall into Rosamond's Pond, at St. James's Park, with
other charges in making the head of the said Pond, and clean-
ing the passages and sluices." 10 It was a sequestered spot as
shown in the drawing of Hogarth, engraved on the next page,
and in one engraved by J. T. Smith ; but Chatelain's view,
which marks its junction by a dyke with the canal, has a more
cheerful appearance. Pope writes, —

" This the blest lover shall for Venus take,
And send up vows from Rosamunda's lake."

In the Tatler (No. 61), Strephon tells his mistress that he will
"wait upon her . . . near Rosamond's Pond, and then the
sylvan deities and rural powers of the place, sacred to love,
the mover of all noble hearts, should hear his vows repeated
by the streams and echoes." In a later number of that paper
(No. 171), Philander desires Clarinda to meet him here, pro-

' Evelyn's Diary, Dec. 1. 1662.
B Pepys's Diary, Dec. 1, 1662.

9 Ibid., Dec. 15, 1662.

10 Devon's Issues of the Exchequer (Pell Records), 1836, p. 150.

ST. JAMES'S PARK.

265

testing, that in case she would not do so, she might see his
body floating on the lake of love. As might be guessed,
the reputation of the place did not stand very high, for in
Southerne's The Maid's Last Prayer (1693), Granger remarks
that he did not see Lady Trickett at Rosamond's Pond, and
she answers, " Me ! fie, fie, a married woman there, Mr.
Granger!" In 1735, the pond was cleaned out by Hugh
Roberts, who had invented a machine for emptying canals,
and was filled up in 1770, when several alterations were made
by " Capability " Brown.

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At the east end of the canal, was a decoy or swampy
retreat for the ducks, called Duck Island, of which place the
celebrated " litterateur," St. Evremond, was appointed Go-
vernor by Charles II. The duties were probably not very
onerous, but a salary was attached to the office. Edward
Storey, who gave his name to Storey's Gate, was paid 8/. gs.
for " wyer and other things used about the decoy, and for

266 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

ioo baskets for the ducks ; " and 9/. \os. "for money paid to
sundry workmen for setting the reeds and polles round the
decoy and wyering it." n

Andrew Marvell refers to this hobby of Charles, in his
verses entitled Royal Resolutions : —

" I'll have a fine pond with a pretty decoy,
Where many strange fowl shall feed and enjoy,
And still in their language quack, Vive le roy." V2

Evelyn, in his diary (February 9th, 1664-5), describes the
manners and customs of the inhabitants : — " The park was at
this time stored with numerous flocks of several sorts of or-
dinary and extraordinary wild fowl, breeding about the
decoy . . . here were withy-potts or nests for the wild
fowle to lay their eggs in, a little above the surface of the
water."

There was a house on the island, and William III. built a
tea-drinking room, which is marked in a plan made in 1734,
and engraved by J. T. Smith in 1807. In 1743 the place is
thus described : — " About the middle of it [the Park] runs a
canal 2,800 foot in length and 100 in breadth, and near it are
several other waters which form an island, that has a good
cover for the breeding and harbouring wild ducks and other
water fowl : on the island, also, is a pretty house and garden,
scarce visible to the company in the Park." 13 The old gossip-
ing Princess Amelia was in the habit of taking tea in the
summer-house, and George Colman's mother, sister of the
Countess of Bath, and widow of the British Resident at the
Court of Tuscany, lived at the house close by." Walpole, in
one of his letters to Sir Horace Mann (February 9th, 175 1),
informs his correspondent that " my Lord Pomfret is made
ranger of the parks, and by consequence my lady is Queen
of the Duck Island." Soon after this, that is in 1770, the

!' CUNNINGHAM'S Handbook of London.

12 Marvell'S Works, vol. iii. p. 345.

13 History and Present State of the British Islands, vol. ii. p. 70.

14 Colman's Random Records, i. 31.

ST. JAMES'S PARK. 267

Duck Island and all its surroundings was improved off the
face of the earth, and the wondering fish and mistrustful fowl
that Dryden refers to were left to take care of themselves.

" Beyond the court flows in the admitted tide,
Where in new depths the wondering fishes glide :
Here in a royal bed the waters sleep ;
When tired at sea within this bay they creep.
Here the mistrustful fowl no harm suspects,
So safe are all things which our king protects."

In James I.'s reign the Park was ornamented with walks,
fountains, and waterworks, with " orange trees and other
foreign fruits." It was also stocked with deer, and " two
Indian beasts," cranes, swans, ducks and other fowl, and
houses were erected for the deer and game. In February,
1608, deer were chosen "to be sent from St. James's Park to
the French King." 15 On November 13th, 16 12, Viscount
Rochester, afterwards Earl of Somerset, was paid 22/. 13s. ^d.
out of the Exchequer, " for charges of fowl and wild beasts,
in the park of St. James's, and in the Spring Gardens, in the
months of July, August and September." 16 In 1623, among
the presents sent from Spain when Prince Charles was courting
the Infanta, were an elephant and some camels, which were
kept in the Park. 17

Henry Peacham mentions among the sights of London —

" Saint James his ginney hens, the cassawarway, moreover,
The Beaver i' the Parke (strange beast as ere man saw)
Downe-shearing willowes with teeth as sharpe as a hand-saw." 18

The part of the Park, now called the Enclosure, was staked
off from the walks by Charles II., for the purpose of pro-
tecting the deer and other animals. Evelyn in his diary,
under date February 9th, 1664-5, names deer of several coun-
tries, red, white and spotted like leopards, roebucks, stags,
antelopes, guinea goats, Arabian sheep, &c, as being all here ;

15 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1603-1610, p. 410.

16 Devon's Issues of the Exchequer {Pell Records), 1836, p. 152.

17 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1623-1625, p. 13.

18 Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, vol. vii. p. 41.

268 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

and two years before he had written thus to Thomas Chiffinch,
the King's factotum so well limned by Scott in Pevcril of the
Peak : — " To this I would have added in another register the
names and portraitures of all the exotic and rare beasts and
fowls which have at any time been presented to his Majesty,
and which are daily sent to his paradise at St. James's Park."
Monconys, the traveller, when in England in the year 1663,
went to see these birds and animals, among which he mentions
a pelican. Charles caused some acorns of the Boscobel oak to
be set in the garden of St. James's, and was in the habit of
watering them himself ; he also planted rows of trees, and
set apart one of the alleys thus formed for the purposes of the
game of pall-mall, at which he was an adept. The old Pall-
mall in St. James's Fields was out of repair, and was about
to be destroyed in order that St. James's Square might be
laid out, and therefore another place was required.

Pall-mall was a popular game in the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries, and few large towns were without a mall, or
prepared ground, where it could be played ; but it has now
been so long out of use, that no satisfactory account of the
game can be found. It was, probably, introduced into Eng-
land from Scotland on the accession of James VI. to the
English throne, for the King names it among other exercises
as suited for his son Henry, who was afterwards Prince of
Wales : — " But the exercises that I would have you to use
(although but moderately, not making a craft of them) are
running, leaping, wrastling, fencing, dancing, and playing at
the caitch or tennise, archerie, palle maille, and such like other
faire and pleasant field-games." 19 About the same time
(1598) Sir R. Dallington, in his Method of Travel, marvels that
the sport was not introduced into England. " Among all the
exercises of France, I preferre none before the palle maille,
both because it is a gentlemanlike sport, not violent, and
yeelds good occasion and opportunity of discourse, as they
walke from the one marke to the other. I marvell, among

19 BamXtKov Awpov, book iii. (JAMES I.'S Works, 1616, p. 185).

.ST. JAMES'S PARK. 269

many more apish and foolish toyes, which wee have brought
out of France, that wee have not brought this sport also into
England." Unfortunately no rules of the game have come
down to us, so that we cannot tell how many players were
required, or how many strokes were' allowed before the ball
passed successfully under one of the hoops, but from old
dictionaries and drawings, we are able to gather the following
particulars : A long alley was prepared for the game, by being
made smooth, and then surrounded by a low wooden border,
which was marked so as to show the position of the balls.
Each player had a mallet between three and four feet in
length, and a round box-wood ball of between two and three
inches in diameter, and his object was to drive his ball through
a hoop about two feet high and two inches wide, called " The
Pass," of which there were two, one at each end of the mall.
Force and skill were both required in the player, who had to
make the ball skate along the ground with great speed, and
yet to be careful that he did not strike it in such a manner as
to raise it from the ground. This is shown by the following
lines of Charles Cotton : —

" But playing with the boy at mall
(I rue the time and ever shall),
I struck the ball, I know not how,
(For that is not the play, you know,)
A pretty height into the air." 20

The mall in St. James's Park was nearly half a mile in
length, and was kept with the greatest care. Pepys tells us
how he went to talk with the keeper of the mall, and how he
learned the manner of mixing the earth for the floor, over
which powdered cockle-shells were strewn. All this required
such constant attention that a special person was employed,
who was called the cockle-strewer. In the dry weather the
surface was apt to turn to dust, and consequently impede the
flight of the ball. At the end of the mall was a gallery for
the spectators to sit and view the game. All these things

3 " The Scoffer Scoffl.

270 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

made it the finest mall in Europe. 21 Waller, in his poem on
the Park, thus describes the place and the chief actor : —

" Here, a well-polished mall gives us joy,
To see our prince his matchless force employ.
No sooner has he touch'd the flying ball,
But 'tis already more than half the mall :
And such a fury from his arm has got,
As from a smoaking culverin 'twere shot."

Although the game was no longer played, the border of
wood remained round the mall for many years, and the hoop
at the west end continued in its place till it was cleared away
in the beginning of the reign of George III. All the avenues
from Spring Gardens to Buckingham Palace are now indis-
criminately called the Mall. 22

As the fashionable world now rides, drives and walks in
Hyde Park, so it walked in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries in St. James's Park. Sorbiere, the French traveller,
who was in England about the year 1665, after describing the
company at the Ring, adds, " Sometimes they alight and go
into St. James's, that is like the Tuillery at Paris, and usually

21 " The Palaces of the King, viz. Whitehall and St. James's (to which
is joyned a small, but delightful Park, so called, in which is a Pal Mai,
said to be the best in Christendom), the first being the residence of his
Sacred Majesty, whose walls are washed by the Thames, the other of his
Royal Highness James, Duke of York." — 1673, Richard Blome, Brit 'a imia,

P- 150-

22 Since writing the above I have found a paper by Mr. Albert Way,
" On the Game of Pall Mall," in the Archaeological Journal, vol. xi. (1854),
pp. 253-260, but it contains nothing that necessitates any alteration in my
description. Although Mr. Way has gathered together much curious
information about the game, he is unable to explain how it was played,
and he even thinks it possible that the representations of the play in
Knight's London and Pictorial History of England might be correct.
These figures represent some men attempting to strike a ball through a
ring suspended to a tall pole. Whatever game this may have been, we
can say decidedly that it could not have been pall-mall. Mr. Way's
paper is illustrated by a figure of a mallet and ball found in the house of
the late Mr. Benjamin Vulliamy, at No. 68, Pall Mali

ST. JAMES'S PARK. 271

walk fast there. 23 Dryden's severe satire upon Lord Shaftes-
bury is said to have been suggested by Charles II. to the
poet, when they were walking together in the Mall. Dryden
entitled his poem The Medal, because a medal had been struck
on the occasion of Lord Shaftesbury's acquittal of the charge
of high treason, which his partisans wore on their breasts.

Evelyn, in his curious inventory of a lady's extravagant
attire in 1690, entitled Mundus Muliebris, or The Ladies
Drawing Room unlocked, and her Toilet spread,^ thus describes
some of the walkers : —

" Three manteaus. nor can madam less
Provision have for due undress ;
Nor demy sultane, spagnolet,
Nor fringe to sweep the mall forget."

A sultane was a gown trimmed with buttons and loops, and
a spagnolet a kind of narrow-sleeved gown.

The Frenchman Misson describes the place a few years after-
wards : — " The time for good company is at noon, in the fine
days of winter, and very late at night in hot days in summer.
On Holydays and Sundays, the common people take their
walks thither in whole shoals." 25 The Mall continued to be a
fashionable promenade until the commencement of the present
century, but its glory has now entirely departed. The follow-
ing extracts show its condition in the middle of the last
century : — " But what renders St. James's Park one of the
most delightful scenes in nature is that variety of living objects
we meet with here ; for besides the deer and wild-fowl, common
to other parks, besides the water, fine walks, and the elegant
buildings that surround it, hither the politest part of the
British nation of both sexes frequently resort in the spring, to
take the benefit of the evening air, and enjoy the most
agreeable conversation imaginable : and those who have a
taste for nautical musick, and the shining equipage of the
soldiery, will find their eyes and ears agreeably entertain'd

23 Sorbiere's Voyage to England, Lond. 1709, p. 69.

24 Miscellaneous Works, 1825, p. 703.

25 I7I9,Misson's Travels over England, p. 206.

272 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

by the Horse and Foot Guards almost every morning." e6
" The Mall in St. James's Park, a fine shady walk about half
a mile in length, that runs parallel to the Palace and the
King's Gardens. Here they have a better opportunity of
joining companies and enjoying each other's conversation than
they had in their coaches at the Ring, and here having walk'd
as long as there is any glimpse of day-light, they retire to their
houses." 27 No plebeians then mixed in the amusements of the
aristocracy, and the Mall was the rendezvous of the gay and
gallant who walked here to see and be seen, and to criticize
each other, but on Sundays the Park was given up to the
people. " On Sundays and other holydays . . . every walk,
every publick garden and path near the town are crowded
with the common people, and no place more than the Park, for
which reason I presume the quality are seldom seen there on
a Sunday, though the meanest of them are so well dress'd at
these times that nobody need be asham'd of their company
on that account : you will see every apprentice, every porter
and cobler in as good cloth and linnen as their betters, and it
must be a very poor woman that has not a suit of mantua silk
or something equal to it, to appear abroad in on holydays.
It is not to be conceiv'd what an alteration this change of
dress, and the air they assume, makes in them at these times :
they are now no more these cringing slaves you saw them in
their several employments the day before ; they seem to value
themselves on being citizens of this great town, and to appre-
hend they are people of importance, when they are a little
remov'd from the scene of their daily labour." 28 Swift, when
in London, walked every day in the Park, and writing in 171 1,
says, " When I pass the Mall in the evening, it is prodigious
to see the number of ladies walking there." These ladies are
introduced by Gay into his Trivia : —

" The ladies, gaily dress'd, the Mall adorn
With various dyes and paint the sunny morn ; "

26 1743, Hist, and Present State of the British Islands, vol. ii. p. 71.
21 Ibid., p. 339-40.
88 Ibid., p. 363.

ST. JAMES'S PARK. 273

and as ladies are not likely to walk alone, Pope introduces
the other sex —

" Some feel no flames but at the Court or Ball,
And others hunt white aprons on the Mall."

Horace Walpole, in a letter to George Montagu (June 23,
1750) relates how he and Lady Caroline Petersham went to
Vauxhall, and how they gathered together their party in the
Mall. His description gives a capital idea of the easy way
in which the upper classes monopolized the Park ; but a very
few years after, all was completely changed.

In the middle of the eighteenth century was to be seen
among the gay throng in the Park, a man who has drawn
his own picture for us thus : " Short, rather plump than
emaciated, notwithstanding his complaints ; about five foot
five inches ; fair wig ; lightish cloth coat, all black besides ;
one hand generally in his bosom, the other a cane in it, which
he leans upon under the skirts of his coat usually, that it may
imperceptibly serve him as a support, when attacked by
sudden tremors or startings, and dizziness, which too frequently
attack him, but, thank God, not so often as formerly : looking
directly foreright, as passers-by would imagine, but observing
all that stirs on either hand of him without moving his short
neck, hardly ever turning back ; of a light brown complexion,
teeth not yet failing him ; smoothish faced and ruddy cheeked ;
at sometimes looking to be about sixty-five, at other times
much younger ; a regular even pace, stealing away ground,
rather than seeming to rid it ; a gray eye, too often over-
clouded by mistiness from the head, by chance lively, very
lively it will be, if he have hope of seeing a lady whom he
loves and honours : his eye always on the ladies." 29 This
little man was the celebrated novelist, Samuel Richardson.
He carried on a correspondence with Lady Bradshaigh, who
wrote under the name of Mrs. Belfour. This lady asked the
author whether he ever walked in the Park, and he answered,
that with the hope of seeing her he would walk three or four

2y Samuel Richardson's Correspondence, 1804, vol iv. pp. 290-1.

274 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

hours there every day for the space of a week. After a
certain time, and when many letters had passed between the
two, mostly about Clarissa, the lady threw off her disguise ;
probably, she thought she had sufficiently tried the worthy
man's patience. She writes : — " I passed you four times last
Saturday in the Park, knew you by your own description, at
least three hundred yards off, walking in the .Park, between
the trees and the Mall ; and had an opportunity of surveying
you unobserved, your eyes being engaged amongst the multi-
tude, looking, as I knew, for a certain gill-o'-the-wisp, who, I
have a notion, escaped being known by you, tho' not your
notice, for you looked at me every time we passed ; but I put
on so unconcerned a countenance, that I am almost sure I
deceived you." 30

We get a glimpse of the last days of the Mall in the
Rolliad, —

" Lo ! in the West the sun's broad orb display^

O'er the Queen's Palace, lengthens every shade :

See the last loiterers now the Mall resign ;

E'en poets go, that they may seem to dine :

Yet fasting, here I linger to complain."

Posterity seldom does justice to the good points in the
characters of bad men, and Charles II. has not been suffi-
ciently credited with his many encouragements to science, and
his interest in it. Sorbiere praises him for having " caused a
famous chymist to be brought from Paris, for whom he has
built a very fine elaboratory in St. James's Park," 31 and also he
" hath erected a tall pile in this park, the better to make use
of Telescopes, with which Sir Robert Murray shew'd me
Saturn and the satellites of Jupiter." 32 Sorbiere, in another
place, praises Sir Robert Moray highly. " It was a wonderful,
or rather a very edifying, thing to find a person imploy'd in
matters of State, and of such excellent merit, and one who
had been engaged a great part of his life in warlike com-
mands, and the affairs of the Cabinet, apply himself in making

30 Page 367.

31 Sorbiere's Voyage to England, Lond. 1709, p. 33.

32 Ibid., p. 17.

ST. JAMES'S PARK. 275

machines in St. James's Park and adjusting Telescopes.
All this we have seen him do with great application, and
undoubtedly to the confusion of most of the courtiers, who
never mind the stars and think it a dishonour to concern
themselves with anything but inventing of new fashions." 33
Monconys also, when in England, in 1663, was shown the
telescope by Lord Brouncker, the first President of the Royal
Society. Cosmo III., in 1669, was also taken to see it.

Pepys relates, that on the nth of August, 1664, Lords
Castlehaven and Arran ran down and killed a buck in this
Park, when the King was a spectator of the sport. On
February 19th, 1666-67, Evelyn refers to a wrestling-match
for 1,000/., between western and northern men, when the former
won. On the 17th of December, 1684, three Asiatic horses
were exhibited before the King, the Duke of York, and the
Prince of Denmark, when they trotted like does, as if they
did not feel the ground. In December, 173 1, a man engaged
to hop five hundred yards in fifty hops, in the Park, and
performed the feat in forty-six. When Prince George joined
the Prince of Orange, his wife, the Princess Anne, fled from
Whitehall, and the Earl of Middlesex (Lord Buckhurst) con-
ducted her to the coach, which was waiting for her in the
Park. In November, 1697, when William III. returned from
Holland, he made a public entry into London, and St. James's
Park was lined with four battalions of Foot Guards, who fired
three volleys as a salute.

In Queen Anne's reign one Nicholas Wilson proposed a
scheme for raising money by levying a tax on the frequenters
of St. James's Park, and explains his proposal as follows : —

" Every body knows the vast crowd of people that frequent
St. James's Park, some for their diversion, others making it
a highway to which they do not contribute any thing. Her
Maj tie being at a great expense every year for ornamenting
and keeping it in repaire, if she would be pleased to give
orders that none should enter in y e Park excepting forringe
ministers, nobility, members of Parlam 1 dureing y e session,
33 Sorbiere'S Voyage, p. 30.

276 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

her houshold, y e souldiers, &c, without paying a halfpenny a
peise, it will raise a very great summe." 84

In August, 1780, at the time of the public terror caused
by the Gordon Riots, the Park was the scene of a very pretty
sight. The regiments of Guards were encamped here, and
both sides of the canal, from the Queen's House to the Horse
Guards, were covered with tents and troops. In the King's
Collection of Prints in the British Museum there are a couple
of drawings by Captain Davies, showing the encampment as
it appeared on June 20, 1780. In 1798 new barracks near
the wall in James's Street were commenced. On June 21,
1 8 10, the Park was cleared at 5 P.M., and the gates locked, as
it was expected that Sir Francis Burdett would be drawn from
the Tower in cavalcade. In 1 8 1 4, on the occasion of the visit of
the allied sovereigns to England, great preparations were made
in this Park. A bridge built according to the Chinese taste
of the day, and surmounted by a pagoda consisting of seven
pyramidal stories, was erected over the water. This pagoda
was illuminated with gas, and from it fixed and missile fire-
works were exhibited on the first night of the fete, but it unfor-
tunately caught fire and caused the death of several of the
people employed in the management of the fireworks. At
the same time the canal was covered with handsome boats,
and the margin of the water was surrounded by booths. The
trees in the Mall were lighted up with lamps and Chinese
lanterns, and a balloon was sent up from the lawn in front of
Buckingham House.

There is a good story told of Canova which relates to this
Chinese bridge. He was asked what had chiefly impressed
him in England, and he answered that he was most struck to
find this bridge to be the work of the English Government,
and Waterloo Bridge that of a few private men.

The various avenues in the different parts of the Park

obtained distinguishing names, as Duke Humphry's Walk,

and the Jacobite Walk, which were also called respectively

the Green Walk and the Close Walk. The trees that once

34 Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, vol. iv. p. 351.

ST. J A MESS PARK. 277

gave a beauty to the place have now nearly all disappeared,
and they have been replaced by young saplings, so that it
will be many a year before the Mall again makes a handsome
appearance. The trees were greatly damaged by the fearful
storm of November, 1703, which Congreve describes as more
dreadful than any within the memory of man. 35

Daines Barrington wrote a paper " On tJie sudden decay of
several trees in St. James's Park," 36 in which he considers the
destruction of those round Rosamond's Pond to be accounted
for by the filling up of that piece of water ; because the roots
seeking for moisture had grown entirely on the water side,
and, therefore, when the pond was filled up they died from
want of sufficient moisture. In 1824 a report was drawn up
by W. S. Macleay on the state of the elm-trees, 37 in which he
states that, on examining these trees, he found that they were
rapidly disappearing, owing to the attacks of a species of
beetle, the Hylesinus dcstmctor of Fabricius, or Scolytns
destructor of Latreille, an insect peculiar to the elm. These
creatures are very rapid in their work of destruction. In
1780 an insect of the same family made its appearance in the
pine-forests of the Hartz, and was neglected. Three years
after, whole forests had disappeared, and for want of fuel an
end was nearly put to the mining operations of that extensive
range of country. 38

"The elm-trees in St. James's Park

Were daily losing all their bark,
At which whoever look'd, or

From which whoever broke a piece,

He might the excavations trace
Of Scolytns destructor.

The ranger, knowing not what jaws
The insect uses when he gnaws,

as Berkeley's Literary Relics, 1789, p. 332.

3b Miscellanies, 1781, p. 170.

37 Edinburgh Phil. Journal, vol. xi. pp. 123-129.

3S The late Charles Waterton, the distinguished naturalist, contended
that the insect never attacked the healthy tree. — HOBSON'S Waterton, his
Plome Habits and Handiwork, 1867, p. 56.

278 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Thought such tree-royal killing
By soldiers' bayonets must be done,
As if the guardsmen every one

Had not enough of drilling." 39

The Park was lighted by gas-lamps in 1822, when the
gates were closed at ten o'clock, in consequence of which the
following lines were stuck up on one of the trees —

" The trees in the park
Are illumined with gas,
But after it's dark

No creatures can pass.

Ye sensible wights

Who govern our fates,
Extinguish your lights

Or open your gates." 40

In the years 1826-28 the Park was much improved, and the
present enclosure planned out by Nash for George IV. The
ornamental water was altered from the former straight canal
to the present pretty lake. Previous to this time the enclosure
was little more than a long field surrounded by a wooden
railing, into which no person was allowed to trespass. The
lake was emptied out and the bottom laid down with concrete
in 1857, when the present bridge was erected. The wooden
bridge, which was built in 18 14, remained till the alterations
in 1827, when it was cleared away, so that for thirty years
there was no communication between the two sides of the
water but by a ferry. Although the present bridge is ugly in
itself, the view from it is very beautiful. The thickly-wooded
aits and the boats and valuable waterfowl of the Ornitho-
logical Society upon the water make an agreeable sylvan
scene. On looking to the east we see the Horse Guards, and
the new Foreign and India Offices towering over the fore-
ground of water and green trees, while to the south-east, as a
more distant background, rise the towers of the Abbey and the
Houses of Parliament.

39 Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, vol. vii. p. 147.

M J. T. Smith's Antiquarian Ramble in the Streets of London, 1S46,
vol. i. p. 102.

ST. JAMES'S PARK. 279

Birdcage Walk and the avenues within the railings by its
side contain some of the best trees in the Park. Birdcage is
a corruption of Boccage or Avenue ; and Storey's Gate, at the
Westminster end of it, takes its name, as was before stated,
from Edward Storey, who was employed by Charles II. on
some of the work in the Park. Bishop Warburton, in a letter
to his follower Hurd, happily hit off some of the peculiarities
of the place. " I would recommend to our good friend Mason
a voyage now and then with me round the Park. What can
afford nobler hints for pastoral than the cows and the milk-
women at your entrance from Spring Gardens ? As you
advance, you have noble subjects for Comedy and Farce from
one end of the Mall to the other ; not to say satire, to which
our worthy friend has a kind of propensity. As you turn to
the left you soon arrive at Rosamond's Pond, long consecrated,
to disastrous love and Elegiac poetry. The Birdcage Walk,
which you enter next, speaks its own influence and inspires
you with the gentle spirit of Madrigal and Sonnet When
we come to Duck Island, we have a double chance for
success in the Georgic or Didactic poetry, as the governor of
it, Stephen Duck, can both instruct our friend in the breed
of the wild fowl and lend him of his genius to sing their
generations."

The carriage-way in the Birdcage Walk was long exclu-
sively confined to the members of the Royal Family and to
the Duke of St. Alban's as Hereditary Grand Falconer, but
it was opened to the public in 1828.

The Parade is a handsome open space where the troops
are inspected ; in it are two pieces of ordnance : the one is a
Turkish cannon within a chevaux-de-frise fence, taken by the
British troops at Alexandria in Egypt, during the Revolution-
ary War ; the other, called the Prince Regent's Bomb, is a
mortar resting on a large dragon, which was left by the
French when defeated at the siege of Cadiz, July 22, 18 12,
and presented by the Cortes to the Prince Regent. It was
made to throw shells to the great distance of three miles, and
did actually throw to three miles and a half. There formerly

28o ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

stood at the end of the canal a brass statue of a gladiator,
copied by Le Sueur from an antique of Agasias Desitheus of
Ephesus, in the Borghese Palace at Rome. This statue was
removed to Hampton Court by Queen Anne, and to the
private grounds of Windsor Castle by George IV. Before
Charles II. made the canal there was a piece of water or
ditch across the parade, over which the road passed by a
bridge. The chief buildings that overlook the Parade are the
Admiralty, the Horse Guards, the Treasury, and the Foreign
and India Offices. The Admiralty was built about the year
1726, on the site of Wallingford House, the mansion of the
Villiers, Dukes of Buckingham. Archbishop Usher saw the
execution of Charles I. from the roof of the house ; and the
body of the poet Cowley lay in state there. The building was
sold to the Crown in 1680.

There was an ugly building occupied by the Horse Guards
in the reign of Charles II., but the present one was built from
the design of Kent in 175 1, at a cost of 30,000/. It has much
merit, and is probably Kent's best work ; but many of the
details are exceedingly poor, and its general effect is injured
by the central archway, which is much too small, and is
satirized by Hogarth on that account.

The old Tilt Yard attached to the palace of Whitehall
was on a portion of the site of the Horse Guards. Here
tournaments were held, and a magnificent one took place in
January, 1581, in honour of the commissioners sent from
France to propose a marriage between Queen Elizabeth and
the worthless Duke of Anjou.

The Treasury, a stone building of three stories, of which
the lower is Tuscan, the second Doric, and the upper floor
Ionic, was erected in 1733, and is only a portion of a rather
handsome front designed by Kent, but not carried out.

Between the Treasury and the Horse Guards is Dover
House, built by Payne for Sir Mathew Featherstonhaugh,
and well known from the odd appearance of its front to
Whitehall. It has also been known by the names of Mel-
bourne House and York House.

ST. JAMES'S PARK. 281

The great building erected for the Foreign and India
Offices is imposing from its size, but the general flatness of
its wall and its small unrecessed windows peculiarly unfit it
for a climate such as ours. The figures that ornament the
India Office are all too big for their niches, and have the
ludicrous effect of being uncomfortably crowded in their
position. The interior of these offices is particularly hand-
some ; but when we look at the outside, which in one position
has the appearance of leaning to one side, we almost regret
the plain and simple State Paper Office that stood on a part
of its site.

Spring Gardens was a small enclosed place taken out
of the Park and attached to the palace at Whitehall. The
name arose from a spring of water which is thus described
by the traveller Hentzner in 1598 : "In a garden joining to
this palace there is a. jet d'cau with a sun-dial, at which, while
strangers are looking, a quantity of water, forced by a wheel,
which the gardener turns at a distance through a number of
little pipes, plentifully sprinkles those that are standing
round." Keepers were appointed to take charge of the
gardens, but the public were allowed to amuse themselves
in them, and they became a favourite lounge of the quality in
the reign of Charles I. In March, 1647, it was ordered that
the keeper of the Spring Gardens should admit no person
" on the Lord's day, or any of the public fast days." A few
years later it was entirely closed and the gay world had to
content itself with the Mulberry Garden. In A Character of
England, 165 1, after describing the drive in Hyde Park,
Evelyn goes on to say, " The manner is, as the company
returns, to alight at the Spring Garden so called, in order to
the parke as our Thuilleries is to the course ; the inclosure
not disagreeable, for the solemness of the grove, the warbling
of the birds, and as it opens into the spacious walks at St.
James's ; but the company walk in it at such a rate, as you
would think all the ladies were so many Atalantases con-
tending with their wooers ; and, my lord, there was no appear-
ance that I should prove the Hippomenes, who could with

282 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

very much ado keep pace with them ; but as fast as they run,
they stay there so long, as if they wanted not time to finish
the race, for it is usuall here to find some of the young com-
pany till midnight ; and the thickets of the garden seem to
be contrived to all advantages of gallantry, after they have
been refreshed with the collation, which is here seldome
omitted, at a certain cabaret in the middle of this paradise,
where the forbidden fruites are certain trifling tartes, neates-
tongues, salacious meates, and bad Rhenish, for which the
gallants pay sauce, as indeed they do at all such houses
throughout England ; for they think it a piece of frugality
beneath them to bargaine or accompt for what they eat in
any place, however unreasonably imposed upon ; but thus
those mean fellows are (as I told your Lordship) inriched ;
begger and insult over the gentlemen." 41 The price paid at
the ordinary in Charles I.'s reign was six shillings, that is
four shillings more than was allowed by the King's proclama-
tion to be charged elsewhere. 42

At the Restoration the entertainments were moved to the
new Spring Garden at Fox Hall, afterwards called Vauxhall.
The original place was styled Old Spring Gardens, and houses
were built on a part of the site.

Prince Rupert died on the 29th of November, 1682, at his
house in Spring Gardens, where he had lived for eight years.
One of the houses looking into the Park was built by Craggs,
the Secretary of State and friend of " Pope. Colley Cibber
lived here near the " Bull Head Tavern," next door to which
Milton had lived while he wrote his Defcnsio.

In the year 1S18 John Penn, in concert with some friends,
founded the Outinian or Matrimonial Society. The first
meetings were held at 190 Piccadilly, and afterwards lectures
were delivered at Mr. Penn's house, No. 10, New Street,
Spring Gardens. There is a lithograph showing the Spring
Gardens end of St. James's Park, which has the following
inscription: "The Portico, Spring Gardens, No. 10, New

u Evelyn's Miscellaneous Works, 1825, p. 165.
42 Strafford Papers, i. 262.

ST. JAMES'S PARK. 283

Street (the only Portico) belonging to J. Penn, Esq., with
the company assembled, as it appears during the delivery of
the Outinian Lectures every Saturday throughout the season."
Records of the Origin and Proceedings of the Outinian
Society, were printed in 18 18.

Spring Gardens, owing to its vicinity to the Court, was
formerly allowed as a sanctuary for debtors who wished to
escape the troublesome attention of their creditors.

The pastoral character of the place, as exhibited in the
cows and milkwomen noted by Bishop Warburton, still con-
tinues and gives it its most special feature. The passage to
Charing Cross was granted in 1699, by William III., and it
ought now to be made a handsome opening.

From the Park we pass on in the next chapter to the
palaces of St. James and Buckingham.

284

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

CHAPTER XT.
ST. JAMES'S AND BUCKINGHAM PALACES.

St. James's Palace and Pake.

St. James's Palace 1 was originally a hospital for fourteen
leprous maidens, dedicated to St. James, and appears to have
been founded by citizens of London, previous to the Conquest.

