The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-10 00:00:00

THE COCK IN FLEET-,STREET•

It was not without wincing, and a sort of ag"
grieved feeling, as if the Commissioners were
scarcely dealing as gently as they should with Per-
sons whose very weaknesses deserve consideratiou;
that I read the printed announcement the Litter
day on Attenborough's, the pawnbroker's, of se,dbf
ing off in consequence of notice from the Corara';
sion that the premises were wanted Not that "
or any one else that I know of, unless it be tllO
inmates, care about Attenborough's. But tilt;
doors east of Attenborough's stands the Cock
Fleet-street. Against that most illustrious of 3
chop-houses we hear that the sentence has 8,300
gone forth. Hence these lines. written in
hope that the eye of some member of the check'
II
drawing class may fall on them, by whose aid i/
old hearth, of authentic historic interest surpass:ci
or
by few in this country, may yet be preserved los
our grandchildren. Do I suppose if 20 Johns°ir
and Goldsmiths and Tennysons had lived all tliela
lives in the old tavern that their memories Wee ff
save the Cock from being ruthlessly knocked .4
0,
his perch over the door, and the house from bel-
te
pickaxed down by Irish labourers, and the plas;
rials sold, to make way for the new Law Court
No, I don't. But what Ido say is this :—UP
down the British Empire, and in the United 6°l
there are at this moment thousands of ine°
,1,0
' least to whom the old hearth of the Cock would .11..
invaluable. There are, first, young gentlemen Itoo
heriting great houses, none of whom seem ablei,ci
live in their fathers' homes without rebUildiVg 3 a
enlarging. There is no historical house in Eugl3i''ot
which would not be honoured by having the clirti3o
old mantelpiece and grotesque pannelling ni*
,ej
Cock hearth, before which our laureate 110 1112; or
till the inspiration fell on him, set up in 7,01(1
study. Infinitely more valuable, however/ wilore
it be to you, my fellow-countrymen, wile f
heaped up wealth by your own industry', ° oeiv
kind or another, and are bent on building A 10
nouse, and founding a family. Men of your oa
often spend large sums on pictures, statueo,oo,
the like, with this object ; but' how uncrieli it
ably more effective for your purpose won-1
th°
be to transport reverently the old hearth "
aDel
Cock in Fleet-street, brick by brick, ned the
by panel, to your new home. Fne.?n,' as
effect, in the third generation, of your grans. as
sheriff, entertaining the judges, and sklYieg' '0
the" t
points to the hall fireplace, " Ah, by the Viral'. tereS•
A piece of old-world work which shoulci,fCoA
your lordships. That is the fireplace of
iu Fleet-street, which my grandfather bong 011 e a
brought down here when the old place vi'nejoartS.
down to make room for the present Law
at be'
t Many of your lordships' predecessors have s old
fore that fire and dreamed of the woolsack'lv;,
tell me it is of Guess Elizabeth's time. not de
put it you, gentlemen, whether that will gea'
more for your descendants as English countrJeold
tlemen than a gallery full of Titians, if 10'1
get them ?—Once a JVeel.

,oishe;

THE BELGIAN SUCCESSION.—The Figaro Vi; •cj
the following note :—" At Brussels much i 9
id
a project which, if realised, will brinc, obo3t
unforeseen consequences. The que;tioo re"`beeir'
the death of the young Count de Elainoult'
presumptive of the Crown. The Prince ialthat
of France, it is generally supposed, would intitelief
ease be affianced to the Princess garse"!'—heiog
who is reaching her tenth year. A male bean-0100
wanting, King Leopold might at any given ra:ttiotO
realise the annexation of the two countries 1".90y0
war or the opposition of England." Gl:dig:l°72 tliet
the Figaro appears to have overlooked al. to
the Count de Flandre, brother of LeoPold
O of
whom, according to the Constitution,
Belgium the r°
descends in default of heirs wale' 000 -
TlIE BATTLE OF TIIE IRISH CITURCII.-- Irish
what amusing incident in connection with 6°ool
Church occurred about a week since ill
(sit ar
parish a short distance from Godalnaing* 150 actl
pears that one of the churchwardens, vvii° ceeife'
as guardian, overseer, and parish cleric, rdoo aO
from a Church Defence Association 1-I°/1„,h1e,,,t3
fficial-looking packet by post, containingl3ll—i,ero"
and tracts, and a form of petition to he-LOSE
spiritual and temporal " against the discs— 0'
,cent of the Irish Church. This was ace°l9oPodi°
f
,y a letter requesting that the contents
promote
~arcel might be used in the best manner to to
z.ne object intended. Flushed with the OP° aP
being entrusted with such a. Inissi°fl3liter°:,
~taggered with the sight of such a Inass 0-1. for
!Aire, the old gentleman scratched his ileac too;
Ilea. One soon struck him, and a novel °tiro off
,or forthwith he proceeded to nail the f°lio °
petition on the church door, alongside theotre.o
voters, objections, &c. But the matter did 11
_Avid
':ere. The other churchwarden, WhoS° ,rojl4
proclivities are more of a It tdical nature,
_,:eioos
o church the following Sunday, saw the Pit,
eh c 0
document, to tear down and demolish w 13030 tIo
Out a moment's work. Subsequentli 9 the
of
officials met, and a dispute arose of suclli3Ov eir
nature that it appeared at one time that tui, tb
of the Irish Church would be fought out
oa4
own persons. v 3"
boa
It is calculated that Russia has raise,-- °
money markets during the last twelroiiiiro.7
noexter lesnsal than
.XJ.8,000,000 by State-guaranteed
bonds.