ment-Imprisonment of Secretary Davison-cruel fate of Sir John Perrot • 428 A RAMBLE IN THE STREETS OF LONDON. London; variety of its inhabitants-Romance and entertainment of its streets -Apsley House-Duke of Wellington's equestrian statue-Hyde Park Corner a century ago; its suttling-house and itinerant barbers-Anecdote of Sir Richard Steele and Richard Savage-London fortified in 1642Roundhead enthusiasm-The Elgin marbles, and Byron's indignation at their removal-George III. a designer of edifices-May Fair, its performers and performances-Duck-hunting-Shepherd's Market-Pulteney HotelVan Nost, the manufacturer of leaden figures-Bath House, its magnificence-Clarges Street-Mansion of Sir Francis Burdett-Berkeley House (on its site Devonshire House), account of the mansion, temp. Charles II. -Hay Hill, encounter between Cavaliers and Roundheads on-Clarendon House-Burlington House commemorated by Gay-The Albany (York House) Paintings in St. James's Vestry-room-Artists buried in St. James's Churchyard-The Egyptian Hall-Anecdotes connected with the "White Bear"-Winstanley's Water Theatre: Bills of PerformancesWindmill Street-Pickadill, definition of the term-Piccadilly-Remarkable houses in the Haymarket-The Little Theatre, anecdotes connected with it-Broughton, the pugilist-Colley Cibber, an amateur-Fight between Johnson and Sherlock. THE great Poet has said that the contemplative man can find sermons in stones and good in everything." The averment has never been disputed; all the world admits its truth, and it is only brought forward here that we may claim for London stones more capabilities of instruction than stones in general afford. To the contemplative man who walks over the wide-extending leagues of pavement of this busy city, and who remembers something of the history of each street as he passes it, what a vast amount of amusement and instruction is spread out! As he loiters along, B to all the world apparently an idle and unconcerned spectator, how his fancy may be charmed, his sensibility awakened, his emulation excited, and his patriotism warmed by the recollection, that here in this alley lived a poet; there in that lane a great man died in want and sorrow; here in this street another great man surmounted difficulties that to weaker minds would have been insurmountable; and here in this square lived the friend of his country and of his kind, whose name is a household word of love and admiration. To the man who strolls through London in this spirit, the great city becomes, indeed, a world of itself, and he may travel over it with more delight and instruction than many gather in the whole of Europe, by railroads, remembering nothing but that they have gone over a certain number of leagues, and seen a certain number of capital cities, and returning home again with the same quantity of ideas with which they set out. The inhabitant of this great city, who looks a little deeper than the surface of things, need never lack amusement in his leisure hours. He has only to extend his map before him, and consider the various tribes and nations who inhabit his little world, and then take a journey among them, and study the difference of their manners, appearance, mode of life, and even language, and he will be surprised at the immense variety. There is scarcely more difference between Englishmen and Frenchmen than there is between the inhabitants of St. James's and Whitechapel, St. Giles's and Spitalfields, Islington and Gravel Lane: and then the history of those various regions-their separate laws, religions, characteristics, occupations, amusements:—why, it is like studying the geography of a continent! What a fearful romance is a great city! Could we get at the secrets of each house, whether of the past or the present, what pictures of human strife, misery, cruelty, self-immolation, madness, and despair, we might unfold! How many, too, of a brighter aspect we might discover ;--pictures of ardent struggle for the right, of patient suffering, of virtue strong amid temptation, of unwearying benevolence, and of Christian loving-kindness! But without endeavouring to penetrate so far, we purpose to make a few journeys of discovery through some of the principal thoroughfares or arteries of this "mighty heart of England;" noting, as we pass, the various memorabilia of each spot, conjuring up reminiscences of the great and the good, the wise and the witty of former ages; remarking the physical changes each spot has undergone, and comparing the elegance and civilization of the present with those of the past; gaining amusement now, and now wisdom, and sometimes both combined. Boswell, speaking of the entertainment the streets afforded him, remarks, “I have often amused myself with thinking how different a place London is to different