1 For much information relating to St. James's Palace I have to thank
my friend W. H. Spilsbury, Esq., who very kindly lent me a MS. volume of
collections made by the late Thomas Moule.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 285

Eight brethren were afterwards added to the Institution, whose
duty it was to perform divine service. The hospital is
mentioned in a manuscript, in the Cottonian Library, as early
as the year 1100, and is said to have been "rebuilt in the
reign of Henry III., when it was made subject to a master,
who from time to time resisted the claims of the Abbot of
Westminster in his attempts to assume the jurisdiction over
it." ~ In the thirty-fifth year of this King's reign, the master
and convent granted to Richard de Wendover, for the sum of
thirty marks, that one chaplain should celebrate a mass for his
soul in their hospital for ever. 3 The dissensions between the
Convent and the Abbey of Westminster were put an end to
in the reign of Henry VI., when the custody of the hospital
was given to the heads of Eton College. In this same reign
Lord Cromwell, to save himself from the violence of the great
Earl of Warwick, was lodged at St. James's Hospital ; as is
explained in the following passage from one of the Paston
Letters: — " Ij dayes afore the writyng of this L'r there was
langage betwene my Lordes of Warr [Richard Nevile, Earl of
Warwick] and Cromwell [Henry Stanhope, Lord Cromwell]
afore the Kyng, in somoch as the Lord Cromwell wold have
excused hym self of all the steryng or moevyng of the male
journey of Seynt Albones, of the whiche excuse makyng my
Lord of Warr' had knolege and in hast wasse w l the Kyng
and sware by his othe that the Lord Cromwell said not trouth
but that he was begynnerof all y l journey at Seynt Albones
and so betwene my said ij Lords of Warr' and Cromwell ther
is all y is day grugyng in somoch as the Erie of Shrouesbury
[John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury] hath loged hym at y e
Hospitall of Seynt James beside the Mewes be the Lord
Cromwells desire for his sauf gard." 4

The Hospital continued till the twenty-third year of the
reign of Henry VIII., when the King obtained it in exchange

3 PYNE's Royal Residences, vol. iii. p. 1.

3 R. NEWCOURT'S Repertorhcm, 1708, vol. i. p. 662.

4 Letter from Henry Windsor to John Booking and William Worcester
(July 20, 1455, 33 K. Hy. VI.) — FENN's Paston Letters, 1787, vol. i. p. no.

286 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

for lands in Chattisham in the county of Suffolk, and pensioned
off the inmates. Henry rebuilt the house, and tradition says
that Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, gave, the design ; at all
events, the building took place at the time of the King's
marriage with Anne Boleyn ; and, in honour of it, loveknots
were sculptured over some of the arched doorways. The
following quotation contains Stow's account of the place : —
"West from this cross [Charing Cross] stood sometime an
hospital of St. James, consisting of two hides of land, with the
appurtenances in the parish of St. Margaret, in Westminster,
and founded by the citizens of London, before the time of
any man's memory, for fourteen sisters, maidens, that were
leprous, living chastely and honestly in divine service. After-
wards divers citizens of London gave five and fifty pounds rent
thereunto, and then were adjoined eight brethren to minister
divine service there. After this, also, sundry devout men of
London gave to this hospital four hides of land in the field of
Westminster, and in Hendon, Calcote, and Hamsted eighty
acres of land and wood, &c. King Edward I. confirmed those
gifts and granted a fair to be kept on the eve of St. James,
the day, the morrow, and four days following, in the eighteenth
of his reign. The hospital was surrendered to Henry VIII.
in the twenty-third of his reign : the sisters being compounded
with, were allowed pensions for the term of their lives ; and
the King built there a goodly manor, annexing thereunto a
park, closed about with a wall of brick, now called St. James's
Park, serving indifferently to the said manor, and to the
manor or palace of White hall. South from Charing Cross on
the right hand, are divers fair houses lately built before the
park, then a large tilt-yard for noblemen, and other, to exercise
themselves in justing, turning and fighting at barriers." 5
The newly built palace was called the King's Manor of St.
James, and from that time to the burning of Whitehall, it
formed a kind of supplementary royal palace, at which the
King or Queen occasionally resided, but which was more
frequently inhabited by the junior members of the royal family.
5 1603, John Stow's Survey of London, rpt. 1842, p. 168.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE.

>8 7

St. James's Palace.

In July, 1536, Henry Fitz Roy, Duke of Richmond, K.G., son
of Henry VIII. by Elizabeth Blount, widow of Gilbert, Lord
Talbois, died here at the age of sixteen. He married Mary,
daughter of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, and sister of the poet
Earl of Surrey. In September, 1553, the new Queen Mary
removed from the Tower to St. James's, where she frequently
resided during the whole of her reign. She was here when
the treaty of peace was signed between England and France,
in which Calais was surrendered to the latter. On the 17th of
November, 1558, the Queen died at St. James's, and her body
lay in state in the Privy Chamber for some days, and was then
buried in Henry VI I. 's chapel ; her heart having been previously
interred in the chapel of the manor house. Queen Elizabeth
frequently retired to St. James's, and in September, 1561, she
came from Enfield, when great preparations were made for
her progress. From Islington to St. James's the hedges were
cut down, and the ditches filled up in order to make a way for
her to pass. The Queen's favourite, Sir Robert Dudley, K.G.,
and Master of the Horse, was created Earl of Leicester, by her
Majesty, on Michaelmas day, 1564, at St. James's House. On
the 17th November, 1584, she returned from her progress to
her manor house, where the citizens of London welcomed her
at night with torches, &c. In July, 1588, she removed here
from Richmond, and remained till the end of September,

288 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

during which time the invincible Armada made its attempted
descent upon our shores. Philip of Spain had left his poor
wife all to herself at St. James's to die of a broken heart,
though he wished to come to England again and share the
throne with her successor. Mr. Motley gives us an amusing
instance of the ignorance of this despicable bigot : —

" Again a despatch of Mendoza to the King contained the
intelligence that Queen Elizabeth was, at the date of the
letter, residing at St. James's. Philip, who had no objection
to display his knowledge of English affairs — as became the
man who had already been almost sovereign of England and
meant to be entirely so — supplied a piece of information in an
apostille to this dispatch : ' St. James is a house of recreation,'
he said, ' which was once a monastery. There is a park between
it and the palace which is called Huytal, but why it is called
Huytal I am sure I don't know.' His researches in the
English language had not enabled him to recognise the
adjective and substantive, out of which the abstruse com-
pound White-hall (Huytal) was formed." 6

On the nth of July, 1603, a proclamation was issued by
James I., relating to his Coronation. He ordered in it that
the fair " used to be kept in the feilds neere our house of
St. James and City of Westminster, commonly called St.
James' Fair," should be put off for eight or ten days,
because, if it should be held " at the tyme accustomed, being
the very instant of our Coronation, [it] could not but draw
resort of people to that place much more unfit to be neer our
court and trayne, than such as by former proclamations are
restrayned." 7

In 1604, St. James's was appointed as the residence of
Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I., and the stables and
barns were rebuilt. In May, 1610, the King presented the
house and manor to the Prince of Wales, and Inigo Jones,
who was appointed surveyor of the works, made various
alterations and improvements in the interior. Here the

fi The United Netherlands, vol. ii. p. 460.
7 RYMER'S Fccdera, 1715, vol. xvi. p. 527.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 289

Prince gathered round him a brilliant court of noble youths,
and his levees were more largely attended than those of his
father, but this did not last long, for in November, 161 2, at
the early age of nineteen, the young man died, not without
suspicion of being poisoned by Somerset. Immediately after
his death a mad youth rushed into the house naked, and pre-
tended to be the ghost of the late Prince. 8 The body lay in
state till December 7th, when it was taken to Westminster
Abbey. The popular grief for the loss of the accomplished
young Prince was very great, and two thousand mourners
followed at his funeral. His debts were found to be 9,000/.,
but his property was worth more, the medals and coins alone
being valued at 3,000/.

In July, 1613, the sum of 60/. was paid to Thomas
Hamlyn " for enlarging, with three sets of pipes, the new
organ at St. James's, and for making the same organ one note
deeper ; " that amount appearing to be due to him in the list
of the late Prince's debts. 9

On the death of Henry, his brother, Prince Charles, took
up his residence at St. James's, where he remained till the
death of his father. In December, 161 8, he was insulted by
an attack upon his house, which is thus noticed in the
Calendar of State Papers : — " Relation of an affront committed
by the Deputy Sheriff and Bailiffs of Middlesex and 200
and 300 apprentices, by rushing into the Prince's house at
St. James's, in search of Thomas Geare, a debtor, who fled
there for refuge." 10 They demanded him from Sir John
Vaughan, the comptroller of the household, and not obtaining
their wish, attacked the latter as he was getting into his coach.
In 1623, great preparations were made for the reception of the
Infanta, who was coming over to marry the Prince, and the
Spanish Ambassador went to survey the house, when he
ordered a new chapel to be built by Inigo Jones. 11 In the

8 Calendar of Stale Papers, Domestic Series, 1611-1618, p. 156.

9 Devon's Issues of the Exchequer, Pell Records, 1836, p. 169.
lu Domestic Series, 161 1- 18, p. 604.

11 Ibid., 1619-23, p. 576.

2QO ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

same year, a part of the clock tower was carried away by
lightning. 1 ' 2 Although, on Charles's accession to the Throne,
he went to Whitehall Palace, he frequently retired for a
time to St. James's. His Queen took a fancy to the place,
and most of their children were born there — Charles, on
May 29th, 1630, when a star appeared at noonday ; which
important event was commemorated by the striking of a
medal ; Mary, who afterwards married the Prince of Orange,
and was mother of William III., on November 4th, 1632 ;
James, on October 14th, 1633, when medals were scattered
to the populace at the Gatehouse ; and Elizabeth, on
December 28th, 1635. In 1626 the establishment of the
Queen, Henrietta Maria, was so large, that it cost 240/. a day ;
but great complaints were made, and the French servants were
packed back to France, whereat the French King was greatly
incensed, and orders were given by him to seize all English
ships in the ports of France. These French servants appear
to have been a dirty set, and much to have offended the
housekeeper of St. James's, who sent word to the King that
they " had so defiled that house, as a week's work would not
make it clene." 13

In 1638 Marie de Medicis, the mother of Henrietta Maria,
arrived in England, and took up her residence at St. James's.
In the train of the Queen was the historiographer of France, the
Sieur de la Serre, who describes the palace in very favourable
terms, as very ancient, very magnificent, and extremely con-
venient. The size of the building seems to have struck him
especially, for he says : — " To express the great number of
chambers, all covered with tapestry, and superbly garnished
with all sorts of furniture, where the Court was to be lodged,
without reckoning the other apartments which were reserved,
and of which M. le Vise, de Fabroni had one of the principal,
would be impossible. You shall only know that the Sieur
Labat, who continued to execute the office of quartermaster,
had liberty to mark with his chalk fifty separate chambers

'- Domestic Series, 1623-25, p. 30.

13 Harl. MS. 383 (Ellis's Orginal Letters, 1825, vol. iii. p. 247.)

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 291

of entire apartments, and the whole were furnished by the
particular commands of the Queen of Great Britain, who
seemed to convert all her ordinary diversions into continual
cares and attention to give all sorts of satisfaction to the
Queen her mother ; and this vast expense on so great a
quantity of rich furniture, shewed anew the riches and power
of a great monarch, since in only one of his pleasure houses
there was sufficient room to lodge commodiously the greatest
queen in the whole world, with her whole court." 14 The
Queen's visit was a grand and stately affair, for she was
visited by the ambassadors and waited upon by deputations,
but only three years later she came to St. James's under very
different circumstances : her son and Richelieu had banished
her from France, and she took refuge in her daughter's
country. The people, however, were not now pleased to see
her, and threatened the palace of St. James's, where the
Pope's agent, Rosetti, was sheltered by the Queen. The
Commons petitioned for her removal out of the kingdom,
and voted 10,000/. for that purpose, to which the King is said
to have added another 10,000/. Hereupon the Earl of
Arundel was ordered to attend her to Cologne. Lilly, the
astrologer, says, " I beheld the old queen-mother of France
departing from London ; sad spectacle of mortality it was,
and produced tears from my eyes, and from many other
beholders, to see an aged, lean, decrepit, poor Queen, ready
for her grave, necessitated to depart hence, having no place
of residence in the world left her, but where the courtesy of
her hard fortune had assigned it. She had been the only
stately and magnificent woman of Europe ; wife to the
greatest king that ever lived in France ; mother unto one
king and unto two queens." 13 Troubles were fast rising to
swallow up Charles and his family, so that he had no power to
help his mother-in-law, who died of want at Cologne in 1642.
In 1643 Mary, Countess of Dorset, took charge of the
younger children of Charles I. at St. James's, where they

11 Pvne's Royal Residences, vol. iii. p. 12.
15 Lilly's Life and Death of Charles I.

292 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

remained for three years. In 1646 the Princess Elizabeth
and Prince Henry were under the care of Algernon, Earl of
Northumberland, who procured the care of them for his sister,
the Countess of Leicester, when they were removed to
Penshurst. On April 20, 1648, the Duke of York escaped
from St. James's in female dress, and was conveyed by Sir
John Denham to his mother and the Prince of Wales in
France. In the following January the King was brought
a prisoner from Windsor to this palace, and here spent the
last days of his life. All regal ceremony was now abolished,
and the King's attendants were all soldiers, who treated him
with great brutality. On the day before his execution he
took an affectionate leave of his younger children, and on the
memorable morning he walked across the Park to the scaffold
at Whitehall. On the first of February his body was removed
to St. James's, where it was embalmed and laid in a coffin,
to be seen of the people. Henry Rich, Earl of Holland, the
Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Norwich, Lord Goring, Lord
Capel, and Sir John Owen were also prisoners at St. James's,
and were executed soon after their king. Owen thanked the
court for sentencing him to be beheaded with such noble lords,
and told them he feared they would have hanged him.

After the death of Charles, the greater part of his private
property was sold for the benefit of the State. This included
one of the finest collection of art-treasures ever brought
together. La Serre describes the garden of St. James's as
" bounded on one side by a long covered gallery, grated in
the front, where one may see the rarest wonders of Italy, in
a great number of stone and bronze statues ; and as the king
to whom they belong never finds any of these works too dear,
although, by being unequalled, they are inestimable, they are
brought to London from all parts of the world as to a fair,
where there is always a successful sale." 16 Peacham says,
" The King caused a whole army of the old foreign emperors,
captains, and senators, all at once to land on his coasts, to

16 Pyxe's Royal Residences, vol. iii. p. 13.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 293

do him homage in his palaces of St. James's and Somerset
House." Charles employed Panzani, who was recommended
to him by Cardinal Barbarini, as his agent to procure the
finest pictures, statues, and works of art to be found in Italy,
and the Cardinal gave all his assistance, hoping thereby to
gain the King over to the Roman Catholic Church. In a
letter to Mazarin he thus expresses his feelings on the
subject: — "The statues go on excellently, nor shall I hesi-
tate to rob Rome of her most valuable ornaments, if, in
exchange, we might be so happy as to have the King of
England among those princes who submit to the Apostolic
See." »

The nucleus of the King's collection consisted of the
pictures and statues bequeathed to him by his brother Henry,
and it was rapidly increased by large purchases and gifts.
The pictures sold from St. James's must have been very fine,
for, even under the peculiar circumstances of their sale, they
fetched 12,049/. 4 s - The collection consisted of works by Raf-
faelle, Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, Correggio, Giulio Romano,
Tintoretto, Guido, Holbein, Albert Durer, &c.

General Monk took up his quarters at " St. James's
House " while his plans for the Restoration were still unde-
cided. On February 22, 1659-60, after the dissolution of the
Rump, Sir John Granville had a meeting with Monk, at nine
o'clock at night, when he brought a message from the King,
which at length settled the question of his return. Sir John
was afterwards created Earl of Bath, appointed Keeper of
St. James's Park, and given apartments in the Palace. After
the Restoration, the Duke of York took possession of St.
James's Palace, and it was supposed by some that he was
better housed than his brother at Whitehall. Here most of
his children were born — the Princess Mary in 1662, and the
Princess Anne in 1664. In November, 1667, James fell ill of
the small-pox, when St. James's was a sad house, and the
gallery doors were locked up. On the 31st of March, 1671,
Anne, Duchess of York, the daughter of Clarendon, died in
17 Pyne's Royal Residences, p. 16.

294 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the Palace. The Princess Mary was married to the Prince of
Orange in November, 1677, at eleven o'clock at night, in the
Chapel Royal ; and on July 28, 1683, the Princess Anne was
married in the same place to Prince George of Denmark, when
they took up their residence at St. James's.

James II. lodged here on the night before his coronation,
viz., the 22nd of April, 1685, and passed through the Park to
Whitehall on the morning of the twenty-third.

Several persons had apartments in the palace during
Charles II.'s reign, besides the Duke of York, and among them
were Lord Brouncker, the mathematician and first president of
the Royal Society, who lived in the Engine Court, and Purcell,
the great English composer, who lived in a suite of apartments to
which access was obtained by a winding staircase in the clock-
tower. Dryden frequently visited the latter, and sometimes
made use of his rooms as a sanctuary when he was in debt.
He could walk in the palace gardens and under the shadow of
the limes in the Mall with safety ; so that he was glad to
avail himself of the security of his friend's residence, and he
often stayed there for weeks together.

During Charles's reign a daily dinner was prepared for the
chaplains at the palace. The King one day notified his in-
tention of dining with them, and Dr. South by his ready wit
preserved the dinners from being abolished. It was his turn
to say grace, and instead of the regular formula, which was,
" God save the King and bless the dinner," he said, " God
bless the King and save the dinner." Charles at once cried
out, "And it shall be saved."

When James II. succeeded to the crown he went to live at
Whitehall Palace, but he frequently stayed at St. James's.
In December, 1685, the Court was held here, on account of the
building going on on the garden side of Whitehall. In April
of the following year it was removed back again to Whitehall.
On June 9, 1688, the Queen was taken to St. James's, and on
the following day James Francis Edward, afterwards known
as the Pretender, was born in the Old Bedchamber. The
room was situated at the east end of the south front, and the

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 295

peculiarity of its formation gave rise to unfounded reports
that the Prince was not really the son of the King and Queen.
Bishop Burnet appears to have firmly believed in the " warm-
ing-pan plot." The room had three doors, one leading to a
private staircase at the head of the bed, and two windows
opposite the bed ; it was pulled down previous to the altera-
tions made in the year 1822.

When William III. arrived in London in 1688, his father-
in-law offered him St. James's Palace, which he accepted,
hinting, however, at the same time, that James himself could
not leave the neighbouring palace of Whitehall too quickly.
On the 2 1st of December the peers assembled at St. James's
to thank the Prince for his conduct, and on the 26th William
summoned the Commons who had sat in Charles II. 's time to
meet him here. William and Mary only occasionally stayed
here ; and in 1690 Prince George and the Princess Anne took
up their residence in the Palace, which was afterwards (in 1696)
given to the Princess. On April 23, 1702, the coronation day
of Queen Anne, she left St. James's in the morning, and
returned to it after dining in Westminster Hall. The standards
taken at the battle of Blenheim were brought from the Tower
on January 3, 1705, and carried through the Strand and Pall
Mall to the gate of St. James's Palace ; from whence they were
taken through the Park to Westminster Hall, where they were
deposited as trophies.

" How with bloody French rags he has litterd poor Westminster Hall,
O slovenly John Duke of Marlborough."

On November 5, 17 12, the Queen's guards made a bon-
fire at the grand gate and there burnt the Pretender in effigy.
Queen Anne frequently held her court in this palace, especially
after the death of her husband, when Kensington Palace
became very distasteful to her. On the 1st of August, 17 14,
died the poor Queen, who, though happy in having a husband
she loved, experienced more trouble in the married state
than falls to the lot of most women. She is said to have had
seventeen or nineteen children, but Sandford only registers

296 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

twelve. Of these, four were miscarriages, four still-born, three
died soon after birth, and one only lived to die at the age
of eleven. That was the Duke of Gloucester. On the
Queen's death the Lords of the Privy Council met at St.
James's, when they proclaimed the Elector George, King of
Great Britain.

The celebrated wit, Dr. Arbuthnot, was appointed physician
in ordinary to the Queen in 1709, and occupied apartments
in the Palace ; but on her death he was obliged to quit them.
Bishop Burnet also lodged here.

From the time that Whitehall was burnt until 1761, when
Buckingham House was purchased for Queen Charlotte, St.
James's Palace was the only London residence of the Kings
of England, who were probably the most shabbily housed of
any of the monarchs of Europe.

" Her poor to palaces Britannia brings,
St. James's Hospital may serve for kings." IB

A French writer, remarking on the Mews at Charing Cross,
observes that " the royal stables have the air of a palace, and
the royal palace has the air of a stable." The title of " Court
of St. James's " carried a weight that its external appearance
certainly did not warrant ; but Pennant says of it, that " un-
creditable as the outside may look, it is said to be the most
commodious for regal parade of any in Europe." 19 When the
dissolute Christian VII., King of Denmark, came to England
to marry the unfortunate Caroline Matilda, youngest sister of
George III., he was lodged in apartments in the stable-yard.
His favourite, Count Holcke, whom Walpole calls a " complete
jackanapes," exclaimed, on seeing the exterior, " This will
never do, — it is not fit to lodge a Christian" but the interior
satisfied him better. George III. was not pleased with the
King's visit, but the populace went mad with enthusiasm for
him.

18 Bramston'S Man of Taste (Dodsley's Collection of Poems, vol. i.
p. 290I.

19 Pennant's London, 1790. p. 109.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 297

It was thought that Whitehall would have been rebuilt
after the fire, but years passed without anything being done,
and at last the idea was entirely given up.

On September 18th, 17 14, George I. and his son, the
Prince of Wales, landed at Greenwich, and on the 20th made
a public entry through the City of London to St. James's,
attended by above two hundred coaches. The King and his
mistresses took up their residence at the palace, as did the
Prince and Princess of Wales, who, however, were not long to
stay there. On November 2nd, 17 17, George William, the
second son of the Prince, was born at St. James's, and on the
28th the child was baptized ; this was the occasion of a complete
rupture between the King and his son. The Prince wished his
uncle, the Bishop of Osnaburg and Duke of York, to stand
godfather, but the King wished the Duke of Newcastle to
stand with him. This irritated the Prince, who disliked the
Duke, and he so far forgot himself, as to threaten him in the
presence of the King, who ordered his son to leave the palace.
On the 24th of December, the Gazette notified that the King
would not receive at his Court any one who should visit the
Prince of Wales. A reconciliation, however, was patched up
in the year 1720.

In 1725 the country was menaced with invasion by the
Pretender, and the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Common
Council presented a loyal address to the King, which so
pleased him, that he asked them all to come and dine with
him at St. James's Palace. The Ministers of State and others
of the nobility were asked to meet them, so that great honour
was done on this occasion to the city magnates.

The three mistresses of George I., the Duchess of Kendal,
the Countess of Darlington, and Miss Anne Brett, daughter of
the Countess of Macclesfield, all had apartments in the Palace.
There is a story told that illustrates the imperious airs of the
last of these three women. When the King had gone on his
last journey to Hanover, Miss Brett ordered a door to be
broken through the wall of her apartments into the garden
where the young princesses were in the habit of walking.

298 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

The Princess Anne ordered the door to be bricked up, and
the mistress again ordered it to be re-opened ; but her triumph
was of short duration, for as the King never returned, she was
forced to leave the Palace altogether. In George II.'s reign
Mrs. Howard occupied the Duchess of Kendal's rooms.

On December 3rd, 1728, Frederick, Prince of Wales, then
one-and-twenty years of age, arrived in England for the first
time, and came to the Palace.

In February, 173 1, a printing-press was set up in the Palace,
and several of the princes learnt the art of printing under the
direction of Samuel Palmer, the author of a history of the art.

In 1732, the Duke of Cumberland, who was then in his
twelfth year, displayed his military taste by raising a company
of soldiers, formed from among the sons of the courtiers ; of
this company the Duke was the corporal, and his brother the
Prince of Wales presented him with a pair of handsome
drums. These young soldiers were called " the Duke's Lilli-
putian Regiment," and were regularly exercised every morning
in the garden of St. James's. On the 27th of April the
regiment had a good opportunity of exhibiting itself, for on
that night, Dryden's play, The Indian Emperor, was performed
in the grand ball-room by some of the young nobility of both
sexes, when the Duke relieved and posted his men on duty at
the end of every act. Hogarth painted a picture of the scene.

Mr. Pointz, the tutor to this young prince, had rooms over
the gateway of the Palace, and they were once the stage on
which was acted a very striking scene. The great Earl of
Peterborough, feeling that death was coming on him, deter-
mined to perform a tardy act of justice in acknowledging his
marriage with the singer, Anastasia Robinson.

" O soothe me with some soft Italian air,
Let harmony compose my tortur'd ear !
When Anastatia's voice commands the strain,
The melting warble thrills through ev'ry vein ;
Thought stands suspense, and silence pleas'd attends,
While in her notes the heav'nly choir descends." 20

Gay's Epistle to Wm. Pultcncy.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 299

In 1732 he fixed a day for all his nearest relations to meet
him in the rooms of Mr. Pointz, who had married his niece,
and when all had assembled he described in glowing terms
the woman to whom he owed the best and happiest hours of
his life, and then led Anastasia forth and presented her as that
woman and his devoted wife. She was taken completely by
surprise, and the suddenness of the announcement caused her
to swoon.

In March, 1734, the Prince of Orange came over to
marry the Princess Royal, and on the 14th the nuptials were
celebrated in the Chapel Royal. On that occasion a wooden
gallery was erected in the Friary Court by the German Chapel,
which remained for some weeks, and annoyed the old Duchess
of Marlborough, who wondered " when her neighbour George
would take away his orange chest."

On April 27th, 1736, the Prince of Wales was married to
the Princess Augusta, of Saxe-Gotha, in the Chapel Royal,
and on July 31st of the following year, the Prince hurried his
wife from Hampton Court, where the Court were staying, to
St. James's at eight o'clock in the evening, and at eleven
o'clock she was delivered of the Princess Augusta. The King
was very much incensed at his son's conduct, and ordered him
to leave the Palace whenever the Princess could be removed.
Their apartments were given to the Duke of Cumberland.
This Prince obtained the name of the " butcher," from his
supposed cruelty at the Battle of Culloden, but the charges
against him do not appear to have been well founded, and he
always had the character of a humane man among those who
knew him well. Henry Constantine, better known as " Dog,"
Jennings, says of him — " The Culloden Duke of Cumberland
was a great prig ; a martinet, very disagreeable and trouble-
some to the young officers of that day by his regulations, his
alterations and his frequent changes ; however, after the affair
of Closter Seven, when he had for the first time tasted of
adversity, he began to think for himself, and ever after con-
tinued a great man."

In November, 1737, Queen Caroline was taken ill at her

300 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Library in the Green Park, where she had breakfasted, and
within twelve days she died at St. James's Palace. The King
was greatly afflicted at the death of his wife, and sought con-
solation in the card-parties of his mistress the Countess of
Yarmouth, who had apartments on the ground floor.

George III. removed to St. James's on his accession to the
throne in October, 1760, and in September, 1761, he was
married to the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz, in
the Chapel Royal. In the same month they were crowned at
Westminster Abbey, on which occasion the King and Queen
went from St. James's in sedan chairs, the company following
in coaches. On the Princess's arrival in London, when she
first caught sight of the gloomy walls of this Palace, she
trembled slightly, and seeing the beautiful Duchess of Argyle
(Elizabeth Gunning) smile at her fears, she exclaimed, "You
may laugh, for you have been married twice, but to me it is
no joke." 21

From 1762 the King and his family lived almost entirely
at Buckingham House, and St. James's Palace was kept
specially for court purposes.

On the 2nd of August, 1786, as George III. was alighting
from his carriage at the garden door of the Palace opposite
Marlborough House, he was attacked by Peg Nicholson, who
attempted to stab him.

In October, 1793, the King ordered a room to be built in
the Engine Court for the officers of the Guards on duty, and
ordered a daily table of nine covers in the first course, and
nine covers in the second course, with dessert, wine, &c, at a
cost of 7,000/. per annum, to be provided out of the privy
purse.

In the riots of 1795, the mob broke up the King's state
carriage, in which he had come from the Houses of Parliament,
in Pall Mall, opposite the Palace.

In April of this year the Princess Caroline of Brunswick
arrived at the Palace, and on the 8th was married in the
Chapel Royal to the Prince of Wales. On the nth of
21 Jesse's George III, vol. i. p. 97.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 301

February, 1796, their child, the Princess Charlotte of Wales,
was christened in the drawing-room of St. James's Palace.

On the night of the 21st of January, 1809, there was a
large fire in the east wing of the Palace, when the King's and
Queen's private apartments, those of the Duke of Cambridge,
part of the Armoury and part of the Queen's Chapel, were
destroyed.

The Duke of Cumberland's apartments which overlooked
Cleveland Row, on the 13th of May, 18 10, were the scene of
a murderous assault which created a great sensation at the
time. The Duke was awakened at dead of night by a sabre-
blow from an unknown hand, and when the servants went to
the room of Sellis, the Duke's valet, they found he had cut
his throat ; it was therefore supposed that he had attempted
to assassinate his master, but being frustrated had escaped to
his own room and made away with himself.

In 1814 the Prussian General Blucher lodged on the west
side of the Ambassadors' Court, and he was in the habit of
sitting at the window and bowing to the people as he con-
tentedly smoked his pipe. " People in England had a notion
that ' old Blucher,' as they called him, was a coarse, rough
old fellow ; but it was not so, and when receiving his friends
his manners were perfectly well-bred, with a pleasant mixture
of heartiness in them. He must have been a handsome man
when young, and had well-shaped aristocratic hands, and
small and delicately curled ears." 22

In 1822 some alterations were made in the Palace, and
the archway leading into the Ambassadors' Court was con-
structed. To do this the canteen which occupied the site had
to be cleared away. George IV. fitted up the state apart-
ments in an elegant manner in the year 1824.

The Chapel Royal is an oblong square building, with no archi-
tectural feature excepting the ornamental roof. It is said to
be the same chapel as that which belonged to the old hospital,
and from its connection with royalty it is exempt from all
episcopal jurisdiction. When the Court was kept at St. James's

22 Brownlow's Reminiscences of a Septuagenarian, p. 141-2.

302 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the chapel was, as might be expected, a fashionable resort, and
Lady Mary Montagu, writing to her daughter, the Countess
of Bath, says, " I confess I remember to have dressed for
St. James's Chapel with the same thoughts your daughters
will have for the opera." This kind of thing offended Bishop
Burnet, who complained to the Princess Anne of the ogling of
the ladies, and asked that the pews might be raised. The
Bishop's remonstrance gave rise to a ballad which commences
thus : —

" When Burnet perceived that the beautiful dames,
Who flock'd to the chapel of hilly St. James,
On their lovers the kindest of looks did bestow,
And smil'd not on him as he bellow'd below ;

To the princess he went,

With pious intent,
The dangerous ill in the church to prevent."

The sermons of the preachers in this chapel have not
always been free from flattery, and George III. issued an
order, soon after he came to the throne, prohibiting any of
his clergy, who should preach before him, from paying him
compliments in their discourses. He told Dr. Thomas Wilson,
who had spoken of him with fulsome adulation, that he came
to the chapel " to hear the praises of God and not his own."
This same Dr. Wilson afterwards became a Wilkesite, and
erected a marble statue of Mrs. Macaulay, the republican
historian, in his church at Walbrook, while she was still alive.

It is an ancient custom for an offering of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh to be made on the altar of the Chapel Royal,
on the feast of the Epiphany, or Twelfth-Day, in imitation of
the offerings of the Magi. Formerly the King, attended by
knights of the various orders, made the offerings in person,
but the ceremony is now performed by proxy. In the course
of the service, and after the Nicene Creed, the offerings, in
three bags, are presented by two gentlemen who represent
her Majesty, and received at the altar by the clergymen
officiating. 23

23 Archaologia, vol. v. p. 300.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 303

The German Chapel, situated in the Friary Court, and ad-
joining Marlborough House, is said to have been built by Inigo
Jones, for the use of Queen Henrietta Maria, and the Roman
Catholic service was performed in it for some years. It has
also been stated that the chapel was fitted up for the Queen
of Charles II., but this is very doubtful, as the description
given of the Queen's Chapel, in the Archduke Cosmo's travels,
appears to refer to the interior of the Palace, and not to so pro-
minent a building as the German Chapel. When the Roman
Catholic service was discontinued the chapel was occupied by
Dutch and French Protestant congregations ; but in 1781, the
German Lutheran Chapel, which had been founded in the
Palace some eighty years before by Queen Anne and Prince
George of Denmark, was transferred there. Queen Caroline
presented to the chapel an organ and altar picture by
Ramberg, of "Christ in Gethsemane." In 1 831, William IV.
gave a larger and better organ, and a picture by Bendixen,
of the " Widow's Mite." 2i

The Royal Library was founded by Henry VI II., and
added to by Elizabeth and James I. The latter transferred
the books from Whitehall to this Palace about the year 1608,
and appointed as keeper Patrick Young, who was, according
to Anthony Wood, the most eminent Grecian of his time.
John Leland and Roger Ascham had been former keepers.
Young classified the books and made a catalogue, by express
command of the King. He also frequently journeyed to the
Continent for the purpose of purchasing additions for the
Library. In 1649, Young was dismissed from his office by the
Parliament, and the Library would, most probably, have shared
the fate of the King's picture-gallery, and been sold, had not
Selden induced his friend Wnitelock to apply for the office of
keeper. The Library was thus saved, though many of the books
appear to have been stolen. The Parliament voted " that the
Lord Whitelock be desired and authorized to take upon him-
self the care and custody of the library at St. James's House,

24 J. S. Burn's History of Foreign Protestant Refugees in England,
1846, p. 235.

304 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

and of all the books, manuscripts, and medals that are in and
belong to the said library, that the same may be safely kept
and preserved ; and to recover all such as have been embezzled
or taken out of the same." 25 At the Restoration the missing
books were sought after and collected together, and among
the state papers are " Memoranda relative to the library at
St. James's ; the great value of its former contents, especially
in medals and MSS., the importance of recovery of those
now missing, of making perfect catalogues of the contents,
and not dismissing the present librarian, who alone knows
what is missing, till he has given an account thereof." 26 This
librarian was Thomas Ross, who petitioned the King in
1661 " for a present supply," complaining " that ever since his
Majesty's arrival [he] has been at the expense of recovering
many of his books and transporting them to St. James's
library, besides those which he purchased at Isleworth of
Mrs. Morice, and he and three others at his charges have been
two months employed to take a catalogue of them, but he has
received no supply nor subsistence." 27 In 1665, Peter de
Cardonnel petitioned " for a reversion of Sir Patrick Young's
place in St. James's library, having been too late to obtain
the place, which would have given him subsistence and
employment suitable to his genius, and for an annuity mean-
while ; [and for having] spent 20,000/. still unpaid in the late
King's service." 28 Henry Justel was made keeper of the
King's Library about 1681, with a salary of 200/. per annum.
He held the office till his death in 1693, when he was suc-
ceeded by the great scholar, Richard Bentley, who was
dragged into a controversy about the genuineness of the
Epistles of PJialaris with the Hon. Charles Boyle, a puppet
worked by the Christ Church wits, or, as Swift more delicately
puts it, — " clad in a suit of armour which had been given him
by all the gods." Boyle attacked Bentley in a very ungentle-

21 Pyne's History of the Royal Residences, vol. iii. p. 18.

' 2B Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1660-61, p. 460.

