The Statesman.
London, England, 1822-01-02 00:00:00

n

Irittiar • ascoLLgeivoss or
Them it nothing photostatic to we'tlsan to visit eceses
st tidied with classical recollections. Nay, even thp
t laces white have bees aurae by .v welters of Ac-
tion. nterdrOwtadsts, and our noiellete, at &admin.

pf their tales: haves theaesMil *man eseielatioaa
Wry. around them. To an goelishman Leaden is
fa* of.all these associations. He can scarcely take •
map without encountering some relic of ether times,
• .to retire in his mind many a pl recollection
Iletuel of nut greatest authors have been cockalye
batmhave lived. of have died is London. In the
PM.% I. the uressuouleeee. Is the lives of our self.
htttti>d.k. authors, wailed perpetual refer...es t•
utripse pertain' the metropolie• Is, almost thump*
rahle instances the mews of our dramas ace 1541
there; and it would be difficult to mention a novel.. la
which either the bore or the heroine does not atpome
period or other pay a visit to London. Was it trot la
• street neer Hanover-square that lady Hellmann re-
ieelved the stolen visits of Tom Jones? Captain 'tooth
woe incarcerated in a lock•np-honse in Gray's-Inn-lanf t
• Podia' %aged In High Holborn; but such an enume-
rates, would he endleos. it would boa pleasant thing
to walk through Lewd.a sod trace out these lualities.
.1 memo resolved ou 'melt a'• pilgrimage myself, but
amide very Huth program is it; my journey proved a
very short one. My terminus fie, as the lawyers
rail it, was Fleet-market, sad my termini,* et, qua,
Cheriag-cross: yet, anpretnialeg as the way appeared,
I was astoaished to find bow many curious Oconee-
thins were scattered along it.
I commenced my walk at Fleet-market, where fom•
merly Feet-ditch used to tow in muddy pride. It was
the favourite retreat of the goddess whom Oay has ce-
lebrated in his "
She downward glides,
Lief% is fleetditch, and shoots beneath the tidies '
Whit isatommea shores a loilinr murmur keep.
Whose torrents rush from Holborn's fatal steep."
ltut Pleeiditcb is still more celebrated as the scene of
same of the games in "The Dunciad." titre Old.
miles, at the poet's pleasure, **shot to the black
abyss, and plunged outright." Smedley, "dived,"
and Concise. "crept." Into this miry stream, de
short, Pope delighted to plunge ill his dull enemies .°
Fieet•street has bees much celebrated in the annals
of literature. It used formerly to be a great emporium
of books. Thus when Oay anticipates the yeaown
which big "Trivia" will acquire, he ears—
" Hirb raised on Fleet-street poets, cousign'dto fame.
• This work shall shine, and walkers bless my name."
It mut not be forgotten that Chaucer is said to have
trodden the pavement of Fleet-streetamberein it is al-
leged that hews' so irreligious as to beat a Franciscan
Friar. ' Winds the 'tartlets' 's( this street too, John.
son resided many years of his unhappy life; and as-
suredly, if Lis spirit be suffered totevisit this terrene
sphere, it would leant his favourite Meet-street. To
a bibliosnaniac. however, k possesses superior ultras.
Hoak for here Wyakystie Words lived at the it=
• and printed his " Veers *Stymie" In
• syde of the Sea.
- Opposite St: Damian's Ouch I saw triellitarlrotat;
ionises, ansophisticated creatures fresh` from the
country, who, with availed eye and half-open month,
were waiting, with wondering impatience, till the
giant time-killers aboald strike the hoar of five. It was
equally new to me, and I joined the little throng to ob-
sarve and partake *falsely pismire. Bat to me St.
Dunetia's tad a greater attraction than even the mar-
Yellen' Isammm of these representatives of ohi time.
• this holy place that the divine Clarissa acrd
effar ep her pare vows to that Woven of.
a was se soon to become an inhabitant. I