people. They whose narrow minds are contracted to the consideration of some one particular pursuit, view it only through that medium. A politician thinks of it only as the seat of government in its different departments; a grazier as a vast market for cattle; a mercantile man as a place where a prodigious deal of business is done upon 'Change; a dramatic enthusiast as the grand scene of theatrical entertainments; a man of pleasure as an assemblage of taverns, &c.; but the intellectual man is struck with it as comprehending the whole of human life in all its variety, the contemplation of which is inexhaustible." To all the classes thus enumerated by the Laird of Auchinleck, and to many others, we shall address ourselves, or rather, to the last only, which comprises in its wide extent man of every grade and profession; not only politician, grazier, merchant, dramatist, and man of pleasure, but the poet, the man of letters, the painter, the musician, the divine, the soldier, the sailor, and the lawyer. We shall be less exclusive than Boswell, and look for the intellectual without reference to profession. Our first journey shall be from. HYDE PARK CORNER TO CHARING CROSS. But first, although we confess to a predilection for the antiquities of the metropolis, we must cast a moment's glance at Apsley House, the mansion of the Duke of Wellington. This mansion, which since its enlargement has been extolled at least as highly as it deserves, was in the first instance built from a design furnished by the Messrs. Adams for Lord Chancellor Apsley. When, in 1828, it came into possession of "The Duke." the taste of Sir Geoffrey Wyattville was called into requisition. From his designs, and under his superintendence, Apsley House was wholly remodelled and greatly enlarged; and the result is a substantial building, which cannot offend the most fastidious taste, but which will not extort any great amount of admiration. It has a rusticated basement: and the principal front offers to the eye a pediment supported by four Corinthian columns. The interior is very splendid. The picture-gallery and the ball-room, which extends the whole depth of the building, are extremely beautiful. Apsley House is interesting, as being the residence of the greatest captain and one of the greatest men of this or of any former age. Time, which must make it venerable, will confer more and more lustre upon it; and a century hence, what we now look upon with curiosity will be regarded with reverence. The architectural taste of Mr. Decimus Burton is shown conspicuously in the entrance to Hyde Park, which was completed in 1828. The frontage of this beautiful building is 107 feet in length. It consists of a screen of fluted Ionic columns, with three arches for carriages, and two entrances for foot-passengers. Four handsome columns sustain the entablature of the central gateway. Above this is a frieze, which runs round the four sides of the building. This frieze bears testimony to the genius and skill of Mr. Archibald Henning, a worthy son of the highly ingenious and ill-requited John Henning. It represents a naval and military triumphal procession. The side gateways are ornamented by two insulated Ionic columns. Messrs. Bramah manufactured the gates, which are exquisite specimens of bronzed iron-work. The other, commonly called the triumphal arch, is of the Corinthian order, and was built about the same time as the one we have just described. Four columns, two on each side of the arch, sustain the portico. Six Corinthian pilasters adorn the arch itself. The front towards the Green Park presents exactly the same appearance as the other. The vaulted roof in the centre is wrought into elegantly sculptured compartments. There is a chamber within for the porter; and a small stair-case leads to the summit. G. R. and the royal arms are disposed alternately along the entablature. The gates of this arch, equally beautiful with those of its opposite neighbour, were likewise manufactured by Messrs. Bramah. Some years ago, as our readers are probably aware, it was decided to commemorate the achievements of the Duke of Wellington by a testimonial. The execution of this work was confided to the competent genius of Mr. Wyatt. That gentleman entered upon his grateful task, and completed, undoubtedly, the largest equestrian statue in the world. The work finished, it became a grave question where it was to be placed. A committee of noblemen and gentlemen of reputed taste was accordingly formed, to take into consideration at what spot, or on what eminence this mighty man and horse might most worthily be stationed. The committee (having obtained Her Majesty's sanction and approval) at length decided that the top of the triumphal arch was the place of all others to show to admiration |