27 Ibid., p. 62.

28 Ibid., 1665-66, p. 144.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE. 305

manly manner for his conduct with regard to the loan of one
of the King's MSS. of Phalaris, which conduct was satis-
factorily explained by Bentley. Swift rushed into the quarrel
and wrote his celebrated Battle of the Books, which is
entitled A Full and True Account of the Battle of the Books
fought last Friday between the ancient and modern Books in
St. James's Library. These attacks upon our greatest critic
stung him up to write his memorable Dissertation and
Narrative.

The Library was presented to the British Museum by
George II. in 1757.

The Stable-yard was originally occupied by the stables of
the Palace, on the confines of which and at the edge of the
Green Park was a small house called the Queen's Library.
This was commenced by Queen Caroline, and finished in
October, 1737. It was designed and decorated by Kent, and
was occasionally used by the Royal family, but at the
beginning of the present century it was used as a lumber-
room. In October, 18 15, the Duke of York's library was
moved here from the Horse Guards. About this time, on its
site, and also on the site of a house the last London residence
of Charles James Fox, to which his body was brought from
Chiswick previous to his burial in Westminster Abbey — was
built York House. The Duke of York did not live to inhabit
his mansion, and at his death, the lease and premises were
purchased by Government for 81,913/., the price at which it
had been valued by two referees. In 1827 the Royal Society
were informed that the Government contemplated appro-
priating a portion of the house to the use of the society.
The Council, who were much pressed for room at Somerset
House, accepted the offer; but a change was made, and the
house was sold in December for 72,000/. to the Marquess of
Stafford, who finished it after designs by Benjamin Wyatt.
The building, now called Stafford, or Sutherland House, pre-
sents a noble appearance from its position and general good
proportions, but it makes but a poor figure as a work of art
by the side of its beautiful neighbour, Bridgewater House.

306

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

The interior, however, is considered by many to be one of the
finest in London.

Opposite the east side of Stafford House is Clarence
House, built for William IV. when Duke of Clarence. Here
lived the Duchess of Kent.

From St. James's we cross the Park to Buckingham Palace,
the modern residence of Royalty. The site was formerly
occupied by Goring House, and by the once famous Mulberry
Gardens. These latter were planted in the year 1608, for the
culture of silkworms, in order to carry out a scheme entertained
by James I. of encouraging the manufacture of English silks.
In July, 1628, a grant was made to Walter, Lord Aston, of the

Buckingham House in 17-id.

custody of "his Majesty's Mulberry Garden at St. James's,
and of the silkworms and houses thereunto appertaining,
with the yearly fee of 60/. during his life and that of his son
and heir apparent, on surrender of Jasper Stallenge." 29 The
Gardens, so far as their original object was concerned, soon
proved a failure, and they were turned into a public place of
entertainment, which was famous for several years. Evelyn
went there on the 10th of May, 1654, and thus notices the
visit in his diary : — " My Lady Gerrard treated us at Mulberry
59 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1628-29, p. 192.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 307

Garden, now the only place of refreshment about the town for
persons of the best quality to be exceedingly cheated at ;
Cromwell and his partisans having shut up and seized on
Spring Garden, which till now had been the usual rendezvous
for the ladies and Gallants at this season." After the Restora-
tion the gardens became very popular, and they are constantly
referred to in the plays and novels of the time. One of the
scenes in Wycherley's Love in a Wood, or St. James s Park,
is laid in " the dining-room in Mulberry Garden House ; " and
when Mrs. Pinchwife, in his Country Wife, asks her sister-in-
law, " Where are the best fields and woods to walk in in
London ? " Alithea answers her, " Why, sister, the Mulberry
Garden and St. James's Park ! " Sir Charles Sedley called
one of his comedies The Mulberry Garden, in the first scene
of the fourth act of which, two of the female characters hide
themselves in one of the arbours, where they overhear their
lovers talking about them in a manner that considerably hurts
their pride. Pepys does not appear, from the following
passage in his diary, to have held the place in much estima-
tion : — " To the Mulberry Garden, where I never was before ;
and find it a very silly place, worse than Spring Garden, and
but little company, only a wilderness here, that is somewhat
pretty." 30 Dryden was a frequent visitor, and Malone quotes
one who says, " I have ate tarts with him and Madam Reeve
at the Mulberry Garden." 31 His companion was Mrs. Anne
Reeve, the original performer of Amaryllis in the Rehearsal.
Mathias refers to this incident when he writes : —

" Nor he, whose essence wit and taste approved,
Forget the mulberry tarts that Dryden loved." 32

George, Lord Goring, afterwards Earl of Norwich, purchased
the keepership of the Mulberry Garden from Lord Aston for
800/., and lived in Goring House, which adjoined the Garden,
about the year 1630. He left England during the Rebellion,

:t " PEPYS'S Diary, May 19, 1668.

M Dryden's Prose Workshy E. MALONE, 1800 [Life), vol. i. p. 400.

3 ' J Pursuits of Literature, pt. iv.

3o8 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

and his house was occupied in 1646 by the Speaker of the
House of Commons. When he returned at the Restoration
he again inhabited Goring House, but lived only a short time
in it, for he died in 1662 ; and his son sold it to Henry Bennet,
afterwards Earl of Arlington. This was the statesman who is
so well known to us by the portrait representing him with a
plaster covering a wound across the nose, which he had
received when he joined the King's army at Oxford in 1644.
He was often made a joke of by Buckingham and the courtiers
on account of his slow formal manner. Evelyn visited Goring
House in March, 1665, and describes it as " ill-built, but . . .
capable of being made a pretty villa." Pepys waited on Lord
Arlington here in July, 1666. In 1672, on the death of the
second Earl of Norwich, of the Goring family, the Mulberry
Garden, which adjoined Goring House, was granted by
Charles II. to the Earl of Arlington. In September, 1674, the
house was burnt down, and Evelyn thus refers to the accident :
" I went to see the great loss that Lord Arlington had sustained
by fire at Goring House, this night consumed to the ground,
with exceeding loss of hangings, plate, rare pictures, and
cabinets ; hardly anything was saved of the best and most
princely furniture that any subject had in England. My Lord
and Lady were both absent at the Bath." ^ The Earl rebuilt
his house and called it Arlington House. Charles Dryden, the
son of " Glorious John," wrote a Latin poem on the beauties of
the new house and gardens, which was translated by Samuel
Boyse. 34

The charming situation is praised, for

" No rattling wheel disturbs the peaceful ground,
Or wounds the ear with any jarring sound."

The Green-house is thus described, —

" High in the midst appears a rising ground,
With greens and ballustrades inclos'd around ;
Here a new wonder stops the wandering sight,

33 John Evelyn's Diary, Sept. 21, 1674..

34 Xichols"s Select Collection of Poems, 1780, vol. ii. pp. 156-16S.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 309

A dome whose walls and roof transmit the light;
Here foreign plants and trees exotic thrive,
And in the cold unfriendly climate live."

The house also comes in for its share of praise, —

" And that fair fabrick which our wondering eyes
So lately saw from humble ruins rise,
And mock the rage of the devouring flame !
A noble structure and a fairer frame !
Whose beauties long shall charm succeeding days,
And tell posterity the founder's praise."

The Earl's only child, Lady Isabella Bennet, married
Henry Fitzroy, first Duke of Grafton, and the natural son of
Charles II., much against the wish of his mother, the Duchess
of Cleveland. There is a letter extant from the latter to
Danby, dated from Paris, 1675, in which she thanks the Lord
Treasurer for his endeavours to prevent the match. The
Duke and Duchess lived with the Earl of Arlington, at this
house, where the second Duke of Grafton was born. Lord
Arlington figures in the second part of Absalom and AdiitopJiel
as Eliab, and his son-in-law is named Othriel —

" Eliab our next labour does invite,
And hard the task to do Eliab right.
Long with the royal wanderer he roved,
And firm in all the turns of fortune proved.
Such ancient service and desert so large,
Well claimed the royal household for his charge.
His age with only one mild heiress blessed,
In all the bloom of smiling nature dressed ;
And blessed again, to see his flower allied
To David's stock, and made young Othriel's bride."

On the death of Arlington, in 1685, the house descended
to the Duchess, who let it to the first Duke of Devonshire.
In Gibson's account of London Gardens, written in 1691, and
published in the Arcliceologia for 1796, 35 it is described as
being in the possession of the Duke. " Arlington Garden,
being now in the hands of my lord of Devonshire, is a fair
plat, with good walks, both airy and shady. There are six of

a5 Vol. xii. pp. 181-192.

310 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the greatest earthen pots that are anywhere else, being at
least two feet over within the edge, but they stand abroad,
and have nothing in them, but the tree holly-oke, an indifferent
plant which grows well enough in the ground. Their green-
house is very well and their greenyard excels, but their greens
were not so bright and clean as farther off in the country, as
if they suffered something from the smutty air of the town."
The Duchess of Grafton sold the house, in 1698, to John
Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave and Marquis of Normanby, who
was afterwards created Duke of the county of Buckingham —

" Sharp-judging Adriel the muses' friend,
Himself a muse in Sanhedrim's debate,
True to his prince, but not a slave of state,
Whom David's love with honours did adorn,
That from his disobedient son were torn.''

The last two lines refer to Charles having conferred the
government of Hull and lieutenancy of Yorkshire upon
Mulgrave, when he took them from his son, the Duke of
Monmouth.

The Duke of Buckingham was not satisfied with the old
house, and he therefore, in 1703, rebuilt it after the designs of
Colen Campbell, 36 and gave it the name of Buckingham
House : —

" A princely palace on that space does rise,
Where Sedley's noble muse found mulberries.''

Pope, in a letter to the Duke, styles the mansion " a
country house in the summer, and a town house in the winter."
The same idea seems to have struck the noble owner, for on
the garden front, under figures of the four seasons, were the
words Rus in Urbe in golden characters.

The house was a good specimen of a handsome English
mansion, and it is much praised by Ralph, who observes that
it " attracts more eyes, and has more admirers than almost
any other about town." The front towards the Mall was

3 * Cunningham says " Captain Wynde or Wynne, a native of Bergen-
op-Zoom.''

BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 311

surmounted by four figures of Mercury, Secrecy, Equity, and
Liberty, beneath which were the words, Sic Siti Letantur
Lares, in golden letters. Two wings were connected with the
house by colonnades, and a fountain played in the court-yard,
which was separated from the Park by a handsome railing
and gate. The Duke gives a very elaborate description of his
new house, in a letter to his friend the Duke of Shrewsbury,
and the account of terraces and galleries, and of country views,
is very agreeable. On one side " a wall, covered with roses
and jassemine, is low to admit the view of a meadow full of
cattle just under it," and beneath the window of the owner's
private closet, " is a wilderness full of blackbirds and nightin-
gales." But the Duke is obliged to conclude his glowing
account with the humiliating remark : " I am oftener missing
a pretty gallery in the old house I pulled down, than pleased
with a salon which I built in its stead tho' a thousand times
better in all manner of respects." 37 The Duke of Buckingham
was a frequenter of Mary-le-bone House, a gaming-place,
where most of the London sharpers assembled, and which
stood on the site of the present Regent's Park. The Duke gave
a dinner to these "gentry" at the conclusion of each season,
and proposed as a parting toast : — " May as many of us
as remain unhanged next spring meet here again." Bucking-
ham is alluded to in the line —

" Some Dukes at Marybone bowl time away."

Marylebone Garden is represented as the scene of one of th
debauches of Macheath in the Beggar s Opera.

The Duke of Buckingham died at Buckingham House in
1720-21, at the age of seventy-five. His third wife and widow,
Catherine, the natural daughter of James II. and Catherine
Sedley, and granddaughter of Sir Charles Sedley, who wrote
the Mulberry Garden, lived on in the house for some years
after his death. She was a very arrogant woman, and gave
herself airs as if she was of the blood royal. On the anni-
versary of her grandfather, Charles I.'s martyrdom, she sat,

37 Buckingham's Works, ed. 1753, vol. ii. pp. 218-226.

312 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

dressed in deep mourning, in the great drawing-room, in a
chair of state, attended by her women. She was considered
for a time as the head of the Jacobites, and laboured for the
return of her brother the Pretender.

" And first old haughty Buckingham he tried,
To all her weaknesses his arts applied,
Flatter'd her vanity, and swell'd her pride ;
Took care no loyal words should e'er offend her,
And pity'd the unfortunate Pretender." 3S

There is reason to believe that she had no cause for her
pride, because her mother, the Countess of Dorchester, told
her that she was the daughter, not of James II., but of
Colonel Graham, a fashionable man of his day. There can
now be but little doubt that Pope's celebrated character of
Atossa {Moral Essays, Ep. II.) was intended for this Duchess,
and not, as was long supposed, for the old Duchess of Marl-
borough. 39

" Scarce once herself, by turns all womankind !
Who, with herself or others, from her birth
Finds all her life one warfare upon earth :
Shines in exposing knaves, and painting fools,
Yet is whate'er she hates and ridicules."

The Duchess was friendly with Pope, who assisted her in
many ways, among others in the production of her husband's
works, but she quarrelled with him about the year 1729. The
poet tried to make up the quarrel, and wrote an epitaph on
the young Duke, but the Duchess was inexorable, and would
not allow the epitaph to be inscribed on the tomb.

" Offend her, and she knows not to forgive,
Oblige her, and she'll hate you while you live."

The Prince and Princess of Wales wished to purchase
the house in 1723, but the Duchess required 60,000/., which
was more than they cared to give, and she continued to live
in it. John, Lord Hervey, in a letter to Lady Mary Wortley

iS 1743, Sir C. Hanbury Williams's Works, 1S22, vol. i. p. 50.
ai See Athencrum, No. 1710, Aug. 4, i860.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 313

Montagu, dated April 15, 1743, says that the Duchess of
Buckingham " has left me Buckingham House, with all the
furniture and all the plate, for my life ; but I am so well
lodged where I am, that I have no thought of removing."
Lord Hervey died in the following August, so that the house
could never have belonged to him, but came into the pos-
session of Sir Charles Herbert Sheffield, the Duke's natural
son. In 1 76 1, Buckingham House was bought from Sir
Charles for 21,000/., as a residence for George III, and Queen
Charlotte ; and in May of the following year they took up
their residence there. In June, 1763, the Queen persuaded
the King to stay for a few days at St. James's, and when he
came back on the night of his birthday (June 6) she led him
to a window, and the shutters being thrown back, a brilliant
illumination in the grounds was exhibited, which had been
contrived by the Queen. There was a temple and a bridge,
with transparencies, and fifty musicians in an orchestra.

About this time the gardens were greatly enlarged by the
addition of a part of the Green Park, and alterations were
made in their arrangement by ' Capability ' Brown.

In the last century there was a scientific warfare on the
subject of lightning conductors. A committee of the Royal
Society, on which were Henry Cavendish and Benjamin
Franklin, recommended the adoption of pointed conductors,
and they were set up at the powder magazine at Purfleet and
at the Queen's house. Benjamin Wilson, the only dissenting
member of the committee, however, was in favour of blunt
conductors, and in 1777 he had influence enough to get the
pointed ones taken down from Buckingham House, and blunt
ones put in their place.

" While you, great George, for safety hunt,
And sharp conductors change for blunt,

The empire's out of joint.
Franklin a wiser course pursues,
And all your thunder fearless views,
By keeping to the poi7it. " 10

40 Franklin's Works, by Sparks, 1844, vol. i. p. 342.

314 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

The King's magnificent library was formed in 1765, by
the purchase of Consul Smith's library at Venice, which con-
sisted of 63,000 volumes, for 130,000/. George III. greatly
added to this nucleus, but he directed his librarian never to
bid against a scholar or collector of moderate fortune. 41 The
library was much appreciated by Dr. Johnson, who often
visited it, and assisted in its formation by the instructions
he gave to Mr. Barnard, the librarian. It was in this library
that the Doctor, in February, 1767, had the celebrated inter-
view with George III., of which he was so particularly proud.
He often gave his friends an account of the conversation that
took place, and of the attention paid to him by the King.
George III. took the greatest interest in his library, though it
was, perhaps, more as a bibliographer than as a student. Sir
Walter Scott tells us of his delight when he discovered, by
inspection, that he possessed an earlier copy of Caxton's
Troy Book than that belonging to the Duke of Roxburgh. '-
Not a day passed without his going into the binding-room,
and the interest he felt in the covers of his books is noted by
Dr. Wolcot :—

" No man binds books so well as George the Third :
By thirst of leather glory spurr'd
At bookbinders he oft is seen to laugh,
And wondrous is the King in sheep or calf.'' 43

Frederick Augusta Barnard, the King's librarian, was sup-
posed to be an illegitimate son of Frederick, Prince of Wales,
and therefore the King's brother."

The library was removed from Buckingham House to
Windsor Castle, in 1805, and on the death of the King, was
presented to the nation by George IV. It is now one of the
chief features in London's greatest glory, the British Museum.

In 1777, Garrick was desired to read a play at Bucking-
ham House, before the King and Queen, and he chose his own

41 Jesse's George III., vol. ii. p. 64.
4 '-' Scott's Misc. Prose Works, vol. iv. p. 325.
4:i Peter Pindar's Works, 1794, vol. ii. p. 79.
44 Ue Qutncev's Works, 1863, vol. xiv., p. 168-9.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 31 5

farce of Lctlic, in which he introduced the character of an
ungrateful Jew. He afterwards said he found the coldness of
the distinguished audience very depressing, for it was as if a
wet blanket had been thrown over him.

In 1775, Buckingham House was settled upon the Queen,
in lieu of Somerset House, and was usually called the Queen's
House. It was here she held her Drawing-Rooms, and the
King his Councils, and they lived quietly for many years in
this unostentatious house, where all their children, excepting
George IV., were born, and where several of them were
married. When the house came into the King's possession,
the colonnades connecting the wings with it were filled in with
brickwork, and windows pierced through ; but otherwise very
little alteration was made until George IV. thought he would
transform it into a palace. He knew that Parliament would
never grant money for an entirely new building, and therefore
alterations were commenced in 1825, by Nash. In 1827,
1828, and 1829, 334,481/. was paid for building, and then
160,000/. was still owing. This money was wasted upon
a building which was ugly in itself, but doubly ugly from
the shape of the old house having been followed in its re-
construction. Nash acknowledged that he did not expect the
dome, which was likened to an inverted slop-basin, 45 would
have been seen from the Park-side, and he also allowed that
he did not expect the wings to have looked so bad. When
the building was finished, the wings were altered and the
Marble Arch was added.

" These are the wings which by estimate round
Are said to have cost forty thousand pound,
And which not quite according with Royalty's taste,
Are doom'd to come down and be laid into waste."

One might have imagined that nothing could be uglier than

45 " This is the beautiful ball in the cup

Which the tasteful committee in wisdom set up
On the top of the palace that N[as]h built."
— The Palace that N[as]h Built, by I. Hume. i2ino. London [1829 ?].

316 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Nash's building, but Mr. Blore has succeeded in proving
that—

" The force of bad taste could still further go
In the new side which joins the other two."

It was in 1847 that the appearance of the palace was thus
completely changed by the erection of the present facade by
Mr. Blore, in front of, and connecting the two wings, by which
means an inner court-yard has been formed. These changes
necessitated the removal of the Marble Arch, which was re-
erected at Cumberland Gate, Hyde Park. In the Art
Journal for March, 1868, there is a very curious account of
what the Marble Arch was intended to be, and how wofully
its beauty has been destroyed. George IV. wished it to be a
monument to Nelson ; and in accordance with this wish
Flaxman designed for it colossal statues and bas-reliefs, all
of which were sculptured in marble at great expense. A
seated figure of Britannia, with spear and shield, on the latter
of which was a head of Nelson, was to be placed on the top
of the arch, and was to be supported by winged Victories and
colossal figures round. George IV. died ; Nash was removed
from his office ; and the marble statues were given away to
save the expense of stone figures being cut. Britannia, turned
into Minerva by chipping Nelson's head off her shield, was set
up over the keeper's entrance to the Royal Academy, at the
east end of the National Gallery. The Victories and three of
the Colossal figures were placed in niches under the portico.
The bas-reliefs were placed along the facade of the palace and
are now hidden by Blore's front. It is not known where the
other statues went to. The solid brass scroll-work, which was
intended to fill up the arch over the gate, remained in the
Government stores till it was quite black, and then no one
knowing what it was, was sold as old iron to some lucky
Jew.

During her Majesty's reign, many extensive alterations
have been made in Buckingham Palace ; but although large
sums have been spent upon it, its appearance is peculiarly

BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 317

mean and ugly, and it has become a laughing-stock to
foreigners, and a disgrace to the country.

Between Buckingham House and the houses in James
Street, Westminster, stood Tart Hall, which was built in the
year 1638, by Nicholas Stone, for Alathea, wife of Thomas,
twentieth Earl of Arundel, the collector of the Arundelian
Marbles. After her death it became the property of her
second son, Sir William Howard, afterwards Viscount Stafford,
who fell a victim to the vile Popish Plot, and was beheaded
in 1680. How this house obtained its odd name it is difficult
to tell, unless it had anything to do with the tarts sold at the
Mulberry Gardens close by ; the key to its origin seems lost
in the same way as the names of Piccadilly and Pimlico
remain an enigma to us. In Cox's Magna Britannia (1724)
it is called Stafford House. Stafford Row, which is now itself
swept away, was built on the site of the garden of the house.

3 i8 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY

CHAPTER XII.

PALL MALL.

" In town let me live, then, in town let me die ;
For in truth I can't relish the country, not I.
If one must have a villa in summer to dwell,
Oh, give me the sweet shady side of Pall Mall."

— Charles Morris.

St. James's Field adjoined the Park, and remained a large
open space until after the Restoration, when the present
street, Pall Mall, St. James's Square, and various other streets
were built upon it.

The place where the game of Pall Mall was played, and
from which the street takes its name, was formed about the
year 1630. It was situated on the site of the south side of
St. James's Square, and on either side of it was a row of elm-
trees, numbering altogether one hundred and forty, which are
valued at seventy pounds in the survey of the Commissioners
for the Crown Lands in 1650.

About 1630 one David Mallard, shoemaker to the King,
erected a dwelling-house on a piece of ground in St. James's
Field, which had been taken previously by a Frenchman
named John Bonnealle, " under pretence of making a Pall
Mall." Mallard, or Mallock, as he is also called, was ordered
to demolish it, and he undertook to do so by Candlemas Day,
1632. 1 In March of that year the King expressed his
pleasure that, the house being taken, the garden should be

1 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1631-33, p. 240.

PALL MALL.. 319

suffered to remain entire, " with the trees and pales about it,
to the benefit of the poor widow that possesses it." -

In September, 1635, a grant was made to Archibald
Lumsden "for sole furnishing of all the malls, bowls, scoops,
and other necessaries for the game of Pall Mall within his
grounds in St. James's Fields, and that such as resort there
shall pay him such sums of money as are according to the
ancient order of the game." 3

In 1660 Isabella, the daughter of this Lumsden, petitioned
for one of the tenements in St. James's Field, " as promised
to her father, who spent 425/. 14s. in keeping up the sport of
Pall Mall." Attached to the petition is an account of this
sum expended " for the late King in bowls, malls, and scopes,
1632 to 1635," 4 &c.

There had long been a highway between St. James's and
Charing Cross, with a few houses at its east end, but it was
not until the Restoration that a street was laid out. A grant
was made to Dan O'Neale, groom of the bedchamber, and
to John Denham, surveyor of the works, " of a piece of
ground 1,400 feet in length and twenty-three in breadth,
between St. James's Park and Pall Mall." This is endorsed,
" Our warrant for the building of the new street to St. James's." 5
This street was called Catherine Street in honour of the Queen,
Catherine of Braganza, but it was more generally known by the
name of Pall Mall Street, which it took from the avenue next
to it. About this time Charles laid out the Pall Mall in the
Park, and the street was very generally called the Old Pall Mall.

There were originally clusters of houses on the south side
of the road. The Rookery formed one of a group of small
monkish buildings, belonging to Westminster monastery,
which stood at the east end of Pall Mall, but were swept
away at the Reformation. There is a tradition that in one of
these places there was a forge erected for Henry VI., when
he attempted to fill his empty coffers by an unsuccessful

2 Calendar of Stale Papers, Domestic Series, 1631-33, p. 286.

3 Ibid. 1635, p. 404- 4 Ibid., 1660-61, p. 292. 5 Ibid., p. 203.

3 20 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

search for the philosopher's stone. In Henry VIII.'s reign
the celebrated Erasmus resided there by the King's favour.
At the other end of the road near the Palace was a collection
of low-roofed buildings, tenanted by the choristers of the
Chapel Royal. John Kingston, a disciple of Orlando
Gibbons, and the first master of Dr. Blow, lived in one of
these cottages. Musical entertainments were given in his
apartments by certain amateurs, and at these Oliver
Cromwell, to whom Kingston was organist, was frequently
a visitor. On one occasion Sir Roger L'Estrange happened
to be among the players, and as he did not at once depart
when Cromwell dropped in, the Cavaliers dubbed him,
" Oliver's fiddler." In a postscript to Dryden's Elegy on
Cromwell, reprinted by some wretched scribbler in order to
damage the great poet, are these lines : —

" A rogue like Hodge am I, the world well know it,
Hodge was his fiddler, and I, John, his poet.'' 6

In Absalom and AchitopJicl, part 2, Sir Roger, under the
name of Sheva, appears in more favourable colours : —

" Than Sheva none more loyal zeal have shown,
Wakeful as Judah's lion for the crown;
Who for that cause still combats in his age,
For which his youth with danger did engage."

Samuel Morland petitioned, in 1660, for the "restoration
of a house, garden, stables, &c, in Pall Mall, whereon he
spent 500/., and was forced on the coming in of the Rump to
part with it to Colonel Berry for less than 100/." 7

The road running from St. James's to Charing Cross was
very rural before the street was made and the houses built.
On its north side was an avenue of trees, forming the Pall
Mall, and on the south the low wall of the Park over which
stretched the branches of the large oak-trees ; but all this was
changed by the buildings after the Restoration.

6 Dryden's Works, ed. Scott, 1808, vol. ix. p. 5.

7 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1660-61, p. 293.

PALL MALL. 321

The new street 8 soon became a fashionable place, and
many of the courtiers and some of the King's mistresses took
up their residence in it. Nell Gwynn was one of the earliest
of these residents.

Dr. Sydenham, the eminent physician, occupied a house
in Pall Mall, from 1658 until his death in 1689. He held
three pieces of land here by lease, dated July 7th, 1664, from
the Earl of St. Alban's. Samuel Haworth, M.D., physician
to James II., when Duke of York, and noted in his day as an
attempter of consumption cures, had lodgings in Pall Mall,
in 1682. He advertised in the London Gazette, that he was
" every afternoon to be spoken with at his lodgings, in Pall
Mall, at Mr. Haselington's, next door to the Cabinet, near
the Haymarket." The great Barrow lived in this street
in 1 69 1, the year after he took his degree of Doctor of
Divinity, and the year before he was nominated to the
mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge. Robert Fielding,
the once celebrated beau, called by Charles II. handsome
Fielding, and in the Tatler entitled " Orlando the Fair,"
occupied lodgings in Pall Mall. His fortune being in a bad
state, he here married Mary Wadsworth, under the supposi-
tion that she was a rich widow, with a fortune of 20,000/.
After he found out that he had been duped, he married the
Duchess of Cleveland, but she soon grew tired of him, and
offered Mary Wadsworth 200/. down, and 100/. a year for
fifteen years, if she would prove the first marriage. He was
tried for bigamy and found guilty, but was pardoned by
Queen Anne. Mrs. Anne Oldfield, the eminent actress, was
born in Pall Mall, in the year 1683. When she died in 1730,
her body lay in state in the Jerusalem Chamber, and she
was buried with great pomp in Westminster Abbey.

In the year 1688, about the time of the Revolution, the
Earl of Peterborough saw a canary that piped twenty times,
at a coffee-house, in Pall Mall, and he tried to purchase it for

8 The name of Catherine Street never took root, and was at last given
up. In the Act for erecting the parish of St. James, 1685, it is described
as " Catherine Street alias Pall Mall Street."

322 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Lady Sandwich, but the owner was rich and she would not
part with it. The Earl was determined to have the bird, and
he succeeded in changing it for one marked just in the
same way. Some while after he called on the woman, and
said he supposed she was now sorry she had not accepted his
offer. " No, no," she replied, " if your lordship will believe
me (as I am a Christian, it is true), it has moped and moped,
and never once opened its pretty lips since the day that the
poor King went away." This story, with new names and
places, has lately appeared in a French newspaper.

Joseph Clark, the English posture-master, lived in Pall
Mall for some years. He was a well-made man, but had such
power over his body, that he was able to exhibit, in his person,
every species of deformity and dislocation. He puzzled all
the tailors of the town, and deceived the surgeons, who
thought his deformity was incurable. Mullens, the famous
surgeon of the day, was so shocked at his state, that he would
not even attempt a cure. A paper upon him was published in
the Philosophical Transactions of July, 1698. 9

Jean Baptiste Monnoyer, the eminent flower-painter, who
was brought to England by the Duke of Montagu, to em-
bellish Montagu House (now the British Museum), died in
Pall Mall, in 1699. Lord Bolingbroke took a house here in
1723, on his return from exile, when Pope, Gay, Arbuthnot,
and the other wits congregated round him. Mrs. Delany,
when Mrs. Pendarves, lived in Pall Mall, in 1729, and was
again lodging in the same street, in 1746-7. Beckett, the
bookseller, had his shop here, and Garrick was a constant
visitor to it. Mrs. Frances Abington, the comic actress, so
often painted by Reynolds, lived in Pall Mall during her latter
years, and Quin had lodgings on the second floor of one of
the houses, when he was engaged at Carlton House, in
teaching Prince George, afterwards George III., the art of
elocution.

Sir Richard Steele lodged for a short time at a perfumer's ;
and Sterne also lodged in Pall Mall when he visited London,
9 Vol. xx. p. 262.

PALL MALL. 323

until within a year or two of his death, when he changed his
residence to Bond Street. Fielding makes Tom Jones and
Nightingale come here, when compelled to leave Mrs. Miller's
lodgings in Bond Street.

Gibbon lived in Pall Mall for a short time, and the. great
Earl of Chatham dwelt in the street in 1770. Admiral Sir
Hugh Palliser lived here in 1779. He brought certain charges
against Admiral Keppel, the popular favourite, and in con-
sequence, was held up to public obloquy. Although suffering
from wounds received in the service of his country, his house
was attacked and destroyed by the mob, and his furniture
taken into the neighbouring square and burnt. Lord George
Sackville, the third son of the first Duke of Dorset, and father
of the fifth and last Duke, who changed his name to Germaine,
in 1770, lived in Pall Mall in 1780-81. He was disgraced for
his conduct after the battle of Minden, degraded from his
rank of General, and struck off the list of Privy Councillors.
In the following reign George III. took him into favour, made
him Secretary of State for the American colonies, and raised
him to the peerage as Viscount Sackville.

Defoe, writing in 1703, says, " I am lodged in the street
called Pall Mall, the ordinary residence of all strangers,
because of its vicinity to the Queen's Palace, the Park, the
Parliament House, the Theatres, and the Chocolate and
Coffee-houses, where the best company frequent." Soon after
this Gay described the street in glowing colours : —

" Oh, bear me to the paths of fair Pell Mell.
Safe are thy pavements, grateful is thy smell !
At distance rolls along the gilded coach,
Nor sturdy carmen on thy walks encroach.
No lets would bar thy ways were chairs deny'd,
The soft supports of laziness and pride ;
Shops breathe perfume, thro' sashes ribbons glow,
The mutual arms of ladies and the beau."

There is, however, another side to the picture, and the
author goes on —

324 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

" Yet still e'en here, when rains the passage hide,
Oft the loose stone spirts up a muddy tide
Beneath thy careless foot ; and from on high
Where masons mount the ladder, fragments fly :
Mortar and crumbled lime in show'rs descend,
And o'er thy head destructive tiles impend."

It was to remedy this state of things that a Committee of
the House of Commons was formed in 1757, consisting of
Lord Trenham, Sir Francis Dashwood, Bubb Dodington, and
General Oglethorpe. The following are their Resolutions : —
" Resolved — That it is the opinion of this Committee, that an
experiment be made by new paving, enlightening, cleansing,
and keeping in repair for the future, the street called Pall
Mall, with Purbeck pavement of seven inches deep, and flat
at bottom, by estimation 9,309 square yards ; and eighty
obelisks with lamps be erected for the better enlightening the
said street.

" Resolved — That it is the opinion of this Committee that
the inhabitants of Pall Mall be exempted from the charge of
paving, enlightening, cleansing and keeping in repair the said
street, before their respective houses ; and from the penalties
incurred by neglecting the same.