alettraffaney I saw her with her saint-like eyes
as else returned from morning-prayers. and
sought the solitude of her lodging in King-
_ .•
Corent-garden.
___ farther onwards I reached the corner of
Chancery-lane, and vainly I looked for the house
been the residence of one of the pleasantest
aimpledioarted men that ever painted a pic-
ttemselves, and left it fur the delight of pos.
'men in that lucre of gain Which prompted
narrow-minded fillies to demolish the roof under
thy head, ho allt Walton, once sheltered
While peace nt, and quiet hap-
, have any charm form d, the dwelling of
Piecater should hare been sacred. When the
ruffled and troubled with the world's vex-
would have bee. as though oil were east on
eters, if we could have enteral a dwelling
tranquil memory of !seat Walton still filled.
would have answered upon each a site to
'shed an angler's shop—nay„ within a few
,os the Temple-bar silo. I did observe the
an establishment of the kind—the glass-
ing a pike's bead-she stuffed 4111116--the
wooden frogs—fita444l9l-many-lioloured
graceful bend orthi rod; from which a
contentedly dangled. Should the shade
revisit this scene of his earthly sojourn, what
recollections must these memorials inspire!
from the life of Piscater, that his first resin
Landon. as a shop-keeper, was in the iloyel
.by Sir Thomas Oreshatn. Here, indeed,
hare found considerable difficulty in turn•
round. for his shop was only seven feet
Jog and five fret wide. Here did he dwell
year 1624, when he removed to a house " on
'le of Fleet-street, two doors vest of the
:ery.lane, 'hutting on a messing. known
of the Harrow." From this description,
fis house occupied the ground upon which
s Magazine for bonnets, muffs, shawls,
paraphernalia, now stands. Walton
!lemmata to remove to Chancery-lane.i—
es this spot to Fleet Prison may be seen, near
resided the accommodating Parson, whose reatli•
unite young couples was one great cause of the
•of the Marriage Art, 2t; lien. ii. 1 mention this
eence for the hem-tit of the lawyers. Pennant,
'London," gives an entertaining account of this
i gentletnan:—" In walking along the street in
on the side next this prison. L haveoften been
the question, Sir, oil' you walk in and be
\ bog this most lao less place was hung up a
and female hand conjoined, with • marriages
Itbin' written beneath—a dirty fellow in-
The Parson was seen walking before his
squalid protigate figure, clad in a tattered plaid
-a. with a fiery face, and ready to couple you
_,gin or a roll of tobacco. Oar great Chan-
Hardwick, put these demons to flight."
y-lane is famous for being the birth-plate
thy and unfortanate Lord Stratford.

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4
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vellous hums
ti it voila this
. to steel, to el
which she WI
eduld almost
bent down, ir
retiringly sot
t •
• street. Como
. A little fat
Chaneery-lan
• whiethAnd be
end moat sits
tu re ef &me,
- • terity. Shea
some narrow-
which thy he
Itself. WWII
piness, have s
gentle Piacato
• spirits were r
. a:ions, it won
tine angry wet
' wilds the trai
Surely it wou
have establisL
doors of it,oe
indieto of an
rase eontainin
• treacherous w
tl'es, and the
golden 6sh co
of Aerator eel
p!rasiag recol
IVe learn free
deuce in L)nt
Busse, built I
Isaac must ha
icy himself re
ard a hellion
or.til the year
• the north sidi
0%,
end of Chance
by the sign o
presume his
Mr. Thomas's
and other ladj
is said afterw
• Fross this
%Welt resided
ress to unite y
passing of the
reminiscence I
' in his "Lond
Reverend gee
my youth, on I
tempted by the
;...1 married ?' A h
signora males
.llt performer witl
• sited pea
• shop. a equalii
111011,10•1111, a
for a dram of ,
cellos. Lord H
v Chancery-
, . of the upwind
e.
1 vf
111