The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-08-11
svsrcorresp0ndenes Ec~ yors Trrpnne.l
HAUNTED LONDON.
4 WALK waTH MN. PIcKWIc1S.:

a WALK WITH MN. PIcKliWIcK.g
4 saa rch for GoswcIl strcef---Trhl INC
House OF Mrs. Bardell---The George.
ana vultuse Tavern.
Lospo July 1s.-At The Boaleian II:
bIary they show you q stained AND Dat.eisu
yosfme In the Russian language Wnicn . .,e
be siegers Of Sebastopel tcund among tno
d readful ruins Of the kedap. w bat w sou
suunose must have been the sensatiohs 49,, =,
the English officer who brought away sp 80
nIackcned relic when 1t was suDthl,.oo "
INTERPRETATION and discovered 10 oe !, e .ro
p;sS ,p;ct clnbpo Think Of the saidiers
~ 1,zar Nicholas sitting down 10 tas Hllas'
~ death 10 laugh over Sam Welier. Euoupt-
soss thew enioved the book; IL seems 10
s,se been well thumbed; and II itsppeaieu
- s,rnn olv to :tlfen, what wopuer tDa. an
a roerican in london should be hauhteo Wy
sho snoct resof tbeHever.to-b e-1oFgotteh ciao
ana nf The hundred other crcatiohs ol tn ~ :
COMO brain whieh have made the bames ot
Tnndnr, streets, and the very asrect OF Leh.
~ co1,r4s and houses, hardly Aess famhiar
-. ao- NC thsn orr own? To most OF us the
~ ~. rocterS in Dickens's earlier DOCKS are
ont,,.l IJrtnp personages. no more doeuteu
,hat Isi,o,,Id discover, the footprints o. oaln l,
IN the Iorepsh,I and find the very house OF !
Mrs. Camp in Kings Gate street., rnan l
Questioned that the ghost OF Samuel fepys
made .sntchty merry "::at the CoeN over
a %airlst Temple, Bar, and Will Waterproof
st;,I rs ncated there his Lyrical moneiogues,
or that when seated myself on one OF Tue
onc;art wooden benches OF the Chesnlle
f,hoesn in n dark little alley OIL 3'4eet stfeee
T S1,o,,ld be half conscious OF the presence
~ .0liyer Goldsmith and DR.. johnson
in their accustomed corner. W men tne
.,;,srd;s horn called me to the Wlnoow
tbe other morning, and / saw tne oliShe
ycIlnw-and-bIa mail coach rell rapidly
across Trafalgar Square, remembered eu'u
ii was on the roof OF just SUCH Vehlcle,
fifty wears ago, that Dir. PIckwiek nno nus
friends started FROM that very spot on tnela'
memorable Journeys. LII was tncre' neAt W
the corner OF the Strand, that Mr.: flckWlck'
as the second chapter OF the book rtiateS'
was assaulted by the cabman, VINO loon MIN
for an informer; there tue Yoiuo'e Jlh1V,
elbowing his way through the crowo, nlaoe
bis first appearance IN the stor!; anu cne.c
the whole party mounted TO the rooi OF tne
Rochester coach, in the stable.yard OF the
Golden Cross Tavern. The oid tavern ana
it's low archway arc no more, but a preten-
tious Golden Cross Hotel on the same sue
perpet,Iates the historic associations.
Having witnessed, as it were, the depart
urp OF the expedition, it was not unnatural
that | should look further for traces Of the
Glib. and lost no time in betaking myself
knows, Mr.. Pickwick lodged in the house
of Mrs. Bardcll. A roundabout stroll past
F1rrpiyaps Inn, in whose quiet chambers
the first pagcs Of "Pickwick were writ
ten. and John Westiock long afterwards
gave the tremendous breakfast to Tom
Pinch and Ruth-through Gray's Inn,
haunted by the image OF Mi. Perker-
through Clcrkcnwel, where [ found IN 4
narrow street on the edge of the Italian
quarter q dismal shop one step below tue
sidewalk, with 4 stuffed canary in the VIII
dow, a shop which I had no difficulty ~
identifying as the establishment OF Mr..
Venus, PrcSeryer Of Animals and Birds,
Articulator OF Human Bones "a stroll
through regions [ had never traversed be-
fore, and yet which seemed oddly famil'
Jar. as if l had seen them in dream
brought ME at last to the street wanted
It is in q part OF London where there have
been many modern improvements. There
is a broad and busting thoroughfare-tbey
have changed its name now TO Gos"ei
road-wllere Mrs. Bardeli once g. ourted
the retirement aud tranquility OF Goswel
street, and placed in her front parlor win
dow written placard bearing the inscrip.
tion Apartments furnished for single
pentIeman.'n a huge block of moCe
lodging-houses rears i varle@ated front OF
b:ick at the corner where came out upon
the road. A horse railway keeps the neigh
borhocd noisy. But a little further Of,
toward the heart OF the city the
old name OF Goswel street reap
pears in some ancient signs. and just
before I reached Aldersaate came
upon q row OF shabby brick buildings
which seemed to have been forgotten and
LETT behind in the march OF Improvement
They are three-story-and-a ttlc houses, with
hipned roofs, covered with red tiles. The
brick, once yellow, is black with age and
smoke. The windows are almost as black
as the brick. Time and decay have set THEN
mark all over them, and am sure that in
side we should find creaking furniture and
stained walls. II is plain that they were
dwcllirg-honses originally, but the ground
floor OF each has been turned into shop.
Except for this change and for the accumu.
lation OF fifty years. CRIME. they must be in
the same condition as when Mr.. Pickwick,
throwing open his chamber window at the
| beginning of the novel, looked out upon the
world beneath. !" Gos|ell street wac at his
feet, G0swel street was on his right hand,
as far as the eye could reach Goswcll street
extended on his left, and the opposite side
Iop Ill hn WON
These peculiarities OF the situation remain
unaltered. amused myself by selecting
| one Of the row us the identical house Dick
ems must have had in his eye when he de-
scribed the lodgings Of his hero, for pic
lures Of London streets and buildings are
to be found in bis pages far more graphic
than those Of any suide-book. There is
now a cheese and butter-shop in the front
parlor where Mrs. Bardell entertained Mrs.
Cluppins and Mrs. Sanders at tea, and an
ton, "The Little Wonder" displayed
itself over the door. But all above that Is
the same house have figured to myself ever
siEce was boy.
1t a short walk from Goswell street TO
St. PauI's, or it would be short but lor .ho
irresistible temptation to turn aside. Car
thusian street beckons us on TO the Charter
House, whose gray stone cloisters, and s9it,
green-carpeted courts seem lndescrloa W.
peaceful and beautiful in the miust Oh lue
Surrounding turmoil OF trade. Inc ahciet.
school is no longer here; 1t nas Quarter
now in the country: but another scuooiI
th,t ~ the merchant tallors-llas acquired
.iia Nv, i,i,dinrs. The boys were playing
~ s.'o baI, when I looked into the enclo'
az e,,re and one insight almost have
,Soneiea ,Lhat Love,sce and Addison