" Resolved — That it is the opinion of this Committee, that
for the future, the expense of paving, cleansing, enlightening,
and keeping in repair, the said street, be defrayed by a pound
rate upon the inhabitants of the said street only." 10

Dodington was the moving spirit on this Committee, and
the following passage is found in his Diary: 11 — "Saw several
of my neighbours about the pavement and sent them away
pretty well satisfied." A few years before this improvement,
in 1733, a curious instance of the manners of our forefathers
occurred here. Four women ran a race at three o'clock in the
afternoon, from one end of the street to the other.

In calling up the picture of Pall Mall in the olden time we
must not forget a very important feature displayed in its

10 Commons Journals, May 3, 1 751, vol. xxvi. p. 215.

11 Page 117 (1785).

PALL MALL. 325

stand for sedan chairs by Marlborough House. In September,
1634, Sir Sanders Duncombe procured a licence, allowing him
for fourteen years the sole privilege of using, putting forth,
and letting for hire " within the cities of London and West-
minster, and the suburbs and precincts thereof, certain
covered chairs, the like whereof being used in many parts
beyond the seas, for carrying of people in the streets, prevents
the unnecessary use of coaches in those places." The
preamble states that the streets of London were then so
encumbered and pestered with the unnecessary multitude of
coaches, that his Majesty's subjects were exposed to peril and
danger. 12 These convenient vehicles, after passing through a
short period of obloquy, continued for many years to be very
popular, and the favourite sign of " The Two Chairmen " still
lingers among the taverns in the west end.

On George III.'s birthday (June 4th, 1790), another novelty
was exhibited in this neighbourhood. Sixteen entirely new
mail-coaches, drawn by as many sets of blood-horses, paraded
from the manufactory at Mill Bank, along Pall Mall, before
the Palace, and up St. James's Street to the General Post
Office.

The first exhibition of Winsor's system of lighting the
streets with gas took place on the King's birthday, 1807, and
was made in a row of lamps in front of the colonnade before
Carlton House. The first public experiments on gas were
made at the Lyceum Theatre in 1803, and Finsbury Square
was the first public place in which the lighting was adopted ;
Grosvenor Square being the last. There was much opposition
to its general adoption, and in 1809, Sir Humphry Davy gave
it as his opinion that it would be as easy to bring down a bit
of the moon as to light London with gas.

" God of the winds and Ether's boundless waste,
Thee I invoke ! oh, puff my bold design ;
Prompt the bright thought and swell th' harmonious line ;

12 Thirtieth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, 1869,
p. 362.

326 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Uphold my pinions, and my verse inspire
With Winsor's patent gas, or wind of fire ;
In whose pure blaze thy embryo form enroll'd,
The dark enlightens and enchafes the cold." ' 3

The clubs of Pall Mall have always been celebrated,
although the old ones have only their name in common with
the luxurious houses that now form the chief feature of the
street. Pepys, in 1660 (July 26), tells us that he "went to
Wood's at the Pell Mell (our old house for clubbing), and
there we spent till ten at night."

The " Star and Garter " was a favourite place for clubs to
meet. Swift was a member of one there in 1712, and Selwyn,
Gilly Williams, and others of that set, were members of
another that met there in 1763. A club of Nottinghamshire
gentlemen dined there about 1765, when two of the members
quarrelled and fought a deadly duel. These members were
William, the fifth Lord Byron, and his friend and neighbour,
William Chaworth of Annesley, who had a frivolous dispute
relating to the protection of game, and being mad with drink,
fought in a room of the house by the light of a single candle.
Lord Byron killed Chaworth, and in consequence was tried by
his peers, and found guilty of manslaughter by a majority of 1 14
against 4. He was, however, discharged on claiming the benefit
of the statute of Edward VI., and lived afterwards in great
seclusion. The " Liberty," or " Rump-steak Club," which con-
sisted of five dukes, one marquis, fifteen earls, three viscounts
and three barons, all in opposition to Sir Robert Walpole, met
every Tuesday during the Parliamentary Session, at the " King's
Arms," which was situated on the north side, where the opera
colonnade now is. The " Kit-Cat Club " met at the same
place. The " World," a club of which Lord Chesterfield was
a member, met at the " King's Head," a tavern from which
Steele dates in 1709. About this same time "The George"
was a place of fashionable resort, and was frequented by
Addison ; Swift, Prior, and the other wits went to the
" Smyrna Coffee-house," which is referred to in the Tatlcr

13 Rejected Addresses, ed. 1839, p. 114.

PALL MALL. ZV

(No. 78) — " The seat of learning is now removed from the
corner of the chimney on the left hand towards the window to
the round table in the middle of the floor over against the fire ;
a revolution much lamented by the porters and chairmen who
were edified through a pane of glass that remained broken all
the last summer." " Giles's Coffee-house " was situated near the
Palace, and was in vogue at the beginning of the eighteenth
century. There are now only two public-houses in Pall Mall,
and *they will probably be improved away shortly ; but
formerly the street was plentifully supplied with taverns.
Among these were the "Hercules Pillars" in 1667, and the
"Tree" in 1700. In September of the latter year, the fol-
lowing advertisement appeared in the Tatlcr : — " Lost from
the 'Tree' in Pall Mall, two Irish Dogs, belonging to the pack
of London . . . supposed to be gone to the Bath by instinct
for cure."

The south side of Pall Mall has always been the best,
in consequence of the gardens of the houses leading down to
the royal garden. A portion of the Park was divided off to
form a garden to the Palace, which is thus described in the
.Act for erecting St. James's parish (1685; : — " And from thence
[St. James's Gate] to the said Pall Mall Street, comprehending
all the houses, buildings, and yards backwards to the wall
which incloses that part of St. James's Park which has been
lately made into a garden, extending to a house inhabited
by Anthony Verreo, painter, lately in the 'occupation of one
Leonard Girle, gardener." The painter greatly improved the
place and made it " a very delicious paradise." Evelyn has
drawn a picture in a few words of an incident in the life of
Charles II. that has perhaps taken a greater hold upon the
popular memory than any other of his habits. " I walked
with the King through St. James's Park to the garden, where
I both saw and heard a very familiar discourse between
Mrs. Nelly, as they call an impudent comedian, she looking
out of her garden on a terrace at the top of the wall." It
is frequently stated that the gardens of the Pall Mall houses
came down to the Park and that Charles stood in the Mall ;

328 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

but it will be seen from the above quotation that that is
not correct. When Carlton House became the property of the
Prince of Wales, this garden was added to his residence.

In making the tour of Pall Mall from west to east we come
first to Marlborough House, which was built by Sir Chris-
topher Wren on the site of the Old Friary and other buildings
which were pulled down in order to clear the ground. It was
said that the great Duke of Marlborough chose Wren as his
architect in order to spite Vanbrugh, who had annoyed him
by his manner of proceeding at Blenheim. The Queen gave
the land and cut off a portion of the royal garden, 14 but the
building cost the Duke between forty and fifty thousand
pounds. Pennant says that the country paid for it, but the
Duchess, who may be considered as a better authority,
declared that every farthing came out of her husband's
pocket 15 At the north-east angle of the building is a stone
on which is inscribed, " Laid by her Grace the Duchess of
Marlborough, May 24 and June 4, 1709." Wren was not
successful in house-building, and the interior of Marlborough
House is sacrificed to outward effect. Mr. Kerr gives the
following amusing account of the inconvenient arrangement
of its offices : " Now the kitchen of Marlborough House is on
the ground level. The dining-room is on the ground-level
also. But to carry the dinner across the entrance court and
in at the front door would never do. To carry it round by
the garden and in at the saloon door would never do. We
might contrive a third route, thus : along the colonnade, in at
the library window (or sash-door rather), and so through the
rooms and main thoroughfares ; but this, although really the
best that could be accomplished on the ground level, is still a
jest. The actual route was this : first, downstairs to the

14 Notice of the grant of this ground, and " of the house and premises
demised by King Charles II. to trustees of the late Queen Catherine," to
the trustees of the Duchess of Marlborough, will be found in the Thirtieth
Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, 1869, pp. 452, 463.

15 By the grant it was stipulated that the lessees should spend 12,000/.
in rebuildings, besides 2,000/. paid for the surrender of an old lease.

PALL MALL. 3^9

basement ; secondly, through the basement corridors (pro-
bably dark as Palladian basement corridors generally were) ;
thirdly, upstairs again by any one of the three equally awkward
means ; and fourthly, so on to the dining-room in a manner
(whichever of the three stairs might be preferred) still as
awkward as the rest. And why all this inconvenience ?
Merely, it would seem, because the idea fixed itself in the
architect's mind that the kitchen would make a good wing.
That the kitchen must form an obtrusive and sham two-story
house, with a sham reflection opposite, was no matter ; that
its windows must look out upon the entrance court, and that
it must actually have a door opening into the court (under a
sham loggia), were acceptable conditions ; that the unhappy
footmen, for a hundred years or more, must stumble down-
stairs and upstairs, and through infinite tortuosities besides,
with the soup-tureens and baron of beef, was not to be helped ;
let the kitchen be a wing, and it was a wing ! Such was
Palladian plan." 16

On the death of Queen Anne in August, 17 14, the
Duke of Marlborough made a public entry into London
attended by above two hundred gentlemen and a train of
coaches. Eight years after this he was followed by a still
grander procession, but he was then a corpse. The cavalcade,
which was increased by troops drawn from the camp in Hyde
Park, moved along St. James's Park to Hyde Park Corner,
and from thence through Piccadilly and Pall Mall and by
Charing Cross to Westminster Abbey, where he was buried
with great pomp. The Duchess died at Marlborough House
in 1744, and was buried with the remains of her husband,
which were removed from the Abbey to the chapel at Blenheim.
With all her faults she was a devoted wife, but she observed
that there was no great merit in that, for she had the hand-
somest, the most accomplished, and bravest man in Europe
for her husband. She was not, however, blind to his faults,
and told her daughter, Lady Sunderland, that she knew them
better than he did himself. One day the Duke returned
16 R. Kerr, The Gentleman's House, 1S65, p. 423.

330 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

from Queen Anne and told the Duchess that he thanked
God, with all his faults, neither avarice nor ambition could be
laid to his charge. At which she bit her tongue almost
through to prevent smiling in his face. Although she was
eighty-four years old at the time of her death, she kept her
vigour to the last, and when she was told that she must either
submit to be blistered or to die, she started in her bed and
cried out, " I won't be blistered and I won't die." Cibber, in
his Apology, speaks in the strongest terms of the Duchess's
beauty. " I remember, about twenty years after, when the
same lady had given the world four of the loveliest daughters
that ever were gazed on, even after they were become the
reigning toasts of every party of pleasure, their still lovely
mother had at the same time her votaries, and her health
very often took the lead in those involuntary triumphs
of beauty." After the Duke's death, the Duchess was very
anxious to make a better entrance into Pall Mall, but Sir
Robert Walpole, to annoy her, bought up the houses, for
which she was in treaty in 1733, and thus, frustrated her
favourite scheme. The third Duke added an upper story
and improved the ground floor, when he let it to the Princess
Charlotte ; on his death, in 1817, it was bought by the crown
for the Princess and Prince Leopold, but unhappily the
former died before the purchase was completed. The Prince,
however, lived in the house for some years. The Dowager
Queen Adelaide took up her residence here on the death of
William IV., and continued to inhabit it during the rest of
her life, which terminated in 1849. In 1850 the house was
settled upon the Prince of Wales, but as he would not require
it for some years, it was granted in 185 1 to the newly formed
Department of Science and Art till such time as it should be
required. The Vernon Collection and the English pictures.
of the National Gallery were exhibited here till they were
removed to the South Kensington Museum. On the marriage
of the Prince of Wales some alterations were made in the
house in order to render it suitable for the reception of the
Prince and Princess. Amongst the magnificent schemes

PALL MALL. 331

indulged in by George IV., was one for forming a long gallery-
uniting Carlton Palace with Marlborough House and St.
James's Palace.

Blandford Court, or Place, which consisted of two houses
with an iron gate to the street, was situated about this part of
Pall Mall.

Next door to Marlborough House lived Charles Abbot,
afterwards created Lord Colchester, the friend of Addington,
who, as Speaker of the House of Commons, gave his casting
vote in favour of the impeachment of Lord Melville. A few
doors farther on is a small house occupied by the " Guards'
Club," which was founded for the accommodation of the officers
of the household brigades. Next to this stands the " Oxford
and Cambridge Club," a handsome building, erected in 1838
by Sir Robert and Sydney Smirke. Nell Gvvynn lived from
1 67 1 to her death in 1687 at a house afterwards rebuilt by
the celebrated physician, Dr. Heberden. Nell moved here
from a house on the opposite side of the street, and she would
not accept the lease from her royal lover until it was conveyed
to her free. The house is numbered 79, and was lately occupied
by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts, but is now a part of the War Office.

Another mistress of Charles II. lived in one of the houses
on the south side, built by his agents ; this was Mrs. Mary
Knight, the singer.

Anne, daughter of William Duke of Hamilton, and wife of
Robert Carnegy, Earl of Southesk, who figures in Grammont's
memoirs in an amusing though not very creditable manner,
lived here in [671.

Hortensia Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin, another celebrated
woman of the court of Charles and James, lived in one of
these houses. This eccentric niece of the great Cardinal ran
away from her still more eccentric husband, and came to
England in 1675. St. Evremond paid her great attention,
and visited her daily. On one occasion he wrote her funeral
oration, which he read to her at her particular desire.

Sir William Temple was living, in 1681, two doors to the

332

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

eastward of Nell Gwyn. Catharine Viscountess Ranelagh's
house was next door to Temple's, and here the great philo-
sopher, Robert Boyle — " the father of chemistry, and brother
of the Earl of Cork," — lived with his sister from 1668 till the
time of their death, in 1691. The brother and sister were
completely devoted to each other, and they were not divided
in their death, for she died on the twenty-third of December,
and he survived a bare week, dying on the thirtieth. Burnet
says — "he was highly charitable, and was a mortified and
self-denied man, that delighted in nothing so much as in
doing good."

3ERO HonsE.

Schomberg House, now a part of the War Office, is a
good specimen of the fine old mansions of the last century,
although its symmetry has been destroyed by the alteration
of the east wing, which was rebuilt by Messrs. Harding. It
is supposed to have been built for the celebrated Duke of
Schomberg, the favourite of William III., who was killed at
the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, but it was not finished till
some years after his death. His second son, Meinhardt, the
third Duke, who, in accordance with the odd limitation of the
patent, succeeded his younger brother, died in 17 19, when

PALL MALL. 333

the title became extinct. The house then came into the
possession of Meinhardt's daughter, Frederica, who married,
first, the Earl of Holdernesse, and afterwards Benjamin
Mildmay, created Earl of Fitzwalter in 1730. The great Duke
Schomberg was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and
Swift, thinking that a monument should be erected to his
memory, wrote to Lady Holdernesse and Lord Fitzwalter,
asking them for fifty pounds for that purpose, but they took
no notice of his application. Swift was very wroth, and put up
a tablet at his own expense, when he took occasion to allude
to the ingratitude of the great man's heirs. This brought the
Dean into disfavour at court, for the Envoy of Prussia, who
had married a granddaughter of Schomberg, complained to
the King and Queen of the insult.

In 1760, on the accession of George III., his uncle, the
Duke of Cumberland, removed here from St. James's Palace.
The Duke did not remain long, and soon after the Earl of
Holdernesse sold the mansion to John Astley, the portrait-
painter, for 5,000/., who divided it into three parts, retaining
the centre for himself. On the roof he built a small suite of
chambers, which were accessible by a private staircase, with a
door in the wainscot, which he called his country house.
These various alterations cost him an additional 5,000/. In
early life Astley was very poor. He was a fellow-pupil of
Reynolds at Hudson's, and the two afterwards met at Rome,
and were frequently together. On one occasion a party of
young students was formed to go out into the country ; they
became very hot, and all took off their coats but Astley. The
reason for his reluctance to disrobing was apparent when he
at last took off his coat, for a foaming waterfall was displayed
on his back, to the great surprise and amusement of his com-
panions. He had made his waistcoat out of one of his land-
scapes. Astley gained his position in life by marrying a
rich lady, who, at her death, settled 5,000/. a year upon
him. This good fortune gained him the name of " Lucky
Beau Astley." He lived in great style and maintained a
splendid table.

334 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Richard Cosway, the celebrated miniature-painter —

" Fie, Cosway ! I"m ashamed to say
Thou own'st the title of R.A."— "

succeeded Astley in the occupation of the centre of the
house. Whatever Dr. Wolcot may have said, Cosway
managed to make a large fortune by portrait-painting, and
he gathered around him a fine collection of the works of
the old masters. His beautiful wife, the daughter of an
hotel-keeper at Leghorn, became a leader of fashionable
society in London and Paris. She was a good musician, as
well as a painter, though Wolcot slights her :

"If madam cannot make a shirt,
Or mend, or from it wash the dirt,
Better than paint, the poet for thee feels —
Or take a stitch up in thy stocking
(Which for a wife is very shocking),
I pity the condition of thy heels." 17

In his later years Cosway supposed himself to be in
communication with the spirit world, and at a Royal Academy
dinner he informed a brother academician that he had had
a visit from Mr. Pitt, who had died four years before. His
friend asked what Pitt had said ; Cosway answered, " Why,
upon entering the room he expressed himself prodigiously
hurt that during his residence on earth he had not encouraged
my talents." 18 Mrs. Cosway left her husband in 1804 to
become the superior of a religious house at Lyons, but paid
a final visit to England in 1821 to place a monument over his
grave.

The notorious quack, Dr. James Graham, was at Schom-
berg House for a short time with his Celestial Bed. He
stationed two servants in scarlet cloaks with long staffs at
the door, who invited patients to enter. In 1782 a lecture,
supposed to have been delivered by Hebe Vestina, the rosy
goddess of youth and health, was published and " sold at

17 Peter Pindar's Odes {Works, vol. i. p. 35, 1794).

18 Nollekens and his Times, vol. ii. p. 406.

PALL MALL. 335

the Temple of Hymen in Pall Mall." The " goddess " who
discoursed, from a pedestal, this farrago of nonsense and
obscenity, was Emma Harte, who afterwards married Sir
William Hamilton in 1791, and became the bane of Nelson.
In a book on Earth-bathing, published in 1793, Dr. Graham
describes himself as " formerly sole institutor, proprietor, and
director of the Temple of Health in the Adelphi and in Pall
Mall." The Doctor tried hard to make the public believe in
these baths. On one occasion he and a young woman, after
divesting themselves of their clothing, were interred up to
their chins and remained in the earth for six hours. Their
heads, which were dressed and powdered, only were to be
seen during the operation.

Robert Bowyer, miniature-painter to Queen Charlotte, col-
lected at Schomberg House a large gallery of engravings and
paintings to illustrate the History of England, which he called
the Historic Gallery. It proved unsuccessful, and he applied
for assistance to Parliament, who passed an Act empowering
him to dispose of it by lottery, which he did in 1807. The
celebrated Bowyer's Bible was illustrated by him at a cost
of upwards of 3,000/. The seven original folio volumes of
Macklin's Bible were enlarged into forty-five volumes by the
insertion of drawings and engravings illustrating the contents
of the sacred volume.

Thomas Payne, the famous bookseller and son of honest
Tom Payne, moved, in 1806, to Schomberg House from his
old shop at the Mews Gate, where the National Gallery now
stands. Messrs. Payne and Foss succeeded him and occupied
the house for many years, till their retirement from business.
The immense library of Richard Heber, which consumed two
years (1834-6) in selling, was consigned to them for sale.
They catalogued the library, and apportioned its sale between
the three book auctioneers, Sotheby, Evans, and Wheatley.

Gainsborough, who, besides being a great painter, was an
agreeable man full of fun and frolic, lived in the western wing
from 1777 till his death in 1788. He once dined with
Dr. Johnson at Garrick's, and was so struck with the old

336 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Doctor's contortions that he declared he could not hold his
head still, sleeping or waking, for the space of a calendar
month.

Near the end of the last century Messrs. Dyde and
Scribe converted the east wing into a place of business.
They were succeeded by Mr. Harding, during whose lifetime
George III. and the Princesses made it a custom to visit the
shop for their various purchases. On these occasions the old
King took great interest in the things shown to him, and as
the shop was closed during the visit, the Princesses wandered
behind the counter to gratify their curiosity. 19 Few old
mansions have been so intimately connected with the arts
of the country as Schomberg House. The rank, beauty, and
talent of the kingdom visited it in order to have their features
depicted by Astley, Cosway, and, greatest of all, by Gains-
borough.

James Christie, the great auctioneer, lived next door to
his friend Gainsborough, where he died in 1803. He was a
tall man, with elegant and persuasive manners, which he
brought to bear with such skill upon his business that he
gained the honourable title of the Prince of Auctioneers. He
was friendly with Reynolds and Gainsborough, and the latter
was a constant visitor both at his table and at his sales. His
son and successor moved to the opposite side of the way,
previous to his final change to the present auction-rooms in
King Street, St. James's.

The plain brick building, behind an iron railing, which
now forms a part of the War Office, and was previously the
Ordnance Office, was originally built by Brickingham for the
Duke of York, brother of George III. It afterwards became
the residence of Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, at
whose death it was sold and turned into a subscription club.
This Duke was a very worthless and profligate prince. After
having seduced and basely deserted the Countess Grosvenor,
he married the widow of Christopher Horton without the
knowledge of his brother George III. He led the Prince of
19 Builder, 1853, No. 517, p. 3.

PALL MALL. 337

Wales into dissipation, and kept a faro bank at his house for
the Prince's amusement.

A few doors eastward is a stone-fronted house, now also
a part of the War Office. It was built by Sir John Soane for
George Grenville, Earl Temple, and first Marquis of Bucking-
ham, who let it, in 1788, to Alexander, Duke of Gordon, the
husband of Pitt's celebrated Duchess. The house remained
in the possession of the Buckingham family till the sale of
their property in 1848.

Next door to Buckingham House is the " Carlton Club,"
founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington and his political
friends. The first meetings of the club were held in Charles
Street, St. James's, but were afterwards moved to Lord
Kensington's house in Carlton Gardens. In 1836 a new
house, now entirely destroyed, was built by Sir Robert
Smirke. Ten years after it was found necessary to enlarge
the club, and a design by Sydney Smirke, founded on one of
the palaces at Venice, was decided upon, when the present
right-hand wing was at once commenced by the side of the
old house. In 1854 the whole of the original building was
pulled down, and the present mansion finished. During the
time of the rebuilding, Buckingham House was taken for the
use of the club, and connected with the right wing. It was
at first prophesied that the polished granite columns would
not last in the London atmosphere, but these prophecies have
been falsified, and the granite has worn far better than the
Caen stone of which the front is built.

The " Reform Club" was founded in 1830 by the exertions
of Edward Ellice, Henry Warburton, and Joseph Hume. In
1837 designs were sent in for a new building. Sir Charles
Barry's design, founded partly on the Farnese Palace, the work
of Michael Angelo, was chosen, and the present house was the
result. The chief fault of the exterior consists in the large
number of small windows which cut up the fronts. Barry
would have liked to have made the upper windows more
important, but he was not able from the exigencies of the
case. In the original plan the central portion was intended

338 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

for an open court, but was afterwards covered in, and con-
verted into the present central hall.

The "Travellers' Club" originated in a suggestion of Lord
Castlereagh's soon after the peace of 1814. His object was
to give accommodation to distinguished foreigners during
their stay in England. The club soon became famous for its
whist-players, and Talleyrand, when in London, was always
one among them.

" Uniting, in short, in tongue, headpiece, and pen,
The very great powers of three very great men :
Talleyrand, — who will never drive down Piccadilly more
To the ' Travellers' Club House ! ' — Charles Phillips, and Phillimore." 20

No person was considered eligible who had not travelled
out of the British Isles to a distance of at least 1,000 miles
from London in a direct line. But in the present age of rapid
and general travelling, this cannot be considered as any great
feat. In 1829 Sir Charles Barry's design for the present
building was chosen in a select competition, and in 1832 it
was completed. It gained for the architect a great reputation,
and still remains one of the most charming bits of archi-
tecture in London, though now much spoilt by being covered
with paint, so that the stone has the appearance of stucco.
The street front was said to be a mere copy of Raffaelle's
Pandolfini Palace at Florence, but this is not a fact, as the
two buildings are very different. The effect of the garden front
has been seriously injured by the erection of a smoking-room
in the roof.

The success of the "United Service Club" suggested the
formation of others on the same plan, and it was thought that
the men of peace should be united as well as the men of
war. In furtherance of this idea the "Athenaeum Club " was
instituted in 1823 as an association of men of science, letters,
and arts, and noblemen and gentlemen of intellectual tastes.
The first meetings were held in the rooms of the Royal
Institution, and Faraday acted for a short time as honorary

20 Ingoldsby Legends, 2nd Series, p. 70.

PALL MALL. 339

secretary. In 1829 the present house was built from the
designs of Decimus Burton at a cost of 35,000/. The exterior
is extremely plain, with little ornament except the frieze,
which was copied from that of the Parthenon. Over the
portico is a handsome statue of Minerva, by Baily. The hall
and staircase are of very noble proportions, and the drawing-
room, which occupies the whole of the Waterloo Place front, on
the first floor, is one of the finest rooms in London. The house
was opened on the 8th of February, 1830, and in the first year
ladies were admitted every Wednesday night during the season.
On these occasions the company enjoyed very agreeable soirees,
which were greatly appreciated by the late Mr. Walker,
author of the Original, in which work he refers to them. The
chief glory of the club is its magnificent library.

The " United Service," to the success of which reference
has just been made, was the first of the great clubs which
are now so numerous. After the conclusion of the war with
France, the many officers who were thrown upon the town
felt the want of some place of resort, and this club was the
result. The " United Service Club" was first formed in Charles
Street, Regent Street, and occupied the house afterwards pos-
sessed by the "Junior United Service Club."

The continuous series of clubs, which form the chief feature
of Pall Mall, stand on ground formerly occupied by Carlton
House and gardens, Pall Mall Court, 31 and several houses, all
of which have been swept entirely away.

John Julius Angerstein, an opulent Russian merchant, lived
at a house numbered 100, which stood on a part of the ground
of the " Reform Club." Here he brought together his mag-
nificent collection of forty-two pictures, which formed the

21 " About the middle of this street is Pall Mall Court, a very neat
place, with fair new built houses fit for gentlemen, the back windows
pleasantly opening into the Prince's Garden. This Court hath a hand-
some freestone pavement, and at the entrance there are iron bars made
open, with the door of the same to shut up at nights for the security of the
inhabitants." — 1734, Robert Seymour's Survey of London and West-
minster, vol. ii.

34° ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

nucleus of our National Gallery. All who love to study these
masterpieces of art should bless the memory of Sir George
Beaumont, who may be considered as the founder of the
national collection. He allowed it to be announced that
he would present the more valuable of his pictures to the
nation, whenever it was decided to commence a National
Gallery. This offer determined the Government to purchase
the Angerstein collection, which they did in 1824 for 57,000/.
They also took the lease of his house, and the pictures were
exhibited in Pall Mall till 1837, when they were transferred
to the present building in Trafalgar Square.

On the site of a part of the " Carlton Club " were Evans's
well-known auction-rooms, where were sold the greater
number of the celebrated libraries, which have been dispersed
since the sale of the Roxburgh Library, at which Evans first
used his hammer.

The worthless George Bubb Dodington, the Bubo of
Pope —

" A false, suspicious friend was he,
As all the world can tell ;
He flatter'd Walpole at Whitehall
And damn'd him in Pall Mall—" M

lived in a large mansion in front of Carlton House, which was
pulled down when that building was opened up to Pall Mall.
R. Seymour, in his Survey, 1734, gives a very unflattering
sketch of the house : — " The new house of Mr. Dodington,
built after the Italian manner, which, as an ingenious architect
says, has at first view the aspect of a bottle glass house, by
the chimneys being collected into one stack placed in the
vertex of the roof." When Dodington was the favourite of
Frederick Prince of Wales, he was allowed to make a door out
of his house into Carlton Gardens, but when, through the
influence of Lord Chesterfield, he lost that favour, the Prince
shut up the door and changed all the locks in his house, to
which he had before given Dodington keys :

22 1740, Sir C. Hanbury Williams's Works, 1S22, vol. i. p. iS.

PALL MALL. 341

" For the Torys will never receive such a scrub,
And no Whig at court will be civil to Bub." 23

This man was the laughing-stock of his contemporaries
for his clumsy grandeur. When he gave an audience to his
friends and dependants, he made a practice of seating himself
in state, habited in his dress suit and star. He was one of the
blasphemous and debauched fraternity who held their orgies
at Medmenham Abbey, near Marlow, and yet poverty forced
Thomson to stoop so low as to dedicate one of the Seasons
(Summer) to him, and to flatter him thus, —
" O Dodington ! attend my rural song ;
Stoop to my theme, inspirit every line,
And teach me to deserve thy just applause."

John, first Earl of Egmont, the founder of the colony of
Georgia, lived near Dodington. Robert Seymour, in his
Survey (1734), says: " Somewhat farther is a house which, if
not remarkably magnificent, is very pleasing to the spectator,
and has something in it of that elegance and propriety which
accompany every word and action of its owner." John, second
Earl of Egmont, First Lord of the Admiralty in the Grenville
and Rockingham Administration, lived in the same house,
which was attacked by Wilkes's mob, in 1768. He was the
father of the unfortunate Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval.

Carlton House was originally built in 1709, on a "parcel
of the Royal Garden, near St. James's Palace," 24 by Henry

23 1740, Sir C. H anbury Williams's Works, vol. i. p. 25.

24 Warrant dated Oct. 20, 1709. "For Henry Boyle, Esquire, one
of the principal Secretaries of State. Grant of a piece of ground being
parcel of the royal garden near S. James's Palace, and all that the wood-
work or wilderness adjoining to the said garden being on the east side
thereof, and all the houses, yards, gardens, ground, edifices, buildings,
and other the appurtenances to the same belonging, now or lately enjoyed
or possessed by Boyle, all which premises were formerly taken out of
S. James's Park, and are situate in the parishes of S. Martin-in-the-
Fields and S. James, Westminster, and contain 9 a. 1 r. ip. (the abuttals
whereof are particularly described) ; excepting thereout an oblong piece
of ground situate on the north side of the woodwork or wilderness near
adjoining to Warwick House, measuring in length, from east to west,
1 1 2 feet, and in depth 46 feet. To hold the same from the date hereof

342

ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Boyle, created Baron Carleton in 17 14. He was grandson
of the first Earl of Cork, and took a distinguished part in
politics, being successively Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Secretary of State, and President of the Council. On his
death in 1725, the house and grounds descended to his
nephew, the third Earl of Burlington. Kent, the Earl's
protege, planned the gardens in imitation of those laid out
at Twickenham by Pope, to whom we certainly owe much,
as the first introducer of a more natural system of gardening.

The Scbees of Cabliois Hmje i.^i.en dowm in 1827.

In an article in the Guardian (No. 173), Pope ridicules the
fashionable taste for " verdant sculpture," by giving a list of
some to be disposed of by a town gardener, viz. : "Adam and

for thirty-one years, at the yearly rent of 35/., Boyle having laid out
2,853/. for improvements." — Thirtieth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the
Public Records, 1869, p. 470.

rALL MALL. 343

Eve in yew, Adam a little shattered by the fall of the tree of
knowledge in the great storm, Eve and the serpent very
flourishing," &c, and very happily concludes thus : — " He
also cutteth family pieces of men, women, and children, so
that any gentlemen may have his lady's effigies in myrtle —
Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine and thy children as olive
branches round thy table."

Kent's labours made Carlton Gardens, which were very
extensive, and stretched from Spring Gardens to the garden
of Marlborough House, the most beautiful about London.
The Earl of Burlington gave the house to his mother. She
sold it, in 1732, for 7,000/., to Lord Chesterfield, who bought
it for Frederick, Prince of Wales. The Prince lived here for
some years, and was particularly fond of the grounds. In the
summer, he usually breakfasted under a marquee, on the lawn.
His son, afterwards George III., lived here in his youth, and
was taught elocution by the actor, Quin, who was proud of
the praise bestowed on his pupil, when the King read his first
speech. The Princess Dowager of Wales lived at Carlton
House, till her death, in February, 1772. The Earl of Bute
constantly visited her in the evening, in the sedan chair of
Miss Vansittart, the maid of honour. At this time the house
had an entrance in St. James's Park, but was hid by houses
from Pall Mall. Opposite to St. Alban's Street was Stone-
Cutter's Alley, 2S which led from Pall Mall to Carlton House.
It was proposed, however, in 1767, to clear these houses away,
and the architect, J. Adam, made a design for a handsome
gateway, with a width of one hundred and eighty-four feet,
but nothing was done till the house came into the possession
of George, Prince of Wales, in 1783. Then a complete
alteration was made under the direction of Henry Holland,
the architect. The interior was rebuilt, the brick exterior was

25 " Over against St. Alban's Street is Stonecutter's Alley, paved with
Freestone, which leads into Warwick Street, and likewise to the back gate
of the King's garden, for the conveniency of Mr. George London, her late
Majesty's principal gardener, there inhabiting in a neat and pleasant
house." — 1720, Strype's Stow.

344 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

coated with stone, and a portico of Corinthian columns was
added. The houses in front were pulled down and replaced
by an open Ionic screen, which, being too near the house,
completely spoilt the effect of the otherwise handsome portico.
Sheridan called it the Pillory, and Bonomi ridiculed it in an
epigram, —

u Care colonne, che fate qua ?
Non sapiamo, in verita."

Which Prince Hoare paraphrased into —

" Dear little columns, all in a row,
What do you do there ?
Indeed we don't know."

When Carlton House was pulled down, these pillars of the
screen were taken to Buckingham Palace, and the columns of
the portico now form the portico of the National Gallery.

Immense sums of money were spent on the building and
decorations, which were handsome, but in a very corrupt
style. Adjoining the house was a conservatory of florid
Gothic, with stained-glass windows, containing the arms of
the sovereigns of England and the Princes of Wales. The
staircase was of a peculiar form, but so badly secured at the
foundation that it had to be taken down and rebuilt. In the
upper rooms was a very complete armoury, containing the
dresses and armour of all times and countries, and sets of
uniforms, from a general to a private, of all the European
States. Among the swords were those of Bayard, Hampden,
and Marlborough, and the dress swords of Louis XIV. and
Charles II. The house also contained a very fine collection
of pictures, principally of the Flemish School.

George IV. lived in Carlton House, or Palace, as Prince of
Wales, Regent, and King. On the 8th of February, 1790, he
held here his first state levee ; and on the 26th of February,
1 81 1, his first levee as Regent. The Prince gathered round
him almost all the wit and fashion of the time, and during the
many years that he occupied it, Carlton House was the scene

PALL MALL. 345

of much gaiety and of many brilliant entertainments. On
one occasion the Prince proposed the health of the famous
wit and beauty, Mrs. Crewe (wife of J. Crewe, of Crewe Hall,
for thirty-eight years Member of Parliament for Cheshire, and
then created Lord Crewe), in this form : —

" Buff and Blue
And Mrs. Crewe ; "

she promptly returned the compliment by giving

"Buff and Blue
And all of you."

These favourite Whig colours, in which men and women of
that faith constantly dressed, are now almost passed away,
and only linger on the cover of the Edinburgh Review.
Mrs. Crewe was so beautiful, that Madame D'Arblay said she
" uglified " everything near her, and C. J. Fox thus elegantly
refers to her charms : —

" Where the loveliest expression to feature is join'd,
By nature's most delicate pencil design'd :
Where blushes unbidden, and smiles without art,
Speak the sweetness and feeling that dwells in the heart."

On one occasion Sir Walter Scott dined with the Prince,
who proposed as a toast " The Author of Waverley" at
the same time looking significantly at Scott. The " Great
Unknown " turned it off, and joined vociferously in the
cheering.

In November, 1803, the Prince of Wales gave a grand
entertainment to his Excellency Elfi Bey, when he told him
that he had in his stud an Egyptian horse that would dismount
the best horseman in his retinue. The Bey said that it should
be tried the next day ; and at two o'clock, the Prince, and a
brilliant assembly, met in the riding-house to see what would
happen. The horse was brought in : its eyes were fiery and
enraged, and it was in a rampant and ungovernable state ;
but in an instant, Mahomet Aga, Elfi Bey's principal officer,
vaulted on the back of the animal, which plunged and ex-

346 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

hibited its ferocity and passion to no purpose, for the Mame-
luke kept his seat through all, and in about twenty minutes,
to the surprise of the company, the rider had subdued the
horse completely. 26

In 1 8 1 1 the Regent gave a magnificent fete to upwards
of two thousand of the aristocracy, as well as to the French
princes and emigrant nobility. The public were admitted for
some days afterwards to view the superb arrangements. They
largely availed themselves of the privilege, and the crowds
were so immense that many accidents occurred.

Warwick House, now pulled down, was connected with the
gardens of Carlton House, and had its entrance in Warwick
Street. It took its name from Sir Philip Warwick, to whom
a lease was granted by Charles II. In Anne's reign the lease
was renewed to Thomas, Earl of Sussex. 27 Here lived the

26 Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, vol. v. p. 211.

27 Aug. 20, 1705. " For Thomas, Earl of Sussex, and Anne, Countess
of Sussex, his wife. Lease of the mansion house called Warwick House,
and the ground on which the same is erected, situate within the parishes
of S. Martin-in-the-Fields and S. James, Westminster, co. Middlesex,
by the old wall of S. James's Park, on part of the ground heretofore used
for a common way leading from Charing Cross to the palace of S. James,
and extending in length from the place where a gate formerly was near
the aforesaid wall, towards the said palace on the west, 230 feet or there-
abouts, unto a place where a certain passage called the Welch Exchange
sometime was, and in breadth from the park wall aforesaid on the south
to the wall built on the north of the aforesaid way, 62 feet or thereabouts.
To hold the same from Michaelmas, 1722 (or other sooner determination
of the lease granted by King Charles II. of the same premises to Sir
Philip Warwick, knight), for the term of 32 years and a half, at the yearly
rent of 40 shillings. Lease also of a piece of ground heretofore part of
the said old highway leading from Charing Cross to S. James's Palace,
under S. James's Park wall, and now inclosed within the wall of the
garden belonging to Warwick House, containing in front or breadth
20 feet or thereabouts, and in depth 40 feet or thereabouts, abutting upon
the said Warwick garden towards the east, upon the old wall of S. James's
Park towards the south, and upon other part of the said old highway
towards the west and north, lying and being within the said parishes of
S. Martin-in-the-Fields and S. James, Westminster. To hold the same
from Michaelmas, 1740 (or other sooner determination of several terms of
60 years and 20 years, granted by King Charles II. to the trustees of

PALL MALL. 347

Princess Charlotte, who, in July, 1814, left it in a hackney-
coach in order to see her mother in Connaught Place. The
next morning she was conveyed back to Carlton House, and
two years after, on May 2, 18 16, she was married there to
Prince Leopold.

Carlton House narrowly escaped destruction in 1824, for
on the 8th of June a fire broke out in one of the sitting-rooms,
which was entirely destroyed, and with it some of the valuable
pictures. Three years after this the whole place was pulled
down.

" The mandate pass'd, the axe applied,
The woodman's efforts echoed wide ;
The toppling elm-trees fell around,
And cumbrous ruin strew'd the ground." M

Before concluding our account of the house, we may add
an anecdote of Sir Philip Francis, who was at one time on
very friendly terms with the Prince. In one of his fits of
rudeness, Sir Philip one day walked to Carlton House, and
disdaining the usual method of proceeding, knocked loudly at
the door with a large stick. The next day, Colonel McMahon,
the Prince's confidential managing man, met Sir Philip in the
street, and stopping him, exclaimed with much earnestness,
" Upon my word, Francis, you must try to keep Sir Philip in
order. Do you know he has been knocking at the Prince's
door with his stick, and making such a noise because he was not
admitted, that we thought we should never get him away ? " E9

In place of the beautiful gardens and noble trees, have
arisen Carlton Terrace, and the " Athenaeum " and " United
Service " clubs. The opening of the south portion of
Waterloo Place occupies the exact position of the front of
Carlton House.

Henry, late Earl of S. Alban's), for the term of 13 years and a half, at the
yearly rent of 40 shillings." — Thirtieth Report of the Deputy Keeper oj the
Public Records, 1869, p. 381.

29 Emigration of the Rooks from Carlton Gardens, 1827 (Hone's Table
Book, vol. i. p. 690).

88 Parkes'S Life of Francis, vol. ii. p. 266, note.

348 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

The riding-house and stables of Carlton House remained
under the name of Carlton Ride until a few years ago, when
they were demolished in order to continue the terrace accord-
ing to the original design. Here were kept for some years the
public records of the kingdom.

The Duke of York's Column, at the head of the steps
leading down into the Park, was designed by Benj. Wyatt,
and erected between the years 1830 and 1833. The column,
of Scotch granite, is 124 feet high; and the bronze statue,
by Sir Richard Westmacott, fourteen feet high. The whole
expense of this frightful erection was defrayed by public
subscriptions.

At a house opposite Market Lane, and to the east of
Carlton House, the annual exhibitions of the Royal Academy
were held from 1768 to 1780. In the latter year the present
Somerset House was finished, and the Academy had rooms
set aside for its use in the new buildings. 30

We now cross over to the north side of Pall Mall, and
return from east to west. Close by the Opera House, and at
the corner of St. Alban's Street, Michael Kelly, the manager
and wine-merchant, opened a musical saloon, which became
a fashionable lounge. It was, however, a very unprofitable
investment for Kelly, who, according to Sheridan, " imported
his music and composed his wines." Although the wit spoke
disrespectfully of the wine, he did not mind getting drunk
with it. On one occasion he was engaged to go to Windsor
with the Prince of Wales, and, in order to be on the spot,
Kelly lent him his bedroom over the shop. However, Sheridan
drank so much that he was unfit to get up the next morning,
and the Prince, after sending over for him twice, was obliged
to go without him. A few doors on was the house in which
lived Sir Cecil W r ray, and his widow after him. " Sir Cecil's
taste both for poetry and small-beer are well known, as is the
present unfinished state of his newly-fronted house in Pall

30 There is a woodcut of the front of this house in Sandby's History
of the Royal Academy, vol. i.

PALL MALL. 349

Mall." 31 Sir Cecil was the Court candidate who opposed Fox
at the celebrated Westminster election of 1784, and he
naturally came in for a great deal of abuse. He is thus
summed up in the Rolliad: —

" Turn next to the candidates : At such a crisis,
We've a right to observe on their virtues or vices.
Hood founds, and with justice to most apprehensions,
In years of fair services, manly pretensions ;
But his party to change, and his friend to betray,
By some are held better pretensions in Wray." 32

The following is one of the election squibs issued by the
popular party : —

" The gallant Lord Hood to his country is dear ;
His voters like Charley's make excellent cheer :
But who has been able to taste the small beer
Of Sir Cecil Wray ?

Then come every free, every generous soul,
That loves a fine girl and a full-flowing bowl,
Come here in a body, and all of you poll

'Gainst Sir Cecil Wray.

In vain all the arts of the Court are let loose,
The electors of Westminster never will choose
To run down a Fox and set up a Goose,

Like Sir Cecil Wray."

Among those who voted for the Court candidate were the
following celebrated men : — John Hunter, Dr. Heberden,
Soame Jenyns, Jonas Hanway, and Wilkes. Sir Lloyd,
afterwards Lord, Kenyon, slept in his stables a sufficient
number of nights in order to qualify himself to vote for Wray,
because his house was not within the limits of the borough.
After forty days' polling Hood and Fox were returned as
members.

A few doors farther on lived, from 1796 to 1800, N. B.
Halhed, the eminent orientalist, and author of A Code of

31 The Rolliad, 1795, P- x 9> note.

32 Political Miscellanies, 1795, pp. 96-97.

35 o ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Gentoo Laws. At No. 25, Sir Walter Scott once lodged.
Several old houses have been cleared away to make room for
the handsome building of the New Carlton Club.

The Army and Navy Club was founded by Sir Edward
Barnes and some officers from India, who first proposed to
establish an army club, but on applying to the Duke of Wel-
lington for his support, they found he would only give it on
condition that the navy was included. The present house was
built in 1848, from the designs of Messrs. Parnell and Smith,
which were selected in an open competition. The elevation is
based on the Comaro Palace on the Grand Canal at Venice, but
differs materially from it. In the Builder™ there is a copy of
one of the rejected designs, which is a most amazing specimen
of ornate Gothic. A building made up almost entirely of
buttresses and pinnacles would be so extremely inappropriate
to the purposes of a club, and so out of place in Pall Mall,
that we cannot be too thankful to the committee for rejecting
such a design. One of the houses taken down to make room
for the club was Lord de Mauley's, formerly inhabited by
Nell Gwynn, and her looking-glass is now preserved in the
visitors' dining-room.

Robert Vernon, the generous donor of the beautiful gallery
of pictures known by his name, died at his residence, No. 50,
on the 22nd of May, 1849.

No. 51, the house with the archway leading into Pall Mall
Place, was occupied from 1735 to 1764 by the celebrated
bookseller, Robert Dodsley, who called his shop " The Tully's
Head." It was the resort of most of the literary men of the
day, and here would have been seen Johnson and Burke,
Young and Akenside, Horace Walpole, the Wartons, and
other men of note. Dodsley began life as a footman to
Charles Dartiquenave, a natural son of Charles II., who was
Paymaster of the Board of Works and a member of the Kit-
Cat Club. Dodsley was not ashamed of his humble origin,
and he told Johnson, — " I knew Dartneuf, for I was his foot-

33 May 22, 1847, p. 243.

PALL MALL. 35 r

man." Dartiquenave was a famous glutton, and is introduced
in conversation with Apicius in Lord Lyttleton's Nineteenth
Dialogue of the Dead. Pope also celebrated his taste : —

" Each mortal has his pleasure ; none deny
Scarsdale his bottle, Darty his ham pye."

There are two anecdotes of this man which illustrate his
master passion, and do not show him off in a very agreeable
light. He one day observed a fishmonger's boy carrying
home a fine turbot, which he amused himself by striking
against every post he met. This conduct was a serious crime
in the eyes of the lover of ham-pie, and he therefore followed
the boy and explained his conduct to his master, at the same
time insisting on his being severely punished. On another
occasion Dartiquenave was engaged to dine with a brother
gourmand for the express purpose of eating the produce of a
very fine plum-tree, remarkable for the richness, delicacy, and
great scarcity of its fruit, for there were but two plums on
the tree. It was agreed that in order to enjoy the fruit to the
greatest advantage they should proceed to the garden when
they had dined and each gather and eat his plum. Before
dinner, however, was ended, Dartiquenave made an excuse,
and slunk out of the room, hastening to the tree, from which
he had the baseness to pluck and eat both the plums. 34
Dodsley's house was afterwards inhabited by George Nicol,
bookseller to the King, who prepared the catalogue of the
Roxburgh Library. Next door, to the west, was the house
where Almack's Club was established in 1764. This club was
afterwards managed by Brookes, who removed it to St.
James's Street. The house was then taken by Alderman
John Boydell, " a name which all lovers of art have learned
to reverence," 35 when he conceived the design of raising an
English school of painting by employing artists to illustrate
the plays of Shakspeare. Some envious friend published

34 Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. i. p. 64.

35 Cunningham's British Painters, vol. i. p. 299.

352 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

the following jcu-cTcsprit in one of the papers of the
time : —

" Old Father Time, as Ovid sings,
Is a great eater up of things,

And, without salt or mustard,
Will gulp you down a castle wall
As easily as at Guildhall

An alderman eats custard.

But Boydell, careful of his fame,
By grafting it on Shakspeare's name

Shall beat his neighbour hollow :
For to the bard of Avon's stream
Old Time has said with Polypheme,

You'll be the last I'll swallow."

Romney undertook to paint the first picture, and chose
The Tempest. I. Disraeli, in his Literary Character, gives an
interesting account of the fever of his imagination, and depres-
sion of his spirits, while he was employed upon this work.
Few connoisseurs enter into the feelings of the painter, for
they look only at the result, — the outside, and think nothing
of the aspiration of the artist, in his endeavour to reach
his ideal. The following letter from Romney to a friend,
expresses eloquently his feeling while employed on the
picture : —

" My dear Friend, —

" Your kindness in rejoicing so heartily at the birth of
my picture has given me great satisfaction. There has been
an anxiety labouring in my mind the greatest part of the last
twelve months, and at times it had nearly overwhelmed me.
I thought I should absolutely have sunk in despair. Oh !
what a kind friend is in those times ! I thank God, whatever
my picture may be, I can say this much, I am a greater
philosopher and a better Christian."

Boydell, who brought forward Woollett and other artists,
and raised the fame of England for engraving, was almost
ruined by this public spirit. He intended to have left the

PALL MALL. 353

Shakspeare Gallery to the nation, but he was forced to
dispose of it by public lottery, which took place on the 28th
of January, 1805. The principal prize, which consisted of the
gallery and many of the pictures, was drawn by Mr. Tassie,
the sculptor of Leicester Square, who sold his acquisition by
auction in the following May, for 10,237/. The lease of the
house for sixty-three years, was bought for 4,400/., 3G by
several noblemen and gentlemen, who, under the auspices of
George III., founded the British Institution, which was opened
on the 1 8th of January, 1806. This valuable society, which
held two exhibitions annually, one of living painters, and
the other of old masters, has now unfortunately terminated
its existence. The Trustees are said to have a balance of
15,000/ ; and if they had taken any trouble to obtain an
additional 2,000/., they might have secured for 17,000/ pos-
session of the house in perpetuity ; instead of doing this
they gave up the property, and in 1868 the house was pulled
down by the " Gymnastic Club," which now occupies the
new building by which it has been replaced. In place of
the front with its alto relievo of Shakspeare, between Poetry
and Painting, by Thomas Banks, R.A., which cost five hun-
dred guineas, there has arisen a poor castellated elevation.
The system of exhibiting the works of the great masters was
commenced in the summer of 18 13, and created a great
sensation. The first exhibition consisted entirely of Reynolds's
pictures, and the second of those of Hogarth, Zoffany, Gains-
borough, and Wilson. This annual collection was very
delightful to art-lovers, who thus had an opportunity of
gradually seeing most of the great works in the private
collections of Great Britain. One day in 1843, Haydon went
to the British Institution to finish off one of his large pictures,
which was placed in the south room, and he did what he says
no mortal ever did before : that is, broiled a chop on the coals
and ate it with a glass of spring water. He adds, it was
"where all that were illustrious and great have walked on
those splendid nights we used to have : — Davy, Wilkie,

36 Autobiography, 1853, vol. iii. p. 244.

354 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Talma, Lamb, Hazlitt, Beaumont, Madame de Stael, Talley-
rand, Canning, Wellington, Lady Jersey, and my own love
Mary." S7

Pall Mall is at present the handsomest street in London,
and when the War Office is rebuilt, its south side will be one
continuous row of palaces. The north is gradually following
the lead of the south side, and the building just erected for
the " New Carlton Club " is the latest addition to it. It now
only wants to be opened up to the Green Park, through Cleve-
land Row, to complete the grandeur of its coup-d'ail.

a7 Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, vol. viii. p. 97.

( 355 )

CHAPTER XIII.

ST. JAMES'S SQL/ARE.

FASHIONABLE neighbourhoods are continually changing, but
this square is an exception to the rule, as it has been for two
centuries one of the most aristocratic places in London. At
the Restoration, the site was a quiet and unfrequented place,
forming part of St. James's Fields. In August, 1662, a duel
took place there at eleven o'clock in the morning, when Henry
Jermyn was one of the combatants. 1 About the year 1663,
the square appears to have been planned out by the Earl of
St. Alban's, to whom the ground belonged, and who lived in
a large house in the fields. The French traveller Monconys
was in England at that time, and describes St. James's Fields
as about to be destroyed. 2 In the following year a warrant
was issued for the grant of the ground upon which the houses
were to be built. — " Sept. 23, 1664. Warrant for a grant to
Baptist May and Abraham Cowley on nomination of the
Earl of St. Albans of several parcels of ground in Pall Mall
described, on rental of 80/., for building thereon a square of 13
or 14 great and good houses ; also of the common highway
lying between the houses in south Pall Mall Street and St.

1 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1661-62, p. 463.

2 1663. — " Apres avoir quitte" M. d'Aubigny, je fus chercher M. Oldem-
bourg, logd au vieux mail, qui est situe" au coste d'une grandissime place
qui peut estre quatre fois la place Royale, et deux fois Bellecour : elle
appartient au Milor St. Alban, qui y va faire des bastiments, qui la
destruiront." — Journal des Voyages de M. de Monconys, Seconde partie.
4to, Paris, 1677, p. 11.

356 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY

James's Park wall on rental of 40/., with proviso of erecting
no building thereon that should cause annoyance to the
inhabitants. The said grant is made because persons were
unwilling to build such great houses on any terms save that
of inheritance, and the former leases recapitulated were only
for years." 3 The newly erected square was called the Piazza,
as appears by the Rent-Roil of the Earl of St. Alban's, dated
1676. 4 This use of the Italian word in its original meaning is
curious, as the arcades at the Piazza, Covent Garden, built
about the year 1634, gave rise to the popular notion that a
piazza must necessarily be an arcade. The square soon lost
this name, and obtained its present one, leaving the sole glory
of the Italian word to Covent Garden, as Byron says : —

" For bating Covent Garden I can hit on
No place that's called Piazza in Great Britain."

The square was at once occupied by the residences of the
chief nobility and gentry, as is seen by the lists from the
St. Martin's Rate-Books given by Mr. Cunningham in his
Handbook, and also from the Rent -Roll of Lord St. Alban's
mentioned before.

The present numbering commences with the house on the
east side, which is the north corner of Charles Street. In
1676 there were living on the east side the following men of
note : Lewis de Duras, Marquis of Blanquefort, a naturalized
Frenchman, who was created Baron Duras of Holdenby, and
afterwards succeeded his father-in-law as Earl of Feversham.
He was a nephew of the great Turenne, but had none of his
distinguished relative's military genius, for he proved himself
a sorry soldier when he commanded James II. 's troops against
the Duke of Monmouth at the Battle of Sedgemoor. He is
thus praised in the second part of Absalom and Achitoplicl —

" Even envy must consent to Helon's worth ;
Whose soul, though Egypt glories in his birth,

1 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1664-5, P- ] 5-
4 British Museum, Add. MSS., No. 22,063.

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 357

Could for our captive ark its zeal retain,
And Pharaoh's altars in their pomp disdain :
To slight his gods was small, with nobler pride
He all the allurements of his court defied ; "

but Swift calls him " a very dull old fellow." 3

Aubrey de Vere, twentieth and last Earl of Oxford, and
Colonel of the Horse Guards, who were called after him the
Oxford Blues, lived here till his death, on the 12th of March,
1702, at the age of eighty. This man was a great blackguard,
for he deceived an actress, supposed to have been Mrs. Daven-
port, by a false marriage. 6 He came to her lodgings attended
by a clergyman and a witness, who turned out afterwards to
be his lordship's trumpeter and kettle-drummer. The unfor-
tunate woman threw herself at the King's (Charles II.) feet
to supplicate for redress for the outrage, but all she could
obtain was an annuity of 300/., the receipt of which caused
her to leave the stage.

Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington, lived here for a few years,
and the ground of his house was conveyed to him in 1665.

In 1698-99 Anthony Grey, Earl of Kent, occupied a house
on this side of the square, and in 1708 his son Henry, first
Marquis of Kent, had succeeded him.

In 1698-99 Robert Spencer, Earl of Sunderland, the
Prime Minister, was living here, and in T708 his son Charles,
the third Earl, had taken his place. In 1709 the body
of William Bentinck, Earl of Portland, the Dutch favourite
of William III., lay in state at his house here. In 17 10
the pictures of Baron Schutz, Envoy of Hanover, were sold
after his death at his house, also on the east side of the
square.

The north side was chiefly occupied by two large houses
situated on either side of York Street. The house on the
east side was the residence in 1676 and 1677 of the French
Ambassador. Mr. Cunningham states in his Handbook that

5 Notes on the Characters of the Court of Queen Anne.

6 The actress is sometimes said to be Mrs. Marshall, but this appears
to be a mistake.— See Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, vol. vi. p. 461.

3,8 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

this was Barillon, but unless the house was the official
embassy, and inhabited by successive ambassadors, he must be
mistaken, for Barillon did not come over to this country
till August, 1677, and I find by Lord St. Alban's Rent-Roll that
the person who was living in the house in 1676 was Antoine
Courtin, the predecessor of Barillon. 7

" His Ex. Monseigneur Curtein, the French Ambassador,
payeth for his Ldsps. house scituate on the north side of
Yorke Street, by the yeare by quarterly payments, 400/." 8
This rent appears exceedingly high, although the house was
a very large one. In 1698, however, Ormonde House was
taken for three years for the Count de Tallard, French
Ambassador, at a still higher rent, viz., 600/. per annum.
Barillon usually has the sole credit of bribing our statesmen,
but Courtin wrote in 1677 to the French court, urging that
money should be sent to him to distribute among the
members of Parliament, because Spain and the Emperor had
sent money to bribe the other side. This house was after-
wards occupied by Henry Sydney, Earl of Romney, who was
the brother of Algernon Sydney, and the handsomest man at
Charles II. 's Court. In Grammont's Memoirs he is called the
" handsome Sidney," but it is also said that he had not
" sufficient vivacity to support the impression which his figure
made." He was at one time greatly in love with the Duke of
York's first wife, who is said to have encouraged his attentions.
In 1679, when Envoy to Holland, he commenced his intimacy
with the Prince of Orange, who, soon after his accession to the

7 A complete list of Foreign Ambassadors to the English Court is
much required by historical investigators. I made various inquiries for
such a list, but could not learn of one, till, through the courtesy of Mr.
Alfred Kingston, of the Public Record Office, I was referred to the Gentle-
man's Magazine (vol. xiv., 1840, pp. 483, 608), for a " Catalogue of French
Ambassadors to England," by John Holmes ; but this, though valuable
in its way, is unfortunately wrong in the present instance, for in it Courtin
is placed between 1665 and 1667, and not in 1676-7, when he undoubtedly
was here, as appears by the letters in Sir John Dalrymple's Memoirs
of Great Britain and Ireland, 1790, vol. i.

* B. M., Add. MSS., No. 22,063.

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 359

English throne, created him Earl of Romney. In November,
1695, William went to supper with the Earl in order to view
the fireworks, which were exhibited in the square. Evelyn
(under date November 13th, 1695) thus refers to the sight : —
" Famous fireworks and very chargeable, the King being
returned from his progress. . . . These fireworks were
showed before Lord Romney's, Master of the Ordnance, in
St. James's great square, where the King stood." The crowd
on this occasion was very great, and the King's Guards
encompassed the square. On December 2nd, 1697, the King
again went to see the fireworks, which were exhibited here in
commemoration of the peace. There is an engraving of the
grand erection for the exhibition of these fireworks designed
by Sir Martin Beckman, which consisted of " 1,000 sky rockets,
from four to six pounds weight, 200 balloons, 2,400 pumps
with stars, 1,000 cones, 7,000 reports, 15,000 swarms, 400
light balls, 22 rocket chests, each containing 60 rockets from
one to four pounders." Swift, in his remarks on Burnet's
Memoirs, sums up the Earl's character in very uncom-
plimentary terms ; he calls him " an idle, drunken, ignorant
rake, without sense, truth, or honour." He died here
in 1704.

In 1720 this house was occupied by Charles, fourth Lord
Cornwallis, who married Charlotte, the daughter of Richard,
Earl of Arran, and granddaughter of the great Duke of
Ormonde. Afterwards it came into the possession of the
Spanish Ambassador, when the adjoining chapel in York
Street was attached to the house as a place of worship for
the . embassy. This chapel was afterwards let to several
congregations, and in 18 17 the doctrines of Swedenborg were
taught there. It is now a Church of England chapel, but
the Castle of Castile is still to be seen on the front.

At the beginning of the present century Josiah Wedgwood,
the celebrated potter, had his show-rooms in this house, where
were exhibited the beautiful designs of Flaxman in porcelain.
This great sculptor, when he became celebrated, was not
ashamed of his early work for the Wedgwoods. Later the

360 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

" Erectheum Club," celebrated for its good dinners, was
founded here by Sir John Dean Paul the banker.

The celebrated Duke of Ormonde, who fought bravely for
Charles I. and followed Charles II. into exile, lived in the
house on the opposite side of York Street. The record of
his occupancy remains in the name of Ormond Yard at the
back of the house. Dryden draws the character of Ormonde
in glowing colours : —

" In this short file Barzillai first appears —
Barzillai, crowned with honour and with years.
Long since, the rising rebels he withstood
In regions waste beyond the Jordan's flood :
Unfortunately brave to buoy the state ;
But sinking underneath his master's fate ;
In exile with his godlike prince he mourned ;
For him he suffered and with him returned.
The court he practised, not the courtier's art :
Large was his wealth, but larger was his heart,
Which well the noblest objects knew to choose,
The fighting warrior and recording muse.
His bed could once a fruitful issue boast ;
Now more than half a father's name is lost.
His eldest hope, with every grace adorned,
By me, so heaven will have it, always mourned,
And always honoured, snatched in manhood's prime
By unequal fates and providence's crime :
Yet not before the goal of honour won,
All parts fulfilled of subject and of son :
Swift was the race, but short the time to run."

Ormonde's son, Thomas, Earl of Ossory, was a handsome
and accomplished man, who died before his father, to the
Duke's great grief. He bravely said, however, " Since he
had borne the death of his King he could support that of
his child, and would rather have his dead son than any living
son in Christendom." The Earl appears to have deserved
his father's love, for when the Duke of Buckingham was
supposed to have hired Blood to assassinate Ormonde, he
taxed him with the crime in the presence of the King, and
told him that if his father came to a violent end he should be

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 361

at no loss to guess the author, and he would pistol him even
behind the King's chair, adding, " This I tell you in the King's
presence, that you may be sure I shall keep my word." On
another occasion, when the Earl of Shaftesbury attacked
Ormonde as one of the conspiracy in the Popish Plot, Ossory
gallantly pleaded his father's cause, and so showed Shaftesbury
* up that he was forced to retract his accusation.

Although the Duke remained always loyal to his King,
he was treated with very little consideration by James II.
on his accession to the Crown. Macaulay describes in the
following passage the King's treatment of him, and his reception
by the people, who pressed to see him as he returned to his
London mansion : — " Ormond was politely informed that his
services were no longer needed in Ireland, and was invited
to repair to Whitehall, and to perform the functions of lord
steward. He dutifully submitted, but did not affect to deny
that the new arrangements wounded his feelings deeply. On
the eve of his departure he gave a magnificent banquet at
Kilmainham Hospital, then just completed, to the officers of
the garrison of Dublin. After dinner he rose, filled a goblet
to the brim with wine, and holding it up, asked whether he
had spilt one drop. ' No, gentlemen ; whatever the courtiers
may say, I am not yet sunk into dotage. My hand does not
fail me yet ; and my hand is not steadier than my heart.
To the health of King James ! ' Such was the last farewell
of Ormond to Ireland. He left the administration in the
hands of Lords Justices, and repaired to London, where he
was received with unusual marks of public respect. Many
persons of rank went forth to meet him on the road. A long
train of equipages followed him into St. James's Square,
where his mansion stood ; and the square was thronged by
a multitude which greeted him with loud acclamations." 9
James, second Duke of Ormonde, and son of the Earl of
Ossory, succeeded his grandfather in the possession of this
mansion in 1688, but in 17 15 he was attainted of high treason,
and in 17 19 the house was sold for 7,500/. It was bought
9 Macaulay's History of England, vol. i. pp. 448-9.

362 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

by the Duke of Chandos, who, on coming into possession,
discontinued the building of a house on the north side of
Cavendish Square which he had commenced when he com-
pleted the mansion of Cannons. Besides these two houses
there were others on the north side, inhabited, in 1676, by
Henry, second Earl of Clarendon, his brother, Laurence Hyde,
George Fitzroy, Duke of Northumberland, Sir Cyril Wyche,
and Thomas Herbert, eighth Earl of Pembroke, K.G.

The Earl of Clarendon, when he was Lord Cornbury,
assisted his father, the great Chancellor, who put great trust
in him on account of his discreetness. He opposed the court
because of the treatment his father received. Hyde became
afterwards Earl of Rochester. He was a very smooth man, and
made his court dexterously. Dryden panegyrizes him thus, —

" Hushai, the friend of David in distress ;
In public storms, of manly steadfastness ;
By foreign treatises he informed his youth,
And joined experience to his native truth."

The Duke of Northumberland was a natural son of
Charles II., by the Duchess of Cleveland. He married
Catherine, daughter of Thomas Wheatley, Esq., and widow
of Thomas Lucy, of Charlcote, in Warwickshire, in March,
1685-86. The King greatly disapproved of the match, and
the Duke of Grafton, Northumberland's brother, smuggled
the new-married pair out of the country, to be away from the
King's displeasure, but the two Dukes soon returned, leaving
the Duchess at a convent in Nieuport, Flanders.

Sir Cyril Wyche was the second son of Sir Peter Wyche,
English Ambassador at Constantinople. He was born in
that city, and was named after the Patriarch Cyril. He was
President of the Royal Society, in 1683, and also Secretary
for Ireland. He married the niece of John Evelyn, and died
in 1707.

The Earl of Pembroke, President of the Royal Society,
filled the offices of Lord High Admiral and Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland, besides others of great trust and importance.
He seldom attended the meetings of the Royal Society, but

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 363

communicated papers on mechanical subjects. As well as
being a statesman, the Earl was distinguished for his love of
virtu and old books.

" He buys for Topham drawings and designs,
For Pembroke, statues, dirty gods, and coins."

The poet does not do justice to the peer, whose collection
of antiquities was unrivalled, and whose library was one of
the first and finest collected by an individual. Maittaire
dedicated his Annates TypograpJiici to the Earl. Queen
Caroline went to a fete at his house in the square, on the
2nd of August, 1729.

Before passing on to the west side, we will catalogue the
inhabitants of the houses numbered 1 to 11.

No. 1. This house, now occupied as the chief west end
branch of the London and Westminster Bank, was formerly
inhabited by the Earl of Dartmouth, and by Lord Grantham,
who, in 1833, succeeded as Earl De Grey.

No. 2. Here lived " brave " Admiral Boscawen, the third
son of Hugh, first Viscount Falmouth. He converted some
French cannon, which he had captured in the action under
Lord Anson, off Cape Finisterre, into street posts, before his
door, and they are still to be seen in their old position. The
house remains in the possession of the Boscawen family, its
present occupant being Lord Viscount Falmouth.

No. 3 was the mansion of the Dukes of Leeds. Thomas,
fourth Duke, and K.G., married Lady Mary Godolphin, and
his porter wrote some doggerel on the happy event, which
Johnson was fond of repeating. The old Doctor considered
the second stanza to comprise all the advantages that wealth
can give : —

" When the Duke of Leeds shall married be
To a fine young lady of high quality,
How happy will that gentlewoman be
In his Grace of Leeds' good company.

She shall have all that's fine and fair,
And the best of silk and satin shall wear ;
And ride in a coach to take the air,
And have a house in St. James's Square."

364 ROUXD ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Philip Yorke, third Earl of Hardwicke, son of Charles
Yorke, the unfortunate Lord Chancellor, for a day, lived here
for some years.

The sixth Duke of Leeds lived in the house, and was
succeeded by Mr. Sackville Lane Fox, who married his only
daughter.

No. 4 was the town house of the late Earl De Grey,
which contained his fine collection of pictures, including por-
traits by Van Dyck. The Earl formerly lived at No. 1, but
his family had inhabited this house for many years.

No. 6. Bristol House was originally inhabited by John
Hervey, the first Earl of Bristol of that family. Here lived
John, Lord Hervey, the Sporus of Pope, and husband of the
beautiful Molly Lepell.

" P. Let Sporus tremble —

" A. What ! that thing of silk,

Sporus ! that mere white curd of ass's milk ?

Satire or sense, alas ! can Sporus feel ?

Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel ? "

Augustus, third Earl of Bristol, second son of Lord
Hervey, and first husband of Miss Chudleigh, afterwards
Duchess of Kingston, died at this house on the 22nd of
December, 1779. The present inhabitant of the house is the
third Marquis of Bristol.

No. 8 was nightly thronged by men of distinction, when it
was occupied by the Earl and Countess of Blessington, at whose
brilliant receptions politics, law, literature, and art were repre-
sented by their chief professors. Among the celebrities who
might have been seen there were Canning, Castlereagh, Grey,
Burdett, Lansdowne, Palmerston, Brougham, Scarlett, Erskine,
Jekyll, Rogers, Moore, Lawrence, Wilkie, and Kemble. In
May, 1829, Lord Blessington died, and at his death the house
was given up. Dr. Dionysius Lardner, the originator of
Lardner's Cyclopedia, lived at this house in the years 1834,
1835, and 1836. He is introduced by Warren into his Ten
Thousand a Year as Diabolus Gander, and was satirized by

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 365

Thackeray as Dr. Dioclesian Larner. " My father was not a
juke nor aven a markis, and see, nevertheliss, to what a pitch
I am come. I spare no expinse ; I'm the iditor of a cople of
pariodicals ; I dthrive about in me carridge ; I dine wid the
lords of the land ; and why — in the name of the piper that
pleed before Moses, why ? Because I'm a litherary man.
Because I'm Docthor Larner, in fact, and mimber of every
society in and out of Europe." 10 The late Earl of Derby,
K.G., when Lord Stanley, lived at this house in 1850.

No. 9. Hugh, fourth Duke of Northumberland, lived here
in 1822, and Hudson Gurney from 1824 to his death in 1864.
The latter was the grandson of David Barclay, the banker and
brewer, and was for half a century the head of the great
family of Gurneys of Norwich. In early life he travelled on
the continent with his friend the Earl of Aberdeen, and made
a translation of " Cupid and Psyche," from the Golden Ass of
Apuleius. He was a member in six successive Parliaments,
and his house became the resort of the elite of political and
literary society. He collected a fine library, and boasted
that he had read out of all the books. He died shortly
before the break-up of the firm of Overend, Gurney & Co.,
and was said to have died worth two millions of money.

At No. 10, lived, in 1836, Ada, the daughter of Lord
Byron and wife of Lord King, afterwards Earl of Lovelace.

"Is thy face like thy mother's, my fair child !
Ada ! sole daughter of my house and heart ?
When last I saw thy young blue eyes they smiled,
And then we parted — not as now we part,
But with a hope

My daughter ! with thy name this song begun ;
My daughter ! with thy name thus much shall end ;
I see thee not, — I hear thee not, — but none
Can be so wrapped in thee ; thou art the friend
To whom the shadows of far years extend :

10 Memoirs of Yelloivplush (Thackeray's Miscellanies, 1856, vol. ii.
p. 150).

366 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Albeit my brow thou never shouldst behold,
My voice shall with thy future visions blend,
And reach into thy heart, — when mine is cold, —
A token and a tone, even from thy father's mould."

No 1 1 is famous as the residence of John, third Duke of
Roxburgh, the celebrated bibliomaniac, who in early life fell
in love with the Princess Christina of Mecklenburg. When
the Princess's younger sister, Sophia Charlotte, was fixed on
as the future Queen of England, it was made a provision that
the elder sister should not unite herself to a British subject,
so that the lovers had to break off their engagement, and they
both died unmarried. In May and July, 1812, the Duke's
magnificent library was sold by auction in the dining-room of
the house, by Evans, and forty-two days were occupied in its
sale. The dispersion of this superb collection, which contained
fine specimens of the early printers, and of old English poetry,
forms one of the chief eras in bibliographical history. The
total number of articles was 10,120, and the total proceeds
were 23,397/. IOS - &d- The great lot of the sale was the first
edition of Boccaccio's Decameron, printed by Valdarfer in
1471, "the most notorious book in existence." Before 1740
Lord Sunderland had seen it, and Lord Oxford had wished
for it, but an ancestor of the Duke of Roxburgh's secured it
for one hundred guineas, a price which Marchand in his
Histoire de VImprimerie mentions as immense. At this sale
the book was expected to fetch 1,000/., but all were taken
by surprise when the fight commenced between Earl Spencer
and the Marquis of Blandford. The Earl's last bid was 2,250/.,
but the Marquis quietly added 10/., and the contest ended.
Out of this sale grew the " Roxburgh Club," at whose dinners
the first toast was, " Bibliomania all over the world," the second,
" The immortal memory of Christopher Valdarfer," and the
tenth, " The memory of John, Duke of Roxburgh." Lord Chief
Justice Ellenborough bought the house for 18,000/., and died
in it on the 13th of December, 1818. By his will he directed
that it should be sold after his death. The Right Hon.
William Windham lived here, and the club which now occupies

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 367

the house was named the " Windham Club," after that high-
minded statesman.

On the west side, in 1676, lived George Saville, Viscount
Halifax, afterwards Marquis, who died in 1695. Burnet says
of this celebrated Trimmer, that " no side trusted him ; "
but Macaulay has praised him in his most glowing terms.
The second Marquis also lived here.

Sir Allen Apsley, the brother of the celebrated Mrs.
Lucy Hutchinson, died in his house on the 15th of
October, 1683. He supported the King's side in the
Civil Wars, and was successively Governor of Exeter and
Barnstaple, but nevertheless he maintained a strict friend-
ship with his sister and her husband, Colonel Hutchinson,
who were zealous Parliamentarians. Sir Allen's son, Sir
Peter Apsley, also lived here, as did his grandson, Allen,
Earl of Bathurst. Lord Bathurst was a man of elegant
tastes and jovial manners. He lived to see his son Lord
Chancellor, and, according to Lord Campbell, he and Sir
Thomas More's father were the only men who ever enjoyed
that pleasure. This son was a great contrast to his father,
and Lord Bathurst once said, when Lord Apsley retired after
supper, " Now that the old gentleman has gone to bed, let us
be merry and enjoy ourselves." He was a friend of Pope and
the wits of the day ; and in the debate in the House of Lords
on the Bills of Pains and Penalties against Bishop Atterbury,
he made a very happy attack upon the occupants of the
episcopal bench. He said, " I can hardly account for the
inveterate malice some persons bear to the learned and
ingenious Bishop of Rochester, unless they are possessed of
the infatuation of the wild Indians, who fondly believe they
will inherit not only the spoils but even the abilities of
any great enemy they kill." He was fond of rural amuse-
ments, and planted a large number of trees at his country
seat —

" Who plants like Bathurst ? "

He was an example of Evelyn's theory, that planters are
likely to live to an old age, for he lived sixty-four years with

368 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

his cousin and wife Catherine, daughter of Sir Peter Apsley.
Pope visited Martha Blount in this square, probably at Lord
Bathurst's.

Arabella Churchill, sister of the Duke of Marlborough,
mistress of the Duke of York and mother of the Duke
of Berwick, was here for a short time, and next door to
her lived Moll Davis, the mistress of the King. Near them
was Arthur, first Earl of Essex, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
and the Hon. Thomas Jermyn, whose lease from the Earl of
St. Alban's was dated 1670.

In 1678, Charles Sackville, sixth Earl of Dorset, K.G.,
the possessor of Knowle, lived here. Horace Walpole says of
him, " He was the finest gentleman in the voluptuous court of
Charles II. and in the gloomy one of William. He had as
much wit as his first master, or his contemporaries Buckingham
and Rochester, without the royal want of feeling, the Duke's
want of principles, or the Earl's want of thought." When
Lord Buckhurst he wrote the famous " Song written at sea,
in the first Dutch war, the night before an engagement,"
beginning —

" To all you ladies now at land
We men at sea indite ;
But first would have you understand

How hard it is to write ;
The muses now and Neptune too
We must implore to write to you."

He was created Earl of Middlesex in return for giving up
Nell Gwynn to the King, who

" Gave him an Earldom to resign his bitch." "

In 1680 Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary of State and Presi-
dent of the Royal Society in succession to Lord Brouncker,
lived in the house formerly inhabited by Arabella Churchill.
In January, 1685-6, when Catherine Sedley was created
Countess of Dorchester, and sent from court at the instigation
of the Queen, she came here. " Her house is furnishing very

11 State Poems.

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 369

fine in St. James's Square, and a seat taken for her in the
new consecrated St. Ann's Church." le

Nell Gwynn's house is described by Pennant as "the first
good house on the left of the square as one entered from
Pall Mall." It was pulled down to make room for the "Army
and Navy Club."

At No. 12, lived the brave soldier Sir Jeffrey Amherst,
Lord Amherst, when Commander-in-Chief, in which office he
was succeeded by the Duke of York in 1795. On the death
of Amherst the house was taken by William Lygon, created
Lord Beauchamp in 1806, and Earl Beauchamp in 1815, one
year before his death. His widow lived for some years in
the house, until it was taken by the " London Library," who
removed here from Pall Mall. This admirable and well-
managed institution is second only to the library of the
British Museum in the valuable aid it holds out to the literary
man. The Statistical Society and Institute of Actuaries also
have apartments in the house.

No. 13 is Lichfield House, the handsome stone front of
which was designed by James Stuart, the author of the
Antiquities of Athens (from which he gained his name of
Athenian), for the first Viscount Anson, whose son was
created Earl of Lichfield. In 18 10 it was in the possession
of Edward Boehm, whose wife was a leader of fashion.

" It was the carnival, as I have said

Some six-and-thirty stanzas back, and so
Laura the usual preparations made,

Which you do when your mind's made up to go
To-night to Mrs. Boehm's masquerade,

Spectator or partaker in the show ;
The only difference known between the cases
Is — here, we have six weeks of 'varnished faces."

Mrs. Boehm gave a grand dinner to the Prince Regent on
the evening of the 20th of June, 1815, and Lord and Lady
Castlereagh were among the guests. Major Henry Percy,
who brought despatches from the Duke of Wellington con-

12 1685-6, Ellis Correspondence, 1829, vol. i. p. 92.

37o ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

taining the news of the victory at Waterloo, dashed up to
Lord Castlereagh's door at No. 16, in a postchaise-and-four,
on this same evening, but not finding him there came here
at once. 13 The despatches were read in an inner room, and
after a while the Prince came out, " and said with much feeling,
words to this effect : — ' It is a glorious victory, and we must
rejoice at it ; but the loss of life has been fearful, and /have
lost many friends ; ' and while he spoke the tears ran down
his cheeks." 14 The Prince then displayed the three French
eagles that Percy had brought from the balcony of the
house, to certify to the public that a great victory had
been won.

Soon after this the house was rented by the Earl of Lich-
field to the Duke of Bedford, and the notorious Lichfield
House compact between the Whigs and O'Connell was formed
here in 1835. The "Army and Navy Club" took the house
for a short time, before it moved to its new mansion in Pall
Mall.

Nos. 14, 15, are now occupied by the "East India United
Service Club," originally founded in 1848. No. 15 was lately
rebuilt and added to No. 14, the original house of the club,
and the whole refronted.

Sir Philip Francis, the supposed author of Junius, moved
to No. 14 in 1791. In a letter to a friend, he says : — " I have
removed into a very convenient house in St. James's Square,
where I believe I am at anchor for life. The name of the
situation sounds well ; but you would be much mistaken in

13 Major Percy drove first to the office of the Secretary at War (Earl
Bathurst), then to the Earl's house, where the despatches were opened and
read, then to Lord Castlereagh's, and lastly to Mrs. Boehm's. The Govern-
ment were expecting a despatch, and several members of the Cabinet dined
with Lord Bathurst in order to be on the spot when it arrived. The com-
pany broke up, but still lingered on the pavement, until they heard a shout,
which was soon followed by the arrival of Major Percy. They went
into the house and read the papers before sending them on to Lord
Castlereagh and the Prince Regent. — See Notes and Queries, 2nd Series,
vol. vi. p. 449.

14 COUNTESS Brownlow'S Reminiscences of a Septuagenarian, p. 119.

.ST. JAMES'S SQUARE 371

concluding that I lived in a palace." 15 He lived here till his
death in 18 18, and by his will he directed that his library
and private papers should remain in the house so long as his
widow and second wife continued to reside in it. His son,
Philip Francis, having the reversionary interest, the library
was sold at his death by arrangement between Lady Francis
and the grandchildren of Sir Philip. This house was hired
of Lady Francis by Queen Caroline, at the time of her
trial in 1820, and from here she went in state daily to the
House of Peers, whilst the bill of pains and penalties was in
progress.

The " Free Trade Club," instituted by Cobden, and of
which Messrs. Bright, George Thompson, and C. P. Villiers
were members, occupied the house in 1850.

That greatest of political time-servers, Lord Chancellor
Thurlow, lived at No. 15 in the years 1796- 1800.

" The rugged Thurlow, who with sullen scowl,
In surly mood, at friend and foe will growl ;
Of proud prerogative the stern support,
Defends the entrance of great George's court
'Gainst factious Whigs. . . . " 16

The following receipt is no caricature, but sober truth : —
" How TO make A Chancellor. — Take a man of great
abilities, with a heart as black as his countenance. Let him
possess a rough inflexibility, without the least tincture of
generosity or affection, and be as manly as oaths and ill
manners can make him. He should be a man who will act
politically with all parties, hating and deriding every one of
the individuals which compose them." 17

At No. 16, the corner house of King Street, lived the
statesman Lord Castlereagh, afterwards Marquis of London-
derry. Worry and hard work at last took effect upon the
mind of this amiable man, who appears to have been loved
by all who knew him, and he died by his own hand on the

15 Parkes'S Life of Frauds, vol. ii. p. 295.

16 Criticisms on the Rolliad, 1795, p. 169.

17 Political Receipt Book for 1784 (Rolliad, 1795, P- 47)-

372 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

1 2th of August, 1822, at his country seat, North Cray, Kent.
His remains were brought up to town, and buried in West-
minster Abbey, when the streets were crowded with people.
To the eternal disgrace of Englishmen, when the body was
taken from the hearse, a shout of exultation and triumph
swelled out from the assembled multitudes. Few Ministers
were ever so unpopular as Lord Castlereagh, and his windows
were frequently smashed by the rabble. " One night, when
an excited mob attacked his house, paving-stones were break-
ing his windows, and dashing across the drawing-room, to
the imminent risk of the destruction of the furniture, he
quietly mixed with the crowd, till a person whispered, ' You
are known, and had better, go in.' He did so, and then went
to the drawing-room, where, with the utmost composure, he
closed the shutters of the four windows, a shower of stones
falling around him." 18 Allan Cunningham gives an interesting
anecdote of Lord Castlereagh, and his cousin, the Hon. Mrs.
Darner, who was a strong Whig. His lordship promised to
make Sir Alexander Johnston Chief Justice and President of
Ceylon, which, when Mrs. Damer heard, she sarcastically
remarked to Sir Alexander, " The fellow will cheat you ; he
is a Tory." Soon afterwards, Castlereagh sent express to
Johnston, whose commission was drawn out and the great
seal affixed to it late at night. On the following morning
Castlereagh fought his duel with Canning. Sir Alexander
waited on him soon afterwards, and, while expressing his
thanks, remarked on his fortitude the night previous. His
lordship said he had a reason ; for if he had fallen before the
great seal was set to the commission, the appointment would
have been lost, and his cousin would have said, " The fellow,
sir, was a cheat ; he was a Tory." When Mrs. Damer heard
this, tears came into her eyes, and she said, " Go to my
cousin, and say I have wronged him ; that I love his manli-
ness and regard for honour, and that I wish to renew our
intercourse of friendship." 19

18 COUNTESS Brownlow's Reminiscences of a Septuagenarian,^. 193.

19 Cunningham's British Sculptors, vol. iii. p. 271.

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 373

The Right Hon. William Grenville, who was called to the
Upper House of Parliament as Lord Grenville in 1790, in
order that Pitt might have a leader there more trustworthy
than Lord Thurlow, lived at No. 17, from 1789 to 1794. The
Marquis and Duke of Cleveland was in the same house in
1829, and it is still inhabited by the present Duke. At
No. 19 lived, in 1822, the Duke of St. Alban's. It is now the
town residence of the Bishops of Winchester.

The south side has always been of little account, but in
1708, Charles, Lord Ossulston, afterwards Earl of Tankerville,
lived there, and his son, the second Earl, was still living in the
house in 1732, when his staircase was painted by Amiconi.
A painter named Morland, grandfather of George Morland,
also lived on the south side. This side has now been vastly
improved by the erection of the " New Carlton Club."

No. 21 at the south-east corner of the square is Norfolk
House, the town residence of the Dukes of Norfolk, from 1684
to the present time. The old house (St. Alban's House), in
which Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Alban's, lived till his death,
still exists behind the house, which fronts the square. The
hereditary Prince of Tuscany, afterwards Cosmo III., was
lent this house when he visited England in 1669. His recep-
tion is thus described : — " About two hours before sunset, his
Highness alighted at the house of my Lord Henry Germain,
Earl of St. Alban's, chamberlain to the Queen Mother, which
had been prepared for him by Colonel Gascoyne. At the
door he found waiting to receive him, Mr. Henry Germain, first
equerry to the Duke of York, who, in the absence of his uncle,,
officiated as master of the house, attending him up stairs." 20

Before the Prince went away, he exhibited some fireworks
before St. Alban's House, apparently much to the satisfaction
of the populace. — " In order to celebrate the king's birthday
with some especial tokens of joy, his Highness caused to be
constructed in the open place before the Earl of St. Alban's
house, in which his highness lodged, a machine with different
fanciful artificial fireworks and squibs, which, as far as the
20 Travels of Cosmo III., 1821, p. 163.

374 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

shortness of the time and the skill of the artist permitted,
were well contrived, and, during a great part of the night
served to amuse the populace, who flocked thither in great
numbers to see them, and to participate in the liberality of
the Prince, who, for their greater gratification, distributed
among them several casks of Italian wine and beer, which
called forth increased applause, seconded by discharges of
harquebuses and carbines, which were let off by the individuals
of his Highness's court." 21

The present Norfolk House was erected after the designs
of R. Brettingham, in 1742, and the portico was added 100
years afterwards, in 1842.

When Frederick, Prince of Wales, was ordered to quit St.
James's Palace by George II., he rented this house of the
Duke of Norfolk, and inhabited it while Carlton House was
prepared for his reception. On May 24th, 1738, George III.
was born here, in a state bed now preserved at Worksop. On
March 24th, 1739, Edward, Duke of York, was also born here.

No. 22 is the town residence of the Bishops of London,
and has been so from about the year 1720, before which time
London House was situated in Aldersgate Street. In 1734,
Dr. Rawlinson, the non-juring titular Bishop of London,
rented that house.

No. 23. The town house of the late and present Earls of
Derby.

The Dutch Ambassador was living in the square in 1697,
in which year he made a large bonfire (consisting of 140
pitch barrels) before his house, on the occasion of the thanks-
giving day appointed by the States General for the peace.
There were fireworks, trumpets, and two hogsheads of wine,
which were kept continually running amongst the common
people.

The Duke of Hamilton was taken to his house in the

square when wounded in his famous duel with Lord Mohun,

on the 15th of November, 171 2, and died soon afterwards.

There were other celebrated inhabitants, the position of whose

21 Travels of Costno III., p. 371.

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 375

houses I am unable to identify ; among them are the follow-
ing : — Sir Robert Walpole, the great Minister, who lived here
in 1734 before he removed to his official residence in Downing
Street in the following year. Sir John Hobart, afterwards first
Lord Hobart and Earl of Buckinghamshire, who had a house
in the square, to which his sister, Lady Suffolk, the mistress
of George II., went when she left St. James's Place in 1734.
The great Minister, William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham,
who lived in St. James's Square for some years from 1 757-
In 1 76 1 -2, Philip Francis acted as amanuensis to Pitt, writing
despatches in Latin and English to his dictation. Lady
Francis thus describes the way in which the day was passed :
— " His manner of attending there was to come early in the
morning to Lord C.'s house in St. James's Square, where he
was shown into the library, and found his breakfast and the
work of the day ; and I have heard him say that he was so
happy in having the command of the books unmolested (for
sometimes he had long intervals of leisure, when his pen was
not required), that he probably from those agreeable remem-
brances retained all his life a partiality for St. James's Square,
in which, as soon as his circumstances permitted him, he
bought a house." -

Mr. Parkes relates several anecdotes of this time. Pitt
was debating with two of his colleagues on a Cabinet question,
and being urged to give his reasons for differing with them,
cried out, " My lords, the reasons why I consider the measure
injudicious, are so obvious that I wonder you should be
required to be told them. I will venture to assert they will
occur to that youth. Speak, Francis : have you heard the
question ? Tell their lordships why I object to their pro-
posals." Francis's reasons were satisfactory to the great man,
and he exclaimed : — " I told you how it would be, you
cannot artswer a boy!" On another occasion a question
arose as to the gender of some Latin word, and Pitt said : —
" Ask the St. Paul's boy," who answered correctly. 23

22 Parkes's Life of Francis, vol. ii. p. 417.

23 Ibid., vol. i. pp. 52, 53.

376 RObND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

George, second Earl of Macclesfield, P.R.S., and son of
the Lord Chancellor Macclesfield. He was a good mathe-
matician and astronomer, and in 175 1 was the principal
agent in carrying through the House of Lords the bill for the
reformation of the Calendar. This caused him to become
very unpopular, and when his son was standing a contested
election at Oxford, one of the mob cried out : — " Give us
back, you rascal, those eleven days which your father stole
from us." He died March 17, 1764, and crowds of people
visited his house in the square when he lay in state. Philip,
Earl of Chesterfield, who assisted Macclesfield in the passing
of the Calendar Bill, also lived here.

In 1793 the great Governor-General of India, Warren
Hastings, lived in the square for about a year, at the same
time as his great enemy, Francis, was also living there. The
poet Cowper thus addresses his old schoolfellow : —

" Hastings ! I knew thee young, and of a mind,
While young, humane, conversable and kind ;
Nor can I well believe thee, gentle then,
Now grown a villain and the worst of men :
But rather some suspect, who have oppressed
And worried thee, as not themselves the best."

The eminent diplomatist William Eden, first Lord Auck-
land, also lived here in 1793. He belonged originally to the
Opposition, but in 1785 took office under Pitt, and negotiated
a commercial treaty with France. His desertion was resented
by his party, and Lord Surrey and Fox both attacked him
in the House of Commons.

" To all you young men, who are famous for changing,
From party to party continually ranging,
I tell you the place of all places to breed in,
For maggots of corruption, 's the heart of Billy Eden.

Then give him a place, O dearest Billy Pitt O !

If he can't have a whole one, O give a little bit O ! " 24

Although inhabited by some of the chief nobility and
gentry, the centre of the square was long left in a most

24 Rolliad {Political Miscellanies), 1795, p. io8r

.ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 377

disgraceful state, and the refuse of kitchens and dead animals
were for years thrown into it. Macaulay describes its
condition in the chapter on the state of London in his History
of England : — " St. James's Square was a receptacle for all the
offal and cinders, for all the dead cats and dead dogs of
Westminster. At one time a cudgel-player kept the ring
there. At another time an impudent squatter settled himself
there, and built a shed for rubbish under the windows of the
gilded saloons, in which the first magnates of the realm,
Norfolks, Ormonds, Kents, and Pembrokes, gave banquets and
balls. It was not till these nuisances had lasted through a
whole generation, and till much had been written about them,
that the inhabitants applied to Parliament for permission to
put up rails and to plant trees." 25

Not only was the centre of the square for many years the
dustheap and dunghill of the parish, but bullies were allowed
to take up their station there without let or hindrance. In
the Evening Post of March 23rd, 173 1, is the following entry j
— " On Saturday night last, William Bellamy (alias Vinegar),
whose father formerly kept the ring in St. James's Square for
cudgel-playing, was committed to the Gate house by Justice
Lambert for several robberies on the highway." A coach-
maker also erected a shed, in which he put heaps of wood and
other things. In February, 1725-6, the inhabitants of the
east, north, and west sides petitioned to be allowed to rate
themselves in order to cleanse and adorn the square. A bill
was passed, and in 1727 a basin of water filled from York
Buildings was opened in the middle of the square, with a
pleasure-boat, and railings round it. Out of the midst of the
water a pedestal, intended for a statue of William III., was
erected in accordance with the legacy of Samuel Travers,
dated July 6th, 1724. Three years previously, the Chevalier
De David, a pupil of Bernini, endeavoured to procure a sub-
scription of 2,500/. for the erection of an equestrian statue
of George I., to be designed by himself ; but only obtaining
100/. he relinquished the idea, and returned the money to the
25 Hist. ofEng., 1849, vo1 - i- P- 359-

378 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

subscribers. 26 The state of the square is thus described in
1732 : — " St. James's Square, which is neatly paved with
heading-stone all over, in which there is a most curious bason
(in most places 7 foot deep), which is oval, and 150 feet
diameter. In the centre thereof is a pedestal about 15 feet
square, for a statue of King William III. on horseback: the
whole is invironed with iron rails, octagonal or 8 square, and
at each angle without the rails is a stone pillar about 9 foot
high, and a lamp at the top. The gravel walk within the
rails is in breadth from each angle to the margin of the bason,
about 26 foot. All which was done at the expense of the
nobility and gentry inhabiting the east, west and north sides
of the square, who obtained an Act of Parliament for the
performance thereof." 27 The ornamentation of the square
appears to have been thought a great deal of, and is thus
described a few years afterwards : — " In the middle of the
square is lately made a noble bason, with a gravel walk round
it, the whole enclos'd with a pallisade of iron, and the rest of
the square is so artificially pitch'd with rough square stones
of about two hands breadth, that no dirt or water ever
stands on it ; only about four foot from the houses are
broad, flat stones, defended by posts for the conveniency
of walking." 28 In a large view of the square of about the
same date, all this is represented, but in the middle of
the water is a small fountain. 29 The bequest of Samuel
Travers was overlooked for many years, until the money
was found in the list of unclaimed dividends, when the
horse of the present equestrian statue was modelled by
Bacon from a favourite one of George III. It was cast in
brass and set up in 1808. In the riots of 1780, the keys of
Newgate were thrown into the water by the mob, and were
not found till some years after. The pond remained for

26 Malcolm's London, vol. iv. p. 326.

27 New Remarks of London ; or, a Survey of the Cities of London and
Westminster, collected by the Company of Parish Clerks. i2mo. p. 264.

28 History and Present State of the British Islands, vol. ii. p. 130.

29 A reduced copy of this view is given at the beginning of the chapter.

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 379

about a century, and was not filled up until after the year
1840. Besides the celebrities who have lived here, Dr. Johnson
may be noted as in some way connected with the place, for
he told Sir Joshua Reynolds that he walked round the square,
in company with Richard Savage, one night for several hours
for want of a lodging ; when at last the two separated, they
pledged each other to stand by their country.

The names of its inhabitants prove how important a place
St. James's Square has been for more than two centuries. In
1734, there were living here, four dukes, eight earls, one
baron, and a prime minister ; 30 and to further show the estima-
tion in which it was, Richardson places here the residence of
his hero, Sir Charles Grandison, the pink of every gentlemanly
perfection according to some, and an insufferable prig accord-
ing to others. Although sundry clubs and societies, a bank,
and an insurance office have succeeded in establishing them-
selves here, the place still retains its aristocratic character, for
there are at present living in it three dukes, one marquis,
three earls, one viscount, two bishops, one baron, two
baronets, and three Knights of the Garter, besides right
honourables, members of parliament, &c.

Before concluding it will be well to notice some of the
surroundings of the square.

St. James's Market was proclaimed on the 27th of Sep-
tember, 1664, to be kept on Mondays, Wednesdays, and
Saturdays, in St. James's Fields. Soon afterwards buildings
were erected, and Hatton, in 1708, describes it as " the greatest
market at this end of the town for butchers and poulterers."
Fifteen years subsequent it is thus described : — " St. James's
Market, which lies between the Square and the Haymarket, is
well replenished with the best of flesh, poultry, fish, and
garden stuff that can be met with, but usually a fourth dearer
than in the markets about the City of London, most of the

30 Dukes of Norfolk, Southampton, Kent, and Chandos ; Earls of
Pembroke, Essex, Chesterfield, Stafford, Bristol, Bredalbane, Tankerville,
and Wilmington ; Lord Bathurst, Sir Robert Walpole. — Seymour's
Survey.

3So ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

provisions being brought from thence, and bought up here by
the stewards of people of quality, who spare no price to
furnish their lords' houses with what is nice and delicate." 31

" St. James's sends the veal." 32

Mrs. Oldfield, the celebrated actress, who was born in 1683,
was found by Farquhar in a tavern (the Mitre) in this market
kept by her aunt, Mrs. Voss, reciting plays to her friends. She
was a beauty with a musical voice, and soon took the world by
storm, setting the fashion in dress. She is the Flavia of the
Tatler and the Narcissa of Pope. When she died in 1730,
her body lay in state.

The fair Quakeress, Hannah Lightfoot, who is supposed
by some to have been married to George III., but whose
existence, according to Mr. Thorns, is very doubtful, lived in
1754 at a house in a continuation of Market Street, that is, if
she ever did live at all. This once important place was de-
stroyed by the formation of Regent Street, but there is still
a little of it left.

There are five outlets to St. James's Square : two, George
Street and John Street (perhaps the smallest streets in
London), leading into Pall Mall ; one, York Street, leading
into Jermyn Street; one, Charles Street, leading into the Hay-
market ; and one, King Street, leading into St. James's Street.

Charles Street was built in 1673, and named after the
reigning King. Aubrey de Vere, twentieth Earl of Oxford,
who soon after moved into St. James's Square, Robert Rich,
second Earl of Holland, John, first Lord Belasyse, and Thomas,
Lord Clifford, were living here in that year. In 1698-9,
John Moore, Bishop of Norwich, occupied a house in the
street. Edmund Burke had a small lodging for some years
here, where the poet Crabbe was first introduced to the
great orator. James Wardrop, M.D., surgeon to George IV.,
with whom he was a great favourite, lived for many years
at No. 2. In addition to his eminence as a doctor, he was a

31 1743, History and Present State of the British Islands, vol. ii. p. 130.

32 Gay's Trivia, Book ii.

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 381

good judge of pictures and horses, and could tell a story well.
He founded a hospital of his own, which foreign visitors
considered as one of the chief sights for them to see. He
declined a baronetcy, and for the last thirty-five years of his
life never mixed in professional society. He was looked upon
with dislike and distrust by the heads of the profession,
partly from his conduct, and from the authorship of certain
intercepted letters. He died in February, 1869, aged eighty-
seven, at this house.

The Right Hon. George Canning lived at No. 4 in 1796,
and at the same time John Hoppner, R.A., portrait-painter
to the Prince Regent, was at No. 18. One day Colonel
M'Mahon ordered the porter at Carlton House to send for
the Prince's painter and get the rails repainted, when the
man sent off for Hoppner. The Prince visited Hoppner once,
and seeing the artist's fine portrait of Pitt on the easel cried
out, "Ah ! ah ! there he is with his d — d obstinate face." 33

York Street, called after James, Duke of York, was
originally monopolized by the garden walls of the two great
houses in the square, the Duke of Ormonde's and the Earl
of Romney's, and it is not much altered now. This street
leads into Jermyn Street opposite St. James's Church.

Jermyn Street was built about the year 1667, and called
after Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Alban's. It soon became
a very fashionable street, and had among its early inhabitants
La belle Stewart, Duchess of Richmond, Colonel Churchill,
afterwards Duke of Marlborough, and Simon Verelst the
painter. Sir Isaac Newton lived in this street at the com-
mencement of his quarrel with Flamstead, the Astronomer
Royal, and before he went to St. Martin's Street. James
Craggs, the Secretary of State who succeeded Addison, lived
here. He died in 1720, at the early age of thirty-five, and
Pope wrote an epitaph for his monument in Westminster : —

" Statesman, yet friend to truth ! of soul sincere,
In action faithful, and in honour clear !

a3 Haydon'S Autobiography, vol. i. p. 58.

382 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

Who broke no promise, served no private end,
Who gain'd no title, and who lost no friend,
Ennobled by himself, by all approved,
Prais'd, wept, and honour'd, by the muse he loVd."

The poet Gray, when he visited London, lodged in Jermyn
Street, either at a hosier's named Roberts or at an oilman's
(Frisby) ; both houses were at the east end, but on opposite
sides of the way. Another poet, Shenstone, lodged here
when he came to town. Mrs. Delany, when Mrs. Pendarves,
was here in 1741. William Pitt, the great Commoner, lived
in this street in 1763. On the 25th of August his lodging
was the scene of a meeting between himself and Lord Bute.
Lord Bute was sent by George III. to treat with Pitt about
the formation of a Ministry to succeed George Grenville's.
Dr. William Hunter commenced the formation of his magni-
ficent museum at his house in this street, before he moved to
Windmill Street.

Major Baggs, cousin of Sir Philip Francis, died at his
lodgings in Jermyn Street in 1790, at the age of seventy. He
was a well-known gambler and racing man, and fought eleven
duels. He once won 17,000/. at hazard, and at one time
was worth 100,000/. ; he is said to have ruined forty persons
by play.

Sir Thomas Lawrence lodged at No. 42, in 1790. He
was succeeded by Sir Martin Archer Shee, who afterwards
succeeded him in the presidential chair of the Royal Academy.
Shee lived in these lodgings until 1796.

No. j6 is the " St. James's Hotel." When Sir Walter
Scott returned from his tour to the continent in 1832, he
stayed here for three weeks, and on the 7th of July he left
it to return to Scotland and to die.

King Street was built in 1673. It is well known as
containing the St. James's Theatre, Willis's Rooms, and
Christie and Manson's auction-rooms. Saville, Lord Halifax,
was an early inhabitant, and Charlotte Smith, the once
celebrated novelist and sonneteer, was born in the street.
The present Emperor of the French lived at No. ic. in 1848.

ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 383

The Society of Arts have put up one of their medallions to
mark the house. St. James's Theatre was built by Beazley
for Braham, the great tenor, and was opened in December,
1835. It has never been very successful. Kenney told
Alfred Bunn that he had been in the green-room one night,
and on hearing Braham say he was proud of his pit, had gone
round and counted it, when he found that there were seven-
teen persons present. French plays have usually been acted
here, and it was the scene of the triumphs of Mdlle. Rachel ;
within the last year or so crowded houses have witnessed the
acting of Ravel and Schneider.

Willis's Rooms are well known as the scene of numerous
grand balls. Here, for many years, were held the select
assemblies known as " Almack's." The rooms were planned
by Robert Mylne, and were opened in February, 1765. The
original scheme consisted of a ten-guinea subscription, for
which in return a ball and supper were given once a week for
twelve weeks. On the opening night the Duke of Cumber-
land was present, but the general attendance was not large.
The ceilings were dripping with wet, owing to the hurry with
which the building had been finished ; but to give the public
confidence, Almack, the proprietor, absurdly advertised that
hot bricks and boiling water had been used in the building.
In March, 1765, Gilly Williams wrote to Selwyn : — " Our
female Almack's flourishes beyond description. . . . Almack's
Scotch face in a bag wig, waiting at supper, would divert you,
as would his lady in sack, making tea and curtseying to the
duchesses." Five years after (on May 6, 1770,) Walpole tells
George Montagu, — " There is a new institution that begins to
make, and if it proceeds, will make a considerable noise. It
is a club of both sexes, to be erected at Almack's, on the
model of that of the men at White's. Mrs. Fitzroy, Lady
Pembroke, Mrs. Meynel, Lady Molyneux, Miss Pelham, and
Miss Loyd are the foundresses. I am ashamed to say I am
of so young and fashionable a society." The Hon. Mrs.
Boscawen, in a letter to Mrs. Delany, gives a description of
this female club, the numbers of which were to extend to

384 ROUND ABOUT PICCADILLY.

two hundred. The first fourteen members settled the rules ;
one of these was, that the ladies should nominate and choose
the men, and the men the ladies. 3i

Almack's niece married Willis, who succeeded to the
business on the retirement of Almack. The present pro-
prietor, Mr. Thomas Willis, is his grandson.

Bury Street (or Berry Street as it ought to be spelt) was
built about the year 1672, and called after a Mr. Berry, the
landlord of most of the houses, who died in 1735, over one
hundred years old. Sir Richard Steele lived from 1707 to 1710
in a house since pulled down. In a letter to Mrs. Scurlock,
before his marriage to her, he writes, " I believe it would not
be amiss if some time this afternoon you took a coach or
chair and went to see a house next door to Lady Berkeley's
towards St. James's Street, which is to let." A few days after
Steele wrote to his mother-in-law to tell her that he had
taken the house and hoped she would live with him and his
wife. In his various notes to his wife he gives the direction
differently. "At her house 3rd door from Germain Street,
left hand in Berry Street." " Third door right hand in Berry
Street." " At her house the last house but two on the left
hand Berry Street, St. James's." A Mrs. Vanderput was
Steele's landlady, and she was naturally anxious for the
arrears of rent, which the author was never very well able to
pay.

Dean Swift took a lodging in Bury Street in 17 10. " I
have the first floor, a dining-room and bed-chamber, at eight
shillings a week, plaguy dear." In 1726 he was again in
lodgings in this street. Daniel O'Connell lived at No. 19 in
1826, and the poet Moore lodged at No. 33 in his visits
to London.

Duke Street, famous as the first street in which a pave-
ment was laid down for walkers, leads us back into Piccadilly,
from which place we originally started. Sir Carr Scrope, on
whom Rochester wrote some scurrilous lines, lived at the
north end of the east side from 1679 to 1683. Edmund
84 Life and Correspondence of Mrs. Delany, 2nd Series, vol. i. p. 261.

.ST. JAMES'S SQUARE. 385

Burke was at No. 6 in 1793, and at No. 25 in the following
year. The poet Campbell lived between the years 1830 and
1840 at the Sussex Chambers in this street.

On the east side there is a yard formerly occupied by one
house with a handsome garden. This was inhabited by the
Duke of Shrewsbury at the beginning of the eighteenth
century.

With our return to Piccadilly through Duke Street our
rambles in the Court District of London are ended.

Imperfect and selective as are the collections here gathered
together, I hope they may not be considered an inadequate
summary of the interesting memorials and events of the past,
which cluster so thickly around the houses and streets of this
part of town ; or as an unworthy chapter in the history of that
London, so rich in its varied associations, which Cowper
praises thus : —

" Such London is, by taste and wealth proclaim'd

The fairest capital of all the world.

*****

Where finds Philosophy her eagle eye ?

*****

In London. Where her implements exact ?

*****

In London. Where has commerce such a mart,
So thronged, so drain'd and so supplied
As London — opulent, enlarg'd and still
Increasing London ? Babylon of old,
Not more the glory of the Earth than she,
A more accomplish'd world's chief glory now."

INDEX.

Page

Abbot, Right Hon. Charles 331

Abington, Mrs., in Pall Mall 322

Achilles' Statue in Hyde Park 244

Adair, Sir Robert 205

Adam, Robert, architect of Lans-

downe House 100

Addington, Dr 189

Addison in the Haymarket 112

— in St. James's Place 167

Adelaide, Queen, at Marlborough

House 330

Adhemar, Count d' 38

Admiralty, the 280

Air Street 1 79

Akenside, Dr. Mark 79, 109

Akerman's Tradesmen's Tokens 1 1

Albany, the 26-29

Albemarle, Christopher, second

Duke of. 92

Albemarle House 92

Albemarle Street 190-194

Albert Gate, Hyde Park 247

Albert, Prince Consort, Memorial

in Hyde Park 244

" Alfred Club House" 193

All Souls' Church 177

" Almack's Assembly Rooms, "154, 383
" Almack's Gaming Club,"

148, 149, 153, 351

Almon, the Whig publisher 42

Althorpe, Viscount 28

Alvanley's, Lord, joke against the

" Alfred " 193

Ambassadors, Foreign 358

Amelia, Princess 266

Amherst, Lord 369

Ancaster, Duchess of, at a mas-
querade 132

Anderson, Rev. James 179

Andrewes, Dr. Gerrard, rector of

St. James's no

Page

Angerstein, John Julius, in Pall

Mall 339

Anglesey, Marquis of 77

Anne, Queen, at P>erkeley House, 96

at St. James's Palace 295

her additions to Kensington

Gardens 249

Anson, Viscount 369

Anspach, Margrave of 24

Anti-Jacobin Review 39

Antrobus, Sir Edmund 37

Apsley House 37, 38, 213

Apsley, Lord Chancellor 37, 204, 367

Apsley, Sir Allen 367

Arbuthnot, Dr. John, 79, 10S, 196, 296

Argyll, Duke of 189

Arlington, Henry Bennet, Earl

of 308, 357

Arlington House 308-3 10

Arlington Street 169-172

" Army and Navy Club," 350, 369, 371
Arthur, proprietor of "Whites,"

146, 151, 162

"Arthur's Club," 159

Arundel, Countess of 317

Arundel, Earl of 291

Ashburnham House 196

Ashburton, Alexander, first Lord, 32
Astley, John, at Schomberg

House 333

Aston, Sir Willoughby, at

"Brookes's" 157

Aston, Walter Lord 306

" Athenaeum Club " 338, 339

" Athenaeum Gaming Club" 145

" Athenaeum Club, Junior " 35, 209

Athenian Lyceum in Piccadilly 24

Atkyns, Sir Robert 15

Atossa, Pope's character of 312

Auckland, Lord 376

Audley Street, South 205

388

INDEX.

Page

Austbiston, Simme 6

Austin the pieman 184

Bacon's, John, monument of

B. Stillingfleet 109

Baggs, Major, the gambler 382

Baker, Mrs. Mary 9

Baker, Robert, the proprietor of

Piccadilly Hall 4

Ballet at the Opera House 135, 137

Bank of England, Western Branch, 77
Banks and Barry, architects of
the new buildings at Burlington

House 70

Banks, Sir Joseph 192

Banks's, Thomas, alto relievo of

Shakspeare 353

Banting's shop 145

Banvard's panorama of the Mis-
sissippi 42

Barberini, Cardinal 293

Baretti, Joseph 115

Barillon, French ambassador 358

Baring, Brothers, the sixth power

in Europe 32

Barkley Street, Little 197

"Barley Mow" at Hyde Park

Corner 19

Barnard, F. A., King's Librarian 314

Barracks, designs for Cavalry 68

Barre, Colonel 204

Barrow, Dr., in Pall Mall 321

Barry's, Sir Charles, design for

the Royal Academy 70

proposal for an opening into

the Green Park 167

proposals for improving the

Green Park 257

Barry, James 125

Barrymore, Earl of. 33, 80

Bartlet House 200

Bath House, Piccadilly 31

Bath, Knights of the, their ball at

the Opera House 132

Bath Mail Coach started by Pal-
mer 29

Bath, W. Pulteney, Earl of 31, 170

his duel with Lord Hervey . 258

Bathurst, Allen, Earl of. 367

Bathurst, Henry, second Earl

of 37, 204, 367

Bathurst, Right Hon. Charles 204

Bayswater, origin of the name 222

Beauchamp, Earl 369

Beaufort, second Duke of 141

Beaumont, Barber 44

Page

Beaumont, Sir George 340

Beckett the bookseller 322

Beckford, William, in Piccadilly 23

Bective, Earl of 194

Bellamy, William 377

Belzoni on the Pyramids 41

Benelli, Signer 135

Benson's shop-front 185

Bentley, Richard, Royal Librarian 304

Berkeley, G., Bishop of Cloyne, 23, 191

Berkeley, Hon. George 197

Berkeley, Lord, of Stratton 94

Berkeley House 94

burnt down 96

Berkeley Square 101

Berkeley Street 95, 196

Berkshire House 88, 163

Berry, the Misses 203

Besborough, Countess of 98

Bets at " White's " 148

Betterton 126

Betty's fruit-shop 158

Bidwell, Mr. T., deputy ranger

of Hyde Park 234

Birch, Dr. Peter, rector of St.

James's 109

Birdcage Walk 279

" Black Bear " 45

" Black Horse," Bond Street 187

" Black Horse," Haymarket m

Blackler's copy of Raphael's

" Transfiguration " 107

Blackwood the publisher 79

Blagden, Sir Richard 194

Bland ford Court or Place 331

Blane, Sir Gilbert 164, 181, 182

Blenheim Palace 55

Blessington, Earl and Countess of 364

Bligh, Bob, at " Watier's Club" 31
Blood's, Colonel, attack on the

Duke of Ormonde 144

Bloomfield, Lord 181

Blore's additions to Buckingham

Palace 316

Blount's, Thomas, etymology of

Piccadilly 4

Blucher at St. James's Palace 301

" Blue Posts," Haymarket Ill

" Blue Posts" Tavern, Cork Street 79
Boccaccio, Valdarfer's, sale of, 191, 366

Bodens, Colonel 167

"Bodonihum" 165

Boehm, Mrs 369

Bolingbroke, Lord 188, 322

Bolton, Charles, Duke of 141

Bolton Street 197, 198

INDEX.

389

Page
Bond, Messrs., keepers of gam-
bling houses 145, 153

Bond, Sir Thomas 92, 1S2, 190

Bond Street 182-188

Bond Street loungers in 1717 182

Bonnealle, John 318

Bonomi, Joseph 77

Bonomi's Panorama of the Nile 42

Bononcini at the Opera House 129

" Boodle's Club " 145

Boone, T. and W 186

Boscawen, Admiral 363

Boswell in Bond Street 183

in Half Moon Street 199

Bottle hoax at the Haymarket

Theatre 1 1 9

Bower, Archibald 184

Bowling-greens at Piccadilly 6- 10

Bowyer, Robert, at Schomberg

House 335

Boydell's, Alderman, Shakspeare

Gallery 35 1-353

edition of Shakspeare 165

Boyle's, Hon. Charles, attack

upon Bentley 304

Boyle, Lady Dorothy 61

Boyle, Henry, Lord Carleton 341

Boyle, Robert, in Pall Mall 332

Boyle Street 79

Braham, John 383

Brande, W. T 79, 172, 199

Braund the cook 185

Braybrook, Lord So

Brett, Miss, George L's mistress 297

Bridgewater House 163, 164

Bridgman the gardener 250

Brindley, John 186

Brinkman, Chevalier 194

Bristol House, St. James's Square 364
Britannia, statue of, at Devon-
shire House 97

British Institution 353

Brodie, Sir Benjamin 181, 217

Brookes, Joshua 181

" Brookes's Club " 153-157, 351

Brookfield, May Fair 200

"Brothers' Club " 160

Brougham, Lord 102, 204

on Priestley 100

Broughton, John, champion boxer 112
Broughton, Lord, in St. James's

Street 146

Brouncker, Wm. Viscount, in St.

James's Street 141

at St. James's Palace 294

Brummell, Beau 31, 145, 203, 250

Page

Bruton Street 189

Buckden Hill, Hyde Park 233

Buckhurst, Lord 275, 368

Buckingham, Duchess of 170

Buckingham, first Marquis of 198

Buckingham, John Sheffield,

Duke of. 310-31 1

Buckingham, Catherine, Duchess

of 3"i 3!2

Buckingham House, Pall Mall 337

Buckingham Palace 306-317

Buckinghamshire, Earl of 133

Buckstone, J. B 124

Budgell, Eustace 167

Bulkeley, General 196

Bullock's Museum 40

Buhner's Printing-office 165

Burdett, Sir Francis 29, 168, 197

Burgoyne, General 203

Burke, Edmund, in Charles Street 380

in Duke Street 385

Burlington, Richard, first Earl of 47

Charles, second Earl of 48

Richard, third Earl of 48

■ a munificent patron 48

travels in Italy 49

alters Burlington House 51

marries Lady Dorothy

Savile 58

— builds Marshal Wade's

house 77

opinion of Handel's

music 129

death 62

George, Earl of 65

Burlington, Dorothy, Countess of 58
Burlington, Elizabeth, Countess of 48

Burlington Arcade 66

Burlington Charity School House 79

Burlington House 46-73

Burlington (New) Street 81

Burlington (Old) Street 73, 77

Burnet's complaint of the conduct

of the ladies at the Chapel

Royal 302

Bumey's History of Music (note) 126

Burney, Fanny 32, 167, 199

Bute, Earl of 100, 180, 343

Bury Street 384

Byrom, Dr., on the dissensions

at the Opera House 129

Byron's, fifth Lord, duel with Mr.

Chaworth 326

Byron, Lord, in the Albany 28

in Albemarle Street 194

in Bennet Street 169

39°

INDEX.

Page
Byron in Piccadilly 36

in St. James's Street 145

"Cake House," Hyde Park 232-233
Calendar, Bill for the Reformation

of the 376

Call's Banking-house 185

Calonne, Charles Alexandre de 37

Cambridge, Duke of 35

Cambridge House, Piccadilly 32

Camden's, Lord, epigram on Rum-
bold 1 5 1

Camelford, Lord 187

Campbell's, Colen, designs for

Burlington House 51

Campbell, Hamilton 180

Campbell, Thomas 151, 385

Campion, Miss 96

Canal in St. James's Park 263

Canary, story of a 321

Canning, George 28, 189, 193, 381

Cannon Brewery, Knightsbridge 247
Cannons, staircase from, at Ches-
terfield House 207

Canova's remark on the Chinese

bridge in St. James's Park 276

Cardonnel, Peter de 304

Carleton, Henry Lord 112

Carlisle, Earl of, in St. James's

Place 168

on "White's" 149

"Carlton Club " 337

"Carlton (New) Club" 178, 373

Carlton House 341-347

Carlton Ride 348

Carnivali, Signor 133

Caroline's, Queen, additions to

Kensington Gardens 249

■ death in 1737 300

Caroline, Queen (of Brunswick) 208, 371

Carpenter's figure-yard 18

Carrington Street 202, 205

Carter, Elizabeth 199

Castlereagh, Lord 164, 371

"Catch Club" 161

Catharine of Braganza 85

Catherine Street, or Pall Mall 319, 321
Catlin's North American Gallery 41

Cats in Bond Street 188

Cavan, Earl of 182

Cavendish, Henry 61,

Cavendish, Lord George 65

Cerito the dancer 137, 139

Chambers, proprietor of the Opera

House 135

Chambers, proprietor of "White's" 151

Page

Chambers, Sir William, on Bur-
lington House 53

Chandos, Duke of 57, 362

Chantrey, Sir Francis 203

Chapel Royal, St. James's 301

offerings on Twelfth Day 302

Chapel Street, May Fair 205

Charles I. at St. James's Pa-
lace 289, 290, 292

Charles II., his beautification of

St. James's Park 262

his encouragement to science 274

in St. James's Park 327

his reply to James, Duke of

York 260

Charles X. of Fiance 208

Charles Street, St. James's Square 380
Charlotte, Princess, at Carlton

House 347

at Marlborough House 330

Charlotte, Queen, at Buckingham

House 313

Chatelain, J. B 45

Chatham, great Earl of,

109, 182,, 323, 375, 382

Chatham, second Earl of 101

Chaworth's, William, duel with

Lord Byron 196, 326

"Cheesecake House," Hyde Park,

232, 233

Chelmsford, Lord 145

Chemical Society at Burlington

House 69

"Cherubim " at " White's " 151

Chess-club at Parsloe's 160

Chesterfield, Earl of 77, 109, 205, 208

Chesterfield House 205-208

Chesterfield Street 203

Chinese bridge in St. James's

Park 276

Chiswick Villa 55, 77

Cholmondeley House 32

Cholmondeley, Marquis of, at

" Brookes's " 157

Christian VII. at St. James's Pa-
lace 296

Christie, James, the auctioneer, 109, 336
Chudleigh, Miss, at a masquerade 132

Church Place 139

Churchill, Arabella 368

Cibber, Colley 126 (note), 282

on the Duchess of Marl-
borough 330

Cibber, Theophilus 117, 118

" Civil Service Club " 160

Clarence House '306

INDEX.

39i

Page

"Clarendon Hotel" 188, 192

Clarendon House 82-93

two columns from 29

Clarendon's, Lord Chancellor, visit

to Piccadilly 7

at Berkshire House 163

his unpopularity 84

his disgrace 90

letter to the Vice-Chancellor

of Oxford University 91

his death 91

Clarendon, second Earl of 189, 362

Clarges, Sir John 26

Clarges, Sir Thomas 26, 199

Clarges, Sir Walter 199

Clarges Street 198, 199

Clark, Joseph, t the posture-master 322

Clark, Miss 187

Clarke, Dr. Samuel, Rector of

St. James's 109

Cleland, William, in St. James's

Place 167

Clerk's, John, naval tactics 151

Clermont, Lord, in Berkeley

Square 100

Cleveland, Duchess of 163, 230, 321

Cleveland, Charles, Duke of 163

Cleveland, Dukes of 373

Cleveland House 163

Clifford Street 188

Clive, Lord, in Berkeley Square . 102

Closterman, John 24

Clubs of Pall Mall 326, 337

Coach-races in Hyde Park 225

" Cock," the, in the Haymarket . in

Cockerell, the architect 79

"Cocoa Tree" chocolate-house,

158, 191

" Cocoa Tree Club " 158, 191

Colchester, Lord 331

Colman, George 123

Colman, George, the Younger 123

Comedians of his Majesty's Revels 117

Conduit Mead 84, 184

Conduit Street 187, 1S9

Congreve, William 126

"Conservative Club" 159, 160, 162

Constitution Hill 255, 260

Copeland's china warehouse 188

Coppock, Mr., in Cleveland Row 164

Cork, Countess of 81

Cork Street 79

Cornbury, Lord 89, 362

Cornwallis, Lord 359

Corticelli, Italian warehouseman. 125
Cosmo III. at Clarendon House . 89

Page

Cosmo III. at Lord St. Alban's . 373
Cosway, Richard, at Schomberg

House 334

Cosway, Mrs 334

" Coterie," the, Club 191

Cotgrave's description of picca-

dilles 12

Cotton, Charles 108

Courteville, Raphael 106

Courtin, Antoine, French Am-
bassador 358

Coutts, Miss Burdett 197

Coutts, Thomas, the banker 197

Covent Garden Opera House 137

Coventry Act 1 15

Coventry, Earls of 34

Coventry House 14

"Coventry House Club " 34

Coventry, Right Hon. Henry 14

Coventry, Sir John 1 14

Coventry, sixth Earl of 202

Cowley, Abraham 355

Craggs, Secretary 167, 282, 381

Crebillon's Sofa 150

Crewe, Lord, an original member

of " Brookes's " 155

Crewe, Mrs 345

" Crockford's Club " 182

Croke, Henry 1 12

Cromwell, Henry Stanhope, Lord 285

Cromwell, Oliver, in Hyde Park 224
Cumberland, Ernest, Duke of,

and his valet Sellis 301

Cumberland, Henry Frederick,

Duke of 121, 203, 336

Cumberland, William Augustus,
Duke of, his Lilliputian regi-
ment 298

at St. James's Palace 299

at Schomberg House 333

Cumberland Market Ill

Curzon Street 202, 203, 208

Cuzzoni and Faustina feud at the

Italian Opera 59, 130

Dahl, Michael 109

Damer, Hon. Mrs 180, 211, 392

D'Arblay, Madame 32, 167, 199

Dartiquenave, Charles 79, 350

Dash wood, Sir Francis, in the

habit of St. Francis 161

Davenport, Mrs 357

David, Chevalier de 377

Davis, Moll 125, 368

Davy, Sir H., on Cavendish 64

392

INDEX.

Page
Davy, Sir H, at the Royal Insti-
tution 193

on gas-lighting 325

Dean's, Sir., Academy 216

Debrett the bookseller 43

Deer in Hyde Park 219

in Kensington Gardens 252

in St. James's Park 261, 267

De Grey, Earl 363, 364

Delany, Mrs.,

109, 161, 162, 167, 185, 199, 322, 382
Delawarr, Lord, at a masquerade, 131

Denbigh, Countess of 26

Denham, Sir John, and his wife . 47

Denman, wine merchant 24

Denmark, King of, at a masque-
rade 132

Dennis's, John, benefit at the

Haymarket 1 17

Dent, John 204

" Devil's Own " Volunteer Corps, 240
Devonshire, Duchess of, in the

Haymarket 1 12

Georgiana, Duchess of 98, 175

Devonshire House 94-100

Devonshire, William, first Duke

of 96, 3°9

William, third Duke of 97

William, fourth Duke of .... 63, 98

William, fifth Duke of 98

William, sixth Duke of. 100

Dibdin, Thomas 123

Dickenson's figure-yard 18

Dilettanti Society 160, 161

■ its proposed house in Pic-
cadilly 18

Dodington, George Bubb, in Pall

Mall 324, 340

Dodsley, James, buried in St.

James's Church 109

Dodsley's, Robert, shop, 350

" Dog and Duck " public-house . 202

Donzelli, the tenor 136

" Dorant's Hotel" 194

Dorchester House 210

Dorset, Duke of 1 12

Dorset, Mary, Countess of, 291

Dorset, sixth Earl 275, 368

Dover, Earl of. 194

Dover House, Whitehall 280

Dover Street 194-196

Down Street 209

Drayton's, M., allusion to a pica-
dell 14

Dryden, Charles, on Arlington
House 308

Page
Dryden, John, at St. James's

Palace 294

at the Mulberry Garden 307

his Medal. 271

Duck Island, St. James's Park, 265

Ducking-pond, May Fair 202

Dudley, Earl, connection with

the Opera House 138

his picture-gallery 42

Duels in Hyde Park 241-243

Duke Street 139, 384

Dumergue, Charles j^

Dunbar's, Lord, loss at Shaver's

Hall 7

Duncannon, Lady 98

Duncombe, Tom 29, 205

Dundas, Rt. Hon. Robert 204

Dunkirk House 85

Duras, Lewis de, Marquis of

Blanquefort 356

D'Urfey, Tom 108

Dutch Ambassador 374

Dyde and Scribe's in Pall Mall 336

Eagle Place 139

"East India United Service

Club " 370

Ebers, manager of the Opera

House 135

his library in Bond Street 185

Echard, L., on Clarendon House, 90
Eddystone Lighthouse, Winstan-

ley's 20

Egmont, Earls of, in Pall Mall 341

Egremont, Earls of 32

Egremont House 32

Egremont, third Earl of. 172

Egyptian Hall 40-42

Eldon, Lord Chancellor,

113, 211, 240, 253

Elfi Bey 345

Elgin Marbles 35, 67, 209, 210

Elizabeth, Queen, at St. James's 287

Ellesmere, Earl of 164

Elm trees in St. James's Park 277

Elmsley, P., in St. James's Street 159

Elphinstone, Mountstuart 28

Ely House 196

Encampment in St. James's Park 276

Encampments in Hyde Park 237-239

Enclosure, St. James's Park 267, 278

Engine Street 209

Erasmus at the " Rookery " 320

Erskine, Lord 240

Essex, Earl of 368

Eureka, the 41

INDEX.

393

Page

Evans's auction-rooms 340

Evelyn, John, in Dover Street 195

his interest in the growth of

trees 245, 246

Exhibition of 185 1 244

Fairs in Hyde Park •. 236, 237

Faithorne's Map of London, 1658,

referred to 3

Fantoccini, Italian, in 1780 24

Faraday, Michael 193

Farinelli at the Italian Opera 131

Faustina and Cuzzoni feud 130

Fenton, Lavinia Beswick, alias 117

Fenton's Hotel 158

Feversham, Earl of. 356

Fielding, Beau, in Pall Mall 321, 322

Fielding, Henry, at the Haymarket 1 1 7

his Tom Jones 184, 323

Finch, Heneage 248

Finch, Lady Isabella 102

Fireworks in the Green Park 257, 258

in St. James's Square,

359, 373, 374

in St. James's Park 276

Fisher, Kitty 205

Fitzherbert, Mrs 190, 211

Fitzpatrick in Piccaddly 23

Flaxman at Wedgwood's 359

statues for Marble Arch 316

Flecknoe, Richard, on Piccadilly 8

Fletcher's, J., allusion to pickadels 13

Florence's, Duke of, Minister ill

Foley House 176

Fonnereau, T. G 28

Foote at the Haymarket Theatre 118

Footman, running 36

Fop's Alley 137

Foreign Office 281

Fores's print-shop 25

Fortnum and Mason 43

Foubert, Major 179

Fountain, drinking, in Hyde Park 245

Fountaine's, Sir Andrew, pictures 147

Fox, C. J., in Albemarle Street . 191

in Arlington Street 172

in Grafton Street 189

in Piccadilly 23

in Sackville Street 180

in St. James's Street

141, 143, 153, 157

in the stable-yard St. James's 305

his meeting with Lord North

at the Opera House 133

and the Prince of Wales 188

his Westminster Election 98

Fox Hall or Vauxhall 282

Francis, Sir Philip,

r. , ,- ^ 43 ' I56 ' 347 > 37°, 375

Franklin, B 189, 313

Franklin's, Dr. T., play The

Contract 123

Frederick, Prince of Wales, at

Carlton House 343

at Norfolk House 374

at the Opera House 131

at St. James's Palace 298

his marriage 299

at the fire at " White's " 147

"Freemason's Tavern" 161

" Free Trade Club " 371

Fremont's Overland Route to Ca-
lifornia 42

French plays at the Haymarket

Theatre 116, 118

at St. James's Theatre 383

Friary Court 303

Friary, Old 328

Fryar, Peggy 117

Fuller, Thomas, on the increase

of London 1

Fuller the surgeon 36

Gainsborough in Pall Mall 335

Gallery of Illustration 178

Gallini, manager of the Opera

House 133

Gait, John 200

Gaming-house 3

Gardell hanged in the Haymarket 115
Garrard, G., on the Gaming-

House 6, 9

Garrard, Mrs 223

Garrick at Buckingham House 314

Garrick, Mrs 60

Garth, Sir Samuel 112

Gas-lighting, introduction of 325

in St. James's Park 276, 278

Haymarket Theatre not

lighted with gas till 1853 124

Gascoigne, Bamber 204

" Gaunt's Coffee-house " 146, 162

Gay at Queensberry House 75

on Burlington House 55

on William Kent 58

Geare, Thomas 289

Geere, Sir R 105

Geeres, Captain 10

Gell, Sir William 29

Gentleman's Magazine on Burling-
ton House 65

George I. at St. James's Palace . 297

394

INDEX.

Page

George I., mistresses of 297

George II. at a masquerade 131

at the fire at " White's" 147

when Prince of Wales, in

Albemarle Street 191

at St. James's Palace 297

George III. born at Norfolk

House 374

his marriage to Queen Char-
lotte 300

attacked by Peg Nicholson . 300

his interest in his books 314

at Messrs. Dyde and Scribe's 336

his insanity made a joke of

at " Brookes's " 156

his statue, in Berkeley Square 101

George IV. at " Brookes's" 155

at Carlton House 343 _ 345

robbed on Hay Hill 102

married to Princess Caroline 300

rebuilds Buckingham Palace 315

"George Coffee-house" 113

George Street, St. James's Square 380

"George," the, in Pall Mall 326

Gerarde's Herbal, reference in, to

Piccadilly 5

German Chapel, St. James's 303

Gibbon in Bond Street 184

at the "Cocoa Tree" 159

in Pall Mall 323

in St. James's Street 159

Gibbons, Grinling 195

carving in St. James's Church 105

the font 106

Gifford, William 40, 165, 197

" Giles's Coffee-house" 327

Gillray, James 109, 146, 175

Girle, Leonard 327

Giuglini the tenor 138

Glenelg, Lord 29

" Gloster Coffee-house " 29

Gloucester's, Duke of, Riding-
house, Hyde Park 244

Gloucester, William Fred., Duke

of 35

Gloucester House, Park Lane, 35, 209
Gloucester House, Upper Gros-

venor Street 211

Glover, "Leonidas" 169, 191

Godfrey, Colonel Charles 174

"Golden Lion" at Hyde Park

Corner 19

Goldsmith's Retaliation 162

Goold, Francis, manager of the

Opera House 135

" Goosetree's Club" 154

Page
Gordon, Lord George, in Cleve-
land Row 164

Gordon, Lord W'illiam 259

Gordon Riots 99

Goring, George, Lord 307

Goring House 306

Gounod's "Faust" 138

Grafton, first Duke of, at Arling-
ton House 309

his duel with the Hon. John

Talbot 242

Grafton, second Duke of 182

Grafton, third Duke of 182

— ■ — in Arlington Street 17 2

Grafton House 182

Grafton Street 189, 190

Graham, Dr. James, at Schom-

berg House 334

Graham, Sir James 173

Grammont's present of a calash

to Charles II 227

Granby, Marquis of. 19

Grange's fruit-shop 43

Grantham, Earl of" 190

Granville, Sir John 293

Granville, John, Earl of, in Ar-
lington Street 170

Granville, Earls of 189

Grattan, Henry, in St. James's

Place 168

. Gray the poet 203, 382

Great Mogul's Company 117

Greber, Giacomo 127

Green Park 255, 261

Grenville, Right Hon. George 198

Grenville, Right Hon. Thos. 164, 211

Grenville, Lord 164, 196, 373

"Greyhound" in Piccadilly 34

" Grillion's Club " 192

"Grillion's Hotel" 191

Grosvenor Chapel 208

Grosvenor House 211

Grosvenor Place 17 2

" Guards' Club " 331

Guards' Memorial 179

Gunters the confectioners 102

Gurney, Hudson 365

Gwynn's proposal to widen Swal-
low Street... 179

to destroy Burlington House 65

Gwynn, Nell

321, 327, 331, 350, 368, 369

" Gymnastic Club " 353

Hackney Coaches not allowed

in Hyde Park 230

INDEX.

395

Page

Half Moon Street 199, 200

Halford, Sir Henry 203

Halhed, N. B 349

Halifax, George Saville, Marquis

of 367, 382

Hall, Captain Basil 168

Hamilton's, Duke of, duel with

Lord Mohun 242, 374

Hamilton's, Duke of, marriage to

Miss Gunning 202

Hamilton, James, ranger of Hyde

Park 211, 226

his houses at Hyde Park

Corner 19

Hamilton, "Single Speech," in

Arlington Street 1 71

Hamilton, Sir William 35

Hamilton, Lady 35, 199, 335

Hamilton, Margaret, monument to 107

Hamilton Place 211, 212

Hamlyn, Thomas, organ-builder 289
Handel at Burlington House 57

at the Haymarket Opera

House 127, 129

his benefit 131

his oratorios 131

Hanover Church 177

Harding's shop in Pall Mall 332, 336

Hardinge, Sir Henry 173, 181

Hardwicke, Earl of. 364

Hardy, Sir Charles 196

Harleian Library and MSS 195

Harlow, G. H 109

Harris, lessee of the Opera House 132

Hartz pine-forests 277

Hastings, Marquis of 168

Hastings, Warren 168, 211, 376

Hatchard's shop 43

Haworth, Dr. Samuel, in Pall Mall 32 1

Hay Hill 102

Hay Hill Farm 94

Haydon at the British Institution 353

and the Elgin Marbles 209

his " Mock Election " 41

his " Napoleon " 186

his two pictures at the Egyp-
tian Hall 41

Hayter's, Sir G., picture at the

Egyptian Hall 41

Haymarket m-139

Haymarket Opera House 126-139

Haymarket Theatre _..i 16-124

Hazlitt, William 200, 209

Heberden, Dr. William 196, 331

Heidegger, J. J., manager of the
Opera House 128, 131

Heinel, Mdlle., the dancer 132

Henrietta Maria at Paris 103

at St. James's Palace 290

at Tyburn 222

Henry, Prince of Wales, at St.

James's Palace 288

his death 289

Henry VI. 's forge 319

Henry VIII. at St. James's Palace,

285-286

Her Majesty's Theatre 126-139

"Hercules' Pillars" in Pall Mall 327

Hemes' Banking-house 145

Hertford, Marquis of 210

Hertford House 33

Hertford Street 203

Hervey, John Lord 312, 364

his duel with William Pul-

teney 258

his hatred of Lady Bur-
lington 59

Hervey, Lady, in St. James's

Place _ 168

Hervey, Hon. Thomas 183

Hickford's great dancing-room 115

Higgins, the supposed seller of

pickadils 4

Hill, Aaron 127

Hill's, Sir John, quack medicines, 144
Hill, Lady, widow of Sir John D.

Hill _ 168

Hobhouse, J. Cam 146

Hogarth's caricatures of Burling-
ton House 56

his " Sigismunda " 183

his representation of ' 'White's "147

Holcke's, Count, witticism 296

Holdernesse House 210

Holford, R. S 210

Holland, Earl of, keeper of Hyde

Park 220

Holland, Henry, first Lord, in

Piccadilly 23

Holland, Stephen, second Lord . 27

Holland, Vassall, Lord 79

Holland the printseller 175

Holland, Henry, architect of

" Brookes's " 154

Holland House 85

Home, Sir Everard 181

Hook, Theodore, in Cleveland

Row 1 64

Hooper's, Dr., medical theatre 79

Hope, Beresford, on Burlington

House 69, 73

Hope, Henry Thomas 35

396

INDEX.

Hopper, Thomas, architect of

" Arthur's Club " 159

Hoppner, John, R.A 381

Horse Guards 280

Horse-races in Hyde Park 221, 222

"Horse-shoe" at Hyde Park

Corner 19

Howard, Mrs., at St. James's

Palace _ 298

Howard, Sir Philip 125

Howe, Admiral Earl 189

Howell, James, on the gaming-
house 6

mention of Piccadilly 1 1

Humane Society's receivinghouse,

Hyde Park 232, 233

Hume, David, in Park Place 169

Humphry's, Miss, print-shop 146

Hunlock, Sir Hugh 34

Hunt and Roskel'l 187

Hunt, Leigh, as a volunteer 67

his " jar of honey " 43

Hunter, Dr. 'William 174, 218, 382

Hunter, John 175, 217, 218

Hurling-match in Hyde Park, 223, 225

Plurst, Mr., in the Haymarket Ill

Huysman, James 108

Hyde, manor of ._ 219

Hyde's, Mr. (afterwards Lord

Clarendon), visit to Piccadilly . 7

Hyde, pun on the name 86

Hyde Park 213-254

keepers of - 220, 226

Hyde Park Corner 213

the statuaries at 17

public-houses at 19

Hvde Park Lodge 234

Hyde Park Road 18

Inchbald, Mrs 181

India Office 281

Irwin, Sir John 39

Jackson, Dr. John, rector of

St. James's no

James II., escape from St. James's
Palace in 1648, when Duke of

York 292

his residence there after the

Restoration 293

James Street, Haymarket 1 15

Jansen the gambler 147

Tenner, Dr., statue of 251

Jermyn, Henry 194

Jermyn, Hon. Thomas 368

Page

Jermyn Street 104, 381, 382

Jervas, Charles, at Bridgewater

House 163

John Street, St. James's Square 380

Johnson, Dr., at Buckingham

House 314

on Lord Burlington 62

in Cork Street 79

in St. James's Square 379

"Johnson's Club" 161, 180, 192, 196

Johnston, Hector 102

Johnston, Sir Alexander 372

Jones, Inigo 289

Jones, Sir William 208

Jonson's, Ben, references to picar-

dills 13

Jordan, Mrs 203

Justel, Henry, Royal Librarian 304

Kean's, Charles, banquet 24

Kean, Edmund 199

Keith's Rev. Alexander, chapel 202

Kelly's, Michael, music-shop _... 348

at the Opera House 134, 139

Kemble, Charles 181

Kempe, J. E., rector of St.

James's no

Kennett, Dr. White 96, 167

Kensington Gardens 247-252

Kensington Palace 252

Kent, Earl of _ 357

Kent, William 56, 57, 97,1 02, 253, 342
Kenyon's, Lord, vote at the West-
minster election 349

King, Lord 196

King Street, St. James's 382

" King's Arms," in Pall Mall 326

" King's Head," in Pall Mall 326

"King's Head Inn," in the Hay-
market 116

Kingston, Duke of 170

Kingston's, Duke of, marriage to

Miss Chudleigh 202

Kingston, Duchess of, at a mas-
querade 132

and Foote 122

Kingston, John, organist to Oliver

Cromwell 320

Kip's view of Burlington House . 49

" Kit-Cat Club" in Pall Mall 326

Knapton, George, painter 161

Knight, Mrs. Mary, in Pall Mall. 331

Kiiightsbridge a dangerous place. 218

Konigsmark, Charles, Count 113

Kynaston, the actor, in Hyde

Park 230

INDEX.

397

Pa S e

Lady's Mile, Hyde Park 215, 231

Lanesborough House 216

Lanesborough, Theophilus, first

Lord 2 1 7

Langdale, Lord 204

Langham Place 176

Langton, Bennet 185

Lansdowne House IOO

Laporte, manager of the Opera

House 136, 137

Lardner, Dr. Dionysius 364

La Serre, Sieur de, on St. James's

Street 139

on St. James's Palace 290, 292

Lawrence, Sir Thomas 35, 185, 382

Leeds, Duke of 363

Leicester, Earl of. 287

Leoni, J., architect of Queensberry

House „ 73

Leopold, King of the Belgians 34

Lepel, Molly 168

L'Estrange, Sir Roger 320

Le Sueur's " Gladiator " 280

Leuchars' shop 25

Lewis, "Gentleman" 124

Lewis, "Monk," in the Albany . 29

" Liberty Club " in Pall Mall 326

Library, Royal, St. James's 303

Lichfield House 369

Lieven, Prince 196

Lifford, Earl of 109

Lightfoot, Hannah 203, 380

Lightning-conductors at Bucking-
ham House 313

Ligonier, Colonel 79

Lilly, the astrologer, on Marie de

Medicis 291

Lincoln's, A., assassination ; meet-
ing of Americans 25

Lincoln's Inn Fields, theatre

in .- 131

Lincoln and Bennett 25

Lind, Jenny 137

Lingsivy, Baron de, at the "St.

James's Coffee-house " 162

Linnean Society at Burlington

House 56, 69

Liston, John, the actor 218

Literary Fund .„ 189

Littlebery, in Essex 21

Liverpool, Earl of 204

Liverpool, Earls of 181, 182

Lloyd's, R., Cit's Country Box 17

Locker's, F., lines on Lord Palm-

erston 32

Lockyer alters "White's" 146

Page
London and Wise's Brompton

Nursery _ 249

London, increase of. 1, 96

country gentlemen forbidden

to reside in 1

relative size to other English

towns 2

impetus given to its growth

by the Restoration 2

fortification of, in 1642 213

London Library 369

Londonderry, third Marquis of 210

Long, Miss Anne 190

"Long's Hotel" 186

Louis XVIII 191, 208

Lovelace, Ada, Countess of 365

Lubbock, Sir J. W 169

Lumley, B., manager of the Opera

House 136-138

Lumsden, Archibald 319

Luttrell, Henry ...„ 29

Lynedoch, Lord 197

Lyttelton, Bishop Charles 188

Lytton, Lord 211

his Not so Bad as We Seem 100

Macartney, Lord George 203

Macaulay, Lord, in the Albany 29

in Clarges Street 199

his description of the Duke

ofOrmond 361

on the state of St. James's

Square 377

Macclesfield, Countess of 183

Macclesfield, Earl of 376

Macdonald's, John, travels 186

Mackie the oilman 23

Macklin at the Haymarket

Theatre 118

Mackreth, Robert 151

Maclean the highwayman 144, 243

Macready the actor 124

MacSwiney, Owen 127

Maddox at the Haymarket Theatre 122

Maggot's Court 180

' ' Maidenhead Tavern, " Piccadilly 1 1

Mail Coaches 325

Malcolm, Sir John 109

Mall in St. James's Park 269-274

Mallard, David, shoemaker 318

Mangles, Capt. James 152

Manning's figure-yard 18

Mapleson, J. PL, manager of the

Opera House 138

Marble Arch 167, 247, 316

398

INDEX.

Page

Marie de Medicis at St. James's

Palace 290, 291

Marlborough, Duke of 329, 3S1

Marlborough, Sarah, Duchess of 329
Marlborough, Henrietta, Duchess

of 129

Marlborough House 328-330

Marshall, Mrs 357

Martin, Mr., on the Gaming-houses

of St. James's 157

Martin's, S., duel with Wilkes 242

Mary-le-bone House 311

Mary I., Queen, at St. James's

Palace 287

Masham, Mrs 79

Mason, Monck 136

Mathias on the Dilettanti Society 160
Maurice's (Grave) Head, Hyde

Park 233

May, Baptist 355

May, Hugh, architect of Berkeley

House 94

May Fair 200-208

May Fair marriages 202

Mazarin, Duchess of 331

Melbourne, first Viscount 27

Melbourne House, now the Albany 26-29

Melbourne House, Whitehall 280

Mellon, Harriet 197

Merriman, Dr. Samuel 200, 205

Methuen, Sir Paul 166

Mews at Charing Cross likened to

a Palace 296

Middlesex, Charles, Earl of 275, 368

Middlesex, Earl of, director of

the Opera 131

Middleton's, T. , allusion to a

pickadill 13

Miles, Philip John 212

" Military, Naval, and County

Service Club " 152

Military Yard 179

Miller's lamp warehouse 43

Milton, John 282

•' Minced-pie House," Hyde Park,

232, 233
Minsheu's description of a pickadill 14

Mitford, William 189, 199

Moira, Earl of 168

Monconys the traveller 355

Monk, General, at St. James's

Palace 293

Monmouth, Duke of 113

Monnoyer, Jean Baptiste, died in

Pall Mall 322

Montagu, Ralph, first Duke of 92

Page

Montagu, Duke of. 117, 119, 128

Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley,

101, 170, 208

Montagu House 92

Moon, Mr., in the Haymarket 1 1 1

Moore the poet 384

Moray, Sir Robert 274

Morland, grandfather of George

Morland 373

Morland, George, born in the

Haymarket 112

Morland, Sir Samuel 215, 320

his speaking trumpet 215

information of a meeting of

Fifth Monarchy Men 1 1

Moss, Dr. Charles, rector of St.

James's 1 10

Moxon, Lieut m

Mozart at the Haymarket Theatre 12 1

Mulberry Gardens 306-307

Mullens the surgeon 322

Munro, W. A. J 212

Murray, John 194

Museum of Practical Geology 44

Nabob, the 122

" Nag's Head," the 11 1

Naked Boy Alley 25

Napoleon's travelling-carriage 41

Napoleon III. in King Street, St.

James's 382

Nash, John 196

builder of Regent Street 176

his house in Regent Street 1 78

builder of the Haymarket

Theatre 124

improver of the Opera House 1 36

rebuilder of Buckingham

Palace 315

National Gallery 340

" Naval and Military Club " 33

Neale, Mrs. Elizabeth, the fruit-
erer 158

Neale, Thomas, groom-porter 199

Nelson, Lord 153, 172, 187

Newcastle, Duke of, godfather to

George II. 's second son 297

Newgate, keys of, in the water of

St. James's Square 378

Newton, Sir Isaac, in Jermyn

Street 381

Niccolini the singer 127

Nicol, George, bookseller 35 1

Nicolls, Dr. Samuel, rector of St.

James's 1 10

Nillsson, the prima donna 138

INDEX.

399

Page

Nivernois, Due de 191

Nollekens the sculptor 197

and the Elgin marbles 68

Norfolk House, St. James's

Square 373, 374

Nornaville and Fell, booksellers, 187
North, Lord, and Fox ; their

meeting at the Opera House 133

Northampton House 37

Northumberland, Fitzroy Duke

of 362

Norwich, Earl of. 307

Nost's, J. Van, figure-yard 18

Nottingham, Earl of 248

Nottingham House 248

Novosielski, architect of Barry-
more House 33

alterer of the Opera House . 132

its rebuilder 133

Nowell Street, now Old Burling-
ton Street 73

Observatory proposed for

Hyde Park 227

O'Connell, Daniel 156, 384

Ogle, Lady, wifeofThynne 113

Oglethorpe, General 189

Oglethorpe, Sir Theophilus 108

Oldenburg, Duchess of, at Pul-

teney Hotel in 1814 34

Oldenburgh, Henry 224

Oldfield, Mrs. Anne 112, 321, 380

O'Neil, Miss 199

Opera House, Haymarket 126-139

Operas, Italian, at the Haymarket

Theatre 123

Orange, Prince of. 34, 299

Ordinary at Spring Gardens 282

Ordnance Office 336

Orleans, Egalite, Duke of 208

Ormond, Duke of, at Clarendon

House 91

in St. James's Square 360-361

attacked by Blood 144

Ormond, second Duke of 361

Ormond Yard 360

Ornithological Society's water-
fowl 278

Orrery, Earl of, on Clarendon

House 90

Ossory, Anne, Countess of Upper 172

Ossory, Thomas, Earl of 360

Outinian or Matrimonial Society, 282
Overbury's, Sir T., allusion to

pickadels 12

Page

Owen, Sir John, at St. James's

Palace 292

Owen's, J., book-shop 39

Oxford, Aubrey, twentieth Earl

of 357, 380

Oxford, Edward, Earl of 195

Oxford, Robert, Earl of. 185, 195

" Oxford and Cambridge Club " 331

Paganini's concert at the Opera

House 136

Pall Mall Court 339

Pall Mall, the game 268-270, 318

Pall Mall, the street 318-354

Palliser, Sir Hugh, in Pall Mall, 323
Palmer's, General, Bath mail-
coach 29

Palmerston, Lord, 32, 156, 204

Pantheon, ball given there by

"White's" 151

Panton, Captain Edward 9

Paoli, General 208

Parade, St. James's Park 279

Paris, Dr. John Ayrton 196

Park Lane 209-2 11

Park Place „ 158, 169

Parker, Dr. William, rector of

St. James's no

Parnell in St. James's Place 167

" Parsloe's Coffee-house " 160

Parsons, Nancy 182

' ' Parthenon Club " 1 78

Pasta, Madame 138

Payne, Thomas, the bookseller 335

Peace rejoicings in 1814 236, 276

Peel, Sir Robert 204, 261

Pelham, Henry, in Arlington

Street 170, 172

at "White's" 150

Pembroke, Lady 130

Pembroke, Philip, Earl of, Lord

Chamberlain 6

Pembroke, Thomas, Earl of 362

Penn, Granville 204

Penn, John 282

Pennant's blunders 5 1

Pepys at Burlington House 48

Percy, Major, bearer of the news

of the Battle of Waterloo 370

Peterborough, Earl of 197, 298, 321

Petty, Sir William 25, 180

Philidor the chess-player 160

Philip II. of Spain 288

Phillips, Ambrose 130, 208

"Phoenix Inn," in the Hay-
market in, 126

4oo

INDEX.

Page
Piazza, the — St. James's Square

so called 356

Piccadilly, origin of the name 4

its various spellings 11

houses demolished in 1637 9

superseded Portugal Street 15

bad state of the road 15

statuaries' yards near Hyde

Park Corner 17

— — building of new mansions 17

terrace built by the Adams

in 1S10 21, 36

beauty of its situation 21

lighting of the road 22

double numbering 33

Piccadilly, places so called, in

the country 5

Piccadilly, streets on the north

side of 174-212

Piccadilly, streets on the south

side of 111-173

" Piccadilly butchers " 30

Piccadilly Hall 4

Piccadilly Houses 23-45

Piccadilly Place 179

Piccadilly Square 35

Piccadilly Terrace 21, 36

Piccolomini the prima donna 138

Pickadill, references to the

collar 12-14

a tailor's tool 13

Pickering's, William, shop 43

Picton, Sir Thomas 187

Pierault's Bagnio 158

Pilkington, Mrs. Letitia 144

"Pillars of Hercules" at Hyde

Park Corner 19

Pinelli Library 187

Pinkethman the showman 200

Pitt, George Morton 150

Pitt, William _ 101

at Brookes's 155

in Park Place 169

his portrait by Hoppner 381

Planta, Joseph 194

Pointz's, Mr., apartments at St.

James's Palace 298

Pomfret, Lord and Lady 266

Poole, Messrs., the tailors 80

Pope in Berkeley Street 196

at Hyde Park Corner 216

in St. James's Street 141

Pope the actor and his wife 200

Porter, Phil 8, 227

Porter's, T. , map of London, about

1640 8

Page

Portico, Spring Gardens 282

Portland, Earl of. 357

Portland, William Henry, third

Duke of, at Burlington House . 63

Portland Place 176

Portugal Street, the old name of

Piccadilly 15

Potter, John 116

Powis, Earl of 102

Pratt, architect of Clarendon

House 87, 90

Presbyterian Chapel, Swallow

Street™ 179

Pretender, the Young 198

Price's Lodge, Hyde Park 232

Priestley, Dr., at Lansdowne

House 100

" Princess of Wales Tavern " 189

Prout, Dr 182

Puckler Muskau, Prince 34

Pulteney, General 31

" Pulteney Hotel, Old" ^

Pulteney's, William, duel with

Lord Hervey 258

Pulteney, Sir William 31

Pureed at St. James's Palace 294

Puttick and Simpson's auction

rooms 44

Quadrant, the 176

Quaritch's book-shop 24

Queen Street, May Fair 205

Queen's Library, St. James's 259, 305

Queen's Mead House 18

Queen's Walk, Green Park 255

Queensberry, Charles, third Duke

of 73

Queensberry, Charles, fourth Duke

of 35, i°9, 143. H5

Queensberry, Duchess of 75

Queensberry House, Burlington

Gardens 73

Queensberry House, Piccadilly 35

Quin in Pall Mall 322

Race by women in Pall Mall 324

Races in Hyde Park 221

Radford, Jack 36

" Raggett's Junior " 153

Rainey the auctioneer 178

Ranelagh, Viscountess, in Pall

Mall 332

Ranger's Lodge, Green Park

39, 257, 259

Reade, James 225

Rectory House, St. James's 44

INDEX.

401

" Red Lion,'' at Hyde Park

Corner 19

Reece's Medical Hall 39

Reeve, Mrs. Anne 307

"Reform Club" 337

Regent Street 175-178

Reviews in Hyde Park 239-241

Reynolds, Miss 196

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, a member

of"Almack's" 155

Ricci, Marco and Sebastian 55

Rich's, B., allusion to pickadels, 12, 13
Richardson, the novelist, in St.

James's Park 273

, his Sir Charles Grandison . 379

" Richardson's Hotel " 24

Richmond, Duke and Duchess of,

at a masquerade 132

Richmond, Henry Fitzroy, Duke

of 287

Ridgway's shop 39

Ridley the bookseller 144

Rigby, Richard 148, 167, 172

Ring, the, in Hyde Park 227-230

Ring Road, Hyde Park 232

Robinson's, Anastasia, marriage

to the Earl of Peterborough 298

Robinson, Perdita, in Berkeley

Square 101

in St. James's Place 168

Robson, J., bookseller 186

Rochester, Hyde, Earl of 91, 362

Rochester, Wilmot, Earl of... 113, 141

Rodney, Lord 164, 181, 192

Rogers, Samuel, in St. James's

Place 169

Romilly, Sir Samuel 68

Romney, Earl of 108, 358

Rookery, the 319

Rosamond's Pond, Green Park 256

Rosamond's Pond, St. James's

Park 255, 264

Rosetti, the Pope's agent 291

Ross, Thomas, royal librarian 304

Rothschild, Baron Lionel 37

Rothschild, Nathan Meyer 34

Rotten Row 231

Roubilliac's statue of Wade 77

Rowland, Felix, the hair-dresser. 161
Roxburgh, Duke of, the biblio-
maniac 366

" Roxburgh Club " 191, 366

Royal Academy 56, 69, 71, 348

Royal Academy of Music 129

Royal Garden, St. James's 327, 341

Royal Institution 192, 193

Page
Royal Society at Burlington House 69
offered apartments a Y ork

House 305

" Royal Society Club " 29, 161

Rubini the tenor 136

Rumbold, Sir Thomas 151

Rumford, Count 192

"Rump Steak Club," in Pall Mall 326
" Running Horse," at Hyde Park

Corner 19

Rupert, Prince 282

Rushworths, Messrs., in Savile

Row 80

Russell Court, Cleveland Row 165

Russia, Emperor of, at " Pulteney

Hotel" in 1814 33

Rutland, Duke of. 171

Sackville, Lord Viscount, 112, 323

Sackville Street 180-182

St. Alban's, Earl of, rent-roll 356

and St. James's Church 103

St. Alban's, Duke of 279

St. Alban's, Duchess of 197

St. Alban's House 373

St. Alban's Street 175

St. Evremond 265, 331

" St. George's Club " 152

St. George's Hospital 216, 217

St. George's Place 218

St. James's Church 103-110

" St. James's Coffee-house " 162

St. James's Fair 200, 286, 288

St. James's Fields 318, 355

St. James's Hall 24

St. James's Hospital 284, 285

" St. James's Hotel," Piccadilly. 29
" St. James's Hotel," in Jermyn

Street 382

St. James's Market in, 379

St. James's Palace 284-305

St. James's Parish constituted 103

St. James's Park 261-283

St. James's Place 167-169

St. James's Street 139-162

St. James's Square 355~ 3^5

St. James's Theatre 383

St. Peter, Church of, Windmill

Street 175

St. Philip's Chapel 177

St. Vincent, Earl 199

Salisbury House 172

Salisbury, Marchioness of 172

Sams's shop in St. James's Street 145

Sandby, Paul 218

402

IXDEX.

Page

Savage, Richard 19, 117, 183

Savile Place 81

Savile Row So

Scarborough, Earl of 1 1 1

Scharf, George 146

Schaub, Sir Luke 182

Schomberg's, Frederick Armand,

Duke of, monument 333

Schomberg, Dukes of. 33 2_ 333

Schomberg House 33 2_ 336

School of Mines 44

Schutz, Baron 357

Scott, Sir Walter 345, 350, 382

Scrope, Sir Carr 384

Seeker, Dr. Thomas, Rector of

St. James's 109

Sedan Chairs 325

Sedley, Catherine 368

Sedley's, Sir Charles, Mulberry

Garden 307

Sehvyn, George , 23, 25, 39,

147, 150, 155, 166, 182, 203, 259

Sehvyn, Col. John 166

Senesino at the Italian Opera 131

Serpentine in Hyde Park 235-236

Seymour, Lord Webb 28

Shachvell, Sir John 174

Shaftesbury, first Earl of 271

Shakspeare Gallery 35 1—353

Shakspeare Press 165

Sharp, "Conversation" 211

Shaver's Hall 4

description of 9

— : — how it obtained its name 6

its Tennis Court 8, 115

Shee, Sir Martin Archer 382

Shelburne, William, Earl of 100

Shenstone the poet 382

Shepherd's Market 208

Sheppard, Jack, in May Fair 201

Sheridan, R. B., 19, 80,

132, 134, 141, 154, 189, 204, 348

Shirley's play of Hyde Park 220

Shrewsbury, Duke of 385

Shrewsbury, Lady, at Piccadilly

Hall 4

Siamese Twins 41

Sidmouth, Lord 189

Skating, introduction of. 263, 264

Sloane, Sir Hans 92

Smirke, Sir Robert 29

Smirke, Sydney, architect of the

Royal Academy 70

Smith, Adam 125

Smith's, Albert, " Mont Blanc "

and "China" 42

Page

Smith, Charlotte 382

Smith's, Consul, library 314

Smith, E. T 138

Smith's, F. Petit, public dinner 24

Smith's, Robert, death 152

Smith, Sir Sidney, in Cleveland

Row 164

" Smyrna Coffee-house " 326

Snell's, H. S., proposal of en-
trance to Hyde Park 215

Soane's, Sir John, designs for the

entrance to Hyde Park 214

Somerset, Duchess of 114

Sontag, Madame 138

Sophia Matilda, Princess 203

Sothern's Lord Dundreary 124

South, Dr., at St. James's 294

Southesk, Countess of 331

Spanish ambassador in St.

James's Square 359

Speke's obelisk in Kensington

Gardens 252

Spencer House 168

Spinacuta the rope-dancer 122

Spring Gardens 281

Squibbs the auctioneers 80

Stable-yard, St. James's 305

Stafford, Viscount 317

Stafford House, Stable-yard 305

Stafford House, or Tart Hall 317

Stallenge, Jasper 306

Stalls at the Opera House 137

Stanhope, Countess of 199

Stanhope, Lady 26

Stanhope Street, Great 204

Stanley, Thomas 125

" Star and Garter," Pall Mall 326

State Paper Office 281

Statuaries in Piccadilly 16

Steele, Sir Richard

19, 141, 252, 322, 384

Sterne in Bond Street 185

in Pall Mall 322

" Stevens's Hotel " 186

Stewart the auctioneer 44

Stillingfleet, Benjamin 42, 109

Stockdale's book-shop 43

Stone-Cutters' Alley 343

Stonehewer, Richard 203

Storey, Edward 265, 279

Storey's Gate 265, 279

Storr and Mortimer 188

Stothard's Waterloo Shield 169

Stowell, Lord 190

Stratton Street 95, 197

Stuart, "Athenian" 369

INDEX.

403

Suckling, Sir John, a visitor at

Piccadilly 7

Suffolk, Henrietta, Countess of

80, 298, 375

Suffolk Street 124, 125

Sullivan, Luke 45

Sunderland, Earl of 357

Sunderland House 26

Sunderland, Lady 126

Sussex Chambers 385

Sussex, Duke of, at Kensington

Palace 253

Sutherland House 305

Swallow Close 83

Swallow Street 179

"Swan," at Hyde Park Corner . 19

Swan and Edgar's shop 24

Swift, Dean

125, 147,. 160, 175, 305, 384

and Lady Burlington 58

and Lord Oxford 188

• and the Schomberg monu-
ment 333

and the Duchess of Somerset 1 14

Sydenham, Dr 108, 184, 321

Sydney, Henry 108, 358

Taglioni the dancer 137, 139

Tailors, The ; a Tragedy for

Warm Weather 122, 123

Tallard, Count de, French Am-
bassador 358

Talleyrand at Lansdowne House 101

at the "Travellers' Club" 338

Tamburini the baritone 136

Tangier Hall 85

Tankerville, Earls of 373

Tart Hall 316

Tassie, Mr., the sculptor 353

Tatler at " White's " 146

Tattersall's Repository 218

Taylor, William, proprietor of the

Opera House 132, 135

Telescope in St. James's Park 275

Temple of Concord in the Green

Park 258

Temple, Sir William, in Pall

Mall 331

Ten Acres' Field 73

Tenison, Dr., rector of St.

James's Church 109

Tennis Court in James Street S, 115

"Thatched House Club " 160, 162

Thatched House Court 161

"Thatched House Tavern" 160

Thompson, Mr., at " Brookes's " 157

Page

Thomson the poet 183

Thornhill, Sir James 55, 56

Thorpe, Thomas, bookseller 43

" Three Cornish Crows," in Pic-
cadilly 26

"Three Kings' Inn," in Picca-
dilly 29

Thumb, Tom, at Egyptian Hall. 41

at St. James's Hall 24

Thurlow, Lord Chancellor

77, 161, 243, 371

Thynne's, Thomas, murder 113

" Tiddy-doll," the gingerbread

seller 202

Tiernev, Right Hon. George 190

Tilt Yard, Whitehall 280

Titiens the prima donna 138

Tom of Ten Thousand — Thomas

Thynne 113

Toovey's shop 43

Torrens, Colonel 181

Townshend, Charles, and Selwyn 150

Townshend, Lord John 141

Townshend's, Lord, quarrel with

Sir Robert Walpole 166

Tracy, John 222, 225

" Travellers' Club " 338

Travers's, Samuel, bequest 377

Treasury, the 280

Tree, the, in Pall Mall 327

Trees in Hyde Park 245

in St. James's Park, 262, 276-279

Trimnell, Dr. Charles, rector of

St. James's 109

Trinity Chapel 50

Triphook, Robert 146, 185

" Triumphal Car " at Hyde Park

Corner 19

Truefitt's shop 185

Turner, Mrs. the introducer of"

piccadils 14

Turnpike in Piccadilly removed to

Hyde Park Corner in 1721 15

Tyburn 222

Tyburn Lane 209

Tyrrwhit, Dr. Robert, rector of

St. James's 109

Ude the cook 152

" Unicorn Inn," Haymarket m, 126

" United Service Club " 1 78, 338, 339

" United Service Club, Junior" . 178

" University Club, New" 153

Upcott the bibliographer 39

Uxbridge House 77

4<H

INDEX.

Page

Valentia, Lord 29

Yanbrugh, Sir John 126

Vandevelde, William, the elder 108

the younger 108

Vanessa (Hester Vanhomrigh) 125

Vansittart, Miss 180

Vardy, John, architect of U.\-

bridge House 77

Vaughan, Sir John 289

Venetian ambassador 26

Vento, Matthias 109

Vernon, Robert 350

Verrio, Anthony, the painter 25, 327

Vestris, Madame 203

Vestry Hall, St. James's 44

Victoria, Queen, at Kensington

Palace 253

attempts on her life 260

Villiers Place 139

Vine Street, Little 179

Violette, Eva Maria 60

Volunteers at Burlington House. 67
review of, in Hyde Park 240

Wade, Marshal George 77

his house 77

Wadsworth, Mary, married to

Beau Fielding 321

Wagner, Mdlle 138

Wailes's painted glass in St.

James's Church 107

Wake, Dr. William, rector of St.

James's 109

Waldegrave, Lord 191

Waldegrave, Lady 102

Wales, Prince of, at Marlborough

House 330

Wales, Princess Dowager of, at

Carlton House 343

Waller, Edmond, in St. James's

Street 141

Wallingford House 280

Walnut-trees in Hyde Park 246

Walpole, Horace, 16, 18, 31, 77,

102, 149, 150, 171, 243, 273
Walpole, Sir Robert,

166, 170, 172, 375

'W alpole's, Lady, concert 130

Wanley, Humphry 195

War Office 336

Ward, Artemus, at the Egyptian

Hall 42

Ward, J. G., rector of St. James's no
Ward"s, Lord, connection with

the Opera House 138

Page

\\ ardrop, James, the surgeon 380

Ware, Samuel 67

Warren, Dr 181, 196

Warton, Dr. Joseph 162, 180

Warwick House 346

Warwick, Richard, Earl of 285

Water from Hyde Park 234, 235

in the Green Park 255

Waterhouse, architect of the

" New University Club" 153

Waterloo, news of the battle of..... 370

Waterloo Place 178

Waters, manager of the Opera

House 135

" Watier's Club " 30

Webster, B 124

Wedgwood, Joseph 359

Wellesley, Marquis 38, 203, 211

Wellington, Duke of 189, 212

at Apsley House 3S

dinner to, at Burlington

House 67, 151

— — equestiian statue of, by

Wyatt 214

Wellington Arch 214

Wellington Dining-rooms 152

" Weltzie's Club " 155

West, Benjamin 45

West, Richard 184

Westbrook, Harriet, Shelley's

first wife 256

Western, Squire, at the "Pillars

of Hercules " 19

Westmacott's monument to M.

Hamilton 107

Westminster, dean and chapter of 207

Westminster election of 1784 349

Westminster Infirmary 217

Weymouth, Viscount 141

Wharton, Henry n 1

Wharton, Duke of 195

"What is it?" at the Egyptian

Hall 42

Wheatley s auction-rooms 44

Whealley, Catherine, Duchess of

Northumberland 362

" White's" Club House 146-151

Old and Young Club 148

fete at Burlington House 67, 151

" White Bear Inn " 4^

" White Horse," the 11 1

'"White Horse Cellar" 29, 39

White Horse Street 209

White Horse Yard 126

Whitelock's care of the Royal

Library 30,

INDEX.

405

Page

Wilberforce at " Boodle's " 145

Wilbraham, Roger 168, 197

Wilcox, a carpenter, designer of

the steeple of St. James's

Church 104

" Wildman's Tavern " 191

Wilkes, John : 167, 200

his duel with S. Martin 242

William III. ; his residence at

Kensington Palace 252

at St. James's Palace 295

statue of, in St. James's

Square 377

Williams, David 189

Williams, George James 166

Williams's, Rev. Theodore,

Libraiy 44

Williamson, Sir Joseph 368

Willis's Rooms 161, 3S3

Willoughby d'Eresby, Lord 37

Wilson's, A., reference to picca-

dillies 14

Wilson, Benjamin 313

Wilson, Dr. Thomas 302

Wilson's, Nicholas, proposal to

tax the frequenters of St.

James's Park 275

Wilson, Sir Robert Thomas 178

Wilton's statue of George III 101

Winchelsea, Lord 125

Winchester, Bishops of, in St.

James's Square 373

Windham, Right Hon. William,

I34> 135. !44, 3 6 6

" Windham Club" 367

Windmill Street, Great 174, 175

Winstanley's, H., whimsies 20

water theatre 20

Page

Woffington, Peg 127

Wolcott's, Dr., quarrel with Gif-

ford 40

Wood's, at the Pell Mell 326

Wood, Sir Matthew 208

Woodd's, Basil, wine-cellars 187

Worcester House 163

Wordsworth's Sonnet on Hay-
dons' 's Picture of Napoleon 186

" World " Club, the 326

Wray, Sir Cecil, in Pall Mall 348

Wren, Sir C, architect of St.

James's Church 103

in St. James's Street 141

Wright, publisher of the Anti-
Jacobin 39

Wyatt, B. and P., architects of

" Crockford's " 152

Wyatt, James, architect of

"White's" 146

Wyatt, Sir Thomas 102, 213

Wyche, Sir Cyril 362

Wycherley's Plain Dealer 19

Wyndham, Sir William, in the

Haymarket 112

Yarborough, Earl of 172

Yarmouth, Countess of 195

York Chambers 15 1

York, Edward, Duke of. 12 1

York, Frederick, Duke of, 27, 102, 171

York's, Duke of, column 348

York House, now the Albany 26-29

York House, St. James's 305

York House, Whitehall 280

York Street 357, 380, 381

Young, Arthur 181

Young, Patrick, Royal Librarian 303

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